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. :)
ALSO, I AM ON VACATION THIS WEEK AT THE OCEAN. I WILL STILL BE WORKING AND RESPONDING TO ASSIGNMENTS BUT IT MAY BE A LITTLE LONGER THAN USUAL. I will check our email inbox for questions or issues. Mary
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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Some of the key research findings most relevant to writing instruction are that students need to write everyday about topics that interest them and for an audience that matters to them. The quantity of reading and writing a person does improves the quality of their writing. More reading leads to greater writing. The connection is a powerful one. Students and teachers need to have opportunities to talk about writing. A language rich environment ( reading, speaking, writing) positively impacts writing motivation and achievement. Conventions should not be taught in isolation. Instruction needs to be related to the student and their needs. Students learn more when basic skills are integrate and connected to curriculum.
ReplyDeleteA highly effective teacher continues to expand his/her professional knowledge through reading, writing, and researching. These teachers communicate with other professionals about reading and writing. They observe other teachers, participate in coaching experiences and advise and mentor colleagues. An effective teacher has high expectations of his/her students, builds classroom libraries and conferences with students about their writing. High performing schools are schools where these highly effective teachers can be found.
Regie is very practical in her approach to teaching writing. I agree there is not one right method to teach writing, and that teachers do need to be cautious about following a specific formula or program for writing instruction.
Regie did a great job bringing her book to a conclusion in chapter 12, Make Every Moment Count. She offers great advice and reminders. I love her Secrets of Good Writers( page 282), and I can definitely see this list hanging in my room this fall. The final reminders to myself are that I need to make sure that most of our writing time is devoted to writing. It is much more effective if I conference with students rather than mark their papers with corrections. I need to limit take-home work and place more emphasis on free-choice reading for homework.
Section 5- Teaching in Action: Lesson Essentials is filled with practical, ready to use ideas for helping me lead my students to love writing. In this section Regie pulls her book together and shows me how to make Writing Essentials work in my classroom. I can see myself using every single one of her five day lesson plans. The topics are interesting and I know my students are going to find them relevant and fun to write about, too!
Chapter 11: Schools are trying so hard to raise test scores. They buy into programs that promise increased writing proficiency, but generally they are skills-based and formulaic. That is the easiest way to design a “program” that can be instituted and followed by a large group of people. The kids may learn to follow the formula and write a structured paragraph, but that won’t teach them how to be a great writer and love writing. Sadly, there doesn’t even seem to be a typical increase in test scores with these programs. Regie doesn’t say that the structure and editing is not important, she just says let it follow the joy. In my school we don’t have a prescribed writing program, which makes it easier to take a meaning-centered approach to teaching within the classroom. On the other hand, we haven’t had the opportunity to collaborate as a staff to address a school-wide writing goal in years. We have a new principal this year so maybe this will change. I appreciate the good, solid advice offered in the “Try it, Apply it” section on page 261 and the list of research references on page 263. Having research to back up the meaning-centered approach would make it easier to promote a study group or professional development with the goal of increasing writing scores but more importantly enjoying teaching and learning to write.
ReplyDeleteChapter 12: This chapter had a big impact on me. I have a tendency to devote myself to school-school-school from fall to spring. I’ve even said I have “to get my affairs in order” at the end of summer because I have so little personal time during the school year. It was an inspirational to be given permission to put aside some of the overwhelming demands in order to have some fun. If you don’t have a life, how will you have anything to write about? All of a sudden, I feel a little better about going back to school. It certainly makes sense to spend less time doing things that are not contributing to a rich educational experience for the students. I intend to frequently ask myself this year “Is this the best use of my time?” I feel like this chapter spoke directly to me.
Section 5: I really appreciate the detailed day-by-day and step-by-step information included in the lesson plans. It helps that Regie even points out some of the areas where things didn’t go as expected such as in the “Heart Poem” lesson, where some of the kids didn’t “get” the concept, or how the schedule had to change because the lesson went on so long (p.311). We all know that things often don’t go as planned. There is such a variety of ability and motivation among students, I imagine that I will have to find time for extra support for some kids and extra work for others to keep the class moving along through the lesson at about the same pace. Reading through the lesson plans gives me ideas for my own topics and projects and helps me look forward to teaching writing this year.
SherylZ, I appreciate what you said about your best use of time. It sounds like you will have a great deal of "rich experiences" from this last summer to share with your class.
DeleteAssignment #8 - 8/11/14 Katherine Holtgraves
ReplyDeleteGREAT for me to read this book again… after starting my career by reading Regie. She has become much more of a “realist”. I loved the work that she created and tried my very very best to have conferences, writing time, keep the expectations high and make sure that the kiddo’s were ready for the tests when they came. THEN came reading! A completely different area of work with students. She has come to a much more grounded spot of READING And WRITING are taught together. THIS IS SANER! I truly appreciated the high level of what teachers need to be most aware of in their writing programs. I am going to use this in an inservice in August. We are moving to a reading/writing conference model. There really is no program that can substitute for an excellent writing teacher. And better yet – invested kids… because the teacher is excited about what they can do in writing together.
