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.
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Hi, I'm a 38 year old male living in Portland, OR. I teach ESL at a K-5 school in outer SE Portland. This year I teach kids in grades K, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. In my six years as a professional educator - all of which I've worked as an ESL teacher, I've worked with students in grades K-8th. My school is a title one school and is unique in that there is a Russian immersion program here.
ReplyDeleteWe use science as the main content area to teach ESL in grades K-2. In grades, 3-5 we teach ESL through the content area of writing. With district knowledge, but little support or guidance (not a bad thing, the ESL department at the district level is inept) we've developed curriculum and solid curriculum maps which we use to teach language through writing. Typically we go from writing genre to writing genre teaching narratives (personal and imaginative), informative (5 paragraph essays, research reports, etc.), and opinion pieces. Currently I am finishing up an imaginative narrative unit with my 3rd graders and am about to begin a character analysis unit (5 paragraph essay format) with my 5th graders. I teach the academic language, vocabulary, and language patterns necessary for students to access curriculum and ultimately be successful as writers. I have 55 minutes to teach ESL and writing to my 5th graders and 45 minutes to do the same with my 3rd graders. While I am the lead, I am (mostly) lucky in that I have another teacher plus and EA in classrooms with me.
I have written creatively on and off for much of my adult life. Largely because of this, I love teaching writing. In every unit I've taught I've written at least one (often more) anchor paper for my students to see as an example. I enjoy this and prefer it over nearly all other aspects of the planning side of being a teacher. Unfortunately, besides my grad school class, I've received very little formal education/PD. Some ESL PD I've done has covered writing here and there, but that's about it. I use a very small dose of PPS writing binder, a slightly larger dose of the Step Up to Writing curriculum, and a big dose of what myself and a colleague have come up with at my school. I am constantly on the lookout for Step Up PD offered by the district, but have never seen one posted.
I feel like I have strengths and weaknesses when teaching ESL/Writing. While I could certainly stand to gain expertise and ideas in terms of how to teach writing by genre/how to motivate students, my real hope for this course (though I get the sense, like nearly all writing books Ive encountered it will not be the case) is that I can learn how to teach conventions and fix chronic mistakes (lack of capitalization, punctuation errors, especially run-on sentences) that I see over and over and over.
Covering both ESL and writing, I don't have much time to teach a lot of reading, other than what directly relates to what we're working on in writing. Personally I don't feel a lot of pressure to test my students often. They have to do the SBAC test (the poor souls). In the past we were supposed to give students up to a week long writing test that asks them to go through the whole writing process from planning to product. Such a task is time wasting and is too great of a loss of instructional time in my mind. Usually I could/can get away with not giving it if such a directive comes about.
I like teaching. I have nice kids for the most part who allow me to teach without being a referee all day long. The biggest frustration with my job is that I'm stuck sharing an office work space (which doubles at times as a classroom with four other ESL teachers and 3 assistants. As an introverted person I don't like this at all.
I love the outdoors. I hike, backpack, cycle, kayak and bird. I also really enjoy playing basketball, watching sports, reading, and writing creatively (though not nearly as much as I use to).
Hello Brian!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the course. I agree with you, I feel best when the district level lets us teach as we know best. We have had so many students in this class say how this text has changed their view of teaching writing. You are well ahead of many of our typical students. Most say that teaching writing is the least favorite thing they do and the thing they feel least prepared to do. We look forward to working with you this term. I strongly believe you will come away from the class with new ideas to use in your classroom.
Hello! I’m Karen and I’ve been teaching for about 25 years. Yes, I’m on the end of my career, but still love learning new ways to be a better educator. I’m a primary teacher and have taught K-2 throughout my career. I’ve looped first and second for many years and loved the strong relationships that grew out of this model. I’m teaching first grade now and for the last 3 years. I love my job (most days!) and first grade is truly my happy place. It’s exciting and incredibly rewarding to watch the growth of my students. I teach in Oregon City at a Title I school and have 27 students in my room this year from varied backgrounds. We do have some IA support especially in the area of reading, but only during the small group instruction period of the day.
ReplyDeleteMy district is using a writing program for first grade that is tied to the reading curriculum. This is just one of several programs or resources given to us over the years. However, the new program is not aligned to Common Core and we have struggled to help students become proficient writers at this level. So we are adding lots of ideas and plugging the holes the best we can. I signed up for this course because through the years, I know Regi Routman to be one of the gurus of writing instruction. I’ve read and used some of her material in the past and found it to be very successful and inspiring to both me and my students.
