ASSIGNMENT FIVE: WRITTEN REFLECTION-Section Three- The Essential Writing Day Chapters 7-10
Chapter 7: Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills
• How might we integrate skill work into student writing rather than teaching it in isolation?
• Daily Oral Language exercises – THEY DON’T WORK!!!
• The importance of focusing on meaning and quality first
• All writing needs both a PURPOSE and an AUDIENCE
• How thinking aloud can make your teaching more explicit
• Teaching WRITING – not just the language of writing (process, process, process)
• What about writing standards? In your District and State?
• Key writing minilessons
• Revision – how to get students to care about it
• Letting kids in on the secret that – Yes! – Conventions do matter!
• How can we effectively use word walls?
In Chapter 7, suitably titled “Be Efficient and Integrate Basic Skills,” Regie gets to the heart of what so many teachers struggle with: “Fitting it all in!!!” Many of the elementary teachers that we work with are beginning to feel as though their personal motto is: “Jack of all trades; master of none.” We just don’t have the time to teach well what has to be taught. The only answer to this problem is to modify our instruction so it agrees with Regie’s stance that isolated skill work (such as Friday spelling tests, DOL, grammar worksheets…) will not help our students grow into writers (or readers.) On page 144, Regie shares four components for an integrated Writing Workshop:
1. Identify writing genres that would interest students (and meet district requirements)
2. Decide who the audience would be for each piece of writing.*
3. Model your own writing process and show students how you struggle.
4. Have students share writing regularly (for both celebration and great teaching moments.)
*This created the biggest change in my own class’s writing - once my students began to write with an audience in mind, the quality of writing shot right up!
Regie also gets to the heart of what writing with “voice” really is and addresses how to teach children to write with an honest voice in their own writing. She describes voice as “the writer’s unique personality on paper, his own melody in words, her ‘mark’ as an individual. To write with voice, the writer has to be interested in the writing.” We think that many teachers and students are unclear as to how to add true voice to their writing. Regie suggests, “Voice is in the details – but details that show the real person and story behind the words, not just details for the sake of adding more words…”
Integrating those isolated editing skills such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling into our writing will increase the efficiency of our instruction. Bottom line – if the students care about their writing, are writing for a specific audience, and understand that “the importance of editing (and spelling conventionally) is to make their message clear and easy to read for their audience – or reader, they take this job seriously and work hard at making their writing clear.”
Chapter 8: Organize for Daily Writing
• What is our definition of Writing Workshop? What does Regie say?
• How can we have student choice within a structure?
• The importance of writing talk (teachers and students)
• The ultimate nightmare for all of us…scheduling…finding the time to write everyday
• The importance of routines, organization and modeling expected behavior
• Genre study – why it’s important to have both school-wide and district-wide conversations
• The possibilities within genres
Figuring out a way to “fit it all in” is usually one of the most frustrating things many of us face. It starts at the beginning of the year as we first plan our daily schedule and continues throughout the remainder of the year. Considering how you will create your schedule to include a solid chunk of time for both reading and writing will probably be the most stressful piece to the start of your year.
Create a Comprehensive Literacy Framework: Play with your time and consider what changes you might make in your daily literacy framework for next year. Take a look at the samples that Regie provides on pages 185-187 for some possibilities. You do not have to post your schedule, but we believe this is a worthwhile activity to complete on your own.
Chapter 9: Conference with Students
• What is the purpose of a Writing Conference?
• What are the different types of Writing Conferences?
• How can Share be used effectively?
• How to conduct a productive conference
• What about management and routines?
We are so glad that this chapter talks about Share during Writer’s Workshop. Too often this component is skipped by teachers who feel there isn’t enough time in the day to “fit it all in.” However, it’s a vital piece of the workshop and beneficial to all the students. Share sessions are an additional time to teach. The teachers in my school are quite comfortable using Share as their mini-lesson if the need arises. Given the reality of daily schedules they were finding that they couldn’t have a mini-lesson, confer and share everyday. They then realized that their Shares sometimes were the minilessons. For more information about Share we recommend looking at Leah Mermelstein’s Don’t Forget To Share: The Crucial Last Step in the Writing Workshop. In this slim book, Leah explains in detail four types of Share: Content Share, Craft Share, Process Share and Progress Share.
The “Tips for Successful Whole-Class Shares and Conferences” on page 215 are excellent ones to keep in mind. The bottom line for Conferences and Shares is that students should feel successful and want to continue to write. Make sure what you say to the child encourages them to keep on writing. “The conference is secondary; the student as writer and confident learner is primary.”
Chapter 10: Make Assessment Count
• Understanding how rubrics work
• What about Test Prep? THE BEST TEST PREP IS EXCELLENT TEACHING!
• How can we collect reliable data on students’ writing throughout the day?
• Guidelines for grading and providing evidence for parents, administrators and the public
“There is lots of writing assessment going on these days, but little of it actually improves the quality of students’ writing.” As Regie continues she points out that this ‘assessment’ “is seldom used to improve daily instruction.” This chapter is about becoming more knowledgeable about assessments. Regie notes, that unless teachers know how to teach writing well, it can be a waste of time to examine students’ writing and place students on a writing continuum. She encourages you, as a staff to “write together, study together, converse together, gather school-wide data, analyze these data and set goals for improving writing instruction. There is no shortcut to helping students become effective writers and there is no program you can buy that will do it for you.”
Remember to use rubrics judiciously and not overdo it. They should be “used as an evaluation tool, not as the driving instructional force.” “Use professional common sense. It is not advisable to apply rubrics to ALL writing nor to score ALL writing. Just as our students need lots of practice reading many texts without the expectation that they will be assessed on everything they read, they need lots of practice writing without being assessed on everything they write.” (Page 243)
Have your students do a lot of writing! “Extensive writing across the curriculum as part of an excellent writing program is the best preparation for doing well on (standardized) tests. Readers have to read avidly to become readers and the same holds true for writers. Kids who write a lot develop higher-order thinking and understanding that translates to higher achievement on all types of tests.” Be sure to check out “Try It Apply It” on page 246 and throughout the chapter for ideas to incorporate into your program.
As Regie points out in this chapter, “The joy has gone out of writing.” We need to “concentrate on developing kids as learners rather than kids as test takers.”
