This is it everyone!!! Welcome to the last assignment for the course! It's been great reading what you all have to share! Take a look at the last section in Regie's text, Writing Essentials, it's chock full of great resources!!!
Teaching in Action: Lesson Essentials
5 Day Lesson Plans & Appendices
• Secrets of Second Graders
• Heart Poems
• Procedural writing
• Hero writing
• Persuasive writing
• Appendix survey
Be sure to look through this section. If you haven’t already done so, look at Appendix A (page A-2.) Re-examine your beliefs about writing by re-reading the statements about the writing process and marking true or false in your book. Did you change any of your previous answers? Would you consider bringing this page to your team or even to your entire school to jumpstart discussions about writing?
Take some time to look through the appendices. There are several useful examples included. One we’d like to point out to you is Appendix L- The Genre Characteristics Excerpt on page A-13. Look to the Writing Essentials companion website at www.heinemann.com/writingessentials for the entire chart as well as directions to assist you playing the DVD.
ASSIGNMENT NINE: Final Course Reflection - Critically examine your current literacy program and develop realistic goals to improve your instruction. Also reflect on the balance between your home and school life. If our students are to become happy, literate people, they need happy, balanced teachers. BRIEFLY, share several of your goals with the class by posting them to the blog for this final assignment.
We would appreciate any feedback you might be able to give us about the course! Especially with the size of the class, this summer, how effective was it for you? Please email us comments and thank-you for participating in our course!!!! Jackie & Mary!
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I am the school teacher-librarian and my literacy program is a bit different than a classroom teacher's. However, literacy is my responsibility of course, since I co-teach with all teachers and I am responsible for supporting literacy for every student. My students write during the year with me. I have done few effective writing conferences. I look forward to doing more of these. Honestly, I did far too little modeling when introducing book blurbs and reviews and poetry writing. I really think I will be more effective this next school year. I will review both the Reading and Writing Essentials books and notes in mid-August. My time is limited with my students but I can make even better use of it. Every minute counts.
ReplyDeleteRegarding balancing home and school life, I feel like this is finally ok. My children come first, but they also know that I love teaching. Somehow everything seems to work out well these days. Of course, it's summer and I have few limits on my free time!
While I believe that many of my current practices are effective, I realize that there are many areas that I could improve in. Next year my focus will be on demonstrating to my own students how I write, connecting writing more to what we are reading in the classroom, and using writing conferences more effectively.
ReplyDeleteWhile I might not always be comfortable writing in front of my students, I realize that this can be such a powerful way to show not just the writing process, but the thinking process as well. By helping children think more about what they are writing I believe that their writing will hold more meaning and interest for their audience.
Using literature as a way to connect reading and writing is also another goal I have for my own classroom. I did do this a bit last year in my classroom, but hope to expand it for the upcoming year. Using literature will also be a great way to increase conversations about both reading and writing.
I have used conferences in my own classroom, but usually kept the conference more one on one. Increasing conferences to include more whole class sharing will be a challenge and might take a bit of practice on my part, but I certainly can see the benefit. Whole-class share is efficient; it celebrates the writing, and provides a way to share important teaching points to all writers.
As far as the balance of my home and school life, I think that I do pretty well in this area. I used to spend countless hours on things that really weren’t that important in my classroom. I really score very few papers and we are really discouraged in our district to have any sort of worksheets. Kids seem to put effort into projects that they care about and so I try to provide a lot of choice to accommodate that. I try very hard to complete things at school and not bring it home. Our district is also on a four-day contact week, so having Fridays to catch up helps too!
Week 9
ReplyDeleteFinal Reflections
At this point in my teaching, I have to find a way to tie in all that I have learned about writing workshops and reading workshops and mesh it together in a workable way. I know how much more effective reading and writing are taught together, so I need to figure out how my schedule is going to work for fall. I am a structured person, so I will need to have this hammered out in my mind if it is going to work for me well.
I am so excited about implementing writing conferences in all their various types, and celebrations and all the like that we learned about from Regie. I even fee like I will be able to write effectively in front of my students. I see the value of modeling, and that it just simply can’t be over done.
In terms of balancing home and work life, I feel like I have been freed up in that area a great deal. I used to admire and feel inadequate compared to the teacher who would always be staying at school late and working all the time on school stuff. I even felt like maybe I wasn’t a dedicated enough teacher or something. Now, however, I realize that I am so much better off as a teacher because I do enjoy life, and that in turn helps me to enjoy teaching. I love going to work, and I don’t want that to change at all. I want to see each day as an opportunity to enjoy these awesome kids.
