Welcome all...sorry for the late start :)
ASSIGNMENT ONE: Post your Introduction to the course Blog.
Introduction Post- Tell us about yourself. Where do you teach? What grade do you teach? How long have you been teaching? How many students are there in your class? Do you have instructional support? What does your current literacy program look like? (If you aren’t currently teaching let us know.) What is your knowledge/training in the area of literacy (be specific about your experiences teaching writing?) Does your district provide training in literacy –especially writing? If so, what exactly have they offered? Has your district been bogged down with getting students to perform well on state writing assessments – prompts? How do you feel about teaching? Are you happy at work? Are you stressed and tired? Also, let us know a little about you outside of the classroom: Interests/ Hobbies/Family Life? What do you hope to get out of this course? Post your reflection to the blog.
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Michelle Dawkins
ReplyDeleteJune 12, 2009
Introduction
For the past 14 years I have had the privilege of teaching at Corbett Grade School in Corbett, Oregon. I have taught in a straight second for a few years, followed by teaching in a 2/3 multi-age classroom for a few more. For the past six years I have taught in a 3/4 multi-age classroom. Next school year I will be teaching in a 4/5/6 classroom. My class list currently has 27 names on it (9 kids in each grade level). I am passionate about teaching and always enjoy spending my day with kids. While I am a bit concerned about the change to teaching three grade levels (two of which I have never taught), I am also excited about the possibilities.
My current literacy program revolves around a lot of reading (independent, shared, book groups, and read-aloud time) and I also include at least 45 minutes of Writer’s Workshop time each day. I am currently taking Read Oregon classes to obtain my reading endorsement and I just took the Praxis test on Saturday...it was very difficult. My teaching partners and I are constantly trying to find ways to improve our writing instruction. This class seemed like a good fit for the change I am making in my teaching assignment. I also always enjoy reading any book that Regie Routman has written.
I have been married for 26 years to my husband Chris. We have two amazing kids - okay young adults. Our son, Joe has two terms left at OSU and my daughter, Stephanie, just graduated from University of Tennessee with her MBA and an MS in Sports Management. Both of my children grew up in Corbett and loved the small school atmosphere. When I am not teaching I love going for walks, snow skiing with my family, spending time with my nieces, attending sporting events, and traveling to see my daughter in Knoxville, TN.
Hi Michelle and welcome! What interesting teaching experiences you seem to have had. Is Corbett Grade School a public school in Oregon, or is it private? I've not heard of a school having so many split level classes...but that's what workshop and differentiating is all about anyway isn't it? Did you need to take the Praxis for your reading certificate?...good luck on that :) This is the first time we've run this course, but in our others we always have some great dialogue and there's always something new that you learn from someone else. You'll need to have some patience though...sometimes it takes a while for everyone to sign up and start blogging :)
ReplyDeleteJackie and Mary,
ReplyDeleteCorbett Grade School is a small public school just east of Troutdale and Gresham. We have been a multi-age school for over eight years. We believe that multi-age is best practice in educating children. Next year we will really being extending our multi-age philosophy to K-3, 1-3, and 3-6. We are also welcoming a charter school within our own building. We currently have many out of district students attending Corbett. Gresham/Barlow, Reynolds, and Sandy have decided that they no longer wish to release their students to attend in Corbett. Our superintendent put together a charter school so that out of district students no longer need the permission of their home district.
I am working on my reading endorsement (along with a couple of my fellow teachers). We just thought taking classes with a purpose would be beneficial to all of us.
I am patiently waiting for my book to arrive so that I can begin blogging!
Take care,
Michelle
Greetings! Happy Summer! My name is Meghan DeNiro, and I have been teaching 1st grade at James John Elementary School in Portland Public Schools for 4 years. James John is a Title I school, with a student population that is 40% ELL. I just finished the school year with an incredibly small class—-16 children. Half of my students were native Spanish speakers. I earned my ELL Endorsement last year, and I am very interested in continuing to learn how to meet the needs of my second-language learners as a classroom teacher.
ReplyDeleteLike Michelle, I will also use the word “privilege” to describe my feelings about being able to work at James John School. The staff is extremely committed to using best practices when teaching readers and writers how to read and write. We all have had the opportunity to go to Denver to train with the Mosaic of Thought educators at the PEBC, so comprehension strategies are the framework through which I am learning to teach reading. Reading comprehension strategies are also the framework around which collegial discussions occur in our building.
I strongly believe that children learn to read and write by reading and writing. So, my students spend a lot of time every day independently reading, participating in guided reading groups, partner reading, shared reading, shared writing, and 45-60 minutes of daily writing workshop. We use a “push-in” model for our literacy block, so I have had the good fortune for the last 4 years, to have a trained Reading Recovery teacher pushing into my room every day for 90 minutes. We collaborate on many things: guided reading groups, teaching word work, read alouds, creating class books, assessments, and we meet each week to discuss our students and their progress. For Writing Workshop, I have been using the Lucy Calkins curriculum and the Kid Writing curriculum.
I signed up for this class because I love teaching the Writing Workshop, but I know I have so much more to learn on how to make it more efficient and engaging for my students. I want my students to build more stamina—I recently visited a K/1 classroom at a different school where the students wrote independently for 45 minutes. I’m not there yet in my own classroom, but it was truly invigorating to see what children are capable of!
My position at James John School was cut, due to budget constraints and declining enrollment, so sadly, I have had to say goodbye to my community there. Luckily, I have a job lined up for the fall in a building with a great reputation! I am very excited. I will be teaching a K/1 blend at Woodmere Elementary School in southeast Portland. The school is similar to the school I am leaving, in that it is a Title I school, with a 40% ELL population. The staff all went through professional development in the last 10 years with New Zealand educator Leanna Traills, and her Trails to Literacy teachings. I am nervous about teaching a blended classroom, especially with kindergartners, but I know I will learn a lot from my new colleagues.
As for life beyond teaching, I am 32 years old, and I have lived in Portland for 11 years. I play on a women’s ultimate frisbee team and a co-ed basketball team, I surf the Oregon coast every summer, I ride my bike a lot, I love going to yoga classes, and I love drinking coffee! I grew up in southern California, went to college in Indiana, and came to Portland in 1998 with the AmeriCorps program. I have one sister, Maura, who is in graduate school for counseling, and my partner, Benny, is a social worker from Boston. We met playing basketball. Life is good!
