My Wonderings About "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio

I recently read the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  There are a few crafty types of things I absolutely loved about this book that I’ll get out of the way by talking about them first.  The, what I call, “mini-chapters” are awesome.  When I was a kid, my reading stamina was pretty much nonexistent and a long chapter inside a book would often times lead me right to abandonment.  I’d never finish the book because I just got to a 43 page chapter I couldn’t sustain.  I also loved how Wonder was told from so many different perspectives.  Stories that are told from multiple perspectives make them seem so real.  As a reader you also get so much more out of the plot line.  From a writer’s perspective, I have the utmost respect for the talent it takes to craft a story when more than one character’s perspective is shared, no mind six!

So now the story...it is one of a young boy entering fifth grade and about to go to school for the first time ever.  He’s been home schooled his entire life due to some medical conditions, predominantly being a severely deformed face, for lack of a better word.  While I was reading this book, my emotions were on a roller coaster ride and so many thoughts and wonderings went flying through my head.  Poor, poor, August!  It literally killed me at times when he’d refer to his own face as “disgusting”.  It actually brought tears to my eyes and so did a lot of other parts of the book.  Without including any spoilers, I can think of at least 4 times right now that I cried during this book.  

In this story we get to also hear from his sister, Via, his friend, Summer, his friend, Jack, Via’s boyfriend, Justin, and Via’s friend, Miranda.  When hearing their perspectives along with August’s, I started to wonder how I would’ve reacted to being around him.  August often talks about this “look” people give him.  It’s this sort of double take where you aren’t sure if you should keep looking or not so you end up kind of looking a few times real quick.  He notices it and he knows why people do it.  And the saddest part to me, was that I knew exactly what he was talking about...let’s be real we have all done it in one circumstance or another.  A lot of the fifth graders in Wonder turn out to be saints in my book because of their understanding, bravery and friendship.

Ok, so this book is also extremely quotable.  Go to the quotes section on Goodreads and you’ll get plenty of ideas for some motivational posters for your classroom.  The themes and ideas in this book made me do a lot of self-reflecting and I wondered if my students would, too.  I thought about how I would’ve treated August and reacted to him if I were in his class.  I know I would’ve had a hard time understanding a boy like him when I was 11.  I would hope that our students reading this book would spend some time in self-reflection mode as well.  I got to a part of the book where the principal spoke about being “kinder than is necessary”. That really seemed to strike a chord with me because I know I am not always that.  However, I thought about how much those three words could really change things for a kid like August and how they could also really change things for kids in your classrooms, too.

If you are a teacher in grades 4-8 you should totally read this book to your students.  Start some good conversations, have them write, and talk in small groups.  Learning how to understand people’s differences is so critical for kids that age and this book can put a lot of that on the table for you.  And if you are not a teacher, you should read this book anyway, and tell all of your friends to read it too!

7 Teacher Time Saving Tips: Getting the most of Every Minute

“So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.” - Willy Wonka

I am in the midst of 3 weddings in an 8 day stretch (one of those being in Phoenix while I am from New Jersey).  With only one day off from work, I would not say time is of the essence.  However, I make it work and during this time I was inspired to share my tips with all of you about how to get the biggest bang for your buck with every minute you have each day!  

1. Lock your classroom door.

Your little prep period is precious.  You likely have an ongoing, never ending to do list you’d like to cross a few items off of during that time.  Just as you are about to attack that list, one of your teacher friends moseys into your room and all of a sudden you guys are chatting about all of the weddings you just went to (ha ha!) and sharing your photos. Locking your door will let your colleagues know you are a busy lady or gentleman and allow you to put your mind to the tasks you need to complete with no distractions.

2. Make a friend (or a few).

“I’ll type up the Unit 5 Math plans and you type up the reading plans and we can swap!”  Make a friend on your grade level or your department and share your work!  Lesson planning is one example of work you can share because you are teaching the same curriculum.  All you need to do it cut and paste into your schedule.  Depending on how particular your administration is, you may need to tweak a few things, but in general sharing work is a big time saver and it’s fun!

3. Save everything!

When you are sharing all of these plans with your colleagues, copy them all into a safe and organized place.  Your first year in teaching, or first year in a new grade is naturally going to be this hectic whirlwind of a time.  However, if you put in that extra time up front, it will save you in years to come.  If you’re making a game, take the extra time to laminate it and print it on cardstock so you’ll have it for years to come.  You’ll be happy with yourself the next year when you realize how much you can reuse.

4. Get organized!

In an unorganized classroom you see little piles of “stuff” all around the room.  You could spend your entire prep period cleaning up all of those little piles instead of making moves with that to do list.  Use baskets, organizer drawers, color code and label until EVERYTHING has a place.  And then make it a rule that you and the students cannot put anything down unless it is in that place.  I promise this will not just save you time, but it will alleviate a bunch of stress.

5. Delegate!

As you are going through your typical school day, make a few mental notes about the things you are spending time doing that your students are capable of doing for you.  Setting up the calendar, putting books back into the classroom library, getting the board ready for the next day, and filing papers are just a few examples of things that the kids should be doing for you.  And let’s be real, we all know they absolutely love doing “teacher jobs”!

6. Get to school early.

You may already do this, but if you are, see tip #1 and do it!  We are the freshest in the morning (even if you’re not a morning person) and you can get a lot done.  You are also under a time constraint because like it or not, the kids are coming!  

7. If you are going to stay after school, set a time you promise you’ll leave by.

This will help you keep your eye of the prize of getting stuff done.  You have a personal life that is important, too, so get out and enjoy that.  Be efficient and set goals for what you want to finish in that time constraint.

If you notice, none of the tips I gave involve taking work home.  In all reality, there are going to be times you need to do that (tests, report cards, scoring writing, etc.), but these tips will help you get more work done during the actual school day.  Teaching is your job and that is important, but so is your life outside of work.  We have a lot going on there, too!  If you have more time saving tips you’ve discovered throughout your teaching journey, please comment and share them because we are all in this together!

The Great Poetry Race

Poetry is a genre of reading and writing that the kids seems to love.  Teachers don’t seem to love teaching it, but the kids go crazy for it.  Especially for the funny poems of poets like Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. Gigglepoetry.com and poetry4kids.com are great places to print some poems from for your students.  Poetry is a fun way for your students to practice their fluency.  It provides an opportunity to teach into phrasing, punctuation and expression.  

In honor of April being Poetry month, hold The Great Poetry Race with your students!  Here’s how it works. Your students pick their poem of choice, or you as the teacher can assign students a poem.  Your students’ goal is to read their poem as many times as they can that week (or however many days you decide the “race” will last).  This works way better if not everyone in your class has the same poem for two reasons.  The first is because I am willing to bet your classroom is full of different reading levels and so not everyone will read the same poem well.  The second reason is that it is likely that during the race your students will want to read their poems to their classmates.

While your students are racing all around that week reading their poem to anyone and everyone they can, they are also collecting signatures as proof that they read their poem to the people they say the did. In the form I created, I also left a space for the listeners to make a comment about the reading or the poem.  This is a sneaky way for you student to get some feedback on their fluency.  Mostly, they will get compliments on things they are doing well, but hey, a little positive reinforcement helps learning and self-esteem all at once!

My students absolutely loved the competition aspect of the race and got them amped up to read and share poetry.  I awarded my students for the most signatures, most compliments, best expression and other categories as well.  We did it all throughout the month of April with different poems each week and even competed against another class.  My kids were sad on May 1 when I said this was over.  Get your kids excited and motivated to read with this fun and exciting activity!

Download everything you need for The Great Poetry Race here.