March 23-29
Use this link to post your weekly conversation on the text and your own classroom. The text chapters two and three deal with learning to write and writing to learn. So many studies are covered that it feel a bit like the Readers' Digest of writing! Let's deconstruct a bit. What strikes you as particularly provoking, challenging or helpful?
Your assignments this week also include a reflective piece on a typical day in your classroom. What works,and what do you wish worked better? (I called it "A Day in the Life" or "The good, the bad, the ugly." Pick any title that fits your musings.) You may post that writing here or if you have a personal blog, you can post it there with a link here.
33 comments:
One of the suggestions in the reading to allow students to write critically and see from different perspectives was to have them write a dialogue. I teach U.S. history and we're currently studying the Cold War. As a summary of the chapter I had the class write a dialogue between Stalin and Truman. I was incredibly impressed with what they gave me...
“Good afternoon, Mr. President,” said Stalin, the leader of the USSR.
“Uh huh,” replied President Truman.
“Your foreign policy [about atomic energy] disregards the very freedom and equality you once faught and died for,” snapped Stalin, ignoring the fact that Truman wouldn’t even look at him.
Truman replied, “For decades, you have proven yourselves untrustworthy. Your totalitarian government has stolen from your people their unalienable rights and freedoms. So why would we jeopardize the safety of the world?”
“Your greed and jealousy surpass your humility, and ultimately you will never have peace,” Stalin argued back…
They had to finish the assignment. I only have two students in the class, so they wrote this part together. It was interesting to see arguments that could be supported on both sides.
A Day in 4th Grade
Starts out with a math review sheet while we are waiting for the daily announcements. Next we work with our shoulder partners and go over the answers explaining the process with one another (I’m available to help them but they get so much more out of it when I am a resource walking around and listening.)
Then we move into our mini-lesson for the day as we take out our writing journals. I usually try to use a picture book to show whatever it is we are working on or a piece of writing on the overhead. (This is new this year and I absolutely love the mini-lesson and the writing journals.) They then take their journals and spend a little time coming up with a short paragraph that includes the mini-lesson and they are then given time to share with shoulder partners, the group and the class if there is time. This is when I do my writing as well. I usually use the overhead and do a lot of “thinking out loud” when I write. They truly love this part of our day and I try to have it at least 4 days a week.
The next one and half hours is math (Everyday Math) and I try to include one day (usually Friday) that we take whatever concept we are working on and create word problems. Again I will model one for them on the overhead, while they figure it out, then once we have done a few, they will write one and have their shoulder partner solve it.
Recess/Lunch
Reading – We spend this time reading a class book together -- some days I read, other days they read in small groups, alone, or with a partner. While reading we keep a list of what story elements we know – on small posters that belong to their groups – and when they finish the reading for that day there is 5 to 10 minutes to share. If the mini-lesson from earlier that day is in the reading, we discuss that as well.
Specials
Social Studies or Science time – We have a social studies journal and a science journal (also new this year) that we keep our notes, writing, etc, in. At the end of a unit they choose a way to present what they’ve learned (for example a poster with both writing, illustrations, tables, graphs, etc)
Then the UGLY part – I have a revolving door the rest of the day (about 1 ½ hours) while students are coming and going to reading club, orchestra, band, choir, etc. I never have the entire class in the room at one time. I always struggle with how to use this time as a lot of my students are missing. I work one on one with individuals or small groups while others are working on their read-to-self books and projects. This would be a great time to help those who are below grade level however, those or the students that are out at reading club.
So that’s a typical day in my room always subject to change. The mini-lesson, use of writing, science, and social studies journals is something I love doing and it’s really making a difference. Also working with shoulder partners and giving them time to share their writing is a keeper.
A Slice of Our Writing Life:
We start each day by putting out our now-tattered book boxes. These are a new idea for me this year from the Daily Five by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (http://www.the2sisters.com/the_daily_5.htm).
These cardboard magazine boxes hold our writing lives. One groovy covered composition notebook, a spiral reading log, red writing folder, a green word-work folder, plus whatever current or beloved magazines and books we must have all reside within.
The good part is that each morning most of us remember and are proud to record our nightly reading titles in the reading logs. The bad part of this is having to instill a genuine need in 4th graders to read every day, outside of school. (This is of course a HUGE subject, I will leave it for another time). The ugly is me, when I don’t exercise restraint and insist on giving unnecessary reminders instead of modeling well and keeping quiet.
We strive to formally begin our days with “daily pages” writing. Another new-ish to me idea from Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer’s Notebook by Aimee Buckner. (http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=8956&r=&REFERER)
This is basic free-write time with workshop rules. Sometimes we use a prompt, sometimes an oral question or picture on the board and often no input from me. Lately, daily pages are the most beautiful part of our writing day. It seems with only eight weeks left in the 4th grade, after endless pages of doodling and mornings of studious avoidance, everyone has found their way into daily pages. Yes, this is the best part of my writing day. Being a process person I can firmly relax into my notebook, as they do. It is when I am most proud to have visitors enter our space.
Three or four times a week we share afterwards. Writers start with the introduction, “Hello, I am _________ (your name here) and I’m a writer.” I never tire of hearing this! Sometimes we share randomly other times writers sign up in the morning as they sit down to write, often we share one-on-one.
Also, we have a document camera and Smart Board. Each day different writers are seen as they work on their daily pages. This really works! The camera is fun to watch and has never failed to make the ‘observed’ take themselves more seriously. Reluctant or time-challenged writers often ask to be “on the camera” now. Maybe the document camera allows a visual way into this most private of practices …?
One thing that isn’t working well enough is the next step. How to gracefully move our ideas from ‘daily pages’ into more enduring text. While we do try to use our notebooks in a more ‘Flecther-like’ way I often struggle with how best to use these notebooks. I am experimenting with highlighting, peer-readings, more focused sharing, but I am not yet satisfied. More time may be what we need and more organization on my part to crystallize their imperfect works.
I teach two ‘sections’ of grade 4 writing daily. We begin most 65-minute classes with daily pages. On great days they are buzzing with quiet and ideas and I happily forgo a mini-lesson for an Atwell-style status report. On those great days students have literacy choices such as reading independently or with another (again in the style described by the Daily Five); writing
-– writers must have a BIG 3 if they want to make a fold-book or do much illustrating (an audience/genre/topic-problem slip to refine focus and avoid a morning spent stapling and cutting paper without producing much writing) or students are invited do book reports and research projects as well as work in their reading logs.
On an ugly day I hurry them into topics they have no interest in, drone on too long with a lesson, over-correct diligent workers or worse, forget to listen closely to questions and readers as they craft their own practices.
Today, Tuesday, we had a bit of magic in the room as they worked to answer QAR questions written last week by their peers. Listening to people disagree about the content of a question or whether the text supported the answer was wonderful, especially as none of it was generated by me! Stopping too soon, coaching without due care and not listening are the worst of what I do. Facilitating effective peer teaching and engaging in observant coaching combined with allowing the right kind of time, time to read, write, talk and listen, is the best of what I do.
Here is link to my blog with a rundown of my day today. So much of it worked wonderfully well today, I wish everyday could be like this. I'll probably post another in a few days that shows how crazy it can be!
caitcaffall.wordpress.com
As a special education teacher my day looks a little different than most. I write all the time as I have many different types of paperwork required for my job. At this time I am working on a reevaluation of a high school student. I had to interview teachers, parents and students this information along with testing done is sent as a pre testing packet to the district office for the school psychologist. I also am working on an initial (new) referral on a child in our village, who will turn three at the start of school next year. That process includes obtaining information from YKHC, medical and developmental background, and gathering information from Family, Infant, and Toddler or FIT, and parent input.