Meghan,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to class! You are going to love teaching in a multi-age classroom and it sounds like your new school will be very supportive in all that you do. How fortunate you were to find another job. We had several student teachers in our school this year and the job market seemed very bleak for them.
It sounds like we have many things in common. Mosaic of Thought was a favorite book of mine. How exciting that you were able to go and visit with the authors! I also use Lucy Calkins in my own classroom.
You sound very busy outside of teaching. Have you only surfed in Oregon? My guess is that Oregon surfing is a bit chilly!
I look forward to blogging with you!
Michelle
Hi there! I am a bit late starting this which is embarassing for me. I've never blogged before so hopefully I can get this all to work! My name is Annarose Pandey and I teach at Westview High School which is in Beaverton, Oregon. It is a huge school of about 2,600 students. For the most part I am a social studies teacher though I also have one class of "academic coaching" which is more of an intervention class for at-risk but incredibly bright students.
ReplyDeleteMy academic classes this last year were global studies (9th graders) which I team taught with a language arts teacher, Introduction to Psychology and I am also VERY lucky to be teaching social anthropology. In my previous life I was an anthropologist and the school has been very supportive of me by allowing me to teach this incredibly fun course.
Most of my classes are at about 40 students except for my 9th graders which we keep to about 30. This is more than enough considering that most of the time my teaching partner, Mary, and I combine classes and have about 60 freshman for 3 hours at a time!
We do have some instructional support in theory though not as much in practice. We have a special ed. instructional assistant although that has not worked very well for her students for the last few years (long story there). We used to have literacy coaches in the building but they have recently been brought back into the classroom because of budget cuts. Now we are encouraged to promote and facilitate literacy in the classroom but do this largely on our own. There are occasional trainings such as an "Empower" workshop that is possibly being offered this summer but honestly I do not know how much of that is focused on literacy.
(oops needed a second post...too much rambling)
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult for me to speak to the situation in the whole district because I have worked at Westview for only 3 years but I know that our school has done relatively well on writing assessments. We do have an increasingly diverse student population which to me is a huge asset but it also means that our writing scores are not as high as the district would like for them to be.
I also know that as a social studies teacher, I have many colleagues in the department who are critical of me for bringing such an emphasis on writing into my classroom. I ask students to write everyday. I do use some peer review but also make sure to read everything that students write. I am wiped out by this because I feel that if I ask a student to write and share their thoughts, I need to honor this with comments and reflection of my own. On those days when I can barely write another set of comments, I remember that students do come up to me and thank me for the time it takes to do this work. That makes all the difference, doesn't it?
I'd say that usually I am happy at work although this was a tough year with the impending layoffs. I am tired now that it is break but who isn't? It is the nature of the work. I get frustrated and tired but then I get an email from a graduated student and I am reminded that this job is of enormous importance.
Outside of the classroom I think that what defines me most is the menagerie with which I live. My husband and I live in the city of Portland but have chickens, dogs, cats and ducks. I joke that someday I will bring home a goat. Who knows, it could happen. I love living in Portland but I do also love to travel. I lived in Morocco for a number of years and miss all the traveling that was part of my previous life. Still, this is the place where I am happiest and I am thankful for that (and for a husband who puts up with all my critters around the house!)
I hope to get out of this course a better set of insights, strategies and techniques for making writing and literacy even more integral to my classroom. Writing alone isn't enough. I want the writing to be meaningful and relevant to the students because that is the only way to encourage long-term literacy I believe. I am hoping to learn from others who have worked in large classrooms to offer me some of their wisdom so that I can continue to enjoy this job and not be overwhelmed by it..and still feel like I am doing everything that I can for my students.
Welcome to both Meghan and Annarose (don't worry about starting late, I'm sure there are many who still will be signing up...that's the bonus of a distance learning course :)). It's so wonderful to hear about people who are so excited to be teaching! Meghan, it sounds like you had some amazing experiences at James John School, and it's unfortunate that they'll be losing you...but I'm sure that you'll bring all of your great teaching expertise to your new school, which also sounds like it will be an amazing professional experience for you. Hopefully Michelle will have some great tips for teaching in a multi-age classroom. Great reading instruction is all about meeting the individuals needs...it doesn't really doesn't matter what the age of the student is. Annarose, it's will be great to have someone who teaches both at the upper level as well as in a content area. Kudos to you for teaching the way you know is best for students!!! ALL teachers need to be teaching reading and writing with their students. I wish we had more high school teachers in our district shared your belief! I'm hoping that this course helps you manage this important job more effectively, so that you don't get burnt out from your important work with students!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across the blog today and love the topic of writing. I have enjoyed reading your comments. http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletehttp://writingeverydayworks.wordpress.com/
I try to post on my sites frequently about writing. debrennersmith@comcast.net
Hi Deb..thanks for the kind words :) I'll check out your blog..what area are you from?
ReplyDeleteHello, I’m Katherine and I teach in Hood River, Oregon, in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. I have been teaching for 4 years with most of those years being in 3rd grade. I will be moving to 5th grade starting this next school year. Most of my class sizes have ranged from 25-28 students with an ELL population of about 35%; with Spanish being the native language of all these children. At our school we have a pull-out model for our literacy block. This literacy time has about a 90% focus on reading and a 10% focus on writing. Much of our school’s focus has been on reading fluency, using DIBELS as our main assessment tool. A common refrain amongst peers is “when do I have time to teach writing?” with a squeeze it in where you can approach. We don’t have any literacy coaches on staff at our school. When I came to the district we had just adopted a new writing curriculum, Step Up to Writing. This curriculum teaches the mechanics of writing fairly well but leaves a lot to be desired in the joyful creative writing department. My training in writing has been minimal, mostly borrowing from other teachers and searching things out on my own. To be perfectly honest, I’m tired of the trial and error approach to teaching writing. I’m hoping this course will provide me with a scope and sequence I can use to make 5th grade writing effective and fun for my students and myself.
ReplyDeleteOn a more upbeat note, I love living in the Gorge! It provides great opportunities for my 12 year old daughter and me to do lots of outdoor things through out the year.
