Welcome to Writing Essentials! We look forward to working and learning with you. In order for everyone to get the most out of the course, please be sure to read and respond to each others comments. Please try to keep your responses within one allotted "comment" space to ensure that the blog remains manageable for all participants :)
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? 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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Hi my name is Jamie Semrad and I am a second grade teacher in Oregon City, Oregon. This is my 5 year teaching and my third year teaching second grade. I have also taught Kindergarden and sixth grade. This year I am very lucky to have only 22 students in my class. I have the smallest class at my school, some of the other grades have over 36 students!
ReplyDeleteI do have instructional support from a literacy coach and instructional assitants, since we are a Title One school.
Last May I completed my Masters with a Reading Specialist Endorsement. Included in this degree I did take classes on writing instruction in the reading classroom. I have also received training in Step Up to Writing, but have chosen not to use it in my classroom. I do a writing workshop style using the four square graphic organizer to teach organization.
I do enjoy teaching and am very excited about this school year because I have a new teaching partner that I am able to share/ recieve ideas from and work with.
My husband Dan is also a teacher and works at St. Mary's Hign School teaching honors chemistry and biology. This is his first year of teaching, so he is expereincing teacher dreams for the first time!
I also live on a Christmas tree farm with my saint bernard puppy, Troller. We all enjoy camping, wakeboarding, and chicken farming (we have 24 birds...)
I hope to get out of this course tools to become a better writing teacher. I really enjoy regies other books and am excited to learn something new!
Jamie Semrad
Welcome Jamie! Wow!!!!! 24 birds! Very cool :)
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that you've been able to experience such a wide range of teaching experiences (grade levels). I do think you'll enjoy Regie's book and come away with some great ideas that will support your reading instruction.
Hi! My name is Lisa and I am a fifth grade teacher in the Centennial School District at Butler Creek Elementary. This is my third year of teaching, but my first year at this school. I taught in Oregon City School District my first year of teaching (4th/5th blend) and was only temporary, so I moved to Centennial School District (Lynch Wood Elementary). I taught fifth grade there and then got RIFed. I was lucky enough to be re-hired, but at a new school. So… here I am. I have a class of 27 students and 5 of the kids are on IEP’s. At this point, I don’t have any help in my classroom, but these kids will be supported out of the room for about an hour each day.
ReplyDeleteThe reading program at my school is a Balanced Literacy approach, with whole group, small group, and individual work. I am implementing parts of the Daily 5 as well, to help me meet with more kids.
While I was in Oregon City, I was trained in the Step Up to Writing format, but never became proficient at it. This year, our school has adopted “Writing Essentials” as part of our writing agreement. I thought this was the perfect way to get to know the book more thoroughly! I have always been hesitant about teaching writing because I just feel that I am not very effective at it. I have found it frustrating when I see kids making the same mistakes over and over, or when they just hate it. I am so excited to use this approach though. I have already begun implementing the “Celebrate first” idea. I want to begin this year with a completely different perspective on writing.
I LOVE teaching. I feel so lucky that I have found something that I love to do and that I can hopefully make a difference by doing. I try to stretch myself to be better and learn more each year.
On a personal note, I have been married to my husband Mike for five years. We have two dogs (who I write about for the kids) named Busta and Fender. I love to run and read and just relax. I hope to become a better writing instructor and a better teacher overall from taking this course!
Welcome Lisa! How exciting that you're school is "adopting" Writing Essentials. I think that you will find that the text will offer you a lot of writing support that will help you to be more confident in teaching writing to your students. I was also RIFed last year, and am now in my 2nd year in a new school - new district. Last year was a tough year of transition, but this year is already so much better and I'm so happy I've made the move, even after 13 years in my old school. Soooooo....best of luck this year in your new school, and welcome to the course!
ReplyDeleteHello! My name is Teri and I am beginning my 10th year of teaching. I work at Gresham Barlow School District where I have taught middle school ELD classes for 5 years now. I really enjoy the challenge of helping ELL students gain English proficiency. Over the years, what I teach has been evolving, but one thing that seems constant is writing - it is the true test of language proficiency, but rewarding because it is a skill that can show real improvment over time. I am a fan of the 4 square method, even though I know Routeman looks down on it...I agree it is not a one size fits all, but have found it to be a proven tool for my student population because it is so concrete. However, I don't want to be limited to one tool and I'm hoping to find are other ways that will help my students gain writing proficiency.
