Celebrating the Old and New at the Beginning

This post serves a dual purpose:  celebrating a week of creating a new classroom space and DigiLit Sunday topic, preparing for the new school year. Find other celebrations at Ruth Ayers’ blog Discover, Play, Build and DigiLit Sunday posts at Margaret Simon’s blog Reflections on the Teche.

I have an old pair of sandals. They’ve given me miles of comfort. In spite of new purchases, my old pair finds its way back into my life and onto my feet. They are worn just right and fit my summer feet.

My classroom has well-worn objects as well. They are irreplaceable. This week I celebrate the old that serve every school year.

The easel I found in an abandoned hallway my third year of teaching has held hundreds of pieces of paper. Smartboard technology tried to replace it, but a physical chart, made with students, that hangs on the wall as evidence of thinking, that doesn’t disappear with the next lesson, has value an electronic screen can’t match. This old tool takes any piece of paper and makes it the centerpiece of instruction.

The wooden stools I bought at IKEA my second year of teaching have survived and served hundreds of fifth graders as chairs, tables, impromptu meeting areas, foot stools, outside classroom space, and props in dramatic plays. These old tools allow students to create the space they need.

The bookshelves and book bins have been with me since the beginning. Bookshelves can entice readers into a cozy nook. Bins are transported to the carpet, to a table, to a corner. They can morph to hold any genre. These old tools are the superheroes of the reading and writing workshop.

The books on the shelves will be sought after and loved. Sadly, these books aren’t as resilient as the bookshelves and bins, but their messages endure and speak to kids year after year. Because of Winn Dixie, Tiger Rising, Flying Solo, How to Steal a Dog, Wonder, Firegirl, The One and Only Ivan; series like I Survived, Shredderman, The Treasure Hunters, Vet Volunteers are just a few. These old tools transport students.

I cherish the old. But sometimes we need new. This week I’m celebrating things that revitalize our lives.

I have a new pair of running shoes that have given my running new life. The old pair is broken down and can’t provide the support I need.  Sometimes new is necessary. This year, I’m bringing in new that support the old and signal new beginnings.

I’ve found new strategies from professional books I’ve read over the summer.
Who’s Doing the Work by Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris
A “next generation” balanced literacy approach allows kids the space to show what they can do before we teachers jump in with the instruction. Talking less so kids can do more has been my mission ever since I read What Readers Really Do by Vicki Vinton and Dorothy Barnhouse. Jan and Kim’s book has opened my eyes to the power of shared reading. Shared reading isn’t just for little kids. This year, I’m building in more shared reading time around their read aloud time to support transfer.

DIY Literacy by Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts.
I wrote about this book here and here and here. I believe the tools we will build with DIY thinking will empower students to do the work with self-made goals. This year, I’m finding places and making time for students to create bookmarks that are supported by the micro progressions, charts and demonstration notebook.

The Journey is Everything by Katherine Bomer.
The essay work Bomer speaks to is one that grows over time. It is the journey we want our kids to take as readers and writers. This year, I’m building in time to notice and notebook so ideas can grow over the year, not just in a unit of study.

To contain and support all of this new thinking we need new school supplies.
Notebooks, pens, markers, post-its. They are ready and waiting.

The old tools have strength. They are flexible and tough. Like my sandals. They serve no matter the group of students. I cherish them. But every year, I find new ideas that support and enhance. Like my running shoes, sometimes the old needs to be updated.  Sometimes new is necessary.

I look forward to both the old and the new sitting side by side.

 

Engagement, Practice, Passion and Literacy Learning

Check this out: Vicki Vinton and Cornelius Minor in the same building.  The ESC South of LAUSD, brought these great educators to us — wow — what an opportunity –what a choice!

Vicki led the high school folks in reading, while Cornelius worked with elementary and middle school teachers on writing.

My notebook and brain is brimming with rich thinking and new teaching approaches Cornelius brought to life. As a side note, he has enough energy and passion to light a couple of stadiums.

Here are a just a few of my takeaways.

