Weekly Rundown: 27th October

It’s been so heartening reading all the blogs on the Weekly Rundown as well as inspiring for me. This week was the last week of our autumn half term and it has been a busy 7 weeks since the start of the year. So if I had to pick three words to define this week they would be: rain, leaves and high vis. Where’s your fancy high vis belt at?

Monday 21st October: foam role hips for about 8 minutes each side (roughly) while watching The Dublin Murders drama. It was quite intense.

On Tuesday, as it was my turn to take my son and his friends to athletics (track & field) I ran on the treadmill inside the leisure centre.* I listened to The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehise Coates, which helped me switch off from the busyness of work. After running I did 3 sets of arm lifts with 8 lb weights. 3.20 miles; 12:13 minutes per mile.

Thursday I met up with Caroline for a run around the back of Kings Heath. On the way to meet her I put on my headphones blasting Lizzo. Fortunately I still was able to hear Liz calling to me from across the street where she and her husband were waiting to cross. They both looked so happy. So, while Caroline and I ran we chatted about our pre-teen children. It would seem my 12 year old isn’t the only one who gets irritated regularly which was a relief. As we ran, engrossed in our chat, the sun decided to high-tail it out and it became night all of a sudden. I did have my bright orange Worcester Half shirt on so that helped me not get plowed over by maniac drivers. Next time I’ll bring my amazing hi-vis belt which is, as ever, fashion-forward. 3.63 mile; 11:07 minutes per mile.

Today’s run very nearly never happened. Due to a trip down to London yesterday to visit with my friend Karen I was exhausted. So this, combined with the time change, made me think “oh for Pete’s sake Mare, just chill out”. However, I knew I’d regret missing the run I’d planned to do with with Liz, Trudie, Ruth and Jenny. These long runs just put me right, however there was talk of going through Holders Woods again for some luscious forest bathing. With that bait, I pulled on my new compression leggings and got out to the brisk, sunny day. Liz, met me on my street, shivering in the cold and then we met up with Trudie. We then ran down the Kings Heath High Street to pick up Ruth. It was good to see Ruth as she’s been a bit poorly of late. We then ran up the hill to Moseley to meet Jenny. After running through Holders Woods and getting some admirable mud on our running shoes I peeled off from Liz and Trudie as I had to get home to shop for sofas with the family (shops are only open until 4 on Sundays in the UK). 7.76 miles; 13.05 miles per minute.

Ooh! I should also mention that I had a sports massage from a fellow runner from a local running club who is training to be a massage therapist. In short, she was a revelation. Her name is Jo Whiting and she is on FB. I’m definitely going to book further sessions with her as she was able to tell me what was going on with all my niggles. Briefly said, my left side is a mess.

Here are some photos of the Sunday run. 1) Trudie & Liz looking up at the birds 2) a grand heron in Cannon Hill Park 3) gorgeous Chantry Road trees and BLUE sky in Moseley

*I should mention that I am originally from the USA, but I spell with the UK spellings as all my devices are set for it.

Thank you to https://kimrunsonthefly.blogspot.com/2019/10/stop-taper-time.html#comment-form

https://confessionsofamotherrunner.com/2019/10/20/weekly-run-down-fall-running-is-finally-here-to-stay/?unapproved=73370&moderation-hash=5b5a9368889e83b1533bc852b73c9df3#comment-73370

Am I running? Round up 14th -20th of October

It’s getting colder and darker. This week I noticed a big change in the trees around Birmingham with all the glorious golds, reds and yellows so that is something that has caught my eye. I realise colour is so important to me–especially in winter. I managed to get outside during the day for one run this week and enjoy some of the colours.

“Speed walking to get a kink out of my back.”

Tuesday I went out on my own donning my high visibility (hi-vis) belt. This always makes me feel like a crossing guard or as they say here in England, a lollipop lady. I thought about putting my bright light to illuminate my way but it was annoying me as I ran so I turned it off. I ended up speed walking a lot of this “run” as I was having a niggle in my lower back. I took it easy rather than completely skipping it as I knew it was partly due to stress and that a good brisk walk would help me deal with it. Sitting still only makes my muscle pains feel worse. I did my usual 5km route taking me down the high street to Howard Road and then left onto Wheeler’s Lane. During this run my face was well covered in “soft rain” a phrase I learned from my dad’s cousin in Ireland that I love. It was the perfect antidote to mull over a stressful situation with a troubled child at work. By the end of this run, I felt marginally renewed, well at least some of my grumpiness had worn off and I was able to think some positive thoughts towards this child who is such a challenge. This is important for me as a teacher and part of why I can’t imagine my life without the outlet of running. 3.19 miles; 14:46 /mile

“Anti-stress run with Caroline, Sonya & Trudie”

