Unlocking the Secret

I love Peter Elbow's advice about unlocking the secret of the mystery of liking your student's writing.  He says we need "to be able to see potential goodness underneath the badness" (pg. 198).  I think this is GREAT advice for liking people in general - seeing their goodness underneath their badness.  I have heard teachers say that they dislike some of their students.  Sometimes personalities clash - but I think we owe our students the decency of finding things we do like about them.  After all, I hope people do this for me, don't you?

Elbow says to improve the liking we should get to know the student as a person. His preferred way of getting to know his students is through reading the free write papers he assigns and through one on one conferences (pg. 203).  I saw my MT do similar things with her students during the month of September and witnessed her relationships with her students grow as a result.

Giving our students the opportunity to write without evaluation, grading, or ranking is one of my favorite concepts from this week's readings.  Writing is very personal, so grading someone's writing is like grading the person. Allowing students to free write first will give them the confidence they need to continue, to like their own writing, and finally - to share it with others. I think that free writing gives students the ability to find their own voice. (Lamott talks about the importance of finding your own voice (pg. 195-201), and Routman discusses it on page 44).

Routman says that eighty percent of students' reading and writing needn't be graded, and that lots of their grading should be self assessment (pg. 252).  I totally agree.  I have always been a timid writer because I worry about the end result, my grade.  I try to stay within the perimeters of the rubric and do not branch out for fear that my grade will suffer as a result.  So, my voice stays hidden behind my grade.

High stakes testing is something I think we would all like to avoid.  However, it is not going to go away.  I want to prepare my students to be able to nail any test - high stakes or not.  Routman says the best way to prepare our students is through excellent teaching, not teaching to the test.  If kids who write a lot develop higher order thinking skills and understanding that helps them achieve higher test scores, then that's what we should all be doing.  I think some of the best ways to keep kids interested in writing are, 1) by keeping the topics relevant to their lives,  2) by demonstrating our expectations,  3) by frontloading using mini lessons, and 4) by having them write every day.  Teaching them about writing to fill a one inch picture frame and not worrying about their first draft should keep their anxieties down and their spirits up.  Not grading everything they write will also put them at ease.

Supporting Confident Writers

I just finished reading chapter 9 in Writing Essentials. So much of what Routman says about supporting young writers resonated with me. I respond much more readily to constructive criticism when positive remarks about my work have been made - along with any suggestions for improving my writing. For instance, I spent two years in a row attending college classes. I had to write several papers for each class every quarter. I received good grades on all of my papers and hardly ever received any constructive feedback. Naturally, I thought my writing was just fine. However, during my last quarter I had to write a 15-page paper for my senior seminar. I worked very hard on it, making sure I had covered all the items mentioned on the rubric. I was completely deflated after receiving the first draft back from my instructor. He did not have a single positive thing to say. All 15 pages were covered with things he thought I should do differently. I was so overwhelmed I didn't even know where to start. For the first time in my college career I emailed my paper (along with the rubric) to the writing center for help.

While waiting for a response from the writing center I began to tackle the points my instructor wanted me to focus on. I got bogged down in "fixing" my paper, and by the time I addressed half of his points it no longer felt like my paper. I resented the entire process. For the first time ever, I felt like giving up.

The first comment the writing center employee responded with was how strong she thought my paper was. She then proceeded to give me a few suggestions, which were very minor and easy to work on (none of which matched any my instructor had given me). I ended up cutting so much of the paper out, and using so many of my instructor's "suggestions," that I felt like I was writing his paper. I didn’t feel good about turning in my final copy. Even though I ended up with a decent grade, I did not feel good about the paper at all.

I NEVER want my students to feel like their work is not "good enough." I never want them to feel like I don't like what they have written. I completely agree with Routman when she instructs us to “focus on the writer above everything else…put the reader first…[and] remember that the writer is exposed” (pg. 223). Routman says that if a student leaves a writer’s conference deflated and discouraged then the teacher has failed (pg. 223). This is one area I plan on succeeding in.

It is important to keep the balance between scaffolding our student’s learning in a way that is sensitive to their feelings, while at the same time handing over the reins to them so that they can grow in their learning and manage their own editing, etc. In regards to maintaining the balance, Routman remarks, "content is personal; editing is not” (pg. 234). It is nice to know that I will have Writing Essentials to refer to before beginning writer’s conferences with my future students.

A Journey With a Purpose

I have found myself feeling overwhelmed, at times, during my school career.  However, I keep trying to remind myself to look at the big picture, and not get bogged down with all the little things.  "Bird by Bird" (just that one example from the book - not the book itself) is a good example of how I tackle things.  When I feel overwhelmed with school I think about what is making me feel so overwhelmed and go from there.  The fact that I am a mother of two with lots to juggle tends to make sorting out what's making me feel overwhelmed difficult.  The amount of reading, especially in the beginning of the quarter, was hard to absorb.  I have heard many cohort members say how frustrated they are in regards to the amount of reading, and the fact that we do not talk about the readings in class is disappointing - and I have to agree.  The most frustrating thing for me about not going over the readings is that I put all the time and effort into reading, and when we don't cover the material in class I lose a lot of what I read.  Talking about the readings helps me remember what I read and synthesize the readings with classwork, lectures, and with other readings.

