Teaching

Teaching Tuesday: Kellee’s Middle School In-Class Book Clubs and Recommended Titles

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Recommended Books for Lit Circles/Book Clubs in the Middle School Classroom

As a teacher, I am always working to grow professionally to give my students the best possible instruction in the classroom, but one practice that has been a common theme throughout all twelve of my years teaching is literature circles or in-class book clubs. Although the way I implement them have DRASTICALLY changed over the years, the idea of CHOICE of text, COLLABORATIVE discussion about the text, and COLLECTING thoughts about a text have been consistent.

Over the years I moved from calling what we did in class lit circles to in-class book clubs because I no longer assign students jobs and the students in general have more freedom. Here is how our in-class book clubs go now:

  • I book talk the options for book choices and have students list their top 3 on an index card with their name.
    • I have this process be completely silent because I really want students to pick the book they want to read not what their friend wants to read.
  • I then take the index cards and group them into groups of three to five depending on what books were chosen.
  • The next day, I have the students sit in their book clubs, and I give them the task of determining their reading schedule.
    • I give them the time period and ask the to come up with a schedule of pages to read by each book club meeting. Most groups then come up with a daily reading goal too, but they don’t have to.
  • I then give reading time every day, but we also do other class activities every day except on book club day on Mondays (I like to give the weekend before our meetings).
  • One thing I didn’t like about lit circles in my classroom was the unevenness of “jobs” during lit circles and how only one student was responsible for the ongoing conversation during meetings. So because of this my students have one simple task while reading: Come up with 5 open ended discussion questions or topics that they want to talk about during the meeting.
    • I also like to make a student-created word wall, so I ask them to write down any words that they find that they don’t know and figure out what they mean. They then share those in their group also and discuss them then put them on our word wall.
  • Some groups have a harder time chatting during group meetings, so I also have generic questions that will work with any book.
    • I also read along with them, so I can help with some chatting as well.
  • At the end of the unit, I will have them answer a few standards-based text-dependent questions about their specific book.
    • I share the standards ahead of time, and they are what we are working on and focusing on during class when we’re not doing book clubs.

Today, I want to share with you seven titles that have also been consistently successful for my students and eight new titles I added over the last couple of years that were hits. I highly recommend any of these for middle school lit circles or in-class book clubs (or classroom libraries!):

Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

Flight #116 is Down by Caroline B. Cooney

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent

Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks & Gita Varadarajan

Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Trino’s Choice by Diane Gonzales Bertrand

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Do you do lit circles or in-class book clubs in your classroom?
What do they look like for you and your students?
What books do you recommend? 

Teaching Tuesday: The Stress of Teaching and Advice for Remaining Positive

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Teaching is unlike any other career. The community expects certain standards of teachers; however, often they are not always respected as professionals. Some teachers feel like they are always being questioned about their expertise. Others feel immense pressure when their pay is linked to test scores. Teachers work long hours, and the career can sometimes feel exhausting.

Despite this, most teachers express pure love for their jobs. For today’s post, we wanted to share some of the ways we practice positivity (or share positivity with our students). Over the years, we’ve learned that focusing on the positive is wonderful for our sustainability and happiness. We invite you to share your approaches or ideas for remaining positive, too.

Kellee

 

CONFIDENCE & JOY

Each year I pick one word that I am going to focus on professionally (in August) and another personally (in January), and I work very hard on reminding myself of these words. Part of what affected me negatively professionally was always questioning myself, so I focused on confidence professionally. At home, I question myself a lot also but there it is more about how others are being affected, so I chose to focus on joy personally. By having these two words at the forefront of my mind, I am making sure that I am focusing on my happiness all the time.

“It’s going to be okay.” 

I have begun repeating this often at work. Sometimes things can seem so devastating and stressful, and we know that stress affects the brain in a negative way, so I have tried to become even more of the cheerleader around my stressed-out colleagues. I remind them, “It’s going to be okay.” Because, you know what? It is. Hopefully this little reminder can help them remove the stress fog and remember that for real it’ll be okay.

Do what you love.