Thursday was saved by Caroline, a woman in my running messages group who said she’d wanted to meet up for a 4 mile run at about 6 on Thursday. I am so grateful that she did this as with the stress and general tiredness of the week, I probably would not have gotten out. We had arranged to meet at Alcester Road and Wheeler’s Lane which was fine; however, I confused Wheeler’s with Howard the road on my Tuesday route. I arrived late, something that is always stressful, but my edginess did not last long with the lovely Caroline, Sonya and Trudie patiently waiting for me. With more “soft rain” on our faces that night we made our way through Kings Heath streets chatting about all sorts of things. Especially happy was news of new houses and all the excitement around that. I have to admit I mentioned my troubles at work dissipated on this run. There were laughs and just sound of my fellow runner’s voices was lovely as we travelled through the increasingly dark city streets. I can’t remember the roads, but we did end up near Kings Heath Park where we entered its dusky confines. Normally, on my own, I would not have ventured in but it was a joy to run in the dark with only flashes of our hi vis and the street lights glowing along the edges of the park. Exiting the park at the corner of Avenue Road and All Saints, I said good bye and pealed off. As I ran down Addison, I saw Trudie’s husband and he asked where she was. I assured him that he was with the other ladies and fine. I really like seeing fellow runners on the streets and thought it was particularly sweet of Dave to make sure Trudie was fine.

4.08 miles; 11:58/ mile

“Sunday Morning Run”

I wasn’t sure about this run if I’m honest. Myself and my family had had a 24 hour sickness the day before and I rested as much as I could. Feeling fit as a fiddle in the morning after a solid 8 hours of sleep, I woke ready to meet Liz and Trudie on Addison to start our run. I’ve run countless runs with these “sedate” ladies and we are quite comfortable with each other now. We three headed up Alcester Road towards Moseley to meet Jenny. The plan being we would do 8 altogether and Jenny would join us for about 4 of those. Amidst flashes of sun and even a bit of blue sky we met Jenny and headed down Salisbury Road towards Cannon Hill Park. Salisbury is a strange road in that it is a kind of vortex where it seems like you are going down hill but it feels like up hill at times. It may just be me, but this seems to be the case. Do you have any roads like this? We ended up running around the back of Moseley and stopped at St Anne’s church which has a tall spire and gargoyles! I’d never noticed them before. I’l try to get a photo next time, but i was impressed with just how impressive St Anne’s is. I’ve driven past it before but running by it meant I. could take in more of its details. It even has a wooden entry way so many English churches have that look old timey and Tudor. It made me think about the people who used to live here who would have used this church as it looked quite prominent. Times have changed and religion has less of a place in our lives, but I am glad to see this beautiful structure preserved.

Saying goodbye to Jenny, we headed back down Salisbury to enter Cannon Hill. The plan was to ultimately catch some “forest bathing” by running through Holders Woods at the back of the park. Before getting there, we were greeted by the colours of the trees and it was so lovely to run through the park. We even saw a bit of the Junior Park Run where children run a 1 mile route instead of the usual 3.1 miles. The marshals were so enthusiastic. One even had a red foam hand for the children to high five which Liz and I agreed we would need to get for the next time we work a cheer station. Other sights included puffy white birds with cute little faces and various ducks. Liz even spotted a black crow at the top of one of the tallest trees taking us all in from its perch.

We made it to Holders Woods and the forest did not disappoint. It’s another world in there, so green and verdant. Here is a photo:

I love that that is smack-dab in the middle of the UK’s second city. In the end it was a good run and I ended it feeling more myself after the difficulties of troubled boys and sickness this week. A good end to the weekend, it helped me have the patience to go shopping for a couch with the whole family. We haven’t decided on a new one yet, but I am just proud to have gotten out to go shopping in the first place. I even managed to get home in time to pick up my son and my husband from his footie (soccer) match. It’s walking distance from our house, but my son runs for a whole hour and doesn’t have the energy to walk the distance after. He got in the car and put the window down letting in the brick cold air. When I told him to close it, he said, “I just ran for an hour Mom!” I replied “so did I!”

8.08 miles; 13.05 /mile

(I will figure out these link ups at half term, but am grateful for the link ups to other runner via:)

Thank you to https://kimrunsonthefly.blogspot.com/2019/10/stop-taper-time.html#comment-form

https://confessionsofamotherrunner.com/2019/10/20/weekly-run-down-fall-running-is-finally-here-to-stay/?unapproved=73370&moderation-hash=5b5a9368889e83b1533bc852b73c9df3#comment-73370 and

My running week…7th-13th October

More than usual this week, I felt unmotivated and unready to run. It could have been annoying things going on at work or simply the start of a long dark winter. Fortunately, my son had athletics at fox hollies leisure centre, and it was my turn to drive him and his friends. This meant that on I would not be able to go to the Kings Heath Running Club run that night and would have to run instead on the dreadmills. So, even if I’m not in the mood, running on the machines is a better alternative to sitting on the couches in the reception area (trust me, not pleasant) or waiting in my car over an hour for the little ones to finish running loops around the track (even more unpleasant). I hadn’t been on them in awhile, but discovered a delightful feature about them which allows me to choose to run through various beautiful landscapes. I chose to run through a red wood forest in California so that made up for the misfortune of running inside. Heart beating and brow sweaty, I did feel better after four miles on the machine so mission accomplished I supposed. After that, I ventured into the weights room which was filled with muscly men taking long brakes in between reps of many kgs. I stuck to my ten pound weights (about 5 kg) to keep my muscles strong. When I’m tired at the end of a long race a lot of the time pumping my arms helps me summon up a little extra strength to get me to the end. (4 miles, 11:54/mile)

