College Football Championship

More than anything, I watch English Premier League soccer. I have a huge AT&T Uverse package to watch as much European soccer as I can. Along with all the other activities I have going on, I have little time for much other tv watching. But I do my best to watch LSU football. And since the LSU Tigers are facing the Clemson Tigers in the college football championship tomorrow, I could take some time to contemplate sports writing.

Since the championship match-up has been set, I've been checking in on what writers have to say about it. I've looked at South Carolina newspapers, with little of the biased coverage that I expected. I've checked in on Baton Rouge and New Orleans writing, with all of the bias to LSU that I expect. I go to ESPN every day to read about something, and mostly I'm underwhelmed with what I find there. But today I read a lengthy and detailed analysis that is worth sharing.

College football championship--LSU-Clemson analysis, prediction, and more from Bill Connelly from ESPN provided more substantial writing than I have yet to encounter on the topic. Maybe that's what's been most disappointing. I feel like I've been hit with more analytical writing on the wild card match-ups in the NFL than in the actual college football championship.

I feel like Bill Connelly produced one of those detail-oriented, statistics-heavy, jargon-rich lengthy pieces that we used to get from Bill Simmons, and which I loved so much. I can remember, as a college freshman in 1999, tearing out Bill Simmons' articles from the actual ESPN The Magazine, to post on my dorm room wall. I love Bill Simmons' writing so much, and while I don't encounter the same voice here, Connelly does have some of the pieces that left me satisfied after having read for multiple sittings.

I've checked fivethirtyeight.com (Nate Silver) and theringer.com (Bill Simmons) and have been significantly underwhelmed. Fivethirtyeight is focused on politics and the NFL right now, and The Ringer is full on with NFL and NBA coverage. Both of those focal points should be assumptions, given who is driving the car, but I guess I would just like to see more substantial coverage of college football. Is that too much to ask?

At the end of the day, more than wanting a good football game, I want LSU to win. I'm highly biased. I'm highly invested. I can't justify it, but I could say that I need an LSU win. That wouldn't be true, but it would feel true. And that's a bit of a problem, right? When I feel like I need a time to win a game to be happy, I've got problems. I have even more problems when I'm complaining about the media coverage of said game and team.

Proverbs 20:15

"Wise words are more valuable than much gold and many rubies."

That's from the New Living Translation.

I'm reading through the Bible in chronological order, according to Tyndale publishers. I'm nearing the end of Solomon's reign, and since he wrote much of Proverbs, I've recently finished his writings therein. This verse was one of those motivating things to push me to write everyday. Seth Godin also advocates for writing every day. Actually, many things are converging to push me forward in my writing, but I can't give away all of my ideas.

I like this verse. I like it a lot. I don't know if I have wise words just yet, but I think I do have wise words within me. And I do believe that wise words are more valuable than gold and rubies, so I'm here to write every day, and hopefully some wisdom will find its way out.

write now

Another week has gone by without posting to the blog. Some days I haven't even written. I've had meetings, classes, conversations that have been positive and productive--and those are understatements. I've actually written two posts this week, but I didn't publish them; I couldn't convince myself to. I'm still thinking; I'm still considering and contemplating. A lot is going on--in my life, at home, at school, and consequentially in my brain. It's more to process than I want to put out there, but I still feel to push to put it out there. I'm getting more and more scared about sharing though.

These are my thoughts today, October 15, 2010, during third period, 10:23 am CDT.

Tucker the Trucker

I started class today with the "Tucker the Trucker" sentence combining activity. Here's the scenario:

1 - write the following four sentences on the board: Tucker is a trucker. He is from Winnemucca. He is stuck in the muck. He is out of luck.  

2 - have someone combine the sentences as the model sentence (in this case it was my Assistant Principal, who's in her first year at the school)

3 - challenge the students to combine the sentences themselves; if anyone gets it exactly right they win a prize (in this case $5)

I did this with four separate classes, approximately 120 students total, and only one kid came close. And that's because he cheated with a student from an earlier class. The cool thing about it all: when I approached the AP about doing this she was in a huge hurry, which is how she basically walks the halls everyday. Well, she started to write a sentence, then scratched it out. Then she wrote a sentence and didn't like it. So she wrote another sentence. After rereading and thinking, she decided on the second sentence. Pretty awesome. She was thinking, revising, editing, and doing so in a way that it was transparent because the students got to see it all. It provided a great example of what writers do.

It is a fun challenge. It got the kids thinking. I'll be trying things like this just about every Tuesday, before we go to the Library. And now, after a good day like today, I've got to say that Tuesdays could be one of my favorite days as a teacher. It's days when I chunk the material down: 8 minutes max for intro activity--something quick like "Tucker the Trucker" or a similar sentence level writing activity; to the Library for information about new books, new reads, and for the students to check out books and read; discussion time about your books interspersed; return to class for a closer--could be anything, today it was updates on writing contests and outside publishing opportunities, and games of Free Rice.