ReplyDeleteHi Teri and welcome! It sounds as though you are an enthusiastic teacher and look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on writing. I agree that there may be some children who need more supports(ie. 4 square)as they increase their writing skills.
ReplyDeleteHi. My name is Tod. I am sorry to be joining the discussion about one month late! Hopefully, I can catch up to wherever everyone else is. I am a fourth grade teacher in Riverdale. It is my first year at Riverdale. Previously, I have been teaching in California and in international schools in China. Teaching writing has always been the subject area where I feel the most uncomfortable. I think mainly because there are so many different types of writing and so many different definitions of strong writing. I hope to gain a more structure approach to teaching writing in my classroom from this course. I currently am using the the writing workshop format outlined in Lucy Caulkin's books but am excited to gain exposure to another system.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I am very happy at work. It is a positive work environment, and the students are great. The district is a supportive place to work and my students have access to additional literacy support from school librarian. The district also works hard to keep class sizes small which increases the opportunity for individualized instruction. Test scores overall have historically been very high, however, there is room for improvement in writing at the fourth grade level.
Thanks for organizing the course, and I look forward to learning specific techniques that I can learn in the classroom.
Welcome Tod...no worries - we seem to be meandering along this semester, so you are not far behind. How awesome to have the experiences of teaching abroad! I think you'll find consistencies between Lucy Calkins and Regie Routman...Regie just isn't as structured. I hope you enjoy the course. Let us know if you ever need anything.
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ReplyDeleteHello! My name is Alicia Carrigan. I just discovered and signed up for this course yesterday, so I apologize for being late in joining the conversation. I will work hard to catch up, though!
ReplyDeleteI teach 7th grade Language Arts for an online public charter school called Oregon Connections Academy. All of my students work online from home, as do I. I have been a licensed teacher for two years, but before that, I also taught English to high school students in Soissons, France and I was a writing lab tutor as an undergrad.
This year, I have a fairly large class—170 students. Teaching online is a fun and unique experience, especially as a writing teacher. I joined this writing class because I want to examine the difference between assigning writing and teaching writing. It sometimes feels like I spend my time fixing and grading my student’s papers instead of teaching them. I’d like to do more modeling and group practice. I’m always looking for new instructional ideas; I’m still building my teaching resources and repertoire.
Outside of school, I love to travel, read, and discover tasty new restaurants. I live in Beaverton with my husband, Beau, and our grumpy grey cat, Minou. (Her name is French for “kitty.”)
Hello, my name is Yvonne Brayko. I'm an 8th grade teacher at St. Pius X Catholic School in the Beaverton area. I've been teaching for 14 wonderful, challenging, and memorable years. I do love my work and appreciate the opportunities I have to work with kids. I was a 6th grade homeroom teacher at another Catholic school for several years before coming to this school. Last year was my first year as the 8th grade homeroom teacher. In addition to teaching 8th grade language arts, I'm also teaching 8th grade science (basic chemistry and physics), 7th grade science (Earth science), and 8th grade religion. There are 30 students in each of my classes. We have a learning specialist at our K-8 school, but she works primarily with the younger grades.
ReplyDeleteI've taken many courses in language arts over the years. I too, have used Lucy Calkins methods and books to guide me. I try very hard to integrate reading and writing instruction into my science and religion classes. I think it's important for the kids to know that reading and writing are the basis for understanding and doing well in all other subjects.
Last year was a new kind of journey for me as I tried to get my students ready for high school. I found a lot of good resources that helped me. However, I wanted to do a better job reaching the students who struggle with writing and see it as a chore. Finding ways that I can make the writing process more meaningful and less tedious for them is a high priority for me this year.
I found this class last weekend and signed up. I'm delighted with what I've found in the book so far! Although much of it seems geared to younger grades, I've already found many useful things I can use ~ and that's just with browsing through it. I'm especially excited about the new ideas for my writing conferences. I look forward to the more in-depth connections I'll make with the book though this class.
