I think I have tried everything possible with these students, and it had become clear that what had worked in the past would not work with these students. This is a different generation of student. One that has come through Covid. One that no longer has the intrinsic motivation necessary to become successful students, and extrinsic rewards do not appeal to them. Plus, behavior is horrible.

Now, not all teachers have the issues with the students that I have. Those teachers have either another teacher in the room with them, or they have taken on the role of a stern teacher from the beginning. My mistake is that my reputation precedes me. I have tried to be the one who seeks out the problem and take a kind approach, but what I’ve learned is that my reputation is one of a “pushover,” and you can do what you want in her class.

There was a change this week. My newly medicated self (thank you, ADHD meds that make me feel like I’m on top of my game) has taken a complete 180. I’m fully aware. I have my stuff together and organized. I am more than capable of pulling myself together rather than feeling like a tightly wound ball of anxiety.

I started on Tuesday reading and discussing Cisneros’s “Eleven.” It’s short enough to keep their attention. They can easily identify the fact that the teacher shouldn’t have pushed the sweater onto Rachel. They can also empathize with Rachel’s feelings about Sylvia who states the sweater belongs to Rachel. Plus, they can think about why Rachel states the fact that the teacher is right because she’s older. Later we will read an article on intentional and unintentional bullying by teachers and discuss that in reflection of this story. My biggest purpose is to make them think outside of the stereotypical bully by hinting at a teacher could bully or someone you don’t expect could bully.

Wednesday we talked about the problems around laws that address bullying. We also started a first glimpse at South Carolina’s Safe School Climate Act. They started talking about some of the forms of bullying, and I had them look into some vocabulary that they may not know. Friday we will completely unpack the law that addresses what schools need. From here on out, the SC law will be a frequent piece in the classroom as we read and discuss several text pieces. We have a Fall break coming up starting next week, and when we return from break, I am planning to start our novel study.

Today they started building a case for how they feel about the punishment for bullying and whether that should be more strict. I pointed out on Wednesday that an author who was interviewed on NPR stated that labeling a bully could be a stigma that they couldn’t get rid of. My hope is to help them understand that all of us tend to bully, and we don’t want to be labeled as a bully. We want prevention. We want conflict resolution. We want to change the climate within the classroom and school. Not just “Here’s a law and if you don’t abide by it you will be punished.” The Safe School Climate Act specifies that schools have a set of rules in place, but how do you teach them? Just saying don’t do it isn’t the clear answer. Because of this, I love to teach this unit. It makes them think. It makes them take ownership in what we are doing and why we are doing it.

With that said, I can’t do it if they are not willing to listen. I had to put students out of my class this week because they were disrespectful. Not just to me, but to each other, as well. And some had to learn that what they asked for is a two way street. You can’t say to me, “You never stop so-and-so when they say stuff to me,” and then when I deal with it, you say something rude to them. It doesn’t work that way. Me handing out a consequence to them doesn’t give you a free pass to do it back thinking you won’t have a consequence.

I just hope that this new backbone holds strong. They’ve pushed me into a corner, and I don’t do corners.

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To help with this, I reached into my file cabinet and pulled out a graphic organizer from Education Oasis. They have a lot of different organizers on their website, and I have used their Story Map Organizer to take notes about a story and even to create their own stories.

When I introduced the students to the organizer, I had already discussed many of these plot elements. They know what each of these is about. We talk about the short stories we have already read and place those elements into an organizer. Then, I have them give me details for a story. They randomly give me setting details, character details, problem(s) and even solutions. The ending is usually a mystery on these because I plan to write and share them with the students.

By doing this, they have an idea of how to fill this out or they can borrow from mine. I even start my story on the same day by showing it to them on the overhead projector (Ipevo or Elmo) so that they know how to start their stories. Sometimes it is en media res and sometimes it is just describing the setting. I even show the other classes’ story maps that they gave me and the story I’m writing with it.

The great thing about an organizer is that students can utilize it simply even if they struggle to get started. I always take them back to the organizer if they are stuck. We fill in more details, or we work on the problem they are having. Any time we are writing, I try to sit at my small group table and allow students to come up to the table for help. Some want to camp out at the table, but unless they are absolutely having issues (I generally have on in each of my classes), they have to go back to leave a chair empty. Otherwise, I have 10 to 20 students trying to shove computers or paper in my face. And yes, it happens! Putting procedures in place for the writing conference table can be challenging the first time that I do it. By the end of the year, they know how it works and everything runs smoothly.

