Educaré

The Origin of Strength

2009-03-03T22:56:00.001-08:00

Unbelievable I know, but I’ve always had trouble expressing myself, especially through writing. Writing is about understanding. I often get stuck inside my head and I can’t get out correctly my story, what I want and mean to say. A brilliant author once told me that writing is a sequencing of words to get at meaning, and when you can interject meaning into a series of words you are making a contribution. One must look for but one word and build upon it. One simple word can open up a story, and the best words imply a story; it is here where the richness lies. Writing is a trial and error process for me, and I’ve learned that my success is not found within the words I throw away, but the words I keep.

My personal power, my strength is a large part of my identity. I have recently learned through my experience with the Minnesota Writing Project and the Young Writers Workshop, that my identity is not choosing who I am, it’s understanding who I am and making the best of it. We are the things we think about. It is easier to choose what is good from what is bad. This is what I mean. This is what I want to contribute, my human story, my emotional truth.

Strength is hard to acquire and is truly only achieved over time. It is ever changing, hard to define, and constantly redefined. However, my strength is what helps define me, today. It is one of my most prized possessions as it's the thing for which I've worked the hardest, clung to the tightest, but could not have possibly achieved on my own. Today my pictures are my words, the ones I have kept, the ones I think about, my understanding, the good. As of current, herein lies my strength, my story, and my eternal gratitude:

In hope for the future, for the success of others in achieving remarkable things.

In finding and knowing pure beauty, peace, and serenity.

In experiences from which I have lived, recovered, and learned.

In my passions, my refuge.

In my friends, my family, my colleagues. Those whom have been unwavering within my perfect storm.

In my mother for always believing in me.

In my father for never believing in me.

In my students for keeping me honest, grounded, dedicated, deliberate, purposeful, and spirited.

Is This Thing On?

2009-02-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

Technology. Textoids. Video clips. Audio files. Voice threads. OMGs. What happened to the good ole fashioned book cracking and pencil sharpening? Seriously, throughout this entire program I swear the only thing I’ll ever remember is use technology! Please, I love technology, I am not opposed to it by any means. I remember how empowered I felt when my parents finally cracked and got call waiting…like two years ago. Better late than never right? Well..I’m a realist, God help me, and I truly believe that there is a time and place for everything. If one incorporates technology into their classroom because it truly is beneficial and lends itself to the learning process…fantastic! A+ But then again, since when is showing a movie in class really incorporating technology for learning’s sake? It’s not people, and many teachers use this excuse. Technology use should not replace anything, it should enhance. If you must default to showing a movie, you’re doing something wrong and a disservice to your students. Shame on you.

My experience? Glad you asked. Technology is too expensive, unavailable, inaccessible, and when it is available it’s not working…again making it unavailable. Okay, now what? What do you do when you’ve planned your whole lesson around using a mobile computer lab, or showing some YouTube clips in class but the server is down? Again, shame on you. A good teacher should know not to rely on this plan alone. You let your students down and then they hate whatever you must fall back on. What happens when your school just doesn’t have it? This is my school. 200+ students, 20 computers and a 30-minute time period allotted per class once a week. Awesome. As if this is even reasonable. You know what, it’s what we’ve got, and you gotta do what you can with what you’ve got right? Well, yeah, but when access is limited, so are your options. This is why we must not forget books, pencils and papers. These, among other things, need to be our backbone and we need to start thinking about technology as it really is: great when it works. There are multiple implications there.

My cooperating teacher has only fermented my apprehension with technology usage. Beware, he said. Many students do not have computer access at home, outside of school (during school for that matter), and the media center is almost always booked anytime of day. Now what? “Well lady, hoof it to the library.” I hope you’re faster than the daggers she just shot at you. Why would we set our students up to fail? I absolutely see the benefit of wiki and blog usage (ahem), and I love them both. But again, I think it’s a time and a place thing. Perhaps right now, is not the right time for some schools. Maybe when there is more money. Hahahaha. Oh, I’m sorry. I’m done. This proves my point. Incorporate when appropriate, but stick with what you know until the availability is there and is constant.