If you are not happy in your current position or your current school and you are past the honeymoon stage (which can be tough), then change. Change is scary (trust me, I know! I’ve been at the same school my whole career), but it is also what will make your life more fulfilled and happier (although at the same school, I’ve taught 6 different things, am the reading coach, and sponsored 4 different clubs). Talk to your administration. Be truthful with them. Ask for help if you need it. Be honest. Move schools if you need to. But remember, you have to be happy at work to be happy in life.

Surround yourself with positivity.

Yes, even at lunch try to focus on the positive. I know that it is the time to vent about the rude kid or the teacher who keeps holding kids into other classes, but this venting session can also lead to a focus only on that negative energy. I know we need to vent and we need a break, but is this negative energy in the middle of the day actually helping or is it hurting? Just ask yourself that.

Schedule YOU time.

Yes, put it in your calendar on your phone with an alarm and a reminder. Get a pedicure, go on a staycation, go on a date, go to happy hour, read in bed… whatever you want to do. But schedule it and make it a priority. And yes, that means not bringing grading home on the weekends! You are important–remember that!

Keep your empathy for students

This and the next one are things I’ve really started to realize since I’ve gotten past 10 years in the classroom: Being a teacher is so much more enjoyable when we listen to our students, when we remind ourselves that they are kids and humans, and when we remember the difference between tough and mean.

Let your students know you are human

We’ve all heard, “Oh, you don’t just sleep here, miss?!?!” But it doesn’t have to be that way. Students should know we are human: I let them know when there is stuff going on in my life that may affect my attitude or interactions with them; I talk about my family, hobbies, life, etc.; and I listen to them when they talk about theirs. This small difference can really help with respect as well. Since my students know me and feel respected by me, they respect me. And we all know respect equals a much easier time in the classroom!

And don’t sweat the small stuff!

🙂

Ricki

 

Switch the Content

Whenever I feel a lull in my teaching or career, I switch it up. If I am not learning right along with the students, then I am not happy. I love to explore new topics and new ideas with students, and I am constantly seeking their input about what they’d like to learn.

Connect with Colleagues

My colleagues invigorate me. I am a part of multiple teaching social media groups, and I love going to conferences. Each time I attend the NCTE conference and ALAN Workshop, it feels like a shot in my arm. I am jittery with excitement because of the new ideas that I’ve learned.

Read

I try to regularly read the latest articles within the journals of my field, and I pop onto popular teaching websites regularly to try to get new ideas. Every year, I try to improve my practice and hone my philosophies, and I love reading the writing of those in my field.

Research

I love doing research in my classroom. This always gives me a strong sense of purpose. Studying my students (or others’ students) teaches me so much about teaching. This makes me feel fulfilled as I work to improve myself.

Pursue Other Passions

I’ll admit that this often means immersing myself in the newest YA books, but sometimes I take time to paint or pursue a passion that is outside of my job. I try to avoid feeling guilty that I am not doing work for my job 24 hours a day. If left alone, I’d probably spend every waking hour planning and grading.

What are your coping strategies for staying happy and positive while teaching? 

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Teaching Tuesday: Teaching My Son to Read (by Ricki) Part II

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“Teaching My Son to Read” (by Ricki) Part II (Part I Post: Here)

Forging On

Thank you all for the wonderful advice in the comments section of my last post. I purchased the Mem Fox book and continually remind myself that read-alouds are the most powerful tool to teach a child to read. This has alleviated the pressure, and I feel your company when I roll my eyes when someone mentions, “So when do you think you’ll teach him to read.” In my mind, looking at pictures is reading.

His Pride

But he is really excited about reading. His uncle, who follows this blog, asked him about his reading when we were video-chatting. Ever since then, my son will say things like, “I am going to show Uncle ___ that I read this page.” He’s started feeling a sense of pride in his reading skills.

“Reading Books”

I am not crazy about this term. But my son has started calling the books he reads his “reading books.” (I am not sure what he considers the other books.) It’s provided him the onus of saying things like, “Let’s do all reading books tonight,” or “I don’t want to do any reading books tonight.” Like I said, the term makes me itch a bit, but it’s his term, and I am trying not to use my critical educator framing on him. I am letting him drive the car, and I am focusing intently on not pushing him. If he wants to read and takes pride in the process, I will continue to support it. If not, I will let it go.