The resources in the appendices are great! So nice to have workable tools at the ready. As well, Regie’s list of definitions in the back of the book will be a good reference when reviewing and planning. I can’t wait to get started!
I thought that I would write this out as a list of goals for a final reflection so that I could paste it into my planner as a reminder once I get into the year. We are in such a state of flux that I have no idea what our school’s literacy strategy is next year although I’m sure that we will be working on literacy in my own classes. I am just hoping to remind myself of all that I learned from this course and the book as I get busy. I truly think that the writing conferences, planning suggestions, student celebrations and modeling will make my work more interesting and rewarding. The conversations about literacy that need to be had with my new partners will definitely guide my practice.
ReplyDelete1. Take a moment everyday to remember why I decided to become a teacher.
2. Once a week (I think this is realistic) send home one of the simple postcards that we have to a parent/guardian of a student sharing something positive about her or him. This has an HUGE impact and I’ve been told many times by both parents and students that they only ever hear about things going wrong and never about when things go right.
3. Incorporate writing strategies that I have never tried such as group writing (in pairs or the whole class), modeling using my own writing, bringing in more student examples, etc.
4. Work with the other 9th grade global teachers. In doing this I want to be very careful that I am not making it seem as though I have all the answers because I clearly do not. I think it could be great for us as colleagues if we were better able to share our failures in the hopes that someone may have a useful suggestion or tip to try.
5. As I design writing prompts and lessons in general, remember that if I don’t think the writing won’t be fun, the students certainly won’t either. I also need to remember that if they don’t want to write it, I won’t want to read it.
6. Don’t forget that there are people in the building who are not in my immediate circle of teaching partners and that these folks undoubtedly have great ideas. We work in office clusters and I am embarrassed to say that sometimes weeks go by when I don’t make it to the other side of the building.
7. Remember that to teach writing, I also have to teach reading. I need to bring in different approaches to reading so that it does not seem like a chore. I need to keep in mind that while content is important and I love what I teach, flexibility is key.
8. When I get home, before settling down to reading students’ papers, take the dogs for a walk (the husband as well) so that I can recognize the important transition to home life that I too often forget.
9. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel with every lesson plan. Others are out there such as Routman who have ideas that I should try to adapt and incorporate. They can help make my life easier.
10. Take time to write for myself. I used to be an avid letter writer and it kept me in touch with friends who have dispersed all over the world. I haven’t been doing this lately which is sad. Writing to friends will help me to reconnect with people about whom I sincerely care and will remind me how much I love to write for the sake of writing.
Thank you for a great class this summer. I’ve never taken an online course before but the way that you both set this up made it all very approachable and clear. I wish that I had more time to read over the past weeks to learn from people who joined the course later but those I did read were really interesting. Thanks!
Throughout this course, I have been thinking of all the ways that I can improve writing instruction for my students. I like how Annarose used a list something easy to look at and print as a reference.
ReplyDelete1. I’m going to let my assistant borrow Writing Essentials to read this school year. One of the things that I struggle with is trying to make instruction of my student’s consistent since 50% of the time they work with my assistant. I think letting her read Regie will help with this.
2.Setting a plan at the beginning of the year on when I plan on doing writing workshop with my students.
3.For my students make sure I have a clear purpose for their writing and an audience that they care about.
4.Model more revising and focus on revising before the editing with my students.
5.Incorporate more shared writing using some of Regie’s ideas and make sure my students share their writing once a week.
In my personal life outside of school I think every year I have gotten better about maintaining some sort of life. This past year I dropped my six day a week work out schedule at the beginning of the school year but picked up at the end of January. My goal is not to drop my schedule and start using the gym when I can’t run outside. I also want to continue with my book clubs so I get at least one book read a month for pleasure.
Thank you for the course. It has provided motivation to improve my writing instruction.
When I first sat down to write my goals, I went through the book again, rereading my notes, my margin scribbles, my underlining, my stars, my sticky notes, my dog-eared page corners. I typed up 45 bullet points. No joke! And while I would love to be able to implement all that I have learned from Routman, I need to be realistic, and kind to myself as a learner.
ReplyDeleteSo, I went through my 45 goals, and I found the 10 goals that I had typed in boldface--the goals that I want to work towards and put into practice this upcoming school year, and beyond. So, here goes…
• Demonstrate that writers always write with a reader in mind.
• Watch the clock! Keep a lively pace during short mini-lessons (5-10 minutes) and stop when student energy and engagement is high.
• Try scaffolded conversations: 1-2 students, public conversation/brainstorming before sending students off to write independently; use sticky notes to jot down reminders to the child.