When writing Individual Education Plans (IEP) and Eligibility Studies I have to remember that these are legal documents that create a binding contract between the parents and the district detailing services that will be provided for their child.
At our site I provide services to four intensive needs students. I work 1:1 with each student for a minimum of 30 min each day on delayed skills. One activity that two of my younger students like to do is draw together. We use pre writing lines to draw pictures. Dictated stories are put on the bottom and then we hang them on our wall to read and enjoy.
After lunch I move over to the high school side of the building. In reading we are working on a unit called “In search of Self”. This week has been crazy as there is a very bad influenza bug going though our village. So far I had 2 out of 13 students Monday, 3/13 Tuesday and 4/13 Wed & Thu. Not wanting to loose the time (42 days of school left) I am teaching this unit on an individual basis. Although written responses to pieces we have read are a part of everyday assignments, this week I have pulled the three poems included in the unit and challenged the girls to “interpret” them. So far they have dipped their toes into the water, but I am holding them responsible for going deeper. To try and understand the feelings that prompted the person to write the poem and to try and express that using experiences from their own life. I have high hopes. . . .
Our writing class is phased or levelized. I have students working on PH 9 (4th grade) to 19 (12th grade) so our writing is 90% consultation and individual instruction. Twice a week I try to have a general mini class that addresses one of the 6 traits or a concern that has come to my attention as I am working with individuals on their writing. On the positive side there is no more room to extend writing time, on the bad side I should cut into their writing by providing more direct instruction.
The ugly, I am much more comfortable working with the girls in small groups. Because of the classroom situation I can pull up a chair to three or four desks and we can “talk” about different aspects of working on a paper and I don’t have to deal with the sniping that seems to be a HS girls response to high expectations. We have 1:1 conferences when needed before a student begins a project, during the editing process and at turn in. We also meet several times during the month to discuss writing process if student seems to be playing on their computer instead of writing.
What I like about our class is using the students in the higher levels as resources for student in the lower levels. I have a mental list of students who have done an especially good job on a specific type of paper, and then when a student has sat through my explanation more than once, I send them to a “good friend” for help. This has worked quite well for the past two years.
A Day in the Life of the Pink Slipped
3:00 A.M. No, it’s not the anxiety of volcano ash potentially reeking havoc on my dear seventeen-year-old dog Wylie’s lungs that has me up, pie-eyed at this hour like it did yesterday morning (can I teach a dog to use a litter box?). This morning, it’s my pink slip. Even though I burned it with vigor in the wood stove a week ago, it haunts me like Michael Keaton’s BeetleJuice character. Obviously, this is THE WORST time to be jobless in my whole life (two dependents, plus my husband who really enjoys his job as a middle school administrator here) and to apply for other jobs in this district would mean leaving Seward. Seward is no place to sell a house right now, which means I’d be going it solo somewhere else in the district. Sure, I’d be tenured my first work day in August, but I’d see my little people and Trevan only on weekends. This really can’t be the sacrifices Obama has been calling for in these dire times, can it? As disgusted as I’m becoming with my Woody Allen monologue, I’ve decided to give up on any promise of falling back asleep and lug myself out of bed.
To distract myself, I’ve decided to write lesson plans for language arts 10. My brilliant friend Kate (who teaches in Ninilchik) and I have decided to create an on-line writing exchange between our two classes.
4:30 A.M. I’ve finished emailing Kate our syllabus rough draft, so maybe I can sneak on my stationary bike for a few revolutions on the peddles. “MOOOOMMMMMMYYYY!” Nope. I hear through the monitor the perky voice of our three-year-old, now in an exaggerated stage whisper: “Is it time to get up YET?” Past experience tells me this will only crescendo and wake her younger sister in the next room. I’m off to read some soporific Baby Bug books by night light.
6:00 A.M. That reading did NOTHING but inspire the need for more storytelling (why doesn’t this phenomena happen in language arts class?). Time to get ready for school in earnest. If I didn’t have to call my own sub, I might just stay home and sleep. Smart district office.
7:35 A.M. Girls are dropped off at preschool/day care with three kisses each and I am ready to slip into my teacher role. (Plus, these four espresso shots I’ve been mainlining should carry my insomniatic self at least through lunch. Good thing Trevan packed a thermos for me for afternoon classes). My first hour prep lasts until 8:50, so I’ve got scads of time to prepare my late 1940s early 1950s stereotype lesson on the power of white privilege in the new medium, television, and then review our language arts lesson on the life the marginalized during WWII, Japanese interment victims for alternative ed second and third hour. We will be finishing reading and discussing Farewell to Manzanar today or tomorrow. Since the alt. ed. room is a music room, the choir practices in here during my prep. I’ve remembered my ipod today so I don’t give away their spring concert repertoire for free by inadvertently humming it to the rest of my classes. I’ve chosen the Flobots, something young, with a thick beat to keep the caffeine from hijacking my pulse and my heavy heavy head off the desk.
8:55 A.M. They’re here already! As usual, they’re carrying trays full of greasy “breakfast” pizzas, muffins, and French toast from their quick cafeteria fuel up on the way to class. Only one student, Brett, doesn’t have anything to eat. I know he doesn’t have any money for lunch either, so I’ve slipped him some coffee cake the choir class left for me. He woofs it down in two bites. This class consists of nine very rugged boys and me.
Kyler: Can we watch a movie?
Me: Seriously? It’s only Wednesday. Usually this question waits at least until
Thursday. Let’s see, um… NO.
Kyler: Sigh.. Just thought I’d ask.
Me: I appreciate your tenacity. Let’s talk about American pop culture during the
late forties and early fifties.
Them: Silence.
Me: How many of you have more than three televisions? Seven, Kyler? Well,
believe it or not, this norm wasn’t always the case…
10:00 A.M. Advisory class. We are a sorry lot today. Re-entering the atmosphere this week after spring break has been tough on a lot of sleeping schedules, as is obvious by the drawn looks on most of their faces. Plus, our boys’ basketball team spent their break in Anchorage battling at the state tournament. I say, “It’s the beginning of fourth quarter, so there’s no point in our Wednesday grade check. Should we play Scattegories instead, two teams against me?” The relief is palpable.
10:30-11:30 A.M: Alternative ed. language arts 9-12
We almost finish Manzanar and they goof off when I give them time to respond in their journals. Even though these journals (if they are finished) will give them “hits” in roughly seven different reading standards (there are twelve to fifteen standards per level—each standard must be proficient five times, or five “hits,” to be completed. All standards must be completed in that level for the student to advance), they are not motivated to complete them. Since I don’t have the carrot of grades or homework assignments, I push the graduate-and-get-on-with-your-life speech again without much success. Instead, I gather the willing around me for a journal brainstorming session, which seems to grease the wheels. One of them asks me if it’s true that alt. ed. is done next year. I tell them what I know. I’ve been cut but they plan to offer the position somehow as a half time allocation. I also tell them I’ve seen no proof of this so I don’t really know. I try not to show them how worried I am, but I tell them to finish their levels in everything so they have grades and real Carnegie units that can transfer, just in case. These kids will be left in the cold if this program is dissolved by district office. This isn’t a course kids take just for a year; this is a program intended to keep kids from falling through the cracks, to find meaningful educational experiences in their daily lives and that they create in class.
11:30 A.M.: Lunch
No time to eat and if I do, I know I’ll crash. I’m preparing for my “regular ed.” language arts 10 class. Three students come in to play their compositions on the piano for their music appreciation class; I applaud with spastic appreciation. Marianne, my brilliant second hour classroom aide, logs on and plays a sketch from the New Zealand duo, “Flight of the Conchords” on youtube. I can’t stop watching, it’s so funny. Now I’m dreadfully behind in writing the language arts objectives on the board. The other lunch crew, four fairly aloof juniors hiding from the rest of the student body, stride in with their Subway bags. I salivate.
