Am I the Only One Who Hates AI?

I am an English teacher. I like to write. But more and more students are trying to use AI to write their essays. I don’t allow it. I am to the point of wanting a first draft handwritten in front of me before moving on to the final draft. It is frustrating for all parties because I want the students to be able to write. It is very important that students are able to write about their thoughts and how they feel. Write one actually helps the thought process.

But just recently, I was on Amazon looking for birthday presents for my son who will be turning two, and I found a cute Spider Man car. I scroll for the reviews and there are only three. All three reviews are nearly identical in structure and length and sound very AI generated. Now, are these fake reviews by the company or lazy reviews by the reviewer? Probably the first, but it is so frustrating as a customer.

I then started Googling about AI reviews, and I kept finding discussions about using AI to write reviews. Why not write them yourself? They would be more accurate and personal?

I understand that I read a a lot of science fiction and dystopian books, but I feel like AI is going to being us down a horrible path.

In my search, I also found that many people use AI to write their blog posts!! Yes, it would give me time to be far more regular in writing, but it would be so wrong. I thought people blogged out of passion, but apparently not.

What are your thoughts on AI? In education? In reviews? In Blogs?

I Self-Published a Children’s Book

I have not been as active as I would like to be when it comes to posting here. I do hope to improve as I have seen some changes in education that I do want to talk about. However, as my previous post said, between work and family, I don’t find a lot of time for anything else. It is a challenge!

I teach 9-12 English classes, then a fiction, and a creative writing class. That means I have to plan and prep for six classes every day. That is certainly a challenge, but I have favorite books and assignments in each.

One of my favorite projects I work on with my creative writing class is a children’s book project where the students read through a bunch of children’s books and then write and illustrate one of their own. While I was preparing for teaching that this year, I started making one of my own. (I always make one as an example, but this one felt different).

I am not an illustrator, so I used Canva Pro for the images and created an adorable children’s book. Canva has its limitations on what you can write because the images are already created but I chose to do an alphabet book because my two youngest kids are four and (almost) two, so it a perfect time to read the book. The book turned out so cute! Click on the picture to see the book on Amazon!

I used Amazon Kindle Direct to self-publish the book. I have a couple of other projects I am working on that I hope to finish before the summer.

Me with my book.

Is Curriculum Political?

I was recently reading 4 Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. These two are pretty much considered superheroes in the realm of education. They have multiple books to their names, and are highly sought after for professional development. I was disappointed that I missed Kelly when he came to North Dakota to NDCTE conference a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t thrilled with this book.

I wanted to love this book. I have multiple other books by these authors. I have spend literacy hundreds of dollars combined on all the titles. But this one seemed too political. They must have expected this critique because at the end of the book they mention that all curriculum is political. And that made me wonder, is it? Should it be? When did it become political?

I remember being in school, discussing controversial topics, and never knowing where my teachers stood. I really feel that this is why so many claim teachers are indoctrinating students. But maybe that is just me. I don’t know. Is curriculum political?

Work-Life Balance

I am back. Or I hope to be. It has been a challenge to find the time to write. My parents are not in good health, and I travel frequently to see them. I actually live in North Dakota to be closer to them (they live in Manitoba, Canada). It has been stressful but I know that in the future this is time that I would regret not spending with them, so I do what I have to do.

I also have three children who take up a lot of time. My three year old has a new found love of the zoo. I am so thankful that zoo memberships are not too expensive. My kids love going. They love animals. My favorite thing to see at the zoo is smile on each of my children’s faces.

My youngest is a cat person. When he sees the tigers, he says, “Kitty.” One of the only words he knows. He also loves to cuddle our kitty at home. They are best friends and it is the cutest thing to see.

My oldest son has autism, and he is now a teenager. If you thought puberty was hard, try navigating it with autism. It is a challenge each day, but also a joy. I am blessed with my children, unfortunately, I am not always blessed with enough time for everything I would like to do. But I am back and hope to put more time and effort into my writings.

And of course school has started up again. I am glad school has started though, it gets me back into a goal oriented mindset and helps me stay on a schedule but it still takes a lot of time.

For those of you who seem to have the time for everything, where do you find it? I swear, I just never seem to have enough.

Teaching is Hard

Teaching is hard. I know there are many who may disagree with me, but I stand by my statement. The physical act of getting up and teaching is easy, but trying to engage students and get them to see the purpose of what you are trying to teach is hard.