I've been married for 30 years, have 3 terrific kids and 2 precious grandsons. I love to hike, garden, and read. My husband and I thoroughly enjoy traveling and learning about other cultures. I've also been fascinated with Oregon's beauty and geology as I've explored our state.
Hi and welcome to both Alicia and Yvonne! We’re glad you’ve joined the course! Wow Alicia – what a cool job you have. Do you use a Wikki, Blackboard or blog to communicate with your students? Is this an alternative to home schooling for parents? It definitely seems as though you have a very large case load of students. Yvonne, how wonderful to hear from a middle school content area teacher who believes that we all need to work together towards getting our children to become better readers and writers. As we go, if you feel you’re having difficulty transferring some of Regie’s thinking to your grade level, let me know and I’ll see if I can’t help you out!
ReplyDeleteHello. My name is Hope Long and I am honored to be a second grade teacher for the Beaverton, Oregon school district. After the budget scares of last year, I was relieved and elated to learn in late July, that I would be returning to my third year of teaching second grade for this district.
ReplyDeleteI get to teach at an amazing elementary school called Fir Grove Elementary. Our school works hard to build a strong sense of community, and we find that it helps all of our students, families and staff feel more connected and willing to work hard in every way possible to help support each other. I currently have only 23 students in my class and we are a close group.
As I mentioned, this is my third year of teaching. I have been lucky to have remained at the same school and same grade level for these three years. During my student teaching, I taught both second and fourth grade at another Beaverton school. I come to teaching as a second career and feel like I am one of the lucky few who is able to work while following their passion. After graduating with an undergraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism, I spent five years in marketing & advertising. I got an opportunity to work on some really exciting accounts, but never quite felt as though I loved what I was doing. Teaching always gives me a sense of fulfillment. I often tell others who question my decision to leave advertising that, “my worst day of teaching is still better than my best day in marketing.”
As I am teaching at a Title I school, we are very lucky to have some exceptional instructional support. We have a reading specialist who helps with our most intensive needs, an instructional coach who helps us plan instruction and gives support in whatever area we request, and I have an instructional assistant who spends 60 minutes with my class every day helping to deliver literacy instruction. We are allotted 90 minutes for literacy instruction every day and for this time; I am currently using the Daily 5 structure, CAFÉ whole group mini-lessons, one-on-one student reading conferences and small-guided reading groups.
Writing instruction at our school is completed outside of the literacy block. Due to a decision of our instructional review committee (of which I am a member) to have a sacred writing time that is built into our schedule and honored by all to allow for writing to not get pushed aside, we have built into our schedule a forty minute writing block four times a week. I have expanded this to fifty-minute block five times a week. Our school has a few writing curriculum options from which to choose. In our Harcourt literacy curriculum there are writing lessons and we have also adopted the Lucy Calkins curriculum.
One of the best benefits of being in a bigger district is the opportunities available for professional development. I have had the opportunity to receive training as a beginning teacher in establishing a Writer’s Workshop. I have had the training and coursework for Write to Learn to help me integrate more writing opportunities into my content instruction and I have had two full-day classes on best practices in writing instruction.
On top of teaching full-time, I also work a part-time job. This takes up some evenings and some of my weekends, so I at this point in my life I don’t have a lot of time for outside interests. I am the staff member who never has anything exciting to share after the weekend at lunchtime in the staff room. I do however, like to workout a couple of times a week, catch the occasional movie, and visit family when I have a chance.
Cheers. HL
Welcome to our course Hope! How wonderful to have another person join the course who so obviously loves their work with students each day. I absolutely love the CAFÉ…I just saw The Sisters in a 1 day workshop in Rockland ME (a 6 hour ride from CT…but totally worth it!!!).
ReplyDeleteJealous. I would LOVE to see the sisters. They are close to us, but it is rare for them to present in our area.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be short because I spent 40 minutes writing a long post and it was deleted and I don't have the time or heart to do it all again.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Amy and I am currently teaching fifth grade during the non-literacy part of the day. This is my third year teaching; I taught third grade literacy during the past two years. I was transferred to my current half-time position, but not by my choice. I have 28 students in my class.