Assignment #5
ReplyDeletePart 1
Many years ago I taught writing skills in isolation because I thought that was the most effective way (or the only way I knew) to teach. For the last ten years at least, I have tried to integrate the writing skills through some modeling, shared writing, conferencing, etc. I agree that student writing will improve if students have a purpose and an audience for their writing. When I let students know their writing may be posted out in the hall for using correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, they were very eager to edit their writing to make it the very best in each of those skill areas. The idea that students need to practice writing as much as they practice reading makes a lot of sense to me. In the past, I have expected students to simply sit down and start writing on a given topic with only a little discussion on that topic. I forget or get caught up in the curriculum that I need to cover and don’t allow enough time for my students to have discussions with me, each other, and/or allow time for them write about their own interests. When it comes to revising, if students are truly interested in their writing, they will be motivated to revise. Most of my students strive to do their very best in writing. Up until know, I didn’t have the tools I needed to give them to revise their writing effectively. Now I can model those revision skills to my students while I’m reading my writing out loud. Students get so frustrated when they have to go back and re-write something more than once (and often times they copy the same mistakes). I like the idea of modeling that revising and editing process as a writer is writing, so children don’t have to keep re-writing the same piece. It also makes sense to let go of editing and revising everything a child writes, that practice of writing for the fun of it relieves a lot of stress for me to try and get through all of the writing genres our district suggests. The list of minilessons was very helpful, I will include many of them in my teaching. Word walls have not worked for me in the past, maybe I haven’t demonstrated their use to my students very well. My students use personal “dictionaries”, which include correct spelling but no definitions. The dictionaries help my students focus on the content of their writing rather than the mechanics, plus it has helped many of the struggling spellers be able to alphabetize words.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteThis is how I plan to organize my daily writing workshop; I will model a relevant minilesson daily, conference with all students at least a couple of times a week (whether it be shared, whole group, or individual), follow the Optimal Learning Model with the gradual release of responsibility, and make sure my students know their audience and purpose will improve my students writing. Allowing my second graders more time to free write plus discussions on writing topics will also be a priority. Writing during reading, math, science, etc. will also be more frequent.
I don’t have a problem conducting conferences with students, I feel like I’m confident. The simple and direct approach to conferences and the list of helpful responses Regie wrote about in her book gives me a way to fine tune what I say. There are so many things I can learn about my students from conferencing. I enjoy finding out what their strengths are, listening to their ideas, complementing their writing and giving ideas as to how that child can move forward in their writing. I have implemented quickshares, roving, on-the-run conferences as well as one on one conferences. I am willing to try whole-class shares as well as peer conferences. I believe students have a lot to learn from each other. As long as I model peer conferencing very carefully, I think my students will do well with it.
We are very conscientious about writing test scores in our school, in fact it’s part of our school improvement plan. I agree that we as a staff should not be so focused on the assessments and rubrics that students loose their enjoyment and interest in writing. It makes sense that allowing students more time to write and to write what they care about will make it easier for students to prepare for tests. Test taking and assessments are not as much of a priority in my classroom as they are in the upper grades. The students and I do generate rubrics to use when writing on a specific topic. When students help create the rubric it allows the class to know the expectations and they are more motivated to make those expectations their goal. I will do my best to prepare my students for the second grade assessments the district requires and whatever the upper grade teachers ask of me, but I will not make assessing a top priority in my second grade class.
Assignment Five chapters 7-10
ReplyDeletePart One
I made the big leap and changed my daily schedule. I made the commitment to have an integrated writing time during the first part of the morning, and an integrated reading the second part. I have math scheduled for the afternoon now. I used Kari Oosterveen’s 4th grade schedule in Writing Essentials as a guide.
This last Monday morning started with our usual Daily Math Practice which takes about 15 minutes. Then I had the kids write about what we’ve been studying in science; invertebrates. After taking time to share their writing piece with a partner we continued reading about the next invertebrate; worms. But this time when they wrote I gave them an audience to write to; their 2nd grade buddy. The kids got so excited about this they wanted to go back and rewrite their earlier pieces to their buddy. The class came up with the idea that they would each write a book about invertebrates for their buddy as their final assessment project. Wow! I was amazed!
I haven’t had kids do a “Quick Write” in years. In fact most of our writing has been driven by the writing traits and modes. I had the kids write non stop for 5 minutes! I told them they couldn’t stop writing for anything. When they were done, I asked them how it went. The kids loved it! Some even found a topic in their Quick Write. The kids asked if we could do it more!
I use to teach Daily Oral Language, but stopped when I saw that the kids were not able to transfer the skills into their daily writing. Getting kids to edit and revise their own writing has always been a struggle! After reading chapters 7 and 8, I realize that I need to focus on purposes of writing! I loved how Regie worked with a 5th grade class on writing a guidebook to their school. I decided to do something similar; I am having my kids help me write procedures for various daily activities for substitute teachers. I was so excited when I read further and found that Regie had an example lesson of the same thing. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m noticing now after reading chapter 8 that I’m rethinking each writing assignment I plan. I am more aware of writing purposes and audiences now!
Part Two
ReplyDeleteConferencing with students has always been a challenge for me. I love to talk to kids about their writing but I just can’t find the time to do it. With this new schedule I believe I can! I love the idea of doing shared conferences. I tried it with one student last week and it went very well. I need to remember to praise first then focus on content. My first instinct is to correct the conventions. I’ve made myself a copy of Regie’s, “Questions to keep in mind during a content conference”, and clipped it to the clipboard I use when I have writing conferences.
I also liked Regie’s section about peer conferencing. I’ve always had kids peer edit, not peer conference. And I haven’t done a good job explaining or showing kids how it should look. I will do more shared conferencing with the class to establish better peer work. I also love the content and editing conference forms. I will begin using those with my students too.
Chapter 10 is about my biggest frustration as a teacher of writing; making assessments count for both teacher and student! Like I stated earlier, our school has focused on writing for the last several years, but I still walk away from meetings and Professional Developments with no real solution to teaching writing more effectively. We discuss the scoring guide and highlight the key words we need to focus on when assessing children’s writing. I’ve given the scoring guide to my students, and we go over the different traits together. They slip it into their writing folders, but it is never looked at again!
When I’ve used rubrics or criteria charts with my students, I’ve always made them up and gave them to the kids. I’ve never had the kids help me decide what the criteria should be. But now, after reading Regie’s chapter 10, I am excited to have my 5th graders participate in the creation of their assessments. Maybe they will actually look at and use them when writing.
