My Reading in 2022

See the rest of My Year in Books at https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2022/5706089

Reading in 2022 connected me with my grandchildren, deepened my faith, refined my teaching, educated me about the world, strengthened my empathy, introduced me to new viewpoints, helped me think about complex issues, and gave me hours of enjoyment. Tracking my reading on Goodreads provides me the opportunity to reflect back over the year of reading: 50,416 pages in 196 books including nearly every genre, format, and age level.  

Here’s a sampling:

• Get Real: Sharing Your Everyday Faith Every Day by John Leonard is an old favorite I return to every several years for encouragement, practical advice, and a lot of inspiring stories from the author’s life about how to live grace, love people, and naturally connect the two.
• Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst is the book from my summer professional reading that has most impacted my teaching this year.
• The Art of Talking with Children: The Simple Keys to Nurturing Kindness, Creativity, and Confidence in Kids by Rebecca Rolland I discovered as part of an audiobook offer free to educators from Libro.fm. Its principles are illustrated with many examples from the author’s experience as a school psychologist and as a parent.
• Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, Dawud Anyabwile, and Derrick Barnes is a graphic novel where Tommie Smith recounts his life story within the frame of his 1968 Olympic race and the historic protest against racism of all 3 medalists at the award ceremony. It has been popular and eye-opening in my 6th and 7th grade classroom.    
• All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat is full of beautiful glossy pictures and graphics, explanatory insets about everything from hypothermia to Thai culture, and, of course, the story of the impossible rescue of the 13 boys trapped in the Tham Luang cave system by floodwater in 2018. I really enjoyed reading about the intense collaboration by many different people with different knowledge and skills from many different countries. It just arrived during the vacation, so it hasn’t been road tested with my students yet, but I have a couple who have lived in Thailand and a couple who are soccer players, so I think it will raise some interest.   
• A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny was pure recreation for me: #18 in the Inspector Gamache mystery series which is full of literary allusions, wisdom, and characters that actually grow over time. Also, the Quebec setting provides cross-culture interest as French and English speakers interact. 
• The Lost Ryu by Emi Watanabe Cohen is one of the most unique and insightful middle grades books I’ve read—with the added plus of being set in Japan, like my school. It’s 20 years after Japan’s defeat in World War 2, but it's a world where small, shoulder-sitting dragons are ubiquitous pets. Kohei, an English-speaking Japanese boy, is supposed to help Isolde, the Japanese/Jewish American girl who has just moved into the downstairs apartment, adjust to life in Japan. Actually, Isolde helps him uncover his family's stories and heal a little of the hurt in the world. As a 30-year resident of Japan, I can say the culture and language works. This was another libro.fm audiobook, and it was really delightful to hear the Japanese that sprinkles the text. 
• The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman was one I found when searching for books to allow my students to access stories of their Ukrainian neighbors. It alternates between the story of 2 girls whose fathers work at the Chernobyl power plant as they flee the nuclear disaster and the story of a girl fleeing the Nazi advance 2 generations earlier. It touches on bullying, antisemitism, domestic abuse, and is a beautiful tale of how love risks all to assert and protect the value and dignity of God’s image bearers.   

 
How do I find all these books? Here are 3 resources that I’ve been delighted to discover this year, plus one extra: 

1. The Redeemed Reader. This is a Christian organization with the tag line “We read ahead for you.” I love their philosophy, and their book lists are so helpful.
2. The Brainstorm Plus. This is the blog of the librarian at a Christian international school in Thailand. It is amazing—not only does she have lists and lists of books (here's part 4 for her "Top 10's of 2022"), but also every book is linked to her Goodreads review, which is quite thorough.
3. Libro.fm. This is an audiobook site that supports local bookstores and also offers a selection of 6-8 free new releases to educators every month. If you are an educator, don’t miss this great offer! I’ve enjoyed new releases by favorite authors (I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys) as well as discovering new gems (see above: The Art of Talking with Children and The Lost Ryu). 
4. Readeo.com. This is an online platform that has provided us hours of reading and chatting with our grandchildren even when separated by the Pacific Ocean while a global pandemic shut all travel down. For a modest annual fee, you get 5 accounts to share with all the children you want to read with. 

How about you? How has reading benefitted you this year? What are some books you’ve enjoyed? How do you find them? 

Why and What I Blog...Even in an AI World

 

Merry Christmas from my writing happy place to yours!

If I had not written the 490 posts on this blog in the last 10 years, what difference would it make? In the final weeks of December, I make it a habit to reflect on my blogging for the year—to review my purpose and the year’s most popular posts. The release last month of ChatGPT (see last week’s post) adds a new dimension to this reflection: What does writing DO in my experience? Should I just quit and send ChatGPT my queries? Let my readers do the same?

