ASSIGNMENT EIGHT: WRITTEN REFLECTION- Sections Four and Five- Advocacy Is Also Essential and Teaching In Action: Lesson Essentials
Read Writing Essentials Chapters 11-12 and Section Five. Reflect on the comments below and any additional reactions you have after reading these chapters. Post your thoughts to the course blog.
Chapter 11: Build on Best Practice and Research
• What are some of the key research findings most relevant to writing instruction?
• What are the practices of highly effective teachers?
• How can you be part of the ongoing professional development discussions in your building?
• What about test scores? What are the characteristics of high performing schools?
• Think twice before adopting a “program”
Regie begins this chapter sharing her experiences doing residencies in schools and the surprising (and delightful) discovery that whole school cultures changed during the course of their work improving literacy instruction. As she said, “This is what education should be about…whole schools working together so that all students (can) succeed.” How is the climate/culture in your school? On your team? One reason we continue to look to Regie for inspiration is that we feel she is so practical. There is not one right way or method to teach writing. “That is why formulas, programs and recipes don’t work. Every context, school and person is different and has different needs. Literacy is not a set of acquired or learned skills.”
Chapter 12: Make Every Minute Count
• You need to “REDUCE THE PAPER LOAD!!!”
• What can we do that will save us time and allow us to focus more on meaningful instruction?
• Regie states, “Take more time to see the light!” Don’t get bogged down with daily worksheets and isolated exercises.
Though this chapter is short it is full of valuable ideas and reminders! Regie reminds us in this chapter to stop and reflect about what we are doing in the classroom. Ask yourself: Is this the best use of my time? Is what I’m about to do going to help my students become more joyful and accomplished readers, writers and thinkers?
“It might be that the best use of your time is to read a professional book, see a movie, visit with a friend. Sharing your experiences with your students may be a more useful way to get them to think about their writing than marks and comments on a paper.” “It’s hard to come to school all excited about teaching if you’ve spent hours the night before pouring over papers.” It is a disservice to our students and ourselves “if our out-of-school time is all about paperwork.” In fact, “Teachers’ comments on students’ papers do little to improve writing, even if the comments are positive ones. It is far more effective to conference with students and focus on specific writing issues with the student at your side.”
Also “(b)e sure that most of your writing time is devoted to writing, not preparing for writing or doing activities about writing. Safeguard sustained writing time; it’s critical for becoming a writer. Limit take-home work for students too, and place more emphasis on free-choice reading. Having more reading experiences positively impacts growth in writing skills.”
Regie closes this chapter by reminding us to breathe, relax and enjoy writing- and your life! “One way to reduce stress and have more energy for teaching and advocacy is to have a life outside of school. I worry about teachers and principals who work twelve-hour days. I have seen no research that shows educators who work the longest hours get the best results or that longer reading and writing projects teach more about reading and writing. Keep evaluating whether what you’re staying late for-or the hours of work you take home- will help your students become more effective readers and writers.”
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Assignment #8 Ch. 11-12
ReplyDeleteBuild on Best Practice and Research/Make Every Minute Count
My kindergarten coworker is currently taking the Reading Essentials class so we are able to share our theories and rethink our practices together. As a school we are in a huge transition as we develop our PLCs and our School Wide Plan for Title I. We are questioning how we teach, what are strengths and weaknesses are, and how we provide intervention and extension that is appropriate for our Power Standards and Oregon State Standards. I like the quote from the National Commission on Writing: “Effective writing is essential, not merely to the nations economic well-being but to its future as a vibrant, informed, and humane society. Doesn’t that make us feel like we have the biggest job in the world?! So if we’re heading in a new, more cohesive direction as a school, we have to know that “meaningful change doesn’t happen in a day”, and that if we commit to employing meaningful approaches, we’ll get higher writing results.
Rather than just adopting a package, a program, we should write every day, build a community of sharing writing, bond with our students, develop as professionals (rather than sticking to one thing and secluding ourselves in our rooms), and create routines. I used to be more scheduled, showing the kids their daily schedule. For some reason I felt that it was so inflexible so I didn’t commit to a certain pattern for the day. Of course we have our daily plans and times, we have structure and high expectations, but I also leave room for leaving something for tomorrow if I see fit based on how the children are progressing or what their interest level is. I work very hard on lesson plans, but I also see the need for implementing what I am learning (such as in this class) at the risk of throwing out or putting on hold other stuff.