Thursday saw me combining an errand with trying to get some miles in. My friend Emma was lending me a kite so that I could use it for a lesson Friday morning. One of the boys I teach who reads Braille had read a story about a boys flying a kite, but had never touched or flown one himself. Emma would be home at 7:30 so I mapped out a route to run over to her house to get there at that time and with a mile under my belt. She is a runner too, so she understood. My need to run (or plod) after a busy day. The nights are getting darker and this is one of the first nights I put on my high vis straps over my running top. Along with the dark, the rain was making its force known as well. Living in the UK I’m used to running in rain. Often it stops and starts and does not bother me one bit. This time, however, it felt like buckets coming down. I had also worn my glasses figuring I’d just wear them since it was only a 3 mile run. Soon enough after leaving Emma’s I had to take them off they were so covered in drops. Arriving home my sons greeted me with hoots and teased me about going swimming. Still, I felt revived having gone out. (3.1 miles, 11:24 /mile)

I’d been thinking about mental health this week as it’d been Mental Health Awareness Day on Tuesday. I wonder what I’d be like without this habit I’ve acquired in which I go running around the neighbourhood for hours a week in exchange for some peace in my nervous body. Without it, I think it’s likely, I’d be hiding away on my couch too often feeling downright miserable.

Finally Saturday I had a long run planned with my sedate running friends Liz and Jenny. I met them at the barber’s on the high street and off we went towards the entrance to the Stratford Canal. Liz and I have run this loop several times and it takes us to about 4 miles. We wanted ten for the day and Jenny would be coming along for 4 of them. From the high street we ran down Alcester Road which is a lovely hill and combined with lovely company means the time flies. We then turn left onto a neat little entrance to the canal where we can run over cobbles that once made a good path for horses while we look at the handy work of our local graffiti artists (who knew Noks was a pedo?).

I have recently become fascinated with the Japanese idea of Shinrin-yoku or “forest bathing” as a way of escaping the electric anxieties of our digital modern life. And though I live in the second largest city in the UK, we are lucky to have lots of Shinrin-Yoku type experiences available to us. The canals in particula provide a space in which lush green leaves and trees have been allowed to grown in their glorious greenery and it is a feast for my eyes. I feel like my eyes are thirst as I run through the bowed trees with the water beside me. Somehow we started chatting about Grayson Perry, drags queens and other things which suited me just fine.

In the past Liz and I have gotten lost in this no man’s land between the canals and Kings Heath but we are experts now at finding our way through green paths that wind and wend their way to the Moseley Rugby grounds. We said a cheery good bye to Jenny back in Kings Heath and Liz and I carried on for six more miles. To be honest, I really felt a magnetic pull to my house as I was tired from a long, hard week. This is where having a friend to run with really helps. I’d have to explain to Liz that I just wasn’t up to it and say goodbye to her. That was just too much work and, of course, the guilt would have taken away from the joy of putting my feet up at home. I didn’t want to leave Liz on her own just because of my whim. Also, I did want to run 10 miles to get me over my weekly average of 15 miles. So we ran, off towards Cannon Hill and back winding our way to 6 more miles. Towards the end, I was able to show her Holders Woods for a bit more of some lovely Shinrin-Yoku. I’m hoping that the greenery will get me through the grey skies of winter here. (10 miles about 13:00 / miles)

Finally I went to the cheer station with Kings Heath Running Club to support those who were doing the half today. Having recently run the Worcester Half, it is important to me to give some of the cheers back. I will say I am so in awe of all the different bodies and faces that you see in a running race. As I write this, I am remembering all the smiles and high fives from the runners. They were all champs –even more so since due to safety concerns the route was shaved to 11 miles. How was your running week? (Total 17.1 miles for the week.)

The Weekly Run Down is run by two wonderful running women and joined by lots of other inspirational women. Kim’s weekly wrap is  http://kimrunsonthefly.blogspot.com/2019/10/no-breaking-my-stride.html?m=1 and Deborah’s is https://confessionsofamotherrunner

The Connection Between Sore Muscles and Children’s Progress

Think of something you are not quite comfortable doing.  Is it walking a certain distance everyday?  Saving money? Speaking in public?  Learning Braille?

When I started running, I could only run two minutes at a time.  My lungs burned from the effort of it, huffing and puffing down the streets.  I listened to the National Health Service (NHS) Couch to 5K app with the chirpy voice of the NHS woman calmly telling me to carry on.  Each run I did, I ran a bit longer, pushing myself to do it because I really wanted to be able to run for thirty minutes straight.  Slowly, with each run, my muscles were making little tears that, with rest, would make them even stronger the next day.  That pain would with time make me stronger.

What does this have to do with teaching?  Well, everything really.  The heart of teaching is knowing when to push a child properly out of their comfort zone so, at their own pace, they will grow.  At the start of my teaching career, I don’t think I really understood this.  Just like running a minute longer was just a little bit uncomfortable, children learning to read need to feel that discomfort in order to adjust to more difficult tasks.  A skilful teacher, who takes the time to get to know their students, will be able to carefully encourage their students to challenge themselves to progress.

