Note: These section are packed!!! Pick and choose your discussion points so that the blog doesn't become overwhelming and packed with so much information that participants won't want to read each others' comments. :)
Sections Four and Five- Advocacy Is Also Essential and Teaching In Action: Lesson Essentials
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."
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What stuck with me for this section was the idea of making the learning relevant, fun and meaningful. What about test scores? There is much talk lately about standardized tests and how to get the kids to care, try hard and do their best. If we are able to put some relevance back into what they are learning then maybe we can worry less about the testing and put the emphasis on the learning again. I have had students say, when I have asked them why we are learning something, “For the OAKS test.” No! I want to scream. “This is for you! For your future, for your company, for your world.” I need to find better ways of making writing real for my students. The teacher whose class wrote to the state testing commission and the teacher whose class created a recess book, both made the students writing real for them. I have no doubt that those students realize that what they are learning is for them to use in the real world. They have seen not only how the process of writing works but also what a difference they can make through their good writing.
ReplyDeleteI am right now a temporary teacher in my district. I have no guarantee of returning next year so my visions of forming professional development groups for my school are just that as this time. However, I am part of a PLC which meets every week about SS and LA. I will bring this book and start the conversation in this group about writing and how we can make it better. I know that many of my colleagues feel just like I do about writing. We all want to be doing more of it and doing it better.
Finally, I am struck with the realization that if I want my students to write more then I need to write more. Modeling, talking about writing I am doing, showing them good writing and why I think it is good. Taking the time to enjoy writing again and remembering what it is that made me want to write at their age can assist both my students and me. To make the experience authentic for my students it has to first be authentic for me. Taking back the joy of writing as a whole (and not conventions, spelling and 5 sentence paragraphs) reminds us that writing is so many things, but above all, writing is communication.
Assignment 8:
ReplyDeleteChapter 11: Research matters and it our supreme responsibility, as educators, to be informed and evaluate the current research in all areas concerning education and human development. Once again, Routman cuts to the quick with her understanding of “key research findings” (pages 263-266). In all actuality, this is the first time I associated writing as being part of one’s social development. Routman references the works of Lev Vygotsky in several areas of the social aspect of writing. Vygotsky’s focus on the social component in children’s cognitive development makes perfect sense within the context of writing. All through this text, the “TRY IT, APPY IT” notes have been extremely valuable and the “practices of Highly Effective Teachers” (page 268) is no different. This list is now my goal sheet! Routman is a gifted educator and writer, this text has been a valuable read.
Chapter 12: I appreciate the reminder in this chapter… “Put more responsibility on students!” They are capable and eager citizens of our school and classroom communities. I am also grateful for the inspirational idea of: “limit the work you take home” and in turn limit the work you send home… essentially, work smart!
5 Day lesson plans and appendices: Admittedly, I am not the best time manager when it comes to lesson plans. Routman explicit plans are invaluable. I know I am being redundant here, but the lesson plans and prompts are a wonderful resource.
YES!!! Take back the joy in writing! It's so exciting to hear you want to share the text with other teachers!!! Good luck with your position next year...I'm starting to look for a job for next fall as it is time for me to return to work. (My daughter turns two in May.) It can be quite stressful not knowing where or if you wil have a job for the next school year.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of Vygotsky. :D Oh, again,, so glad you found the text useful. We are so happy at the end of the course each term to hear teachers share how they feel this book will help their instruction!
Chapter 11
DeleteThe research discussed in this chapter clearly supports teaching writing as a process rather than focusing on isolated skills. Giving students choice in their writing topics, a true purpose for writing and lots and lots of time to write are key elements. The Try it and Apply It section on page 268 was especially inspiring. While I often chat with other teachers after school about successful lessons (and unsuccessful ones) we rarely have true "professional conversation." Even during our professional development time i feel that we aren't usually discussing the actual practices that we can use to increase our effectiveness. A book study on a book such as this one, discussed slowly over the course of a year would make a huge difference.
Chapter 12. This chapter was my favorite but also a big challenge. One of my biggest frustrations is the lack of time. Each year I add new things to my curriculum and it is hard to let other favorite assignments and projects go. I loved the paragraph in which Regie suggested that we ask ourselves whether each things we do will "help our students become more joyful and accomplished readers, writers and thinkers?" I think I may print that on my lesson plan master so that I see it every day! I am still famous for the late hours that I work, but I have greatly reduced the amount of work that I take home with me in the evenings and on weekends. Last year I challenged myself to leave early (well, early by my standards) on Wednesdays and I think that one change in my routine gave me more energy to put into my teaching (and the rest of my life.) Keep it short, keep it simple and slow it down. What great advice!
assignment 8:
ReplyDeleteChapter 11: I would like to focus on the idea of testing. Testing in my school is such a stressful time for teachers. Besides the pressure we used to get from the administration to make sure our children are ready for testing, parents also most of the time are anxious about their own children readiness to take the test. Therefore, I like how Regie talked about including parents as partners on page 280 and her suggestions to gain their support and advocacy. I was also impressed with her suggestion to teachers to have “independent spirit”. However, in order to achieve this goal teachers need to be more knowledgeable about the methods that should be used to improve students’ writings including engagement, modeling, scaffolding, celebrating…etc. Being aware of the research findings is also a necessity for teachers to be acquainted with, so they can modify their curriculum and teaching strategies to meet students needs. However, this has to be a school wide mission, so we can guarantee the student’s continuous success through the school academic years. Teachers who collaborate together and share their success and challenges in writing will meet the goal of achieving great writers and automatically great test scores as well.
Chapter 12:
I wish if I had read the book five years ago!!! Regie’s advice that staying at work late won’t help our students become more effective readers and writers made me feel sad because I wasted so many hours staying after school correcting students worksheets. It is true, students won’t even take the time to read my recommendations; they just check their grades. I will certainly eliminate the daily worksheets in the future and focus on helping my students become competent and independent writers and readers.
When I read through the list of the writing process on page A-2, I was surprised that the author mentioned that there is no right or wrong answer. Of course, and especially after reading the book, there is right and wrong answer since I have an evidence of the benefits and the detriment of each statement. I will share these beliefs with my colleagues and discuss them deeply to gain a wide knowledge about effective writing.
Chapter 11:
ReplyDeleteI would really like to share what I have learned with the head teacher of our classroom; however I feel like I have to tread lightly with her sometimes. She doesn’t take new ideas very well, and has told me in the past that she gets defensive knowing that I too am a teacher and she is still learning as a new teacher. One of the main points through out this book, and brought up again in Chapter 11, is that students should be writing everyday. We only write on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am baffled by the fact that she finds this schedule acceptable, but how can I bring about a change without her feeling like I am questioning her judgment? If anyone on the blog has some ideas, I’d love the advice! It’s a touchy situation, and something that I have discussed with other coworkers, but the subject has to be brought up in order to end the disservice to our students.
Another research point that has altered how I run my own writing group is that students who enjoy writing are more motivated to write more. When the year started I gave my students writing prompts to write from. Now, I am allowing them a lot more flexibility in terms of topic choice, and have seen more enthusiasm for writing. We are also doing a more sharing as a group. I realized that providing a genuine audience and reason for writing is necessary for my students to develop worthwhile pieces. I have also been starting most of my writing sessions by reading short stories first, so that we can identify interesting words the author used, “hook” beginnings, and how the story developed from beginning to end. I am making more of an attempt to plan my writing lessons based upon research findings, and less upon perfection and writing to meet specific IEP goals, and am doing a lot more modeling.
I like the idea of keeping students who struggle with English as a second language in the classroom during read-aloud times and shared language experiences. I’m not sure when the best time for them to receive outside help is, but I have always thought they needed to be in the room when there is the potential for them to develop their language skills alongside their peers. If writing is happening in a resource room setting, I think it would be great if what they were doing was aligned with what the class as a whole was doing, just with more individualized support. That means they aren’t doing something entirely different, or studying skills in isolation. There needs to be more communication between the resource room and classrooms.
Chapter 12:
As Regie said in earlier chapters, if you are reading everything the students are writing, then they aren’t writing enough. However, I love the fact that she also says we should reduce the paper load and not spend every evening poring over papers. I like the idea of our students becoming more independent. That’s actually part of my whole philosophy on teaching, developing students critical thinking skills, and encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning. I also like Regie’s point that conferences are more useful than written corrections, as they usually ignore what is written. Her time savers and best advice are nice, concise reminders on pages 286-287.
The 5-day lesson plans are a great resource, and something that I can use in the future!
I so wish that Regie would do a residency at our school. I am so inspired by the this book and I want to start advocating for more meaningful reading and writing in our building. Right now we have a set of non-negotiables from our reading basil. Teaching from this program for 2 hours! I am going to come up with a plan and ask to pilot something different next year. I want to take the frame work of the basil and turn it into a guide that allow more room for authentic reading and writing. I like the part that says “ the best teachers are not followers but have an independent spirit.”
ReplyDeleteI think that in my grade level we will be able to make changes because we are a strong team and willing to try something new. One of my teaching partners is very seasoned in the writers workshop model and I’d love to spend more time talking and hearing how she does writing in her classroom. We have never spent time talking about writing- Math and reading have always been our focus. We can- as a small team – work together on ongoing professional development and hope that it will spread. Our district has a few “programs” that have been purchased for our district but I don’t know how it is being used.