I agree with Regie that writing is good for problem-solving and personal reflection. Often I can communicate better through thoughtful writing, or at least communicate better orally after writing my thoughts down. Plus I am so dependent on note-taking in learning environments (classes, staff meetings, church, etc.).
We need to invest time in research, safeguard reading and writing time, and always ask “does this lesson improve my kids’ reading and writing?” We need to hold kids accountable for listening—“how many of you got ideas as you listened to others speak?”
I answered the true/false questionnaire in Appendix A. I don’t think everything of the students’ writing should be read, but I do feel that pressure. I don’t agree that everything should be published. I think conferences should be teacher-led to be directed and provide a learning opportunity. Revising and editing ARE different. Revising makes the story more meaningful and comprehensible, while editing makes it sound correct. I am learning that spelling does matter! (Even though I encourage phonetic spelling). I am hoping to hold kids more accountable. The spelling/editing conference starting on p.346 was particularly helpful. I went right to school and found a great opportunity to talk about carets! Also, I am totally distracted as a teacher when the room is talking. I know a lot of processing takes place orally, but I think that I would like to have that occur outside of writing time (maybe take writing breaks or something).
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the 5 Day Lesson Plans and the narrative writing secrets such as talking to partners, changing your minds, changing words, putting self in story, and using detail, I want to work with my students on adding detail. It takes time and patience to get the students to go deeper, but I think it will help and set a higher standard. An author from our Authors class recently said “have placeholders (as words, titles, characters, etc.) to come back to later” so as not to get stuck on something that’s not pertinent to the story. I like that!
In all honesty we’ve taken so many surveys and have held so many conversations that I think we’ve answered some of the questions from Appendix A. But we do need to come together as a staff in our teaching—we need to try to be more open to other ways of doing things. As we’ve bridged 4 schools through cuts in our district our staff is very “new”! We need leadership and willingness to work together in best practices and definitely make every minute count rather than fill up the day.
To me, the whole book is summed up in one question from Chapter 12. “So what? “ It’s a great reminder and an easy to remember question. Just because something is fun (or challenging) doesn’t mean it’s a worthwhile learning activity.
ReplyDeleteChapter 11
I am a sucker for any advice with the word sane in it, because I do believe that the teaching profession can get insane and off track chasing the latest trends in order to appear “cutting-edge”. Our lower grades recently adopted a new literacy series, and though I think they did a thorough job, I don’t remember anyone looking at independent research, which is a great and sane suggestion. I don’t use any reading series and rarely use the English text but the lower grades are required to do this. The suggestions on p. 261 would be helpful for those lower grade teachers.
From the list of key research findings I have selected three as my priorities:
Recognize influence of conversations and a language-rich classroom, introduce writing as a problem-solving tool, and invite students to tap personal experiences. I will show more of students’ writing to the whole class so we can look at what’s good and what suggestions everyone can come up with for improvement. After thinking some about how to use writing as a problem-solving tool, it may actually be easier than I thought. We could write about tough grammar concepts – making class books about verbs or possessives that include explanations, examples, and perhaps a story using the concepts correctly. Much of our writing ties in with our study of ancient history. With a little thought, I can come up with ways to tap personal experiences. They can put themselves into ancient times, compare those days to today, or lead a tour of ancient sites.
Chapter 12
After twenty-three years, I think I finally have a handle on limiting the work I take home. I have accomplished this in two ways…by actually having the students write more, but shorter pieces, which seem more manageable. I don’t waste precious energy dreading the piles of papers and looking for excuses to put them off. Writing can be practiced more effectively with frequent, shorter pieces.
I have also limited the comments I write on their work. Regie says that students mostly ignore the written comments anyway. When I realized this many years ago, I began to implement some activities so that they would pay attention to the comments. I may have them rewrite the assignment, or I may have them write me a response to my comments, telling me how they would improve it or what they think about my comments.
I notice that in the “Eliminate Daily Worksheets” section, Regie does offer advice for those who still use skill work, and it seems like very sensible advice: carefully observe whether the students are transferring the knowledge. I like the idea of having students write the daily language sentences. What about using sentences from students’ actual work for the daily language exercises?
Regie’s “best advice” becomes the second part of this book to be copied and put into my plan book. I love the simplicity! (But is it that simple?)
