Valuing Where You Are!!

June is quickly coming to a close... I'm looking at the calendar thinking where has the month gone! I'm happy to say that the majority of my month was reflective as the picture above: a book, a drink (not always alcoholic), and a relaxing spot! It's almost time for me to start going back to my classroom though... :( 

My thoughts for the day... Have you ever went to a mixed school professional development and left thinking, "Thank God for my school"? That is exactly where I was last week! 

Every summer, teachers at the majority urban/intercity high schools in our county have the opportunity to attend a workshop focused on literary hosted by Gear Up. Gear Up is a program that works with a cohort of students from middle school to college (freshman year) to ensure their academic success. It is an amazing program! So, every summer, they pay teachers to come together for a learning experience! This summer, I left the workshop think, "Thank God for my school". 

Gear Literacy was an experience! Because I love being collaborative, I worked with teachers from other schools, and we talked about the differences in our schools! I was overwhelmed hearing about their data meetings, non-collaborative planning meetings, and students who did not sound the same as my "darlings". 

It made me value my school a little more! I know that others in our district -and community - want to "pray" for us on a daily basis, but our school is improving! I can't think of another place I'd want to work at this moment! We spend our time teaching and not focused on elaborate data rooms and meetings. We co-plan extensively! And, my students do the work in my classroom! It was enlightening! 

But Gear Up is over! Normally, once Gear Up was over, I'd start venturing back to my classroom, but it's still June! Some teachers are just leaving the classroom, and others of us,  considering all the things that have to be done there. I think I need to stop by to make a list of everything that needs to be done before August 1st, and then not go back for another two weeks! 

I am planning a lot at home! A lot of teachers at my school spend in-service days planning their year, and personally, I'll be done by then! I spend in-service days with a book most of the time! It's my last few days to do something for me, and I must say it's a lot more beneficial than planning my year in three days! 

I found out this past week that I'm the new department head for English! I'm super excited, but it is freaking me out! I worked really closely with the English 9 and 10 teachers last year, but being the head of an entire department will be scary! I'm ready for the challenge though! My plan was to join our school's leadership team this year, so I will just look at this as an additional facet of leadership! 

I'm looking at my check-list from May though, and I think I've done a lot of the things, but I have a ways to go! There also needs to be quite a bit of stuff added....

But here's what I've done: 

1. Stay in bed to 10 o'clock every day

2. Do something for me every single day  

3. Create an organizer for weekly student self-assessments 

4. Finish the curriculum for Virtual Seminars

5. Finish Classroom Website

6.  Set up a Teachers Pay Teachers Page

7. Read dystopian novels for HS Reading 101 class

8.  Create a curriculum map that aligns with the new TN State Standards

9. Attend Gear Up Literacy Workshop

10. Paint the blank wall in my classroom

Teaching Points and Mini-Lesson

Teaching Points and Mini-Lessons:

How many teachers can say they actually learn things in system-wide professional development? Before this school year, I hated them. For some reason, they tend to plan them right before school is back in session, and I can think of better/more productive things to do with my time. This year was different, though...

This school year, I actually learned something at system-wide PDs. Our new director of literacy K-12, which I thought was ludicrous in the beginning (more on this later), introduced teaching points to our counties ELA High School classrooms. This really changed how I teach; every day, I give my students a strategy related to reading and/or writing and that strategy becomes our focus. I model the strategy called the mini-lesson, students practice it, and then students implement the strategy.

This has assisted me in placing my students at the center of my instruction. I spend 5-10 modeling then the rest of the class is about students working. Also, everything that is currently in my TPT store comes with teaching points because they have become an integral part of how I teach. My classroom without teaching point is like coffee without sugar; they do not mix! 

Examples of teaching points I use are:

• Good writers assess what the prompt is asking them to do by circling/highlighting verbs and literary skills in a prompt, and then completing the following sentence: the prompt is asking me to...
• Good readers effectively summarize by reading in small chunks, identifying the six most important words, and then turning the six words into a one sentence retelling. 

One lesson that transformed in my classroom with teaching points was my literature circles; when I added organizers with teaching points to my literature circles, my students could no longer say they did not know what to do. They had a strategy to make their work possible. 

Check out my literature circle organizers  here!

The Journey to Paperless!!!

Ahhh!!! Two years ago, my school joined with some other schools in our county on the road to 1:1; all of our freshman were given Ipads. I must admit it was difficult! Using electronic devices with urban kids on a daily basis was a headache, but I'll admit, they really made be a better teacher! Not only did we use technology a lot, but we also started Project/Problem Based Learning!

At the end of the year, our principal sent out several files and links on paperless and flipped classrooms. I will admit that I am not ready for flipped classrooms, but I think that this year I will attempt to go paperless. I have fears though! Will the interactions and collaboration that is the focus/heartbeat of my classroom change due to using computers for everything??

I am currently doing research on what it will take to have a paperless classroom and it seems like a lot. I want to scream (see above). Has anyone taken the challenge to be paperless? It it really that hard? 

In addition to going paperless, I am going to have to learn to use a Chromebook instead of the Ipad that I have gotten used to. I tell my students all the time that if you can use one device then you can use any device, so we will surely see? 