Put like that, the question becomes nonsensical. If the primary purpose of my writing were providing others with information, it’s possible. However, my primary purpose in writing this blog has always been to consolidate, elaborate, and apply my own learning. 

If I had not gone through nearly every week of the last 10 years thinking, “What am I learning about learning and about life that I can reflect on in writing?” I would be a different person. Writing has made me a person who learns, reflects, grows, and shares that learning. I would be different teacher. Writing has made me a teacher of writing who is a writer, and who is continuously experimenting with best practice of both teaching and writing. 

The biggest difference writing this blog has made is in me. I wonder how I can help students in an AI world experience and value writing for the difference it makes in them.

After I’ve wrestled my own learning into words, sentences, and paragraphs, then I find the possibility of sending it out into the world to see if there is a community of like-minded learners out there. Is there someone who will be encouraged by a reflection I offer as a reminder of joy, or a catalyst to action, or a personal example illuminating theory, or just an invitation to learn, unlearn, and relearn in company? 

AI can’t offer that, either—the personal connection between author and audience. Whether it is me, the writer, offering specific examples of what a problem or an experiment or an epiphany looks like in my life, in my classroom. Or whether it is me, the writer, discerning and responding to the felt needs the audience has—the questions and circumstances they are facing. I wonder how I can help students in an AI world experience and value writing for the personal connection between reader and writer. 

As I reflected on the 5 blog posts that garnered the most reads in 2022, I those were the two thoughts that came to mind as significant reasons for me to write: How writing these posts changed me, and how the personal reader-writer connection showed up. Here they are, starting with the #5 and building up to #1. See what you think:       

• What Type of Relationship with Staff Helps Students Flourish (23 Sep 2022): Students’ relationships with their teachers have a significant effect on their learning. As I desired my grandchildren to be welcomed into learning communities where they would flourish, I thought about what I could do to extend a welcome to every student who walks into my room. My deep hope is that students in my classroom and at my international Christian school are experiencing caring, collaborative, respectful Christ-centered staff. What might that look like for me? See the blog post for a list of specific examples. 
• Looking for Books to Love My Ukrainian Neighbors (26 Feb 2022) When Russia invaded Ukraine, I realized my deplorable lack of knowledge about Ukraine’s history. I tackled that problem in the way I usually do: hunting for books. I searched for both fiction and nonfiction, both for myself and for my middle school students. Since then I discovered a wonderful middle grades jewel set in Ukraine and Russia, alternating between the time of the Chernobyl disaster and World War 2: The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman.   
• What Do I Do with a Classroom Full of Immortals? (2 Sep 2022) What do I get when I combine a CS Lewis quote, a family photo, and the concept of people being made in the image of God? A memorable object lesson that I love to use at some point every year in every class. 
• Sharing Joy, Sharing Life, Sharing Faith (30 Sep 2022) We added a grandchild this year as a daughter and her husband adopted a child they’d been fostering. Sharing this significant family event with my class was part of building relationships and providing real stories of the difference knowing Jesus and sharing his love makes in real people’s lives. The added delight: That using my blog post to reflect on sharing this with my class amplified the joy by sharing our news with many others! (I have learned that reflecting on big family events generates a large readership—reflections on my mother’s death and a daughter’s wedding are in my top 10 most read posts.)
• Independent Choice Reading Builds a Culture of Reading (1 Jan 2022) One year ago, my regular reflection on how independent choice reading for the trimester has gone turned into the year’s top post. It’s all about audience: I was involved in an online ed camp about independent choice reading, and I wrote the post with the questions in mind that were being asked by participants, with the purpose in mind of sharing the post in the group. 

Writing those 5 posts—as well as the 485 other posts I’ve written since July 2012—has changed me. Given the number of readers, they’ve also found some personal connection with an audience, which absolutely delights me—that the thoughts I labor over putting together find an echo and leave a blessing in another human. And those are two things writing does that AI-generated responses don’t: change the writer and create human connection. That is the question I will be carrying into my 2023 writing lessons—How can I help students experience and value the personal change and connection that writing creates?

What about you? Do you write? What difference does your writing make in an AI world? What about writing do you experience and value that you hope students continue to experience and value in an AI world? How will you help students do that?

9 Questions for English Teachers in a World with AI

Photo by Alex Knight

The death of high school English was declared by The Atlantic last week. Cause of death: Open AI’s new ChatGPT. Enter any prompt from “Compare the themes of The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman” to “Make a 10-item to-do list for a supervillain” to “Write a mission statement for a Christian school.” In seconds (or less) an answer is composed—currently for free.