12:10 LA 10 is a blast today. I’ve managed to pass as a reasonably coherent adult long enough to get them involved in several activities. I’m amping them for their first drafts of their personal essay assignment we’re writing simultaneously with Ninilchik next week. I’ve got Agree and Disagree signs posted in the corners of the room. As I read belief statements, kids choose which side they’re on. They record the beliefs in their journals with a brief explanation or narrative event illustrating why, and then share it with the other kids in the corner. We do this three times, and then return to their seats. I give them a survey of several more beliefs with which they choose to agree or disagree before beginning a ten-minute free write on the belief of their choice. In my journal, I agree with the adage that we learn from our mistakes. For some, myself included, as tired as I should feel, I am happy to say, ten minutes didn’t get it done. I hand out a packet of kid-friendly quotes and tell them to highlight three that jump out at them. Next, kids meet in groups of four with their journals, quotes, and surveys, attempting to find one belief they all share. Three times, our principal and secretary walk into the drama costume room at the back of the room for something, but our kids don’t seem to notice. The bell rings; we’ll finish this tomorrow. Our homework is to complete a second ten-minute write in our journals responding to one of the quotes and sharing a personal anecdote illustrating its value.
1:15 Alternative ed. independent projects
Four of the five kids who make it to class choose to finish Manzanar together. Kyler scans his standards to find some science he can finish. He is anxious to bring enough credits with him to military school next fall so he can be finished with high school when he is done there. A bus driver and our activity director walk through to the AD office in the back of the room. I slip Brett my seafood lasagna I didn’t eat at lunch and we cover the computers at the end of the hour with plastic bags in case of ash fall.
2:15 School’s out. I watch my “The Economic Classroom” video for the two credit Annenburg course I’m taking to help me prepare for the social studies Praxis next month. I’m fascinated by my own latent interest in economics, then panic stricken, wonder if this means I’ll have to switch political parties. I love watching Annenburg videos because 1) they’re free 2) they model best practice teaching techniques by playing at least six different lessons taught by master teachers for each hourly installment. I have to admit I have a little bit of content envy. Econ teachers have the coolest simulations they can do to get kids up and off of their feet.
5:00 Locking the door for the day. I really think my bones are made of rubber. Trevan has already collected the girls and will be home serving dinner while trying to walk three dogs. I’d better help him and see who will join me for a delicious soak in the hot tub. I’ll ride my bike tomorrow.
A classroom reflection.
“Please work on your crossword while I take roll.”
“Ms. Mac, Can I go to the bathroom?”
“I need a medical pass.” “I got to pee.” “I forgot it. It’s in my locker. “ “ I’m tired. I don’t wanna. “ “What are we doing today?” “I feel sick.” “Can I buy a pencil.” Some days are just one interruption after another. After 14 years of hearing the same same same at the beginning of each class or blurted out during class, I’ve given up arguing with them most days. I just write a pass or nod. There’s no use arguing because it only wastes more time, escalates the problem and uses up the energy I need for the rest of the day.
My favorite comment from students is a laughing, “I didn’t do it!” Meaning, “I didn’t do my homework. So ha ha, teacher. I got you.” Like it’s really hurting me when they don’t do their homework. Just puts the whole class behind because now I have to cover the material in class.
And so the day begins.
Monday’s are the worst day of the week. One never plans to teach anything on a Monday. Nor test on a Monday. Weekends do not rejuvenate our students – they are mini vacations that have to be recovered from before learning can take place. So on Monday’s in my Reading classes we do our weekly crossword puzzle from the Seattle Times – my vocabulary development program. They really dig it. Makes the day so much nicer because my students will do the puzzle. We also review on Monday’s or do SSR.
Writing classes on Monday’s require either homeroom.com or grammar sheets from Great Source. I do not have computers usually on Monday’s so, we work on the bones of writing with fast writes and worksheets.
Tuesdays – Thursdays are great days to get something done in class. Right now my 10th graders are reading Julius Caesar. As long as we read in class and do the study guide in class, my students will be successful. I project the study guide onto the back wall and we fill it out together.
Writing is fun most days. I have this wonderful spy-ware that lets me see if students are writing their papers or chatting on Fire Fly and Yahoo. I also keep my Yahoo open to chat back if need be. The spy-ware has an added advantage. Students can ask me to check their work from across the room. We can write together as it were because I can both see what they are writing and respond in writing at the same time.
Friday’s – well, we have a half day. I only teach two periods and then we have Friday clubs 4th hour. Friday clubs are a way to get some arts and crafts into the school week. Friday’s often see kids flying to another village for sports, so academic time is not lost with clubs.
I will say this about my days – I am usually tired by the end of each day, but there are those days and those class periods when we get so engrossed in what we are doing that we forget the time. I love those days.
One Day or Another
Our school day starts at 8:30 with a cheerful, energetic "Good morning, everyone!" from our secretary. She does announcements in a perky way that starts the day upbeat. Then one of our K-4 kids gets the mic and says the pledge while the class stands at attention. We love listening to their earnest little voices pledging “to the republic for Richard Stands,” and calling the nation invisible. It's precious.
My first class is Fiction, where we read a variety of fiction, discuss genres, write about literature, etc. It's a senior elective class since our high school of 15 students is on a yearly rotation schedule. The bad news is half the class is freshmen, so I don't feel as though we're getting a very good sampling of fiction. We've had to take a break for a writing assessment in January (two weeks with practice and the real thing), another week for Terra Nova testing in February, SBA's in April, and two weeks of a job skills training class in late April. We've only gotten through one novel and some short stories so far. That's the discouraging part. Well, actually I'm just all around discouraged about this class right now because I feel like the freshmen need different things than the seniors, and I am still not an expert at teaching two things at once. But everyone says first year is hardest.
Second and fourth periods I have junior high for reading and writing. In reading class we are doing a scripted spelling program because our school struggles with spelling. Spelling takes up about the first 25 minutes of class. The rest of the period, we read novels, short stories, or other things that connect with the writing class. The highlight of having the kids twice a day is that I can devote a class period to reading newspaper articles with the kids and discussing the finer points of them, and that same day in writing class, we get to practice drafting our own articles. So I have plenty of opportunities and TIME to make connections. It's almost like a block schedule only better because we get the break of third period.
Third period has been my most challenging class this year. It was government last semester and Alaska studies this semester. Since social studies is not my strongest area, I have to do a lot more studying to keep up than I have to do with any of my English classes. And although I'm highly qualified because of the Praxis II, I feel like no expert. The great part about teaching outside my discipline, however, is that I get to learn so much. I learned so much about US government and I paid so much attention to the election, etc. that it was truly fun to teach. And now I am learning so much about Alaskan history.
Lunch follows fourth period, and although we are supposed to have a duty-free lunch, we are unofficially required to eat in the lunchroom and supervise. The thing about a small school is that you make do where you need to, and I guess “you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have The Facts of Life.
After lunch, I have a creative writing class with juniors and seniors only. There are only four students in the class, and each of them are good students who give me very little trouble, that is to say, they do homework, they try their hardest, and none of them need any accommodations. So that is a fun class to teach, and not as challenging. Plus, I taught it to the other group first period last semester, so some of my lesson plans have been done already, which is an amazing help. Someone at Soldotna High School (where I student-taught last year) warned me that it’s not an easy class to teach because grading creative writing is not as cut and dry as grading an essay, and I see already what they meant. Perhaps because students write more personal things in creative writing, I have a harder time grading them down on poorly written poems than I do on poorly written essays. And they don’t seem to accept criticism on personal writing as easily as they do on essays. But it’s been a good class overall, and we’ve tried some fun assignments.
