Assignment Nine: Final Course Reflection
(All assignments are due by 8/20 !!!)
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 writin• 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!!!! Mary & Jackie!
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Hi Everyone!
ReplyDeleteI'm just back from camping so I will be catching up on the blog posts!
Thanks for your patience.
Mary :D
Goals for the Coming Year-2013-14:
ReplyDelete• Find and use a conference/conferring record sheet that works for me.
• Follow the format for putting the writer first: Assume the child is making sense, Give an overall response first, Be generous with your praise, and Make important teaching points.
• Continue work on/with my student friendly rubric but for use only when the writing is being assessed.
• Share student’s writing daily.
• Make sure students know their audience.
• Have students choose meaningful topics (to them).
• Present students with many different types of authentic writing opportunities.
o Letter writing
o Poems
o Notes, Thank you cards, Reminders
o Lists
o Narrative, Opinion, Expository
Balancing Home and School:
This has always been a challenge for me, especially my first few years of teaching. I would always leave late and bring more work to finish at home. It is so true that a teacher’s job is never finished (just like a mother). Although this made me exhausted I did not have kids when I first started teaching so I just accepted that this was the way teaching was. As I gained experience in teaching and added children to my family I realized that I needed boundaries! I now do not bring work home with me (okay there is a rare occasion). When I am home I am enjoying my family and my life outside of being a teacher. I am much happier. Still exhausted, my two kids keep me plenty busy! ☺ At work, I have learned to prioritize all the things that need to be finished and plan when I am going to accomplish them (prep time, before school, or after school). I have also set a boundary never to leave work later than 4:00 pm. That is only 30 minutes later than my contract hours. I have also learned that my work as a teacher is NEVER done but it is okay to leave things for tomorrow.
I have really enjoyed reading Writing Essentials. I will be referring back to it often through out the year and probably my teaching career. Thanks so much for all of your feedback and comments.
Assignment #9 Goals for Lori Fossati
ReplyDelete• Adopt elements of the Optimal Teaching Model for writing that I am not currently doing.
• Incorporate more non-fiction, both reading and writing, into my curriculum.
• Mini lessons! Refer to Writing Essentials on how to have students write the lessons in their notebooks.
• Establish rules on writing using quiet voices and how conferencing works. Have them write these rules in their notebooks
• Write in journals every day(free choice or prompts)
• Shared writing – I do some of this in my classroom but I would like to do more of it. I see the value in taking down the thoughts of the student, allowing the student to verbally express him/herself without worrying about all that comes with writing (spelling, grammar, etc.). With shared writing, they can have more freedom but I can still guide them with questioning.
• More efficient and enjoyable conferences. I would like to put more focus on it by conferencing more often. I want conferencing to be something we do weekly in class, and I want to do conference(s) in front of the class.
• Celebrate More! I want to find ways to celebrate every day in class. I would like to work on having mini-celebrations during writing workshops. This can take the form of public conferences, I think, and more sharing of work and verbal praise. I want to encourage my students to find things they like about their writing to celebrate also. And I want to spend more time celebrating the work of authors we love.
• Try The Stuff On This List! I will be keeping this book close. I have tagged lots of pages to help me find what I need. I am excited for this school year.
*** I have done a lot better in the last few years with balancing home with school. It helps that my daughter also goes to the same school. She will be in eighth grade this year and she comes into my room afterschool She works on her homework and I get things ready for tomorrow. We stay for an hour and then I usually need to run her to some type of practice or activity. I always try to take time for myself. Sometimes it is reading a book, just for fun, walking my dog, or even playing that dreaded Candy Crush Saga. Whatever it takes to unwind and relax. Everyone benefits when I am rested and happy.
This has been a great experience for me. I have learned so much that I feel really confident about what I am taking back to my students. Thank You!
Hello Tricia and Lori!
ReplyDeleteBoth your goals look great! We're so glad that you enjoyed the text and course!
Have a wonderful school year and Happy Writing!
:D
Megan Downey
ReplyDeleteWriting Essentials Assignment #11: Final Course Reflection
Goals for improving my instruction:
-I see students for 30 minutes up to 4 times per week for reading instruction, in that time there has been little to no focus on writing. I want to incorporate writing more into my instructional groups.
-Incorporate shared writing into my instructional groups; don’t be afraid to show myself as a writer (it will only make my students better writers)!
-Stick with a piece of writing for multiple. Especially with my younger writers who are working on writing a single sentence.
-Schedule regular writing conferences with students, either those who I work with in instructional groups or talk with classroom teachers about conferring with my students on writing from their class.
