Thought For Teacher

  I like framing YA lit as asking “who we are and what that might mean” (51) because it values student readers and their experiences and asks them to think more deeply than simply entertainment. I wanted to note the four qualities of a classroom community in YA pedagogy: belief that the work is important, discussions that blend personal response and literary analysis, a sense of being known and valued, and collective investment in a shared experience (54). I have so many of these beliefs shooting around in an unstructured way, but seeing it simplified into four simple principles had me going “yes! This!” The classroom portraits were all inspiring. I thought the book tree in Carrie’s class was cute with the titles. I love valuing YA reading like this, showing the students it matters by displaying all the titles they love and giving them such a voice! Buehler talks about the student buy-in (58) which I also noted - It’s the secret magic ingredient that makes everything else in the cl...

I think the teacher who creates and employs ladders must be the most loving and hands on teacher. I really love this concept, and the fact that the author provides some samples for the lesser read. I would love even MORE examples with more contemporary texts. I am excited by the possibility of using ladders to connect students to new genres, narration styles, and to help them build confidence. My ears really perked up when Lesesne started talking about short stories in chapter 6 because I was already thinking about how to use this idea to apply to a short stories unit we do in 6th grade. It has been my project to update this unit for next year - I purchased class sets of Flying Lessons and Other Stories to add some more contemporary voices to an existing short stories unit, and ladders might be the exact way to work them in. Maybe we can get more buy in for an awesome but higher level story like The Lottery if the kids get there via ladder. Having students create ladders is also an ide...

  I am all about the idea of deconstructing “the adolescent” via Youth Lens as a pathway into theoretical lenses for kids. I hadn’t thought a lot about how adolescence is a social construct in the same way as race or gender, but of course it  makes perfect sense AND it’s a lens that kids will have actual skin in the game to want to unlock.  I know for a fact that the deficit lens of adolescence seeps into the consciousness of our own kids. My 6th graders have made comments about their older teen siblings along the lines of “oh yeah she/he is such a teenager, it’s so annoying.” In our parent teacher conferences, parents bring up the dreaded specter of looming teendom - “I think my child is beginning to act more adolescent” (cue the horror movie music). This deficit attitude towards teens is so ingrained, and unpacking how it is reinforced in their literature is an exciting suggestion.  I think teaching kids about Youth Lens and then having them apply it to the media t...

  I completed two projects from the provided list to serve as a possible exemplar for future students. Check out my example projects here .

Buehler breaks down YA pedagogy and really makes a case for using YA in the classroom in the same way a traditional canonical text might be used. It makes me excited to introduce more of these contemporary texts because last year was my first year on the 6th grade team, and what I found is that the texts being offered up for choices for lit circles were often, well, vintage. Not to bash Hatchet, it was still a crowd favorite, but I kind of feel like if I read it in 6th grade, then there must be A LOT of new voices and texts that have come out since then that are just as good if not better, and we could be sharing THOSE with our kids, too.  What complicates the YA pedagogy for me is that it requires the teacher to be so widely read. I am a SLOW reader, and I lack confidence that I have read enough texts to be the “match maker” Buehler describes. I have definitely had colleagues like this and I was always in awe of them and still turn to them in a pinch! We also have amazing media sp...

I have come to think of “literacy” as a multifaceted and living thing, encompassing the skills of reading texts, the surrounding world, and the movement through those experiences. In an adolescent’s life, this is often the foundational moment where they will form their relationship with reading that will stay with them into adulthood. Will they see themselves as having a seat at that book circle table? Will they have skills to critique, question, and speak back when needed? Will they be able to learn and engage in community, pursue their passions and interests, solve the problems that matter most to them? My own relationship with literacy was a rocky start. I was a late reader. There were concerns about me acquiring the skills to decode and gain fluency and comprehension at the same level as my peers. I have a core memory of an amazing first grade teacher turning my attitude around. She brought in her sewing machine and let us pick fabric to bind books we wrote ourselves. My book was w...