Last period of the day! Prep! I thought I would love sixth period prep because by then, all the hard stuff would be out of my day. But too often, I find myself mentally exhausted and with little energy or enthusiasm left to start right into planning or grading. So I have to struggle to stay focused.
To sum up:
The day begins cheerily, and I hit the ground running. I don’t stop for much until sixth period, where I feel like I fizzle out sometimes. But every night when I leave, whether I am shutting the door on a good day or a difficult day, I think to myself how lucky I am to have a job like this one!
I posted some thoughts on the text in ramblings--I'm not so organized lately- maybe it's a good reminder of how our students feel sometimes. I had a math teacher in college that gave a beginning assignment and I went home and stayed up all night trying to get it figured out. Seriously, all night. Like I said before, I dropped out of hs and I really took college seriously. The next day I talked with other students and they worked at it for awhile and then decided to wait until the next class. However, I was not willing to get behind the first few days and it took pots of coffee and lots of frustration and finally admitting defeat to drag to class the next day. The professor began, "You probably tried to do the homework, but you wouldn't have been able to because I didn't give you all the information you needed to do it. I wanted you to see how your students would feel when you did that to them." That lesson has stayed with me forever. I really try to see through their eyes and remember that feeling.
Deanna this is an interesting assignment. I recently had 2 students read Touching Spirit Bear, which is unique to Tlingit culture and addresses issues relevant to them. Afterward I had them choose a character in the story to be and write. I wish I had thought to incorporate this idea of dialogue also. Next time!
Shelley what a great gift you have to keep your sense of humor. There is no pleasure in your struggles, but I enjoy your writing. I'm that optimist that thinks that things always happen for a reason and there is purpose. I teach spec ed.
I wanted to comment on modeling: I was happy to see a comment on the Power Point that encouraged getting over yourself. I don't have the best handwriting, but I have never had students complain. I have tried using overheads with carefully pre-written or typed examples and it just isn't the same for me as spontaneous writing that incorporates student ideas and corrections. Because I have to write quickly, it is even less pretty sometimes, but legible. Thankfully, I'm a good speller and that gives me some confidence,(and makes me feel the trade off is worthwhile for my students) and when I make a mistake it's a great opportunity for us to solve it together using grammar or spelling resources. I think they get a better understanding when we work through things together, make changes and incorporate their ideas an examples. Sometimes I see things on my board and I wonder what others might think if they were to take it out of context. For example, the day we went off on some vocabulary and ended up with Satanism and Wicca on the board. I often follow where my students take me while we are writing. Usually some kind of visual organizer on the board. This one started with matriarch and patriarch.
Hi, In a slightly confused way, I'll leave the link to my v. tour here:
http://mollyms.pbwiki.com/
Sondra, please let me know if I need to re-post.
Cheers to all.
Hi all. Besides posting my classroom refection here, I've posted it at
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=ddqdvgf4_14d5pxg9dc&hl=en
I'm also reflecting some more about "Learning to Write." Before I even read the chapter I had scribbled this note in the front of my book, "Current curriculum ignores relevant writing needs - telling on paper the lore of the culture - teaching how to write the stories in collaboration with elders and Yupik teachers to save elder knowledge." Interesting that the first strategy John C. Bean suggestes is "Think of tasks that would let studens link concepts in your course to their personal experience." The most successful writing experiences in my classes have been just those - writings related to the culture and their personal experience. We've produced at one time a book of poetry about 'place' - Chefornak and Old Chefornak. This was before the Phase system programmed me to have classes write only certain types of papers. Even so, this last fall, a required business letter became a class project to persuade our school board to off more sports next fall. And they were successful!
Another thought I had on 'good teaching' from our reading of the 1st grade study is this, "Good teaching is a combination of talent, training, desire and sudden inspiration." When all four of these elements are in play you get magic. Let me tell you about a lesson last week. A Phase 15 Writing requirement is an I-Search paper. This is a 9th grade level course. I know the assignment, having taught it for years. I have the training. I have the desire to teach the unit well. But beginning the unit in the past has been a drag - handout a paper saying, "Think of three topics you are interested in. Now write why they interest you and what you know about each topic. Well, the assignment usually died right there - kids talked or sat staring into space. Blank. So how do I get 11 students to come up with a topic for their paper and make it fun? Class was beginning - then it hit me. We'll do the first two parts of the paper like fast writes. So says I to my 11 bright and eager faces, "Take out a sheet of paper. Ready? Now write the name of a topic that interests you - that you'd like to know more about. You have one minute. Go" Hah, it worked. We got a topic. "Ok," I say, " Now write why this topic interests you. You have two minutes. Go." Hah again it worked. And we laughed. We continued with what we already knew and 5 questions. Within less than a period they had two topics to choose from for their research. And we had fun. En Joy, Sandy
Responses to Text
I really appreciate that Chapter Two addresses the importance of technology and the writing process as I have found technology also offers real world audiences outside of our school walls through on-line writing exchanges (you Loafers know all about these through Breadnet). I don’t let my students send pictures or other artifacts to our exchange classrooms until the end of the assignment so that they have to rely entirely upon their own writing to introduce and represent themselves and their regional/cultural distinctions to other students. The results have been wonderful for many kinds of student writing: poetry, shared novels, and personal essay exchanges. It forces them to use writing instead of other social signifiers such as clothing, hair style, and body language to transmit who they are to peers who are interested in them. It also helps them really think about the revision process, knowing that another student will be trying to form meaning from their writing without any help from verbal explanations, as is sometimes the case with student revision read-arounds. Right now I’m attempting to create a Google blog like this one (what our district supports) for my students and our exchange classroom in Ninilchik to share personal belief essays.
As it is SBA/HSGQE season again in Alaska, I have been thinking about the writing prompts in the tenth grade practice book. For the long essay, it’s always just one prompt, and I can assume it follows that same format on the test. I found it interesting in Chapter Three that Sandra Murphy stresses “overly specified assignments may prevent students from writing with authority about things that interest them” (48). Most of my students in alternative education struggle with the music-as-a-negative-influence topic on the practice test because they can’t relate to it. Most of their parents are of the generation that fought that fight as they listened to rock and roll from the seventies and eighties, the same generation that prompted Tipper Gore to work so hard to have Parental Advisory labels pasted to album covers if content was explicit. For my students, music is ubiquitous, not any more of an influence or rarity than the air they breathe. We are in danger of creating a limited cultural and sociological response on high stakes tests when we offer only one prompt for all kids. On the other hand, I just helped assess our district’s writing test and counted eight prompts for kids to choose from at the ninth grade level. This may be too much on the other extreme as Murphy also warns that “too many choices can be daunting to young writers” (48).
My Day in the Life of . . .
What’s like to teach three different levels of writing? Well, it is like conducting a concerto. You start with the simple melodies, build up the harmonies and work towards the crescendo at the end of the piece. Teaching writing to three groups of students is very similar.
My day starts around 8:00 AM in the morning with prep work. I prepare the materials that I have selected the day or night before. Work sheets, writing prompts, etc. are selected during lesson planning. I use a sheltered instruction approach to my reading and writing lesson planning. I try to combine a reading element with the writing elements so that my students have a piece of writing to model their own writing on.
My 6th graders arrive at 8:40 AM and we spend the next two hours reading and writing. I have found that modeling the type of writing you want your students to master can be taught by analyzing the work of a writer who specializes in that type of writing. So our reading to get ready for writing may be from an author’s essay, magazine article, or chapter book, depending on the type of writing we are doing. I generally draw up my lesson plans around thematic units. Currently, we are reading Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. We are looking at articles on the area around Snaefellsjokull, the volcano in Iceland where Jules Verne’s protagonists start their journey in the novel. My students will use these articles as models to help them write papers of their own. The final product will depend on what each writing group decides on for their final writing project.