Mastery comes from practice. Our goal as teachers is to develop the emotional, social and intellectual energy so there is desire to practice.  Practice only happens when we are engaged enough to try, fail, and try it again.

My job is to create the conditions for practice.  The need for engagement must color all teaching moves.

I imagine my students’ passion for video games. Time doesn’t exist for them when they are gaming. Engagement goes on and on. They try and try, again and again. Through that practice they master the game and seek out more challenging experiences.

While writing and reading might not be video gaming, I need to remember this engagement can happen for my students and shoot for it. This is where learning happens. It’s my job to work toward it. Build it.

The average American has an attention span of seven minutes. With fatigue, attention span decreases.

I realize I need to look closely across our day; to reconsider my expectations and look at the realities.  I need to notice it, measure it, address it. Think stamina. Think engagement. Always be aware of it and adjust for it. Stop the work before students disengage.

Essay writing is about thinking first. Teaching students to develop ideas and claims, reasons from evidence found in text comes first. Structure matters but it is not the first or second or even third teaching point.  Moving students through a journey of thought about a text or subject is the bigger goal. Structure matters, it just shouldn’t be served up as a first move potentially preempting the harder thinking work.

Working with evidence to support a claim and develop a reason for the claim has befuddled my students, and my grasp on a good teaching pathway was weak.

Cornelius clarified my thinking and approach.

• The claim is a belief.
• The evidence is anything quoted or paraphrased from a text.
• The reason, or analysis, is the intersection of the two.

To develop this kind of thinking, consider “drill” work. Present a claim and a piece of evidence. Then ask students to find a reason that might connect the two.

It isn’t as easy as it might sound.  Here’s one I tried.

Claim: Beyonce is a positive role model for women.

Evidence: In 2014, she became the highest-paid black musician in history.

Think: What might be the reason that links the evidence to the claim? How or why does this evidence support the claim?

Reason: Through hard work and talent, Beyonce has achieved great financial success.

Great thinking “drill” work to try, practice again and again on various claims and pieces of evidence, so when students go to writing, their analytical muscles are a bit more developed and can play the “game” with more skill.

Use the TCRWP student checklists with on demand writing. The new checklists with pictures and kid-friendly language are powerful tools that can direct students toward self assessment. That’s a win win. They see it. They set goals for the next step. You can find them in the new Writing Pathways book.

But, I have shied away from using them with students’ first piece, their pre- (before any instruction) on demand work. Why? I didn’t want them defeated before we even start the unit. Cornelius offered a simple (why-didn’t-I-think-of-that) solution. Use the grade level checklist that matches the work the student is “starting to” be successful in. White out the grade level and bam! The checklists look so similar it won’t be obvious one 5th grader is looking at the 3rd grade checklist while another is working on the 5th grade one. We do this accommodating in reading with just right texts. With a little white out, here is the tool for just right writing work.

Writing matters because it gives us tools to handle struggle. We all have experiences. We all have been and get broken. Writing gives students possibilities and power. Writing gives students tools to handle the struggle. Giving students that power, to work through their struggle and rise, matters well beyond any common core expectations.

At the end of the day, educators were begging for more. Every minute on Saturday was valuable. Side conversations did not exist. No one missed a minute of this powerful PD instruction. I left with renewed energy and purpose for the writing work I’m imagining my students will move towards.

 

 

 

 

Listening Part One: “Say More About That”

I was looking through the bazillions of emails this morning, after filling up on wise words from blog posts and tweets, and I noticed this quote of the day at the top of my Gmail:

It is not the voice that commands the story; it is the ear.  —  Italo Calvino

That, I thought is it in a nutshell. Over the past several years I have been coming around to this notion of listening to the world around me.  I thought I knew what that meant. But you see, I’m a talker by nature. I think through my talk. That should have been a clue for me as a teacher, but I was too busy talking.

Only by listening can we communicate; only by listening can we teach.

As a teacher, my listening is often done through inquiry. I approach a student, ask, then listen. Sounds simple, but really not so, in at least three ways — one, the nature of my question(s); two, how I hear the response; and three, my response to the student’s response.