Looking forward to talking with everyone. K
Hi Katherine and welcome! I feel your pain! I just completed my first year in a new district that also does not make time for writing. And the even crazier thing is that they just used large amounts of our stimulus money to purchase a writing workshop program (yes packaged), but very decent), called Being a Writer. Now can you imagine the frustration our teachers are feeling knowing that they don't have the time in their schedules to even pilot this program. It's definitely going to be an issue that gets discussed during our curriculum writing this summer! In the school that I'm in now, they have a 90 minute reading block. In my old school and district, we had an hour for reading workshop and an hour for writing workshop. Hopefully, we can both make some changes :)
ReplyDeleteI am from Michigan, but I travel all over the United States (willing to go abroad) as a reading and writing consultant. I enjoy the opportunity to work with many fabulous teachers everywhere. http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletehttp://writingeverydayworks.wordpress.com/
debrennersmith@comcast.net
Hi there! My name is Kelley and I am sorry to say I haven't gotten on here yet to do my post. =) I have taught 2nd grade for the past two years at Happy Valley and next year will teach 2nd grade again at a brand new school that is opening up here in the North Clackamas SD. Our school had about 1,000 students (k-6) and we are now splitting our school (students and staff) into two schools. I had 24 students last year and I have been blessed to be in an area with lots of parent involvement.
ReplyDeleteWe have instructional assistants, however, they don't neccesarily help us in our own classrooms, but rather help in implementing RTI and various other aspects to keep our large school running. :) We also have a literacy coach, which in the coming school year will be at both schools part time. Our litarcy program is McGraw-Hill's Treasures. I have chosen along with most of our 1-2 teachers to use Daily 5 along with this. I love how Daily 5 has worked. I am trying to finish reading Debbie Miller's book 'Reading with Meaning', which I heard was the primary version of Mosaic of Thought. I feel that I need to focus more on small groups and the comprehension piece.
Our writing curriculum is Lucy Calkins as someone else had previously mentioned. We have had only one training day on this. I really enjoy her program and know she has noted Regie Routman being someone who helped shape her. I would love to know how to keep students excited about writing through my writer's workshop as well as developing conventions. Or does that piece come with time? I would also love to know how best to use our writer's workshop time to help keep that excitement. I'm excited to read Regie Routman's book and to hear everyone else's ideas on here. My mentor teacher gave me two Routman books, which he had based his teaching philosophy on: Transistions and Invitations.
I am still very eager about teaching and trying to find what else I can do to better myself. I have been married for 3 and a half years. No kids yet, just one Golden Retriever. We enjoy going on walks, hikes, getting together with friends and family, and volunteering in our church. I am hoping to learn more about becoming a better writing teacher and how best to implement my lessons as well as conferences to keep students learning, yet passionate.
Welcome Kelley! No worries, there are still many who have yet to begin blogging! I think many of your questions will be answered as we move through the course and Regie's text. I love Debbie Miller's book, but as a more practical (use everything in it kind of text), I'd buy The Sisters' new book, The CAFE book!!!
ReplyDeleteHi All!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Joelle Beget, and I work in Albany Oregon at Albany Christian School. In the fall I will be starting my 6th year of teaching! It is amazing how quickly the time goes. I have taught second grade for three years, and this will be my third year teaching third grade.
Last year I had 25 students in my classroom, and for our smaller school that was pretty good size. This fall I think I have 19 or 20 at this time, but it might change. I absolutely love teaching--I have an incredible staff who is awesome to work with. At my school there is a lot of freedom for teachers to set up whatever type of framework they like for reading and writing. I appreciate that, because I can learn from these classes and put to good use, whichever way I feel is most effective, the things I am learning. On the flip side, there is little no instructional support for reading/writing, besides possibly an aide a few hours a week at most. I have never done a writing workshop in my classroom, so I am excited to see how I can work it into my reading workshop, which as undergone some major transitions.
Outside of work, I try to lead a relatively quiet life. My husband and I will be celebrating our four year anniversary in August, and we love our critters too. We have a dog, 2 cats, 2 guinea pigs (class pets--home for the summer), and a tortoise. We enjoy watching football, attending U of O games in the Fall, doing athletic activities and exercise, riding horses and reading. We don't have any kids yet, but that is on the horizon we think. We are involved in our church, and I volunteer at a pregnancy resource center which I love!
I am really looking forward to learning how to run an effective writing workshop in my classroom. I look forward to getting to know you all better and growing as an educator from your insights!
Welcome Joelle! We had the pleasure of working together in a class last semester. You are very lucky to have the freedom to make decisions on what you believe to be "best practices" in your classroom. I was curious as to whether you need to take the state tests in your private school?
ReplyDeleteBecause we are a private school, we do Stanford Achievement Tests, which are similar to what the public schools do, but different I think in some ways as well. We definitely don't have specific "benchmark" years In fact, the tests are relatively optional. One family one year went to Disneyland that week because they knew their child was above average and they didn't care that she be tested. So, they are really more of a gauge for teachers to learn from and a tool that parents can use to see where they child falls in national averages.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone! Sorry about my late start. I just signed up for this course, so I’m a bit behind. I will work hard to catch up though! My name is Sarah Paul and I teach at first grade at St. Anthony School. It is a private, Catholic school. I have been teaching for 6 years. This fall will be my fourth year teaching first grade. I think I will have a smaller class in the fall (around 20), but I will not have a teaching assistant. We have wonderful support from parents, so I hope to get a volunteer in each day during my literacy block.
ReplyDeleteI really love teaching and I know that this is what I am meant to do. I love learning and I love the feeling I get when I have reached a student. I just had a baby in March, so I am looking to find more balance with home life and teaching. I used to work way too many hours, and now my priorities have changed. I still want to give 100% and be an effective teacher, but I also want to give my family the attention they deserve. I took the Essentials of Reading course, which I loved. I hope to get as much out of this class as I did that class. I don’t have a lot of hobbies. I have to admit that the past 6 years have been centered around teaching. However, I am happily married and my husband is good at pulling me away from teaching and forcing me to give myself some “me time”. I spend most of my nonteaching time with my husband, son, family and friends. I am learning about gardening as well! I love to go on hikes and to read. Mostly though, I just love spending time with people I love.