At 10:35 AM, my twelve 7th graders and three 8th graders start our nearly two-hour block of reading and writing. While we are doing a similar reading to write program in this class, I have to work with these students more on an individual basis because of behavioral issues and individual education plans. This group hasn’t progress as far as I would have liked this year because of behavioral issues, but some progress has been made.
After lunch ends at 12:50 PM, I start my high school instruction. The majority of my students are independent writers. Since the curriculum requires each student to write certain types of papers, the emphasis of instruction is on how to improve the students’ individual papers. We do a lot of revision and editing at this level of writing. Because my high school students are independent writers, I serve as the editor-in-chief for their body of work and work one-on-one with my fourteen students. Occasionally, two or three of them will work together on an assignment, but this not the norm with these particular students. The curriculum is set up for each student to work independently in the areas of reading, writing and math. At the high school level it is not unusual for a student to complete the three units of writing required for graduation in four semesters (two school years).
Well here is my conversation about our text reading.
I have to admit reading the text with a 101+ fever equals a surrealistic experience. But even without the fever I think the writers of the text intended it to be one of those experiences where you have to read and reread to catch everything.
Reading chapter two was little like information overload, so I went back to read several that I connected with and felt could help me now.
First I appreciate the suggestions on activities to help develop critical thinking and inquiry with your students. For students living in a remote area with limited life experiences developing just the understanding of inquiry with your students is often like talking to a brick wall. Nice house but no one is home. . .
Ninety percent of what my students write about is themselves or others in the village. Even when writing fiction the main characters are people they know and their experiences are very limited. Description is a problem as everyone knows where the blue building is, and everyone knows about the deck. I ask them to imagine that they are not from this village, to ask themselves questions about their writing. In answering those questions they will become better writers and write essays that can be read and understood by people living in different areas of the world.
Chapter 3 was an eye opener. As a school we started this year with the goal to increase writing across the curriculum and to increase the length of that writing. These goals were to help address our writing SBA scores. After reading chapter three, I realized that I as a writing teacher have not gone far enough in my expectations especially in the area of length. Sometimes it feels like the girls have a pool going and the one that gets away with writing the least wins! Well, the teacher just had her eyes opened so if they give me any problems this coming week I’ll just include chapter 3 in my lesson plans.
After reading through Chapters two and three, I am reminded of a comment one of my students made after receiving a writing assignment, "What!!??"
I am very prejudiced against nationalized testing using norm referenced testing data. So I took the data results reported from the 1998 NAEP as a little jaded. While I don't argue with some of the strategies and the methods discussed, since I've seen many of them used first hand either by myself or observed during teacher observations, I read the NAEP report while taking another class some years back. If the data used in the report had tracked individual students during a longevity study using the strategies and methods as reported in the NAEP report it would have validated the processes better tracking how specific grade do each year. We do not know what kind of writing instruction ensued in the intervening years between the 4th and 8th and 12th grades.
The NWP Study was more in line with good research techniques which validates the research findings. They used a group of thirty-five teachers in five states for over three years. This gave the researchers a solid foundation for their study and report findings.
Now why do I make a distinction between the methodologies use by the two different research groups when the findings appear the similar? I guess I resent the fact that in any research that involves student achievement, students are reduced to numbers. A student is not a number. He or she is a living, breathing individual who is going through a learning process to develop his or her's communication abilities. I don't think you can quantify a human being in these terms.
Writing is an individual effort. Some students take to it like ducks to water. Other students have to take time like a fine wine to become seasoned writers. And then there are the students who never get the hang of it.
We live in an age where e-mail and text messaging have replace letter writing and bulletin board communiques. In the future, who knows what the next technologies that will emerge which will change the way we communicate with one another. While studies will continue to play a part in the way we do things in education, sound writing techniques and instruction by teachers will ensure that the majority of their students will know how to write well and communicate well.
7:40 AM arrive at school right on time. (I used to arrive at least 45 minutes early. Not so now that we are raising our 2 and 1/2 year old granddaughter. What a blessing she is). Log on to the computer, checkemail and log into gradebook for attendance. Students begin to arrive about
7:55 with all being ther by 8:00. All students come in and hang up their coats and put their backpacks in a basket. Most are independent in this.
I have two paras in the room with 11 children. Four are typical peers the other 7 have IEP's. In this session I have two intensive needs students. As well as one student with a behavior plan that really should have a para. That leaves me with the other 9 to oversee, while at the same time providing instruction in the areas of language, social skills, gross and fine motor skills, math, handwriting and concept development.
We have 6 stations in the room. I am able to use the two paras to monitor two of the stations. While I pull a group of 3-4 students to the language table, they pull some students for gross motor activities and social skills activities. Students spend about 10 minutes at one station and then rotate to the next station. After those three main stations are completed students are rotated through two the remaining three stations, writing their name,fine motor and a sensory table. They all have to write their name, then they chose what they will do until breakfast.
At 8:40 students wash for breakfast. This time is used for more social skills and language development.
At 9:00 we go to group for singing, finger play, a story, calendar time, and a overview of what will happen when we come in from recess.
At 9:15 we go out to recess (at least it is supposed to work that way. Having 11 four year olds with disabilities get ready to go out with all the winter gear takes a bit of time).
9:30 we head in for the second half of our time together. Once again students are rotated through three stations manned by the adults. The stations include an art table, math table, and more gross motor activities. We have a sensosry table and several choices on open shelves for them to chose from once they have completed the three required stations. It is during this half of the day I do the math lesson and make sure to spend a half an hour of direct service time with each of the intensive needs students. This is particularly tricky because we only have an hour and often they are pulled by specialist.
10:30 students leave to go home. We clean up and prep for the next session.
11:00 usually a lunch meeting.
11:30 some prep time
11:45 The afternoon students arrive. Another group of 11 only this time there is only one typical peer and only one intensive needs student.
The afternoon schedule is the same as the morning schedule. At 2:15 students leave to go home. Usually there is at least one parent that is late picking up their child so that cuts into the time I am supposed to have for prep. Once all the students are gone I make phone calls to parents about the good, the bad and the ugly.
IF time allows; I check email that has grown during the day, make sure I have what I need for the following days instruction, work on paperwork.
I am supposed to have Fridays for IEP meetings, paperwork and testing. I always have an 8:00 meeting and a 12:15 meeting as well as Professional development at 1:30. That means I have from 9:00 to 12:15 to have iep meetings, administer assessments, and complete the required paperwork. I always go in on Fridays with the hope that I will get caught up. And I always leave with more to do than I had when the day began.
oops! I usually leave at 3:10 (ending contract time). There again I am leaving right on time because my 75 year old mother takes care of our granddaughter while we are teaching. I do spend time on paperwork at home. Thank goodness for a program that allows me to work from home. Instead of grading papers at home like gen ed teachers I do the eligibility and iep paperwork.
"Where's my coffee, baby?"
"Creed, neither one of the girls are dressed. I can't find Marin's jacket and Lilly is still not in her car seat. We're ten minutes late. Are you seriously concerned about your coffee at this point?"
There is no good reply to this question. Of course I'm serious, but I can't exactly take myself seriously if I respond honestly. And so begins a typical day, and I haven't even arrived at school yet.
After outsourcing my parental obligations to our invaluable child caregiver and washing down the guilt of leaving my lovely daughters with a draught of strong coffee, I arrive at school around 6:40 am, 50 minutes before school begins and an hour before I'm often ready. Still, necessity often dictates results, and on this morning, as most mornings, I've reviewed the days lesson plans, posted the day's activities on the board and moodle, and mentally prepare myself to begin.