A frenzy of discussion erupted across online English teacher land, ranging from panic (How do we prevent cheating NOW?) to new motivation to highlight process, creativity, and project-based learning. It’s a fascinating discussion to follow (including one that incorporates AI’s answer to how English teachers should respond to AI!). Here’s some of it:

• Human Skills in a World of Artificial Intelligence (John Spencer 9 Dec 2022)
• No, ChatGPT Is Not the End of High School English. But Here’s the Useful Tool It Offers Teachers (Peter Greene, Forbes, 11 Dec 2022)
• No, Artificial Intelligence Won’t Destroy High School English (or Any Other Subject) (John Spencer 12 Dec 2022)
• Will AI Make Writing Teachers Obsolete? A Conversation with ChatGPT (Tamara Tate, et al, Write Center, 13 Dec 2022)
• Why I’m Not Worried about the New AI Tools (Betsy Potash, Spark Creativity, 14 Dec 2022)

One thing that is clear to me: we need to respond somehow. If not proactively now, then it will be reactively later. And it’s not the English class apocalypse: math and foreign language classes have continued even with the advent of the calculator and translation software. A place to start is with questions. 

Here are some questions that I'm considering: 

1. What is English class for?
2. What kind of a world is AI creating?
3. How can we prepare students to flourish in that world?
4. What can people do that AI can’t do?
5. What must people be able to do even IF AI can do it?
6. What brings people joy to do even IF AI can do it?
7. How do we help students value and master those skills (see #4-#6)?
8. How can AI be a tool to help people do more of what they can do (#4), should do (#5), and love to do (#6)?
9. How might AI hinder human flourishing? How can we be aware of and guard against that?

As I begin to ruminate on these questions, I start by reaffirming what English class is for. It's not for producing novel summaries and essays (something AI can do), but for nurturing thinking that is curious, clear, nuanced, compassionate, creative, just, humble, and well-supported, and for effectively communicating that thinking to audiences in ways that build shalom, reimagining God's intention for creation. I will remind my students of this: The goal of this class is not your essay; it is your growth as a thinker and communicator. (For more background, see my blog post Naming the “Arts” in “English Language Arts”). Such thinkers will be needed more than ever.

I’m intrigued by the ways AI can be a tool. For example, models are important for writing. I can get a model essay from ChatGPT in seconds rather than kicking myself for not remembering to keep past samples and then laboring over creating one myself. I can tell the kids what I did, what the AI provided, and together we can explore where it is weak. I can use it for revising exercises. (I loved John Spencer’s idea of taking the AI-generated 10-item to-do list for a supervillain and revising with voice, specificity, and humor.) An ESL teacher I follow on Twitter used ChatGPT to generate conversations (specifying topic, English level, and line length). My husband muses about how small international Christian schools could generate initial policy drafts. 

I’ll continue to teach reading strategies, discussion skills, and writing process. I’ll continue to use creative thinking tools, like reading journals, hexagonal thinking activities, and one-pagers. And I’ll continue to pay attention to the discussion of thoughtful, creative English teachers and how they are helping their students flourish in a world with AI.

How about you? What have you heard about ChatGPT? What questions interest or concern you? How will you respond?

Putting My Time Where My Mouth Is: Independent Reading

 

Reading is awesome because you can have fun while getting smart! —6th grader

I remember the days when I used to require outside reading but give no class time for it. After all, independent reading is just that—it can be done independently. And we had so many demands on our class time.

With a lot of cajoling, reminders, and scary mom stares, most of the students would finish their required book or two. At least, they posted a book review or scheduled an interview with me. But I’m pretty sure none of my students ever said, like one did this week, “Reading is awesome because you can have fun while getting smart!”

Time is one of our most precious commodities. Students understand this at a gut level. It’s not that students can’t read at home. It’s that in the past my actions out-shouted my words as I demonstrated to them that what we did in class was more important than developing a lifelong habit of reading. That knowing the symbols in this particular play or learning that particular vocabulary list was more important than sinking into the state of flow with a good book, and all the other benefits that come from that.

This is my third year of reserving the first 10 minutes of every 45-minute class period for independent reading, and it has revolutionized my students’ attitudes toward reading. I end every trimester with an opportunity for students to reflect on their independent reading. Today, I’ve been reviewing this term’s data. My 6th and 7th graders read an average of 7 books since the beginning of September. The range was 3 - 15, with a mode of 5 and a median of 7. Here are some of their responses to prompts on the reflection:   

How do you feel about your progress in reading? 

• Compared to the start of the term, I think I have expanded my range of vocabulary.
• I can understand everything in the books while reading at a faster pace.
• I like reading historical fiction and don’t really read fantasy, so I will try to read those.
• I sometimes use the vocabulary from the book I read. 

What benefits have you experienced from independent reading this term?

• I have learned about different cultures around the world, or just had a relaxing time reading.
• I learned how successful people are not successful just because of their skill.
• I have improved my vocabulary and expression which I have applied to my essay.
• I am enjoying reading now even though I hated reading before.

What was a satisfying book you read this term?

