What's Your Superpower? Lessons Learned from Superheroes

It seems like anywhere you turn now days there is a new superhero movie with the accompanying advertising and merchandising. Who doesn't love a good story where the good guy, usually the underdog, comes back against great odds to become victorious?

But, what is it about superheroes that appeals so much to us? Perhaps is the fact that they are seemingly ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Like us, they have ordinary jobs: computer programmers, newspaper reporters, photographers, a member of the armed service, or librarians. All of us can see a bit of ourselves in our favorite superheroes.

Also, we can learn valuable life lessons from our animated (and now live action) heroes. As many of us are beginning a new school year, here are a few of the lessons that apply in our classrooms with our new students.

1. They have a secret identity. They realize that life isn't all about them (of course, Tony Stark and his huge ego is the exception). They go about their lives and let other people live their lives and solve their own problems. As teachers it is important for us not to become the Tony Stark of the classroom. That classroom and the learning therein isn't about us at all...it's about our students, their needs, their goals. Students today are masters of their own universe with the ever flowing information at their finger tips. They make decisions about what they learn, how they learn it, and how they share what they learn. They are connected with others 24/7. As teachers, it's our job to bring that into our classrooms. We need to give them the control and change our role to one of facilitator or lead learner in the classroom environment. 
2. They always do what's right. Often superheroes are not popular, often being labeled as a nuisance or a vigilante. But, they also know that "with great power comes great responsibility." Unfortunately, often times when we try new strategies, techniques, tools, or lessons plans, we become unpopular with other educators. Teaching is not a popularity contest. It is our responsibility to do whatever it takes to reach each and every learner in our class. Be bold...think outside the box and try new things. They need our support, guidance, and leadership as they set their own goals and strive to meet them. 
3. They dress the part. When a superhero shows up, you notice them. They immediately put the minds of those in distress at ease. They command respect. We should do the same for our students. They should be able to look at us and know that we do, in fact, have the ability to help them meet their challenges. They shouldn't have any worries in the classroom because they know it is in good hands...yours. You are the professional and although the classroom isn't about you, it sets a tone for your students about the expectations that you have from each of them each and every day. 
4. They form alliances. Superheroes know that sometimes they are not up to the challenge alone. That's why we have the Justice League, Avengers, Fantastic Four and Xmen. They realize that that by working together, they become a much stronger force. It's the same with educators. All of us have challenges, but we are not alone. We need to find other educators who have experience, who have successfully met challenges, and who are willing to share. It's up to us to form our alliances by building our own PLN (personal learning network). With technology, it's easier than ever to build a relationship with other educators through Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and Second Life. We might be strong on our own, but together we can become invincible forces for our students.
5. They save the world. We may not be fighting off Loki and an army of aliens (even though we may think there has been an invasion of the body snatchers with our students at times), but we control the worlds of our students. For many of them, school is the safest place in their lives. We don't know the struggles they face outside of the classroom walls. We must remember we have the power to change our students lives forever. 

So as we enter our classroom, for many of our students, we are a superhero in their lives. It's up to us to live in such a way that we deserve the honor and respect that our students give us. Best wishes as you set out to teach "Truth, Justice, and the Global Way."

 photo credit: Krissy.Venosdale via photo pin cc

Finding a Love of Reading Faster than a Speeding Bullet

I recently had the good fortune to get to attend a seminar where Rudy Giuliani spoke about the importance of every citizen becoming literate. What he defined as literate is not only reading and writing but stretching out into also being competent in digital age skills. As a profession, I think many educators are embracing this updated definition of literacy. As he continued to speak about the importance of reading, he struck on a thought on which I have been pondering since the beginning of the school year. That thought is that everyone should be reading two different things. There should be challenging reading and fun reading.

Now people that know me as an educator know that I've spent most of my career focusing on instilling in each of my students not only the ability to read well, but also the love of reading...just for fun. I have had numerous parents wanting to know how I have changed their students from one who used to hate reading, to one that they cannot keep enough current materials available for them to read in their home.

However, this year has been a totally different story.  I started to notice this difference about the second week of school. My students didn't want to check out any reading materials from our extensive classroom library. When they had a couple of free minutes and I suggested that they get out one of their fun books to read, they would pull out a textbook, open it up and stare into space. Then when we went to the media center, I noticed that over half of my class didn't check out any books.   The learners that did check out books had checked out drawing books that had no text.

As I started to investigate this, I found that I had almost an entire class that HATED to read. So I went to work, pulling out all of my tricks. I've always encouraged students to choose reading material that interested them, but the problem was they didn't seem interested in anything that would involve reading like students in the past. We read all types of genres and authors in our class; we used nonfiction picture books in content areas; we did read alouds and had book discussions, even with other classes using digital tools. I had tried all of these and many other strategies to no avail.

As I started pondering this change, I realized that these students' opinion of reading could have been shaped by their feelings for the scripted reading progam that we are required to follow (after speaking with several other teachers, they have noticed similar behaviors). The program is extremely prescriptive. We are not permitted to add anything to or take anything from the program. This group of students has been in the reading program for three years. It makes me wonder if this could be a, if not the, contributing factor.

As I continued to search for solutions to  helping each of my students find a love of reading, one of my students brought in a comic book. I noticed how much interest it generated from my students. I found them "secretly" trying to read the comic when they were supposed to be working on something else. A light bulb clicked on in my head. Maybe comics and other graphica could be the answer.

The next day, I pulled out a stack of about fifty comic books and laid them on the table. I didn't say anything about them being there, I just wanted to see their reaction. In a matter of minutes, I had kids begging to go through and choose several to read. Throughout the next four days, my students began having conversations about the different comics, discussing the plots, themes, characters, settings, problems, and making connections between different comics. Then, I was handed a list. Many of them had finished reading all of the comics and they had gone online and researched different comics and together had generated a wishlist for me.

Yep, they gave me a list of what they WANTED to read. A visit to the local comic book store yielded one hundred more comics...some on the list, some not. The owners of the store were not only knowledgeable on every comic in their extensive library making some excellent recommendations for my students, but also they were very generous and gave me a great deal.

The next day, when my students saw the bags of new comics and they started to go through them and pick their first round of reads, one student looked as me and said, "Mrs. Ramsay, this is better than Christmas!!!" Their classmates agreed. The excitement over READING comic books was tangible. Who knew that graphica could break down those obstacles and help my learners find a love of reading? Guess where I'm headed this weekend? Yep, the comic book store. I've got to build up that library.