-Help students figure out their audience and/or only ask students to write when there is a clear audience in mind. Most of the students I work with a very reluctant writers, and without a clear purpose or audience in mind, there is little motivation to write.
-Experiment with poetry!
Home/School Balance:
Since the beginning of my teaching career, I’ve tried to have a healthy home/school balance, at least when it comes to leaving work at a reasonable time and bringing work (assignments) home. Unfortunately, the amount of work and amount of time I have at work is becoming more and more out of balance and I’m having trouble maintaining the healthy balance I once had. This is something I will have to work on. One of my personal goals for this year is to develop better organizational systems to help me be more efficient in my work. I also think this course has given me great ways to improve my instruction and I will refer to this text often for ideas on how to incorporate more writing into my instruction.
Where I really struggle is with teacher/specialist balance. What I mean by this is that I have the most difficulty balancing the expectations as a specialist (writing IEPs, preparing for meetings, training EAs, collaborating/consultation with teachers, etc.) and teaching (planning quality instruction, maintaining records, etc.). The pull between the two is the part of my job that drives me the craziest; while I know the importance of developing quality and meaningful instruction, I also know that there are compliance concerns when it comes to the special education world. I’m not sure when or how to address this balance, but this will be something I have to do at some point if special education is where I want to continue.
Megan definitely work on that balance. I hate it but I actually feel guilty for leaving work on time or at a reasonable hour some days. Even though I go in early. I do have a life besides teaching and I am entitled to that life. Also my family is entitled to have me be a part of their lives without work. It is really hard for me though. My husband doesn't get that when the clock says 3:50 I can't just leave if I am in a meeting or wrapping something up. Good luck.
DeleteGoals for the 2013-2014 School Year
ReplyDelete• Better integration of writing in our daily classroom schedule. Use less prompts and allow students more freedom in their writing, allowing them to better explore writing by writing with meaning and purpose.
• Allow students more time to write – and write first. Use mini lessons to support their needs as writers (and not for driving writing instruction).
• Celebrate student writing more and share as part of the writing process!
• Incorporate more shared writing experiences.
• Use informal student conferences more and teach, model and practice student expectations while writing and conferencing.
• Find an informal conferencing format I like and use it when conferencing with students.
• Create and use a rubric (appropriate for first graders) for students to use when self-evaluating their writing.
• Continue to collect samples of student writing to share with others as examples.
On a personal note, I do have goals to achieve a better balance between my school and home life. Admittedly, I was not great at maintaining this balance last year and I knew that at the time, yet it was hard to change gears mid-year. “I” was not on the priority list last year and I felt a little guilt if I gave myself permission to do something for me – it felt almost a little selfish. Now after reading Regie’s words it feels as if she’s given me permission to put myself back on the priority list. Thanks for the reminder, Regie! So, I am going to set a time to leave my classroom each day and try to leave work at school. I have also committed to some personal activities (exercising and attending my book club again), which I am looking forward to. I’m hoping that by finding some balance I will have even more to offer to my family and the students in my classroom.
Thank you for the opportunity to take this class. I know that from my reading of Writing Essentials, posts from peers and your feedback, I have gained so much. I'm looking forward now to putting this into practice in the upcoming school year!
Goals for the 2013-2014 School Year:
ReplyDelete• Incorporate writing everyday across the curriculum. In doing so I want to create opportunities for students to write about topics that are meaningful to them, understanding who they are writing to and why.
• Teach effectively – Spend more time writing; incorporate mini lessons into writing time and keeping them more “mini”.
• Conference well. Use the various kinds of writing conferences to help my students become better writers. In addition, I want to find an informal conferencing format to help me keep track of student progress.
• Practice shared writing more. What a great way to build skills through collaboration.
• I want to do some of the projects Regie suggested in her book (and continue some that I have done before.)
• Celebrate, celebrate, and celebrate.
• Share student writing regularly – use that time for celebration and instruction.
• Be a part of building a writing community. I need to begin with myself and include my students and my peers.
Balancing Home and School:
In all honesty, I did not balance home and school well last year. Between the demands of school and the hectic schedule of managing 3 kids, I ended the school year exhausted. Reading Regie’s words about maintaining balance were freeing. It hadn’t really occurred to me that by neglecting my personal interests I was rendering me less effective as a teacher (and a mom!). What stories do I have to share? This year I hope to set clear boundaries between home and school and then maintain them. On this final week before I return to school, I want to sit down and think through my priorities; for myself, my family and for school. In doing so I want to make sure I am fitting the “most importants” into my schedule and letting go of some of the less crucial “to do’s”.