More Books

He’s gotten really into the Flip-A-Page series. I brought one home from the library, and he wants more, more, more. (They market all of the books in the series on the back cover.)

 

These books are really fun (for me, too!). Essentially, they work with the concept of word families. So for the first book pictured, it will introduce the sound of “ake” and then there are cut-outs on the page for both the word and the images. As the reader turns the page, the “ake” sound is repeated, and part of the picture is repeated. My son loves to flip back and forth to look at the transformation. It’s pretty ingenious and highly entertaining for both of us.

More Traditional Early Readers

My son received a bookstore gift card for Easter, and he came upon the Avengers books in the early reader section and wanted them.

I’ll be honest. I would never consider buying these books for my son on his own. Leveling books drives me bonkers (see this anti-lexile post). When he said, “Please can I get this one!” instead of the magnificently beautiful, new picture book that was on the display, I paused for a beat. I knew what was likely in these books, Page 1: “I am superman.” Page 2: “I shoot webs.” But then I remembered my critique of the educators who don’t allow kids to read freely. So we got them. This is how he chose to spend his gift card, and he couldn’t be happier. We are reading the simplistic, obvious descriptions of the superheroes each night. They are improving his reading skills, for sure, and he’s in love with the Marvel illustrations as we read. And I’m improving. I’m reminding myself that kids read what they are interested in. While I may find these books to be soul-crushing in its simplicity and while I may find these books to be wildly boring, my son is avidly devouring them. He begs to read them over and over, and he’s simultaneously loving how they are teaching him new words. I recognize that I must be true to my reader/teacher philosophy that we should let kids read what they want to read.

What’s Next?

As corny as this may sound, I’m not sure. I am letting him be the guide.

RickiSig

Teaching Tuesday: Most Talked About Books in our Classrooms Right Now

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Popular books change quickly in a classroom depending on what is being talked about. Here are the books that are being talked about in our classrooms as of right now:

Kellee

These are the books being talked about in my middle school (6th-8th grade) advanced reading classroom right now:

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

If you’ve been checking out our IMWAYR posts, you know that I was just introduced to this series, and I could hardly contain myself when I got to school because I knew that students would love this series, and it’d for some reason had slowed now in popularity. Luckily, one of my readers picked it up, shared how she agreed with me, and now it is traveling through my classroom.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

I loved this book, but it wasn’t until students saw that it had won honors in the Newbery, Printz, and Coretta Scott King (and the tad bit of controversy surrounding it) then they started passing it around my classroom in 1st period that it truly became popular. Every student that reads the book freaks out about the end then wants to stay after class to talk to me about it and every student who has already read it wants to stay and talk about it too. That shows how powerful this book is.

Scythe and Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

This series was read in our teacher book club which means that there were teachers other than me singing its praises as well. Then Neal Shusterman came to visit Orlando and a bunch of my students went to see him. Between these two aspects, and just how gosh darn good the series is, there are many kids suffering until September 2019 with me.

Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby

Hurt Go Happy was our class read aloud last year, so my students who didn’t have me last year but are in my 7th and 8th grade class were invited to read Hurt Go Happy in preparation for our class read aloud this year: Rescued by Eliot Schrefer. Because it is so intense and has so much to talk about, the students who have read Rorby’s book can’t stop talking about it.

Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

Since this series came out, it has been a hugely popular series, and it keeps getting new readers. I can’t wait to read it also to see what the big deal is.

Embassy Row series by Ally Carter

Very much like Land of Stories, this series just keeps getting new readers because every person that reads it has to talk about it and talks their friends into reading it.

Always: Rick Riordan, Raina Telgemeier, Marie Lu, Kazu Kibuishi

In the eyes of my students, they can do no wrong.

Ricki

These are the books my college students are raving about:

Refugee by Alan Gratz

This book has not made it back to my desk. Every time a student reads it, before that student turns it in, another asks to borrow it immediately. It is passing from hand to hand. I love this book, so I am thrilled it is so well-received. I think I’ll be adopting it as a required text next semester.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Angie’s book continues to be a hot item in my class. It is a required house book (read by a third of the class), but many of the other students have read it.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

A student in my class gave a wonderful book talk for this one. I haven’t read it yet, but I am aching to do so. He is a tough critic, and he raves about it.