Chapters 11 and 12:
ReplyDeleteRegie encourages us to be knowledgeable about relevant research, and says that we must be the ones to advocate publicly for sane, excellent, and sensible practices. I find this helpful when working with some of my colleagues, as well. I have some teachers(general education) that seem to want me to "fix" the special education students that I work with, with "quick fixes". Of course, there really isn't any quick fix, and I need to remind the teachers that we are looking for continued progress. This morning I was talking to a gen. educ. teacher that was very focused on reading (state test scores)and she wanted me to teach to the test. I encourage the teachers to look at where the students were performing on the state assessment last year, and compare it to the student's current progress. The problem I run into, is I think that the teacher wants these students to be performing right up there with their peers, RIGHT NOW! In order for us to be "sane" about the whole testing issue, we need to approach it sensibly, carefully assessing student growth as we go along (with formal and informal assessments).
On p.263, Regie (and research) say that students need to write EVERYDAY. I think this is my new mantra with my students that I work with in the Learning Center. I have been more intentional about having students write everyday, and giving them LOTS of kudos (and support) for doing it. So far, so good. I'm seeing students write more and that's a very good sign! Another area of teaching writing that I need to remain mindful is that of allowing students a lot of time to write. Sometimes (probably due to deadlines) I may expect a student to work faster. It's important that they have the time they need to think and write.
We are working as a school staff on teaching writing well. So far this year we have made some progress because we are TALKING about it, SHARING writing samples and strategies. I think it's a strong beginning toward helping our students become better writers.
Regie includes "The Secrets Of Good Writers" on p. 282. I definitely could use this list, posted on the classroom wall. It states so positively what good writers need to do. I especially like: "Reread as they go. It helps their thinking". Regie's "best advice" on p.287 cuts right to the core and reminds us what is important in teaching writing. I'm so glad that Regie takes the time to remind us to live our lives and breathe. In the long run, this is what will really help us to teach well and live well.
Section 5:
ReplyDeleteAgain Regie offers us teachers many resources and ideas in this section. She reinforces the idea of gradually releasing responsibility to students after showing them how (demonstration, shared demonstration, guided practice, and independent practice) to make them more likey to be successful. She also reinforces the writing process, no matter what the writing genre:
*selecting an audience
*read,examine, discuss examples and characteristics of genre
*Write a piece in front of students
*Write a piece together
*Talk before writing
* Provide sustained writing time
Conference w/ students
*Share, celebrate, and reflect.
*Proofread and edit
*Publish
I know that I can refer to this list above as a reminder when working with students. In addition, it's a list of strategies that may ebb and flow depending on the actual assignment expectation. I do appreciate the reminder to "talk" before writing. I find this is especially helpful with some of my struggling writers.
I think I could write a "This I Believe" essay on all the things I have come to believe about writing with students, based on the research and experiences I have had with teaching writing these past few weeks.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things I have learned from this book and the blog discussions is that all the "out of context", or out of the own writing work, we have been doing in class to seemingly help with writing - has really not been helping with writing at all. Reducing the paper load, and getting back to the enjoyment of writing, because the students want to write, is the key.
I really enjoyed the list created on page 271 that shows the comparison between what the teachers used to do in fourth grade for writing, and what they do know. I have started my own list for comparison to how my writing instruction has changed in just four short weeks. It is amazing
- no DOL that is out of context - we edit our work as we write, reread, write and reread some more
- more celebration and collaborative writing (so fun)
- more learner independence (but we have a way to go)
- more modeling!
I would like to get to more professional conversations about writing. I believe that the support of other teachers is so essential, and that although our school is dedicated to improving writing, the conversation needs to continue among the grades. I need to know what the earlier grade teachers are working on with the students and grow on their good foundations. I do know that one of the other 4th grade teachers at this school will be taking this class this summer, so I am excited about our future conversations in developing lessons for our writers. We will both have these same students next year for 5th grade (they loop) so it will be even more impressive to see how they grow next year.
I am glad that our school has not adopted, and does not plan to adopt, a "planned writing curriculum". I have not done one specific writing worksheet or writing program activity and the students and I are having so much fun. What a difference - and we are writing every day. There are no groans anymore when I ask students to take out their journals for our informational writing activity. They also love to share - and celebrate. I have been able to relax, spend time enjoying the content of my student's writing, and feel like I have more progress with them than in the past 4 months together - for that I am so grateful!