Our school does not have an official writing curriculum in place, so it is up to the teachers to create a good writing program on their own. There is discussion about using the 6 traits of writing model school-wide, which I already try to use in my classroom. I do short writing minilessons a few times a week. I do a morning message everyday, where I incorporate writing instruction. I also try to do at least one shared writing lesson per week. At the beginning of the year, I do more interactive writing lessons. Students get several opportunities to write through weekend news, centers, journals, and during science, social studies, or religion. During centers (which is independent time), students practice writing to prompts, writing letters, and imaginative stories. At the beginning of the year, we focus mostly on writing sentences. I feel like I do not have a “writing program” in place. Like someone else mentioned earlier, I feel like I often stick writing lessons where they fit throughout the day. I would like to develop a writing workshop for my classroom. I hope this class gives me the direction I need to set up a great writing program and give my students good direction in writing.
I did not feel prepared to teach reading when I graduated 6 years ago. I was lucky enough to get a job teaching in North Carolina at a fabulous school. The reading specialist took me under her wing and taught me so much. I spent almost every prep period observing her teach so that I could learn more. I went to a few workshops as well. After that, I became very interested and have mostly learned by reading books. I have not had any additional training in writing though. I have so much more to learn! One of the down sides to working at a private, catholic school is that there is little to no training offered. For the most part, we are on our own to find classes. Teachers try to help each other out in any way that we can. We are a great team because of this!
I hope to learn more about how to effectively teach writing. I want to gain more confidence to know that I am doing the right thing for my students as I teach them writing skills. I want to learn how to be more organized with teaching writing. Most of all, I want to learn the best practices in writing instruction. Finally, I would like to learn more about assessing student writing.
Hi Sara and welcome! No worries about the late start, there are at least 7 who have not yet started either. It sounds like you will have your hands full with teaching and a little one at home. You're right it's all about the balance, and cutting out the "crap" (Regie's really good explaining more about that), it can be a lot easier to find that balance! I myself had to learn to prioritize and figure out how to be more effective once I had my own children and had to go from spending hours and hours at school (like you because I enjoyed it) to being needed at home. Anyway, you'll figure it out - again - welcome!
ReplyDeleteHello I’m Tamara Mann and I currently am a special education teacher in a resource room at View Acres Elementary in the North Clackamas School District. This will be my fifth year as a resource room teacher for K- 6th grade prior to that I taught in a self contained behavior classroom 1st-3rd grade. Our primary district focus has been on reading the past few years. Last year we adopted Lucy Calkins with the emphasis beginning on writing and this will continue next year. Our district overall has scored low on the state benchmark assessment in writing in 4th grade and at my particular school only 30% met.
ReplyDeleteReading wise my instruction is a strong. I use research based materials such as Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading. Some of my students graduate from special education each year and of 25 students that I have for reading and writing service time most perform better in reading. This past two years, I have been using the direct instruction Reasoning and Writing Program where I have seen success and improvement with my students. I would like to incorporate some writing work shop time in addition to the program.
At the beginning of this past school year I decided that I wanted to apply for general education at the primary level. Although, I for the most part enjoy my present position I have my license in both and really miss the classroom environment. Then the budget crises happened so I will be staying in my present position. My reasoning for taking this class is that I wanted something I could use in either my special education setting or hopefully in the future a general education setting.
When I’m not working, I love doing things outdoors like hiking, camping and running. I also am a big reader of fiction.
Hi Tamara and welcome! I think it's a great goal to consider incorporating writing workshop in with your direct instruction program. I think Regie's text will give you lots of tools and strategies to help you find success!
ReplyDeleteHI,
ReplyDeleteI am Megan Clifford-Maitland. I am a 6th grade LA/SS teacher at Parkrose Middle School in NE Portland. I have been teaching 6th grade at Parkrose for 10 years. Parkrose is a wonderful district...it is small, 4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school. We are unique in that even though we are so small we are set in a very urban and diverse neighborhood.
For the last 5 years I have been job-sharing and I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to be able to spend some time at home with my two young children while still being able to teach.
While I have been job sharing I have been focusing more on teaching Social Studies while my partner has been focusing more on Language Arts...this has worked out well since we do not have any common planning time. But I have really truly believe that students need to be writing daily and that I need to come up with some more interesting and exciting ways to integrate writing daily into the social studies curriculum.
I also want kids to learn to love writing...not just write because they have to. I spend a lot of time on reading and talking about learning to love to read and giving students lots of time to read but I have not done that with writing when really they go hand in hand.
I am looking forward to getting into the 'meat' of this course and really examining what I have been doing and re-vamping it for next year. It is great that this is an on-line course and that I don't have to arrange for day care for an entire week!!!!
Beside teaching I love to spend time with my two children ages 5 and 2!!! We love going to the park, swimming, zoo, OMSI etc.. I love reading, biking, running, down hill and water skiing!!!
Thanks and I can't wait to get started!!!
Megan Clifford Maitland
I teach 4th grade in the Hillsboro School District. I opened a new school this last fall and can't wait to get back there for year number 2! This will be my 7th year teaching. Last year I had 25 students in my class.
ReplyDeleteOur building has an instructional coach. We have a 90-minute literacy block with a 30 minute intervention/enrichment time. Outside of that we have 60 minutes devoted to writing instruction.
I have attended many trainings in writing and literacy instruction. When I taught in Salem I was the literacy leader for our building. I enjoyed being a literacy leader and became a stronger teacher through the district meetings and trainings that I went to. However, I still struggle teaching writing. I think it is a very difficult subject to teach since it is so abstract. But that also makes it so fun to teach, too!
As a building we are doing the Regie Routman in Residence program. It has been wonderful to come together as a staff to discuss writing across the grade levels. We will finish the program this year since we meet once a month.
As a fourth grade teacher I feel bogged down with getting students to pass the state writing test. Writing has always been one of my favorite subjects to teach. I believe that every student can write and every writer has something different to say or a different experience or perspective to share. This year was my first year teaching 4th grade and my first year really stressing about getting the kids ready for the state test. I felt I needed to change the way I taught to get them all prepared. What I realized at the end of the year is that need to keep my passion and enthusiasm. This year will be different. I hope to be less prescribed in my teaching and more open to what the students need. I also plan to do more modeling of my own writing (from beginning to end) in front of the class when writing to prompts. Last year I made it writing and the writing test a big, huge, scary deal since I was nervous about them passing. I think what I need this year is to relax and enjoy it so that they can relax and enjoy writing, too!
