Assignment Eight: 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.”
Assignment #8
ReplyDeleteSome of the key research findings indicate that students need to write everyday, just like reading, it is essential for success. Students will enjoy writing and write more if they are motivated to write, bond with their teachers, and are willing to take risks. Teacher’s knowledge of writing and comfort level has a direct impact on students’ writing progress as well. Encouraging parents, creating predictable routines, emphasizing the writing process, allowing student choice, purpose and audience are also key factors in successful teaching. Providing support through conferences, test preparation embedded in the curriculum, providing time for extensive reading and writing, valuing and supporting students’ writing, having a language rich classroom, using writing as a problem-solving tool are also best practices when teaching writing. Effective teachers are knowledgeable and make their decisions based on research, teaching and learning experiences, their observations of students and ongoing professional conversations. We are working on writing improving in our building, I can make a difference by having conversations about writing with my grade level team, and we have been too focused on having our children write about so many different topics that the second graders have had little time to free write. I would like to have a conversation about writing choices at my grade level, and with the 5th grade teacher that my students are “reading buddies” with. Our “reading buddies” could and should also be “writing buddies”.
Reducing the paper load is easier said than done. I can reduce the paper load for my class by allowing more time for students to write about their topic of choice and having more frequent individual and public conferences. From those conferences I will know where my students are in the process and plan my instruction accordingly. Therefore, I won’t have to spend a lot of time out of class reading papers (and making written comments) to learn my students’ progress. It also makes for sense for me to teach the whole writing process and focus on skills needed and NOT teach grammar skills in isolation from a workbook (which is what my second grade team and I are currently doing). A conversation with my second grade team on that issue is a must as well.
I liked all of the ideas in Section 5. I will use Regie’s topics of writing in my own class, Secrets of Second Graders sound fun. The Heart Poems will also be of great interest. I have had my students write persuasive letters in the past and that has been a successful high interest topic. After looking through the Appendices in the book, I am using the individual Writing Strengths/Next Steps for my writing conferences. I already sent home the Suggestions to Parents with this week’s homework.
Chapter 11
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting for me to hear her talk about different reading programs. She was talking about how she has seen school districts struggling with test scores, so they buy a new program. That seems to be a popular trend, but does not always work. I know that our school has Lucy Calkins reading and writing program, but we were never trained in it and I am struggling to pull ideas from it. Most of the units I have looked through would not be appropriate for my class. Either they are supposed to write about topics that my class is not interested in, or it requires book sets that my school does not have. It seems wasteful to get these programs and then not use them effectively. It would have made more sense to get everyone a copy of The Writing Essentials instead.
She said that kids should write everyday, and get feedback often. It was another good reminder that the kids should be writing everyday, and then have a chance to share it. That might be with me, or with a friend. I think that reading out loud is one of the best ways to proof read! Plus the kids get a chance to share, and give feedback to their friends. I know writing is hard to share sometimes, but they usually are pretty comfortable with it. I also really loved how she said that instead of writing to a prompt, we should have them write for a specific audience. That seems so simple, but is also a big shift in thinking. I give them prompts sometimes, but maybe I should say- write for your first grade buddy, or write and tell your parents about our day, or something like that. It seems like it would make more sense for them, and make it more real for them.
Chapter 12
I was so relieved to read this chapter. Sometimes I feel bad that I don’t read my kids writing at home more often, and that I don’t add feedback to their paper. I have done this before, but it is exhausting because it takes so long! It made me feel better to know that it is not very effective. She said kids don’t usually respond and learn from your comments. She said that instead, we should be conferencing with kids. I do agree that having a conference is much more effective and helpful, plus it saves me hours at home. She just makes it sound like teaching writing should not take hours and hours of planning at home. I could spend a half hour reading a writing lesson from our writing program, but maybe taking that time to plan with another teacher would be even better than that. This chapter is one that I think I will read over and over as a reminder of taking the time to decide what is really important.