I agree with Regie when she says not every piece of writing has to be scored or graded. I also agree that kids need to write a lot too. But every year I end up writing rubrics for specific writing projects that take up too much time, leaving no time for “free writing”. So as I sit here reading Writing Essentials, I think about the writing my students have done so far this year. It’s been mostly assigned and scripted work! Since deciding to change my schedule to include integrated writing and reading times, the kids are excited to write. I’ve been listening to them talk to each other about what they are planning to write.
Thanks Karrie & Tracy for your Section Three reflections.
ReplyDeleteKarrie – It definitely sounds as though you have a great plan for organizing your writing workshop! I loved your comments about needing to be able to give your students tools for revision (which didn’t include rewriting an entire piece). There are two books I always used when working either in the revision portion of a unit of study or if I was in the midst of a mini-unit on revision: The Revision Toolbox: Teaching Techniques That Work by Georgia Heard and The Reviser’s Toolbox by Barry Lane.
Tracy – High Five on the schedule change!!! The Six Traits of Writing instruction is great….as well as the importance of editing and revising. Now your students can apply that learning to writing that they really care about (that may come out of the quick write opportunities) and will be so much more motivated to do their best! Best of luck as you transition into conferring with your students more often, I think you will be very pleased with the effects…just remember to not try and move too fast with all of your great changes. You don’t want to get overwhelmed or burnt out!
Part 1: Chapter 7 alone was packed with so much information, that I need to comment before I move onto the other chapters. The biggest change I need to make in my writing program is to make sure the students know who the audience is. Many times, I've had them write because the story was going "on the bulletin board." After I read that part, I did a "head slap" and realized that the revision part really doesn't have meaning for them. How many people read the bulletin board!!! I definitely agree with the part that when students write for a valued reader that the writing traits come into place.
ReplyDeleteI see the value of a word wall. I've used it in the past, but most students don't bother to look at it. I'd like to change the word wall in that it would have more meaning if the students added to it instead of me. I could have precut cards and the students could write the words correctly and post them.
While I do have a scheduled writing time, I often find other times of day to write. I like the idea of integrating writing across the curriculum. By writing in science and social studies, students seem to enjoy having a common reason to write. The students enjoy sharing their ideas with each other and often times it helps those that struggle to come up with ideas. This incorporates the conferencing. Students love to hear each other's ideas and read each other's papers. I tried peer conferencing the other day and it wasn't very successful. I realized after reading this chapter, that I didn't really model how to do it. Next week, we'll give it another shot, but this time some modeling on my part will take place. I rove and conference all the time that students are writing. My one-on-one conferencing time usually happens as I'm walking by. I need to try to schedule more quality time with each student.
ReplyDeleteOur state writing test is coming up in the next 2 weeks. I've talked about the test to my students all year and now realize I have placed too much emphasis on the test itself. I'm looking forward to making changes in my teaching, especially next year, so that my students will be more successful writiers, instead of just test takers. As I have stated previously, I'm not a fan of the state writing test. It is undue pressure on teachers and students.
Assignment Five: Chapters 7-10
ReplyDeleteHaving been a substitute for four years in grades k-6 and having recently taught full time for four months, I have repeatedly seen how often writing skills are taught in isolation. All teachers of writing should read Regie’s book. What an eye-opener to see how this method is not helping our kids to love writing or become good writers.
I have always disliked the DOL sheets that kids often have to do. They also take up precious time that could be used for real writing. It always seemed strange to me to show students misspelled words, especially for students who are not good spellers. It seems to teach what is wrong rather than what is right. I was grateful to read Regie’s views on this.
I felt the writing curriculum that I was given to use for my third grade did a better job of combining writing for meaning with skill work. There is a fear that if you don’t specifically teach a skill like verb tense or dialogue that the kids will not be properly taught. There is so much required by our administrators and school districts that one often feels the best way to accomplish the task is to follow the required curriculum since it was designed to meet the state standards.
Taking on the full time job of teaching was overwhelming for me. I had to stay up late every night to keep up with the new curriculum. Despite the intensity of it I especially liked teaching writing. I wish I could continue now that I have read this book!
I will say that one thing I did do – I tired to focus on meaning first when I worked with my students. I would ask them to read their stories to me rather then read them myself. I didn’t want to focus on the spelling and grammar errors. I was so pleased to see that Reggie encourages this too.
I did do some modeling of my own writing. Early in the fall I taught my students to write a short story about themselves. Rather than use the prescribed story that was in writing binder I decided to write my own story of a “small moment” and share it with the students. I feel that this was much more meaningful for the kids since it was a true story of something that happened to me. I started with a longer story and we worked together to find the really important parts that would express the essence of the event. There was a lot of student input and discussion and when the class went back to their seats to write there was that lovely silence in the room and I knew they were all engaged in writing. It was a very rewarding day of teaching.
I love the idea of clearly telling kids why they are doing what they are doing. Thank you! I don’t think we can overdo this idea. I know that I didn’t do this enough. One positive assignment the students did enjoy was writing a letter to their teacher when she was on maternity leave. The students were excited to write to their teacher. It was so meaningful for them. I could hear each child’s voice so clearly when I read their letters.
I really appreciate the “teacher talk” ideas. I also appreciate the conferencing ideas. Kids love that special time with their teacher and it is so hard to find the quality time for each one. Thank you for the ideas for whole-class shares and conferences. What a better use of the precious time that we have.
Thanks Ann and Beth for sharing your reflections on Section Three.
ReplyDeleteAnn – I totally agree with you! I think I wrote about this earlier in the blog, but when I was teaching 4th grade, I was participating in some writing PD which emphasized the important role of both purpose and audience in writing. I brought this back into my classroom writing instruction and it was amazing the difference in the students’ writing….outstandingly amazing. It was really one of my biggest “Ah-ha” teaching moments. And yes – more modeling is usually the answer when things you’ve planned didn’t quite go the way you expected :) Unfortunately with all of our time constraints, our hands are tied. Good luck on the state testing…ours is in a couple of weeks as well. How unfortunate that these tests have created “packaged” writers and such a stress over something that should be enjoyable for kids to do. I do believe though, that if we teach the kids to be effective writers, that they will perform well on any state test.
Beth – There’s a lot of research out there showing that students don’t transfer their DOL skills into their writing. I’m not sure why teachers are so afraid to let it go, when they see the evidence in their own students’ writing. It’s been a very strange phenomenon for me, as I see teachers struggling with the editing process with their writers. Why not bring in these skills during the editing portion of the writing process? It just makes sense. It sounds as though you’ve done some great writing work in the different teaching positions you’ve had the opportunity to be in. Are you looking for something full time?