Thanks Lauren, Katy, Erin, and Jenni for your reflections on Section Five. Lauren – I think we do have the biggest job in the world…maybe next to Doctors who have to keep the kids healthy and alive :). It sounds like your school is in an exciting period of time…even more so, because you can be in position to make positive changes on the learning that happens in your building. Developmentally, I think it’s appropriate for your kids to be spelling phonetically, with the exception of some sight words that have been taught and a focus of class instruction….putting them up on a word wall and holding them accountable would be completely acceptable. Katy – I also love the “So what?” and am wanting to chat with my son’s teaching about this idea…there is so much that comes home that just seems to have no purpose, especially the homework. Maybe there is some way you can share some of these ideas with your more “primary” colleagues? I completely agree with you – I think that writing MORE but SHORTER pieces is a huge key to the writing success in your classroom. Erin – I agree that the idea of “continued progress” is so important. We’re dealing with RTI, which I’m sure many in the country are…and there are professionals in the district that feel if the child hasn’t made “enough” growth, than a complete change in instruction need to happen. Sometimes the students just need more TIME, and as long as there is an upward swing in the growth curve…then a change in instruction isn’t necessarily needed. Jenni – it really is about bringing the joy back to the writing work…and less paperwork is DEFINITELY a welcomed benefit!!! Would it be possible for you to launch a book study (maybe using this book) with other colleague in your building? I’m so psyched to read about all of your writing success with your students.
ReplyDeleteJackie and Mary -
ReplyDeleteI have already shared part of this book with one other new teacher at my school, and one of our 'seasoned' teachers will be taking this class this summer. I am psyched to see how we will start next fall - if we all have this writing knowledge in our plans, our lives, and the student's writing, will be fabulous!
Written Reflection: Sections 4 and 5
ReplyDeleteChapter Eleven was confirming for me, but challenging at the same time. The district that I teach in has purchased several writing programs over the past 10 years, and each one only last for a couple of years. We’ve purchased Step-Up to Writing, Four Corners, 6+1, and The Write Source. It does seem that these materials are purchased without paying attention to research. They mostly teach students to write to a certain formula, and are very prescriptive in nature. This is the part that really hit home for me when Regie was referring to programs vs. research. The challenging part is that I am required to use the most recently purchased materials. I will continue to use the parts that seem to really help improve writing, and focus more on quality instruction overall.
Chapter 12 was very thought provoking. I do spend a lot of time at home grading papers, especially for writing. I am starting to see that this is not the best use of my time. The students don’t often read what I have written. The past couple of weeks I have been doing more student conferencing. I already feel that I am seeing better results with this method. When I sit with a kid and look at their writing with them, we work together to improve their writing. This is a challenge I would love to take on. Grading less paper when my kids are tucked away in bed sounds great to me!
Section 5:
In this section, I picked out two lessons that I would like to do with my students. I plan to do the Hero Unit, and the Persuasive Lesson. I think my students will be excited about these two projects. I did take a look at the questions on p. A-2. I learned a lot about myself. My beliefs about writing have definitely changed, and I know it’s for the better. I do not believe that all student writing needs to be read. I do read most of it though. One key belief that has changed for me is that not all work needs to go through the whole process. I’ve been taught to always work through the whole writing process, but I now see that it really bogs the students down. I am excited to see how different writing feels for both me and my students in the future.
I have been talking to my fellow staff members and principal about this class/book. Hopefully our staff will be ready to engage in meaningful discussions about writing soon. Right now the district is focusing on Oregon’s new math standards, but writing is on the radar as the testing pressure increases. As a 4th grade teacher, I am excited to see kindergarten through 5th grade tackling the challenge together.
Sincerely,
Julie
Assignment 8
ReplyDeleteCH 11
Regie emphasizes that the commitment to change takes time. She talks about how she only does follow-ups if the schools have made a commitment to weekly conversations. That really does take commitment. And it would never be successful if it were mandated; it would have to be voluntary. Schools are good at making rules and telling people what to do, but not so good at supporting voluntary efforts like this.
But this same idea hold true for us as well. We can take this course and get our credit, but unless we carry the conversation forward, no real change is going to happen in us or in our schools. That’s the truth I got from this chapter.