(The Good)
Today happens to be a 2-3-5-6 rotation day (Bartlett runs on a rotating block schedule), and I love my 2nd period guys - they rock! Heeding my wife's advice, I had the foresight to get all of my copying done in advance this week, so I get to hang out in halls or in my classroom, attentive and free of last minute work, to soak in the stories my students have to offer. Matt has been snowboarding this weekend, and seems particularly charged for a Monday morning. I'm looking forward to his free-write; when he's not lethargic, he really makes me laugh and can be quite inspiring in his narratives.
The bell rings, and following the morning announcements, the class begins diving into their free-writes. I wonder why I haven't done these all along; for the most part, my students embrace this now regular aspect of our class with unexpected zeal. And despite the occasional lapse in grammar and politeness, much of what they produce in these ten to twelve minutes is remarkably creative and articulate.
Of course, Matt leads off with an epic tail of his exploits at Alyeska, followed by Erin with a characteristically satirical lament of he mothers micromanagement of her social life. I love every minute of it. Like most high school kids, they want to share their exploits, but within the walls of this classroom, they've begun to take pride in the manner in which they relate those tales; they're taking pride in their writing.
We spend the next thirty minutes reading and discussing a few chapters from Tuesday's With Morrie, a book that my students really seem to be enjoying. I surprised by how willing students are to respond to this text in classroom discussions, and I'm even more pleased by how well students are responding to the text through their quote journals. For the most part, students are selecting significant quotes and engaging those quotes with maturity and insight. Even during the last five minutes of class, during which students are under no obligations to dialogue over the curriculum or even feign doing so, the conversations continue in a organic, light-hearted manner.
(The Bad/Ugly)
Lunch is over, and despite my best efforts, I've been unable to produce a fever. I know fifth period is coming, and without a temp of at least 105 or blood in my vomit, it appears unlikely that I'll be going home today.
Now, I get that this admission makes me seem completely unfit for teaching; I'm aware of this. I've beat myself up over the fact endlessly throughout the course of the school year, pondering countless permutations to account for my lack of progress in this class - "I'm not teaching literature they can connect with," "They need more freedom in choosing writing topics," "School starts too early." Honestly, I love each one of them, and the strange thing is that I truly believe that taken in isolation (or at least a different class), each one of my 5th period students would be great. Unfortunately, this class seems to convergence of apathy, a cosmic nexus of spirits that when united, annihilate all critical thought.
Students begin the free-write, but only a small faction within the class seems to be seriously immersed in the process. I feel like a writing warden as I threaten students with loss of credit if they don't at least attempt to write rather than stealthily text message friends or talk. At the end of ten minutes, I beg for students to share what they have written. One or two students offer up what they have written, most just stare blankly back at me.
We trudge through a few chapters of our novel, as I walk around prodding students to stay awake or remain on task.
On "grappl[ing] with the messiness of composing"(p.25)
I was impressed with the realistic perspective on writing presented in chapter two. In the beginning of my career, I was one of the "product centered" writing teachers mentioned in the chapter. Admittedly, I still am to some degree, though I'm fully conscious that such a contrived approach to writing is unnatural and as such, produces poor results. I blame the pressures of assessment. At any rate, I appreciate the honest perspective the author takes in describing the writing process in this chapter. In my own writing, I recognize that I seldom perform of the systematic approaches to pre-writing, for example, that I have my prescribe to my students. In fact, many of the facets of the approach I have taken to writing instruction, incidentally those passed down to me by more experienced colleagues, seems to fly in the face of the actual organic process of writing as described in this chapter. "Many writers don't know their subject well until they've written a draft; few professional writers start out with
a topic sentence or an outline." (p.25) I whole-heartily agree with this sentiment, yet I still find myself struggling to demand focus and organization out of my students in the incipient stages of their work.
This chapter was good for me; I needed this reminder. Oh also, I really found John Bean's ten strategies for inquiry to be a useful tool. I find myself struggling to help my students generate ideas and dig for insight; this is perhaps one of the hardest aspects of writing instruction because it doesn't lend itself easily to a systematic approach. So, I'm always on the look out for tools such as these.
One thing kept running through my mind in Chapter 2 until page 29 when a page was set aside for technology use in writing. So much is changing in the way writing is being taught and I was glad the book mentioned that revision is often less of an issue with children, especially at the elementary level when they can revise on the fly using technology.
I recall one class I worked with in regards to technology and the writing process. The writing included audience, drafting, quickwrites, peer responses, and a few other from the list shared in Chapter 2 .
Until I had worked with these students and their teachers, these fifth and sixth graders had only used a computer lab to 'type' what had been processed in pencil. The students, had only had the opportunity to write on paper, erase on paper, write on paper again, get markings from the teacher on the paper again, write again and then come to the lab to type it up like a presentation.
I recall in one class a fifth grade student shared it was "awesome" that he could move his ideas around by dragging text around the page. But, another kiddo who was in sixth grade and who was resistive to writing the process entirely using a pencil, decided it was to hard to type and preferred to write it in pencil and began writing with the pencil. I thought this was interesting since I had seen and heard that kiddo's might type it instead. This sixth grade proved to me that there is no magic key.
Over the years I find I still take notes with a pencil, and when I write to family I prefer to write on paper.
At the end of the month, the teachers I was working with were glad that all the quickwrites we warmed up with and the perspective writings we did in the lab were all available for the students to work with later. A few students were notorious for cramming a million things in their folders until they were so crumpled it was difficult to read.
Today, I am seeing the Google Doc and collaboration as a new piece to writing that I would love to spend some time with. How powerful it might be to give a small group a kiddo's a word problem and ask them to collaborate on the explanation.
Kiddo's reading and using their language to try and share what they are thinking both verbally and in writing. Interesting... I really like the ideas in chapter 2
My biggest take away from Chapter 3 was the biology study and argument that Hillock made regarding teachers and our need to teach more than process.
The idea that the student writes about concepts and understanding in regards to biology is awesome. Biology 101 is said to have more new language for a student to learn, than French 101. And students often end up trying to memorize and flip flash cards, and can pass a lot of tests that way. What better way to learn concepts than to require students to explain, synthesize, and create an explanation that can be understood. I guess balance is everything, but ultimately the study showed retention was greater and I am going to say based on the study that perhaps the biology class which wrote benefited in other classes.
I agree with Jerry Hermann, Writing to Learn: Write to learn! - Writing help makes sense because it asks the student to create an understanding.
A Thousand Questions A Day
If I had a penny for every question I answer in one day from my rambunctious five and six year olds, I would be a very rich gal. I would not change it for anything, I get to work with those kids and see them grow everyday. No two days are the same, it totally depends on which children are in school, the absence of one can set the tone for the day. So here is a quick run down, I have tried to just hit the highlights, because I think that we switch activities about every 20-30 minutes. So here goes, if I can think at the end of spring break.
I try start my day at about 7am at school. I always seem to have a ton of things to rush to get done before the kids get there, even though I stayed until 5 or 6 the night before. Kids arrive at 8:05, I always seem to have a few stragglers that come in by 8:15. As the kids arrive we do our morning jobs and this seems to be a time that I do not use most effectively. After we get settled we do our number corner or calendar. The kids take turns each day being the helper to lead calendar. This is where we do some of our math activities. After number corner we usually read a story, either one that follows the theme that we are studying or just a great picture book.
At about 8:45 we move into the main time block of instruction, which we call group time. I usually break the kids into 2 or 3 groups depending on how much help I have. My help includes nine parents and grandparents that volunteer once a week for an hour, one Americorps volunteer, SNEP (Sitka Native Education Program) volunteer, my paraprofessional who is assigned to an intensive student, and two different high school students that are taking a crossing bridges class. I have spent time coordinating schedules so that I have volunteers during blocks of time to help support fragile kids, make smaller groupings, and lead lessons. I count myself very lucky to have such wonderful help. During group time we do thematic lessons, reading groups, math, science, social studies, art projects, literacy lessons, etc.
