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A Spring Break Hike - Blog Post #8

Over the past few years when we've gone on vacation we've often chosen locations good for hiking.  Spring break was last month, and, true to form, we visited the southern California desert, specifically the area around Joshua Tree National Park. One day we decided to hike up one of the medium-size mountains in the area, Mt. Ryan.  The summit overlooks Palm Springs, but the hike to the summit goes through a fairly remote part of the national park that doesn't see a lot of foot traffic.  It seems like cell phone service is everywhere these days, but there wouldn't be any here. We're always on the lookout for wildlife when we hike, and in this part of the world there are scorpions, rattlesnakes, birds, deer, mountain lions, several kinds of rabbits, and even big horn sheep to name just a few.  In fact, the day before we were driving through a residential neighborhood just outside the park and saw a couple coyotes cruising along the streets.  They weren't up to ...
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Blog Post #7 - Some Thoughts on Chapter 11

At the beginning of Chapter 9 Randy Bomer states that "compared to most people, I am a facile writer and spend a lot of time doing it."  I don't doubt this statement at all.  I wish I was a facile writer, too.  As a teacher it is important that I foster this in my students.  I'm focused on the Social Studies at a secondary school level, and to be candid I'm not overly interested in my students simply remembering the dates of historical events or places on a map.  I want my students to be able to think about what they are learning, and reflect on how a current or historical event affects them and others. As part of this process the idea of using writing as a thinking tool makes great sense. Chapter 11 delves into some different approaches for teaching about how to write to think. My favorite approach is the first one listed, "Accepting What Comes."  In this blog post we have been asked to avoid direct quoting, but I am especially struck by what Wi...
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Blog Post #6: (Another) Slice of Life

It's Friday afternoon, and I have about three hours to myself.  I need to use this quiet time to get ahead on my homework (or just catch up).  I have to substitute teach all next week, not to mention stay on top of everything else around here, so these three hours better be productive. I settle in at my desk and 10 minutes later my yard guy Victor shows up.  I open the gate, and then (of course) I have to chat with him for a few minutes.  I don't mind this at all, because I've done business with this guy for 20 years!  He wants to know about my kids, especially how my son is doing with baseball this spring.  I'm interested in how his kids are doing, too. We both smile and shake our heads about how fast everyone is growing up.  I ask how he and is his family are doing post-Harvey, what a nightmare.  I almost forget to ask if there anything special going on in my yard that he needs to tell me about. And, I get to practice my Spanish a little bit...
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Blog Post #5: BHH and Orbiting Jupiter

When my children were young, I would often read aloud to them.  Actually, there was a LOT of reading to them.  We went through the entire set of Harry Potter books...twice to be precise, one time for each child.  And my son enjoyed the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  So did I!  These times were priceless. They could follow along with the plot line, and recognize characters and their traits, but, as expected,  they were not doing a lot of higher level thinking about what they were hearing.  What sort of themes were being communicated in the books?  What about character conflict?  How did my kids feel about what they heard?  In the vernacular, my kids needed some scaffolding!  And candidly, my son - the younger of the two, now at age 16 - still does. I think a tool like BHH is beguilingly simple, and therein lies the beauty.  It's something that young readers can use, remember, and understand.  It's a marvelous approa...
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Blog Post #4: Interview or Written Reflection Questions

My best reading experience?  Interesting question!  I haven't given this much thought, despite the fact that I'm reading so much every day.  Correspondence with friends and families, social media, text books, novels, things my students are working on, magazines, online news and analysis sites, and online product reviews are just a few things that I read regularly, but I know there are more. It's not imperative that I have a silent and undisturbed place to read, but I tend to lean in that direction.  For me, the most important part of a good reading experience is what I am reading.  Am I engaged, and have I learned something?  Have I gotten some other value out of what I read?  Of course, the term "Value" registers on many different levels.  Have I been entertained?  Did I read something that was thought-provoking, or something that I found aesthetically pleasing?  Occasionally I may read something and find myself being amazed that a hu...
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Blog Post #3: A Slice of Life (in PE)

Today was fun, it always is when I get to substitute teach in PE.  And it's tiring, trying to keep kids engaged, having fun, learning the rules of a new game, comforting kids who bumped an elbow or knee, etc., etc.  It takes a lot of energy. For some reason second grade comes in first.  Forty boys and forty girls.  We'll jog/skip/gallop around the gym and get warmed up, and then it's time to tell them about the game.  One of us blows a whistle and calls out "GRAPES, and the kids run to the center of the gym and cluster around the teachers, sitting cross legged, or as we call it "criss-cross applesauce."  And then the real fun starts! Next period, in comes first grade.  The same routine, but with a little more explanation of what to do, including demonstrations.  Third period, in comes kindergarten.  It's hard for the kids to listen to the teachers during grapes.  They look around, especially at me because I'm someone new and differ...
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Blog Post #2: My Literacy Experiences in Junior High School and High School

It just so happens that I went to two different junior high schools, and two different high schools, and it was a long time ago!   How in the world can I remember that far back?  It's pretty blurry and vague, to say the least. So, after a bit of pacing around and getting myself calmed down, some memories started to come back.  And, I'm going to first take the liberty of sharing some experiences I recall from my elementary school years. I was a voracious reader.  I devoured young reader books like The Hardy Boys and The Happy Hollisters .  I warned you I was going way back! I would often read these books over and over, and I even recall challenging myself to read three of The Happy Hollister books in one day, which I did.  I'm sure there were others, although I know I didn't read any Nancy Drew . Another one I couldn't put down was the World Book Encyclopedia set my parents had. There was a different volume for every letter of the alphabet, but...
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