Thank you for a wonderful summer of learning. I am excited to head back into the school year and feel I have gained so much information and so many ideas from Writing Essentials and from the posts. I look forward to a great year ahead and I hope to see you in another class.
Goals for the coming year:
ReplyDelete• Build stamina in students independence for reading and writing
• Share students writing more regularly, completed and in progress
• Improve conferences with students
• Focus more on content
• Place more editing responsibility on students
• Improve assessment abilities, primarily informal
• Lessons derived from students exhibited needs
• Modeling, sharing my own writing
• Make everything have a purpose, identify and eliminate busywork
• Make reading and writing fun by allowing student driven choices
Home and School:
This has also been challenging for me as I tend to gravitate towards doing things longer or harder is the path to success. I need to focus on quality rather than quantity. I always make sure I have time for my kids and their activities. The loser in this is often my wife as I have very little leftover after the long week. Just through the focus of this writing process, I will spend less time grading papers at home, planning activities, and editing writing. This alone should leave me with more time and energy. I am going to carve out time for just the two of us. And for myself, I am going to make sure I find the time to play golf once a week.
I wanted to thank each of you for your input and well thought responses. In each case I either learned something directly from your experiences or was forced to think about my practices. I wish you all the best of luck this coming school year.
Assignment #9
ReplyDeleteFinal Reflection
As I write this final reflection it is 9:44 at night on Tuesday, the last day of class.
In six days I start my school year. Monday starts inservice week. Ontop of all the regular meetings and set up of my classroom plus prepping for my kids and touching base with parents I get to move classrooms. I get to move from a conference room to an actual classroom. I get to have my staff back with me. I get to have all of my students with me rather than case manager kids I don’t get to interact with because my staff is working with them in another part of the building. In addition, I plan on being a stronger voice in the future for my students in the gen. ed. program when it comes to curriculum. I have always been in awe of a classroom teacher who can work with 25-40+ kids in the room. While I am certified to do this I don’t know if I could actually pull it off. Then again, I am in awe of school bus drivers. I have no idea how they do their job daily and don’t go crazy. Much praise needs to go to them.
I am going to embrace writing this year making it my pet project. I am going to write for my students. I am going to try and take the chore out of writing for my students. I want to bring joy to my students from writing. If I don’t get them there in just one year I at least want to make it less painful for them. One very cool thing about my job is that for the most part I don’t have my students for just one year. I get them from when I get them until they age out of my school, graduate off of their IEP or move. This means I get to build a long relationship with my students. This also means that my students count on me making learning something doable for them. They need to believe in our work together to come to me year after year. I want to show them a new side to writing. I want them to see sometimes writing is hard for adults too, sometimes it is very thrilling to write what is in your head or your heart. I want to conference with them, share what they do well, guide them where they need to be guided. Shared writing will become a mainstay in my room. Publishing will occur in my room far more than it has in the past. I will use the “optimal learning model” in my room this year to help all of my writers grow are writers. There is so much I want to try. But also so much that I need to go back and read again so I am ready when my students come to me.
Lastly, some thoughts about Routman. I enjoyed reading the text and was pleased that she and I hold many similar beliefs about education and reading. What did surprise me was when she referred to teachers in general she always stated “she”. While I know at the elementary level there are far more female teachers than male there are many fabulous male elementary teachers. We have three such gentlemen in my current building. One is at 1st grade, one at 3rd and the last one is in 6th grade.
I am looking forward to holding book talks this year, sharing my reading life with my students and hearing more about what they read outside of school. I am anticipating students promoting books for each other and want to see what they recommend that I haven’t read yet. This will be a great way for me to learn of material to improve and increase our classroom library.
Thank you for the opportunity for this class. I have very much enjoyed my work. It ahs been a long time since I have had a text from a class that I want to use as a resource. Most of them end up in my cabinet and just move with me from room to room, building to building. I now have two text books that will be used daily and most likely will become quite dog eared over the course of the coming year. I just wish I had managed my time a bit better so that I am not rushing my writing portion. Nothing like ending with 2 hours to go.
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for participating in our course. It was great getting to know you this summer. I will email each of you your grades. For the earlier posts, I will be returning to them this week. We need to be sure to get all our grades into PSU/TINT and then we’ll go back to the earlier assignments posts. (Assignments 6-9 are all up to date.)
Have a wonderful year and hopefully we’ll “see” you in another class sometime.