I've got to say a huge thank you to Julie Sheerman for introducing me to the "Tucker the Trucker" activity, and to Julie Mahaffey who is our school librarian and works amazingly hard to make sure that the library offers lots of different books for our kids. They're both awesome people, and in a time when I'm beginning to feel isolated in my classroom, I know that I am nothing without the awesome support around me.

PS - I'm trying to get into reading more of the yalit stuff, so I'm reading Meg Cabot's Pants on Fire, and it's pretty much hilarious simply for the front and back cover picture, but it creates opportunities for discussion with the kids, even more so than when they see me reading my own books (I'm currently still trying to finish Zeitoun and How Soccer Explain the World).

from yesterday, and today, so I'm counting this one twice

I really like writing with pen and paper. Pencil and paper is nice, but I like pen and paper more. Typing is good, but I spend so much time on a computer during the day, that when I pull it out I can't help but open email, and twitter, and Google Reader, and check the OWP Ning. All of that feels like work. Lately, when I sit with pen and a notebook and write on paper, I can almost feel like I'm flying. That’s totally cliché and junior high, but it’s true. I'm becoming a writer; writing something that I want to do on a regular basis. It's something that, when presented with a new scenario or a problem, I want to do to sort out my thoughts.


Yesterday, after school, I went to MSU for an OWP meeting. It was nice to see people, and we really needed to get some work done. It was raining pretty good on my way in to Siceluff, so I didn't bring my computer in. (And I really didn't want to because then I would be more distracted and it would feel more like work). After sitting down at the table and reconnecting with everyone using our talking stick, I started to write, unprovoked. That's something that rarely happens. But now, as I'm writing every day, I'm looking for things to write about, and I'm finding things that I want to write about even when I don't have time.

I began writing about ironing. It's something that I've wanted to write about for some time, but just haven't. Below is not the exact version that I wrote, because I did go through and edit, but I actually told myself, as I was writing, that I would go through and edit. It's cliché filled and lousy, but I hope you enjoy.

Ironing.
It presses out the creases. It gets out the wrinkles.


It’s a great way to start a day. I do it to cleanse my mind. When I “press” my shirts I can feel my tightened mind loosen. I prepare myself for work by making myself “look sharp”—as my father might say. I act to stop the grind while somehow participating in the grind: I must iron my pants and shirts every morning; it is part of the routine. But somehow it is apart from all the rest of it.


Ironing comes after I read and journal and pray. That is a two-part intentional choice. I don’t want to sit down and wrinkle my newly crisp clothes. Sometimes I don’t want to read and journal and pray, but I force myself to do it, even when I’m running late. The intent is to prepare myself for the day—mentally and spiritually. The outcome is usually a desire for more time to sit and be quiet before my Creator. It’s then, in my morning routine, that I rise to iron out the wrinkles from my clothes. It is then that I feel my muscles begin to relax, and my mind grow at ease with the plans for the day. Yes, there is much to do, but with the right combination, anything is possible.


When I walk out of my study, where I iron, I walk out a neatly dressed, new man. I walk out armed to take on the day. There’s a mental shift that takes place, a loosening of the anxious bonds that rush me from shower to shave to shake to vitamins to _______________.


I don’t know why or how or when it happened, but I love ironing in the morning.

stream of consciousness

What’s on my mind?

Sometimes I do just want my students to listen.

I like being surprised by my students, but not when they say something vulgar or they hit someone. I know it happens, but I figured they might try to hide it at least a little bit. Blatant disregard for another really makes me mad. Add pure, narcissistic egotism to the list too. (That’s what my 7th period class feels like).

I’m totally cool with my students when they think outside the box. When I “hand” them the box and they think outside of it, I get excited because then we get to have some fun. Who likes being stuck in a box anyway? Right now, though, when I “hand” them the box, they ignore the box completely and do something completely different. It makes no sense. I don’t understand it. I’ve had 26 students doing a timed focus writing in their Writing Notebooks, and then have 3 guys listening to music on the computers or walking across class to talk to a friend. I could understand drawing, or not writing, or even reading a book.

What has just occurred to me is that I am changing. Dear Lord, please help me to not become “that” teacher. For the most part, I’m cool with students doing a bit of chatting, as long as they whisper and can still do whatever I’m asking of them. Lots of times, that chatter is important for some students to process and think aloud through an assignment. But lately, I’ve noticed that I’m being a bit harsh about every little thing, and that’s just not me. The students need some leeway right now. As I write this, I hate phrases like “whatever I’m asking of them” and “’hand’ them the box.” Why can’t I have my students set their own goals and objectives, and then determine how to meet those goals? Is that doable in a room of 29 to 32 8th graders? Can someone out there tell me?