• Do more shared writing—whole group, teacher holds pen. Especially at the beginning of K/1. Use the co-constructed texts to create cut-up sentences and cloze activities.
• Publish classroom texts.
• Create personal word walls for each student in their writing folders.
• Implement whole-class share. This is a time for public conferences, meaning daily, short (2-5 minutes), celebratory, focus on content/meaning, using language of helpful response.
• Conduct 2-3 roving conferences, and 2-3 public conferences per day.
• Work towards class goal of 20-30 minutes of daily silent, sustained writing.
• Raise my expectations for conventions, legible handwriting, and spelling of high frequency words.
As for the balance between home and school life, I would like to commit to my yoga class two nights a week; I would like to do more cooking and reading for pleasure during the week, and I would like to ask myself on a daily basis whether the after-school prep and planning I am doing is going to truly help my students become better readers, writers, and thinkers. If not, then I need to go home!
There are a few beliefs that were reinforced and challenged while reading this book. Students can be held accountable for their handwriting and spelling of high frequency words, and I know how to go about doing this. Demonstrating my thinking aloud is great, but I need to show my struggle and say aloud the dialogue I have in my mind for the students to really learn this process. Finally, there always needs to be an audience for our writing!
ReplyDeleteGoals:
1. Hold students accountable for their handwriting and spelling of high frequency words.
2. Take the time to talk before writing and celebrating our writing at the end.
3. Utilize the word wall to enhance my teaching and be a more obvious resource for my students.
4. Have an audience for all of our writing!
5. Publish more, especially shorter pieces.
6. Read aloud and hold discussions about books from the writer's perspective.
7. Establish criteria AFTER I have demonstrated.
8. Create a conference resource so I can hold all my conferences around the guidelines Regie put forth so I can implement them with fidelity.
9. Focus on content first!
10. Take care of myself.
The last goal will be difficult for me. In my defense, I am getting better at this each year. But at the beginning of the year I am so excited to put my new learning into practice that I spend a lot of time at school. This does take time; however, I need to make sure I am taking my weekends to do other things I love to do: reading, bubble baths, cooking, working on our house, and spending time with family and friends. I am realizing the more balanced my life is the happier I am. So, I am going to adopt Meghan's view and make sure that I am only doing things that are "going to truly help my students become better readers, writers, and thinkers."
To improve my instruction I plan to:
ReplyDelete- Make writing joyful for my students
- Celebrate students and their writing
- Conduct writing conferences on a regular basis (all types not just one-on-one editing)
- Trust that good teaching will prepare my students for the writing test and not get caught up in teaching to the test
I feel like I balance my home and school life pretty well. I do have a hard time saying no to things when I’m asked. I need to work on knowing that it is okay to set boundaries for myself and to say no when I don’t want to do something. I’ve gotten better, but there’s always room for improvement.
Kim
ReplyDeleteThis year, I want to use a lot of modeled writing. I see the benefits of using this teaching tool. For me to do this well, I will need to live life richly. I am a person who works even when I am not at work…not very interesting to write about. I will work to begin to gain balance in my life so I will have some fun things to write about (and it is healthier for work, family and my health anyway).
I also want to implement writing conferences. In order for me to do this, I will need to develop or modify a form that will work for my style of teaching. I love the idea of quick conferences because I see so much learning that happens in the setting of a conference; learning that is transferrable (and isn’t that the only kind of valuable learning?). By having quick conferences with many students, I can target students who are having a difficult time getting started or who are stuck and get them going again. It is amazing how independent and productive students can be when they are working on a meaningful task that engages them.
I also want to have professional conversations with my colleagues about writing (as well as other subject areas). I work some amazing teachers and working alongside of them is a whole lot more effective than working in isolation; it’s much more fun too!
I have enjoyed this class and I am excited to implement many of these tools in the fall! Thank you!
~Kim
The first thing I need to do to effectively change my writing instruction is to readjust my daily schedule to include intentional writing every day. Below are the goals that I have for the upcoming school year:
ReplyDelete1. Increase the amount of time students spend writing as well as the amount of time I demonstrate writing for my students.
2. Be more consistent with conferences (roving conferences everyday and 1-2 formal conferences each day)
3. Celebrate student writing every day (share writing and focus on student’s strengths) and include time for this in daily schedule.
4. Improving my record keeping (conferences, assessment, and goals for students)
5. Focusing more on audience and purpose
6. Make writing assignments more authentic
7. Teach with the whole-to-part-to-whole philosophy and use student’s writing to guide my instruction.
8. Find good books to read aloud that serve as models of good writing and spend more time reading aloud each day.
9. Have conversations with 1-2 students in front of the whole group
10. Raise my expectations for content and conventions
One way I plan to reach these goals is by establishing a weekly group that I will facilitate with the primary teachers at my school. I have gone through my notes that I’ve taken throughout this class and chosen topics that I would like to discuss at these meetings (I would include this list but it is way too long). I believe that by discussing these topics with my colleagues, I will continue to be motivated to reach the goals that I have.
