The Art of Reading People: Character, Expression, Interpretation

Context

School Composition

I teach at Thoreau Demonstration Academy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thoreau is currently composed of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Thoreau is a school of choice. The students apply to the school but admittance is not determined from an entrance exam, grades, or teacher recommendations. Admittance is based upon a lottery system. The city is divided into four quadrants. An equal number of students is drawn from each quadrant. This method provides for a student body derived from a wide range of ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status. While part of Tulsa Public Schools, we operate quite differently from the other middle schools. We harmoniously utilize three programs as the seminal structure of the school: Tribes TLC ® by Jeanne Gibbs, Integrated Thematic Instruction (now known as Highly Effective Teaching) by Susan Kovalik and Associates, and MicroSociety, Inc. by George Richmond.

Each day begins and ends with a tribe meeting that takes place while sitting in a community circle. Each tribe consists of a teacher and twelve to fifteen students randomly chosen from each of the three grades. The teacher acts as a facilitator of the tribe. The purpose of the tribe is to provide a safe, non-threatening place for the children where they feel included and appreciated not only by the teacher but also by their peers, and where they are respected for just being themselves. Thoreau utilizes tribes as the vehicle for character education. There are four agreements honored in the tribe circle: attentive listening, mutual respect, appreciation/no put downs, and the right to pass. These same agreements permeate throughout the day as the intangible thread through all aspects of the child's experience at Thoreau. ⁷

Integrated Thematic Instruction (ITI) (now known as Highly Effective Teaching) was developed by Susan Kovalik and Associates. It is a method of teaching that emphasizes classroom management based in the teaching of the lifelong guidelines and lifeskills. ITI utilizes cross-curricular instruction based upon Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and brain-compatible learning based upon Leslie Hart's work in Human Brain, Human Learning. Instruction at Thoreau is grounded in scientifically research –based strategies, and accentuates the brain's natural pattern-seeking tendencies by organizing all curricula into conceptual units. ⁸ Each core teacher at Thoreau teaches two subjects, either Language Arts and Social Studies or Math and Science. In addition, the Language Arts/Social Studies teacher and Math/Science teacher are paired and share the same students. The teachers meet several times per week to collaborate and execute cross-curricular planning.

Every day for the seventh period, Thoreau becomes Emerald City. Emerald City is a fully functioning "micro society" complete with its own currency (the Emerald), city council, justice system (both a police force and a court system), treasury, bank, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Each student must apply to, interview with, and work for a business. Students may work for an established business and draw a paycheck, start their own entrepreneurial business, or work on commission. Every week each child gets one day off to spend their earnings in the Emerald City market place.

Personal and Classroom Composition

This will be my thirteenth year teaching. Twelve of those have been at the middle school level. I have taught all manner of learners from barely functioning to extremely gifted. I have taught world history to juniors and seniors and for nine years have taught language arts and geography to seventh graders. I now teach reading to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders who did not pass the state reading test.

In order to address the student's reading difficulties, I first have to address what led to the deficiency, much like a doctor treating the whole patient and the source of the infection versus just treating the fever. I have to consciously develop a trust-based relationship. In a strange way, I have to get the students to trust in me before I can help them trust themselves. I am going to have to employ daily the tribes circle and tribal agreements as our anticipatory activity in order to facilitate the giving and receiving of trust between the student and the teacher and from student to student. By the time these students have reached my class, they have experienced several years of frustration and failing. They are not going to trust easily. Once they begin to trust, we can begin addressing the emotional impediments which leads to addressing the reading difficulties and deficiencies.