• The Book Thief: (1) There isn’t as much “plot armor” (people not dying because they are the main character) as some novels have. (2) It’s from a unique point of view (the grim reaper). (3) It’s long but doesn’t get boring.
• Quiet because it took long, it is long, and because it had a lot of information in it.
• Trevor Noah: Born a Crime [young readers version] was the most satisfying because (1) Trevor Noah himself wrote the book so it was funny. (2) I started reading more after this book. (3) It was not too easy or too hard.
• Victory. Stand! It was about running track. It was nonfiction. It was about challenges with racism.
• Prisoner B-3087: I liked Alan Gratz so I was happy that I could read his new book. 

What strategies are you using to help you understand your book?

• If I find a word I don’t understand, I either look it up immediately or note the word and page somewhere.
• Read everything on the cover. [This students was referring to Challenger Deep--a book with an unreliable narrator. I'd told him to start it since he'd picked it, and I'd check with him the next day to see if he needed any help. He took it as a challenge and discovered this helpful strategy.]
• I summarized my book by telling people about the content.
• Read. Then read it one more time to see if I have mistaked thing. [Reading this comment reassured me that this student who I'd noticed returning to books wasn't just avoiding picking a new one.]
• Imagine what’s happening in the book. 

Complete the following statement: Reading is…because…

• Reading is important because you can learn new things, and is also a great way to relax.
• Reading is beneficial to our future because having good understanding and good vocabulary will open up chances for jobs that need bilingual employees.
• Reading is important because it can improve your writing skills, and you can learn more words.
• Reading is helpful for you because it improves your focus, memory, and communication skills.

It’s been a delight not only to spend the first 10 minutes of every class period in a room full of focused readers, but also to see them grow. The student for whom English is a 3rd language who has gone from reading only fantasy a year ago, to historical fiction in the spring, to non fiction (Quiet by Susan Cain and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell!) this fall. The student who shared with her peers in her book talk on Kelly Yang’s Room to Dream, “I have had the same problem as Mia: how to follow my dream and still keep my friends. This book showed me it is possible.”

How about you? How important do you think it is for your students to develop a life-long reading habit? How do you help them do it? 

Give Yourself an Early Christmas Present: Silent Discussion

Give yourself an early Christmas present! Ask your students what they’re learning about the big ideas in your unit or course. Even better, use an interactive protocol where they can see each other’s learning and build on it. Best of all: do it in writing, so you can capture it to reflect on when you need encouragement, to know that you are making a difference in young people’s lives. Previously I’ve used online discussion boards, hexagonal thinking, and one-pagers. This week I used a silent discussion protocol. 

In 6th and 7th grade ELA, we’d just finished our final literary analysis essay on A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, and I wanted to wrap up with some reflection on our big learnings. The novel alternates between the true story Salva, who became one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, and the story of Nya, a composite portrait of the life of a girl in South Sudan. I gave each student 3 post-it notes, and I made 3 posters, each with a prompt in the center that they were to address on one of the post-it notes:

1. What did you learn about the world: What’s amazing? What’s awful?
2. What did you learn about your neighbors: How people are like/unlike you? How knowing that helps you love them?
3. What did you learn about yourself: Who you are? Who you want to be?

Here are some of the things students wrote on the notes that they stuck on each of the 3 posters:

(1) What did you learn about the world: What’s amazing? What’s awful?

1. I learned that my “normal life” might be somebody else’s dream. Being able to go to school every day, have a house, and eat.
2. The world is not a perfect place and never will be, but we can try to make it bearable and prosperous for everybody.
3. In the story, even though Salva’s uncle was killed by some people in the Nuer tribe, he didn’t become prejudiced against everyone in the rival Nuer tribe because he gave water to them, too. Even if you have a bad experience with someone from a certain community, tribe, etc., that doesn’t make everyone from that place bad.

(2) What did you learn about your neighbors: How people are like/unlike you? How knowing that helps you love them?

1. I learned other people’s struggles could be way worse than mine, and I felt encouraged by other people’s stories and how they overcame their struggles.
2. I learned that I shouldn’t just look away from people that are in the middle of a problem even if I don’t know that person that much. 
3. Neighbors are sometimes all the way in other countries, like when the workers at the camps helped Salva to live a better life.

(3) What did you learn about yourself: Who you are? Who you want to be?

1. I would like to be like Salva who has the power to take action for other people.
2. I learned that I am very fortunate and should appreciate the family and people around me.
3. I learned that I should be more grateful for my surroundings, and be thankful for my opportunities.

Students then divided themselves into groups. Each group got 4 minutes at each poster. Students were eager to read their classmates thoughts and write their own responses on the poster around the post-its.

And I’m still smiling, reading over what they learned. 

How about you? Does knowing that students are learning important things in your class energize you? If so, how do you find out what important things they’re learning? How do you ask students to reflect on, interact with classmates over, and record their their big learnings from a unit?