The nature of my questions has evolved dramatically thanks to writers like Vicki Vinton, Dorothy Barnhouse and now Dan Feigelson’s new book Reading Projects Reimagined. Rather than come prepared with a list geared to one skill or another, I come with a lean list. Questions that don’t have an agenda. In fact as I write this I realize they should be viewed as requests rather that questions.

• What are you thinking/noticing
• Say more about that
• Why
• How did you figure that out

I use these on an as needed basis; some more frequently than others. They work for almost anything, any book, subject, behavior, conversation. You name it. Try it on for size.  I’ve found the one I use most frequently  is “say more about that.”

The “say more about that” does something magical. First and foremost, it honors.

• It says — what the student just said has value.
• It says — the teacher is trying to learn from student.
• It says — the teacher is listening.

Second, it allows students to develop their thinking beyond their initial thought. Thinking takes time, and by allowing students that space you’re giving them room to really process. I want my students to go on a journey of thought. “Say more about that” allows for the journey; for their thoughts to develop through conversation with a patient listener.  Using “say more” in conferences gives students a sense that their thinking matters and a way to develop their thoughts. It could be seen as a first step to metacognition and personal agency.

If that was all “say more about that” did it would be huge. Well worth your teaching time. But there is so much more. It gives teachers a window into where students really are in their thinking. It gives teachers a huge leg up on what and (more importantly) how students are processing material, as well as next steps for the teacher. (More on that in another post.)

Students are thinking. Our job as teachers is to get them to do more of that work and help them along the way. If we as teachers jump too quickly to our (often very visible) agendas and teaching points, without giving students space to say more about their thinking, we are not really listening. In so doing, we may inadvertently miss the mark completely, wasting our teaching time and more importantly our student’s learning time.

Slice of Life Day 4: Intertwining Thoughts of Read Alouds Past, Present and Future

Here is my Slice for Tuesday, Day 4 of the Slice of Life Daily Challenge. Check out Two Writing Teachers for more slicing.

Intertwined. That was one of our vocabulary words for the week. I wanted students to weave together ideas and think about how the books we have read so far are intertwined. 

We started by looking at the struggles the characters faced: Ivan in the One and Only Ivan, Melody in Out of My Mind and August in Wonder. Did they connect? Were their struggles related? Did the messages in these books intertwine?

I ask….Before we leave Ivan, let’s think back to
Wonder and Out of My Mind.
How might some of the ideas in those books 
intertwine with Ivan?

We jot. We think….

Student voices…

They all don’t have friends.

Yes they do! They all have friends.

Well not a lot.

Yeah, just a few.

Why do you think that is?.

Thinking….

They really don’t fit in.

They’re all are different.

That’s what I mean.

Can you give examples? 

Thinking…Hands pop.

Melody can’t talk and August has a face
that scares people.

Pause…

What about Ivan?

Thinking…

Yeah… he doesn’t totally fit in at the end
because he wasn’t socialized with other gorillas.
He was raised as a human with diapers.

He isn’t really comfortable
with the other gorillas.
Remember when Kinyani chased him.

Oh yeah. He doesn’t fit either.

What other struggles intertwine?

Hands.

Ooo! Ooo! 

They all want to protect but they can’t.

Ahhh! That was mine!

Ivan wants to protect Ruby

Melody wants to protect Penny!

Yeah she couldn’t speak to warn her mom!

August?

Thinking…

Jack? in the forest….Hmmm. Maybe.

They all lost someone.

Ivan his family, Melody her fish. August..Daisy..

The thinking and connecting of ideas continues. The connections they make surprise me. Some I anticipated but others not at all.  Tomorrow we move on to thinking about each character’s environment. Do their worlds compare?

The passion for these read alouds is keen. Many carry Wonder in their bags. Reading it on occasion. Independent research has been done on Ivan. Melody has spurred interest in our Special Education students next door.

