Top Ten List

I almost feel like this could easily be a top 20 list. This has been a course that I will be thinking about long after it concludes and will continue to process information from. So, here goes nothing!

10. Online courses are not so bad.

I have taken an online course before and it was MUCH different. I enjoyed it but there

was just not the amount of interaction that this course offered. It was fun and scary navigating technology and having online conversations with several people. My husband and my daughters

were also very impressed.

9. Blogging is fun!

I have always enjoyed following the blogs of my friends that live far away but I have never thought about starting one. Simply put, I have commitment issues when it comes to writing. I may write something that I think is great one day but shudder in horror as I read it the next. I think that I might try it, though. This was a fun experience.

8. Keep it interesting!

I think that more of our students will perform better in school if they are learning about something INTERESTING. Content area teachers think that their subject is the greatest (guilty) but not all students agree. I think that as long as we keep this in perspective and attempt to find engrossing texts,

we might just be able to help our students remember the time when they loved to read. Also, why expect students to enjoy a text that we might not even enjoy teaching?

7. Students like a challenge...

Reading Don't Fix No Chevys taught me something amazing. Students love a challenge. On the opposite end of that, they do not like to feel that a text is impossible to get through. So, help students find texts that are "just right" for them. Don't let them be lazy because then they will be bored.

6. Make it social (reading, that is).

It is no secret that the social element of school is often the most important one to students. So, if you can even get one student to rave about a book, you will probably have a domino effect. Voila! Books are not only cool, but are also the topic of conversation at lunch. Every teacher's dream. At that point, the doors are open to so many different engaging activities. Thank you, Academic Literacies Model.

5. Incorporate Technology

My students are so much more technologically advanced than I am, and I am no slouch. Truth is, they love it. It is easy for them and fun. So, why not make learning fun for them by using technology? I have every intention of attempting both the Class Story and Reading Blogs with my classes this year. I think that it is such a fun way to learn about other books and share information. Now, I just have to figure out how to set one up...eek!

4. Clear Goals and Expectations

The majority of our students like video games. Why? Because the instructions are very clear. There are no questions about what is expected from the player. I think that sometimes our students are overwhelmed trying to please us. So, make expectations clear and see if it will help the students that are floundering.

3. Make it Relevant!

Students always ask, "Why?" and we need to make sure that they know the answer. If they have lessons created for them that makes sense to them, it makes all of the difference in the world. After the completion of a novel, instead of asking my students to answer questions, I try to assign hands-on activities for students sometimes instead of just writing. My students love to make soundtracks for novels as a project. Then, they get to incorporate music (which they LOVE) and relate it to the text. That makes the text that much more relevant to them, especially when they have to justify their song choice and tell which scene it belongs to.

2. Aesthetic and Efferent Reading

I have always known that there are many different ways to read. Looking at the differences between aesthetic and efferent reading, however, has really been enlightening. I always strive to help my students to become more aesthetic readers, but now I have some tools to help me with that.

1. Who knew that there was so much to Discourse?

I have really enjoyed this Masters program because it makes me look at teaching in a more philosophical way. Dig deeper. Understand more. To think about students and the fact that they have a primary and a secondary discourse is mind-blowing. It is one of those ideas that you always acknowledge in the back of your mind but you never really THINK about what it means. It helps to put things in perspective in a different way than you are accustomed to (and that is good) and it makes you more cognizant of your actions as an educator. Wow.