It is even harder when you have a family. Right now, my parents are both not doing well health-wise, and so that is taking a toll on my teaching because I am gone a lot with my parents. They feel bad about it. They don’t want to impact my job. They have even delayed health treatment out of the misguided idea of not wanting to inconvenience me, but health and family should come first. I love my students, but I love my family more. I need to be there for them, or I know I will regret it. Besides, the entire reason I left Florida was to help my parents, so I can’t abandon them when they need it most.

I also have kids though. I am incredibly fortunate to be at a school that has a daycare, so daycare has not been an issue, but I have two sons who have some health problems. My oldest son is autistic and my youngest has some back and neck issues. The issues may seem minor right now, but could grow into bigger issues if not treated, so I must take him from doctor to doctor trying to find answers. It is stressful because no answers are found. That is one of the problems of living in such a rural area.

When you have a family, especially situations like mine, you can’t volunteer for extra duty. That also makes teaching hard. They expect you do be there for some extra stuff. In fact, just next week I was supposed to go on a field trip that wouldn’t get home until 9 pm. I wanted to go on the field trip and even pushed to make it happen, but it turns out my boyfriend (also a teacher, but in a different district) has MTSS training that day, and I wouldn’t have anyone to watch our kids. Another teacher now has to go, she is happy to go because it will be a fun trip, but I hate the fact I can’t go as if I am trying to avoid any extra duty (which is just not the case).

With the amount of time I have been gone, I just want to say: Substitutes are amazing! I am so thankful to the subs who come in and take over for me when I am gone. They do not get enough credit for how hard their job is! If you are a substitute or have ever been one, thank you. You are vital and key to a functioning school. However, sometimes students like to try to pull one over on the sub and not do their work. I tell my subs not to get into a power struggle. I will deal with it and the students will suffer the consequences of not doing their work.

But how can you feel like a good teacher when so many of the students are failing? I never had this problem pre-covid. Most of my students did their work. Teaching post covid is a whole new animal. I have many students who are not passing, and trying to get them to complete their work is nearly impossible. It makes me wonder what I am doing wrong. I know that there are so many factors at play, but again, I never had these issues pre-covid.

Pre-covid, I was in a different district. I had multiple superintendents over the years talk to me about my test scores and how they were some of the highest in the district. I was one of the favorite junior high teachers among the students, and things generally went great. I followed the rule and had high expectations, and the students met them. I thought my strategies would work everywhere, but they don’t. Of course, I don’t know that they would work there post-covid either, but it makes me wonder.

I want to see my students successful. I want to see them proficient on their scores, not because of anything that would happen if students aren’t proficient, but just because I want to know that I did my job and prepared my students. I want them to succeed. I don’t care if they choose to go to college or not. They need to follow their own dreams, but I do want them to have the option. And know that some students did not rise to the challenge, can make teaching incredibly hard because it is hard to see wasted potential.

What are some of your engagement strategies? I work with high school students, and it can be so difficult to get them motivated despite offering choice and doing interest surveys. What works in your classroom?

Real World Writing: Beowulf Resume

One thing that I struggle with, and that our textbook struggles with, is teaching students real world writing. Resumes and cover letters should be taught in high school. Perhaps your school has a class that teaches life skills and resumes with it, but my school does not.

I work in a rural school where I am the English department. I teach all high school English classes. That makes it a challenge because I am the one who must prepare the students for life beyond high school.

My first year, I followed the book as closely as I could. I never even thought about resumes and cover letters until a student sent me an email a few months after graduation asking if I could help her write a resume and cover letter. I was so mad at myself for not thinking of it. For every student who teaches out for help, there are five more who won’t. It is hard to teach everything but this year I am trying something new.

I have decided to teach resume and cover letter formatting with Beowulf. I love reading Beowulf (The short version in out textbook) and so as an assessment of the text, I decided the student would write his resume and cover letter. They will be graded on the textual evidence used as well as the structure of the resume and cover letter.

The Challenge of Reading

I love reading. I have always loved reading. I did not love (or read) everything that my schools assigned but I read a lot of books that I selected and I enjoyed it. I know that this love was in part due to my parents who were both avid readers and also my teachers such as my fifth grade teacher who read to us so many books that I still love to this day. But not all students are like me. Students today are not growing up in the same world I did. I am not sure if I would be like me if I grew up in this generation. It is so easy to get lost in your phone on social media or games. Like most teachers, I get frustrated with students and their phones but I am aware enough to admit that I probably would have been the same. I think it is that realization that leads me to my question: how do we get kids reading?

