Assignment Nine: Final Course Reflection (All assignments are due by 8/20!!!)
It's been great reading what you all have to share! Take a look at the last section in Regie's text, Writing Essentials, it's chock full of great resources!!!
Teaching in Action: Lesson Essentials
5 Day Lesson Plans & Appendices
• Secrets of Second Graders
• Heart Poems
• Procedural writing
• Hero writing
• Persuasive writing
• Appendix survey
Be sure to look through this section. If you haven’t already done so, look at Appendix A (page A-2.) Re-examine your beliefs about writing by re-reading the statements about the writing process and marking true or false in your book. Did you change any of your previous answers? Would you consider bringing this page to your team or even to your entire school to jump-start discussions about writing?
Take some time to look through the appendices. There are several useful examples included. One we’d like to point out to you is Appendix L- The Genre Characteristics Excerpt on page A-13. Look to the Writing Essentials companion website at www.heinemann.com/writingessentials for the entire chart as well as directions to assist you playing the DVD.
ASSIGNMENT NINE: Final Course Reflection - Critically examine your current literacy program and develop realistic goals to improve your instruction. Also reflect on the balance between your home and school life. If our students are to become happy, literate people, they need happy, balanced teachers. BRIEFLY, share several of your goals with the class by posting them to the blog for this final assignment.
Thanks for taking our course!!!! Jackie & Mary!
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I have a lot of goals around improving my teaching of writing. My first goal is to communicate to students the purpose behind writing. We will have a dialogue as a class about why people write. It is important for my students to be invested in writing, and showing them the purpose behind writing is a good way to get them excited about writing. During this dialogue I will bring in samples of my writing so students can see me as a writer as well.
ReplyDeleteMy next goal is to make sure students have time everyday to write. In order for students to improve their writing they need lots of time to practice. I want to give students at least 20 minutes a day of uninterrupted writing time. They will be able to have choice within the structure we are focusing on. For instance if we are studying poetry, they can choose any topic they want, but will need to write a poem.
Next, I will do more modeling of writing. It is important to draw student’s attention to the skill you are teaching. If we are working on using descriptive words, then students need to see me modeling using them in my writing so they can see what it looks like. Then, I need to use the optimal learning model and have them participate so students can get support they need to be successful when they go to write on their own.
Another writing goal I have is to begin writing conferences. I will meet with every student at least weekly to talk about their writing. We will talk about what is going well in their writing and what they can focus their energy on to bring their writing to the next level. I will record what we talked about so I have data and can easily monitor each child’s writing.
Lastly, I want to do more celebrating of writing. Students need to be recognized when they work hard, and we also need to have school be a place where there is happiness. We will do more celebrating of writing by having students read their work everyday to the class or to each other. We will also do more celebrating by having a few special days where families are invited to listen to students read a published piece and share treats together. Celebrating builds a strong classroom community where students gain confidence and a love of writing.
Goals for next year
ReplyDeleteHandwriting. Every year it seems as though more and more kids come into my classroom with terrible handwriting. I know as students mature and enter the higher grades, most of their papers will be typed, but I still believe good handwriting is a valuable tool to have. I teach 4/5 so most of the kids come in knowing the basics, and many of them have their own style. I want to first model good handwriting doing shared writing activities, and talk openly about my letter spacing, where I put my title, where my letters sit on the line, and how I can easily distinguish capital letters. I also want to openly talk about erasing, and tell my students they must erase the entire word/letter before going on, no more half erasing. I know that this will be a year long project, but I am going to try to be as consistent as possible and hold my students accountable.
Shared Writing. I really found this section of the book particularly enlightening. It fits nicely into Regie’s Optimal Learning Model, specifically under the guided practice. I do model my writing often, especially during the beginning of the year, but I see a class shared writing piece as being very beneficial to my students. Going through the process together, and openly talking about the elements of a story, and handwriting and organization will help students get a firmer grasp on my expectations. In the past, I’ve just skipped this step and expected my students to work independently and use what the have seen me do, but at times there wasn’t a good connection, and I was left having to re-teach certain things. When conducting writing conferences, I can reference our shared writing piece to help students as well.
Book Reviews. I have done book reviews in the past, but never been excited about the outcome. Summarizing a text, or a book is a very important skill that many 4/5 students struggle with. At times it can be very overwhelming. The book review can be a simple three paragraph review, but it will give me valuable insight into the students’ comprehension. The three paragraphs will include an intro which describes the book (brief summary), a paragraph describing what they like about the book, and a recommendation.