My previous literacy program consisted of students rotating to new task each day. These tasks included a guided reading lesson with me, independent reading, partner reading, student-led book club discussion, and a reading journal in which students summarized and drew their current chapter or book and then responded to one of three weekly prompts. I had the most incredible instructional assistant and we made a strong team that was able to see great results in students abilities.
I have completed my masters with a reading endorsement, but have not taken the test yet. I am not satisfied with the education I received with this program and don't feel that any of the courses I took, with a single exception, gave me anything that will benefit my students reading. I have not received any training in teaching writing during my bachelors or masters program or from my district. We are held accountable for student assessment progress in writing, but as far as I can see, we are not being given any skills that will help us to help our students. So, here I am!
I absolutely, positively could not love teaching any more than I do, but I am not happy at work. This is way too long of a story for here.
My son is attending Oregon Virtual Academy for his seventh grade year and possibly for his eighth grade year next year. I teach him in the morning, teach fifth grade in the afternoon, and in my spare time am helping my older two children and their significant others with their college writing and math courses. I guess children and teaching are my life in many ways. I also have a wonderful husband who works even harder and many more hours than I do so we see each other...well, not often enough!
I am hoping to use information gained from this course to work on developing a writing program for my future students and for ways that I can help improve this years students writing through my teaching of content areas.
I am now going to post this before it disappears like the longer one did!
Hi Amy and welcome to the course. I’m not sure why your post got deleted, but I’m sorry it did…we’ve never had that happen to anyone. In the future, it might be helpful to save your posts in a Word document before trying to post to the blog!!! It sounds as though you’ve had an interesting/unique teaching career as short as it’s been. I’ve never heard of anyone teaching only ½ day fifth grade. I felt the same way you do about my Master’s program. I really didn’t learn anything until I took my sixth year in Reading. I think that across the country, colleges are doing a disservice to both teachers (and students) in how they prepare teachers to teach!!! I hope that this course provides you with some insight into writing instruction for your classroom. Just a reminder that all coursework is due 12/5.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone. Please excuse my (very) late entry into the course. It took me over a month to receive my copy of the book! Alas, I will spend the next few days catching up to you!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Scott Rodman. After teaching in inner-city Detroit with Teach For America for three years, I decided to get into international teaching. I met my wife at the American School in Mexico City, where I taught Spanish for three years. In the fall of 2008 we moved to Bucharest, Romania, where I am now in my second year of teaching fourth grade. Although I taught one year of fifth grade in Detroit, I only consider my last two years as real experience as a writing teacher.
I was quite fortunate last year to teach with a writing guru, who is a big fan of both Regie Routman and Lucy Calkins. She is most excited about Lucy and the Teachers College units of study in writing, which we are slowly adopting as a school. In fact, our school hired a Teachers College writing consultant to team teach with us for a week earlier this year.
I am also fortunate to be teaching in a school that takes no state tests. We use beginning-of-year, mid-year and end-of-year writing prompts, as well as data from MAP testing to inform our instruction. However, we don’t have any literacy time interrupted to conduct MAP or any other standardized tests. Since the beginning of last year, I have seen my students’(and my own) writing abilities improve greatly as a result of implementing the writing workshop.
Outside of school, I enjoy travelling. The main reason my wife and I have chosen to teach overseas is to explore different countries and cultures; we feel fortunate to be able to do so. I also enjoy playing sports like basketball, soccer, hockey, and Ultimate Frisbee on the weekends. Finally, when there is time, my wife and I like taking turns in the kitchen. Travelling, sports, as well as cooking help my wife and me keep the stresses of school in check.
By reading Writing Essentials and reflecting on Regie’s suggestions, I hope to distill my writing instruction. I would like to get more bang for my buck by reducing the long hours it takes me to plan and teach effective lessons. I would also like to learn strategies to minimize my talking time and maximize the time my students spend actually writing.
Welcome Scott…how wonderful to have our very first international student participating in our course! I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of work with different people from Teachers College also…but how cool that you’re actually working with someone from there in Romania!!! We look forward to hearing about your thoughts on writing!
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