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

I didn’t realize that so many of my students had read Scythe, so many requested this one. I dug it up from my bookshelves and brought it in, and it has been passed from student to student.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

My student devour Jason’s books. I booktalked this one last semester, but I haven’t needed to do so this semester. Everyone book talks it for me!

What are the popular books in your classroom right now?

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Teaching Tuesday on a Wednesday: My School’s Solidarity with Parkland

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Yesterday, I shared some words about my classroom after Parkland and how I am talking with my students about this tragedy because I think it is so important that we as teachers talk with our students about how to deal with the emotions they are feeling about Parkland. Today, I am going to share how my school chose to honor and mourn the Parkland victims.

I was so proud of my school for giving students the option to take part in the National School Walkout today that was organized by Empower, the Women’s March Youth Initiative. Thank you to our Student Government; their sponsor, Ms. Harriss; and our administration for setting up our walkout for today.

At 10:00am today, approximately 1,000 of our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders chose to walkout to mourn the 17 murdered in Parkland and to show solidarity against school violence.

I think any teacher that was worried about students not taking the walkout seriously were greatly surprised with the maturity and solidarity that our students showed. These thousand preteens and young teens were silent as we remembered the lives that were lost and to show we stand with our fellow Eagles of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.

After the music that signaled our time to enter the courtyard stopped, our principal and Student Government representatives spoke on the PA system about our purpose:

“The majority of those who died in the Parkland shooting were children, bright teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them: birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers and coaches who devoted their lives to helping their children fulfill their dreams.

This evening we will all go home and hug our families a little tighter. But there are families in Parkland who cannot do that tonight. And they need all of us right now. In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans, as Eagles, and as fellow students. Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need, to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories, but also in ours.”

-Principal’s speech inspired by and adapted from President Obama’s address about Sandy Hook

Student Government representatives then took over:

“Let us remember the victims…

Alyssa Alhadeff, 14, was a student at Stoneman Douglas and a soccer player for Parkland Travel Soccer. Lori Alhadeff, Alyssa’s mother, dropped her daughter off at school and said, “I love you.” When her mother heard about the shooting, she hustled to school, but was too late.

Scott Beigel, 35, was a geography teacher who was killed as he tried to usher students back into his classroom when the shooting broke out. One of his students said that he died saving her. “Mr. Beigel was my hero and he still will forever be my hero. I will never forget the actions that he took for me and for fellow students in the classroom,” she said. “I am alive today because of him.”

Martin Duque Anguiano, 14 was a very funny kid, outgoing, and sometimes really quiet. He was sweet and caring and loved by all his family.

Nicholas Dworet, 17 was killed in the shooting, he had been recruited for the University of Indianapolis swim team and would have been an incoming freshman this fall.

Aaron Feis, 37, an assistant football coach, was killed when he threw himself in front of students to protect them from oncoming bullets. Mr. Feis, suffered a gunshot wound and died after he was rushed into surgery. “He died the same way he lived — he put himself second. He died a hero.”

Jaime Guttenberg, 14 was among the victims, according to a Facebook post by her father, Fred. “My heart is broken. Yesterday, Jennifer Bloom Guttenberg and I lost our baby girl to a violent shooting at her school. We lost our daughter and my son Jesse Guttenberg lost his sister.

Chris Hixon, 49 was the school’s athletic director — as an awesome husband, father and American, according to his widow Debra.

Luke Hoyer, 15 was an amazing individual. Always happy, always smiling. His smile was contagious, and so was his laugh.

Cara Loughran, 14 danced at the Drake School of Irish Dance in South Florida. “Cara was a beautiful soul and always had a smile on her face,”

Gina Montalto, 14 was a member of the winter guard on the school’s marching band.

Joaquin Oliver, 17 was born in Venezuela, moved to the United States when he was 3 and became a naturalized citizen in January 2017. His interests included football, basketball, the Venezuelan national soccer team, urban graffiti and hip-hop.

Alaina Petty’s, 14, family said she was vibrant and determined. She had volunteered after Hurricane Irma hit Florida in September. She was a part of the “Helping Hands” program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,and was also a member of the junior ROTC at her school.

Meadow Pollack, 18 had been accepted at Lynn University in Boca Raton. Meadow was a lovely young woman, who was full of energy.