I am aware, however, that the children I work with are not all well equipped to take on the challenge I give them and may require support to meet those challenges.  Whereas I have had past experience of getting back into shape  and can independently challenge myself– some of my students may not be able to handle huge challenges initially.  This is where our awareness of children’s needs and experiences to be able to carefully gauge how and when to challenge them.

Knowing how to challenge our pupils is even more important for  children with special educational needs and disabilities.  Understandably, many of our children have been protected due to their conditions by loving parents.  This is fine.  However, as a teacher I need to carefully challenge that while at the same time helping the child stretch their learning muscles.  Here are some strategies I’ve used in my practise.

1. Assume that each child can be challenged in some way–no matter how small.  For one child this may simply mean stepping through the school doors each day other children can take on bigger challenges.  Assessments objectives are a starting point, but can be altered to best suit the learner. Never, ever assume a child is unable to be challenged.
2. Take time to get to know children.  Respect what they have to say and take that as a starting point.  If they say they can’t do it today say, “ok, lets give it a break,” but silently keep it in mind to return to it again.  Keep at it. You will not know this in the autumn most likely but by January you should have gotten to know them better and formulated ways to challenge each child.
3. If a child is resisting that is something to pay attention to however, know how to challenge children’s reluctance.  I teach a boy who routinely asks for help to read words. Gently I have denied him help only reminding him to sound out the words.  With him I say, “I hear you, but you still need to read.” He then reads the passage I’ve given him independently because I know that is his comfortable reading level.
4. Be explicit with children.  I tell children in detail my story about learning to run.  I tell them how much my lungs hurt and that my muscles hurt for a day or two every time I ran farther.  I explain to them that it is OK to feel uncomfortable and unsure; we all feel this from time to time.  I want them to start being aware of their own doubts and carry on despite them.
5. Create a classroom environment that prioritises risk.  I work in a special school where a lot of our children have been protected for very obvious reasons by family and friends.  In my classroom I celebrate mistakes as learning opportunities.  I show this by how I react to my mistakes.  For example, when I model a writing assignment I might spell a word wrong so that the children can tell me I’ve made a mistake.  I thank them for their feedback and explicitly show them how to draw a line through it and re-write it (with a smile). Another way of encouraging risk is allowing children to have messy first drafts.  In fact, I encourage them to write their worst bit of writing for that session since they will re-write it the next session.  I want them to feel that freedom of making mistakes and saying things wrong since usually that’s when the best thoughts come.

This is only a starting list meant to convey the skilled teaching that is needed in order to guide children to make progress.   We teachers need to gauge our children’s comfort and challenge it everyday so that they are just a bit uncomfortable with out being left feeling defeated.  This is a careful balancing act that a skilled and experienced teacher is always attempting in class.  I’m not perfect at it and am always trying to find new ways to challenge my children appropriately.  What do you think?  What do you do to create an environment of challenge and risk in your classrooms?

What is reading comprehension?

“My son was given a reading homework to do and one of the questions asked his to answer with his own ideas rather than just find the answer in the reading. How is he supposed to do that?” my friend asked.

Another friend responded to her, “that’s not comprehension!”

And then I simply said, “yes that is.”  As often when a group of friends get together, it is hard to keep up with the torrent of conversation.  Also, I didn’t want to be “Babara Boring-Pants” and go into a lecture about what reading comprehension is and isn’t on a coffee morning.  I go to coffee to chill out with friends–not to do my job which is teach reading and writing to children with special needs.

However, I can write about my thoughts on it here.  I started teaching reading in 2001 and have been an avid reader for years before that.  However, before actually teaching children to read I had no idea about the process of reading and the skills needed to be an effective reader.  It is a complex process, but this is intended to be just a beginning look at my understanding of reading.

Some of the earliest skills for reading start with learning to simply hold a book, knowing which way to turn the pages as well as an implicit understanding of the purpose of books.  In most middle class households reading to children is a given and parents hold their child in their laps reading books almost as soon as they are born.  Some children, unfortunately don’t get this and need to be taught this school in their nursery.  (Which is why early education is so important and is a whole other topic.)

Another early reading skill is listening to sounds and beginning to separate sounds and words into bits.  This is, in part, why there is so much singing in preschool and nursery settings.  Children can start out singing the alphabet not really knowing what it’s all about, but later when they are introduced to the letters visually they can begin to connect the dots when they are ready.  This is linked to children learning “phonics” and “sounding out words”.  A beginning reader often starts by sounding out words such at b-a-t and linking those to make words.  Children do a lot of this sounding out until there is a shift and they start to be able to recognise words as “sight words” or single units.  As an adult reader, this is why you can read so fast since you are fluent in what the shapes of those words are.

As a teacher of the visually impaired, this is what can slow a lot of children’s reading since their vision means they have less exposure to environmental text in their world.  In fact, one of my reading interventions with the children with VI that I do is to take them for a walk around school challenging them to find text on the walls.  Often they haven’t noticed these words around them and have had little motivation to read environmental text.  I try to make the text worthwhile for them so that they can get joy out of reading words.  I still remember being a child on the southside of Chicago and being excited to read graffiti on the walls that had been spray painted on the walls on our school.  It said “bird” and I can still see it in my minds eye.