Part 1 - Chapters 7 & 8
ReplyDeleteChp. 7 - I really like Reggie's reoccurring message of teach children to enjoy writing and the essential skills will come!! It seems like I learned some of that in grad school but I honestly don't remember receiving much writing instruction. Then, when I got hired, you are required to teach the traits, traits, traits!! This book makes sense. We are teaching writing backwards. No wonder it is so hard for us and the kids to be successful. Why are we teaching kids a way to write that is unnatural - even to adults? Anyway, a few revelations. Guilty, I did DOL in 5th grade. It didn't help. It NEVER transferred to their writing papers. I like how mini-lessons are not necessarily planned yet spontaneous moments according to the needs of the writers. We need to be asking more "why" questions. Cognitive questions to spark our students to have "internal conversations" when they are revising. I agree that revising means adding or deleting to enrich content, not conventions. That absolutely needs to be modeled so kids don't do mechanical writing pieces. Also, I liked her comment about how we don't always revise, but we need to TEACH that. i liked the chart on pg. 157. Great questions!
Moving on the conventions and spelling. I have a no excuse policy about high frequency words. I have explained the purpose of the word wall and we always add words together. Also, in the beginning of the year I made a name word wall (the start of our word wall) where I put the kids' pictures with their name, having the beginning letter a different color. I felt a small victory reading that I had already done something she suggested:) YEAH!! I have made the wall intentional and purposeful for my students and taught them how to use it.
Spelling is important. It is a shame that some teachers have seemed to let it go. My kindergarteners are writing using "invented spelling" which is completely age appropriate. They have to spell the word wall words correctly and we continually work on word families.
Chp. 8
Okay, I liked this chapter and I have been thinking and thinking how I am going to fit more writing into the little time I have all my kindergarteners together which is a total of 1 1/2 hours. I need to do math and reading into that time frame. I now have some great ideas of just how I am going to do that. First thing in the morning, during reading block, math, and our ELD time. I already have an awesome mail center set up which they love. Now I need to monopolize on that!!! I know all teachers think this but I want more TIME!!!
I was so glad to know graphic organizers are not required of good teaching. Again, I had so many different types of graphic organizers (a whole file full) and they never seemed to help. The kids seemed to hate them. It forces them into an unnatural thought process. Talking and having conversations both external and internal are the best pre-writes. I really like the examples on page 196 Reggie gives for integrating non-fiction works into kindergarten. I needed those:)
One more thing I like....making sure to include parameters for free choice writing. Having students know what "worthwhile topics" are.
Thank you for reading.
Erin Dugan
Assignment #5
ReplyDeleteWorking part time has forced me to be efficient and use my time wisely. I tend to teach specific skills either individually or as a whole group when I see something that needs to be addressed. Once a week we write a shared poem from piclits.com. It’s a low risk activity that they seem to enjoy while playing with language.
I have used word walls and individual word books in the past. I find the word walls to be labor intensive and I guess I’ve never felt like they were really using them as a tool. What I do use and like are the quickword books from Write Source. They are easy for the students to use because they are not overwhelming like the classroom dictionaries and they can write their own words in them.
Doing more with less seems to be the mantra across education and it seems to be particularly important for writing because many districts don’t truly “value” it. The districts want high test scores but then we are expected to integrate writing into the rest of the day. Students need time for sustained silent writing just like they need time for sustained silent reading. We call it writing workshop because it’s an uninterrupted time to get into the flow of writing. Regie says writing throughout the day can be writing in science or math but I am presuming that she isn’t talking about filling in the answers to a worksheet. With many science programs this is the kind of writing that is taking place and quite frankly, I don’t consider that the same kind of quality writing they get during writing time. I agree that we can “play around with language” and write for an audience and purpose throughout our day.
Again, the schedule is so tight at my school that some teachers claim they “don’t have time for writing.” Which in some cases is quite true because our day is planned for us. They only time I can read aloud to my students is while they eat snack. I use writing time to read mentor texts (which they students love listening to as much as I love reading to them) but this cuts into the time available for the students to write. My mini lessons end up being quite mini at five minutes in length because I want them to write and they want to write. Most of them…
Student choice is critical. This week I had them write letters to their parents for conferences. I said to tell their parents something they like about school and dislike about school. The assignment had both an audience and a purpose but not student buy in. I want to teach them letter writing but I will need to be creative to let them think it’s their idea. Some of my students are writing great stories by themselves and they don’t want to postpone their stories to start a teacher-led lesson.
Part#2
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this chapter on conferencing, it gives me confidence that I am on the right track. My writer’s share daily at the end of writing and if we run out of time, they will request to read at snack time. Typically the same students share. I need to do more partner sharing so that everyone has the chance to have their writing celebrated. Our whole class conferences service the purpose of celebrating and modeling what good writer’s do. One-on-one conferences give me the opportunity to see their progress and to offer support so they can make the next step as writers.
Starting with a positive comment is continuously a challenge. I think it’s easy to tell them what needs to be fixed because we always feel like we are short on time and sometimes several students need help at one time. So it’s “Hey, go fix this part.” because we have to help the next student. I believe that once we’ve given the writer some positive feedback that it’s ok to say, “I’m confused here.”
My district is currently “training” third and fourth grade teachers regarding writing and test prep. The most interesting part is that when we brainstorm what is good teaching, the teachers mention many points from Regie Routman and Lucy Calkins. Yet when someone stood up to say how great 6 traits was, everyone wanted the “big binder of how to teach writing.” It felt very hypocritical. I have many years of experience with the state writing test and we definitely go over what the test is going to look like and what the expectations are. It has also been helpful to photocopy the blank test paper and have them practice writing on that. If we can relieve some of their anxiety about the test, they are likely to perform better.
Journaling is an excellent way to have data collected for anyone to view. If they write in order, everyone is able to see the progress from the beginning of the year. Obviously, as mentioned before, various forms of conferences give us great information. I give a fall and spring writing prompt as a way to give me information and to give them some preparation for the state test as well.
Chapter 7.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of ideas mentioned in the classroom that really made me think about my teaching. I realized that I may be confusing kids, or leaving pieces out. I may be expecting things without giving them enough freedom or explanation. One important concept I picked up on is that every piece should have an intended audience. At least pieces that you want to take through the writing process should have a purpose. That will help give them motivation to do this best work, and give them a reason to do make it neat and easy to read. If I tell them it needs to be neat, and have voice, etc, but they don’t know why, then they will not be as motivated. If they know that it will go into a classroom book, or be shared with our buddy class, or taken home for their parents, they will probably be able to take the time to edit and do their best. If I tell them I have to be able to read it, there is not much motivation or understanding there. But if they know that their first grade buddies need to be able to read it, that will give them purpose to editing their work. Another concept I thought about was starting with the big picture. We should not start a poetry unit by talking about what the final piece should look like. We should start by taking time to explore poetry and figuring out what makes a poem and poem.