ASSIGNMENT NINE: Final Course Reflection - Critically examine your current literacy program and develop realistic goals to improve your instruction. Also reflect on the balance between your home and school life. If our students are to become happy, literate people, they need happy, balanced teachers. BRIEFLY, share several of your goals with the class by posting them to the blog for this final assignment.
ReplyDeleteWhen I examine the current literacy program at LOJ, I begin to see a path paved with good intentions. As teachers we are dedicating a lot of time and energy trying to motivate and connect with our students. We love blocking language arts and social studies because it provides both teachers and students with more time together in the classroom and the subject matters blend and build so well upon each other. Our language arts and social studies curriculum is strongly integrated; I couldn’t imagine teaching these subjects in a different manner. However, we are not taking full advantage of the opportunities we have imbedded in our class structure. And in writing it has become very apparent that we are teaching the parts first and hoping the skills and pieces will transfer to the whole. They are not.
I began constructing a list of items I want to focus on in my classroom and share with my colleagues. When creating the list, my focus was not so much changing what we teach but how we teach it. Already we have a lot of good activities and units created that our students enjoy. If we modify how we teach them, focusing on the following items, I think we will all have a stronger and more enjoyable school year.
The first thing I want to emphasize is modeling. As teachers we know the power of this, but I want to make sure I am purposely incorporating it into my lesson plans. I have never wanted to be an omnipotent force in my classroom, and I know students need to see the process I go through to accomplish an assignment or activity. If they don’t see it modeled, they often assume accomplishing a writing piece has more to do with luck then practice and experience. Along with this, I want to take more advantage of shared demonstrations. There is so much my students learn from each other. A 7th grader’s peer group is very influential. I know shared demonstrations would have a positive impact in the classroom, especially after it is modeled often.
ReplyDeleteI also want to make sure I am focusing on purposeful writing. Already I am thinking about writing assignments that will excite the students and help create a sharing and trusting writing community. Some of the activities include “Secrets of a 7th grader”, sharing thankful moments, heroes in our lives, story telling, remembering, compliments, and of course MORE FREEWRITING. To have purposeful writing, a writer must have an audience. I don’t think I have emphasized that enough. Too often I am the audience and that is not enough motivation for my students. I want them to care about their writing. If they have an audience in mind that extends beyond the classroom teacher, they will be care more. Students need to know others will read their writing. Otherwise the writing becomes an ongoing exercise and has little purpose and meaning.
Writing everyday is important, and I am thinking about how I can begin reaching out to other teachers in other subject matters, however, right now I will focus on my classroom. We have journals in both language arts and social studies. I like having writing prompts for students. I find the prompts stimulate conversation and help students see connections. What I want to make sure is that I am giving students uninterrupted time to write and reflect. It is easy to worry about “coverage” of material and instead giving time for students to think and digest, students spend most of their time copying notes and filling out charts. I need to back off and allow them to write and share their writing. Celebrating writing is so much fun when we do it, yet I probably only put it into the lesson plans on a weekly basis and not a daily one and too often at the end of the classroom day when we often run out of time or are in a hurry. I also love the concept of celebrating risks my students take in their writing and sharing of ideas.
After reading Writing Essentials, I feel more invigorated and confident about student conferences. In the past I didn’t take the time to begin with content. My plan is to break conferences into two parts. First dealing with content, then focusing on editing. This seems much more logical and sensible. I also now know that the conference can take many forms including small groups and whole class. Even little things like using “sticky” notes make the whole process more manageable. The change will be very gratifying for both my students and myself.
My list goes further and into more details, but I know that balance is a must. In some ways, focusing on what I wrote above will create a more balanced and fun learning environment. I am not interested in reinventing the wheel but invigorating the process and making it smoother and more enjoyable for all involved. Balance is best accomplished when people feel confident about what they are doing and feel good about it too. Yes, I want to put joy back into writing and reading. I have always believed that students may not remember what it is I taught them, but they will remember how they felt about it and about themselves. I want their memories to be positive!