I absolutely love teaching. I believe it is what I was meant to do. I am very happy at work and enjoy the staff, families, students and principal that I work with. It has been fun and exciting building a school community from scratch. Of course I’m sometimes stressed and tired, but aren’t we all at times? The good, fun, energetic times definitely outweigh the stresses.
Outside of the classroom I am married with no kids (yet – hopefully soon the stars will align and it will finally be the “right” time). We will celebrate our 8th anniversary next week. We love traveling and being active. We are both certified scuba divers and enjoy vacationing in warm places with good water. We golf, ski, play tennis, camp and hike together. I enjoy cooking and baking and love trying new recipes. Tonight we made tamales with tomatillo salsa for the first time. It was fun and they taste great! I speak Spanish and French (but sadly I don’t get to practice my French very much).
In this class, I hope to re-energize my teaching of writing. I would like to start focusing on teaching the joy of writing again instead of teaching to prompts.
Hello! Sorry for the late start on this class! I have been out of town.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Kim Fast. I teach for the Gresham-Barlow School District. Next year, I will be teaching a 2/3 blend. I have been teaching for 8 years. I will have 27-30 students in my class next year. I am not expecting any insgtructional support in my class.
Currently, I am framing my literacy instruction using Daily 5 format. I began this format last year and it worked well for me. Each student goes through each of these stations: read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, meet with Mrs. Fast, and word work. In addition to that, I also have a Writer's Workshop time that is separate.
I have attended several workshops focusing on literacy but I am always open to learning and trying new things. Last term, I took Reading Essentials from Mary and Jackie and I loved it. That encouraged me to take this class as well.
Yes, my district has provided opportunities for literacy training. I am able to attend conferences (for credit) or take classes (for credit) using my tuition moneies the district allots. With budget cuts, those funds are getting more difficult to come by. I have been trained in First Steps by my district and then the other trainings I've done have been separate conferences I've attended.
As with every district, students' performance is important but I don't think that the focus has been on writing as much as I would like it to be.
I love teaching. I love connecting with students on a real level. I enjoy working with my colleagues.
I am happy at work also I do get tired. As with most teachers, I put in extra hours at school and at home just to make sure that I finish what I need to in order to do the best that I can for my students.
I have been married for 15 years to my wonderful husband! We have 3 children ages 13, 10, and 8. They keep us VERY busy as we can all relate to. I enjoy spending time with my family. We like to hike, bike, see new places, go for walks, and camp. I also enjoy gardening and cooking.
I am very involved in my church as well.
I am hoping to be more reflective and purposeful in my writing instruction.
Kim Fast
I have been teaching since 1986 evolving into a teacher-librarian in 2006 (my favorite educator job, but I’ve enjoyed them all - middle school math, elementary computer education). I think I'm finally becoming a better teacher. I really enjoy my colleagues, community and students. I’ve been teaching at Maplewood Elementary School(a K-5 grade school) in Portland, Oregon since 2000 working collaboratively with my talented colleagues on library/information skills and computer skills (all tied to curriculum objectives). While the district provides literacy training (mostly related to our new reading adoption) there is not much more. I really enjoyed the Reading Essential class and having already read half of the Writing Essentials book know that I will gain a lot from this class too.
ReplyDeleteI have two school-age children (so much fun), one dog and two chickens.
Elin Kordahl
Welcome to Megan, Krista, Kim, and Elin!
ReplyDeleteHello! I am Sarah Luvaas and I teach third grade at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in Oregon City. I just finished my fifth year and my class sizes have ranged from twenty-five to thirty-four students. Next year I will be near the higher end again. There is a literacy coach in our building and each teacher gets anywhere from one to two hours of Instructional Assistant time.
ReplyDeleteI have used Daily 5 in my classroom for the last two years and love it! The Cafe Menu strategies and pieces of Step Up to Writing are the instructional tools I use in my teaching. I have been to many Daily 5 workshops, read the book numerous times, and had four days of training with the Step Up to Writing curriculum. Last year our building did a book study on "To Understand" and next year we will be using the Lucy Calkins writing curriculum. As of now, no training is scheduled for writing.
Our district is feeling the pressure of the state writing assessment. Our building has additional issues we struggle with each year. One example is that our mobility rate is over 30% each year. This year there were only eleven of the thirty-four third graders I had three years ago that graduated sixth grade.
How do I feel about teaching? I love teaching! I could do without all of the political stuff, but I enjoy the challenge of teaching children. There are times when I am not happy with specific aspects of teaching, but overall I feel so lucky to be able to get paid for doing something I passionately love. One aspect of my personality is being a perfectionist. This does add a lot of stress to my life in September and October. During this time I am so tired that I can barely function at home, so I am trying to find a little more balance between home and school.
I was married last July on a beach in Maui. I love reading, watching movies, and spending time with family and friends. I have been working on our first house, which takes much more time than I ever thought! There is so much to owning a home, especially when I have to do it alone right now. My husband is on his second tour with the Oregon National Guard and will be in Iraq until May 2010.
I took this course because I have wanted to read this book for a while. Writing is one aspect I need to really continue to develop as a teacher so I can be better for my kids.
Hi class, my name is Lily Kisamov. I am a 5th year ELD teacher in the North Clackamas School District. My school has a relatively small ELL (now ELD) population. Out of about 500 students we have 45 ELD kids. I do K-6 pull out for ELD instruction and we mostly use McMillan/McGraw-Hill Treasure Chest reading program for ELD and Lucy Calkins for writing. My typical class size is 5-10. I always try to incorporate GLAD and SIOP strategies within the reading and writing curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI have a teaching certificate from California (CLAD) and am working on my masters degree at PSU. I have an ESL endorsement.
I came to the US at the age of 10 from the former Soviet Union. I know how it frustrating it is to learn English because of all the exceptions to the rules. I feel it is important to teach to teach the nuts and bolts of grammar directly and clearly (this may seem a little old fashioned, but students should know how to use their own language properly). This of course can be practiced and embedded in fun and creative activities.
I do feel that preparing the students to be successful in standardized writing is important because that is how they will get ahead in life. They will use those skills in college and on the job. The "standardized" writing is the easy part.
I am going to the Step Up to Writing workshop in August.