Helena Ramsay, 17 was a smart, kind hearted, and thoughtful person. She was deeply loved and loved others even more so. Though she was some what reserved, she had a relentless motivation towards her academic studies, and her soft warm demeanor brought the best out in all who knew her.

Alex Schachter, 14 participated in the school marching band and orchestra, playing baritone and trombone.

Carmen Schentrup, 16 was a National Merit Scholar semifinalist.

Peter Wang, 15 had been a member of the junior ROTC program, Friends said Peter was shot while holding a door open to let fellow classmates get to safety. Thousands of people have signed a White House petition asking for him to be buried with military honors. “His selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens.”

We join together today, in this courtyard, to make a promise and a commitment to say NEVER AGAIN.”

-Information for list of victims taken from various CNN articles.

Student Government members then read some responses to the tragedy written by our students. I do not know the specific ones that the SGA chose to read, but here are some of, what I felt were, the most poignant responses our middle school students wrote in reflection of the tragedy:

Fear and guns have no place in schools. No kid should worry about going to school and not coming back. Those kids were just like us, they had their whole lives ahead of them. It is not fair for anyone to take that away. We can’t just sit around and wait for someone to take action, we have to stand up, for us and for those who lost their lives.If not us, then who? We HAVE to be the one we’ve been waiting for. We can never forget what happened, and we need to do everything in our power to not let it happen again. -L.M.

What a tragedy that has happened. School is supposed to be a safe place, but now some people are afraid to go to school. My prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones that died too soon. This horrible event was so close to us it’s scary. All these shootings are happening it makes me wonder what this world has come to. Instead of just talking about it, we need to do something about it, because this could happen to us. We need to stand up against gun violence, and that is why we walk out today, for the 17 people that died in the Douglas High School shooting. -C.D.

What happened at Parkland High is a terrible tragedy that should’ve never happened. Students go to school to attain a education. Students go to school to hang out with their friends. Some students think of school as their “safe” place. If something bad happened or hard stuff is going on at home, some students go to school to escape that hardship and have some fun. School should be a safe place to go no matter what. You give 10 months of the year to go to this place for 7 hours a day to learn and socialize. You leave your family to come to this place. They will do anything to take care of their children and make sure they are safe. School is a place where they send their children as they believe it is or should be a safe place to go. I believe that the gun violence that has occurred recently needs to change. It is unacceptable. People are brought to the world for a reason and no one deserves to have to face that action that occurred on February 14. I personally knew a few people who went to that school and thankfully survived. Their stories are insane of how they did everything they could in their power to live that day. Gun laws should be stricter as that man should not have attained a gun. Background checks are greatly needed to see why that person needs a gun let along an AR-15. What the students have done so far to try to get stricter gun laws is amazing. Now the government needs to do more. Background checks need to happen. The lives of students, teachers, administrators, literally anyone should matter and no one deserves to have to go through that. -S.K.

This tragedy should not be taken lightly. This was to close to HCMS. We need to take charge of this and not let it happen again. We need to support them in every way possible. Many people lost friends sisters brothers. Gun violence needs to stop. My mom is a Kindergarten Teacher and the day she told me of this shooting she was in tears, She said “I should not have to teach 5 year old’s how to run or hide is someone is trying to shoot them.” I feel no kid or adult should have to go through a tragedy like this. They will have to keep this in their memory for a life time and its not fair for them. We need to speak out and make a change. A school shooting should not even be a possibility or something we have to worry about, Unfortunately it was a reality and it has happened enough that its time to stop and now we need to take a stand and stop this from happening! for Parkland and Hunter’s Creek GO EAGLES!! -A

I’m glad that this has woken us up. This shouldn’t be a problem. This should have never happened. People like this shouldn’t be allowed to have a gun and the fact that these weapons are so easily accessible isn’t helping. We need stricter gun control. Whats more important, the 2nd amendment or our lives? Most gun owners have guns to protect themselves from other guns. So many precious lives have been lost do to guns being in the wrong hands. Pulse, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Virginia Tech, Stoneman Douglas High, the list goes on. It upsets me that there is a list. It seems inhumane to have a list. There shouldn’t be a list. All of these victims should have been alive and living but some psychos ended those lives. Lives we will forever miss.