-Mary :D (and Jackie)
Tricia,
Awesome goals!!! We’re so glad you are enjoying your family and life outside of teaching. I think 30 min. after contract hours is a great goal to leave by. (It’s kind of hard to only work contract hours as a teacher…I tried one year, just for fun, to track how much time outside of contract hours I worked…I gave up by October. :D) We are truly glad that you enjoyed the text and feel that it is a resource you will come back to.
Lori,
Again excellent goals for the upcoming year! (Love the refer to Writing Essentials line. ☺) More celebrations and more fun! Love that you want to spend more time celebrating the work of authors you love. It sounds like you have a great balance between home and school. Keep it up. Oh, I’ve heard of Candy Crush Saga…should I not even look? ;) I play Flow to unwind. So glad that you enjoyed the class!
Megan,
What a busy summer you had! Excellent plan to incorporate writing into your reading instruction! Oh have fun with poetry. Regie has some poetry books I loved (though I haven’t used in sometime) for the lower grades. (K, 1, 2 and ¾) Here’s a few you may want to check out:
http://www.regieroutman.com/myBooks.asp (scroll to the bottom of her book list)
You can also find them on amazon.
Lester Laminack is another professional author that I really like. He has a couple books about poetry. Here’s his site and list of works:
http://www.lesterlaminack.com/works.htm (Climb Inside a Poem) He’s a great speaker if you ever get a chance to see him in person.
Good luck with finding your balance. I know exactly what you mean as a specialist and since I’m starting at a brand new school I’m wondering how it will all shake out this year. The expectations I put upon myself are my biggest area to work on but with three little kids at home I need to be sure to find that balance also!
Hi Stacey,
Def. plan to re-read this next summer. I bet you will find it just as informative. Great goals and we’re so glad you plan to make yourself a priority! Be sure to schedule your activities into your calendar just as you would for any other commitment for other people. Enjoy that book club!
Kristin, Yeah, Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate! That is wonderful you plan to build your school writing community! Good luck with this important work! Yes, let go of those less important things. Here’s a little activity for you and anyone else to try who may feel out of balance with your time and effort. On a sheet write down all the things you do for everyone that is close to you. Flip the sheet over and write down everything you do for yourself! Is it balanced? What can you let go? The start of the new school year is a great time to institute changes and let go of old obligations. And if it is not possible this year or term, be clear that it is your last year doing _____. As I say at my sons’ school to the PTO, I’m happy to be a worker bee when I can, I just can’t be in charge of anything right now. :D We hope to see you in another class as well and have also enjoyed working and learning with everyone this summer! One of the best things about teaching these classes is that we get to keep learning ourselves!!!
Hello Todd,
ReplyDeleteThat is excellent you plan to make more time for your wife AND yourself!!! It is so important to not only be there for our children but also to nurture our relationship with our partner/spouse. Have fun playing golf, I’m sure you will have some great stories to write about with your students from your adventures. (Well at least I know I would as my favorite club happens to be my leg as I kick the ball where it needs to be. :D I know, if you're serious about golf you would hate to play anywhere near me. ;-) ) Your goals are great and we wish you the best this year as well!
Hi there Karyn,
That is wonderful that you are moving back to a real classroom! It’s no fun being shoved all around a building or having your space taken over because there is no room. Oh my gosh, that is so funny about the school bus drivers. I KNOW, they are amazing…well except for those crabby ones, but I guess who wouldn’t be crabby listening to that noise every day. I know I always try to avoid riding on buses to field trips saying I’ll drive my car “just in case” someone needs to leave. :D We want you to bring joy to your students writing and think it’s awesome that you are going to advocate for what’s best for all the students!
You are correct, there are many amazing male teachers in education. In fact, my all-time favorite teachers ever were two males. (5th grade and high school.) It might be worth your time to write to Regie or the publishers that you noticed this “the use of she” throughout the text. I believe she uses both pronouns in Reading Essentials. As a librarian I’ve written publishers in the past about errors I find in the text or if the cover art is too sexy for elementary students and that I will not be purchasing or using a book. (More common with Graphic Novels.)
We are so pleased you found the text useful. I know I have purchased my fair share of books that sort of travel with me also. :D You made it and are D-O-N-E! Great job!
Again, it was a pleasure working with everyone and if you feel you are missing reading Regie here are a couple articles I found on her website. Have a Wonderful School Year!!!! ☺ Mary
http://www.regieroutman.org/publications/articles/
I also wanted to say that I believe your grades will be posted online at PSU on Sept. 5th.
ReplyDelete