This may all sound like complaining, but I am using my own school experience to to guide how I think about my future students.  I want the work they do to be meaningful and the time they spend on homework to be valued and reinforced in class.  We adults think our lives are so important, and we tend to minimize the way kids feel about their lives.  My own kids have taught me to put things in perspective in this area.  I have seen their feelings get hurt when people have minimized something they have done, making them feel unappreciated, ignored.  I do not want my students to feel under appreciated or under valued.

I know that kids these days have very busy lives.  Between sports and other extracurricular activities, split families, parents who work more than one job, and kids who spend time in day care - kids have crazy busy schedules too.  We will never know exactly what is going on inside their homes - whether or not they are being supported or have to do things on their own.  I want to keep all that in mind when I create lesson plans and when interact with my students.

The purpose of my journey is to learn all I can about the ins and outs of teaching, but I never want to lose sight of my students as individuals during my teaching career.

Blog # 5 (Fox, Chapters 4 & 5)

I don’t know if it was the lack of parental involvement or the fact that my school career was disjointed (going from public school - to being home schooled – to private school – and back to public school), but somewhere along the way I missed out on phonological awareness and still (sometimes) struggle with spelling.  I am very pleased to have read chapters 4 & 5 in Word Identification Strategies. Now I have some new tools for my personal, and my teaching, toolbox.

I do not have any problems decoding words while I am reading, but when it comes to spelling I seem to second guess myself a lot.  I am in love with spell check (though I rely on it too much and don’t seem to memorize proper spellings because of it).  I do remember learning the silent e “rule,” and the VV “rule” where the first vowel says it’s name – but that’s about it.  One the thing that trips me up is the el, le endings, if I don’t have the word memorized, I guess.  I know there are other things I have trouble with, but I can’t think of them off the top of my head.  I will pay closer attention now, while spelling words I am unsure of, to see if I can apply the letter sound (etc.) patterns I just learned about.  For instance, I never thought about R- controlled vowels before.  Nobody ever pointed that out to me.  I get all giddy, like a little preschooler when I learn something new (even something this simple).  I can’t wait to share things like this with my future students.  I am so happy that I will be able to point out things that will help them decode the world around them, and enable them to write (and create!) their own stories!

I think it’s great how Fox has included so many activities in Word Identification Strategies that we will be able to use with our students.  I plan on teaching fifth grade, but with the current market the way it is, I know I will be happy teaching any grade.  The activities will prove to be very beneficial, I am sure of it.  To be honest, if the market was different I may not have been paying such close attention to building phonics into a classroom reading program.  I know I would have been interested in it, but I would have thought I didn’t need to focus on it if I want to teach fifth grade.  So, in a way, the current market is helping me pay closer attention to everything I am learning.  Funny how that works…

I keep thinking about addressing our students as readers, writers, and mathematicians.  I think it is important for students to think of themselves as flexible, adaptable individuals, who are in charge of their future.  I remember one of my preschool students who got very upset when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up.  She started to cry and told me that she still wanted to be herself.  She thought that when you grow up you become the “job.”  She thought she was going to turn into someone else.  I tried to reassure her that she would still be herself, but would have the ability to “do” any job she wanted to do, not become someone else.  I saw the humor in her misunderstanding, but I also understood why she was so upset.   I think children are never too young to start thinking of themselves as having the ability to choose their future occupations.  And, seeing themselves as readers, writers, and mathematicians will help keep their options open.  I am excited about helping children see the potential they hold.

Blog # 4

 I want to be the kind of teacher who holds the bar high, raises expectations, and keeps the momentum going- all while meeting the standards.  I go back and forth with the notion that I can handle this task.  From what I am reading and learning about in my classes at UWB, I can and will be able to make it happen.  I just need to keep my eye on the goal.  As long as I put my students first, highlighting their needs and meeting them where they are “at,” meeting the standards should come naturally.  As Nicola Findley said, “Rather than impose our ready-made curricular connections, we need to uncover and encourage students' connections within and across the curriculum and with their own lives and interests.” 

Routman talks about keeping it relevant; making sure the students feel the tasks we ask them to complete are significant.  I call that “keeping it real.”  Keeping it real, while scaffolding each learner’s needs will bolster their confidence as learners, readers, writers, and mathematicians.  I like Routman’s advice about paying more attention to the amount of support a student needs, rather than to the teaching content.  I think that if a student is properly supported, and scaffolded teaching is a priority, the content (proper grammar, etc.) will follow. 