So you’ve got a child holding a book properly, matching sounds to letters, sounding out words and recognising sight words like a champ.  Hooray! They are a READER!! I say, celebrate that, but now is the time to hone those skilful reading skills.  The child who can sound out and recognise words now needs to become a reading detective, picking up clues to read in between the lines using their own life experience and knowledge to understand what they are reading.  Some children might be able to this naturally, but many need to be specifically taught how to do this.

I used to begin teaching inference when I taught primary via pictures and asking children to answer questions about them just by using what they saw.  For example, looking at a photo of a girl with her mouth wide open and laughing, I’d ask the children to tell me what they thought she was feeling.  The would say “happy”, “silly” or something like that.  Then I’d ask, “why do you think that?” All of them could have a different answer–maybe she’d just been told a joke?  More often than not they would all have had experience laughing as they are children and laugh much more easily than us adults.  Some children, maybe who are on the autistic spectrum, might wonder why I am even bothering them with asking why this girl is laughing.  That’s fine.  I would have to address their needs in a different way that that is beyond my scope here.  For the children with VI and certainly those who are blind, I can do this with sound or touch asking similar “why” questions.

We do higher level reading when we try to figure out new words by using the context to make sense.  Through a grammatical structure we can make guesses as to what class of word it is such as a noun or a verb.  We can also use our background knowledge to make guesses at its meaning as well as thinking about the theme of the reading and linking it to what we’ve read already.  This is why I get children to talk about the titles of books and sections in their reading since they are there to give us clues to figure out what we are reading.

Often the children I teach have had limited life experiences having been sheltered by well meaning parents or their parents may not have had the life chances to take their child on weekly trips to the zoo or museum.  Also, there may be chidlren who just don’t see the point of reading and have yet been shown the joys of it and motivated to read. That’s fine.  I can only meet the child where they are.

Reading is, simply put, a big puzzle and as readers, we are adding up clues in the text and trying to figure out the meaning of the whole from the pieces we do understand.  To do this really well, it helps to be comfortable taking risks and making guesses.  For the “why” questions, I tell the children to “make their best guess”.  I try to make them see that they know it already and that the right answer in their own answer.  It can be a daunting thing to be told just “take a guess” when all the time children are confronted with ticks and x’s on their work clearly showing their errors.  As a teacher, I aim to get children to begin to take their own thoughts seriously.  All children have opinions about everything.  How often have I heard my own children complain about the meal I’ve made them?  All children can read critically and have an opinion–with guidance they can begin to identify just what exactly they like and express their thoughts about a text.  Getting children to be comfortable to express that is a challenge, but well worth it.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Do you notice your deeper reading skills in  your own reading?

English Spelling(s): It is what it is.

Let’s be honest with ourselves and accept that English spelling is a mess. I look at the children I teach with a compassionate heart and ruthlessly hand then their new spellings list. Most of them have learning needs in one form or another–most of which I am at ease with. However, as an English teacher I have to teach spelling. And by teach, I mean on a weekly basis bludgeon my pupils with rules that are inconsistent at best, and make no sense.

Growing up, spelling came naturally to me. The combination of loving words and meaning while also lacking interest in pattern helped with this. I am interested in words. However, many of my pupils are not as enamoured.

Early in my career, I taught in a bilingual Spanish/English classroom. This was my only experience teaching Spanish spelling and I am wistful when I think about it. Basically–(and I am not fluent in Spanish) the way Spanish words sound is how they are spelt. Take afuera (outside). Teaching a child this word would simply mean identifying the sounds and writing them down. That is it.

English spelling, as you no doubt know, is not at all as reasonable. Just this week I gave a group the -igh pattern of spellings for the long i sound. The week before I’d given them the “Magic e” words. You see this Magic e when placed at the end of words tells all vowels to say their names. A boy in my class who is a native Italian speaker asked, quite reasonably, when given the -igh words: “Miss, but what about the Magic e?” I told him categorically that that he was silly for expecting so much from English. “It will never make sense, my dear,” I told him. “Just accept this and you will improve your English.” Well I didn’t actually tell him he was silly, but I did tell him to not think so much about English rules.

This harshness is a product of over 20 years teaching English in one for another. When I taught English as another language in 1996, I would actually attempt to explain my students’ questions about grammar. While this shows my knowledge (& love) of grammar–it did nothing to actually improve their English.

As babies we accept the world around us and use what we learn to get what we want. We learn by doing. My students need to read and write to get better at spelling. Too much explanation muddies their practise of it. I hope want them to conserve their energy putting it to good use. I’m sure Yoda would agree with me in this–“Do or not do. There is no try.” Trying to do English is not doing it at all. So instead of explaining the multiple patterns of long i sounds to my native Italian speaker I told him simply to read the words and spell them to me.

Here are some (non-definitive) guidelines about English spelling–

1. When you think you have a pattern, an exception is just around the corner.

2. Knowing English sounds help, but not really.

3.Use all your senses to help you remember words. Sing a spelling out so it will stay in your head. Tap out the rhythm of a word. Use play dough to spell them. Do what you must!