Hi! I just signed up for this class yesterday and figured I better get started right away! I teach a 3rd/4th grade blend at Bryant Elementary in Lake Oswego, Or. I love this age group and my school and often can't believe I actually get paid to do my job. This year will be my 3rd year teaching and I'm taking on a new role for myself as the Team Leader for the 3rd/4th grade. The school is fairly small with good class sizes- I've had about 22 the past two years. Generally, I have had great instructional support but I'm not sure what the support will look like next year with the budget cuts.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a set writing curriculum, though we just got a new reading curriculum last year. It has some writing components. However, I have been using ideas from a variety of resources available- Write Source, Craft Writing books, etc. I think I was doing a hybrid workshop model (some conferences, some choices, etc), but I would like to learn more ideas and be more consistent in my writing teaching this year. There has been a huge focus on the writing test. I feel like I have a good understanding of the six traits but I would like to learn more about how to teach them to students in an engaging, interesting way.
Outside of school, I love to play sports and hang out with friends, family and my dog. I play softball several times a week and often golf during the summers. Traveling is also something I love to do. Last spring break, I traveled to the British Virgin Islands to sail in a catamaran for a week- it was fabulous!
I'm looking forward to learning new strategies to implement in my writing lessons!
Sincerely,
Kelly Brown
Hi my name is Christina Green and I just started this course today! :)
ReplyDeleteI have taught for 4 years in the Centennial School District. I’m delighted that several of the bloggers will be teachers of blended classrooms because I will be teaching a ¾ blend this year and am fairly apprehensive. I have taught 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Class size for next year will be in the low 30’s due to budget cuts. We will not have push-in support (our Title I support will focus on K-2), but we do have pull-out for ELD 30-minutes a day. My school is around 70% free-lunch and 50% ELL.
I feel much more educated and confident in teaching reading versus writing. I have my reading endorsement and our school implements reading workshop around the thinking strategies. I was sent to the PEBC training in Denver, CO last year for 4 days. Reading is a passion of mine and I LOVE that my district doesn’t force us to teach from a scripted curriculum.
Writing always seems to slip to the way side. (Both in training and in my actual classroom). I have scored the state writing assessment for the MESD for the past 2 years, which has been better training than any of the materials I have at school (Ralph Fletcher, First Steps, RIGBY). I implement a writers workshop, but I don’t have an efficient way to organize the standards into a clear, coherent curriculum. I always feel like I’m piecing together interesting lessons and randomly hitting standards.
I love hanging out with kids all day and feel lucky to have such a cool job. Despite my love for learning, I somehow feel like no matter how much I do, I’m always a little behind or not meeting the needs of some student. Like KristaG, I am concerned about getting my 4th graders to pass the state writing test while not neglecting my 3rd grade writers. Honestly, I’m tired of switching grades because I feel like I keep recreating things and learning new curriculum. I don’t expect teaching to be “easy”, but I hope to someday feel more grounded and purposeful in what I do.
I have been married for two years and have two cats. I enjoy reading, cooking, gardening, scrapbooking, and going out with friends. I hope to feel reinvigorated before the school year starts in writing (my weakest area) and not so grumpy about switching grades again! :)
Welcome to Lily, Kelly and Christina! Sarah – Congratulations on marriage! You sure have large class sizes out there (although this does seem to vary depending on the district???)…teachers complain here when they have over 23! You are so lucky to live out where “The Sisters” are from. They come to the East coast about once/twice a year, but it’s still a 6hr ride b/c they usually go to ME! I especially love their new book! Lily – How great for your students that you can share the experience of having to learn a new language…and I agree that the English language grammar needs to be explicitly taught – this was actually very lacking in my own schooling! Kelly – how refreshing to hear from someone who loves their teaching job so much…and what an amazing experience to take off and go sailing for a week (I’m very jealous)! Christina – it is very interesting that so many people in this term are teaching split classrooms – I think it’s wonderful that you’ll be able to be supports for each other! I feel your pain, switching grades constantly is not fair…not just to you but to the students…just when you start to get good and feel comfortable, the rug gets pulled out from under you! During my first 5 years of teaching, I switched 3 times…uuugh!
ReplyDeleteFYI...I may be a little slower responding to the earlier weeks of the course for those of you who joined a little later. I like to keep up to date with the more current weeks...so just bear with me and be patient..I promise I will respond :)
Hello! I just signed up for the class last week and had ACL reconstructive surgery after I signed up. So here I am finally getting started. My name is Kelly and I teach in an interesting situation. Jewell School District is located in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. It is a public school funded by timber taxes and not the state government. So per pupil, we are very fortunate in what we can offer our students. Class size averages around 12 students and our budget for curriculum and supplies is generous. I am the sole fifth grade teacher there going into my fourth year teaching, second year at Jewell. I made a big jump from teaching second grade to fifth grade last year. I have surprisingly discovered that I love the older students and really enjoy teaching fifth grade.
ReplyDeleteOne big factor I think Jewell is struggling in is instructional support, especially in writing. We are a small district which has gone through some major administration and staff changes. This has led to unqualified people running and controlling the support our teachers receive. It has actually been very difficult this past year. On the positive, we have just switched over to a permanent principal who will hopefully bring some positive change to Jewell.
Last year was really the first year Jewell took an in depth look at writing and school wide performance. The result was poor. Since then a few of us, I included, have taken it upon ourselves to educate and share best practices in teaching and improve writing. Jewell last year implemented the 6 Traits of Writing and school wide writing prompts. I presented information during staff development on the 6 Traits of Writing. Since then, I have enrolled in four more writing classes to better educate myself on teaching writing.
I have always had enthusiasm when teaching writing. It has been my niche. With that passion, I try every year to engage and improve student’s writing. For the most part, it has worked and I have been very pleased with the results. I do still feel like I am taking bits and pieces from all over and trying to mix them all together to keep students engaged and improving. I hope to get more organized in order to create a stronger flow of writing in my classroom.
As you can tell from my earlier statement of my knee, I am active and love to play soccer. Unfortunately, that will not be happening for awhile. I also love nature and being outdoors camping or hiking. I am currently working on my own fiction novel that I have always wanted to write. With how busy I am though, not sure how I will ever get it done and published. I am originally from St. Louis and my husband and I moved out here right after college for an adventure and my Master’s program. Since then we have fell in love with the area and just settled into our first little piece of acreage in Hillsboro. My husband just made a big career change and is now currently enrolled in a MAT program to teach HS/MS math and social studies. I am very excited to both be teachers and be able to travel. We do not have kids yet, just two spoiled dogs.