Chapter 8
I still struggle with what exactly my writing time should look like. She gave some great ideas, but I am still unsure of the best way to do mini-lessons, and how often I should be telling them what to write about, and how often it should be a choice. She had a great idea of how to teach multi-paragraph essays. And, that did help me to understand part of my confusion. I realized that if I am supposed to teach poetry, we should begin by exploring poems and deciding what makes a great poem. Then, we would have some sort of purpose, like creating a class poem book, or making poems for friends, or making poems to display in the school. I do still wonder though how to guide them with the mini lessons, and how I can make a brief lesson effective, while still remembering all of her ideas. I need to make them fit the needs of the class, I need to make sure they don’t focus only on grammar and spelling, and I need to give the big picture. I am excited to start trying to think of all that while planning mini lessons, I just feel as if I have created a whole new set of questions after reading this chapter. She did bring up the point again that we need to give the big picture and explain why we do things. I realized that the reason that I started to struggle in math in middle school is because teachers stopped giving me the big picture, and didn’t put these new math concepts into real life situations. I was left confused and frustrated. That was a great reminder, it is so important in all subjects to make sure the kids see the point, not because they will buy into it more, but because it’s the only way they will understand it. She gave some great tips on saving time. I don’t need to plan everything ahead of time; she seemed to include the kids in the conversations and planning at times. One of the best ways for me to plan is to talk with other teachers. Talking about these questions would be the best way for me to save time and become an even more effective teacher. I will try to make sure that I have a conversation with peers more often.
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great chapter to read. I am always struggling to figure out what conferences should look like, but she had so many great ideas that I feel like I could use right away. The part that stood out to me the most was having conferences in front of the whole class. It seems like such an effective way to teach. I realized that the benefit is that we are working with the kids, plus the whole class gets to listen in and learn from it as well (as long as they are listening!). I realized that most of the time I pick kids to share when they have a perfect example. I think this is helpful because kids can see a model of exactly what is expected. But, I realized that I should also be calling up kids when they struggled. Not to make them embarrassed in front of the class, but because then we can solve the problem together. Kids will get to see how others deal with the same problems they are dealing with. So, I need to start having kids share a perfect model, as well as a model that shows some of the common mistakes kids are making. I also liked that she said that kids need to do some work before conferences. I watch as kids finish their last sentence then run to me to show me. We talk about ways they should edit it, and they go back. I really like how she pointed out that I should switch the work back to them. They should be rereading and editing before they have a conference. That was a great way to give them the responsibility. I am excited to try this model and see how I can improve my conferences and make them more purposeful.
Chapter 10
Reading about assessments was interesting. A few years ago I had a parent tell me at the end of the year that they didn’t know how their child was doing in writing. It was June and a little late for me to give them many updates, but I realized that I should do better next year. I decided that I should create a rubric and score it. I was excited to do this because I knew I would learn so much about their writing. I was surprised to find that I didn’t learn anything new. I already knew how most of my students wrote, and scoring it didn’t give me anything new. I do still value them though because I think that a rubric gives very clear guidelines for students, and it is a clear score for the parents to see. I try to give them a rubric only 2-3 times a year though, other than that, they know what is expected through lists on the board or conversations. I thought it was great that she mentioned that the kids really should be the one grading their own work. If you give them the responsibility, they will become more effective editors because they will know what to look for in their writing.
Part 2 - Chpts 9 & 10
ReplyDeleteThis was a great chapter and cleared up a lot of ambiguity about what conferences should include. I always they needed to be these lengthy meetings that covered many traits of writing. Why I didn't just do what I would have naturally done (celebrate accomplishments then hit on one or two quick goals) I don't know. Maybe it is the pressure of our profession and the urgency we feel about meeting state standards. All common sense has gone out the window!!! I now will conduct conferences in all content areas when writing is involved. I did that today in fact. It was great. It took 30 seconds. Unfortunately, last year I was having a line of kids at my desk asking questions. It would be just one or two and all the sudden there was this line!! I wanted to go to them and have conferences at their tables so others could maybe ease drop:) Anyway, it has improved this year since I have my own class. (It was a long term sub job for a couple months). I like the part about frontloading. I feel this is time extremely well spent, especially if in the long run you can get around to conferencing with many
students. I liked the form on pg.217. It is so simple and I like how it is all on one page. I have seen so many different forms generated for the same purpose and this is the best by far - at least for me.
Chp. 10
I liked this chapter because it put into perspective rubrics and how they seem to be misused. When I taught fourth and fifth, it seemed we were always breaking apart the writing, looking for the traits from the scoring guide - part - whole- part. It doesn't make sense. Since I now teach kindergarten, I don't necessarily use rubrics....yet. I liked how she said you CAN create a rubric even for kinders. I think it would definitely help them get some ideas about what they NEED to put into their writing - to guide them. We could make one together. It is great that Reggie always reminds us to "AIM HIGH". Teach great writing and the traits will come. Don't teach the traits and then expect the writing to flow.
Thank you for reading.
Erin Dugan
Jackie and Mary,
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking and yes, I am looking for a full time job but it has been a challenge here in the Portland area. I am hoping!
I wanted to share a neat teaching experience that I just had the last two days as a substitute teacher for a third grade. The sub plans explained that the class was working on informational writing and that I could use the classroom rules as a springboard. This seemed like a good idea, as the students read aloud the classroom promise and the classroom rules each morning. I was excited to have an opportunity to teach in the way that I have been learning from Regie. It turned out to be very successful and really fun! I used the white board in the front of the room. There were 30 students and they were all attentive. (Amazing!) I told them what we were going to do a classroom write together and I needed all of them to be thinking and sharing their ideas. We started with the title and there were lots of ideas shared but we decided on a neat one: “Classroom 9 Rules!” They loved the double meaning. This assignment took two days and I feel they all learned a lot and felt proud of the results. They wrote in their writing notebooks as we worked together. They wrote one paragraph for each rule. The rules were: Safety, Respect, Include Everyone, and Have Fun. As we wrote together we would read and reread aloud what we had written. Many volunteered to read and the whole class was very attentive each time. We crossed out and changed words. We added new words. I tried to make sure that all kids had the chance to share their input and there was a lot eager participation. I felt like this was a good example of integrating skills such as paragraphing, editing, having a purpose and an audience and mostly enjoying the experience together. As I walked around the classroom looking at their finished pieces I noticed one girl had written in the corner of her margin, “We did this with a substitute.” I asked her about it and she said she really liked what we did today. Wow, that sure made my day! Thank you Regie!!
