ELA Source

MLK Jr. quotes on Twitter are ubiquitous from the middle of January (MLK Jr.’s birthday) through February (Black History Month). Instead of grabbing decontextualized quotes from the internet, do yourself a huge favor and read “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which is one of the most powerful pieces for writing in American history.

Here is a link to the original document, which is archived at Stanford:

Click to access 630416-019.pdf

Free resources for teaching “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Lesson Plan: Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Power of Nonviolent Direct Action
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/liberation-curriculum/lesson-plans/martin-luther-king-jrs-letter-birmingham-jail-power-nonviolent

A Unit for Teaching “Letter from Birmingham Jail” from SAGE publisher
http://www.stclair.k12.il.us/ccore/ELAShifts/documents/Text%20Complexity/61682_Our_Unit_for_Teaching_Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail.pdf

PBS Learning: Close Reading of “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
https://az.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/engny.pd.ccvs.ela10/close-reading-of-text-mlk-letter-from-birmingham-jail

I’m working a series about teaching, motivation, and game design; but I want to begin by giving you some information about Self-Determination Theory, because it’s really the key to motivation, and one of the overriding psychological reasons that games are so satisfying.

Self-determination theory is a behavioral theory focused on motivation and personality. It is a basic human need and the foundation of motivation. It arises from research done on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

To fulfill our sense of self-worth and well-being, to be self-motivated to complete tasks, as human beings we need the following:

• Competence
• Autonomy
• Relatedness

Let’s look at these one at a time and think about how they apply in teaching and learning.

1. Competence: In order for students to learn and to feel a sense of self-worth, in order for them to be motivated, students need to feel that they can master the task with which they are presented. Not that they are already experts, and this part is VERY important, NOT THAT THE TASK IS EASY (more on this later), but that the task CAN BE MASTERED. In other words, if I watched a video on how to cook a pie, I could probably master the instructions, but if I started taking a class in advanced calculus, I would feel so out of my element that I couldn’t succeed in that class.
2. Autonomy: For human beings to be motivated to complete a task, they have to feel like they are in control of their circumstances and that completing the task is something they want to do. That doesn’t mean students can’t feel this way about required work, but in no situation does coercion (through punishment, intimidation, or fear) lead to learning.
3. Relatedness: Some people interpret this as relevance, which is also important, but not necessarily a key to learning, In other words, the students’ actual experiences and interests do not have to line up with the curriculum. Rather, this point is about how students can connect with both the teacher and the learning experiences. Relatedness can be achieved through universal experiences such as love, loss, fear, anger, loneliness, etc.. It can also be achieved through simply caring about the students and recognizing their individual differences and strengths.

What does this have to do with learning?

There are two kinds of motivation: external or extrinsic, and internal or intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is when behavior is externally regulated through incentives or punishments. In other words, students will complete a task because they believe they will receive a monetary reward, or an unpleasant punishment.

Intrinsic motivation is when students are driven to complete a task because it is inherently satisfying. This can occur because the task is in itself enjoyable, because it aligns with a students’ goals or values, or because the student achieves a sense of satisfaction from completing a difficult task, such as solving a difficult math problem, completing a homework assignment, or cleaning their room. Although these types of tasks can be difficult and even filled with anxiety and dread, completing leaves us feeling competent and accomplished.

Approaching a learning task with a sense of self determination (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) can give students a deeper sense of intrinsic motivation, which studies have shown leads to significant long-term retention and transfer.

For more on this topic, check out my post on Self-Determination Theory and Student Motivation.

For more posts on ways to faciliate student autonomy, improve competence and confidence, and foster relatedness and connectedness in your classroom and curriculum. Be sure to follow my blog to receive updates in your inbox.

Last summer my husband and I started touring nearby National Parks since our then nine-year-old was beginning fourth grade and had free passes to all National Parks as part of the Every Kid in a Park program. My son loves workbooks and packets and son, inspired by the passport activity book they sell at various gift shops for collecting National Parks stickers and stamps, I created the Passport Project. My kids loved this project, so I decided to add it to my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and has been a surprising bestseller.

This project contains an editable passport template to be used a graphic organizer for all types of ELA, Social Studies, Geography, History, and Literature Lessons. I made this Passport Project for my kids while doing a geography homeschooling unit. This download contains a PDF and Power Point of the Passport Project I’ve been using with my kids (to great success–they love making them!) So far we’ve done Ancient Egypt, Japan, and the Colorado Plateau. Contains a variety of handouts and graphic organizers in addition to FULLY EDITABLE Passport Template (make this idea your own!)

