#ILD13 - Invent Your Future!

The Crazy Reading Ladies are coming at you in stereo today!  We share a brain; why not a voice?

#ILD13

International Literacy Day was Monday, September 9th.  To celebrate, we decided to focus on the International Reading Association's theme: Invent Your Future.   Our middle school students were encouraged to participate by writing their future headlines.  What better way to set goals and look forward than by imagining one's accomplishments being lauded on the front page of The New York Times?

As several "helpful" colleagues were clever enough to point out, we are unlikely to actually HAVE print news in twenty years, but we stuck with the idea of writing a headline.  Mary gets all her news from online sources, and all her sites have lead stories with larger font and subheadings, so she says the format still works.

In pursuing the concept of headlines in general, we knew we needed to provide examples for our students.  During our search for famous newspaper headlines, Mary brilliantly commented, "We only want achievements.  We don't need students declaring war.  Let's show them some of our greatest accomplishments."

We relied on Erin's iMovie skills to introduce the idea.  Students received instruction via the school video news Friday morning.

On every table in the cafeteria

We provided students with headline models and a template at lunch on Friday.  We left papers on the tables themselves so teachers didn't have to remember to pass anything out and students didn't have to remember to go somewhere to pick something up.  If you want participation, you gotta make it easy.  We've been teaching middle school long enough to know not to expect the mountain to come to Mohammad.

Due date flyers posted on the cafeteria doors were coupled with strategically placed extra templates as students entered the building.  Mary reminded her students on Instagram and provided incentive in the form of extra credit.  (See previous mountain/Mohammad comment.) 

The "BEFORE" picture

"AFTER" a little lunch-time nudge

On Monday, Erin risked life, limb, and an unsafe driving citation to deliver a plethora of balloons and other shiny decorations.  The Crazy Reading Ladies believe in spectacle.  Go big or go home.  If you're not willing to festoon the lobby with ten foot banners, confetti, balloons, and cellophane centerpieces, then get out of the way because you just may be stampeded by overzealous teachers in blingy reading shirts. 



Mary's a "Reading Diva." Erin says "Reading Rocks!"

There are a lot of future Oscar winners in 7th grade

Perhaps not unexpectedly, boxes in the lobby and collections in various academic classes yielded only a handful of headlines.  So we did what any crazy reading ladies would do: we set up camp during lunch and invaded the cafeteria.  We circulated among tables shouting, "Write your headlines!  Grab a friend!  I have extras!  I have markers!  GO!  GO!  GO!!" That did it.  We've always believed that aggression has its place in encouraging young adult literacy.  

There's something, too, about mob mentality.  We've said it before, and we'll say it again: there is safety in numbers.  Ask one thirteen year-old boy to write a headline, and he'll mumble and shrug and avoid your gaze.  Have a peer command them to write a headline, and they'll engulf your festively decorated table en masse and develop cures for thyroid disease. 

By the end of the day, we had about seventy headlines which are now proudly displayed in the HMMS lobby.  Should this visual spur any student to complete a headline after today, we'll happily accept it and display it along with the others.

 Teachers in our building put their own spin on the idea of helping students invent their futures.  One eighth grade social studies teacher showed an inspirational YouTube video about high school students who are changing the world with their ideas.  A seventh-grade social studies teacher read a UN article talking about literacy's role in preventing poverty.  His seventh grade counterpart and our administrators tweeted their headlines. 

One teacher commented that she appreciated the opportunity to engage in conversation with students.  It's one thing to ask, "what do you want to be when you grown up," but it's quite another to inquire about the legacy they want to leave behind.  How do they want to be remembered?  These conversations build relationships and allow teachers to connect with students in a meaningful way.  Helping a student realize that they can channel their current hobby into a meaningful career is, simply, really cool. 

And so are the headlines we received.  Most students used their full names in their headlines, so we don't have too many to show you.  The ones we can share are below.  

We challenge you to write your future headline.  It's not easy!  Write your future in the comments below or tweet us! @allinoleary @mzcotillo  #CRL #ILD13