I liked how Regie said that the best teachers are not followers but independent thinkers. I agree, but I’m afraid too often I follow because it requires the least amount of energy on my part and no one gets too upset with you that way.
I also was interested in the research that said that “the more peer interaction was spontaneous and less teacher directed, the better the outcomes in writing progress.” I actually get to see these results in practice every day as part of journalism class.
Ch 12
High School English teachers are all gluttons for punishment. Grading essays and tests is a huge burden. While the idea of not grading everything is a nice concept, it’s not a reality in the culture of most schools. Students and parents and administrators in the high school setting want everything to have a grade, a letter grade. I know of a few schools where the culture is different; however, my school is pretty hard core about having everything a student does count for something. The vice-principal for academics calls the daily homework assignments that we give good grades to students just for doing “low hanging fruit.” But these daily assignments tend to be worksheets or out of context practice. We reward going through the motions of doing the work, not the quality or understanding.
I have already spoken to the philosophy and practices that my school has implemented over the past 7 years since we have been open. Unfortunately we have been required to teach reading according to the constraints of the Reading First grant for the past 3 years. Fortunately, we are transitioning out of that grant, and over the next few years, hopefully moving in the direction of a more balanced approach, like we had before the grant. As I have learned over the past 6 years, change takes time. Our school, being a School wide Title One School, just having adopted a new math program that is very different than what we are use to, as well as having our leadership out with health issues, we haven’t quite been able to take that time this year to examine our current literacy practices.
ReplyDeleteFor the last three years our staff has been working together to develop a common philosophy and language around writing. As mentioned in my introductory paragraph we have developed anchor papers for each grade as well as rubrics, we have done several required book clubs, had great discussions, developed common editing marks, etc. Our writing scores have gone up each year that we have been focusing on writing. However, every two years our district changes its focus. We are now onto math. I would love for our school to continue our conversations around writing and extend it to including reading. I think that we are on the right track for writing and would love to continue the conversation.
As a district, before I went out on medical then maternity leave, was on our districts writing task force to discuss and develop a common philosophy for our schools k-12. It was pretty awesome. The best part was that all of us were in agreement that we did NOT need, nor want an adopted program for writing. We all agreed that no one program would successfully teach our students the art of writing. However, we were working on developing a common language and philosophy so that we can all be on the same page. This was a great process, however I am not participating in it this year because I was out for so many months. I think this is a step in the right direction. I just wish that we would be able to think this way for reading as well.
For now, I will try to encourage our staff to continue these conversations, start more of those conversations with my team, and focus on what I can do in my own classroom to promote and extend this type of learning throughout all subjects.
As far as “reduce(ing) the paper load!!” My team and our school as a whole, is very anti-worksheet staff. Even with our Reading First Grant, where students had their own 250-page workbook, we didn’t fall into that trap. Worksheets aren’t fun for the kids and they surely aren’t helping us be excited about our job as teachers. Personally I am very conscious of every book to my students, every art project planned, that they are connected, well thought out and purposeful. There aren’t enough minutes in the day to teach and explore everything that we need to, so wasting time isn’t an option.
“Trust your professional common sense and your own successful teaching experiences.” Page 261. If words could jump of the page these would for me. I think going through this book chapter by chapter has helped reinforce the beliefs I have in teaching language as a “whole” rather than partition lessons into subgroups of language- reading, spelling, writing, speaking and don’t forget listening. So many of our students are so rushed in their lives they have very little experience with the fine art of listening to words come alive.
ReplyDeleteMaking writing time essential to every day is a key lesson I am taking away from Regie. Kids have to have time to explore words in their own way and time. Each student is different therefore each student is going to need plenty of time to write that is given in a consistent daily schedule. I like the idea of creating writing routines. I have many writing routines in my classroom but I think by clearly defining them, first to myself, and then to the class will help solidify the matter.
I really feel like photocopying the list , “Some Key Research Findings,” write every day, understand the social contest, encourage parent support, provide support through conferences (so powerful), provide choice, purpose and audience…. All of these approaches combined make the most sense about teaching writing. Our school district has separate programs for spelling, writing, reading… ugh. It’s a lot of programs for teachers to master. I think of all the time I have devoted to learning the programs rather than focusing on the language of writers.