Chapter 7
ReplyDeleteThis has been my favorite chapter in the book so far! I found this chapter very helpful because Regie got down to specific actions for teachers and students in terms of mini lessons, revising, and editing. I find myself using lots of language and phrases I have picked up from reading this text, and have seen a change in my student’s writing already! The main point that I keep coming back to is that audience is everything! As soon as I began to focus and emphasize this more to my students, I have seen an improvement in their writing. Regie’s jigsaw analogy of teaching whole-part-whole is so true and is something I often lose sight of when I teach a mini-lesson. Students won’t be able to apply the skill I am teaching, if they don’t have a piece of writing to apply it to! Another tool I took away from this chapter is the chart “What a good writer does” on page 151. We always have conversations about what a good reader does, but in writing I feel that the focus is normally on what good writing is, not what the writer does. I will be using this in a lesson and posting it in my room!! The list of topics for mini lessons was also very helpful to me. The section about editing and revising was important for me because I am still struggling with how much I help my students. I want them to be able to do this independently but have a hard time figuring out how much support I should be giving them. I have recently had the students edit for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization with a partner and found this was very helpful for the students. They read through their story 3 times, each time looking through specific “glasses” for punctuation, then capitalization, and finally spelling. It was fun for them to share their stories, and they also were able to make appropriate changes to their writing! This activity did help to reassure me that students are capable of independently editing much more than I give them credit for! Great chapter!
Chapter 8
Time is always a struggle in any classroom, and I know firsthand about the importance of having time to write every day. Last year was my first year in the classroom, and I really struggled to fit everything in to our day. There was about a month during the year that I didn’t have a designated writing time, and when my students did write, their writing really reflected that! This year, I made it one of my professional goals to focus on writing workshop and make sure that we were writing every day. Student engagement and quality of work is SO much better! The section about limiting use of graphic organizers spoke to me because there are a few students in my room who are not able to produce writing if they use a graphic organizer, it’s like a road block for them! After realizing this, I give the students a choice in how they want to plan their writing; after all, it is their work!
I really liked the section on writing and publishing more short pieces. We do this occasionally in my room, but I would like to do it more often to simplify revising and editing processes, as well as publishing. Starting small is always good! The list of ideas for short pieces is a helpful tool for students.
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteI have never thought of whole class sharing as a conference time, but I really like the idea of this. Having students read through their piece twice is something I will try during whole class sharing, as a way for my students to focus on understanding, and then on specific elements used in their peer’s writing. Another good idea I took from this chapter was having students only share a part of their writing (quickshare) if time is limited (which most of the time it seems to be!). I recently did this in my class when we were discussing good leads for legends the students were writing. The only problem I found with doing this was that after we shared, several students had the exact same lead! I felt like I had emphasized that these were just examples and that there were many other great ways to start our stories, so how can this be avoided?
A good reminder for me was to always start the conference with a compliment to the writer to keep their confidence high. My students do a great job of this, and are learning to be more specific with the type of compliment they give the writer. I think with my struggling writers, listening to the student read their work without looking at the words will help me step away from fixing mechanics and focus primarily on the content. The checklist on page 226 about questions to use during a writing conference, as well as the language to use during a conference, are things I am going to put in my conferencing notebook, so I can refer to it easily!
Chapter 10
I don’t use rubrics much in my classroom because I have struggled to find one that I feel is effective. The examples on page 241 were helpful to me, and after reading this chapter I am very interested in sitting down with my grade level team and using a variety of rubrics to guide us in creating our own rubric. In regards to standardized testing, I still struggle with how to prepare students. There is a school in our district that starts right at the beginning of the year writing from teacher selected prompts to prepare students, and their writing scores are always high. We don’t do that in our building, and our scores always seem to be much lower. I think finding a balance of daily writing, but also teaching students what’s expected of them when they are writing from a prompt is important. When I taught special education, the most challenging thing for those students was selecting a prompt that they could write the most about and that was meaningful for them. The example of visualizing the reader on page 247 was great, and is something I would use with my students!
Thanks Erin & Lisa -
ReplyDeleteErin - It sounds as though you have a great system set up with your word wall. I really do wish that more of the primary teachers in my building would take advantage of using a "working" word walls. I can't believe that you only have 1 1/2 hours of instruction with your Kindergarteners....first grade must be culture shock for them!
Lisa - We have the same problem in our district...everyone expects top writing scores, but they keep adding so many programs to our instruction, that it really has eliminated time for writing. On the days that our teachers take time to teach writing, they usually end up replacing reading with it. It's ridiculous! I actually have a meeting with the district's instructional leader in the beginning of March to try and problem solve a solution to the mess. As far as teachers sort of "copping" out and teaching towards "The Test", not matter what method they use, it because of the high stakes of these tests. They feel that even though they know what good instruction is, they need to teach what will supposedly give students success on the tests....not that this is always the case...or if we just taught them to write well, kids would succeed.
Thanks Kelly, Beth & Nicole -
ReplyDeleteKelly- I'm glad that you had your "a-ha" moment with audience & purpose as well :) When you think about the writing process in it's entirety, immersion is the first part of the process...it's the "big picture" you mentioned. Like so many other important aspects of teaching, unfortunately, due to timing constraints, we as teachers need to make decisions as to what we have time for and what we don't. This immersion phase, where kids get to explore and "notice" the genre they will be writing in during the upcoming unit truly does set them up for success. In order to save time, I began the immersion phase when kids were publishing from the prior unit. It would be a great idea to work with your grade level (and even district) to help you stop "re-creating the wheels" and become more effective with you planning. I'm on a quest with teachers in my building to try to be more efficient by working together and spending time planning effective instruction, NOT correcting piles of papers.
Beth - I hope you find the teaching job you are looking for...in a building & district that share your teaching belief (sometimes that's not so easy!). What a wonderfully successful experience you had with your 3rd grade substituting experience! Thanks for sharing :)
Nicole - You are so right...this section is filled with the practical language, charts, and other information to support daily writing instruction....it's my most "tagged section" :) I love your idea of using "editing" glasses, elementary writers would definitely be motivated to edit peers' papers using them! It's definitely helpful to work with grade levels & your district when creating rubrics in all areas.