Young lives.
Ready to thrive.
But instead,
They lay in a hospital bed.
With wrapped up wounds,
They will see the end soon.
One man with a gun
Ended all of their high school fun.
Even though our hearts are filled with sorrow,
Hopefully, it will bring no guns for tomorrow. -S.R.

I’m tired of all this violence on the world, and I feel we need stricter gun laws. There are some people that don’t understand how serious this is, they don’t understand the fact we can lose 17 young lives in only one day. Those people that pull the trigger wouldn’t be able to do it without a gun. This has to stop, all this violence is making the world worse. Today I pray for those who were affected at Parkland and I pray nothing like this keeps happening. -J.A.

The time is now to act on this. It doesn’t take a debate to determine that we should stop selling such dangerous guns. If we don’t, who will? -I.C.

Its sad that kids cant go to school without have to worry about getting killed or injured by other people because of their life problems. I feel sad for these parents who lost their children at school. Where they should be learning not dying. -J.M.

And there were so many more heartfelt, truly emotional responses that I was so proud of our students for writing.

The last two minutes of our walkout were spent listening to “We Are the World” played by our Chamber Orchestra.

When we returned to class, there was no way to easily transition back into the day, so I knew that we had to spend a moment. I was crying, they were crying…no one was going to get any learning at the moment. To help the transition, I took a couple of minutes to just talk about using our sadness to have courage to continue standing up for those who cannot. And to be okay with the sadness and anger they are feeling, but to hold onto it and remember to focus on taking those feelings and making them productive. I then said, “And we get to go on, but let’s cherish every day.”

This was one of the most emotional moments I have ever spent with my students, and the sadness, empathy, and anger that my students feel about this are real. They are the future, everyone, and they don’t like how the present is looking.

#NeverAgain #Enough

Teaching Tuesday on a Wednesday

Teaching Tuesday: My Classroom After Parkland

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For weeks I’ve known I wanted to write this post as tomorrow marks a month since the Parkland Shooting, but I had to figure out how I wanted to word all of my thoughts. I hope that I am able to articulate and say what I mean.

I love teaching. I love teaching so much that I asked to go back to part-time teaching even while I had to do a full-time reading coach job. Because teaching makes me happy and fills my heart. Part of my job as a teacher is my students being a part of my life and I, theirs. I am one of their adults. So many of us refer to our students as our kids because that is just what they are to us, our children.

The shooting in Parkland has put a lot of fear into our hearts. My fellow teachers are scared. My students are scared. And although there is so much I think should change, this is not a political post, so I am not going to get into the lack of mental health help and gun control laws in our country. I instead want to share what I discussed with students in the days after to help them process the fear.

First, I talk to them about it. Yes, I sit down with my students as if they are my peers to talk to them about this because I may be the only adult that does. I acknowledge the horror of what happened, and I answer any questions about it that they want to ask; however, I reiterate over and over that until something comes from a credible and reputable news source, we can’t assume it as true (this is an important lesson for kids period).

Then, I share with them how much I care about them and that I am always there for them. I make sure every single one of my students hear this. I want to remind them that I am one of their adults, and I am open to hearing them. I want to make sure if they have no one else to talk to that they know I am there. This is a multi-purpose. One, to help them process the mass shooting that happened only two hours from our house in a town that two of our teachers are from. Two, to make sure if any of my students feel outcast or that no one cares, they will hear that I do. Because I do.

That’s when we start talking about fear. Fear to me is a passive emotion. It is a chain reaction that leads to us being immobile and inactive and anxious. That is not what we need right now. Fear is what we’ve felt after Columbine. After Sandy Hook. After Virginia Tech. After too many school shootings. And nothing has happened because fear makes us immobile.

We also talked about media coverage and its impact on their fear. Without the constant coverage and social media postings, would they feel as fearful as they do? Probably not. They are a generation of constant connections, so it is our job as their adults to help them deal with the constant bombardment of information and how it affects them, so I felt it was important to talk about this as well.

