swanmusing - Tumblr blog

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“Your job — as students who are receiving an education — is to be aware of your privilege. And use this particular privilege called “education” to do your best to achieve great things, all the while advocating for those in the rows behind you.”

source

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This made me so happy. Never give up and follow your dreams.

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My boss called me “Tyrone” on accident (My name is Tyrand). She apologized and bought me lunch to make up for it. I didn’t think twice about it, since I’m used to getting called every variant of “Ty-(fill in blank here)”. Then later on I read a quote she keeps in her work area that made me feel kinda special.

“During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say ‘Hello’.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.“

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One of my majors is english, so I do a lot of reading. Having to read an entire novel each week is rough, but it really helped me refine my annotating methods. Here is how I annotate fiction and nonfiction books! 

FICTION

1. MAKE USE OF THE BLANK PAGES IN THE FRONT OF THE BOOK 

I’m someone who has a lot of trouble with keeping track of characters, especially if there are a lot of them. To remedy this, I use one of the blank pages in the front of the book to make a list of each of the characters, and sometimes I’ll write something about them so I can place a name to a character. Here’s a quick example: 

2. USE HIGHLIGHTERS AND ASSIGN MEANING TO THE COLORS

If you aren’t someone who likes to actually write in the book, you can obviously use different colored post-its for this instead. I typically use three different colors when highlighting, and this is what the colors mean for me:

Pink - Character introductions: I use pink to highlight any time a character is introduced for the first time. You will often be asked to write about characters’ personalities, so this makes it easier to find descriptions of characters later. 

Green - Important plot points: I use green to highlight any important things that happen that I think I’ll need to look back at. 

Yellow - quotes: I use yellow for important quotes, or anything that is important but doesn’t fit any other category. 

Extra - Purple: After you finish reading a book, your teacher will usually point out important passages too. When this happens, I use purple to highlight those sections to denote that my professor found them important, because this probably means they’re worth talking about in an essay. 

3. WRITE A SUMMARY AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER

To make sure you really understood what you just read, it is a good idea to write down a brief summary on the last page of the chapter. This helps with remembering what you read, and it also makes it much easier to go back and find events in the plot that you want to talk about.

4. POST-ITS FOR ESSAY IDEAS

I’ve pretty much had to write an essay on virtually every book I’ve had to read in both high school and college, so I’ve made a habit of using post it notes to bookmark pages with content that would be helpful in making arguments in an essay. Make a short note on the post it so you remember what point you were planning on making with that passage. *This is especially helpful for timed essays during which you’re allowed to use the book as a resource. That way, you can have essentially your entire argument planned out ahead of time. 

NONFICTION 

I use similar methods when annotating nonfiction, but instead of paying attention to plot points, I try to focus on main arguments and ideas. 

1. USE A BLANK PAGE FOR SUMMARIZING

Like with fiction, I like to use a blank page at the front of the book to summarize different sections of the book. This makes it easy to remember all the main ideas without having to flip back through the entire book.

2. HIGHLIGHTING AND WRITING

When I read nonfiction, I care much less about color-coding my annotations. I typically just use whatever I have around me at the time. What really matters about nonfiction is making sure you really understand the content, so I write down summaries in the margins on nearly every other page. 

As you can see, there’s a lot of different colors going on. They mean nothing. Honestly, my yellow highlighter was just going dead so I was going back and forth between that and my purple one. The red pen was the one I was using during my initial read-through, and the second time I read these pages, I just happened to have a blue pen, so don’t worry about the colors.

Anyway, what is really important about this is my short summaries in the margins. Doing this not only helps you dismantle the arguments being made, but it also forces you to become an active reader. 

3. ACTIVE READING

Like i just mentioned, engaging with the book by writing summaries frequently makes you an active reader. It is difficult to get anything out of a book if you aren’t actively engaging with the material, especially if it’s nonfiction. To fully understand the ideas being presented in the book, you need to find a way to actively engage with it. You can do this by using my ‘writing summaries in the margins’ method, or you can do whatever it is that makes you really focus on the content of the book. Anyone can zone out and look at words on a page, but if you want that A, you need to really dive into the book! 

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When failing students just need to hand in one or two more assignments to pass

I’m like:

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Students: Hey, so at this point a lot of students would rather break their own legs than go to school because of the immense workload placed on us in the form of increased standardized testing and out of school work. It is remarkably frustrating and stressful to students, and causes a strain on our mental health

Parents: Hey, so our children are extremely overworked and we have noticed a huge increase in time spent on homework rather than things that kids should be doing like socializing and naturally forming interests that could lead them to possible career choices

Teachers: The state curriculum is becoming more demanding, requiring our students to learn more in less time, all while increasing the number and frequency of standardized tests (giving us even less time to teach important material). This makes us sad, because we want to share knowledge with students, but are forced to give them large amounts of homework to make up for lost time in the classroom.