They have been begging for the new read aloud. I’ve been holding off on the next text reading about the real Ivan.

Today we started A Long Walk to Water. I debated about this one (on Twitter with @erinvarley and @azajacks). I worried the subject, the place, the shifts in narration and time would be too challenging. But I decide to risk it.

The start is tough for some. It doesn’t sweep them off their feet. They have left the high of the last read aloud and they want to start at that same place. It’s ok, I tell myself. The struggle at the beginning of books happens. The work they do to figure it out is necessary. This is what readers need to do in the beginning of books. The wondering, the delaying of understanding, the trust we must have in the author. We trust she will let us know. We must linger in the possibilities of wonder. Students have been trained by the wonderful thinking of authors Vicki Vinton and Dorothy Barnhouse’s What to Readers Really Do? to wonder and know. They have lots of wonders right now.

After school one student comes up to me and says, I don’t really like this read aloud as much as the others.

I tell her to be patient. It can be slow in the beginning.

Ok she says I trust you, Mrs. Harmatz.

Hope Linda Sue Park and I don’t let her down. Maintaining the magic of read aloud can be a heavy burden to bear..

Learning is Like a Puzzle

“Learning is like a puzzle you just have to figure it out.”

That was the last sentence of my student’s 5th grade culmination speech.  Her thinking is brilliant but she wasn’t the academic star. No, quite the opposite. She is a student with significant learning disabilities.

Alyssa had struggled all of her school years and entered my classroom apologetic about her failure to succeed. She felt she was pretty dumb and wrote how it hurt
so much to watch the other kids pass her, while she struggled with lower level books and spelling. Every word was a struggle — getting her thoughts out on the page, reading the page —  was so hard for her. In spite of that struggle, or maybe because of it, Alyssa was able to piece together ideas that other more proficient students were blind to. Decoding was difficult but she was brilliant at synthesis. In read aloud she was the star — all of the physical work of reading was done and she was free to think and piece the puzzle together.

More PD, Please…

Alyssa and the many students like her are the reason we teach. The reason we go to professional development on our own time and dime. In fact we are desperately looking for these opportunities.

This past week, I had the privilege to be with 60 educators from my district who had the drive to learn. They all came looking for something to help them teach students like Alyssa to read closely. We sat and learned about Know and Wonder thinking  based on What Readers Really Do. We worked with some of the Sign Posts from Kylene Beers and Robert Probst’s Notice and Note. We read aloud.  We charted.  We read slowly, carefully.  We talked. We wondered. We planned book groups to have with colleagues. At the end we hung around wanting more.

Strength in Weakness and the Beauty of Partnership

Teachers’ conversations were really thought provoking and inspirational. One
teacher confessed to being just like Alyssa. She said she still has to read slowly and re read to understand. This confession brought out something from her colleague and book club partner: while the “struggling” partner may be slower, the depth of her understanding was often greater and thereby enriched the thinking of the partner who read with greater ease.  In fact with the call to read closely, perhaps those with the practice of reading slowly will be doing more of the leading. Ah, the beauty of a partnership that finds strength in weakness.  Win, win. Made me think about reading partnerships in my classroom. Would it be possible
to pair students like these two teachers? Could be a wonderful thing.

Seeing each other for what we bring to our community, weaknesses and all give
us strength. I saw that in our community of teachers looking to piece the puzzle together, willingly in fact joyfully. All of these educators had  Carol Dweck‘s growth mindset: no one with the answer, no excuses, no one had to be the star. We were in it to figure it out. We have to for all of the Alyssas in our rooms.

Learning and Growth — The Struggle is the Same

As I look at my students and create  learning groups and partnerships, I will remember those conversations with my colleagues.  We all are like Alyssa struggling to figure out the puzzle. Piece by piece, little by little we will get there.

Things I plan to keep uppermost in my mind this year:

1. Growth includes failure — don’t fear it, figure it out

2. Celebrate success — acknowledge what it took to get there

3. Look for  brilliance — hold it out for all to admire

4. Know that some things take time — foster patience