Chapter 12 – I am finding that I am referring back to this throughout my summer thinking and conversations with teachers. We are getting together and planning throughout the summer. It has been so very refreshing to refer to Regie and the “stop the crazy pace of educational work”. I whole heartedly agree! Teachers are losing their lives – to come prepared and ready for their students. WHO IS INDEED DOING THE HEAVY LIFTING? This is why I am so very excited to see the Common Core Standards start to shift the responsibility back to the students. If the teachers can see the way that they can be more effective in small group settings, they are going to be happier as people. They will bring their best selves to school! This is truly a beautiful chapter to read at this point. I will use it as I gear up for our staff inservices! Yay.
Chapter 11
ReplyDeleteThe research findings, according to Regie, are this. Literacy is a social practice that varies according o the particular use to which it is put in each content. Writing is a process as is the whole arena of literacy. Canned programs don’t work. Every kid, teacher and school has different needs! The practices of highly effective teachers include WRITING EVERY DAY. Within a program, imbed test prep in writing. Remember that WRITING IS A PROCESS. Provide learners with choices, raise expectation and teach authentic writing. It is also important to have regular conversation with team members and the rest of the school staff about writing. Share your writing with students and other teachers. The schools with high test scores seem to subscribe to these ideas. They INSIST that students write every day. Teachers provide regular and timely feedback. Staff has ongoing professional conversations about writing and school wide writing goals. Parents are encouraged to be supportive and involved in students’ writing. Okay, this final chapter made my stomach hurt a bit. I was pretty geared up and excited about trying this new way of writing. When I read the chapter on what a week/lesson snapshot looks like, I felt my balloon deflate. I was on board for writing every day. In the back of my mind I was committed to 30 minutes each day. The models in Chapter 12 suggest 50-60 minutes of writing each day. I just don’t now how I can do that. I promise, I do value writing and I have a lot of growth to make as a writing teacher. I believe in what Regie is doing. I just don’t know how I can do it. What I basically got from this final chapter was that the timesaving list was very similar to the list of what makes teacher highly effective writing teachers. So many ideas/concepts overlap. KISS- eliminate the last “s” and that is how I see this working. Teach first, label later. Stop when energy is high, much like stopping at the exciting part of a read aloud. I must open myself up and be willing to share my writing as much a possible. Everyday writing.
**I would love to hear from students that have taken your class. Have they been successful in making changes to their writing program? Have they been able to write every day? Did they implement 50-60 minutes of writing each day? Is it working?**
Some of the key research findings that I found most important include: writing everyday, developing professional knowledge, creating predictable writing routines, and providing choice, purpose, and audience. In thinking about a typical day we’re writing several times a day. Students aren’t just writing in language arts, we write in math, science, and social studies as well. Regie writes, “Students are more likely to become proficient writers who enjoy writing when they have some choice of topic and audience and value the writing purpose” (Routman, 2005, p. 264). I think this is a big takeaway from Regie’s key research findings that if we give students choice they’re more likely to succeed.
ReplyDeleteIn the final chapter Regie reminds us to work smarter not harder. Her 10 best advice tips and timesavers are simple and straightforward. One of Regie’s timesavers that I plan to make a priority this year is revising and editing as we go. It will be helpful for students if it can become habit for them to reread their writing and make changes as they go.
Chapter 11 had a list of great practices by highly effective teachers. There are many that I would like to work on improving in myself, but I know I will need to focus on a few and then continue improving. I wanted to really focus this year on demonstrating writing to my students, raising expectations for all my students, teaching authentic writing, and making sure to conference with all students. If I can successfully do all of these things this next year I know, from the research, that my students’ writing will improve. I also am happy to know that I will have best practice on my side, in the event that others at my school may not support my risk taking as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteChapter 12 on making every minute count is so crucial. I loved the list of important timesavers, and I hope to see them go into effect in my class next year. However, even more importantly, I feel the freedom and hope that it is okay to still have a life outside of school. I have seen what happens with burnt out teachers, and was feeling that way myself. I loved what Regie said, “I have seen no research that shows that educators who work the longest hours get the best results…” I no longer need to feel guilty if I go home at 4! As long as I put my students’ learning first, and do everything I can to help them become effective readers and writer, I should be satisfied.
Section 5 of the lesson plans was so extensive. I was happy to see a variety of grades, topics, genres, etc. I was able to hone in more on my grade level, (3rd/4th grade), and see how she was running the week’s lessons. It has given me more peace and hope that I can really implement most of the great ideas I have been reading about. I can visualize how the lessons could look and the important pieces I need to be sure to include, as well as how to keep the lessons well-paced and how to keep each person busy.