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I can recall the day when I’d have to open my computer, go to Google, and type in a sentence to discover the source just to check if it was plagiarized. Of course, when reading, it is easy to identify those papers whose writer’s voice does not match previous work. It would be wonderful if students actually grew in their writing overnight, but alas, it doesn’t work that way. Now, I don’t bother to read if the font and formatting is all over the place.

Of course, now Word just allows us to go in and check the sources. It’s funny how students have not discovered this little hack. You can open it up in the editor, and it will show you how to fix it. It also shows teachers the exact website it came from. The paper above copy and pasted from 4 different websites, hence the different fonts.

How do you choose to handle it?

First and foremost, the student receives a zero. I could easily write the student up or have them serve a lunch detention, but instead I send home a letter with the following consequences: You have received a zero for your paper due to the fact that the paper has been plagiarized. Texts that are exactly like your paper were found on the following websites, and I have attached a copy. You have a choice. You will have five days to rewrite your paper or take the zero for a major grade. Turning in a second plagiarized paper will result in a discipline slip.

I have parents and students sign the letter. It is then kept as proof that I gave the student an opportunity to rewrite the assignment if a question of the zero happens to come up later. Most of the time, I never have another plagiarism incident from that student. And yes, I do check their work more frequently. Doing a search in Google with quotation marks around the query is a great way to get exact results fast.

I’m usually stumped by the fact that no matter how many times you teach them about plagiarism, students will still try to get around actually doing the work. They want to slap something on the paper and move on.

Is this something you see a lot of since technology is being used more? Let me know in the comments below.

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Differentiation sometimes looks like chunking it for all, and those who do not, can finish it faster.

Differentiation sometimes looks like providing the same accommodations for all students.

In this one class, the only thing that I can manage to differentiate properly is my reading. I can give the students texts on their level and then chunk the writing into smaller steps.

I will be teaching Argumentative Writing starting on Monday. I’m not thrilled because writing is my first period’s weakest area. It’s not that they can’t, it’s just that their ADHD prevents them from being able to get started. (I’ll have to elaborate more later on that subject)

My goal is to find articles on the same subject that is adapted to their level (Newsela is fantastic for this), and have them read and highlight with a claim in mind (what would support their claim). We are not going to just highlight and write (remember those ADHD children?). Instead, one small part of it at a time. I’m even going to give them a folder to keep all of their work in so that they do not lose it (because they will). It may take me two weeks to get through writing. I really want to be able to sit down with them one-on-one and give a good writer’s conference with each of them. I’m also planning to pull students for reading conferences this week (I hope!).

It will be weeks of small chunks. Small bites. Fifteen minutes or less then move on. If they have too much time to think, chaos erupts as their way of not wanting to do the work. Minilesson, do, transition, minilesson, do, transition, etc. It works with them. But you have to remember that you only have 5 minutes before they get antsy.

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One of my main goals this school year has been to challenge my students to use transition words when writing. Often, it’s difficult for students to use transition words in their writing with a purpose. I realized when I started to teach text structure in informative writing that my students didn’t understand what transition words were, and they certainly did not know how to use them. I had to find a way to make transition words accessible to them while helping them understand when to use them.

Each time we studied a text structure, I gave them a list of words that they would be somewhat familiar with, but I also made sure to give them some words that they may not have seen before. We would examine the list, and I would have students pick out words that they know they could easily use in a sentence. For example, when we were studying Cause and Effect, I gave them the following words: because, since, for, so, as a result, thus, therefore, and hence. I showed them examples of the words in use, and then I polled the class to see which words that they thought they would be able to use in their writing. In this example, most chose the word, “because.” I thought that they would choose that one because many are familiar with the word.

When selecting a transition word list, I managed to find one online that had everything broken down into their uses. The Smart-Word site has a pdf download that even includes conjunctions. I plan to create for my students a useful resource that they can use for future reference when writing. Since they have to write an essay for state testing, I always tell my students to find favorite phrases and words to always use. This is helpful when they are writing and cannot access their documents. By creating a memorized personal list, they will be able to write without having to look at a document.

What can be achieved through this writing challenge? Many of the transition words that they use allow students to write sentences that are more complex and extend beyond the short simple sentences. It gives them a chance to add variety to their sentence types thus creating a more pleasing auditory experience to their prose other than the short staccato of the simple sentences.