I have been able to observe my master teacher provide many shared experiences for her students.  So far I have seen them share in reading, writing, and math experiences, as well as scaffolded conversations.  I feel fortunate to be able to witness, first-hand, experiences that we are reading about in Writing Essentials.  Being able to think about what I would say to “my” students (while listening to my master teacher respond to her students) is invaluable.  I know it sounds silly, but it’s like getting to practice thinking without being on the spot.

Routman says that, “without the learner’s trust, it’s impossible to teach.”  My own children have told me about instances they have had with their teachers where my children did not feel like could share their thinking.  My children did not feel as though their teacher valued their thoughts or feelings.  I understood why my girls did not want to share a piece of themselves with the teacher if she was not going value what they said, or how they felt.  I think it is unfortunate that instances like this occur.  Teachable moments were lost.  I will be thinking about my girls’ experiences as I talk to my students in the future.  I definitely want them to feel valued, and I definitely want them to trust me.

I have noticed many times with my own children, and my preschool students, that a lot of learning occurs during social interactions and collaborative work.  Many natural teachable moments unfold during everyday conversations.  Doing things together is a great way for students to learn, but also for parents and teachers.  We can learn a lot about our students by what they say during a casual conversation.  It only stands to reason that students will learn just as much about themselves, about learning, and about the learning process during shared reading, writing, and math times.  I am really looking forward to supporting my students in as many ways as possible.  I am hoping to make students aware of their thinking, be independent problem solvers, and be able to articulate their thoughts and strategies.  

Literacy Blog # 3

     We have so much to learn, and so little time!  I feel like one my biggest struggles may be pacing myself, and pacing my teaching.  When I was doing a read aloud with a kindergarten class a few days ago I found myself wanting to make sure the students knew all of the things we check for on the Emergent Literacy Profile.  This was not the objective of my lesson, so I had to force myself to refrain from teaching it.  One step at a time, right?  And as Routman teaches, whole-to-part-to-whole is the best way to go....

     I was pleasantly surprised with the content in Routman's Writing Essentials.  I do not think of myself as a great writer.  I am happy to hear that so many others in my position have been able work through this dilemma and were able to inspire their students to be confident writers.  My master teacher let me have a copy of the questions she asks her students during their writer's workshop conferences.  I will be using those questions, and the concepts I have been reading about in Writing Essentials to guide my own writing.
  
      I love the idea of celebrating student's writing as a major teaching goal.  I feel that celebrating student's work bolsters their self confidence and spurs them on to do more, learn more, create more.  I also love the idea of celebrating small pieces of the process, not just the finished work.  Celebrating a piece, such as risk taking, shows students that we value the work they are doing, the fact they are pushing themselves to try new things, and teaches them that they are growing throughout the process. I believe this is how we help children to gain the confidence that allows them to push for more.

     I firmly believe what Routman says about teaching skills in isolation - it "does not make students writers" (pg. 21).  I know that I learn much more when I can connect what I am learning to something I already know, and better yet, to something I care about.  Making writing meaningful is where it's at!

     Working with kids over the years I have learned how much they enjoy stories.  Even simple silly stories. like the time when the power went out at the grocery store when only half my groceries had been checked out.  Hearing your stories allows students to feel connected to you in a personal way.  I know from my own experience, as a young student and as an adult, that when I feel connected to a teacher I am much more apt to do my best work for that teacher, and to push myself too.  Community building has so many benefits!

     I am pleased to know that I will not be expected to be a prolific writer the day my teaching career begins.  However, I am looking forward to practicing and gaining confidence in my writing now, and as I work with my students in the future.  I plan on practicing what I teach.

  


  
  
 

What, How, When, and Why...

Word Identification, Phonemic Awareness, and Early Word Identification -



So much of what I just read in Fox's book, Word Identification Strategies, was new to me. Even though I had volunteered in a kindergarten class for several years, taught preschool for 2 years, and taught my own kids how to read I never really (formally) learned how children become aware of the sounds of language, thought about word shape, or the stages of word learning. Some of what I did with emergent readers just came naturally to me, some things were taught to me, and some things I am sure I fell short on. I can't wait to learn more! I found the first three chapters very interesting. I loved the samples of the children's work, the explanations regarding what the children were doing and thinking during the process, and I really liked the explanations given for the stages each child was "at." Everything I am reading in Fox's book will help me as I am learning how to help emergent readers progress through the many stages of learning how to read, comprehend what they are reading, and progress to the next stage.



