RPI Day 3: Text Selections and Strategies

Reflecting on Being Explicit and Open with Students in Class:

                                                         

Why don't we share more with students?
I call it the "Secret Teacher Talk or Code for Learning" and some kids like this and understand their learning better - they buy in more.  I think they like to know/understand that teachers are making deliberate and thoughtful choices for them as a class/personally.

Some students always ask questions about the why,  what we are learning, and how.  This is not always a distractor for kids :)  I think it can also show their active engagement in trying to understand their learning.  

RPI Day 3:  Text Selection Day - 

I doubt many non-teachers understand all the decisions teachers make in their planning - before, during/with students, and in reflecting and refining for next time.  I am going to share my thinking  around 1 course / class. Imagine with all our courses ... or do I overhink?

I really enjoyed today's varied discussions, practical strategies, tools and tips to help tighten up my own pedagogical practice in my classes.  I am finding that I am already doing many of the things suggested with varying degress of success and/or attention on focused literacy building skills and content. I am pretty sure this will be the case for most teachers. 

Inviting you into my head... My own practice: (be kind - it is also the talk in my head and how I process when I am planning anew)

I noticed  I seem to be "extra conscious and intentional "with my senior yr 11 English planning this year. (This is not to say my Humanities 9 program is not getting similar attention and focus - but today I will refer more to my senior course). 

Reason for my greater attention at the moment to my yr 11 English course:

• new standards and curriculum
• department decision to create different courses for greater student choice and engagment based on different themes / contexts
• building and sharing ideas together within the department has helped with text selection and being more mindful of choosing texts for varied voices
• students selected this course and I want to engage them, their input on choices (which occurred regularly) throughout as we discussed what was working, what they needed help with and text types / options to meet student needs

My theme for the first standard was Language of Colonization: How it Happened Around the World

My personal why for offering this course/ theme:  I  noticed the last few years in NZ that our students have a general understanding of colonization, what it was and some effects related to NZ and Māori culture.  But, at the same time, students had gaps in their knowledge and understanding for how, where and how it began in the late Industrial Revolution days to the Age of Imperialism and Manifest Destiny spreading around the globe with the Age of Exploration.  Some students were aware that colonization did not just "happen' in NZ but most did not have an understanding of it being a global (western) movement.  My hope is that gaining a greater understanding of the background to colonization will provide, "windows and sliding doors, as well as mirrors"  for students, NZ and global communities still grappling with the effects of Colonization. (My small attempts to help heal a global "ill - and yeah, I know it sounds like a big ask.  But you need to start somewhere.)

Yay - they liked it!  They picked the course!

I was excited when students chose this course and wanted to do well by them and the theme which is a fairly complex topic for students and may be confronting at times too. After a couple weeks unpacking history of what colonization is - we switched to literature and other texts as a reflection of the social context and how people respond and react to history (life). 

My goal/focus - look at how both Colonizers used language - word choice, text type and intention of the authors/speakers, looking for patterns.  And also - language of the effects of Colonization - how did and do people still respond to these effects. I hoped this would help students in my class better understand perspectives of different times, places and relationships. 

With these goals in mind, and the new L1 standard which is about how the language is affected by the context of its use (both social context - colonization, and text type context - poetry, story, essay, speech), I planned early and with colleagues at school, and from my home country of Canada, the school librarian (huge help!) and even leveraging and mining the hive minds of Facebook Group NZ English teachers.  I gathered more resources than I used and hope to refine and teach this course again in the future.  As with any time you teach a new course - it gets more refined each year and grows as you and the students work together. 

1. I wanted to choose both literature and perhaps other kinds of information from the past as well as the present.  
2. Text voices from around the world - discussion of different colonizers too (French, Spanish, German, Italian, British, American, NZ and Samoa) 
3. Varied text types to expose students to language features used for different intentions
4. Varied voices - genders 

Texts we studied and some were used for assessment included:

• Kupu Rere Ke by Alice Te Punga Somerville  (Hook - local writer, modern poet, relatable to students)
• White Man's Burden - Rudyard Kipling (poem from the age of Imperial India - intent to encourage Americans to persist with Colonization of Phillipines)
• "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America" - Benjamin Franklin essay with irony being that the comments are moslty "pointed" towards implying the "British are the savages and the Indians the civilized peoples"
• Epic movie -Ghandi
• Ted Talks - Niki Sanchez "Decolonization is for Everyone," and Len Pierre - Decolonizing Substance Use and Addiction"
• Martin Luther King's Speech - "I have a Dream"
• modern local Pasifika / NZ poems:  
• Dark vs the Light
• The Past is the Past
• Dawn Raids Apology
• short story - "Have I got a deal for you!"  