Selecting the right lesson, the right benchmark standard to focus on, the right assignment… is overwhelming at times. There is so much we, as teachers, need to cover for testing that it is easy to lose sight of what is truly important. When I get overwhelmed I try (emphasis on the word try) to take a deep breath and ask the only really important question, “What can do today to help my students learn?”
Now that the writing test is over, we are immediately thrown into reading tests, math tests and science tests…it seems an unending amount of testing pressure and stress for students and teachers alike. Does all this testing really show us what students are learning?
I think the true measurement of a student’s growth is not found in an online assessment data spreadsheet, but in the quiet moments of the classroom when I can look out and see which students are truly in the “mode” of writing. You can almost see the word bubbles appear over the heads as their pencil labor rigorously on paper.
Reading chapter 12 gives me hope that there are other teachers out there in the real world of teaching that have families, care deeply for their students and can admit when teaching becomes overwhelming. I have a great friend who has been teaching English to at risk high school students for 15 years and every summer she goes sailing with her husband for weeks at a time, plans vacations with her friends and basically enjoys every second of the summer. I asked her about it once, and she replied, “I think I am a better teacher when I’m happy.” I believe it.
When I am knee deep in papers that I am correcting I ask myself why- why did I assign this much busy work? I believe that (and research shows) that any work worth correcting should be done with the students. Discussion and thoughtful conversation about assignments is key to learning. I think for writing the most powerful tool is the one-on-one conference. I am taking to heart the advice Regie gives in this chapter about helping kids to see what good writers do and focusing my lesson plans on kid created work rather than photocopies of worksheets.
Thanks for your comments Julie, Hillary, Nicole & Virginia. Julie – I know it’s hard not to get frustrated with the never ending merry-go-round of teaching. I think that change – although usually good…sometimes comes too frequently in the world of education. Therefore as teachers, we need to (whenever possible), make decisions on what we believe to be the best teaching practices…regardless on the new “it” program. I think this is what Regie is saying at the heart of her book. Best of luck with all of your future conferring….it takes a while to get comfortable…but it’s well worth the effort and investment! Hillary – You are so right when you talk about how important it is to have that building support…someone to share your frustrations and successes with along the way. Maybe you and a handful of colleagues could choose a morning to meet ½ hour before the day begins once a week to share either this book, or other professional articles or texts….to both further your own development as well as have others to help you “carry the conversation forward”. Nicole – I wish you luck and success as you transition out of the Reading First grant…take every opportunity that you can to be a leader and move the educational approaches in the building in a better direction. Hopefully you can continue the conversation around writing in some way in your own building, if not the district. I’m sure there are other teachers in the building who would also like the continued support and conversations. Virginia – I think it would be a great idea to establish writing routines as a class. I loved your thought that “the true measurement of a student’s growth is not found in an online assessment data spreadsheet, but in the quiet moments of the classroom when I can look out and see which students are truly in the “mode” of writing.” You are so right…kids just need to be given the opportunity to write and have time with the teacher to talk about the writing and find ways to make the writing better for the audience. Best of luck as you try to find ways around your “knee deep” papers :)
ReplyDeleteChapter 11
ReplyDeleteI found chapter 1 helpful because it provided a kind of score card for me to reflect on what practices myself and my school are engaged in, and what myself and my school can be better in.
Much of the key research findings were intuitive, and I can’t say that I’m surprised by any of the finding. However, that does not mean that we are always actively teaching in a manner that is in line with current research. Therefore, it is nice to see the research provided in this manner. One thing that I need to do, which goes back to an early chapter in the book, is to vary the audiences of my students writing. I’d also like to increase the amount one-on-one conferences with my students and their writing. And, of course, I would like to increase the amount of time my students spend writing in class.
It was also interesting to compare the items in the list of best practices of highly effective teachers with practices that I already use and that my school encourages teachers to use. I feel like I do a pretty good job of teaching shared writing and using student writing to direct instruction. However, I should do a better job on drawing on samples from across grade levels. I also, aside from in professional development classes such this one, have not made an effort to read journals or research about writing and teaching. Another priority for me is to teach my students to assess their own writing. My school has made a concerted effort to teach in professional development sessions things such as the use of data to direct instruction and shared reading and writing. Substitutes are also provided for us if we wish to observe other teachers teach (though I have not yet utilized this), and each week we are given time to work with colleagues and discuss literacy and share our best practices. Often times, these discussions focus a little bit too much on the activity or the test score, rather than the learning outcome. However, by having this structure in place the climate for improving literacy across the school is positive. This is my first year at this particular school, but I feel, that at least within my team that I have participated in helpful discussions about literacy that have improved my instruction.