The U.S. educational system: So what you're telling me is.... you want... more test??

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Another way to present the 9 types of intelligence as exemplified by my How Do We Measure Intelligence post.

The basic idea is that different people are good at different things. These 9 probably don’t cover the wide range of smarts we all possess, but it’s a start.

As Albert Einstein said, "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

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a freebie for the teachers

Subtitle: Why Teacher Supplies Matter. 

So, tomorrow is the first day of school, and all I know for sure about two of my little ELL English classes is that they will diverse in all the ways:  

I have kids who can understand some but can only speak minimally and probably won’t, twins who have been here for four years but refused to commicate for at least two and may or may not play along, kids who can understand and speak on a basic level but may not have spoken English much at all for three months, kids who can understand and speak but not so much write, and kids who can understand and speak fluently. I also have kids who have known each other for years, kids who are incoming freshmen, both sides of a family feud, and one girl whose first day in an American school is tomorrow. 

I wanted some kind of introductory ice breaker that did not require speaking or on-the-spot participation but would provide me some level of information about who these kids are. 

SO. 

Summer conversation is trite on the first day of school, but it’s also something beginners can handle and maybe the only thing these kids have in common. So I’m going to (note the future tense) make Google slides of labeled pictures with typical (and not so typical) summer activities. The kids who can and will can help me make the lists.  Then, with whatever conversation we can manage, each kid can use the markers my generous tumblr friends resupplied me with to write on the charts that I made tonight and laminated with a little tabletop machine I bought myself last Christmas. We can make sentences, read sentences, find a partner with the same sentences, some variation on icebreaker whatever. 

THEN, we’re going to do the same kind of thing with school activities and the four domains of language– reading, writing, listening, speaking– so I can have an idea of who they think they are as students or English speakers.  The kids who can write paragraphs will. The kids who can write sentences will. The kids who are learning the basic verbs will, and then copy my sentences. 

The whole shebang would have sentence stems, more pictures, a detailed writing assignment. That will probably happen eventually. 

BUT, I am pretty happy to have thought of a basic structure that will help and require everyone in that mixed bag to participate and get to know each other a little regardless of language. 

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Hi! As the name implies, I need a little help. What do you think are essentials for students at school? Besides like notebooks and all of the obvious stuff?

Okay, I’ll bite:

You need a decent back pack.  Not these stupid cinch-saks or a trendy thing that will be out of style or fall apart in a year (I’m looking at you Vera Bradley).  Drop the money on a good backpack with a good warranty like a Jansport.  I bought one my sophomore year of college and it lasted the whole time, and then I gave it to a middle school friend whose backpack had ripped and it lasted him another 3 years.  My current bag is a Nike I bought 6 years ago during grad school.  

Instead of individual folders, get a heavy duty accordion folder, with at least as many pockets as you have classes (so, 7, usually). You won’t worry about losing that *1* folder or stuff falling out.  At the end of the semester/school year, file through papers and get rid of things you don’t need but keep old essays or good handouts.  Then file that accordion folder away for reference …. like, “Oh hey, my English 9 honors teacher made a great MLA handout, let me find that…”  I still use these type of folders to haul grading around.  

Do people still buy good scientific calculators?  I got one when I was 16 and I still have it–it’s in my desk at school, even. I used it all through college and then it was super helpful for grading.  

You need some sort of planner.  Use your school planner in the “old school” way to keep track of practices and assignments, or find some app.  The great thing about iPhones now is the reminder feature, so you could create lists of what homework you have to do, set a reminder to do it, and then tick off the list.

Index cards!  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST GET A PACK OF 3X5 LINED CARDS AND KEEP THEM IN THAT BACKPACK I TOLD YOU TO GET, KIDS. You can use cards to take notes while reading a novel or chapter for class, then transcribe later.  Your English teachers always tell you have them for research projects.  Just…ARGH. 

Highlighters and different colored pens for all that annotating your teachers tell you to do.  Post-it notes are also good to have for taking notes and annotating in any textbook or novel.

Keep some snacks in your bag–HEALTHY SNACKS.  Little packs of granola, or raisins, or nuts.  I know there is always one long drag during the day where students get hungry.  Just be polite and ask your teacher if it’s okay to eat it before you crack it open and nosh during class.  (I know I don’t care if it’s during independent work and no one makes a mess.  And if they share.)