Part 1
ReplyDeleteOne skill that stood out in Chapter 7 for me was teaching students about audience. While Regie had discussed audience in each chapter before, as I read Chapter 7 it seems that each skill or mini lesson is tied into the audience the students are writing for. If students have a purpose, an audience for their writing, then they will find more of an importance to have a voice or revise their writing. As a teacher I know this is important and reading this book has really helped make that point. I was guilty of not stressing audience with my students but I clearly see now that without it, the other basic skills will not fall in line.
While I read Chapter 7 I continued to feel frustrated as well. As I read Regie’s section on word walls it was reminiscent of the one I had in my California classroom. I used Velcro on my hand made words so we could take the words down and use them interactively. In my class now however, we are given words that are expected to be added each week, according to stories we are reading, making our word wall extremely overwhelming and generic.
I did appreciate how Regie explains and shows on pgs. 150-151 “Teaching Beyond the Standards,” how once students are engaged in writing topics for an important audience the individual aspects of writing will follow. I really am trying to rework the writing in my room so that we get through the required worksheets and can focus our main writing time on actually writing.
After reading Chapter 8, I definitely agree that the only way to fit in enough writing time is to integrate it with other subjects. Having two sample teaching schedules that demonstrated this was very helpful. It made it much clearer to me how I can incorporate more writing into my day and into other subjects.
I felt this chapter also continued to reinforce the importance of modeling- not only writing, but every aspect that adds up to make a good writer- choosing a good topic, how to talk about their writing before they write, how to write quietly ( I can dream), how to write neatly, and so on.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteI am glad Regie devoted a chapter to explaining her ideas about conferencing with students. While I meet with my students to discuss their writing, Regie places such importance on these conferences. I really wanted to find out what her process was like.
I discovered I tend to do “roving” conferences, more so than formal one-on-one conferences. I liked the class notes page that was given as a sample to use with roving conferences, it is something I would like to incorporate.
We also do whole-class share in my class, but I haven’t taken it to the conferencing level yet. We usually read and celebrate the writer but stop there. Now we will have another step to add to whole group share time. I appreciated the samples from Marlene’s class, continuing writing on a topic for another day is something we need to work on, so this really helped me.
I feel more confident to start individual, formal conferences now that I have a more solid background. As with everything else, I will first need to demonstrate and establish expectations and routines so I am not constantly interrupted. Once we do this though, I am excited to get started on having a more formal conference with my students.
Writing assessments begin with 4th grade at our school, and while I am very aware that what I am teaching in 1st grade is the foundation for 4th grade, the pressure of writing assessments are not something I have had to deal with yet. Knowing my students will one day encounter these assessments I was glad to read Chapter 10 which gave me many ideas and tips to help my students succeed in 1st grade and as they continue through school.
I do not tend to grade my students’ writing on a rubric, but I like the idea of developing student friendly ones and starting files of good examples of writing. I think having samples will be very helpful for students, but for parents as well.
I believe what the school in Vancouver did was a great idea. By having each grade level do a writing assessment at the beginning and end of the year, teachers gain so much knowledge about their teaching and their students. Especially if the writing samples follow students on through the grades. It also helps the students to become familiar with the process and expectations of writing assessments and help decrease their test anxiety.
I think that chapter 7 is the exact struggle I am going through right now in my writer’s workshop. It’s so hard to integrate basic skills when my students have such a big range of their skills. I think that is where the conferencing from chapter 9 ties in really well, so that I can meet with students and give them individual goals. I have found that our spelling program ties in nicely with integrating basic skills into my students writing. We use the Rebecca Sitton program, which I love because it teaches spelling in authentic practical ways, rather than by testing them on skills. I also have an editing checklist that I have my students keep in their writing folders to use when they are done each day. It’s just a quick check of basic writing mechanics, but they feel so important rereading their work and making corrections. I think the part that I really enjoyed the most that I am excited to try in my classroom is the section about talking about having an audience for each piece of writing. My students write in their journals a lot, so talking about having them share their writing with a parent, peer, or older buddy is something I am really excited about!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading chapter 8. I consider myself to be a pretty organized teacher and anything I can do to improve efficiency and time management is so important to me. I think the most important part of organizing my writer’s workshop is to make it a priority! It’s easy to let writing be the first thing to go when you have a schedule change, but I have really realized what an important part of our day it is. I have made it a commitment to have writer’s workshop in my classroom everyday, and on the rare occasion that we don’t have time the kids are disappointed. That shows me how much they enjoy writing and how important it is to them. After last year, I looked at my schedule closely to make sure that writing was at a time of our day that would be uninterrupted and committed. I have found that it has worked out well this year!
Chapter 9 was a great insight on conferencing with students. I have kept my conferences pretty informal with my class, since so many of them are not independent writers at the beginning of the year. However, at this point in the year all of my students are writing independently so I would love to make a commitment to have a more structured conference system in my classroom. Spending those few minutes one on one with a student can give you so much insight into their writing life. The hard part will be coming up with a routine and a way to keep track of the skills that each child is working on. I think it will be worth the effort in the long run, especially when I am working on report cards at the end of the year and I will have an organized place to see each child’s writing growth.
Chapter 10 is more of a struggle for me to find useful in my classroom. Teaching first grade we don’t have testing. However, it is important for students to be able to look back at their work and assess how they are doing. I try to do this during spring conferences by comparing a writing sample from September, then December, and last February. It is really fun to compare their writing with their parents sitting there so they can literally see how much they have improved as writers. I love seeing them talk with their parents about their handwriting improvement and how their spelling and writing stamina have improved.
Thanks for your responses Jennifer and Kristin.
ReplyDeleteJennifer – I also love the idea of the “interactive” word wall, where kids can actually access it in some way and grab the words they need. Is there any way you can modify what your program is asking you to do that will make this more effective for your students? Another idea that individualizes word walls a bit for students is to take a manila folder and divide it 24 boxes, each labeled with a letter (or two). Children can add words they need to their own lists during writing time.