I have read many books on the subject:

The Book Whisperer, Reading in the Wild, The Joy of Reading– all by Donalyn Miller

Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

Many books by Janet Allen such as There’s Room for me Here, Reimagining Reading, and It’s Never too Late. I highly recommend her books, even though they are a little outdated at this point.

Still, Very few of these books offer solutions. Donalyn Miller’s books rarely even touch on the subject of what to do if a student just refuses to read. She rarely mentions students on their phones or fake reading. She claims if you have passion in will flow from you to your students. I have passion! And my students are given time and access to books, but still, some (not all) just refuse to read. I have even provided graphic novels and other high interest books.

But I don’t want them reading those books all year. I always explain that like any sport (or skill), a person must practice to get better. Students must read. They cannot hope to get by just doing reading worksheets. That would be like thinking just doing arm curls will help you become a body builder. You need to lift (read) a variety to work all your muscles and improve. Graphic novels like Diary of a Wimpy Kid are fun (and my guilty pleasure), but they are like five pound weights. Students need to lift more if they want to become a body builder (strong reader). But how do we motivate them in a world that says reading a book is irrelevant unless it is teaching taxes?

For me, I just keep trying. Maybe I won’t reach them all, but I will reach some. I have many students who come and get book recommendations and share with me the books they are reading. I love that. I have had multiple students recommend books that ended up becoming some of my favorites, and for now, that is enough.

This is the reading challenge I am using this year. The students do not need to follow it completely but I designed it to help get students reading more of a variety. I know I left off many categories but hope to revise and add some next year.

Whole Class Novels: Classic or Out-Dated?

This topic can become rather heated for English teachers. Should we read whole class novels? Donalyn Miller speaks out against it in her book Book Whisperer but not everyone agrees.

The reasons many people are against whole class novels include:

1. Not everyone is going to like the book, so reading it could do more harm than good. You don’t want to force a kid to read a book they hate.

2. Some students have already read the book,

3. Some students will find the book too hard and not want to ask questions.

4. Many students have anxiety over reading out loud and would not be focused on the content of the books.

5. It takes too long.

I get it. There are a lot of reasons to not read books together as a class, but I enjoy the shared reading experience. I do most of the reading, but I do call on students to read out loud occasionally too.

Here are the reasons I enjoy reading the books together:

1. I get to share some of my favorite books with students.

2. I can stop at strategic places, lines, and quotes to discuss or check for understanding.

3. I know most students are at least hearing the book. The problem I have is when students are absent. Sometimes they just listen to discussions and then hope they don’t have to read.

4. I love to hear the students react to the twists in the story! I love hearing them get surprised and invested.

It is so hard to decide whether or not to read whole class novels. And if you do, how do you do it? Do you use popcorn reading? Leave a comment and let me know how you handle this in your classroom.

Gustavo!

Last year I discovered Gustavo the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago when the book was a special deal at Barnes and Noble, and I simply fell in love with the sweet ghost. Gustavo is a shy, lonely ghost in need of a friend. The basic idea is little cliche, but artwork really makes up for it. Gustavo is so adorable and the message has a ton of heart. I used this book as an exemplary example of a children’s book with a great message for kids. Follow this link to purchase your own copy of Gustavo! He is the perfect ghost to haunt your Halloween shelf!

My Favorite Book Series for Infants and Toddlers

I am an English teacher, so obviously I like to read. That love of reading is not limited to the classics or young adult literature. Some of my favorite books are the ones I get to read with my little ones.

This post is going to talk about my favorite book series for infants and toddlers. I have also posted a link from which I earn a small commission. If you have little ones at home, I highly recommend all of these books.

Note: Forgive the pictures. I try not use stock photos, so these are all books I have at home and a few may show signs of a lot of wear.

The Never Touch a Series

Never touch a series

The Never Touch a series is a fantastic, rhyming book series for infants and toddlers. I first saw these books two years ago when my middle child was a baby, and he absolutely loved them. One thing led to another and we have an entire shelf dedicated to these super fun touch and feel books. They are so bright and colorful and my son always wants to touch the various textures. They are also extremely durable and have survived my wild child.

Check out the many different animals you should never touch: Never touch a series