My literary goals for this coming school year came about as I reviewed the textbook for the parts I had highlighted and found most interesting:
ReplyDelete• Bring the joy back into writing through student choice and meaningful purpose
• Plan to write a minimum of 3 consecutive days/week
• Show my students I am a writer and model how I write for my audience
• Constantly draw attention to what effective authors and illustrators do
• Integrate writing time into the content areas
• Implement the whole-class share as a multipurpose tool for conferencing, celebrating and teaching
As I reexamined my writing beliefs, the ones which changed had to do with the recursive model of writing as opposed to a linear model. Thinking about the whole-part-whole and explicitly teaching this model will be exciting and fun for both the students and me.
Thank you for designing this class, I had never participated in a blog before so that was just one of many things I learned from this course. Have a great rest of the summer!
Katherine
My goals are:
ReplyDelete1. Model, model, model, write in front of kids, share my personal writing at home
2. Write at home in my person journal
3. Give kids time to talk before they write
4. Conference with students in front of the class before writing
5. DON’T leave out sharing time
6. During conference always begin by praising the writing/er
I’m still working on the whole balance thing, but I’m moving next weekend to a new home that’s 30 minutes away and I have to leave work on time in order to beat traffic, SO I think it will improve (I have never brought much home with me, I generally just stay late).I also liked what Kims aid about having a life gives us more to write about! :)
I still have one lingering question. I also read the book 6 + 1 Traits Writing by Ruth Culham this summer. She advocates for explicitly teaching and focusing on each writing trait. I have also heard this from my trainer when I score the state writing assessment. How does this balance with Regie Routman’s framework for teaching genres, which reminds me of Katy Wood Ray. I like to see the big picture, but I also am detail-oriented and am not sure how all of this meshes together and what that looks like daily in a classroom. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like they are somewhat conflicting theories.
Kelly Rolwes
ReplyDeleteAssignment #9
What I have really gathered from this class are a whole plethora of ideas that will organize and reconstruct my writing curriculum. Specifically, I have written out my letter to parents about writing in my class and how parents can help. I have also made two different forms to keep me precise and organized with student conferences and grading writing. I have also outlined my year and how best to flow the writing topics we learn. I have a very specific plan of action now and feel this will improve my writing curriculum. I have gathered many ideas from reading other students blogs and from the reading material.
Some of my goals this year from this class are:
- Get parents more involved and educated (this is the letter I wrote up)
- Rearrange the classroom to better accommodate a writer’s workshop
- Start writing conferences
- Teach more explicated to writing for an audience
- Write more myself as an example
- Emphasize writing as a process
- Give students more choice in writing
Hi all!!! It was a pleasure reading your goals…I’m blogging from the beautiful Wildflower Inn in VT (on vacation with my family). We’re in the middle of a small rain shower, so perfect time to catch up on some work. Elin, it seems as thought you’ve established a very supportive literacy program for the students in your role as a library specialist. If you can find a way (maybe during research work) for you to integrate some conferring, I think that would be wonderful!!! Michelle, you’ve set some great goals for yourself. As you continue to make connections b/t reading and writing, I think you will begin to see how much more effective (and less time consuming) your instruction might be. I was very curious as to what a four day contact week means. It can’t mean that you only see kids on M-Th right? If so, you definitely have dream job . Joelle, as I stated to Michelle, the more integrating you can do, the more effective your instruction will become! Best wishes fine tuning your writing conferences and modeling, modeling, modeling!...keep enjoying life!!!
ReplyDeleteAnnarose, good like as your literacy program hangs in flux, you’ve been able to integrate effectively in the past, and I’m sure that you’ll continue to do what’s best for your students to the best of your capabilities. You set a whole bunch of amazing goals for yourself…don’t forget as you said, “flexibility is the key”…and you continue your instructional journey. It really was wonderful to read how you integrated writing (and reading ) into your social studies classroom! Tamara, you are very lucky if your assistant can become on the same page as you…that is key, especially for the student population you work with. Best of luck as you incorporate more shared and modeled writing into your instruction next year. Michelle – WOW! You are so right in being realistic about your goals – one step at a time, otherwise, you will feel completely frustrated and disappointed in what you are trying to accomplish. Your students are fortunate to have you as a teacher even if you succeed with a portion of these goals you’ve set for yourself!
Sarah. L, I glad that you found ways to support holding your students accountable. You also have set some great goals for your very lucky students! Best of luck achieving them (especially the time for yourself ). Krista, thanks for sharing your goals with us….I think that if you are truly teaching your students to become better writers, there is no way they will not perform successfully on the state testing. Kim, best of luck as you fine tune your writing conferences…and you will be a wonderful professional support for the rest of the building as you continue to mold and make decisions about your school’s writing instruction. Sarah P., you’ve also set some very solid goals for your writing instruction, and as you said, it’s all about figuring out that schedule. Take your time as you work on these goals!!!