4. Read more.

I’ll stop there because I’ll end up saying something “I before e, except after c,” or some other nonsense.

Teaching Analytical Writing: a balance between structure and free expression.

Writing a literary essay is not something that comes naturally to many people. In fact, I’d go out on a limb and proclaim that no twelve year old has written an essay to analyse a work of art spontaneously simply for the joy of it. There, I’ve said it.

What comes natural to nearly all of us, however is having an opinion. New-born babies scream and cry to communicate their displeasure at the fact they haven’t had any milk in a while. Toddlers break down, writhing on the linoleum to let you know their opinions about the vegetables they are expected to eat. My own sons, aged eight and ten, are full of opinions about everything from having to share a room to what programmes to watch. This is what is called making a “point” if you’ve ever taught paragraphing according to the PEE method (point, evidence & explain). God I love a PEE paragraph–they really get me going. (More on that later.)

Making a point is easy to do.  My year 8s have been reading Macbeth and they are all alight with opinions about its characters — especially Lady Macbeth.  “Miss, she is evil,” one boy stated.  When I put forth the idea that Lady Macbeth would not have had a lot of power at that time Janie (name changed) confidently asserted, “Miss you can’t just go around murdering people–even if you don’t have power.”  Another boy in the class said that he thought Lady Macbeth bullied Macbeth into doing things he did not really want to do.  These are all valid points and to be honest, I love when the children I teach make such astute comments, it really makes all those early teacher mornings worth it.

So how do we get these lovely children with their clever points to be able to then back up their ideas with evidence and explanation?  If you are a primary teacher, you have probably used writing frames in your lessons.  These are structures designed by teachers to guide children with their writing to remember what to mention and know what features to use.  One of my favourite writing frames is a Point, Evidence, Explain “Burger” (see photo).  When I taught in a mainstream setting it gave a strong visual for my pupils practising paragraph writing.  The point is the top of the bun while the evidence is the burger and the explanation the base of the bun.  A beginning writer is guided when writing their ideas and can structure their paragraphs so that they are effective.  I’ve since adapted this for my pupils who use large print and braille.  Here’s an example:

Point–Lady Macbeth bullies Macbeth to do things he doesn’t want to do.

Evidence– In Act 1 Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth,  “Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness.” Also, in act 3, scene 4 Lady Macbeth taunts him saying, “Are you a man?”

Explanation–Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth challenges her husband to act like a man and ignore his feelings.  She undermines his confidence in his own thoughts and opinions by declaring their weakness.  If he could only be a man, she contends he could be king.

To help my year 8s move on from their statements, I gave them a writing frame in which I supplied the quotes.  For some of them I also gave them the points since I wanted them to learn how to explain their points.  The more able children were given just the quotes and then they had to write their own points and explanations.  I had to decide what they needed to focus on and that is what they will write.  However, all of them have to follow this format so that they can learn how to back up their points in a structured and coherent manner.

Their writing frame consisted of the following:

Paragraph 1–Introduction–Write a summary of the play.  (I modelled how to write a good summary since this is a tricky thing to do for learners.  They have trouble knowing what to include and what to leave out.)

Paragraph 2–What is Lady Macbeth’s role in the play?

Paragraphs 3-5–PEE paragraphs featuring points about how Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband into murder.

Paragraph 6 — Conclusion

So far this week, the children have written their first three paragraphs and they writing frame is allowing them to concentrate on getting their thoughts organised and clear in their mind.  They are able to be successful in their writing and are picking up a structure from which they will be able to add to and change in future English essays and exams.  The children who are large print users tick off the sections they complete as they go, while the braillists simply use a piece of Blu-tac to to keep their place on the writing frame.

In the end, in teaching our pupils to write essays we ultimately want to teach them how to think.  This structured approach aids them to do this by freeing them up to think only about the aspects that they are working on at the moment (such as learning to explain what their evidence means).  It is terribly exciting to see them moving from stating their points about characters to really starting to look for evidence of what they’ve said.  Teaching writing is a balance of providing structure so that the pupils can learn to think and allowing them freedom to express their thoughts in their own way. Having used this structured approach my aim is that one day the children will cast the frame aside and write fluently.

Planning for the Worst as a Teacher

Last Tuesday I came home from work, stood at my kitchen sink and drank a pint of cool, clear water.  I’d taught all day and so it was no surprise my throat was dry.  Teaching is not only a mentally draining job, it also saps your physical strength.

The next night, I was shivering violently in my front room.  All the while I thought, “it’s just a cold,” and presumed I’d go to work the next morning.  I had loosely planned my lessons for that day, but not enough so that someone could take the lessons. That would require instructions for things I do without thinking.  Viz: CHILDREN CANNOT HAND IN WORK WITHOUT EDITING IT. I realise now, that is the wrong way to go about supply plans or “substitute lesson planning” as you say in the States.   I rarely take a sick day, so I haven’t had to think about supply plans often.  It can, however, be quite painful cobbling together four or five lessons at seven in the morning while shivering from flu, so I’m going to have to rethink my planning around this a bit.