Overall, providing them with a challenge is an opportunity to expand their writing repertoire. I have had my students keep a writing journal so that we can collect interesting writing. Even lists can provide them with interesting nuggets to tuck away in their writing journal so that they can refer back to them often.

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We started our poetry unit this past week, and by Thursday I was feeling about as “Blah” about poetry as my students. I hadn’t yet broached my favorite poems as I was using one larger poem in each of my grade levels to teach some of the basic poetry terms, so my enthusiasm was really starting to wane.

I looked around my classroom for some inspiration and discovered a lot of old Close Reading books that needed to be tossed out. Then a brilliant idea struck: Why not rip out some pages and let them create poems?

Blackout poems are poems that students create by selecting certain words or phrases on a page and blacking out all of the rest. I pulled up some examples, selected my own page (part of “The Tell-Tale Heart”), and hoped for the best.

When I announced the assignment to my 1st period class, it was met with uncertainty, but my 6th grade honors managed to pull it off. 2nd period? Some jumped at the assignment with enthusiasm, and others struggled. 3rd period? Questioned everything. 5th period? A single student shouted, “Oh my god, Yes!” She was excited and asked to do more than one. I have to agree. I enjoyed creating mine as well.

The results of this assignment was fabulous. One student asked to re-do her poem because she felt she did it wrong. She didn’t understand that what she pulled out spoke volumes. Isn’t that what writing is all about. Allowing one to make mistakes that fall into place? Creative writing should be a safe space. It’s a teaching moment that allows you to try different ideas until something fits. She was given an opportunity to recreate a poem, but I informed her that I liked the original.

I’m going to share some of my favorites below.

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It never fails. We create a fabulous written assignment and provide the students with a clear, concise rubric, and when we receive the work, it is far from what we expected.

In the last quarter, I gave my students a written assignment and provided them with a rubric. I told the students that the rubric was there, but I failed to go over this with my 6th graders. My 7th graders were used to rubrics, and they knew what to expect, but I failed my 6th graders. I even failed those 7th graders I have that I didn’t teach last year. I should have reviewed my rubric and provided them with a clear example of what I was looking for as the ideal essay.

When I teach Text Dependent Analysis (TDA) for their state standardized test, I generally go over the rubric with them. In fact, we read it, talk about it, and I show them an example of each. I want them to be prepared. Why not do this from the beginning of the year?

Students need to learn the language of the rubric. They need to know what is expected of them and from their writing. We need to give them clear examples of what we want and do not want. I’m sure that I have become too comfortable in all of this over the past few years that I have forgotten this step. I used to select bits from students work and display it without context or name and have the students pick it apart based on the rubric. In fact, in doing so, a student who was adamant that his essay should have been an “A” and not a “D” decided to rewrite his paper after hearing his classmates feedback. He saw his paper in a different light when other students shared where his paper fell short on the rubric. (I should mention that this was not his entire essay, only his introduction which I had marked him off for being vague and lacking a clear thesis.)

Teaching students how to read and to understand the rubric can benefit them when it comes to writing, even on standardized tests. It can provide them with a road map of what is needed in their writing. I often share with students that sometimes a solid 3 out of a 4 is okay. A 3 on a rubric most of the time is average. The 4 is exceptional. Exceptional writing is one that has style and voice- something that students in middle school struggle to create. They write just as they speak, and finding a formal voice and style can be difficult as they add in interjections at the beginning of sentences and create simple sentences where they could write fabulous complex and compound complex sentences. Rubrics can allow students an opportunity to view their work with a critical eye and correct it prior to submitting.

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Last year, at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, teachers were given a very daunting task: teach a lesson a day on 15 topics for which someone else has written the lessons and assessments. All of these had to be completed in the first three weeks of school along with the usual MAP testing. The purpose was to teach missed skills from the Covid-19 quarantine that happened when schools shut down in March.

The problem with this? They were asking 6th grade teachers to teach argumentative writing analysis without first teaching the other skills and vocabulary needed to understand.

When asked my thoughts on this, I explained that up until 6th grade, students are taught about persuasive writing, but not about reasoning and emphasis is not placed on evidence. Once they reach middle school, we start breaking down arguments and reasoning, and we ask if evidence is sufficient. We ask them to write argumentative essays and to provide (as well as explain) evidence. This can be difficult for 6th graders to grasp. Even today, I can tell a huge difference in the writing of my 7th graders whom I taught last year, and those I did not teach.