Thanks to you all as a group for participating and sharing your thinking as a group! It was great learning with you all…and I’ve put each of you in as an “A” grade!!! Thanks - Jackie
….as you can see, I was unable to post when I wrote this…had to save in word because of very limited internet access – sorry for the delay!!!
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteIn Corbett, a four-day contact week does mean that we only have kids Monday through Thursday (unless a Monday holiday and then we go Tuesday through Friday). We just added time to each day. We actually see our students more than most five day week school districts. It is a wonderful schedule.
Take care,
Michelle
The appendices in the back seem very helpful. I love the idea of sending suggestions to parents. It seems like everyone knows to help their child with reading and even math - but a great reminder to note how the parents can be involved in helping, too. Another one was the Editing Expectations that seemed like a neat way to show parents how we help students in our class for editing. I went back to appendix A and ones that I was unsure of my stance on, I felt like I now was able to have an opinion on!
ReplyDeleteI wrote out some goals for myself that I would like to keep up so I can be reminded of throughout the school year.
1. Writing more myself and keeping a writing journal, too, so students KNOW that I am a writer like them!
2. Using more picture books to connect in a mini-lesson or even briefly in a conference (Appendix L very helpful!)
3. Keeping track of things that happen to us in class (or outside of clas) that could turn into "Tiny Topics" (A Lucy Calkins term) to know the little things are great stories, too.
4. DO MORE CELEBRATION!!
5. Do Whole group conferencing; even while celebrating.
6. Make a point for more published stories!
7. Teach students to write for an audience.
8. Utilize my word wall as a strategy.
9. Have professional discussions as a team/staff.
10. Set and encourage high expectations through spelling, conventions, and handwriting.
I've really enjoyed reading this book and then reflecting on my thoughts along with everyone else's! I really appreciate the feedback you have given to us along the way! I'm definitely encouraged and excited to get my writing workshop going!
I forgot to mention the blanace of my home and school life. This definitely is something to work on. Knowing that I haven't even been able to unpack and get settled into my room yet will make the first month or so busy. But, it is important to remember that we need time to breathe and unwind so that we can be better, happy teachers. If I really want to cultivate the best environment for my students I need to keep this in mind! =)
ReplyDeleteThanks again for a wonderful class. It was fabulous to be able to do this on our own time over the summer, but still be able to learn and reflect so much on what works; while hearing from others,too!
As in conferencing, when I write goals I tend to try and cover too much ground. This course has me truly thinking about what is important and how I teach it is crucial. Routman has given my partner, Megan, and I a lot to consider. I can only imagine that our students are going to benefit from our time taking this class. I look forward to learning more and teacher better.
ReplyDeleteMy goals:
1. Make the assigned writing more authentic, purposeful and for a true audience. I see class books, letters to our principal, newsletters home... The students, parents and I will really enjoy interacting with the work more. Assignments will not just be so I can check off something from my list of things to do.
2. Do more writing/reading activities that support each other.
3. Conferencing with the format suggested in this course. I love the simple way it allows me to individualize instruction.
4. CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE. I want to foster the idea that we are a community of writers...and learners.
5. Focus less on the end product and more on the process of learning.
6. Use more QUALITY literature to help students view reading through the eyes of an author. I want them to investigate and discover what good writers do.
I look forward to accomplishing these goals in the coming years. I just have to keep telling myself it is a process.
As far as home and work life are concerned...It was about my 10th year of teaching that I realized that it just was not good for me to take work home. Invariably I left it sit in my car or by the front door where it sat and made me feel anxious or guilty. I learned to budget my time and maintian reasonable expectations. It was tough, but I only take work home when it is impossible to avoid. I have to admit, working in a job share has cut my load in half so it's not as much an issue either. I'm blessed.
Thank your for the course. I enjoyed the text and plan to read and reread it again. It truly did open my eyes and get me excited and motivated to make changes and improvements.
Best of luck to everyone in the coming school year!
~Angela
Assignment 9
ReplyDeleteThroughout the course of reading this text, I have continuously thought about how I can use the information that I’m reading. I now have an idea of the underlying thought/reasoning of writer’s workshop, what it looks like, how to conference with students and ways to teach students using the optimal learning model. Here are my goals for this year:
1. In order for students to improve their writing skills, they must write! During writing workshop, students will have the opportunity to write daily to build writing fluency.
2. Celebrate, celebrate, and celebrate! Students need the opportunity to share during writing workshop to build confidence and learn from each other. Celebrate what students do well, as well as new things they have tried in that writing piece.
