Shift Happens

Banned Books

NCTE - New York 2007

I was able to catch Beah's speech at NCTE in New York! He was awe inspiring and actually answered the majority of the questions we posed during class discussions.

1) He commented that people falsely assume that the healing process is instantaneous. He is still healing from his memories and his dreams which still haunt him. He continues to have night terrors and nightmares, but understands that he has to deal with them. He says he remains sane by saying to himself after having a bad dream, "I am in America in Brooklyn, what could possibly happen?" (West-White's inner monologue: Of course the crowd roared with laughter for multiple reasons: no doubt we all realize that our neighborhoods are not as safe as we would like to think, or because we have misconceptions about "unsafe" areas within America and that they deserve to be "unsafe".)

2) He was quoted as saying that he has killed more people then he would like to remember. Again, his response to this was that he is still healing and his past is apart of who and what he is and can't erase the past without effecting his future.

3) In Sierra Leone, he stated that the teacher was the only person with a book, so if you wanted to read the book you had to be nice to the teacher and run extra errands to gain favor. Thus, he was shocked when he began school at Oberlin and went to the bookstore and was give his books. He said he remarked, "Are you serious? These are all mine? To keep?" He used this to also comment on how his fellow classmates took so much for granted (Americans as well).

4) He stated that although he believed in God, he did not follow one religion. His father raised him Muslim and he attended schools to learn to read the Quran. His mother was Christian and he loved the songs and praise that occurs within Christian churches. His present mom (the lady in NY) is Jewish but practices Buddhism as well. He stated that all the religions share the basic tenets, but he doesn't know what religion he will experience...

5) He stated that he wrote the book in chronological order and that it was originally 500, 1.5 spaced pages. He felt no one would read that many pages from a new writer so he focused on the two main stories found in the book: childhood in Sierra Leone before the war and the victory of overcoming obstacles. (I didn't take notes, so I am pretty sure these were the two points. This is why I figured I better write this and send it out before I forget any more.)

Here are a few videos of Beah:

http://fora.tv/fora/showthread.php?t=728
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4yhPSQEzo

Furthermore, as you probably know, much of the talk around this year's convention centered on technology. I attended a presentation by Kylene Beers and this is what she had to say:

As she visits more and more schools throughout the country she is finding a digital divide along racial lines. It's not that minority students aren't using technology, but much of the technology she has witnessed them using is the computer as a glorified electronic workbook for remediation. She further stated that she can walk down the hall and find white students doing things with technology such as uploading projects to the internet, creating digital stories (with a purpose), etc. She is saddened by the fact that simply putting minority at the back of the bus is not the issue, but rather not allowing them on the bus at all.

Since many of the new jobs created in the future will demand much techno savvy, not instructing and engaging them in meaningful uses of technology is almost criminal. Especially since not doing so will limit their employability, skills and quality of life. Take a look at Google's job application for further evidence. Also, google "lit trips" which have been created with Google Earth to highlight the places within a novel where the characters live, travel, author info, etc. for all grade levels.

First, you will need to download Google Earth if you have not.
http://earth.google.com/

Many novels have been done for you as a teacher, (Kylene demonstrated using Grapes of Wrath) but if one isn't there. Find out how to create one and go for it... I know you can do it!
http://web.mac.com/jburg/GoogleLit/Home.html

What's New in Google Lit Trips...
November 18, 2007: Lit Trip for Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings
October 27, 2007: Lit Trip for James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
October 6, 2007: Step-Guide for Creating Route Paths for Google Lit Trips

Here are a few other sites:
http://elemenous.typepad.com/weblog/2007/03/mapping_literar.html - this is also a good example of an eduation blog

http://web.mac.com/jburg/GoogleLit/Lit_Trip_Tips.html

FCTE 2007 Conference Highlights

Laura Robb
Shared students’ reflections regarding reading and their surprises at actually liking it.
Discussed how assessment informs instruction and how to plan for a differentiated unit of study around a genre and an issue. In addition to seeing the benefits of establishing routines before starting a differentiated unit. Demonstrated how the read aloud becomes the common teaching text when students read texts at their instructional levels. Teachers then read different biographies and experience how issues and inferential reading strategies develop students’ high level thinking. Writing about reading was integrated into her workshop to show how writing helps students clarify their understandings.