If I could sum up the key points in the last few chapters, it would be purpose and audience. Throughout the whole book and especially in these last two chapters, the ongoing emphasis has been on making writing meaningful for kids. I can clearly see how through Regie's model that this is the most effective way of teaching writing. Our building has spent countless hours looking for the "best program" for teaching writing. We've even "bad mouthed" the district for not adopting a "writing program." If we focus on quality instruction, student success soars. I feel better equipped for teaching my writing program the rest of this year and in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading chapter 12, I felt like I am on the right track for motivating my students to write. I always share stories about my daily life. Every time I tell them I have a story to share, their eyes light up and many reply that they love my stories. Now I need to take it a step further and make that part of our writng program. I found myself jotting down ideas from this chapter about topics to write about. In reality, it is about the experiences the kids have and not about a scripted list of ideas neatly planned out for the year. This is a big shift for me in thinking about teaching writing. I also liked the idea of not taking home so many papers to correct. I spend countless hours at school and then more at home correcting. Now I see how the whole process can be done at school! Yeah!!!
It would have been interesting to have done the checklist in appendix A before I started this book and then again afterward. So many of my thoughts about writing have changed. I have been guilty of telling my fourth graders that after the writing test is over, we'll have some fun with writing!!! Now I could kick myself. Never again will those words be spoken! Now I have the tools to better engage my students in the writing process and therefore, hopefully, make them more successful writers!!
Assignment Eight:
ReplyDeleteRegie has taught me how to be more of a highly effective writing teacher. Students need to write EVERYDAY, and throughout the curriculum. Students need to write for varied purposes and audiences. Students become more fluent and competent writers by writing, reading, sharing, and talking about it everyday!
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from Regie is that I have to write in front of my students! Another lesson is that I need to share my writing and talk about my writing! I’ve already seen the benefits of doing both.
When kids enjoy writing and have some choice of topic and audience they will value the writing purpose. That is really sinking in for me! Teaching skills in isolation and following another reading/writing program has been both frustrating and counterproductive! When I changed my philosophy about writing and my schedule to include conferencing and sharing time, I started to feel an excitement among my students I hadn’t felt before!
My students are so happy to start each day now with writing!
I have always had my students do writing assignments that take a lot of time for them to complete and even longer for me to score or grade. I end up working much harder than my students, and for what? I am starting to question some of the traditional practices and assignments I do with my students. When I started teaching 5th grade I picked up what the other teachers were doing and followed. I rarely asked why we were doing this or how it was good practices for kids.
Now, after reading Writing Essentials, I am reevaluating the projects I do with my students and focusing more on meaningful instruction. It’s tough to change so much in the middle of the school year, but I don’t want to wait. My students deserve a chance to see how writing and reading can make big changes in their lives, and that they are not just about a letter grade.
I have always loved telling my students stories of my life. Lessons I learned, experiences I had, and common issues I had that they face today. I was so happy to read that Regie recommends that we teachers share our stories. Now I want to write about them in front of the class too!
I would love to start writing conversations with the teachers at my school!
I know that there is a lot of resistance to trying something new AGAIN, but I hope by talking up some of the changes I’ve made, teachers will see what my students are capable of doing with their writing. I will start with my 5th grade team. I am anxious to put the time and energy I usually put into grading and scoring, into writing conferences and shared writing! I’m diving in head first!
Okay, here I go again. Just wrote my whole blog only to have it lost!!!
ReplyDeleteI am going to do my best to remember what I wrote!! ARRGGGGG!!
The best way I can sum up Regie’s message in this book is content and purpose. Teach kids to write with love and passion and the mechanics will come later. Let them see how powerful the written word can be. I love the example she gave of the second graders who needed recess equipment for games and wrote a letter to the principal asking for the requested supplies. How wonderful to see that their hard work paid off. We are to focused on the steps and teach them separately. I was guilty of this, I admit, and primarily because I was given a program to follow. The kids writing was dry and lacked voice and I dreaded scoring them. I also am guilty of using DOL when I taught fifth grade my first year of teaching. It NEVER transferred over to their writing and I got so frustrated. I wish I had read this book back then. Regie provides a convenient list of best practices to teaching writing on pages 263-266 that I thought I would copy and post where I can access it easily.