Soon after finishing Chapter 11 (and reading the quote “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.”), I find out that I need to teach Read Well Composition-a very structured writing program. It looks like it will take up a majority of my writing time so it is going to be a challenge to squeeze in all of the writing essentials that I have been reading about this summer.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of Chapter 12 I liked reading Regie’s “Important Timesavors” and “My Best Advice”-these pages are going to be very helpful to read over when teaching writing starts to get overwhelming (we know it will happen more than once this school year!). Best of all, it will remind me to enjoy writing which is also what I would love my students to all do this year!
It was good to see the teaching in action pages. It pulled everything I’ve been reading together and I could see how it would look in a real classroom. The teacher talk points and charts helped get an even clearer picture.
After reading and thinking about the statements on beliefs about writing, I would like to go over them with my grade level team. We could have some good discussions about writing. I like to think that we would all answer them all the same so it would be interesting to see what their views on the statements are.
My biggest take away from chapter 11 is the key research findings. These are something I can use to help move our writing instruction to a continuum through the grade levels. It is very important that all students receive the same basic writing instruction in all classrooms at my school instead of just a few. I think the best possible writing program is one created by effective teachers not a curriculum company that has never been in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson plans are fantastic. I love how in depth they are and user friendly. I am going to use these this year with my writing groups. I also hope to develop some of my own off of these plans.
Hi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteGreat summary on the most relevant aspects to improving the quality of students’ writing. We need to make sure “that most of our writing time is devoted to writing.”
Hello Sheryl,
Yes, it’s baffling to me how many curriculum directors, principals and districts think following a prescribed reading or writing program is going to improve quality and results. I’m glad that you have a new outlook towards school and the balance between work and home.
Katherine,
So glad you are planning to share these ideas with your staff. I feel like it’s the only way we can all make it through happy, healthy and still stay in the profession.
Great point Randee! We need to remember to make the time to have the conversations with our teammates and school. We can only do so much in our rooms, if we really want to promote change we need to get on the same page and have a common focus of where we are and where we need to be heading regarding literacy.
I would say, “Don’t deflate your balloon!” Jackie and my understanding of Regie’s philosophy is to do what you can and implement the changes that make sense for you and your students. You are NOT likely going to change everything about your writing program this fall or even this year. This too is a process. I think if 30 minutes is what you can do most days then great. If you can incorporate more writing across the subjects (when it makes sense and is purposeful) then do it when you can. You, at this point, are putting writing in the forefront of your mind and looking at your plans and instruction through the lens of writing (and reading.) Re-reading this text later will give you a new focus and more ideas to try out. Def. plan to revisit this text in the winter, spring or next summer.
To answer your questions, yes. We have some teachers who have a schedule that they write for 50-60 minutes a day. Others, no. Some are 30 minutes or 40 minutes. Some can only write four days a week. Don’t focus so much on what you aren’t doing. You are making progress, changes and strides toward creating an environment and culture that likes writing and has more fun doing so. I hope this helps a little.
Hi Alix,
ReplyDeleteYes, choice, purpose and audience are so important in developing writers. Focusing on these areas should clearly show an improvement in students’ work quality. That’s fantastic that you are already writing across the curriculum. ☺ It’s the best way to fit more writing in each day.
Hello Caitlin,
I KNOW! That quote, from Regie, stays in my mind also. I also found it freeing. And this is not to say that I’m not a little freaked out right now as I have been dealing with this infection, bed rest and just getting out of the hospital today. I have so much work to do at school to get ready for the first day on Wed. However, I know school will go on, the work will always be there and my health is the most important thing. ☺
Hi Julie,
Oh, that surprises me that your district is moving towards the writing program. I felt like in the last several year I had been impressed with what I have been hearing from other teachers from there. I only had experience with the reading part of the program so I don’t have anything to say regarding the writing component. Perhaps you can adapt the pieces to better fit your beliefs. (Though, I know they (administration) are usually pretty strict the first year of an adoption.) Speaking with your team regarding their beliefs about writing is an excellent place to start. Perhaps these conversations can lead to a more relaxed stance regarding writing instruction over time or at your school.
Hello Brittany,
Glad you found the lesson plans useful!
There were a few things that I took from the final section of the book. The first and, personally most relieving was that she encourages teachers to reduce the amount of paperwork and paper load. This is critical to me as I have 180 students on a daily basis. I definitely need to pick and choose not onl;y what I grade but how I grade. As Regi writes, "It is far more effective to conference with students and focus on specific writing issues with the student at your side." I believe that this is how I became a more effective writer and it limits the take home work by doing all of the "feedback" at school.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew.
ReplyDelete