I have been told many times I could do great in the business world because I am an outgoing, ambitious woman who is very personable. The thing is, I have to love what I do. So I got my Masters and began teaching which in the realm of careers and cost of education, does not pay very well. I love it though, and I tell myself every year that when the day comes when I am unhappy and do not enjoy teaching anymore, I will leave teaching. My belief is that you have to enjoy what you do because all the money in the world will not make you happy if you are miserable and unfilled. So, yes I enjoy teaching very much and I believe it shows in the classroom.
I am looking forward to the new year and the improvements I can make in writing in my classroom and what I can share with my district.
Belated greetings! I too am new at blogging and this is my first online course. My name is Kristin Allan and I teach 7th grade language arts and social studies and several electives at Lake Oswego Junior High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon. One of the electives I teach is Reading Advantage. It is a course geared toward students that enjoy reading. I use Junior Great books and the inquiry method to further stimulate students’ analysis and enjoyment of literature. Another course I teach is Advance Writing. This class is geared toward students who enjoy writing and are often very gifted writers. During our 12 weeks together, I focus on creating a supportive writing community as we look at genres that include nonfiction, realistic fiction, poetry and whatever students want to explore. I also invite writers from our community to come and talk to students about their work and profession.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have been teaching for the past 12 years, this will be my fourth year teaching this grade level at LOJ. Soon after getting my teaching credential in Oregon, I moved to Ohio where I taught 7th and 8th grade language arts and social studies at Berry Middle School in Lebannon, Ohio for several years. Later I moved to Irvine, California and taught grades 4-6 for about six years at Taft Elementary in Orange.
It was interesting to go from teaching elementary students at a Title 1 elementary school in southern California that had a large population of English language learners to teaching at a predominantly white, upper middle class junior high in Lake Oswego. At LOJ my classes tend to be between 25-30 students and the administration and parent community is very supportive of our teaching efforts. While we called a junior high, we actually operate as a middle school. I am fortunate to work with a fabulous team of teachers and we constantly collaborate and plan together.
This summer, my colleagues (other 7th and 8th grade language arts and social studies teachers at LOJ) have been meeting to reexamine our writing curriculum in order to make sure we a focusing on the most effective and engaging writing practices. Yes, much of this is driven by our state testing scores, but we want to continue to focus on critical thinking and the writing process and not simply teach to the test. We do need a stronger school wide if not district wide writing curriculum. Unfortunately as middle school teachers, we have not had any opportunity to plan and collaborate with teachers at the elementary level. Hopefully that will begin to change. My experience with teaching younger grades and ELL students has helped me form connections in writing and provided me with insights into how talk to students about writing, but I would appreciate a more cohesive approach that could be shared and used with my colleagues. I want to build on my students’ previous knowledge and experience, not ignore it or discount it.
I love teaching and interacting with my students. I want my students to be inspired by writing and enjoy it. When I see a student struggling with sentence structure and organization, I want to have a toolbox full of methods and activities that will help strengthen that students’ skills. It is important for me to be able to teach to all my students but give them the individual attention they need. I don’t mind long hours and working on weekends, however, I would like to know that I am being effective with how I invest my time when reading and assessing my students’ writing.
When I am not involved with my students and school, I enjoy spending time with my husband (Richard) and my two stepsons (John and Jacques). All three provide me with feedback and reflection on what I am doing in the classroom. With John and Jacques both in college, I find their memories and experiences quite insightful. In my free time I enjoy reading, gardening, cooking, home improvement projects and walking our two dogs (Katie and Ilsa).
Welcome Kelly and Kristin! Kelly it seems as though you are teaching in a very unique teaching setting that has some great perks ! Best of luck as you forge ahead in your quest for writing instruction improvement in your building. I think Regie’s ideas will support you with your progress! Take it easy with your knee… Kristin – you’re so lucky to be able to have taught in so many different places – very adventurous . I hope that Regie’s book and the course will support you in your curriculum work this summer.
ReplyDeleteHi there everyone! I'm a bit late to this party! So sorry. This is also my first time blogging and my first online course. It's so nice to read what people have written before me and to see some familiar names. (Hi, Michelle! Glad to hear Steph is doing so well. No one would ever have doubted, however. She has always been amazing.)
ReplyDeleteEven thought I cannot believe it, I'm starting my 15th year teaching. I had the honor of teaching for 6 years at Corbett Middle and High School. My classes ranged from 7th and 8th grade Language Arts, Social Studies and Spanish to 9th - 11th grade English. (Pen, Prose and Poetry to Science Fiction.) Corbett allowed me the opportunity to stretch myself with a wide variety of subjects, ability levels and ages. It was exhausting and exhilerating.
Currently I'm truly enjoying teaching 6th grade Language Arts at Parkrose Middle Schoo. This will be my third year job-sharing with Megan Clifford-Maitland, and my nineth year teaching there. Where Corbett allowed me to stretch my skills with a wide variety of subjects and ages, Parkrose has given me the chance to work with and learn from a wide range of cultures and ability levels. Our highly diverse poplulation presents daily challenges for helping students achieve their best in literacy. With budget cuts our support in the classrooms is truly limited as the support staff is pulled in a myriad of directions.
In our classroom I have enjoyed using the writer's workshop program with the support of Ralph Fletcher's Qualities of Writing Program, modifyied to fit my style and the structure of our day. My students do a lot of writing and sharing from their personal notebooks. I try to stress the LOVE of writing and not just the mechanics. If they don't love the topic, they just won't write well.
In reading, we do reciprocal teaching, groups, novel studies and stress the use of reading strategies. Megan and I both are working hard to incorporate reading and writing into our social studies curriculum as often as we can.
In the passed two years I have finished my Master's in Literacy Curriculum and Instruction and have taken courses from TINT on the Writer's Workshop. I have also been an Oregon State Writing Assessment Scoring Director for eight years. Being a language arts teacher and serving as an assessment director has given me the chance to see the frustrations of feeling the need to "teach to the test" and the benefits of the assessment process. I've tried to allow the literacy standards to provide me a framework for teaching without dictating how I teach it. It's always a work in progress.