My district has spent some years asking grade level teachers to work with a resource called “Step Up to Writing.” During that time, we had some training and then met to compare samples of student writing and to align common state scoring practices. This training was very useful in learning what to expect from students.
In my “other” life, I am the mother of 4 grown children. In July I became a grandma for the first time and am loving my new role in life! I’ve enjoyed these last 5 or so years of empty nesting and having the time to pursue hobbies like gardening, knitting, and a bit of art. I also love to walk and hike.
Hello Karen,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the course! How exciting, congrats on your new grand baby. :D Jackie and I are huge fans of Regie's and also believe she is a guru! I look forward to working with you this term. :D
Hi, my name is LeAndra Isenberger. I teach at Redland Elementary in Oregon City in a title one school. I have 28 students in my classroom, 3 ELD, 2 homeless and many below the poverty line. This is my 17th year teaching, 12th year in 1st grade which is my current position. We have IA support during our small group reading, limited support during our reading intervention time and there is IA support during our Title math intervention.
ReplyDeleteMy district is using Read Well as core reading, reading intervention as well as writing. This has been very difficult and we supplement and fill gaps often. My principal has recently purchased a new writing curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade that is aligned with the Common Core, however I have not received my materials. I can let you know about that later. I have used curriculum by Lucy Calkins, loved it, but since we were only piloting the program, we did not get to continue using it. The district purchased Step Up to Writing instead. We have received many in-service trainings for this curriculum. The difficulty is that it spans over 3 grade levels with one set of resources. I am familiar with Regi Routeman, but have not read this book. I’m excited to learn from this master educator!
I love teaching first grade. The amount of growth that happens academically is unbelievable. We have had 2 boundary changes in the past few years that have increased extreme challenging behaviors. This is the most difficult part of the job…managing behavior in order to teach academics.
I am a mother of 3, step mom of 4 and grandma of one with 3 more on the way. This is a very exciting year for our family! My husband and I love the empty nest, yet have visitors OFTEN…and wouldn’t change that for the world! I am also a licensed realtor and am loving that adventure and challenge.
Hello LeAndra,
ReplyDeleteWe're happy to have you join us this term. Welcome! We are fans of Lucy Calkins and her Units of Study. :D I am not a fan of Read Well, as I used it when I was in first grade...but this is another story. I'm glad your principal advocated for another writing program. I know many districts have purchased Step Up to Writing (but I have not used it.) Does anyone else have any thoughts or experience with Step Up to Writing?
Sadly, it seems that there is a trend across the country of increasing behavior issues and needs that need to be managed before/while we try to teach academics. (Decreased budgets, lack of instructional support and large classroom sizes do not help this issue in the least.)
It does sound like a very exciting year for you and your family...nothing like those new little babies to hold and love. :D
Looking forward to working with you this term. I think you will really enjoy this text!
Hello there. My name is Brenda and I am a mom of a 14 daughter and 11son year old, a wife, and a full time educator of 20 years. I teach at a somewhat rural school called Redland Elementary which is surrounded by small farms in the outskirts of Oregon City, OR. (Redland used to be it’s own town and school district, however was incorporated into the larger city and O.C.S.D. a few years prior to my starting in the district). Redland Elem. is a Title 1 school and we have just recently seen a dramatic increase in behavior issues that do not fall into the typical/expected classroom management issues.
ReplyDeleteI have taught at the elementary level, at every grade except kindergarten and 6th (most time spent at 1st & 4th gr) and this year I have 28 students in my 1st gr. class. 20 yrs ago, my literacy instruction started out with Writer’s Workshop and Reading Recovery/small group guided reading at the 1st grade level. We used McCracken Phonics as well. As the years passed by and I moved to 4th grade, literacy was Cafe Menu and 4 Square writing. The district adopted Step-Up to Writing, however for the past 3 years the primary grades have been required to use the Read Well writing component. Our 1st grade team has chosen to go a different route to teach writing. This class uses the wisdom of a master teacher, Regie Routman, which will help us revive our writing instruction. We want not only to teach our students the skills and strategies they need to be great writers, but also to truly love the process!
Hello Brenda! Welcome. I LOVE your last sentence in your post! Yes, we want students to truly love the process. YEAH. You will love this text. And I'm assuming you ladies are team mates, which is wonderful. I find it much more meaningful and rewarding when I'm able to take a class with a friend (or two.) I'm excited to see what everyone thinks as we get further into the text.
ReplyDelete