Nailing 1st and 3rd

Well my kids took a formative assessment on POV and nailed first and third person. Now to only get them to "get" omniscient and limited. grrr....

POV learning cards

My students have rough ass time with Point of view when we read Lit in class. I created these cards [freaking love Microsoft Publisher] so they can have a handy reference. 7th graders must learn Omniscent, First Person and Third person Limited so that's all I've got. You can sooo easily create 2nd person if you need to. peace out.

Lit circles....an expiriment

Being a new teacher and coming off fresh from Language Arts seminars, I was saturated with Literature Circles and being in the power of reading. Reality: My school is putting the pressure on us for our students to pass tests and they aren't for the love of reading.

I have been able to sneak it in here and there. I came across this website and it have role sheets for group members. Love it. Last Friday was my first lit circle (and most of my students too.) It worked; freaky worked. I was worried that the students could smell the fear coming from me...but they didn't. They embraced it and they "got it."

Here is the link:

http://litsite.alaska.edu/workbooks/circle/group.html

refusing to love them into poverty

"Let's feel sorry for them because they are poor, Latino and live with bullets wizzing past their heads. They have a enough to deal with; teachers shouldn't shove education down their throats.''

Sorry-----Bulls#%*@.

I thought I'd start out with something controversial, but common in schools. Poverty-stricken districts seem to baby and love our kids to the point that they students simply are not learning.

Now, I am new to teaching and I won't pretend to be an expert so this is an opinion-ridden post. My 7th graders are reading at a 4th grade reading level on a good day. Good Day. Overhauling our school is the name of the game so the usual moans and groans in any given classroom across the US are multiplied by at least 100 in the school I'm at. These kids are hloding on to an absurd self invented and teacher propelled reality that they are stupid and hold on to "color the duck" activities for dear life.

I'm not saying that my kids are the only ones in the world, but it is consistant across the board. I hate to complain, just frustrated.

I refuse to love them into poverty. I refuse to give them color the duck activities. I will teach. They will learn.