Tidbits+Blog

=Tidbits: From the Desk & Roving Mind of Ms. M. Hudson =

With approximately three weeks of school left, I will say that the the 2009 - 2010 academic year has been very interesting. Each class has demonstrated its ability to meet my high expectations.

So far, my most memorable moments include the eighth graders' work with litertature circles. For the most part, their wiki pages -- "Esperanza Rising," "Fallen Angels," "The Road to Memphis," and "The Wednesday Wars" -- and group reads prove that they can decipher text and make parallels to their own lives.

While the seventh grade class participated in literature circles, too -- "Forged by Fire," "Slam," "The Pigman," and "I Am The Cheese" -- their writings about Dr. Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" are thought-provoking. I continue to be enthralled by their interpretations and essays.

Last but never least, my sixth grade students have had numerous successes in Reading and English. My current favorite is their work with the 32-Day Writing Challenge. Since they completed part of the challenge during April, the students explored their poetic side in honor of National Poetry Month. I reread some of their entries multiple times, for I am inspired by their ability to express themselves and have fun with verse.

Besides specific assignments, there are other moments that make this year unforgetable. Thanks to my principal's support for teachers and dedication to education, I attended the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English's and the National Writing Project in Philadelphia.

I got the idea to create this wiki, met authors and traveled to places mentioned in Jerry Spinelli's __Maniac Magee__. The latter was an unexpected treat because the sixth graders had just completed the novel. I was delighted to show them slides of my pictures and connect the novel to its author, the city of Philadelphia, and early American history.

The sixth graders experienced a similar connection with Jacqueline Woodson's novel, __Feathers__. Although I used the novel in the sixth grade Reading curriculum last year, I was not thoroughly familiar with Mario Barrett's music. I had heard a few of his songs and purchased their downloads, but I did not own an album. That changed when I got copies of "Go" and "D.N.A." over Christmas break. With Mario's lyrics ringing in my ears every day, I had an epiphany that improved my teaching of the book.

One day the students were reading the novel aloud. As the main character justifies her actions to another character, I instantly thought of "Do Right," a single from Mario's 2007 LP, "Go." The song, which is featured in Mario's MTv special about his mother's drug addiction, implores one to do right regardless of circumstances. The most powerful part of the song is: "The narcotics in your system the love I should have I missed it. Now look what we've become. But, I shouldn't judge." Like the main character in __Feathers__, Mario makes a choice to do right. In his case, Mario does not judge his mother for the toll that her addiction had on his upbringing. This is a mesage that I want to share with my students. I want them to acknowledge the pain in their lives without allowing the pain to consume and control them. Furthermore, I want my students to nurture their spirits by doing right. This is a difficult lesson to impart, but the combination of Woodson's storyline and Mario's lyrics set the stage for my students to elevate their learning. I remain proud of my students' work with the song.

All in all, this school year will go down as one to remember. Ironically, I did not meet all of my goals, yet I managed to surpass them. And, I did so with the cooperation of my middle schoolers.

Thank you, dear hearts!

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