Enjoy!
~Sandy at ELAsource

If you are a teacher and you want to make money online, for any reason, you absolutely can. Normally, I am skeptical of get rich quick schemes, and for a long time I was of the mindset that there was no way to make money blogging–that ship had sailed. I’ve recently learned that I was dead wrong. Not only can teachers make money online, but there are now more ways than ever to make almost any amount, from lunch money to creating a second income.

An article from Forbes Magazine lists 12 ways to make money online, but I’ve narrowed this down to the ways that are most relevant for teachers, and I will be writing in-depth articles on these in the weeks to come, along with my experiences.

Here are some ways teachers can make money online:

• Blogging: This method can still earn money through advertising, affiliate marketing, and sponsored posts
• Creating and selling products on Teachers Pay Teachers
• Creating a newsletter or podcast
• Writing and selling ebooks
• Consulting
• Webinars or Courses: These can be managed using sites like Udemy or Teachable

The Forbes article goes into much more depth about each of these methods (except Teachers Pay Teachers), but as I said, I will be exploring each method in greater detail on this site, with how-to-get-started guides and helpful links, along with reflections on my own experiences.

A quick way to boost your productivity and get things done is to experiment with the Pomodoro Technique. The Pomodoro Technique is a type of work sprint developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s based on the tomato-shaped kitchen timer used by Cirillo as a university student.

Five steps to implementing the Pomodoro Technique:​

1. Decide on the task that needs to be done. This can be done right before the Pomodoro or while making a to-do list in the morning or before bed.
   
2. Set a timer. You do not have to use a fancy little tomato timer–I use the one on my iPhone. A traditional Pomodoro is 25 minutes, but sometimes I’ll do 10-30 minute work sprints depending on my available time.
   
3. Work on the task. Try to be as focused as possible by turning off notifications.
   
4. When the timer goes off, stop and take a 3-5 minute break.
   
5. Ideally, complete four Pomodoros in a row and then take a longer break of 15-30 minutes. However, if you only have a short time to work, do one Pomodoro or even a 10-minute

Reading Like a Writer

If you want to dramatically improve your writing ability the best way to take your writing to the next level is through the process of Reading Like a Writer.

I didn’t learn the concept of Reading Like a Writer until the second year of my MA program. My writing improved dramatically in one hour.

The basic concept of Reading Like a Writer is to read exemplars of the type of writing you want to do. In the MA class I was taking the professor pointed out that many writers and writing teachers don’t understand the concept of sentence variation and the importance of not only using a variety of sentence types and lengths, but tailoring your sentences using rhetorical decision making.

For example, a long, complex sentence followed by a short, punctuating sentence can have a greater rhetorical impact than two complex sentences back-to-back, in which the point of the first sentence is lost in the complexity of the second sentence. A short sentence can reinforce the point of the long sentence.

See what I mean?

The best part of Reading Like a Writer is that it’s simple and doesn’t require expensive books, curriculum, training, or materials. Simply find an example of what you want to write (an essay, a poem, an argument, a short story, etc.) and read it multiple times to analyze it, dissect it, and study it. In other words, figure out what make the writing tick.

What are it’s strengths? How does it capture and hold your attention? What specific  techniques does the writer use?

Tips for Reading Like a Writer:

1. Read often. Read widely.

Pay particular attention to the types of writing you are required to do in school or the types of writing you want to excel at. If you want to write excellent essays, read the best essays.

2. Practice close reading.

Close reading involves looking for techniques and patterns and analyzing. WHAT does the writer do? HOW and WHEN does the writer do it? WHY does the writer do it and what impact does it have on the reader?

3. Annotate and take notes, and discuss your findings.

Have everyone in your writing group (teachers can do this with peer groups) read the same piece and discuss the writing techniques in depth. This can be an excellent way to model and practice writing critiques in a peer workshop setting.

4. Practice the Techniques

This is the most important part. When you learn a new technique for introducing an essay, adding punchy dialogue, writing vivid description, using sentence variation, add more effective transitions, etc.; you must then practice them in your own writing. Not only does this allow you to practice and study the effectiveness of the technique, it also reinforces the concept and cements it in your long-term memory.

5. Get Feedback

After practicing, get feedback from your writing group or peer workshop group on how well you are mastering the technique and what you can do to improve.