I want to get to know my students. I want my students to get to know one another. I want my students to work toward independence. When they walk into my class, a structure should be in place that supports their learning, without totally directing it. They determine the direction. Is this possible?

I liken my goal as a reading instructor to that of a connector or a bloodhound. I simply want to connect readers to texts in a meaningful way. Students are given books to read on a regular basis. I don’t want to give anything to anyone; I want to help students find what they’re looking for, even if sometimes they don’t know what they’re looking for. And if I can connect readers with one another in meaningful ways, so that conversations take place, so that questions are raised, so that solutions are sought, then I would be really happy too. I’ve found that, sometimes, in an effort to connect a reader to a text, it is first important to connect the reader to another reader. That added connection sometimes makes the connection to a text easier and stronger at the same time. I’ve used the word sometimes quite a bit, because I’ve also found that there is no absolute when it comes to human beings.

When it comes to my goal as a writing instructor, I’m at a bit of a loss. Basically, I think of writing as a journey on this really long path. When I look at my own path, I see that I was a good writer when I was young, but only when writing essays and arguments. Those were things that I enjoyed engaging in because it was about organization, it was about research and synthesis, it was about reading and learning and then taking that and putting it together to say something meaningful. I’m pretty sure I first learned that when I was in 8th grade and had to write an essay on either The Crucible or Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. I had to write a paper on both of those plays, but I don’t remember which one was in 8th grade. I didn’t quite understand the grammar and sentence level complexities and creativity that is available to writers until I got into college and started taking foreign languages. When I had to break down Greek into phrases and then translate it, I began to gain the ability to think of my writing in English in the same way. So now, often, I’m thinking of English in words and phrases rather than sentences and paragraphs. Maybe that’s why it’s hard for me to write longer pieces. How does this relate to me as an English/writing teacher? I’m not sure.

When it comes to my writing instruction, I simply want to point the way for those that I teach; I liken myself to Google Maps and Wal-Mart. There are lots of paths that writers can take. They should get to choose. I want to be there to say, “OK, this is where you’re going. Let me show you three ways to get there. You choose which you think is best.” That’s what I want to happen in my classroom. When my students start writing, I want to have a conversation with them that helps them along their way. Whatever tools or supplies they need, I can help them get. Whatever direction they need in how to get there, I can provide. Maybe that is a pretty narcissistic, egotistical thing for me to think, but I guess that’s how I want to think of myself. Maybe it would be a whole lot better if I were able to help them be the Google Maps and Wal-Mart for each other. Yeah, I’m pretty sure that would be much better. First I need to get there though. 

writing with my students

I wrote with my students today. I vividly remember thinking, as I sat with them at the tables, "This is what I missed yesterday." And I was so right. First period is a bit behind, so I didn't get anything substantive with them, although I did do the Found Poem activity with them. I needed some time to just write, and although we only wrote for 8 minutes, it was good for me and them. Sharing was cool too, but I'll have to put those pictures up on the class website. 

I provided prompts, after we talked about different successful teams. I brought up teams such as the New York Yankees and Chicago Bulls (actual sports teams), as well as Metallica, the New York Fire Department, the design and construction team of Extreme Home Makeover, and those who work at Mission Control at NASA. The students brought up the sports teams at PV, as well as the band there and other bands that they liked a lot. Oddly enough, one student actually brought up the NASDAQ stock exchange and described the traders and everyone on the floor, but I think he was making a connection to NASA and thinking of the NYSE floor. Anyway, below are the prompts.

• What makes a good team?
• When have you enjoyed being on a team? Why?
• What type of a team would you like to be on? Why?

Keri brought up a good point in her response to my previous post. I probably need to probe more specifically regarding the actions of the team and teammates, rather than broadly address "a good team." I will admit that I love language and am very attentive to what I the words I use, but I'm not all that good at asking questions, especially unbiased ones. Sometimes I think that I want a biased question, especially with 8th graders, but other times (like when I'm challenged by Keri) I realize that certain questions elicit certain responses, and that's not necessarily good. So maybe we'll consider actions of a team and teammate--like shared interests in writing specifically with regard to identifying and developing topics/genres to write about/in, peer conferences, sharing work space, publishing and positive feedback. 


I've got a lot to think about, and a lot to consider with my students. Casey and Amy had a really neat Cinchcast about teacher/student feedback with regard to writing, and I think I'll have to relisten to that, and probably bring that question to my students too.