Last week I had my first visit with an adorable little kindergarten student named Grace* at a local elementary school. My cohort member and I briefly got to see Grace's classroom. The three of us were able to spend about 30 minutes getting to know each other. Most of the time we were together was spent filling out a "getting to know each other" form. We were instructed to let the child lead the time we spent together, and to make sure the child felt comfortable and self confident during and after our visit. We were instructed not to push the children into doing anything they were not comfortable with (i.e. spelling words rather than drawing pictures, etc.). The sheet we filled out consisted of a list of personal favorites things (foods, activities, etc.). Grace wanted to write down all of our favorite things and wanted to be the only one to write on the list. Grace asked for help spelling the words correctly. Even though she was getting tired of writing after the first few lines she denied offers to have us write for her. About half way through the sheet she decided to begin drawing pictures instead of writing the words. She was determined to fill the entire sheet out on her own, and she accomplished that task.



Grace was outgoing and seemed very confident. She drew a picture for us of her jumping rope next to her house (which she colored yellow, but is really blue). She is a very good artist and was proud of her drawing. The one thing I thought was very interesting about Grace is that she appeared to be uncomfortable listening to a read aloud. Her body language changed, she did not want to look at the book, and she grabbed my pencil and kept taking the eraser off over and over during the story. I could tell she was listening though, because she answered a question I asked her about the story. I decided to start paraphrasing the story because Grace seemed uncomfortable. I am interested to see how she reacts to the read alouds during our future visits. I am looking forward to administering the emergent literacy profile to Grace. It will be fun to see what she has to teach us!


* Named changed to protect privacy

Literacy Blog # 1 (10.10.10)

After finishing this week's assigned readings I searched some You Tube videos and came across this one. I think this video introduces some great ideas for us to build upon. I think the ideas implemented in this classroom can be altered for upper grades as well.
 My first "real" experience helping a child learn to read was with my first born baby. I had heard that it is important to read to children from the day they are born. So, like many parents who want do right by their children- I read, and read, and read to my baby as she grew - and to her little sister too. I got to see first hand how my two children learned to become readers. It was fascinating to me how both of my girls would want to have us read the same book over, and over, and over to them. They did not lose interest in hearing the story- in fact they seemed to eat it up with a fresh appetite, as if it was their first time hearing the story. As babies they would find something new in the pictures during each time we read the books. As toddlers they would correct us if we misspoke a word or left something out.

 My youngest daughter wanted to purchase a Calvin and Hobbs comic book when she was in second grade. I did not think this was a "real" book and did not want to buy it for her. But, she was so excited by it that I decide to get it for her. Each time she chose to read it I felt myself cringe. It wasn't long before she had to ask me what certain words or phases meant. At first I thought the comic book was over her head and I thought she shouldn't be reading it. However, it wasn't long before I realized how great it was to discuss the words and phrases with her. I realized that she was comprehending way more than I gave her credit for. I realized then that reading is reading- I needed to make sure she had material that interested her - even if it didn't interest me.

 It was about this time that she also became interested in art. The more she read, the more she wanted to draw. She started to make up stories and make thought bubbles for her characters. There was a lot going on in her young mind. I have a new appreciation for the importance of getting kids hooked on literacy by meeting them where they are at - letting their interests guide the curriculum (scope and depth).

 I hope to be able to use my personal experiences to enhance my teaching. I do not want to look at any child and compare them to my own children, but I do want to remember how much patience I had to have with my children, and think about how every child is coming from a unique past; I need to meet them where they are and scaffold their learning with the child as my guide.

 I am in no way an expert, I am very excited to continue learning all I can about scaffolding emergent readers. William Teale and Elizabeth Sulzby bring to our attention that literacy learning is a complex sociopsycholinguistic activity that is to be investigated within the home, community settings, and of course, our schools (Emergent Literacy: New Perspectives). Teachers have an amazing opportunity to provide their students with materials and planning lessons and activities that will foster their development (whether it is through in depth lesson plans, picture books, newspapers, job charts, or even something as simple as making a grocery list with their students!). Choosing proper lessons and materials should not be taken lightly.

 One thing we have to watch out for when planning our lessons is hidden racism and sexism in books and other reading materials. I have been reminded from reading Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice, that we also have to make sure that we are not blind to our invisible knapsack and all that comes with it. The article goes on to share with us,how imperative it is that teachers check materials for stereotyping and hidden forms of bias, etc. We also need to be sure to choose materials that show people of color as strong leaders and that they are depicted appropriately. We need to watch for loaded words, that may have insulting overtones or sexist language. We need to analyze all of our materials and look at them from our students point of view, with their self image in mind. The words and images we offer our students should scaffold their self-esteem as well as their learning.

Why do I want to TEACH?

To show kids how much fun learning can be. 

To ignite a passion for discovery in the heart of every child.  

To show my students that they have power over their futures. 

To see faces light up and hearts swell with pride when students realize that they can do it (whatever it may be!).  

To watch kids use their "tools" to master mental hurdles they thought they'd never conquer. 

To watch kids teach others what they have learned.

...and the list goes on.