The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
November 21, 2009
This is Only a Moldy Test
The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
November 21, 2009
This is Only a Moldy Test
Yesterday afternoon I was driving home from the post office when
the song on the radio was interrupted by a jarring tone. After a
long beep, I heard those familiar words: This has been a test of
the Emergency Broadcasting System. This is only a test. If
this
had been an actual emergency. . .
If you live in the United States, you can probably repeat that
message verbatim because you've heard it so many times through the
years. Yet as I was driving along, I wondered why the message was
so disconcerting. I knew it wasn't an "actual emergency" (as
opposed to what, a "virtual emergency"?). And then it hit
me why
those words are more jarring than they need to be. I was hearing
the exact same recording I'd first heard when I was a child. The
voice was now a little scratchy from so many playings, with lots of
white noise in the background. I bet it was recorded in the 1960s
or even earlier, and that poor announcer is either in a nursing
home or long gone from this world.
That ancient recording gives a strong subliminal message. "If this
was an actual emergency, you'd be plunged into the dark ages, or at
least back to the time when this was recorded! We'd all be huddled
in basements with ham radios, dusting off expired cans of food,
wearing bellbottoms with large orange and lime green flowers on
them!" (Okay, the kids may be wearing those now, but you get my
drift.)
There is something powerfully but subtly disturbing about public
messages we see or hear often that are never updated or refreshed.
Here's a challenge for you this week - find one small, tired piece
of the public face of your school or classroom that you can easily
update (or even remove if it has outlived its purpose). That comic
sans font on the school website that looked so young and fun when
you put it up in 1998? Looks a little sad and cartoony now.
The
health guidelines for handling blood on the bulletin board in the
teacher workroom that are fly-specked and water-stained? Kind of
scary for volunteers who see them every time they wash their hands,
and know we are in the midst of the worst flu pandemic in decades.
Put up a clean copy and send the subliminal message that you're
absolutely on top of health issues in your school. The
laminated
commercial poster of the 7 Comprehension Strategies in your
classroom that is curling around the edges and torn in one corner?
Hey, what has it done for you or your students lately?
We may not see or hear some of the outdated messages we're sending
out about our classrooms or schools. As insiders, they aren't in
focus for us anymore - we understandably are concentrating on the
immediate needs of our colleagues and students, exciting new
projects, or even actual emergencies. If the messages aren't
obsolete we may keep them up, not noticing the "message beneath the
message" the format or age of them is sending to the public about
how current we are in our approaches to teaching, learning, and
life in a school community. I have no doubt insiders in the
government are hard at work using the latest technology to prepare
our country for a real emergency. I just wish they'd take ten
minutes to record and send out a new message to radio stations
using a bit of that whiz-bang technology. It might be more
reassuring than they realize.
This week we're featuring one of our most popular guides from the
archives on observing challenging students. Plus more as
always -
enjoy!
Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy
Free for All
The Puzzle Kids eGuide for Observing and Analyzing Challenging
Students is one of the most popular features in the Choice Literacy
Archives. Designed for use with a partner or in a study group,
it's a series of activities to help you get at what's going on with
those children who are in danger of slipping through the cracks:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/118.cfm
One of my favorite blogs is emilyreads - haiku reviews of
children's, young adult, and adult literature. Obviously pithy and
frequently hilarious, I can't help but think assigning haiku book
reviews to students might be a fun way to teach the form and value
of using a few words to make big points:
http://www.emilyreads.com/
The Mock Caldecotts Blog from the Children's Services Department of
the Allen County (Indiana) Public Library is an ongoing discussion
with short lists of potential nominees. The third of four
shortlist installments was just posted last week:
http://acplmockcaldecott.blogspot.com/
If you're still looking for some interesting materials on the web
for Thanksgiving, the Library of Congress has an excellent
compilation of resources for teachers. Don't miss their timeline
covering almost 500 years of Thanksgiving lore and milestones:
http://bit.ly/2z3TTg
For Members Only
"Is Just Right Still Just Right?" Clare Landrigan and Tammy
Mulligan ask themselves this question as they consider how the
incredibly useful and widely accepted "just right" term can
sometimes limit how students think about book selection and their
identities as readers. Their article includes sample lessons to
help expand the ways young readers think about and discuss their
reading preferences:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1030.cfm
Teacher book talks or book shares with students are a terrific way
to expose students to new literature available in the classroom,
and get everyone thinking about their evolving interests. In this
week's video, Franki Sibberson shares new literature with her
intermediate students, challenging them to build individual plans
for reading in the coming weeks:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/771.cfm
PD Portraits is our new series of detailed descriptions of
professional development workshops, including formats, templates,
and advice on facilitating these events for your colleagues. This
week, Jennifer Allen reflects upon the value of integrating
assessment into her work with teachers. The workshop
includes an
example of how to use this week's featured video with colleagues:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1026.cfm
In This Could Be Our Family, Andie Cunningham considers the
diversity in how "families" are defined in children's literature,
as well as how some newer books can support children with lesbian
or gay parents in our new booklist:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1029.cfm
Finally, if you're looking for collections of articles around
specific topics or themes, don't forget to visit our Clusters
Department. We've now posted 40 of these clusters which include
articles, videos, and focus questions for individuals or study
groups:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/department71.cfm
That's all for this week!
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Jennifer Allen