Regarding having conversations and meetings with colleagues. I would LOVE to be able to implement a writing club for my fellow teachers at my school. Hearing that we can relax and learn a more desirable and productive way of teaching writing would be a blessing and long overdue. The simple fact is, any teach can attest to, is that we are all sooo busy and under sooo much pressure that one more thing can meet much resistance, no matter how good. It takes a strong leader to bring together teachers of various levels of experience to tackle necessary conversations around a required skill that needs to yield high test scores year in and year out. We are already tired and working long hours, not seeing our families, that who wants to spend more time at school? For me, I surround myself with professionals I can talk to and who are as motivated as I am to do well in our chosen profession. Unfortunately, those people aren’t always the ones who work at my school. I am interested in learning more and read books all the time. This is only my third year teaching (first year in kindergarten). I hope that no matter how many years I teach, I will continually strive to learn more and be open to new ideas and methods so my students will reap the benefits.
Next, it was so nice to be given permission to RELAX and enjoy our private lives and pursue our interests. I sometimes think that I can do what I enjoy in the summer, when I have time to drain my brain and purge all the good and bad I did that year!! I know that I have to find balance for my and my family’s sake but right now I am pretty focused on being a great teacher. I guess I am driven!! I know that more worksheets and papers doesn’t make you a better teacher. Working harder isn’t always working smarter!
Finally, I would definitely like to do the activity on page A2 with my colleagues at a staff meeting. I wish for myself that I would have done this survey BEFORE I read this book and then compare that with what I know now. I am quite sure some of my answers would have been very different.
I really liked the parent letter and suggestions on A3 and A4. I can see tweaking it to make it my own and putting it into a newsletter. Thank you Regie!!
Thank you for reading.
Erin Dugan
P.S. My first blog was better!!
2-3 years ago, our staff focused on writing and spent our professional development time have discussions about writing. Unfortunately, those conversations have stopped, and I feel that the hard work we did has been pushed aside. I would like to work in my grade level team and use this text to assist us with creating some goals for ourselves as we plan our units. I struggle with using our district writing curriculum because it is very wordy and takes so long to read through a single lesson. I find myself using pieces from the curriculum, but most helpful are the things I have learned through professional development on my own! The charts on page 271 and 272 look very similar to what my own would look like if I wrote out what I did and what I am now doing. I still have some work to do, but it’s reassuring to know that the slight changes in teaching made a significant impact on developing stronger writers!
ReplyDeleteI loved Regie’s question, “so what?” What a great reminder to us about how to best use our time with our students! Keeping in mind all her important timesavers is bound to create a better writing environment with more successful students. I am really looking forward to seeing how my student’s writing continues to change; as I make changes in the way I teach writing. I agree with Regie’s thoughts about making sure to spend enough time on you, I have always been very good at making sure that I take the time I need for myself! Teaching is a job that would never stop if you didn’t force yourself to take a step away every now and then! Sharing my life with students is something they really enjoy, and I agree that it does help them make a better connection and build a different type of trust with you!
Section 5 was very helpful to read how Regie implements lessons on a daily basis. I took away some good ideas from the secrets of 2nd graders lesson, what a great beginning of the year writing activity! I have used some of the key phrases Regie uses in regards to editing, and by having higher expectations for my students, I can already see their work improving.
Assignment 8:
ReplyDeleteAs I substitute teacher there are some topics that are more meaningful to me than others. I loved reading about the research findings. It really verifies everything that this book teaches. It makes complete sense for students to write every day. In every endeavor of life one has to practice to become accomplished. This book has taught me how to make this possible.
I agree so much that teachers who bond with their students learn more easily and take more risks. I found this to be true in my experiences. I love connecting with students. They easily perceive another’s sincerity and open up so much more when they feel loved and appreciated.