Prompts. In the past I have used prompts that limited the writing options. I hated giving these prompts, and usually waited until later in the year to use them, mostly as a lesson to help kids during the state writing test. The prompts given to the 4th graders during the writing test were very limiting, and hampered my students’ creativity. This year the test is suspended, so I intend on really focusing on prompts that allows kids to freely explore different areas of their life and interests. I want to make writing fun, and I know this sounds obvious, but I want this goal to be at the forefront of my mind when I am thinking about lessons.
I’m glad that balance was brought up as something to think about going into next year. The balance between a teacher’s personal life and work life is always a struggle. A mentor of mine once told me that she didn’t believe in the word balance, because insinuates that both sides are equal, which is impossible for me. I know that when I am in the middle of a school year, most of my life is going to be consumed with school.
That’s just the way it is. My mentor said that a better description is harmony. Harmony is the quality of forming a pleasant and consistent whole. Finding ways to do things you love and getting away from school during the hectic year is crucial for me, but I’ll never be able to achieve a perfect balance between the two. I’ll never be able to do it as often as I would like. I need to make time for it. I try to go surfing or skiing during the weekends always. I try not to bring anything home and never look at email of any school work after five. I find when my life gets engulfed with school, my teaching suffers. As the years have gone by, and I have gained more experience, I have gotten better at achieving harmony.
My home and school life is pretty balanced. I think the unhappy, unbalanced Ms. Madison comes from everything else I have to do other than teach while I am at school. I wear a lot of hats in my building, and I would really like to find more balance within my work day. All teachers are being asked to do more with less these days, and because of that I often find that teaching and learning are at the bottom of my to-do list at school. This is not how it should be. I recall several times last year when I would say to my colleagues, “I just want to teach.” I want to find ways to simplify all the other demands of my job.
ReplyDeleteAs far as goals for writing, a big one is to improve my communication with parents. I want them to really understand how I grade, understand the purpose of homework, and I also want to provide them with more tools that help their children enjoy writing. I am working to create a simple, but clear syllabus; and I also need to add more specific comments into our grading system that parents will see on progress reports and report cards. In my teaching, I want to work on eliminating things that don’t impact student learning, simplifying directions, providing more timely feedback, and shift from teaching skills in isolation to teaching them more in context. This is a lot to think about, but as Reggie writes, it takes time.
These are my goals for next year:
ReplyDeleteIn using the demonstration process I will talk as I write, reread, cross out and use authentic language. My students can see me change my writing so it sounds better. They can listen to me reread the story to see if it makes sense. They will start to see me as a writer and not just showing them. When I used to do this I would write without making errors, often writing was boring. Students didn’t see me as a writer.
I will use shared writing. I think this is the huge step I was missing in my writing lessons. I would send them back to their seats after a demonstration and my first graders didn’t know what to do or were uninspired. Having the students help me write the story and scaffolding conversations, rereading the text will give the students greater ideas and confidence in their writing.
Lastly, I will be changing how I do the celebration of their writing. Last year I only celebrated when my students completed a piece of writing. This year, I will take the last 15 minutes and celebrate what the students wrote that day. Also, following Regie’s example on her DVD, I will celebrate what the student did well and (with post it notes at the ready), have a 2-3 minute conversation on how to make the story even better. These lessons will help all the students that are listening. I would like to work into some peer conferencing by the end of the year.
Balance between home and school has always been very important to me. Early in my teaching career I was at a workshop and the presenter said, “Whatever you don’t get done at school, leave at school.” His thought was your time at home is equally as important as school. Since that time I have made that my goal. When I leave at 4:00, and if things aren’t completed then I leave them for the next day. When I get home, I try to leave school life behind and I am usually successful. I like to walk which and work out which relieves stress. I make sure I do that on a regular basis. I read a lot and listen to music. Since I am not thinking about school at home, when I start the day, I am pretty refreshed.
Molly and Leah! Thanks so much for participating in our class…it’s been great learning with you. I’ve received all of your assignments and will be submitting an A grade to TINT :)
ReplyDeleteMolly – Having your students understand the purpose and audience behind their writing will definitely make a dramatic difference in their writing work, best of luck as you work on that this coming year. Along with your goals of more writing time, more modeled writing, writing conferences, and more time to practice writing, you will have superstar writers on your hands!!!
Leah – Your first graders will be benefit from your plans of increased modeled and shared writing. At this age, they need so much exposure and those scaffolded supports for success. Good luck with your writing celebrations and giving your students opportunity for peer conferencing. I think I could learn some lessons from you on doing a better job of leaving it at school…..that is one of my goals for this coming year.
Goals:
ReplyDeleteOh, it is hard not to try to bite off more than you can chew!
I will definitely be spending a lot of time reading aloud to my class. I would like to set up a system where I log all of the books we read so I can keep track of them. I want to read to them 4 times a week. They often are read to when they have their library/tech class so I will give myself permission to skip that day.