At times I feel as though we allow technology to do the work for us. Wait? Is that it’s purpose? We are looking for efficiency right, but sometimes doesn’t that take away the means to the end? Careful. It’s supposed to help us actually, not do the work for us. iRobot was just a movie. Do we use blogs as an excuse not to perform academic writing, or is blogging simply an alternative style/genre? Are wikis the new newsletter or syllabi? There are pros and cons folks. I’ve never found more pleasure and success with writing than I do right here, blogging. However, would I use this as an excuse not to be involved in class when I know I can just type it out here? Me? No. But someone else, maybe. As a teacher would I rather point my kid to the wiki than stop, take a minute and speak to them like a human being? I hope not. Of course this all goes back to whether or not it’s available and we have access naturally.

My point is, as with all things, the good comes with the bad. There are pros and cons and we as educated individuals educating individuals need to be smart about our choices. Technology is not to be solely relied on, and is not to replace, but to aid in our daily processes. I have found through my life experiences a love for English, language, literature, etc. This love developed with the help of passionate and talented teachers, without the use of blogs, wikis and textoids..whatever the hell those are anyway. Only now are these things becoming prevalent in my life and adding to my educational experience. We need to be aware of what it is that we are really teaching our children. What do we say when a student says, “but my printer ran out of ink?” Think about it.

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

Over 35,000 free books listed on the web. Happy reading.

Speaking of Vernacular

2009-02-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

Which American accent do you have?

Apparently for the first time in my life I'm:

Neutral

I'm not Northern, Southern, or Western, I'm just plain -American-whatever that means. My national identity is more important than my local identity, because I don`t really have a local identity...apparently.

Or...maybe I was an English major and have an appreciation for linguistics? Who knows.

Which American accent do you have?

http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?action=go_detail&sub_action=take&obj_id=9827&take_again=yes

Making The Grade

2009-02-17T21:40:00.001-08:00

Now maybe I’m a little bit bitter (noooo), but I seemed to find some contradictions within Dornan tonight. She states right off the bat that grading “is labor-intensive work without much of a payoff other than one more grade in a grade-book.” Now who’s the bitter one? If you ask me, although I know no one did, that means you’re doing it all wrong my friend. Now I can’t imagine that any teacher truly has a simply outstanding time grading papers, unless of course you’ve been hanging out with Jago at one of her grading parties, but I do think that once you’ve reached that final page you should have more than a grade to jot down; you should have a better understanding of your students as writers. You should be able to determine student strengths and weaknesses, you should be able to decipher a plan as to how to become a better writing instructor based upon what your students just taught you with that paper you just had an awesome time grading…at the very least. I thought it was our goal to help students become better writers Ms. Dornan? If you look at your job, your chosen profession, as labor-intensive work without much pay off…I bet the Gap down the street is hiring…there’s fulfillment. Are we going to like everything about our job? Absolutely not. But I also guarantee, with all my educational expertise (ha), that if you take on the grading task with that type of boourns attitude, your students are going to be the ones that take the fall..and then you’ll just be a jerk that no one likes. Ever. Jerk.

Whatever happened to the means to the end? What about the process, how ya got there? The long strange trip, if you will.

I am sincerely becoming a colossal fan of the writing workshop notion. While some people honestly like surprises, I on the other hand, enjoy that work shopping manipulates the “surprise ending” of our student’s writing. We know what we are getting for the most part. With a writing workshop we are there guiding, supporting, coaching, etc. the whole way through. Now for you party poopers…the surprise is still there, not to worry, it’s just not “this is it..this is your final paper? Ugh.” You’ve seen the progress, the hard work. Honestly, even if the final paper SUCKS (whatever that means), you at least know that growth, development, thought and God help us critical thinking has taken place.

Surprise!

Amen.

Rubrics. I have mixed feelings about rubrics. While I completely understand, acknowledge, and appreciate their helpfulness, I also cannot help but feel a little 5-4-3-2-1 boxed in. They are hard to create, their contents are tricky, they are difficult to master. However, I know I must also acknowledge that this is not essentially about me (damn), it’s about my students. They are potentially helpful to me because they are potentially helpful to my students. I know as a student I perform better at tasks when I know exactly what is at stake. Funny huh. Perhaps practice is not only how you get to Carnegie Hall, but it also makes perfect.

I heart portfolio assessment. I agree with Dornan here, the portfolio assessment can be a much more meaningful assessment of a student’s achievements than simply calculating the average of papers written. However, I can also see the downfall if simply anything and everything is contained in one’s portfolio. Then it’s less like a portfolio and more like a garbage can. This defeats the purpose. A portfolio should be a place for students to put their most prized work. