Welcome to Essentials of Writing! We look forward to working and learning with you. In order for everyone to get the most out of the course, please be sure to read and respond to each others comments. Please try to keep your responses within one allotted "comment" space to ensure that the blog remains manageable for all participants.
Also, you may want to type your comments in a Word Document and either copy from Word and paste onto the blog or save it in a folder on your computer and then post it to the blog. I have written a couple of lengthy comments that I lost before I was able to post it to the blog. This extra step may save you some frustration later on this term.
Last of all, we will write our comments to your posts on the blog, so you will need to check back to the corresponding week for feedback (and to make additional comments if you wish.)
Let us know if you have any questions. You can email us, but please put the words "Question for Essentials of Writing" in the subject line so that we can respond in a timely fashion.
ASSIGNMENT ONE: Post your Introduction to the course Blog.
Introduction Post- Tell us about yourself. Where do you teach? What grade do you teach? How long have you been teaching? How many students are there in your class? Do you have instructional support? What does your current literacy program look like? (If you aren’t currently teaching let us know.) What is your knowledge/training in the area of literacy (be specific about your experiences teaching writing?) Does your district provide training in literacy –especially writing? If so, what exactly have they offered? Has your district been bogged down with getting students to perform well on state writing assessments – prompts? How do you feel about teaching? Are you happy at work? Also, let us know a little about you outside of the classroom: Interests/ Hobbies/Family Life? What do you hope to get out of this course? Post your reflection to the blog.
Also, you may want to type your comments in a Word Document and either copy from Word and paste onto the blog or save it in a folder on your computer and then post it to the blog. I have written a couple of lengthy comments that I lost before I was able to post it to the blog. This extra step may save you some frustration later on this term.
Last of all, we will write our comments to your posts on the blog, so you will need to check back to the corresponding week for feedback (and to make additional comments if you wish.)
Let us know if you have any questions. You can email us, but please put the words "Question for Essentials of Writing" in the subject line so that we can respond in a timely fashion.
ASSIGNMENT ONE: Post your Introduction to the course Blog.
Introduction Post- Tell us about yourself. Where do you teach? What grade do you teach? How long have you been teaching? How many students are there in your class? Do you have instructional support? What does your current literacy program look like? (If you aren’t currently teaching let us know.) What is your knowledge/training in the area of literacy (be specific about your experiences teaching writing?) Does your district provide training in literacy –especially writing? If so, what exactly have they offered? Has your district been bogged down with getting students to perform well on state writing assessments – prompts? How do you feel about teaching? Are you happy at work? Also, let us know a little about you outside of the classroom: Interests/ Hobbies/Family Life? What do you hope to get out of this course? Post your reflection to the blog.
My name is Alana and I have been teaching for ten years. Before I was licensed, I worked as a bilingual instructional assistant and then went back to school to get an MAT. Currently, I teach first grade at Bridgeport Elementary School in Tualatin. Before teaching first grade, I was an ELL teacher for two years. This year I have 22 students in my class and approximately half are English language learners. I do not have instructional support inside the classroom, but students are pulled out for different services. There are students who go to pull outs for Spanish literacy, Title One (reading and math), Speech and ELD (English Language Development). Our reading program is Treasures by Macmillan-McGraw Hill and is taught for 90 minutes a day, five days a week. Outside of that time, we have a half an hour a day, five days a week writing block time. For writing we have adopted the Lucy Calkins writing program. We received a half day writing training on the curriculum. On my own, I went to a four square writing workshop in Portland a few years ago and use that tool a lot in my teaching. Our district is concerned about how our students, especially ELL, are performing on the state writing test and it is a stress that teacher’s feel as well.
ReplyDeleteEven after ten years of teaching, I still enjoy teaching and the children. I feel that the stress level has increased for me during that time, because more and more tends to be put on my plate, new curriculum, new standards, less resources, etc.
Outside of the classroom, I have a wonderful husband and four year old son. We enjoy traveling, hiking and reading. I currently am saving money to visit Australia, I’ve never been there and would love to see the country and it’s animals.
I hope to get out of this class ideas for helping my students get excited about writing and want to write. Currently, when I tell the class to take out their writing journals, there are a few moans. I would love to change that.
My name is Deanna Kronsup. I teach first grade at Bridgeport Elementary, Teaching is a second career for me.
ReplyDeleteI currently have 23 students; 13 boys, 10 girls. 10 are ELL students, 1 is SPED. I do not have any push in instructional support, but my SPED student is pulled from class for two hours per day.
We are a walk to read school. I teach the second to lowest reading group. I have 16 students in this group, only 5 from my home room, 5 which are ELL.
The reading block is 90 minutes long with focus on fluency and comprehension. Just recently I have added a written component on Fridays where the children write about the main selection for the week. They have to identify the main character, the setting, beginning, middle, and end, or in place of beginning middle, end, the problem and the solution.
Later in the day we have a 30 minute grammar block. During this time all first grade ELL student, levels 1,2, and 3 are pulled out for English Language Development(ELD). I focus on grammar and writing with the rest of my class. During this time the students write in their journals. I conference with them and when their piece is finished they get to go to the author’s chair and share their writing. I am hopeful that we can make modifications to this time next year and have ELD incorporated into the lesson and not have these student pulled out.