I’m not going to tell you to get a USB drive because those things are becoming obsolete.  It is essential you know how to use cloud storage.  Either get a Gmail account to use Drive or get a Dropbox account.  The day is soon coming when teachers will not accept, “OMIGOSH my USB is corrupted!!” as an excuse for late work.  With that, get an email account that is clear and professional, some version of your given name.  That way, you can email work and questions to your teacher.  

Keep an eye out if you have a specialty class or elective in which it would benefit you to invest in your own supplies instead of using “community” stuff.  Say, your own set of pencils in art class, or small tools in an engineering class, or a pair of safety glasses and gloves that fit if you happen to take tech theater.

Hope that helps and I hope everyone is having a good time back to school shopping!

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This is so badass

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A little tip for parents with children in school (or for children in school to show their parents)

My mom gave me and my sister two days every semester that she called “mental health days.”

Those were days, that for ANY reason, and without having to tell my mom the reason, we could skip the day of school. We’d just tell her we were taking a mental health day and she’d call the school and let them know we were not coming in. 

#1 This helped keep our grades up by lowering our stress levels. I never got a C in any grade school class. The majority of my classes I received A’s. I also took 4 AP classes and they were not weighted. Trust me, it made a difference.

#2 I never felt the need to skip school. I knew if I ever wanted to or needed to my mom would help me. 

Your kids are young and need time to recover. They need some days where they can do nothing but stay in bed for no reason. They need their own space where their privacy is respected. It will make a huge difference.

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12 Verb Tenses

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Tips for respecting children’s spaces, competence, and general existence from a preschool teacher:

Listen to them

Ask them, “Do you want to say hi to your auntie/grandma/cousin/dad/whatevs” (Hint: they will be honest and this can result in a simple hello or a hug or a silly “No!” depending how comfortable they feel)

If they don’t want to hug you realize it’s not that they don’t love you it’s that they don’t know you/don’t feel like hugging.

Just like every other person who doesn’t want a hug

In the event that you need to move a child EXPLAIN TO THEM WHY and WHAT YOU ARE DOING don’t just move them like PROPS they are CHILDREN and NOT props

For instance, “I’m going to move your chair over so we have room at the table for everyone!”

Or  “Sorry there was a person running by I didn’t want you to get smushed so I had to pick you up!”

Remind them that they are people not objects using your actions

Asking children to do something they don’t want to do but NEED to do often doesn’t work, instead give them a choice, “Do you want to eat bok choy or yams?”

NOT “Do you want to eat your vegetables?”

“Do you want to brush your teeth in the bathroom or the kitchen”

This exercises their ever-growing free will and is especially useful during TERRIFIC TWOS okay TERRIFIC not TERRIBLE they’re TERRIFIC

Children will copy you, MODEL FOR THEM

Being over enthusiastic IS beneficial for them understanding emotional and social competence

“I hung this picture uneven, that makes me sad, hmmm! Oh goodie, I found my mistake! Now I can fix it, I’ll feel much happier when I’ve fixed it!”

You think it sounds ridic yeah well hearing you do that children around you just learned to not get so discouraged by their mistakes and that it’s okay to try to fix them

ADULTS CAN APOLOGIZE TO CHILDREN

You make a mistake that hurt a child, APOLOGIZE and show them how to do it properly and genuinely

Realize children are fully competent and are capable of making meanings from YOUR implications about race, culture, gender, ability, sexuality, EVERYTHING

Many three year olds know what the N-word is, what gay means, can identify which children are visably disabled, and YOUR REACTIONS of their answers of questions about their culture

Children like to talk about themselves so do not ever dismiss what they say about themselves as illegitimate just because it sounds silly or unlikely sometimes it’s true

Stop talking about how you hate children, just leave them alone if you don’t understand them you don’t have to be complete jerks to PEOPLE you’ve never met

I will post more and if people have question PLS ASK ME I WOULD LOVE TO ANSWER WHAT I KNOW

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The final, brilliant word on passive voice.

“She was killed [by zombies.]” <—- passive

“Zombies killed [by zombies] her.” <—- active

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America: our education system needs to improve!

American education: we need another standardized test and more homework!

Finland: actually, we became one of the worlds' best education systems by getting rid of homework and standardized tests - also, we pay our teachers better than you.

China: same

Belgium: same

American education: better make it two more standardized tests.

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when someone asks how i control my students