I know that my district will be adopting Nancy Atwell’s program for writing next year. Since this is my first year in the district, I was not part of any discussion regarding its adoption, so I’m not sure of the process that goes into such an adoption. Having used Atwell’s material before, however, it does seem to be a program that is conducive to the fact that teachers are individuals.
Chapter 12
Regie’s question of “is this the best use of my time?” is essential. I always ask this of my students, making sure that I have a learning goal planned and that we are not wasting class time (I always tell my students that not only does Oregon have one of the shortest school years in the country, but also the world). But I should also ask this of myself. A lot of times I will plan a unit that addresses a certain learning goal, but the time planned for that unit may not be proportional to the importance of the learning outcome. Additionally, it may create a greater workload that prevents me from preparing more meaningful and important instruction.
At my school we are currently using the 6+1 Writing Traits text as our source for teaching writing. There is good information in the book, and I was encouraged when I read it over the summer. Some of the lessons are better than others. What I have found is that as the year has progressed, I have reached for the book fewer and fewer times. While I was excited to teach writing at the beginning of the year, I became less motivated as my “writing block” was being chipped away with “other things” other things that needed to be added to the writing curriculum – like key boarding, cursive. Then I started this class and found myself longing for a true 50-60 minute writing block. That is not going to happen, but what has happened is that I have found my motivation again. The interesting thing I found about chapter 11 and the 6+1 Writing Traits book is that both are believed to be research based and hold the latest/greatest in writing theory. I am not dishing Regie at all, don’t get me wrong. My question is with so many good writing books/programs out there that all claim to be research based, who’s to say which one is best?
ReplyDeleteThe grade level team I am with this year is very committed to working together. While we reference the 6+1 book, some have read this book as well so we are able to incorporate the best of both into our writing program. The struggle is trying to balance what we believe to be important with what the district it mandating to us. It is all a balancing act.
I am a fan of “REDUCE THE PAPER LOAD!!!” Scoring writing papers formally and informally is the most time consuming task known to teachers. My struggle is trying to score fairly and according to student ability –verses- scoring to a rubric equally for everyone. As a parent of a child who was a struggling student well into her college years I strongly feel there has to be a better way to assess students then to view them/score them all equally. I currently have several sets of papers to “score” or comment on. They sit in my “to be corrected” folder … waiting for me to take charge. I worry about what parents will think if I send home papers without written comments, (or worse, spelling corrections) even though I tell myself self that is it the students who should be my concern, not their parents. I bring papers home, and take the right back to school again … untouched. I feel like it it the best use of my time to give feedback and comments while the student is writing, not after the student is finished. Isn’t it my job to help all student write “5” papers? Is it fair that I help one student score a 5 while another only scores a 2? Whose fault is that? I am not talking about state scores, but routine assessments. My goal should be to conference and help every student reach the maximum score … unlikely but one can hope and strive!
I am making a new chart for my classroom: Secrets of Good Writers (page 282). Thank you Regie for all your inspiration!!
I think my school (only 9 people) is on the right track. Just this last Friday we had our first “Writing In-service” where our Special Education Coordinator and veteran teacher had us write an essay! She said we had 15 minutes to write a 5-paragraph essay on what we had learned this year. I knew where she was going from the beginning, but afterward we held a discussion about what things we thought about while we wrote. Others, including myself, talked about the pressure of writing in the time limit, staying focused, comparing ourselves to others around us, and being distracted by sounds, etc. So we talked about what our students need and what it’s like for them when we assign writing to them. It was enlightening for the whole group.
ReplyDeleteSo, I like that Regie makes a point to encourage staff meetings to be more about how to engage and teach our students rather than how many orders of paper we need, or how to walk kids to the busses after class. Also, we’re redefining for ourselves, in this setting, what the state writing scoring guides look like and how to score writing. It was helpful to see where we stand against writing that was scored officially, and therefore to build a foundation of expectations for where our students are currently, and where we’d like them to be. It’s also refreshing to see student writing that come from prompts that don’t feel so formal; that good writing can come from imaginary and narrative prompts rather than just literature-based “educational” writing.