3. Incorporate a consistent writer’s workshop with short mini-lessons that students need (5-15 minutes), writing time, and conferences. Hold students accountable for editing and handwriting.
4. Use a spiral notebook for students to keep notes from mini-lessons. The spiral will include: brainstorm of ideas for free-choice writing; high frequency/no excuse word list; personal word wall; notes on transitions, leads, etc.; editing expectations and student log of writing.
5. Ensure that students are successful in their writing by careful modeling, writing pieces together and having clear expectations.
6. For students to be invested in their writing, assignments should include student choice and/or a meaningful audience.
7. Keep records of roving conferences and one-on-one conferences. Gradually have students take more ownership in their learning and lead conferences.
Thank you! This has been a very enjoyable class and text to read. I’m looking forward to beginning the school year and implementing the goals listed above. This will also help me to keep that healthy balance of work/school and my life. I will ask myself if what I’m doing is necessary to make my students better writers. Instead of taking a lot of work home, I will spend time walking my dog through the park and making healthy meals.
Assignment 9:
ReplyDeleteThroughout this course I have been taking notes and writing down ideas in my planner!!! Some of the things that I am going to work the hardest on implementing next year are the following:
1. Read aloud more to the class...not just the 10-20min. from the novel that we are reading...more short stories and story books.
2. Make sure that writing is meaningful and bring the joy of writing to all students. Write every day!!!
3. Write in front of the students and work with them to see the process that all writers go through.
4. Celebrate!!!! I really need to make this happen...in little ways and in big ways!!! Publish!!!! Share with the community!!!
5. Keep my expectations high and not accept less then the best from anyone of my students.
6. Conference...keep a notebook...work on conferencing with students...everyday!!!
7. Organize the day to center around writing...teaching writing in social studies and in reading...incorporating writing into everything that we do.
8. Cut out the access and the extra junk and really focus on what is important and that is instilling a life long love for writing in each of my students.
Work/life balance...in order to be good at what I do it is important that I have a well balanced life. I am lucky to have lots of hobbies that lend well to writing: reading, water skiing, running 1/2 marathons, snow skiing, tri-athalons, etc.. I love these things that I do and I need to share this with my students through shared writing.
I am lucky to have a great job and an amazing job-share partner that allows me to have a great work life and a great home life!!!
I have really enjoyed dissecting Regie's book and I have no doubt that it will be worn out by the end of the school year...I see myself using it as a resource-daily!
The concepts in this book are simply good teaching, and can be related to every subject that we teach. I have always been quite proud of my relationships with my students, and praise and celebration is automatic in my teaching, but I struggle with organization and setting clear expectations. However, I now feel that I can begin the year with a clear view of what my writing workshop will look like. The appendices will be a valuable resource for me!
ReplyDeleteThese are my main goals for beginning the school year:
1. No matter what, make time for celebration at the end of writing.
2. Do more shared writing.
3. Give students a reason to write. Make it meaningful. Integrate!
4. Make expectations for writers workshop clear at the beginning of the year (post) and reinforce throughout.
5. Budget time in writing workshop: be more succinct, so that students have time to write more!
6. Conferences: not only 1-on-1! Do more roving and whole-group.
7. Content conferences are not the same as editing conferences. Make a clear distinction between the two.
8. Raise expectations for spelling and handwriting: Don't accept what students COULD have done, but didn't.
9. Create (as shared writing) and post editing expectations instead of editing checklists (save paper!)
10. Publish class writing and SHARE, not only with other students, but with other classes and parents, as well.
I have been very good so far in my teaching career to maintain a healthy balance between work and home. I really haven't had a choice: my son needs me to be Mom, not Ms. Rizzo. I will continue this, because the more experiences I have, the more I can share with my students. Though my son would hate it if he knew, they usually love to hear a good story about him.
Wow am I jealous…wouldn’t you all like to have Michelle’s schedule???? How amazing to have that time to work on data, instructional PD, and planning!!! FYI - I’ve been working forwards this week starting back at Assignment 1 because we had many late bloomers to the course and needed to welcome them and get them going… I’m going to work backwards now from Assignment 9, so you may not have gotten a response yet from Assignments 5-8….I’ll get to you A.S.A.P.!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelley, Angela, Kelly B, Megan M., and Leslie for sharing your goals with us. Kelley, you had a great list of goals, I was glad to see that are now more confidence in forming some opinions regarding writing instruction. This will help you as you possibly lead the way in some of the professional discussions you’ll be having with your colleagues this coming year. Best of luck balancing that home/school time!!! Angela, you are very lucky to have Megan as a partner in school as you begin to try some of you goals…you’ll be a great support for each other during your once in a while “bombs” and all of your successes! You’ve got a great set of goals laid out for you…I think one of the most important is your first, writing with purpose & an audience in mind!!! Best of luck. Kelly, I can see you’ve developed a great understanding of what an effective writers’ workshop is through reading your goals. If you even just focus in on becoming more confident and effective with your writing conferences, you will have achieved a lot for the year! Megan M., you have also listing an amazing set of goals – I wish you luck as you strive to attain them! I really like your idea of “organizing your day around writing…”. I’m sure your students will enjoy reading about your adventures and I’m glad that Regie’s book will continue to be a support for you! Leslie, you are so right, so much of what Regie shares in her book IS REALLY just good teaching, and should transfer to all of the subjects we teach! Have a great year as you work through your goals with your students…and writing about your family (your son) is a great way to bond with your students!
