LANGUAGE ARTS-NEW MEXICO

Voices from New Mexico's Classrooms

This month we are introducing a new voice in our columns written by language arts educators from across the state.  Laura Oldham teaches at Red Mountain Middle School in Deming, NM.  She is  in her fourth year of teaching and has taught an assortment of classes: AP Lit, Etymology English 9 and British Literature. She says her is niche teaching 8th grade Title I Language Arts, which fits well with her fascination with young adult literacy and young adult literature. I am an avid reader. Her favorite poem is "You Damn Right" by Tim Seibles, and  favorite short story is "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin.  Laura's columns will be a regular feature on Language Arts New Mexico, along with columns by Dan Rubin from Las Cruces High School. If you would like to write a column for the website, contact us.  

More on the Common Core Standards

As the public comment period on the Common Core Standards closes tomorrow, it is interesting to see how NCTE has responded to the process and content of the standards.  You can read about NCTE's involvement (or exclusion, in some cases) here.  If you are interested in what others have to say about how the standards will impact their teaching, read comments on the NCTE ning here.  While I often am not sure how to comment on large documents such as this, I do find it helpful to participate in the conversation via reading others' observations.

What is the difference between "scripted" and "guided"?

And when is a workbook not a workbook?  These are questions educators in my community are beginning to discuss given the sweeping adoption of the SpringBoard curriculum for middle school language arts.  A quick google search on SpringBoard turned up lots of references and materials for the College Board, the provider of SpringBoard, and several newspaper articles and blogs from communities where the adoption of the program has been controversial.  All this leads us to wonder--what commercial programs are being implemented in your schools? How many New Mexico schools and districts have turned to outside vendors in an attempt to address the always-looming need to demonstrate AYP?  Post your comments on the role of commercial programs in secondary language arts education.

New NM Language Arts Content Standards Now Available

As you probably know, the New Mexico Language Arts Content Standards have been undergoing revision.  They're now available and ready to be used.  Find them here or, as usual, you can click on the link in the left margin of this page. 

Banned Books Week

This is Banned Books Week.  Read something somebody doesn't want you to.  Here's an interactive map of book banning episodes during 2007-2009.  You may also want to check out Laurie Halse Anderson's blog where she discusses a current incident (involving her books) in Kentucky.

Common Core Standards Open for Comment

We've reported before on New Mexico's affiliation with the Common Core Standards movement.  A draft of the English Language Arts Standards was released yesterday and is open for public comment.  Download the standards here and comment here.  Adding your perspective on these standards is a way to participate in making sure teachers' voices are heard as the next generation of policy is developed.

Reading Fiction Makes You Smarter

We all knew this but it's nice to have some scientific proof: reading fiction makes you smarter.  From a research group in Toronto:  "Through a series of studies, we have discovered that fiction at its best isn't just enjoyable. It measurably enhances our abilities to empathize with other people and connect with something larger than ourselves."  And from research done by psychologists at the University of California-Santa Barbara and the University of British Columbia, reading Kafka "enhances cognitive mechanisms." 

At the LOC

The Library of Congress has a new teacher resource page.  It looks pretty great. 

New Report Calls for a Re-engineering of the Nation’s Approach to Adolescent Literacy

A new report on adolescent literacy is out today from the Carnegie Corporation.  It's always hard to tell if policy reports like this will make a difference (or if they'll be misused and make the wrong sort of difference).  But we probably shouldn't be too skeptical, because it's not an easy question.  What would you have schools do to transform adolescent literacy if you were in charge? 

You can read the summary from Education Week or the entire 108-page report. 

What difference does leadership make?

Lately it seems like every teacher I know is working with a new initiative aimed at raising student test scores.  Sound familiar? Sometimes there are so many competing programs in one school, it's difficult to tell what is supposed to be driving instruction.   Where is the instructional leadership in all this? The PBS series POV takes that question to two elementary school principals (one school is k-8) and chronicles their experience over the course of a year.  The show, which airs Sept. 15,  promises to be interesting viewing as it pushes us to recognize we are all caught in this web.

David Berliner Tells Australians to Think Twice About TFA

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The view from America: what on earth are you thinking? August 17, 2009

The Teach for America program which sends top graduates who are not trained in teaching into poorer schools is about to start in Australia. Some educators in the US, such as David Berliner, are asking why.

The news that Australia is following the United States in introducing a program which puts untrained teachers in the classroom came as a real shock to us here.

Simply put, you are being conned. Teach for America (TFA), the model for your national program, is not effective in helping students in poverty learn more, though it is very effective at raising large amounts of money.

The facts are much tougher to dismiss than the feel-good announcements made by the corporate supporters and those who derive their income from the program.

More here.

Too Much Time Teaching, Not Enough Time For Everything Else?

This is interesting.  The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), has published its latest round of international comparisons of education systems.  Among the findings:  American teachers spend more time teaching than teachers in any of the other countries surveyed.  The average American teacher spends 1080 hours per year teaching ("Net Teaching Time in Hours").  Teachers in most other countries spend 500-700 hours per year in front of the class.  In Finland, which often has the highest test scores in international comparisons, teachers in middle school and high school spend 550-600 hours per year actually teaching.  Wouldn't it be nice if some of the education reformers who are so focused on making the school day and year longer took notice?  The full OECD report is available here.