I will be doing a lot of demonstration and shared demonstration early on. I will make sure that I am sharing my own writing process.
I will try and do more guided practice with small groups of students as well as conferencing.
Celebration will continue to happen daily but will be more in Regie's style of conferencing.
If I can accomplish those things it will be an improvement and I can try to adjust even more of my teaching.
I am really glad that I read The Essentials of Writing. I think it is really going to help me become a better teacher.
My main goal overall is :
ReplyDelete1.) Keep it simple. Choose a few things that I can implement, and implement them well. If I bite of more than I can chew, then they tend to become just great ideas that I wish I had the time for. So my main goal is to keep it basic and integrate a few things year by year.
2.) Combine my reading and writing more. I have a strong reading program but I am lacking in my writing. My goal is to combine the two more which in turn will strengthen both.
3.) Use the poetry and writing strengths rubrics. Those were 2 that stood out to me and I could truly picture myself using. I would like to make my students familiar with those.
Reflecting on the balance of my work with my home life... It took me a while, but I have actually become pretty good at making sure I take care of myself. I am a little nervous for this year though because I will be working with a teacher that I adore but she tends to put in long hours. Her results are amazing but she definitely goes above and beyond. I have already been giving myself pep talks about not comparing myself to her and doing the best work I can do and being proud of that.
This course has definitely proven to be a great resource for teaching writing. I learned that I can become a better teacher of writing by simply paying attention to how and why I write. This meta-cognition is becoming a large part of what makes an effective teacher by current standards. The ability to understand how and why we learn directly affects our teaching. When we understand the processes involved in writing, we become better able to teach those processes to our students. We must become aware of how these processes occur and break them down for our students.
ReplyDeleteHaving a rich life outside of school can enrich your teaching in the classroom. Think of all the things you could share with your students! You will not only have interesting stories to write about with your students, but the knowledge you gain from living in the world will undoubtedly help your teaching. Sharing your experiences with your students creates a bond with them that helps them see your humanity. Students respond better to teachers that they genuinely like and care about.
With all this in mind, I plan to bring my passion for writing into each and every classroom I teach in this year. I will remember that I am a guide and mentor. I will remember that I am human and have a rich and interesting life to share. I will remember that my best teacher for writing is myself and other writers. I will remember that demonstration and checking for understanding goes a long way in the classroom. I will remember that celebrating all students builds confidence and a sense of community. But most importantly, I will remember that true literacy happens when students are enthusiastic about what they are learning and that I must act as a catalyst for inspiration.
Thanks Ashley, Allison, Regina, Mariah, and Phil for your final assignments. It was wonderful to read each of your reflection on the course and your future goals. Ashley, Allison, Regina and Mariah I have now received all of your assignments and will be submitting “A” grades to TINT for you tomorrow. I believe that grades will be posted on 9/3. Phil, I’m still waiting for your writing conference assignment (I think I emailed you about this)…I just want to make sure that I didn’t somehow miss it!!!
ReplyDeleteAshley – I’m curious as to what other “hats” you are referring to. Have you elected to do other jobs in the building, or are you speaking of how overwhelming the classroom job has become…ie….assessor, social worker, …..??? I think it’s a great goal to fine tune your syllabus to help both parents and students better understand you expectations. Best of luck this year as you work on integrating skills into the writing work as well as ensuring that all of your teaching is purposeful!
Allison – You’ve set quite a few goals for yourself…all wonderful, just take time so you don’t burn out! As far as increasing and logging your read alouds, I’ve seen some teachers photocopy the front cover of their books and pinned them on the blinds or taped them to the walls. You are then able to very easily reference and make connections to all the different books you’ve read with visuals for the kids. Best of luck this coming year!
Regina – You seem to have a good plan laid out to move slowly, but productively over the next couple of years. I think it’s a great goal to integrate both reading and writing as much as possible with the curriculum crunch we all feel! High five for being able to keep that home/school balance up…you and your colleague will find a great way to make it work this coming year.
Mariah – I’m so glad that this course has been such a great resource for you. As you are working in different schools this coming year, it is a great goal for every classroom you’re in to bring your own metacognition to the awareness of your students as well as your passion for your life and teaching!!!
Phil – I think that as long as you are consistent with your expectations on handwriting and neatness…and most importantly, hold your students accountable, then they will rise to the occasion. Best of luck this coming year as you focus in on using shared writing and writing conferences with your students. I think these teaching strategies will truly bridge gaps in learning for your students. As far as prompt writing goes, teach children to write well and they will outperform on the state writing assessments. In fairness to the kids, we do spend several weeks prior to the test on a mini test unit of study, just to give them a heads up on the different expectations. Best of luck this coming year and trying to attain that sometimes out of reach “harmony” :)