Even though I have yet to respond to some of your previous assignments, I know you have completed them and have sent each of your names in to TINT with an “A”. Thanks so much for participating in the course! It was great learning and thinking with you along the way!!!
Thank-you Kristin, Katherine, Christina & Kelly R. (you guys sort of got lost in the middle for a little bit – sorry, I thought I had already responded!). Kristin, I love the way your school has blocked a content area with Language Arts. It seems as though your building does have a good start and all it takes is one person trying out some great ideas and chatting about it, before someone else wants to come in and check out what’s going on!! You get that ball rolling this year! You’ve set some incredible goals for yourself…hang two big signs up on your wall saying: PURPOSE & AUDIENCE! Katherine, you also set some great goals for you and your students this coming year. I wish you much success as you incorporate the optimal learning model into your classroom instruction. Christina, you’ve written another strong list of goals, one of the most important probably being the conferring piece. As to answering you question about 6+1 Traits and Regie’s framework for teaching genre….I think that the year needs to be divided into mixed units of Process, Genre, Craft (or strategy), even & Conventions). And in order to do the best to fit them all in…they need to be smaller units, they can’t last 6 weeks. Lit Life has developed a wonderful series of books, The Complete 4 for Literacy: How to Teach Reading and Writing Through Daily Lessons, Monthly Units, and Yearlong Calendars. They are published by Scholastic and are just amazing resources that actually give you sample year long curriculum calendars. I can go on and on…but check out the books, they’ll help answer your questions!!! Kelly R., it sounds as though you’ve but a lot of thought into your reconstruction of your writing curriculum. I think it’s great that you are asking parents to be such an integral component! Best wishes as you strive to achieve your goals.
ReplyDeleteAs I stated in the post above, even though I may not have responded to some of your previous assignments, I know you have completed them and have sent each of your names in to TINT with an “A”. Thanks for participating, and have a great year!
This book/class has been very worthwhile for me because it has really made me think about what I do as a writing teacher and the effectiveness of my instruction. This upcoming year, my writing goals are:
ReplyDelete1) Write at least 25 minutes a day.
2) Be better at offering praise and celebrating student writing.
3) Model the entire writing process, pre-writing, writing with my internal dialogue, and how I revise/edit my writing.
4) More shared writing.
5) Publish more short pieces.
The balance between my home-life and my work-life is good. I’ll stay after work a couple times a week to grade papers, plan, or conference with parents, but I always make it home in time for dinner. I simply won’t allow my job consume my life.
I enjoyed the pace and independent nature of this course, as well as the discourse that followed. I'll copycat the list format for my goals this year to simplify and clarify:
ReplyDelete1. In the beginning of the year I need to sit down and review all the lessons that I felt were very successful in the previous year. Thus I have a jumping board (starting point).
2. I need to analyze all the things that were not so successful and decide how I will work to improve in those areas. I've gotten a few new tools over the training I took this summer and I can definitely incorporate several new techniques.
3. I need to review and reread the new book selections that I have ordered for my classroom and decide how I will make the literature comprehensible and enriching to my students and how to extend the reading into writing.
4. I need to remember to go slower, deconstruct and model clearly where needed, so student can be successful when going into guided and then independent work.
5. I will have high expectations (as I always do).
6. We will celebrate and share successful, good writing. Students will feel proud of their accomplishments.
7. I will vary the output and publishing process, small books, poems, newspaper, power point, speech, poster, brochure, etc. so students can get a taste for the various types of writing and not get bored.
I look forward to starting this year ;-)
Brad & Lily, thanks for sharing your goals! Your students are lucky to have such reflective teachers. Both of you have chosen to include more modeling in your instruction, and I think you will see very quickly what an impact it will have on the students’ writing. Best of luck as you begin a new year and thanks for participating in our class. I have sent both of your grades in as A’s.
ReplyDelete