Kristin – I love the Rebecca Sitton spelling program, and wish it was something more districts here on the east coast would consider adopting. I think the problem is the cost of training that is required??? You will be totally amazed by the transformation your students’ writing will make once you ask them to consider their audience for their writing. Their motivation increases, which in turn impacts the quality of their writing in all stages of the writing process. You mention wanting to find that perfect routine and way to manage the documentation of your conferences, it definitely takes a while to find what works best for you. I have tried many different ways to organize & manage my system, but the best I’ve found so far is The Sisters’ Conferring Notebook, or Pensieve. They discuss how they use it most for reading, but they also use the notebook for writing work as well. You can see how they put the notebook together and use it to document their work with students at the following site: www.thedailycafe.com .
I have a hard time giving up skills work. I try and use student work for this, but it is difficult to do this and keep the person comfortable. Sometimes I will use a piece from years before to demonstrate. DOL definitely does not translate. Even knowing about capitals and periods doesn't translate to their own writing. I must move over to the camp of having great ideas and voice, will cause them to focus on the details later on.
ReplyDeleteI often skip over the audience (not purposely). Sometimes it is just I or another teacher reading. But not enough do I focus on other kids or family. I do have them write letters in social studies about places we "visit." Even here, I must model and do shared writings on how to write a letter. They are often formulaic if they even have an idea how to write it properly. With voice, I try to work on adverbs and using a thesaurus on their own writing. This sometimes backfires, like the boy with the half-inch hair talking about shaving off his locks! I need to allow them to use more of their own ideas, especially in conclusions. For introductions, I give them many ways to start and allow them to choose.
Wow! The standards section is amazing. I never thought about how much you could cover without making the rigid process your initial goal. I think that as a fourth grade teacher I have a different perspective, but this is definitely something to share with all grades. And it will help students enjoy writing. The most important minilessons for me would be narrowing the topic and rereading. Students need to choose something they can complete and be an expert on. We're not trying to write novels. Rereading is the part most of my kids need to understand. I can't just tell them anymore. It doesn't help. I need to reread with them so that they can see and hear it for themselves.
I struggle with spelling because I feel it is fractured like DOL. It doesn't transfer. I think that your pointing out to the students in their published material really helps since it provides them the context and impetus. That is the hardest part for me with Routman's text. I often feel that I am hearing her say two different things. Praise, but point out what needs to be done. Allow them to write, but hold to a high standard. I get it, but it can be hard to put both pieces into practice. Creating the word wall seems to be a powerful tool. I already create many posters. This will give me the most applicable words for writing.
Writer's workshop has always kind of bothered me. I was not trained as a primary teacher, and they always seem to have stations and folders as part of the process. I see it as the idea of modeling the topic and mode. Then allowing the students to brainstorm and work through a draft, revise, edit, and write a final copy. This is usually done at their own speed over a couple of weeks. I need to focus more on the independent free choice time. I don't feel it is a good use of time which causes me not to value it. I need to work with my students on a subtopics list that they can have all the time. I may have them write the audience with the idea, so they don't have to think about it again later. Otherwise they will sit and just not write or doodle. Telling them they have to write, does not make a writer at all. This will hopefully help with their endurance as well. I know that publishing as books, newsletters, bulletin boards, or with works of art will also help them focus on their audience as they prepare the piece.
cont:
ReplyDeleteI would like to try this first thing in the morning or relate more to my Today in History topics. If I can get them into the routine it will save a lot of time and stress for them, and me. With the idea of genres, we have it divided up by grade already. The problem is, to what depth should each grade go? For length of papers, we have already gone farther. We still need to look at each genre, and specifically see what the student should know within in the framework. Not just that it was taught.
I love the idea of whole class conferencing. If done write it saves time on the celebration as well. It allows students to learn from each other and provide peer and teacher feedback. Hopefully this will provide ideas for peer editing. I have had modeling sheets for group discussions and think that a poster with ideas for response beginnings would be great. Also modeling the conference with students would be very helpful. Quickshares are the conference I need to work on. Mine are usually too critical. I need to make them a celebration of the small things. I do model conferencing with the students as well as when they do peer editing. I like the idea of when to conference. Sometimes I get stuck in the schedule or with the line. Having those clear criteria will be very helpful. I have a routine set up for what not to do while I am conferencing, but I will focus more on what TO do. That will help lessen interruptions. I think the most important parts of Routman's conferences are the celebration and focusing on a couple essential points versus every small error. This will be the best use of time and won't clutter a child's mind. I also think that it is important to look for class patterns so that every teaching opportunity is maximized. I need to stop just moving on or trying to cover too many things.
Assessments are the bane of my existence. Seems like they are all year long. I believe that the rubric is important in fourth grade to introduce and revisit from time to time, but I find that the ideas and content section is too vague. It doesn't give enough credit for great effort and description. Conventions on the other hand is. I have used child-friendly rubrics before, and they make much more sense. I like the idea of creating one with my class since each group has their own view of what quality writing is. This could even be used as a procedural expository. We'll need a rubric about rubrics.
I like the idea that teaching is the best preparation, because that time before an assessment is stressful. I know that when I teach, kids get it. When we cram, they focus on that and forget everything else feeling they must change again. This leads to rigid, often fractured writing. I do like the idea of practicing the language and on-demand writing. This makes it practical to real life. This is how writing occurs. I think self-assessment is really our goal here. We want students to be able to monitor their own work. They need to see what must be improved and what mistakes they made in conventions. They need to get to a place where the teacher doesn't get sloppy work which we cover in marks. I personally like to focus on one trait each day so that I am reading for a purpose and the student has one focus in their revising. Then we can build on it on a larger assignment.
Hi Scott! I think I may be missing some of your posting for Assignment Five. It begins with "con't" and starts mid idea. I can figure out what you're talking about though :) Conversation about genre and curriculum planning of units of studies throughout the grade levels is a big undertaking, but one that districts REALLY need to start doing. Teachers end up spinning their wheels individually and trying to develop and make decisions about their individual units, rather than focusing in on the individual needs of the students in their classrooms. Even better than individual districts spending tons of money and time on hiring outside consultants on helping with unit development, it would be much more streamlined and effective if the state would at least have skeleton outlines. And by this I do not mean buying or prescribing prescriptive programs for districts to use!!!
ReplyDeleteWe just finished our 9 days of assessments in CT...I'm completely disgusted by the whole thing. It really is just unacceptable. Have you been able to view either of the movies - Race to Nowhere or Superman? I'm going with a group of teachers in my building next week to see Race to Nowhere.
I do believe we need to assess with the purpose of knowing how to individualize instruction to students' needs, but even in our district, they come so fast that there's really no time to analyze and teach before the next round comes along.