First, I’ll tell you a story about my first foray into teaching in the wilds of my home on the southside of Chicago on 2001.  With only my Bachelor degree in hand and a Tuberculosis injection, I was allowed to become a member of the Chicago Public Schools Substitute Team.  The excitement this gave me shouldn’t be underestimated.  I’d been working at a law firm for the past two years sitting in an inside office for seven and a half hours a day reading documents and transcribing dry depositions about business deals. The quiet of that office and the lack of challenge nearly threw me over the edge.  Where the law job seemed to be filled with hues of navy, black and taupe–substitute teaching was filled with a riot of colour and sounds so alive I barely noticed my exhaustion after teaching all day.  I wasn’t a trained teacher then, and knew little about what to do in a classroom.  It can be a bit rough on the southside, so I knew I had to be tough at the front.  In fact, in one of my first assignments, a first grade teacher firmly told me not to smile. She said that normally a teacher should not smile until Christmas.  Working with six and seven year olds, it was difficult to not smile, but I tried.  Now a veteran teacher, I am grateful for my experience and knowing in the classroom so that I can be natural–not bubbly and happy of course, but just relaxed.

So,  plans.  That’s what this blog post is about, isn’t it? Often in that first year in Chicago I would arrive at a school, walk through the metal detectors and show my id.  The pertinent person would then explain I would be in kindergarten or first grade or whatever that day as we walked up to the classroom.  More often than not, there would not be plans for me.  All I had was the daily schedule and then I’d have to wing it for those five hours (an hour for lunch and playground duty).  The schools didn’t seem to mind; whatever happened in the classroom happened. This is when “Bob” showed up in my lessons.  In the hour they were meant to do English, I’d make up a ludicrous story about “Bob” and the antics he got up to, weaving in street names and landmarks around the school.  Then I’d set them the challenge to write their own story about “Bob”.  The only rules were the character had to be named Bob and something had to happen that he didn’t like. This usually was about survival as I wanted to make the time go by quickly.  A glitch arrived once when I was teaching in a school in Pilsen, an area with a high population of children from Spanish speaking countries. I stood in front of this class of thirty children  looking at me telling them about “Bob” and how I wanted them to write a story now.  There were a group of girls in the centre of the room, their arms protectively around their friend with long dark hair and a worried look, tears threatening her eyes.  “Maestra,” they said, “she is only here yesterday. She doesn’t know English.”  No problem, I told them, tell her to write a story in Spanish.  Later that day, our day devolved into the group teaching me Mexican dances.  This brings me to a good idea if you find yourself in a similar situation: If all else fails,  have the children teach you something.  Put the children to work.  They know something you don’t know, for sure.

I’m thinking back to that morning last week writing plans for my cover.  I was nervous about the lessons going well and the children learning something.  How wrong I was.  I needed to worry about getting better.  The children would be alright.  In fact, if I’m honest, they were probably relieved I wasn’t there nagging them to edit their writing.  So here is my list of ten things to do if you find yourself covering a lesson with no plans:

1. Don’t smile.
2. Smile.
3. Sing a song.
4. Always have The Witches by Roald Dahl to read out loud.
5. Play “7-UP” when you need quiet.
6. Turn the tables: they have to teach you a skill.
7. Learn a craft to do with one sheet of paper (before going into the lesson).
8. Focus on the children who are behaving. Look at them.
9. Challenge them to look/listen out the window and write  a list of ten things they notice.
10. Keep the timetable in front of you at all times.  Minutes matter in a school.

I wish I could give this list to my cover supervisor so that he could give it to my cover.

It’s there if you want it: Assistive Technology

Not long after turning 40, my eye doctor carefully started mentioning that I might need varifocals  to help me see text an arm’s length away.  I generally like him, but on this point I thought he was full of it.  I certainly didn’t need any “vari” or “bi” focals— I’d like to keep my own regular glasses thank you very much.  That was until, not long after turning 46 and starting the Qualified Teacher for Visually Impaired course,  learning Braille was tough on my eyes and so, reluctantly I went to the eye doctor for those varifocals.  He was really kind about it and never once said “I told you so”. It’s as if nothing has changed–but me.

It’s the holidays and I’ve been spending time with elderly parents. All of them have lived independent, active lives–travelling around the world. Despite this, they are ageing and it has pointed up to me the need for Assistive Technology (“AT”).  I am a bit of a geek about AT as it excites me to find solutions for people who are finding certain tasks in their lives difficult.  AT, if you don’t know, is any tool that makes it possible for a person to do something they are having trouble doing due to a permanent or temporary disability.   It opens up the world and creates a mindset that empowers people to experience life as they would like.  In school, having stairways that have high contrast flooring so that pupils with low vision are able to navigate more easily are an AT solution.  Apps like Seeing AI or even just a flash light on a person’s phone are also AT.

AT for me can be exciting, but I’d be a fool if I thought all people would be over-joyed to have an AT tool presented to them.  I need only think about my response to varifocals.  However, recently at a lunch with my sister and her mother-in-law, who is an active 80 year old woman, I faced up to my ignorance. 