Then, to help move past the fear I needed them to know that the tragedy is just that, a tragedy, and that it isn’t a norm. They brought up the 18 school shootings before Parkland in the U.S., so I talked to them about what those included, but then I asked them to guess how many car accidents there are every year.  The answer? About 6.3 million accidents occurred in 2015, and over 37,000 people die in car accidents yearly in the U.S. (http://branlawfirm.com/many-car-accidents-usa-per-day/). But we are prepared because of this danger. We prepare appropriately by having air bags, wearing our seat belts, and making our cars safer. That is why we do lock down drills because until there is no threat, we need to be prepared, but that doesn’t mean we need to be scared. We are preparing for something that is very unlikely to happen. This part of the conversation is almost too logical which is why I made sure to talk about the emotional aspects first because I didn’t want to downplay the impossibly horrifying thing that happened in Parkland, but I also needed to help them get past the fear. Being scared isn’t a way to live, and if we are going to be scared of this, there is so much we’d need to be scared of also. Instead let’s be prepared and alert, yet live life to the fullest.

This is where I used the survivors as an example. Although I am sure that students who experienced the horrors that they did are definitely filled with fear, the ones we’re still hearing from have instead grabbed onto a more active emotion: anger. I am so proud of the productivity they have found in their anger and how they’ve made their voices be heard. If my students want to be angry, be angry. Just make sure it is a productive anger and an anger that doesn’t go away over time unless they feel that issues have been fixed.

And after that, classroom life goes on. Little things have changed: I now lock my door all the time again, more gates have gone up around my school, construction sounds make students jump, fire drills now are something everyone fears, and I am consciously smiling and saying hi to all students I see to make sure they hear a positive voice that day. But overall, classroom life goes on. However, I hope that the anger that my students feel, and so many teachers and students feel, leads to productive changes in our society and that this mass school shooting doesn’t lead to immobility, anxiety, and inactivity like the ones in the past.

**See my my other post on my school’s solidarity with Parkland to see my school’s walkout**

 

Teaching Tuesday: Gateway Books For Students Who Say They Don’t Like to Read

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We’ve all had that student: “Miss, I don’t like to read!” or “Reading is so boring!” And we just cry a little inside because they don’t know what they are missing. So to help with anyone struggling to find the just-right book for one of their students, we’ve created this fun list of recommendations:

1. For kids who say they like video games not books:
 
Insignia by S.J. Kincaid
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow

2. For kids who say they like movies not books:

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Legend by Marie Lu

3. For kids who say they like sports not books:

Booked by Kwame Alexander
Ball Don’t Lie by Matt de la Peña

4. For kids who are really interested in the future and technology but say they don’t like to read:
 
Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson
Bot Wars by J.V. Kade

5. For kids who say that books are boring:

Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
House Arrest by K.A. Holt

6. For kids who are interested in conspiracy theories and read about them on Reddit & Tumblr but say they don’t read fiction:

Masterminds by Gordan Korman
The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

7. For kids who play D&D or Magic but say they don’t like to read:
 
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
The Dungeoneers by John David Anderson

8. For kids who love humor and list Adam Sandler as their favorite actor but say they don’t like reading:

TeenBoat by Dave Roman
Winger by Andrew Smith

9. For kids who say they like music not books:

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

10. For kids that are in the musical at school and say they don’t like to read:

Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

11. For kids who only want to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid:

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
Cosmic Commandos by Christopher Eliopolous

12. For kids who love Marvel movies but says they don’t like to read:
 
Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds
The Rise of Aurora West by Paul Pope

13. For kids who watch TruTV or Pretty Little Liars but say they don’t like to read:

The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer
Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

14. For kids who love drama but say they don’t like to read:

What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

15. For kids who are history and WWII buffs but don’t like to read fiction:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Septys

16. For kids who are interested in survival but say they don’t like to read:
 
Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelson
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

17: For high schoolers who liked The Outsiders in middle school but say they don’t like to read now:

Kids of Appetite by David Arnold
Trino’s Choice by Diane Gonzalez Bertrand

18. For kids who say nothing is ever going to be as good as The Hate U Give or All American Boys:
 
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

19. For kids who are interested in the immigration debate but say they don’t like to read:

American Street by Ibi Zoboi
The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

20. For kids interested in learning about mental health yet say they don’t read fiction:

Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

What are your go-to gateway books?

RickiSig and Signature