Writers need demonstrations. Now that I have learned this I want everyone to understand this and practice it in the classroom. I was recently telling another teacher about this class and how much I just love teaching writing when I have the opportunity. Her comment was: “I hate teaching writing and I don’t want to take any more classes!” I felt sad to hear this, but I think a lot of teachers are burned out and don’t want to keep learning.
Reading and writing go together: more reading leads to greater writing competency. Yes!! I subbed in a 2nd grade the other day and the writing time was flexible. I brought several “Otto the Dog” books by Todd Parr. Kids LOVE Otto the dog. After I read the stories I told them we would write a story about our own adventure with Otto. I gave them time to talk to their neighbor. There was such happiness in the room. I could hear them talking to one another with excitement. I gave each student a three-page booklet with room for an illustration on each page. There wasn’t one student who didn’t have an idea for their story. It was pure joy! We had time for sharing and the stories were wonderful.
Students learn more about good writing when they learn at the point of need. I am seeing this now. One of the kids who wrote about Otto the dog used dialogue in her story. I shared her writing with the class and then I told the class about using quotation marks when you use dialogue. It made so much sense and others then attempted dialogue in their stories.
When I did my long-term sub job I never worked so hard. I was bringing paperwork home every night and every weekend. It would take a lot of practice for me to learn what is really important. The funny thing is that the teacher that I subbed for is a minimalist. She has very little extra stuff around in the room and she never takes any paper work home (She is an experienced teacher and I am still new). I know it helps to have volunteers to help correct homework and prepare homework packets. I did have a volunteer for that task sometimes.
I really appreciate “Secrets of Good Writers” and “My Best Advise.” I have post-its in both pages and will refer to them often.
I love the having the 5-Day Lesson Plans and the helpful detail that I can refer to again and again. Thanks for encouraging us to write in our books! I have used a highlighter pen throughout and I have used a pencil to write comments in the margins. At present I do not have a team to share page A-2 with but I will share it with a teacher friend. It will be fun to compare notes. Now that I have read this book, many of my ideas have changed.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading chapter 11 I truly feel lucky to be working at my school! Our Principal really takes into account what the staff would like to focus on, and he will support us with resources that we need or any support we would like. As a school we really try to instill “best work” within our students and hold very high standards. The parents are very involved and supportive as well. My team works well together and it’s nice to have ample time to talk about writing together and get to map out our year as well as share strategies throughout the year. We check in every month or so to talk about what is working and what we can change to make teaching writing more efficient and practical.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading chapter 12 and would like to carry over Regie’s quote, “Is this the best use of my time?” into other aspects of my teaching and planning. It’s so easy to try to “do it all” and then I end up doing a lot of things, but none of them fully and with meaning. I would rather take that energy and put it into a few good ideas that I can really get into with my students. It’s a good reminder to enjoy life outside of school and not worry about taking a bunch of work home each day! When I do this I feel like a much better teacher.
I loved going through the list of “Examining Beliefs About Writing” and thinking about my teaching beliefs. It’s important to remember what is truly important as you are teaching. It’s easy to look past all of the great things you are doing, and beat yourself up if you are lacking in one area. I would love to go through this list with my team and talk about what we believe. I think it would be a great jumping point for sharing strategies and things that have worked in our classrooms.
In chapter 11 Regie continues to present valuable information. I like that after having read most of her book on her writing practices and beliefs, she spends the last couple chapters giving teachers information on how to present these ideas to others in our field. My district is in the beginning stages of trying to develop our writing curriculum so I found chapter 11 particularly interesting. Regie has given us a guide of what to look for, questions to ask, and what to really focus on if we are given the chance.
ReplyDeleteIt is also helpful to have so much research and citations to back up her methods. Regie gave great examples of how to talk to the district and administrators. Having actual research to back up opinions is key in getting our ideas and opinions heard.