What has hit home for me in this chapter are all the findings, strategies, tips, and suggestions that tell us to make sure writing is connected to “meaningful, social contexts.” To me, this means the students feel someone real is reading their writing, for a real reason. I am still defining this for my own classroom, if I or the students themselves are the only ones reading the work. The letters students sent to family, friends, and teachers during my Business English course seemed as authentic as it gets. We even addressed envelopes and mailed them off. That was exciting to the students to know someone real was going to be looking at their letters.
I really agreed with “Do Not Rely on Formula Writing” on page 276. As teachers, we believe that almost any graphic organizer or worksheet should be helpful, but I like what Regie says here, “Formulaic writing leads to boredom; students are stifled by the rigid format.” I have observed students who have been so paralyzed by the idea of completing an outline that I have created to help them, but they, in turn, feel that it hurts them. However, I’ll still use them for some of my students who work better within a structure that shows them “visually” the progress they’re making with completing sentences.
In Chapter Twelve, what really caught my attention was this phrase on page 284, “There is no research that shows that doing isolated skills work improves writing (or reading).” So my big question is, “Then why do we do it?” It seems to me, there are endless amounts of curriculum around that showcases these individual, isolated skills. I have been using them this year, and the truth is, that although I like what they teach, I have not seen the skills or knowledge transfer over. Just interesting that so many materials are available, where no research is supporting their success.
So, I am going to brag for just a moment. My school won this years Oregon Celebrating Student Success Champion award. It is for closing the gap for low-income/poverty students. So, I know my school is doing a few things right! Currently, my school is making huge transitions for the better when it comes to literacy. We have mandated once a month meeting with our grade-level teammates, reading specialist, and ESL to focus on literacy instruction. This time is used to learn teaching methods, interventions, and ask for support. I enjoy this time because I love having conversations with my co-workers and learning from each other. My school is also working to bring Title and ESL into the classroom, rather then pulling kids out. I heard from someone that great schools don't pull kids out for literacy support during their literacy instruction. I love that and think it is so true. I have some kids who are gone for an hour. So, I am so glad for this new change.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I feel most of the energy is focused on reading and writing is not seen under the umbrella of literacy. We do use the 6+1 traits as our "curriculum". I just feel like we need to have more conversation and support for writing. At least I know I have a lot of room to implement my knowledge of writing. I am also so glad my district hasn't spent the money one a set curriculum. I do take the information for Regie and share it during our meetings.
After reading this book writing seems pretty cut and dry. You have to write to learn to write and do what has proven to work. Regie gives a list of research findings. They are so obvious, but how quickly I forget to put them into action. I don't know why teachers feel we have to add fluff to everything. I really like the form on page 271. It is a great layout for me to reflect on what I have done in the past that wasn't effective and make changes for the future.
Chapter 12
I am guilty, I have many times wasted valuable writing time. For whatever reason I did it I was cheating my students of every opportunity to become better. I would justify a worksheet because it involved writing or practiced a writing skill. Something that Regie mentioned and I saw in an observation is setting a goal or target for each lesson and writing that on the board for the class before teaching. This way I am held accountable by my students and the students know there is a purpose behind their task. I am going to keep the timesavers list on page 286 handy. These thoughts of Regie's will help me give my writing instruction a stronger purpose and help me avoid nonsense work. And with that, a big exhale!
Thanks Derek, Clara, Lindsay, and Jennifer for your comments on this last section. It’s a great section to get you reflection both on your own writing instruction practices as well as considering your entire schools’ writing goals. Derek, I think that you will enjoy both the instruction and the support that Regie’s program will provide. I wish my district had considered buying her program for PD. Clara – I think that the 6+1 Writing Traits is a great program, especially for teachers who are not that comfortable in teaching writing. I myself am not a “writer” and needed to have the specifics laid out for me. I don’t think that there is one best, but that they all have components…and Regie’s isn’t a “program”. I think that conferring will support you in addressing the needs of your writers “with” them rather than “for” them. Lindsay – I didn’t realize that your school was so small, but it does seem as though you have a supportive environment. I completely agree with you…when there is so much research out there that shows teaching skills out of context doesn’t work…why are there so many districts that spend thousands on these programs?!?! Jennifer – congratulations on your award for closing the achievement gap…that’s a really big deal! Throw the guilt away…we’ve all been there and done that! Your students are so lucky to have a thoughtful and reflective teacher!
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