So, actual writing instruction for all students is hit and misses at best. I have a 12 minute block mid day and a 20 minute block at end of day left for teaching science or social studies, writing and pack up. During the 20 minute block I have 3 students pulled for a second literacy intervention. Writing is integrated as well as possible with science and social studies. At this point I am only using Four Square in conjunction with science and social studies. The students that are not in my grammar block get no opportunity to brainstorm ideas, or write for fun. I have been very disjointed in my approach to teaching writing every year regardless of the grade. Time and scheduling has not permit a writing block so I feel like I just bounce around trying to be sure everyone is getting some writing exposure. So with that said, I am trying something new this coming week, which I am feeling a bit stressed about. I am going to try to reduce calendar time by 5 minutes and fit in a mini writing lesson, and have the 12 minute block for writing for all. I will only do science and social studies for 15 minutes and morning work, then pack up at end of day.
I have had a day long training around the Lucy Calkins Writers Work Shop. We also had a half day training in our school on this. I was on the districts writing committee for writing our district’s power standards. I have not had training with Six Traits, or Four Square, but have purchased the books and have used these when teaching writing. Our district is bogged down with getting students to perform well on state writing assessments. I believe only 42% of our 4th graders passed this year and we out -performed the district as a whole.
I love teaching. I love my school and the staff I am fortunate enough to work with. I am however stressed and tired all the time. We have so many challenges, between all the pull outs and diverse needs. There is never enough time to implement all the ideas and modifications that go through my head….
I am married – almost 24 years now, with a 12 year old daughter and a 6 year old son. We have a 3 year old Vizla named Travis. We like to camp in the summer – nothing too rustic though. I love to read and read every night. I like light reading material; fantasy, romance, murder mystery. Nothing with much depth, but am not up too much more by the time bed time routines are done. I like to cook when the mood hits me.
What I hope to get from this class is a plan; a way to effectively and confidently teach writing with consistency in spite of the crazy schedule, to all my students so that we all feel successful in the end.
Hi Alana and Deanna! Welcome to our course.
ReplyDeleteAlana – It’s great that you have such a strong ELL background as a first grade teacher with so many ELL students in your room. It does seem that your district has provided you with some great writing PD as well as instructional resources. It would be nice if you had at least 2 days where your writing instruction block could be at least 45 minutes. I really do believe that in addition to kids needing the opportunity to practice their writing, that if they receive quality writing instruction within the writing process, that they will perform well on the state writing tests. I hope this course helps you to change some of those “moans” when it’s time for your kids to write !
Deanna – It is a great goal to have your ELD students be able to stay in the classroom during writing workshop, and to have support push in during this time. I think that the more we can integrate our instruction is really the only answer to be able to even begin to teach all of the “curriculum” that teachers are asked to teach their students. It definitely seems as though you do have a very disjointed schedule that really doesn’t allow the time to focus on quality writing instruction. Has this ever been discussed at the district level…especially with only 42% of your 4th grade students passing the state test? I do believe that TIME is the ultimate challenge for all of us as teachers!
Hello, my name is Joyce Jannsen. I am a stay at home mom with 3 children. I’ve been married for almost 15 years. I substituted ½ a year, taught Kindergarten for 2 years, then tutored grades 2-12 in writing, reading, and study skills. I have not taught for 8 years.
ReplyDeleteWhen I taught Kindergarten, there was a lot of modeled writing of letters, stories, observations… The children wrote in their journals every day when they came to school. I have always wished I had been better at coming up with more creative topics for the kids to write about. I loved the journal writing time more than the kids did. I heard some groans sometimes. Of course, at the beginning of the year, they were not writing much. Aside from journals, as time went on, they wrote stories they made up, stories about their experiences, their hobbies, and science observations. At the end of the year, kids paired up and wrote puppet shows which they performed.
While teaching Kindergarten, I had a “publisher’s table”, but not many other creative ways to approach writing. The only one I can think of was writing letters in the sand.
I loved to tutor reading. But, writing was a different story. I felt very inadequate for the job. I didn’t know what was most important. I tutored them how I had been taught: web your ideas and outline, then write the story as you have in your mind, make your corrections, then re-write.
I miss teaching. I don’t know where, what avenue, or when I’ll go back. I help my kids with their homework, but we have to go with each teacher's approach to writing. I don’t find it very enjoyable to help my kids with their writing. I just asked my 8 year old if he enjoys writing and his response was “when I get to write about something I like”.
I love to garden, love to build things, and love to go for walks. I love the sunshine! I love coffee times with my family. I enjoy planning events at our church and enjoy teaching the Preschool/Kindergarten class.
I am looking forward to this class. I hope to learn ways to help tutor/teach kids to love writing. I hope to find some ideas for helping my own children. I hope to come up with more substantial and creative ideas.
