My first Saturday afternoon session was Breaking Sexual Taboos around Sexuality and Gender in Middle Grade Fiction. The speakers began by talking about their books. One stated that we have the tendency to want to shelter our children instead of preparing them. Books that talk about touchy subjects prepare our children for the world. These middle school books were presented as a little less risky than the topics of YA books. They discuss first crushes instead of sexual awakenings. Books that address topics of sexuality and gender within middle school allow for inclusivity beginning at a young age. Teachers cannot withhold important topics because they are scared of backlash, instead, they have to prepare for the backlash, and create a good argument for teaching these books within the classroom.
My favorite session of the entire conference was my last session on Saturday: Stop Grading: Empower Your Students to Evaluate Their Own Learning. This session was given by ThePaperGraders who are residents of Colorado and have an awesome blog at ThePaperGraders.org. They began the session with their tenants: teacher the writer, not the writing and teach the reader, not the book. We have to emphasize the process of writing, and see the learning in the classroom as the work. Instead of evaluating students work, teachers have to be the mirror; they have to reflect back to the students what they have done so that the students can evaluate their own learning. Teachers have to focus because it is impossible to teach all the standards.
The paper graders gave eight steps: 1. Figure out what you’re teaching, 2. Build a classroom based on that focus, 3. Get your students working, 4. Collect data on their work, 5. After they understand what the work is and how to do it, show them the learning objectives, 6. Ask your students to each choose a few learning objectives for themselves and show them how to track their growth, 7. Continue to be the mirror, and 8. Make the need to determine a semester grade and opportunity for reflection and conversation over student learning. After going to this session, I realized why Dr. E assesses in the way she does which I have always liked. I think giving students the opportunity to evaluate their own learning creates motivation to learn and autonomy over their own learning. I do not think I have done this session justice, but I have to move on or I will write seven blogs over this conference! Saturday ended with Sushi! SO MUCH SUSHI, and a relaxing evening in the hotel. I got through a good amount of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl which I have now finished, and I am in love with it!
I got so many books from this conference. I bought a few at really low prices, then I got a lot more free! I send an entire box of books home, and filled my backpack with books! I got my copy of Ghost signed by Jason Reynolds, and I got my copy of the graphic novel version of Edgar Allen Poe stories signed by Gareth Hinds. It was incredible to be surrounded by so many people who loved books, so many teachers, and so many amazing writers!
The last session I attended was Dark Corners and Dead Girls: Horror and the Supernatural in the High School Classroom. David Gill spoke about his new book Uncanny which I plan to buy as soon as possible. Then, the speakers went on to talking about how multiculturalism can be taught through local ghost stories. Students can research local ghost stories and present them to the class. Finally, the speakers talked about a fun alternative assessment called the brown bag exam. Traditional exams are boring, and they do not reflect what students have learned about a novel they have read. The brown bag exam includes placing objects that relate to the novel the class has read in brown paper bags; for example, an apple or a red ribbon could be used for a brown bag exam for The Giver by Lois Lowry. Students open their bags, and list possible connections to the text from their objects. They list connections to themes, characters, plots, symbols, settings, etc. Next, students get in groups, and work to list more connections for their own objects and their peers’ objects. Then, students find two or more passages from the text that connect to their object. Finally, students write a one sentence take-away about their object and the text to share with the whole class. The brown bag exam is good for kinesthetic learners, and it helps students place the novel within their lives.
The rest of Sunday was spent travelling home. It was an exhausting trip with so much to do and so much fun. I hope to be able to go to more NCTE conferences in the future!
Mªrqui Kⓔim 