And so it begins!

I came up with my research question during the fall of 2013, so I have had a year in-between my research and this project.  That fall, I was teaching a collaborative junior English class, and one of our primary focuses as a school was to be sure our juniors were as ready as they could be for the ACT, which would be taken in March. 

This particular class was comprised of 82% of students reading way below grade-level, leaving the other 18% on or above grade level. In addition, 95% of these students fell within our school's GAP population - and showing growth within this population has a major impact on our school's accountability, which added to the challenge to really do everything in my power to help them succeed.  

When I collaborated with my colleagues to create our first common assessment, I very quickly realized the vast difference between what they found to be acceptable and fair regarding our first test and what I found to be acceptable and fair.  The reading selections that were suggested and eventually used were on a college level, which I did not see as a fair means of assessment for the numerous students in my class with reading disabilities and struggles.  I presented this to my team and voiced that my students could easily be given the same skills-based questions, but the reading passages should be at no higher than an 11th grade level.  My attempt to differentiate was unequivocally denied due to the fact that all of our students would be required to take the ACT in the spring, which mandated that we have the same tests and readings, regardless of students' abilities.  

This stark (and unfortunate) reality sparked many questions about my plan for the year:  What could I do to quickly improve my students' reading abilities, and how could I do this in an engaging way?  

This is where the idea of reading journals came to my mind and I began the research on this subject and this project was born. Unfortunately, I did not get to begin my project that spring because my precious mom died of ALS just as the semester began. Fortunately, I am teaching the same population of students, and I am able to fairly seamlessly begin my project.  I am, however, concerned as I do not see my students every day and have found that gap between days very difficult to build momentum with my lower-level readers. 

I really didn't know where to start with this undertaking, so I decided to begin with making my students their journals. Many of my students are from lower income families, and asking them to purchase these was definitely not in my plan. Fortunately, our library is very generous with their laminating materials, and they did this part for me. Then, I took a trip to Staples to do what else? Staple!

The lady at staples was so sweet! She didn't 
charge me for my many staples!