Any advice on going paperless would be great!! 

For the Love of Reading... The Books of Summer!!

Reading! I do not think that you can be an English teacher without having an unnatural love of books! I am probably one of the few teachers who take the time to read throughout the school year because I would probably go crazy if I did not! While surfing blogs today, I came upon a linky party by Faulkner's Fast Five, and the cool thing is that the linky party is about books! This summer I have an outrageous list of books I want to get through, so I've decided to join in and write about a few of them...

First Up:

This is the one book that I have to get through! In December, our English Department did a book exchange for Christmas - I know it's nerdy- but I have yet to read the book! I read for pleasure, so when there is something I have to read, I get a little turned off! I have a similar reading interest as my team teacher who gave me the book, so I'll read it before August 1st for sure!

Second: 

Anything and everything Dystopian! I am a lover of dystopian books! They truly make me happy! The books I am for sure reading are in the pic above, but I am more than positive I will read more! In my RTI class, I teach a unit called the Dystopian Extravaganza, so I will be able to give my students more options of books to choose from! 

Third: 

I want to read John Green's Paper Towns before the movie comes out this summer! It was also a part of a book set we got at the end of the year for our 9th graders. We bought an entire collection of coming of age books, so it's likely that I'll be making a unit around them soon! I like John Green, and this is actually the book I am taking to the beach with me!  

Lastly, A Book to Grow From: 

I love Catlin Tucker from www.catlintucker.com! She posts a lot about technology on her site, and she is awesome! She has a book coming out called Creatively Teach the Common Core Literacy Standards with Technolgy! It is scheduled to be released on June 30th, and I will be getting it. At $30 for the Kindle book, it is a little more expensive than what I spend on professional development books, but since I'm considering going paperless, I am hoping it'll teach me a lot! 


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We'll that's it! My summer reading list! I am happy to be apart of my first linky party!  Join in! 

The Dystopian Extravaganza!!!

This weekend I relaxed! I slept late, attended the wedding of one of my sorority sisters, and worked on packaging my DYSTOPIAN EXTRAVAGANZA unit for TPT! It's a 6-week unit that I designed to help my students become more independent readers. Reading independently is a real struggle for my students, but it's a little bit easier if they can read the same book as others. 


It has been difficult trying to package the unit, though. I really want to stay true to my teaching style, so it's more difficult than I thought. I know when teaching something to my students my technique is very specific, but will this work for other students. I use a lot of organizers and have a teaching point for everything lately, but will other teachers appreciate this? 

Overall, I am working on several of the things of my summertime 10, so it's coming along! Friday AND today, I spent until 10 o'clock a.m. 

That's that! I'll write again soon! 

Check! Check! Check!

Well, my Summer To-Do List is shrinking! I have started the process of checking things, but I have a long way to go! I did set up a Teachers Pay Teachers Page and I am so happy about it. I named it Educating Urban, just like this blog, and I already have three products posted. I am going to starting turning things that I use all the time into products for Teachers Pay Teachers. So, again here's the Summer Time 10! (With one number checked off!)

1. Stay in bed to 10 o'clock every day

2. Do something for me every single day  

3. Create an organizer for weekly student self-assessments 

4. Finish the curriculum for Virtual Seminars

5. Finish Classroom Website

6.  Set up a Teachers Pay Teachers Page

7. Read dystopian novels for HS Reading 101 class

8.  Create a curriculum map that aligns with the new TN State Standards

9. Attend Gear Up Literacy Workshop

10. Paint the blank wall in my classroom

In addition to working on my blog, I had a surprise yesterday! The state of TN released the scores for the End of Course Exams - an 84 is proficient! This made me happy and even prouder of my scholars! My students this year gave me headaches on a daily basis, but in the end their (and my) hard work paid off. It's not official yet because I left my results at school, but over 65% of my students score proficient or advanced! They rocked that test!

That's all I have for now, but check out my TPT page!   

Summer Summer Summertime!!

Well, it is official! I have began my very first blog! I want to talk about my passion - education-, and summertime is the best time to start this adventure. It's the first day of summer vacation, and I must admit, I cannot be more excited! I am prepared to relax, relax, and relax!

However, I am also thinking about all of the lessons I want to plan, the blog I'm starting (if you're reading this you've found it), and the resources I want to create for Teachers Pay Teachers. For some teachers, summer is a time to do nothing, but for teachers who have a yearly goal to be better than the last, summer is a time to make improvement happen. 

This summer I wanted to make a check-list of all the things that need to be accomplished before August 1, so I decided that this was the perfect place to make a check-list! So this is The Summer Time 10: 

1. Stay in bed to 10 o'clock every day

2. Do something for me every single day  

3. Create an organizer for weekly student self-assessments 

4. Finish the curriculum for Virtual Seminars

5. Finish Classroom Website

6.  Set up a Teachers Pay Teachers Page

7. Read dystopian novels for HS Reading 101 class

8.  Create a curriculum map that aligns with the new TN State Standards

9. Attend Gear Up Literacy Workshop

10. Paint the blank wall in my classroom

Welp! Over the next two months, I hope to knock every single item off this list and write a little bit more about me and my position in education.