One thing that I did do differently this year was to teach writing structure before argumentative. We studied the structure, and then I had students write using that structure. I then had them take information from their essays and the articles that we read and complete graphic organizers showing supporting details (which we will later refer to in arguments as reasons and evidence). This transition of learning is necessary, especially for my 6th graders, due to the fact that so many lacked the skill to write a paragraph. Learning how to properly structure paragraphs teaches them how to include their evidence later when writing argumentative essays and then transitioning that over to their Text Dependent Analysis that they have to do on their state standardized test.

As I transition to argumentative writing, I will be sharing with you, my readers, some of the skills that I use in the classroom. Teaching argumentative writing and TDAs have become a strong suit of mine. I will be sure to share with you some of the resources that I use, as well. Stay tuned.

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I had a conversation with a colleague about improving my students’ writing stamina while still making writing fun for them. I was discouraged by the fact that students didn’t often think that my prompts were as fun to complete. To make matters worse, I sat through a professional development meeting where the speaker pushed the idea that our students need to be writing and writing often.

Enough!

I get it!

But how do I get them to write and have fun while writing?

This deep dark journey led me down the Google rabbit hole. I needed to find something that my students would want to write about. It had to be fun. Funny. Quick to do. Something that required little brain activity, but it needed to keep them engaged the entire time.

What I found was John Spencer. He actually has a YouTube channel with a playlist of Writing Prompts that I love! These little videos that describe the writing prompt are fun and engaging. Plus, I can embed them easily into Schoology assignments.

As I stated in an earlier post, we have PBIS Extra Recess Fridays every other week. Our class schedule is shortened due to the schedule and instead of trying to cover a mini-lesson that may or may not be mini enough, and then allow sufficient time for the students work, and then allow for Independent Reading, I decided to give this a try.

The first writing prompt that I started with was creating a to do list for a villain. I thought that if it didn’t work, we wouldn’t do this again. I have never seen kids so engaged in writing. It was bulleted. I created a daily agenda sheet with times on it, and they filled in the blanks beside the times. When asked if they would want to do other similar writing tasks it was a unanimous yes. Who knew?

Seriously, though. Go check out John Spencer’s blog and his YouTube channel. It has a lot of great resources for teachers.

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At the beginning of each year, I teach my students the RACE writing strategy. I find that many times, as students reach middle school, they lack the ability to fully explain and cite evidence from the text. While the ability to cite evidence is a key standard, it is also an important skill when writing Text Dependent Analysis essays and Argumentative essays.

RACE Writing

The acronym RACE stands for the four key components of this writing strategy. When put together, they allow the student to form a thesis and main idea for their writing, answer the prompt, and fully explain their reasoning. They do this by:

• R: Restating the question being asked
• A: Answering the question being asked
• C: Citing evidence from the text that supports the answer
• E: Explaining the evidence’s connection to the answer

When teaching writing, it helps to start with this writing strategy first and foremost. I do this before teaching Argumentative writing where I teach my Quotation Sandwich. I then lead into the Text Dependent Analysis which is on their state standardized test. Over the years, I have found that this scaffolding of instruction works each and every time.

The hardest habit to break with students is having them start off with “Yes” or “No” when answering questions. They don’t want to include the question. They usually want to dive in, answer simply, and move on to the next task without fully completing the first task. Learning to restate the question is a foreign concept that needs to be addressed immediately. The best way to teach this is to have them remove the words that make this a question and allow them to connect their answer to their restatement if needed. Explicit modeling is best in this strategy. The student will need to be shown multiple question combination. Plus, the teacher will need to model each one in order to avoid the inevitable short phrased answer.

For example, if the question is how does the author reveal the theme of the story, then the restatement would be “The author reveals the theme of the story through…”

What grade levels?

The RACE Writing strategy is not only for middle school, but it can be used at any grade level. The ability to cite evidence to support reasoning is a skill all students need. Using the formula for RACE writing will have students building concise answers to questions in all classes, and not just ELA. How often do you need to provide evidence when answer history questions or science questions?

Overall I feel that students benefit from learning this writing strategy. Students gain a precise formula for answering questions, and build thinking skills that will benefit them when persuasive writing.

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