Chapter 12 was a great reminder to me. My first couple of years of teaching I felt so overloaded but felt I still needed to check every paper and plan and prepare for hours, often going into school on my weekends. Finally I started listening to another teacher, who became a great mentor to me. She really stressed that I needed “me time.” I would not be an effective teacher if I was tired and worn out. She told me to think about how much I was doing things because I felt that it needed to be done over how much the students were actually getting out of it. For example, I would spend hours trying to make perfect bulletin boards with different borders and themes, the work was always hung with even spacing and placement and changed every couple weeks. While the boards were beautiful to look at and the children’s work was displayed, I have found over the years the students are just as excited to see their work up with the same border as last week, uneven spacing, and a computer printed title.
In addition to Regie’s reminders, her timesaving advice on writing was also helpful. Following her advice and tips make it seem more reasonable to fit writing into our schedule on a regular basis.
Reading Regie’s lesson plans tied everything together for me. Having watched her teach portions of a few of these lessons it was great to see what she did before and after the video with students. It is also nice to see the amounts of time she devotes to each part of the writing process each day (whole class share, writing, editing, etc.) and how she puts the optimal learning model into practice.
Assignment #8
ReplyDeleteSome of the key research findings that are the most important to me are that students write every day, they enjoy writing, they choose their topics, they share their writing and that they realize writers need to write a lot in order to become better writers. I think that students have heard the mantra enough that to become better readers, they need to read. If we carry that mantra over to writing, it will be very powerful for some students.
Effective teachers are continuously reflecting and informally assessing student writing. Through daily journal writing, writing samples, conferences and modeling we are giving the students the guidance and tools they need to become better writers. Our hopes are that the students can take what they learn with us and make it better the next year. Scaffolding within the classroom and school play key roles in student learning.
Writing in my district will come full circle and we will once again receive a year of professional development in writing. It would be nice to have the focus remain on writing for a few years. Although it seems that the district continuously has a new focus each year. Hopefully as a staff we are able to maintain professional conversations around writing. It definitely is challenging when are focus is always changing.
Over and over we see that high performing schools are doing real reading and writing. Yet for some reason the high poverty schools are the schools that are mandated to use the scripted curriculum to increase test scores. I believe that strong leadership is key as well.
I would have to say that the climate at our school is not great. There is a lot of tension around the budget cuts and a ton of uncertainty. Many of us don’t know if we will have a position in our school next year and we don’t know what grade level we will be teaching. Because we are in the second year of our Dual Language program, teachers need to be moved around in order to have the Spanish-speaking teachers in the appropriate position.
Limiting the paperwork is a huge timesaver. I definitely limit the work I take home but I rarely announce that to co-workers. Of course I get the people that agree with me that there needs to be a balance between work and school. On the other hand, there are also people that think part of our job is to correct papers at home. I must be a “good teacher” if I am at school a long time and take work home. This misconception is one that will probably always exist. The whole Wisconsin fiasco really shows how the government feels about teachers.
Thanks everyone for your comments about Section Five. This is probably one of my favorite sections because Regie pushes you to try and find the JOY in the teaching of writing again…and that might mean that you need to do a better job of finding that balance between your professional and personal life!!! It’s great to see how reflective you all are about your own writing work with your students and how you are really making some amazing changes to your daily writing instruction…always keeping in mind AUDIENCE & PURPOSE! :) It’s great that so many of you are excited enough that you’re motivated to begin some sort of conversation going with your colleagues whether in the form of a book club or other format.
ReplyDeleteErin – I’m sorry you had trouble posting…just a tip for everyone – in the future you might want to write your response in a word document and then cut and paste it into the blog. That way, if something goes wrong with the blog, you won’t lose all of your great thoughts :)
I have found it interesting that our district has combined the two ideas into one the last couple of years. Research and data. We are now being asked to identify sources to prove that our practices our researched based in our school improvement plans. Then we are asked to mine the data and teach using prompts and graphic organizers. We are asked to have students working an hour a day, but we have reading for an hour and a half, 1-2 specials, math for an hour, lunch recess 50 minutes, leaving 30-45 minutes for spelling, health, science, and social studies (the long forgotten arts as well). This shows that the writing hour can definitely be integrated into the other subjects, and needs to be done every day. I like the idea about being caring teachers. That is who students remember, who they want to work for, who they listen to and respect. Parental support is the hard part for me. I would like to look at how other schools have parents more involve. Some talk the talk, but don't like to deal with it when the time comes. Their kids then don't think these activities are important. Providing choice, purpose, and voice is another area that I must improve. Then the students can have fun working independently and have a motivation for their writing.