Hi Joyce and welcome to our course! Although you haven’t been in the classroom for a bit, it sure sounds as though you’ve had your hands full. You mentioned feeling “inadequate” in your training to teaching writing to children. I think the majority of classroom teachers feel this way, unless they are middle or high school language arts teachers. I think the biggest part of this problem is that teachers don’t really receive the appropriate training in college to be ready to teach a classroom of child writers, each with a wide range of abilities and needs. I hope that Regie and this course provide you with some ideas that will be motivating for all of the kids you get to work with (including your own ).
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce!
ReplyDeleteThe publisher's table sounds like a neat idea. I used to have something I think might be the same thing. There was a table at the back of my classroom, called the "writing center" and it was stocked with pencils, markers, crayons,student dictionaries, different stationary and writing folders. The kids loved it! Sadly, I don't have it set up anymore but maybe I will rethink that. Alana
Alana,
ReplyDeleteThe publisher's table sounds basically the same as your writing center. I loved it and had it year round. I've tried it at home with little success.
Joyce
I'm Lindsay Anstaett, known to my students as Ms.A! I've been teaching in the North Clackamas school district for three years in a self contained academic classroom for students with mild-modert disabilities in k-3. Before that I was a 1:1 instructional assistant in Colorado Springs with several students in special education. In a few short weeks one boy completely changed my world and my view (for the better) on students with special needs. I moved to Portland 4yrs ago to work on my masters degree. I'm also on our school's positive behavior support committee and love interacting with other teachers and helping them solve behavior problems. In my class room I have 10 students with 2.5 IAs. Half my students have ASD and the other have a variety of disabilities ranging from MR-Communication disorders.
ReplyDeleteHaving a range of grades and abilities I use a variety of curriculum. For reading we currently use Reading tutor, Reading Mastery, PCI reading program and Treasures (k). Many of my students struggle with the motor skills required to write so we use Sensible Pencil, which teaches students correct writing strokes and letter formations. We have Lucy Calkins but don't use it.
I would love to learn new strategies for writers no matter their level or motor skills. I spend a lot of time in the motor part I think I've forgotten a little about the writing process. I have a few students who enjoy telling stories and I would love to help foster a writing environment.This year I have focused on providing a prompt/topic and students will produce a sentence or two. I write it for them, then a they type it and we put it up in the hallway with some type of art.
When I'm not working I enjoy walking my dog, who requires and enjoys long outdoor activities. By the end of last summer he was swimming and now LOVES going to the coast or river. He will settle for a day hike or bike ride. I also have a heart for service and enjoying volunteer in my community either with Habitat for Humanity, Friends of tress or with my church. I recently joined a dragon boat team with fellow teachers. Last year they took 3rd, so I'm excited to be on a winning team. In case you happen to come to the races in June we are team No Teacher Left Behind!!
Hi Lindsay and welcome to Essentials of Writing. It was great to learn a little bit about your teaching experiences. You mentioned a young boy who was able to change your life in an instant…isn’t it amazing how these kids effect our lives. I think that you will find that the writing workshop will increase the motivation in writing, especially as you focus in on purpose and audience with your students. I’m totally curious as to what “dragon boat” racing is…crew? Either way…best of luck in June
ReplyDeleteJoyce -
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about your writing experience with your kids! Truely I think I would be MORE nervous in front of my own children, especially after having done it in front of my students...I have done another one since the first one I posted about, and my students were all over it and me - in a good way, but I am not sure my own kids would be quite so nice to me. (-: Maybe I will get brave and write for my own children... Maybe it will help them with their own...
My name is Gary Hancock and I am a fifth grade teacher at Lynch View in Portland, Oregon. I have thirty-four students in my class.I have no instructional support.
ReplyDeleteMy current writing program is based on the Writer's Workshop without the reflection time. My writing time is only thirty-five minutes long due to scheduling issues. I have time for the mini-lesson and group work but no reflection time. Our curriculum consists of a Fletcher binder and a canned worksheet writing binder with ten student books.
My training consists of a class I took nine years ago and the few hour long training that the district has given.
The only planning the district has provided is for the grading of writing samples. We have not had any other trainings.
My district does not seem very worried about writing. Our fourth grade is the only year that "counts" at the state level. I don't feel any pressure about my writing scores. We have a heavy focus on reading and ELD.
Teaching is very difficult these days. Along with thirty-three students, we have a chopped specials schedule, teacher lay-offs, a 6% pay cut coming next year and many pointless meetings. One great thing this year is that my class has been one of the best classes I have ever had.
My life outside school is filled with enjoying outdoor activities and hanging out with my four year old son and wife.
Hi Gary – welcome to our course. 34 is a large number for not having any instructional support (even for your struggling readers and writers? Math?). It sounds as though teaching as become as stressful and bogged down with ridiculous just as much on the west coast as out here on the east coast! I feel that the breaking point has got to come soon…the educational system cannot continue on its path with out self imploding at some point in the near future. There needs to be accountability along with well trained teachers, but somewhere along the way the whole process lost its’ purpose and focus. I’m hoping to see a change in the near future (but with national testing heading our way..who knows!). I hope this course helps you to reevaluate and strengthen your existing writing program.
ReplyDelete