Emma's Literacy Blog

  Tovani starts her sixth chapter by listing her students. It’s a little funny and beyond relatable that she had a hard time remembering her quiet students. Or in her words: “invisible.” Again, it is all about finding what is behind this mask that makes student s feel comfortable in the learning environment. I loved the title of her first section to address this “problem”: Talking Isn’t the Only Way to Show Thinking.        Despite how much I lov e to talk now, I almost never spoke in classes in my early to late year in public education. I have certainly never been an introvert, but I never used talking aloud in class as a way of working through problems. If I was verbal at all, it was because I was called on or when I was working through a problem to myself. I often felt more comfortable whispering with a teacher about my thoughts than sharing them with the entire class. I worked better on paper, my strong suit being writing as opposed to speaking. I can’...

  As usual, I walked into Mr. Roberson’s class with about twenty minutes left of first period. That day was dedicated to makeup work. The students were working at their tables, some more quietly than others. I’m sure you can recognize a theme at this point, students are often doing busy work while I’m there. This period was just fine; the bell rang and they moved on while others moved in. Second period: my favorite, not Mr. Roberson’s. Some of my favorite students walked in: the troublemakers, the rowdy ones. Roberson told them what they had to spend their day doing. He listed which students were missing what assignments. There were several that had n’t turned in more than one worksheet. All of their assignments can be found on Schoology, their “Canvas.” After the announcement is when things got a little crazy. Several students, who were probably avoiding their boring worksheets, continued to get up out of their seats to ask to leave to either use the bathroom or go t...

  In Mr. Roberson’s class on October 19, I entered the class halfway through first period. The students were working at their tables . There was a bit of chatter, but not overwhelmingly so. Students were working on their costume designs for a play that they had read previously in the week. They could use any coloring utensil that they wanted. Shortly after, the bell rang, and secon d period came in. Mr. Roberson affectionately describes second period as his trouble class. After introducing the assignment to that class, he makes his way back to his desk. He often sits there and tells me the latest gossip wh ile the students work. Most students got to work after given the assignment, but there are always those few that waste their class time. There is one student in particular who was having trouble sitting down to do his work the entire period. Thank goodness Mr. Roberson likes to gossip; he shared with me that this student moved from Mexico around the time he was entering the fi...