Kylene Beers
Discussed The Perfect Storm: A Report (Overview can be found on the website below)
http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/AmericasPerfectStorm.pdf

• In addition to the following three forces in America's Perfect Storm + Beers adds Globalization
  · substantial disparities in skill levels (reading and math)
  · seismic economic changes (widening wage gaps)
  · sweeping demographic shifts (less education, lower skills)
  
• Shift Happens – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q Created by Karl Fisch, and modified by Scott McLeod; Globalization and The Information Age.
• Karl Fisch’s blog: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/
• Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat
• Have you heard of (if not, I am sure your students have):

1. Twitter
2. Diggs
3. MMORPG
4. Clustrmap
5. Facebook
6. Skype
7. Mashups
8. Teachertube
9. Youtube
10. Wikis
11. Delicious
12. My space
13. Podcasts
14. Blogs
15. Flickr

Doug Fisher
Discussed much of what can be found in:

Fisher, D., & Ivey, G. (in press). Evaluating the interventions for struggling adolescent readers. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy

Additional information can be found in:
Abstract from Fisher, D., & Ivey, G. (2006, November). Evaluating the Interventions for Struggling Adolescent Readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(3), 180–189. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.50.3.2

See http://www.ncte.org/profdev/onsite/consultants/fisher/publications/125055.htm for additional Professional Journal Articles by Fisher

Neal Shusterman
Has penned more that 20 books! - http://www.storyman.com/
Discussed those ‘teacher inspired’ moments in his education that led to his development as a writer and storyteller.


Other speakers including brief biography taken from conference program:

Janet Allen
Visit her website for more information: http://www.janetallen.org/
Allen is an international consultant recognized for her literacy work with at-risk students. She is the author of numerous professional books.

Jeff Anderson
Jeff has taught writing and reading for over 18 years. Jeff’s passion is motivating and developing struggling writers. Sharing strategies to create positive attitudes and confidence in young writers are central goals of his staff development and writing.

Jane Kiester
Jane is the author of the popular Caught'ya books: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle; Caught'ya Again! More Grammar with a Giggle; The Chortling Bard! Grammar with a Giggle for High School; Giggles in the Middle: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Middle School; Eggbert, the Ball, Bounces by Himself: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for First Grade; Putrescent Petra Finds Friends: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Second Grade; and Juan and Marie Join the Class: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Third Grade (these last three were formerly Elementary, My Dear! Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Grades 1, 2, and 3), all published by Maupin House.

Other thoughts & program sessions:

Differentiated Reading... Hip-Hopping Through Literature: A cultural responsive approach for teaching reading to the black adolescent male... Infusing technology in the English class (a tip) Do not shy away from assigning or exploring technologically enhanced assignments because you lack experience or expertise with the medium. Online tutorials are great tools for learning, step-by-step, how to use programs such as Movie Maker, Word’s Publisher or WebPage Wizard, etc. (All Smiles) Using Art to get to the heart – of any subject -- The session used historical portraits to introduce art in the curriculum and how to use it to inspire student writing. You can also use bargain books from area bookstores that showcase artists’ works, calendars, postcards, note cards, a collection of greeting cards, etc. along with questions to engage students. For example, have students free associate with the photo(s) chosen, have them list feeling words, color words, etc. related to their photo(s), from this list have students select one word that summarizes the art and then have them compose a poem, any form they like. ... Writing on wheels - Teachers from Space Coast High and Merritt Island High are planning a trip to the world’s longest yard sale and writing about their experiences along the way. The week long trip will land you in Tennessee and the cost is minimal. Think of the National Writing Project (NWP) on wheels.