After group time, which never seems to be long enough, we have a 15 minute recess and then snack. During the next 30 minutes, we either do math tubs, journal writing, or have a special depending on the day. We then have SMART (our PE program, neat brain development physical education program, check it out at www.themlrc.org/index.htm) four days a week, which is AWESOME! I love that students in our school get physical movement four days a week. Following SMART is lunch in our classrooms and a 30 minute recess. After recess we spend about 30-40 minutes with letter practice, sight word work, read aloud stories, or other language arts lessons. We then have about 20-30 minutes of “choice time”. There are a variety of activities including computers, listening center, puzzles, read around the room, water paint, playdough, a variety of toys (blocks, leggos, unifix cubes, zoobs), and writing center which has a ton of supplies in it. After choice time, we clean up and head home at 1:30.
After school I spend a majority of my time preping for the next day. On average there are about ten hands on activities a day, so that is a lot of leg work to compile everything needed. Wednesdays and Thursdays, our school has an after school program to provide support for our neediest students. “Call Back” is lead by classroom teachers, we pull 5-10 students that need additional support. I have teamed with another K teacher and we utilize small group to target instruction to meet the specific needs of those kids. The students that are kept for call back is a fluid group and can be changed at any time to meet their needs. After school is also taken up by a ton of meetings. It seems to me I have had way more this year than any other year. Yikes!
I usually head home about 5 or 6, usually whenever my husband calls and tells me dinner is ready. One of my personal growth goals this year was getting most of my stuff done at school so I do not bring it home at night. Usually I am good about it now, except for report card time. So that was a quick run down of my day. So to sum up my days, the good is my students, the bad is all the “stuff” that I seem to shuffle pile to pile, and I guess the ugly right now is that spring break is over and I have to get up early tomorrow.
I would like to share something that was an ugly. I was working in a classroom of 1,2,3 kiddo's carefully keeping notes in regards to what I was teaching students - differentiating notes on separate note cards after reading their work in a conference style session. Each students needs and "Ahha's" were recorded after I conferenced with them individually.
One day a high school writing teacher who happened to be the parent of one of my students put me on the spot. He shared that I can’t expect kiddo's to learn how to write without formulas that they can remember when they are asked to write. He demanded I focus on spelling and correctness.
I was about to finish a technical writing class, and had learned a lot about what I considered form writing. I was following recipes that were heavily weighted on correctness. My recent learning experience and my experience with the parent left me stunned.
The next week or so, I found myself fumbling and the kiddo's could sense it. I began focusing on correctness in writing and began demanding my emerging primary students to focus on correctness as well. I grew frustrated with the writing. And the kiddo's became frustrated too.
Finally, one day a first grader said something to me that helped me boraden my focus from simple correctness. She said," I don't want to write anymore unless you want to listen to my story!"
This little girl was right, I wasn't listening I was correcting and keeping score. When I started listening again, only then was I able to help her say things on paper for others to read, only then could I help her understand audience and setting. When I listened I could help her take a number of excited ideas and create a beginning, middle, and end.
Don't hang me now, I understand correctness and clear writing is important, but this takes time and practice. Imagine if we wouldn’t let kiddo's crawl only walk without tripping, tumbling, or helping them up.
Lance - I totally echo your sentiments about allowing kiddos to go through the steps and having them share their stories. When I work with my students during writing time, I try to always focus on telling a story with a little hit on "correctness" during each session. When kids come over to me with their journals, I always ask them to read me their story. I give feedback on the story, do they need to add more detail, does it make sense, etc. I also try to get in one specific positive comment on their story before I ask for some correctness.
One of the most difficult things about teaching for me is knowing if I am doing the best for my students. I think that it is unreasonable for me to expect and demand from their fragile five year old writing for it to be correct. My thoughts were validated by the reading this week. It made me feel like I am doing something correct. I especially liked the Donald Graves quote of “There is no one writing process.” Just like there is no one pair of shoes that fit everyone, we all need to try things on for size to see how it makes us feel.
I can't believe it's almost Monday and I'm still trying to get caught up on all my reading. I finally finished all the Of Mice and Men tests and most of chapters two and three in our text. I'm looking forward to what poetry my ninth graders turn in tomorrow. They sure had fun with the writing assignment I gave them and the two sites I got from you guys. We start their mini-research papers in the library tomorrow morning. Anyway, I wanted to make a comment about the end of chapter two where it talks about "Writing Activities Are Linked to Other Literacy-Building Activities". It talks about ELL students but I think it can apply to all students, too. To quote or steal the quote, "the mix of reading, writing, and listening adds up to better learning" for all of us. I know I learn better with all my senses involved in the process. And I like to use and ask my students to use "think logs, learning logs and interacitve notebooks" at different times over the semester. Like, I like to have my students keep daily journals recording the in-class work and homework they do each day on extended assignments like their research papers. I also like to have them write what they think/feel about our reading and pass it around and add more comments to it, they sign it and pass it on until it gets to me. Sometimes I start it off with a question I'm pondering after we have listen to a story and ask them to add their question/comment(s). I also make them keep a journal with weekly comments about the stories we're reading and they are meant to try to personalize and/or connect the stories to each other. Every week I try to make sure we have read, written, spoken and listened to at least two or three different selections and to each other. We share and grow; hopefully, learning to appreciate literature as our link to life and each other. Deep, huh? By the way, I was a reluctant reader in grade school. I was labeled that early on and I'm still growing out of the scar tissue that that tag left behind. JJ
chapter 2 Learning to Write
I liked the comment from James Paul Gee about student writing and reading making up part of their "identity kit" and being composed of ways of saying-writing-valuing-believing that is evident not only in the language of school children but in the language practices that mark the identities of doctors, educators, steelworkers, and mechanics. His research suggests that the best writing teaching supports a child's home identity and promotes success in school. Pg. 29
I believe everyone can learn to writeand produce a lot of writing without too much struggle.
Chapter 3 Writing to Learn
This chapter asks a great question, Why does learning to write also mean writing to learn?
In advisory groups when students have a positive relationship with the teachers and positive feedback their writing improves. We are currently focusing on the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing in Advisory Groups. We also save student's writing in their personal portfolios folders. Chapter 3 suggests the value of writing across the curriculum as a great way to improve writing skills. This school year we have worked on integration between our core academics and our career technical classes. Integration is a work in process and we have many kinks to iron out.
Hutchison Hawks meet in Advisory Groups two times per month. Seniors met Tuesday March 17 for 30 minutes. Seniors presented to a group of eight freshman and sophomores. The idea of the presentation was to give Seniors an opportunity to reflect on their high school career, pass on some valuable information to under classman and give them an idea of the opportunities available after high school. Seniors answered the questions in a previous writing assignment in English 12. Their presentations included the following:
Personal Bio-what middle school did they go to, other high schools attended, and the reason for coming to Hutchison High School.
Their presentations focused on these Question Options:
Have you been successful academically? What academic problems did you encounter in high school?
What is something you wish you had know early on in your high school career?
What activities/sports have you been involved in?
What is the best school related activity you have participated in your time at Hutchison?
Senior advice for being successful in high school.
Technology--what programs and pieces of equipment have been valuable and useful to you? Do you take advantage of powerschool and file?
Plans for the Future
What are you going to do next?
What are you concerned about?
What are you excited about?
Presentations were 5-7 minutes per senior. The freshman and sophomores related and listened to the seniors.
The Senior Project is embedded in the English curriculum freshman through Senior year at Hutchison.
Chapter two and three both seem to be supporting three key concepts I've been hearing in writing classes this semester.