Chapter 12- I really like the advice about limit the take home. With a new baby at home – this has been something I have had to accept, but I have felt guilty about it. I no longer have the freedom to grade/read papers over dinner or as my husband and I watch TV. When I get home I want to spend all of my time interacting with my baby girl, ( and then keeping up with the house work.) I feel guilty as a teacher when things take longer to get graded and I feel guilty as a parent when my weekends are full of college work :) and school work.
Be choosey about what you read! Love it! I really want to copy this sections and a few others and put them in my principals box!
I also love the advice in the box on page 287- words to live-or-teach by!
I am really excited about the Lesson Essentials in section 5 – I will defiantly be referring to these and using them as guides.
Assignment 8
ReplyDeleteAs I have repeatedly stated in my previous posts, our district has jumped on many curriculum bandwagons. Mostly half-assed, excuse my wording. But when we change programs regularly with maybe one teacher trying to teach the rest of the group for 20 minutes, an expert is not made. It does bode confusion for both students and teachers and does not produce quality writers! I teach using my professional common sense and maybe that comes from being older. I hate to say it but I take the program advice with a grain of salt and continue with my tried and true techniques. My students have always scored well in writing and on reading tests. The only real rebuttal I receive is from fellow teachers who are irked that that they follow the “rules” and I don’t and yet no one checks to see either way. I have team scored many a paper in my day and have gone to many trainings on how to score and I know that my students write with more voice, better grammar and word usage as well as better conventions. I do hold my students to very high standards and am always amazed at how they will rise to the occasion.
I told my teaching partners about “Reading Essentials” and how Regie teaches writing the way we love to teach writing. How she confirms our ideals of best practices and how authentic writing is so much more successful with students than isolated writing exercises. When my students write you can see their enthusiasm as they dive in and not sit looking dazed and confused about what they need to write.
I would love my colleagues to do a book study using this text as well as maybe next year do one on “The Essentials of Reading” which I also loved when I was working on my reading endorsement. I believe it would do our administrator a world of good to join in these book studies so he is on the same page as the teachers. I think I will suggest this!
Our school is great on setting school goals but does not give any guidance on how to reach those goals. I find that our young teachers struggle with this however; we do have very giving teachers who will take time and mentor these individuals. I think that it is imperative that these young teachers go into classrooms where exemplary teaching is happening and observe. Why try to reinvent the wheel when someone has already become an expert at teaching and wouldn’t mind sharing their knowledge.
I also love the idea of not bringing home so much paper to grade. Every assignment doesn’t have to be graded, practice shouldn’t be graded. I know for a fact that when papers are handed back to students full of red correction marks, students do not even look at them or have any inclination to revise them. I think it sends the message that they did not go a good job and they don’t want to even look at the paper again! Rereading and editing as they write rather than expect them to do it after they deem it finished is a much better use of time.
Hello Susan!
ReplyDeleteI have the same frustration with the many meetings for Professional Development that really are a platform for administration to talk at us. Teachers need MORE time (well basically for everything ☺) to discuss instructional methods, lesson and unit planning and to share examples of student work. I think having a yearlong or even half-year book discussion on this or many other worthwhile professional texts is a great way to get this time. Perhaps there can be a stipend for teachers or the district can purchase the books or someone can write a grant to provide food, stipends and the books. The principal, curriculum director, pto are all local sources to try first.
Excellent, even though it’s difficult to give up favorite units or projects if we are constantly asking ourselves if the activity is helping to move the students forward and helping them to become better readers, writers and thinkers; then we’ll be able to assess what things need to go and where we can find more time.
Hi Madiha,
So glad you plan to share Appendix A Beliefs about writing with your staff. I’m sure it will lead to some interesting conversations.
Carol,
Yes, it def. can be a balancing act trying to bring new ideas to other teachers or administrators. What about just starting off with her about how much you liked the text and let her borrow it if she wants to? Or you could just pick the one point to bring up with her that you took this class and read the book and the main point is that students need to be writing every day. You could ask her what ideas she may have to make this happen…like writing word problems for math or observations for science. Maybe you can say this is going to be one of your goals next year. Don’t bring up the other things you want to try or change…I think just sticking to this one main point, in a non-threatening manner will benefit the students greatly. You can even do other things during this writing time but first you need to get the students writing more than two days a week. Maybe it will only be four days but that will help also.
Yes!!!! Not only should there be more communication between the resource room and the classroom there should be more planning! SPED, Speech/Lang., ELL and the mainstream teacher should all be planning together every week! I would say if resource room can push in to the classroom that would be the best way to deliver services. Otherwise, exactly what you wrote, about doing what the class is, is what I would have the students work on.
On a last note, if your teacher isn’t approachable due to her insecurities then what about privately speaking to the head of SPED or the principal to see if they can talk to her and tell her that the students need to be writing every day? I would ask them not to mention your conversation with them but in the best interest of the students they really need to be writing more. Not sure if you trust them, I would hate for her to find out that you went above her head. Good Luck!!!!!!
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