Professional Book Response 2

Chapter 3

This chapter of "Adolescents on the Edge" introduces the reader to how to effectively challenge students. Teachers should aim to complement their students' abilities while stretching their work and showing them they can accomplish tasks they didn't previously think the could. What teachers should not do is just load on more work. Of course, teachers should take a look at their classes first and decide what the best fit is for their current students. The authors provide many suggestions for challenging students, and my favorite is the following: "During collaborative work, have students take on a role that is challenging for them, such as creating an illustration if they think they aren't good at art, suggesting, for example, that they create a graphic or symbolic representation instead of a realistic picture." (p. 28). I like this suggestion because it pushes students but takes off pressure by suggesting an alternate route to the end goal.

Next, the authors tackle self-efficacy. To begin, students must be challenged to approach an issue or problem through critical or creative thinking. This is done through critical questioning. For example, students should question the validity of sources they are considering for a research paper. They should asked themselves if there is a bias present, what information is not present, and so forth. In writing exercises, students need to be challenged to understand their own talents. They need opportunities to see that they can succeed.

Golden Lines

"It is realistic, however, to believe that students' experience in your class can lift them onto the first few rungs of the ladder that will give them a renewed, positive sense of self." (p. 32)

Strategies

• Have students create different genres of writing to stretch their abilities and expand their comfort zone
• Keep the creative spirit alive by encouraging students to embrace their gifts through individualized writing assignments

Chapter 4

The authors take on collaboration. One huge aspect of successful collaboration is a school-wide collaboration environment. Teachers should be collaborating with each other successfully in order to implement successful collaboration opportunities in the classroom. By including group work opportunities, students have the opportunity to develop discussion skills and other group-based skills. To help create effective dialogue, teachers need to assign group roles. I wish the authors would touch on how to better include ESOL or ESE students in this section. 

A major issue is organizing for group work. Teachers need to create a balance. This can take time. The authors recommend that teachers keep trying new approaches to find what fits for their classrooms. It won't work in a day, which is important to remember. To get closer to successful organization, teachers should make sure structure has a major presence. This can be as simple as having students group by sounding off numbers. While in groups, students should have roles and create rules to follow. For example, a group could decide that everyone must participate in discussion. This puts more ownership on the students while lending itself to the overall classroom organization. 

Golden Lines

"Simple changes such as moving desks into pods for group work, allowing partners to sit on the floor for discussions, bringing in furniture that encourages community, or finding unused larger spaces...for performance practice can facilitate systemic change that embraces twenty-first century learning." (p. 36)

Strategies

• Group students by similar or varied abilities, learning styles, or interests; change it up the next time
• Employ literature circles, where students choose their own books and the teacher is a facilitator for all groups

Resources

This is an excellent source or writing prompts that would appeal to a wide range of students: http://creativewritingprompts.com/

Questions

• What is something specific I can do on day one of school to show that my classroom is collaborative?
• For striving readers, would it be intimidating or helpful to be in a literature circle with avid readers? How would that compare to being in a literature circle with other striving readers?