Reading is directly related to writing and writing to reading.
Students must be given time to write.
Writing is a process and should be treated as such.
Within each of these three concepts there seems to be variation of thought. I wasn't completely sure if chapter two took a stand whether writing needed a format or if it was a circular process. As a primary teacher I find it necessary, and effective, to give both. Students seem to do better when they have some format to follow. I use direct instruction to teach basic writing skills - sentence structure, grammar, paragraph format, etc. I will say that these explicitly taught skill lessons are short and then reinforced within actually writing. I'm completely agree that the day of the worksheet did not produce good writers, nor did it motivate kids to become writers. But there should be some sense of balance. Programs like Step Up to Writing, where students are given a format work for many students. As students move through school and enter into higher level classes or onto college they are going to be expected to write with some sort of format and laying the groundwork early seems like a way to help them be successful. it seems like the writing cycle can happen while students are using a format.
Getting back to the book ... I appreciated the chapter about writing to learn. It seems like in Elementary integration is almost a survival mechanism. If I didn't integrate writing into other areas, I'd never fit everything in. Then listening to and reading about high school it seems as if integration may be a novelty. The book does a great job pointing out the benefits of writing across the curriculum. I liked the points about allowing teachers to assess their higher level thinking skills. I've heard before that with the quick availability of information that technology has given us students need to have strategies to make judgements that are well grounded. It seems as if this integration of writing would encourage the teaching of the hight level thinking that is required for making sound judgements but also require students to use these skills.
I'm always looking for ways to improve my classroom and I think I could do better with the type of writing I do with my students. I have always integrated writing across the curriculum but I think the variety of writing I use could be improved. I also am thinking, in regards to the technology part, that maybe the students could choose from these content writings as to which one should be taken to the final publishing stage. Maybe if it is one that interests them more or a particular style of writing they enjoy, I would get better final products and ultimately would be more learning in both areas. I think?!
What's typical??
In my 2/3 grade class we have a general schedule, but I have to say I'm not sure the class has a typical day - especially right now.
We start our day with morning work - a daily paragraph that they edit and we review together. The paragraph is one of four that build on itself and then on the fifth day they respond to a prompt using information from the paragraphs. I teach them how to reference text, organize their thoughts, and yes, paragraph structure. It is most likely our most typical routine.
Our morning then moves into our reading and writing block. I have to say with the newer ASD curriculm it is more reading than writing, but that is where integration comes in :) While I work with one grade level the other grade level has a reading, writing, or technology assignment/activity. Each groups has about 30 minutes with me following a whole group discussion of what we are working on and the day's goals. Students use each other and parent volunteers as resources so I can focus on the group with me. It's taken a while but this is a very productive time of day and I see/hear great collaboration between students, which is great since they are so young.
We usually have a spelling mini-lesson and some practice before going off to lunch at 11:45.
Upon there return from recess, we begin Math. Mountain Math provides some review for the day and then we move into the days Everyday Math lessons. This is one place I need to do more quick writes. I could do better helping them explain their answers in writing. I've seen some great ideas that other teachers are doing, I just need to give it a try!
Then on to more fun ... usually a break for gym, music, or on Mondays, sledding.
When we return we do either science or social studies. Both great times for integrating writing. I share with other teacher for science and they do a great job of integrating writing as well. Science journals are a favorite for me so we write a lot in my science class where we are studying salmon.
Now, social studies, is where my writing is going really well. I've tried to use more types of writing this quarter and I think it has been positive. They'll be working on a poem titled "How to Be a Totem Pole" this coming week to review what Totem Poles are and talk about the purpose. One week they wrote geography quizzes in small groups. They seem to get a kick out of being the "teacher" and creating fair questions with accurate answers. They put them on the computer and the we switched them all around so everyone took a quiz an then the groups checked each others. It was great - and the conversation about right and wrong answers showed me they really knew their geography.
The day ends with a quick review of what was accomplished and what needs to be done at home. We pack up, read a little, and head on out the door.
My Day:
I have an interesting group of kids with every disability represented at some point in my classroom. It was a long road this year getting the behaviors lined out. As I've learned in the past there isn't anything or any type of behavior modification that gets their attention more than a good sense of humor, being real and having a strong front that they know can't be toppled. We've come a long way. Most of my experience is with more mature high school students so I wasn't certain if I had it in me to navigate the emotional roller coaster of middle school right now. I raised the bar pretty high because I decided early on that I probably wasn't going to adapt to them as much as they were going to have to adapt to me. Not exactly my philosophy of education though because I've always been a proponent of making the curriculum fit my students instead of the other way around. We've all made significant gains!
My day begins with a rather ornery student that couldn't read or write well. The question is always, which came first, the chicken or the egg. It doesn't matter really. I'm always prepared for the worst and believe that anything is possible and I'm happy to report that we have extinguished most of the orneriness and we are reading and writing and loving it.
I follow this up with a student that has yet to be assigned to the same person for an entire year. Probably the most challenging student of my career. Enough said there. I have found that my patience and empathy do have limits, but we are both still here.
Now, I can let my hair down a bit or so I think. A specialist calls to cancel their visit for the day as their plane is delayed and this sets in motion the emails and phone calls for rescheduling, which will usually require another round of this before finally coming together.
A phone call regarding the days next scheduled IEP meeting that must include outside agencies and was scheduled the week before is cancelled as one agency and then another cannot attend, then it is on , then it is off and then it is determined that it is on via phone. Along with calls from a DJ for prom (I'm Jr. Class advisor), our ELks club and various others, finalizing orders for decorations, flight plans and another parent's call to meet with the specialist during our lunch---- I often feel like I need a full time secretary. This takes place during my 3rd period class so it's a real balancing act with keeping students intact.
Now my favorite hour---writing. Right before lunch, but none the less it is a more peaceful, usually undisturbed hour. The 5 aides that I coordinate and their students are generally lined out and the days troubleshooting, subs etc. have been taken care of by now. I love this hour. My favorite subject to teach and a time to bring some meaning to my day.
Lunch is hectic, catching up in my room on paperwork or meetings or in the staff room holding my place as the only female and making sure sp ed and my personal perspective don't get lost. The first few months every time I went into the bathroom the toilet seat was up. I feel some satisfaction and confidence that I belong now that the seat is always down. I'm still not too interested in the men's magazines that are left there, but I don't have time to read them anyway! I work with veteran teachers, solid, organized and using a curriculum that has been integrated and developed over years. I have found my place in it. It all seems to work. I respect my colleagues and what they have created here and they have extended their respect and support. I can do my job, advocate for my students and I'm surviving in a difficult position with enough success to sustain me.
My next class is math and I've always liked the way math works. Your confused, then you get it and then your confused again and the process continues that way. I think it builds confidence and encourages students to look at the world differently and think outside the box. It helps them realize that there are constants, but many ways to approach problem solving. I like the creative possibilities that math offers. More than other subjects it seems to give me avenues for teaching "thinking" that I can apply to other areas.
The day ends with a study skills class and we seem to be able to pull the day together and get organized, at least until the next day. As most of you, I have spent many many evenings sorting it all out and trying to get myself organized for the next day. First years always take so much more time to get organized and develop a program. I don't think I have a lot more first years in me so I'm glad I like it here.
This has been a particularly hectic day since my oldest son is home visiting and my youngest is a student in the middle school and would like to be home visiting. Before anything else, I'm Mom. However, I think it is representative of my day in special education because if it isn't one thing it's another and not one day is ever like any other day. Some describe it as wearing many different hats. I sometimes feel like it is more often like being so many different personalities, which makes me feel sort of crazy. I like it. So many have said that they wouldn't want my job. I can't imagine doing theirs either!
Post a Comment