In the passed few years Parkrose has put and emphasis on reading and writing across the curriculum and across grade levels. As a result, the staff has had trainings in both writing and reading strategies. (One to two hour trainings in a large group setting.) But, we've also begun to meet in PLC groups to help support each other and work together to meet our district goals for improvement in literacy. This is proving to be very helpful and beneficial to teachers and students.
I enjoy my job. I just can't imagine doing anything outside of education. It can be amazingly stressful, but ultimately gratifying. When I feel I'm not making a bit of difference, I try to remind myself that what we do may not show results immediately. Learning is a long process. When kids come back and visit me, I know I did something and made an impact.
Outside of my teaching life, I love being with my three and a half year old, Grace. She keeps me busy. My family and I enjoy traveling, church activities, hiking and working in our yard/garden. In the quiet times, nothing beats a good cup of coffee and a great book.
I'm looking forward to learning more about literacy and the ways to help kids learn without making it boring instruction.
Thanks!
Hi! My name is Leslie Rizzo, and I can safely say that I am very late to the party!
ReplyDeleteI have been teaching for the last 5 years in the Portland Public School district teaching 2nd through 5th grades in three different schools. The majority of my experience is in 4th grade, which I will be teaching this coming year at Harvey Scott School.
Harvey Scott is a rather large school with 3-4th grade classrooms, and I am looking at 18-20 students in my class this coming year(I can't complain!). There are approximately 600 students with 43% ESL and 85% low SES.
The last school I taught at was very enthusiastic about writing, and the staff was constantly looking for ways to improve their writing program. They used "Teaching the Quality of Writing" mini-lessons, and then incorporated the Scott Foresman curriculum when the district adopted it two years ago. We were constantly attending professional development and discussing strategies to improve our writing instruction. At my current school, however, while the experience is much more, the collaboration is severely lacking, as well as the professional development and instructional support. I am pretty much left to my own devices.
My literacy program at this point consists of bits and pieces from TQW, Scott Foresman, and teacher-developed mini-lessons. Due to scheduling issues, writing is taught, separate from reading, for 1 hour each morning.
I have always struggled at writing instruction. It seems there must be a balance between teaching students to enjoy writing, and "teaching to the test", I simply have not found it yet. I use a writing workshop model in the classroom, but am still trying to figure out how to organize this with so many struggling writers in my classes. I have administered the writing test to my 4th graders for three years now, and the scores are improving, but so very slowly.
Many of the schools in PPS have struggled with the 4th grade writing tests, and both schools I have taught 4th grade in have had about 30%-40% passing. Though the district tried to implement a writing program 2 years back (prof. dev., lesson plans, developed by instructional specialists, collaboration, etc) it did not seem to carry over well into the school I am currently teaching at, though I still use pieces in my own instruction. Last year, PPS offered genre based trainings every month or so.
I love my job. I have always been quite proud of this fact, as so many of my friends in other professions cannot say the same thing. I have had a tough time getting used to my current school (often unrealistic expectations with no support), but I really enjoy my students, which evens it out a bit. I am, overall, excited for this next year. While I have taken so long to begin the blogging process, I have gotten through the majority of the reading, and am eager to see how it changes my writing instruction.
I am a single mother of an 11-year old boy and 3 kitties. We love to travel and camp throughout the summer, in addition to all sorts of reading. We live in a wonderful community, and love to bike, swim, and socialize whenever possible!
Welcome to both Angela and Leslie…sorry for the delay, I’ve been on vacation with very limited internet access. Angela, it seems as though you’ve had some great teaching experiences over the years. How lucky for you to be able to see both sides of the coin (the testing and classroom experience). I’m sure you’re a great advocate in the district for children to have the opportunity like you said to “love” writing. Leslie, I’m sorry to hear that your current school isn’t as supportive to you professionally. Maybe with your past PD experiences and Regie’s text, you can become a literacy advocate in your building and support others with your knowledge of writing.
ReplyDeleteHello, my name is Brad Montplaisir. I am a sixth grade teacher in Tigard, Oregon. During the nine years that I have been a teacher, I have taught every subject except reading. This coming year I will be teaching math, language arts (writing), and an electives class that will focus on study skills, computers, art, and drama. Our school is unique because we are the only middle school in our district where sixth graders have a designated reading class separate from the language arts (writing) class. All other middle schools in our district combine reading and language arts into one class.
ReplyDeleteOur school has a pretty diverse student population. Of the approximately 30 students in my class, there is a wide range in both ability and English fluency. In the last several years, our district has been very focused on improving student literacy (especially for ELL students) since those skills tend to have the largest impact across all subjects. All of our district’s teachers have been trained in reading literacy and Sheltered Instruction Operational Protocol (SIOP) and are supposed to employ these techniques in every lesson. Students are also placed in special literacy classes if they score below grade level on a combination of the fluency and comprehension tests that they are required to take.
As a writing teacher, I focus on sentence and paragraph structure and transitions between sentences and paragraphs. I like to hold daily “free-writes,” and other exercises that teach students how to include more sensory details in their writing. We work on producing several on-demand writing pieces as well as improving editing skills.
I am happy with my decision to become a teacher and I enjoy what I do. I generally have fun at work and don’t find it overwhelmingly stressful (most of the time). After nine years, I have developed a large number of activities, assignments, and projects to use in the classroom, and no longer find myself scrambling for something to do. At this stage in my career, I am looking to build on and refine my instruction techniques in order to make them more effective and efficient.
Outside of school, I spend time with my wonderful wife and our two kids. My son, Kian is three years old and my daughter, Lily is fourteen months. They are a lot of fun, but as any parent would tell you, they are also a lot of work. Throughout the year, I spend a great deal of time working on home improvement projects but also set aside time to ski, play one of my many guitars, and follow my local sports teams. This summer I have been enjoying learning to fly my remote controlled helicopter, which I should add, my wife gave me endless amounts of grief for buying. Several sets of landing gear and replacement blades later, I am crashing far less often.
Hi Brad and welcome. I thought that you were going to be emailing responses to Mary...but it's OK if you want to blog...there are several other late starters:) How wonderful to be able to work in a school where reading and writing are actually considered separate subjects, rather than being squeezed into one!!
ReplyDelete