Feb 7 We have a screwy schedule at STHS - it's called a "modified block" and it means we have 8 periods on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and block schedule on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Wednesday is also an "early out" day, but when they say "early out," they mean "early out for the students," because for teachers it means "early out for the students and then an hour of bureaucracy."

The last half hour of early out Wednesday is dedicated - or supposed to be, anyway - to silent, sustained reading. Now, let me be clear: as a language arts teacher, I'm all for silent, sustained reading. The more kids read, the better.

The trick is getting them to read.

Today wasn't actually too bad. Oh, sure, some kids just refused to read and drew or spaced out, but the majority did read. One of my all-stars, a dreadlocked 14 year old whose cognitive abilities are far beyond his peers', had felt the need to belt out lovesongs during the previous class, but he calmed down once the reading started.  ¶ 4:26 PM