ReplyDeleteI found the section on adopting teaching practices very interesting. I feel like our professional conversations are often very narrow and focused on a topic when the need arises. 2 years later we have neglected another aspect of our teaching. I think that the communication is key. I need to talk about what I do as a writer to keep it real for the students. I like the idea of evaluating the process with OUR peers so that we can apply the same principles with our classes. That is much more meaningful than just sharing. I think that the mentorship, coaching, observation piece is of utmost importance. We used to have money set aside to get subs for such programs, but now we must take it upon ourselves to find the time during our day. This means sacrifice. We have to build a culture of small sacrifice in our schools if we are going to improve. Often we are focused on the ongoing contract negotiation process and what we can and shouldn't do during the workday. Sometimes I feel like just saying, "Step up!" That's not really the way we do things here though.
I have a hard time with teaching writing to ELD students. Most have very rich ideas, but they must have relevant topics. We try and choose prompts that all 20 something nationalities in our school can find relevant, but sometimes they just comes out bland. Keeping the kids in the classroom is what is so difficult for me. We have a great ELD staff that has offered extra time to tutor our newcomers. I don't want them having to make up the science and social studies that they miss, however. I'll try and use more of Routman's guidelines, as well as more communication with peers. In writing I probably give too much independent brainstorming time in order to prepare for testing.
With all we are asked to do in school it is hard to give up the work sheets and assignments, but I need to focus more on quick writes, check-ins and conferences. I try to set high expectations in the classroom for routines and jobs, but each year they fall apart as my time gets squeezed. I need to continue to focus earlier on expectations so that I save time. I personally hate sending home homework. I hate watching my own elementary children work on it. Most of it is busy work and it fosters feelings of hate toward the subjects. I would love to eliminate all but independent reading and math facts. Kids deserve a break and they need fun family time. They shouldn't be so tired they don't want to read. When it comes to the basal, I find that we have some decent stories. Whenever possible, though, I will pull out the actual book from the library. I will shift my focus to writing with depth in class about what we read, instead of just focusing on literal comprehension. Today I read aloud from Half Magic by Edward Eager. I then did a shared write with the students. The time flew, and the kids did fabulous. We discussed and they shared. They came up with great ideas, I hadn't even thought to include. It was a great exercise, focused, hit two subject areas, and the only paper was in their journals. It felt really good. I will continue to work on that process in my guided reading groups and whole class.
ReplyDeleteScott – I think we are all struggling with the same problem that you mentioned in your reflection of Section Five…TIME IN OUR SCHEDULES FOR WRITING. I’m currently working with the head of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in our district to deal with this issue. We are implementing two new “programs” for reading and writing workshop called Making Meaning and Being a Writer. The problem is there isn’t enough time for teachers to schedule writing in their day for 3 days let alone the 5 that is “required”. We are going to propose a new “time allotment” schedule to our board of education to see if we can make some changes to make it a bit more realistic. I’m responsible for training teachers…and what I’m asking them to do isn’t even feasible. It isn’t a good feeling all around! I am also finding it very frustrating that there is no time for coaching, mentoring, peer modeling support, or professional book clubs (because everyone is too “burnt out” after school). To find ways to improve Tier 1 instruction in my building is impossible! I think you have set great goals for yourself – increase expectations, have more conferring and writing time. High five on the less homework thought!!! Kids need to be kids…again, have you seen Race to Nowhere?
ReplyDelete