Sharing these goals and intentions with students - helped with some students, but not all.  I think this is because students are not used to this.  I used to do this more earlier in my practice, and when this was regular enough, I would be able to ask students how our texts or tasks or skills connected to our goals and intentions.  Students eventually "buy - in" and then even challenge you, and offer their own text choices.  Some students this year offered great ideas for this course, had great questions and perspectives, even stories to share and make connections with our texts.  I was lucky to have a recent NZ migrant from South Africa, NZ Māori, Pasifika, Pakeha voices, as well as American and myself,  Canadian voices.

This planning and text selection process was important for me and my students, especially given the complex topic, and the fact students were interested and chose this course. These choices were made based on:  curriculum (Assessment standard / task at the end), student interest and flexibility and choice for students along the way (short/long, visual, audio, written).

Semester 2 planning:  How timely for RPI day 3!

Unique situation - semester planning with students

Moving forward to new planning in progress with students.  New Achievement standard with a focus on "demonstrating understanding of specific aspects of a studied text."   For this standard, I wanted to push students towards an extended text (novel).  I asked students if they wished to continue with themes/texts that had a "historical or social context"  or literary focus,  continue with NZ / Pasifika or international settings/vocies, set in the "past, present-day/modern times, or futuristic/dystopian, accept a challenge with a Shakespearean play. And in true complex fashion - I recieved responses for all.  

The reason I wanted to offer choice for students in my class rather than pick for them, is because all the other yr 11 classes have the opportunity to switch "semester courses / topics and teachers" this year, except mine, because of a timetable clash.  I wanted to work with my students to still give them similar choice and voice. I am glad one of my strengths is flexibility!

Reflecting on RPI lessons, reminders, discussions.... my thinking and goals for semester 2 (same students but I know them better now). Time to make reading more active and fun!

 

* goal - to add more talk about literature - like literature circles / book clubs

   why?  - to build Tier I, II,III Vocabulary, understanding, community , questioning, close reading, responding as well as confidence with reading and sharing ideas with each other. 

* goal - to encourage reading of extended text (novel). 

   why? - so many do not read full novels any more! Lots of reasons for this, but I am hoping to encourage students completing them together in small groups. Also to support students with reading challenges - I chose these novels for different gender voices, vocabulary levels, topics, author/genre styles for writing.  These are also texts that we have with audio books (will put on hapara) and also films (visual).  The films will be another option for "studied text."  Films will be to compare, as well as a back-up for extended studied text for those who may not succeed reading their novels.

Novel choices: all offered (highlighted yellow ones are ones chosen to make groups - exception Shakespeare play - chosen but not enough to intro as a group)

• Shakespeare (interest in Greco/Roman history and lit) - Julius Caesar
• Modern:  The Hate U Give, Boys Don't Cry
• Dystopian / Classic:  Fahrenheit 451, Noughts and Crosses, 
• NZ:  Whale Rider
• Historical:  The Help, Cry Freedom, student request - All Quiet on the Western Front

How about that unifying theme? 

“Choices: Defining Moments and Crossroads in Our Lives”

Focus: "Character" - development, dilemmas and decisions, outcomes, personal response, and some creative writing too. Stay tuned... I may let you know how it goes, if interested.

Re-connecting to Day 3: Student data + all the above!

Aligning all the above choices with data of my students. I have not done this with the yr 11 group as specifically as I do not have their data in 1 place yet. I do plan to use the RPI Teacher workbook to help me out with my yr 9 texts and planning. Looking forward to delving into this deeper because this break out activity surprised me. Well done for the challenge!

Our challenge "class" to plan for today:

Whew! A very typical class in terms of needs, interests and dynamics, but today, for us it was also a challenging group to plan for - well done RPI Leaders!

What did we decide? We decided upon a mixture of grouping methods for explicit instruction/text choices - based on interest, Curriculum Level, skill (LI) focus for students. Sometimes mixed levels - to model and support and based on interest or LI focus.

EG. One student needed help with recall/summary and another with questioning. We decided a text based on interviews with one or both interests would be a good model and also allow both students the chance to develop the skills they needed. Sadly we ran out of time to select texts.

*Keep in mind - my very long reflection above (my brain dump) was not all in one sitting for sure. It developed before, during and after the course, and with input and discussions from my growing Personal Learning Network!

** Small apologies to my mentor - I do write a lot and will work on being more concise**