My sister’s mother-in-law has vision in one eye which has a cataract in it. At the meal, I tried to be clever and use an app on my phone to enlarge the menu for her. When I handed her the phone she looked at me as if I had lost my mind. She wanted to enjoy the meal and have us read the menu for her. I put my phone in my bag.

AT: The user has to want to use it.

My father-in-law is staying in our “cosy” (e.g. “narrow”) Edwardian house.  He had problems with moving up stairs and getting into tubs; however, he wants no modifications to our house.  He refused to use the bathtub with a handle and uses the small shower in the guest room.  I never asked him, but I suspect that he didn’t want to be seen as someone who needed these adaptations.

As a QTVI working with children, we are urged to be respectful of children’s desires. This means not forcing a child to use a text magnifier in class that is bulky and makes them different from the rest of their peers. Elderly people are no different and deserving of our respect. For all their lives they have been incredibly able and most likely don’t want to have their inability made obvious.  They might not be as excited by a lit up screen and more interested in a connection with their daughter-in-law, and that is fine. What do you think?

Here’s a link to the Assistive Technology Industry Association if you’re interested: https://www.atia.org/at-resources/what-is-at/

The Ears Have It: Learning to Listen

Are you a person who likes to have a copy of a poem while you listen to it just to follow along? Does that help you really take it in? Or, can you simply listen to it?  Your answer can possibly reveal a lot about what listening skills you have and how you’ve been taught to learn through listening.

This week, more than ever, I’ve been thinking about this.  In the midst of course work to become a Qualified Teacher of Visual Impairment (QTVI) I’ve been having to think a lot about what is exactly special about teaching children with visual impairment (VI).  A lot of teaching for children with VI is generally good teaching for all children.  For example, it’s important to give all children appropriate challenge to keep them interested and learning.

I have taught in a specialist school for children with VI for four years now.  I hit the ground running and have been assured by my leadership team that I am doing well in teaching my pupils.  However, I’d always had a feeling that I couldn’t quite put my finger on; I wanted to know what is so “specialist” about teaching children with VI?  Having started my QTVI course, I realise I could write a thick book on this and not exhaust the topic.  So here I will start with the importance of listening.

Growing up, I used my eyes to learn a lot.  I remember my uncle winking at my dad as a child and realising what he’d just said was maybe not appropriate for children.  I didn’t understand what he said, but knew from that wink something was up. Peoples faces told me volumes that as a child I had only an inkling of what was going on.  A friend’s mom down the street used to answer the door when I knocked in a robe with hunched shoulders and dim eyes.  Looking back I know she was depressed, but then, from the look of her, I was a little afraid of her.  Aside from emotions, I had visual access to so much just by looking out the window: the purple of clematis, the hair sticking up on a cat’s back or the glint on the chrome of a Chicago police car.  I remember clearly looking  out at the snow and see it–know its depths and the sparkle of its ice under the street light.  But what of the sounds I missed?  I remember hearing motorcycles growling in the summer or drunk people out on the street some nights as I was falling asleep, but it’s picture that dominate my memories.

For a child with VI, however, they do not have access to as much visual information.  Most people with VI have some vision and it is important to teach them to use it as well as they can.  However, it is equally important to teach children with VI to skillfully use their hearing to maximise their stronger sense.  In the film Notes on Blindness about the experiences of University of Birmingham professor John Hull, this point is made in a stark and beautiful way.  As his world became progressively less visual, he noted the change in himself from being a person with sight to that of person with less sight.  During a rain storm he is struck by the beauty of the rain falling outside of his house and the slivers of information he can take in by listening intently to it.  He recounts how he can hear the landscapes and its changing heights and lows.  Watching that I was struck that I should never pity a person with vision loss, rather I should be open to the different world they are now able to access because of their sight loss.  I feel this is important to remember as a teacher of the visually impaired.  Just as I’d like to teach my sighted pupils to be sensitive to the world around them and understand the implications of the information they observe, I would like to do the same for my children with VI.

So this week, I had a lovely lesson with a pupil who is blind and has hearing loss listening to the BBC Radio for Primary Schools. We listened to an account of a picnic which was a welcome relief from all the snow of late.  He has been having trouble accessing lessons of late due to having colds and tiredness.  In this podcast, he particularly liked identifying the sounds of an apple crunching, the birds singing and someone slurping up a drink –as well as doing maths with his fingers.  Also, he’s been learning Moon print as opposed to Braille since his touch skills are not strong enough, so a lot of his learning will be auditory.  Really, he was so engaged and enjoyed it. It lightened my heart as a teacher to see him so animated after so long insisting sitting at his spot with his head on the table.  After trying many different things, I feel I had made a breakthrough for him.

As any good teacher knows, it’s important to always stay up to date with new strategies for best practise in teaching; it is no different when teaching listening skills.  I think for me, I’ve taught in a visually biased world for a long time, and I am finally moving to a more hearing and touch focused world.  The children I teach bring that world to me.  They are experiencing the same world as me but in a new and exciting way via their hearing and touch.  That is intriguing to me.

I will come back to this and let you know how I am doing teaching listening skills.  Do you have any things you’ve done that have worked for you?  How do you hear the world?

Here’s a link to the BBC Radio for Primary Schools:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio/podcasts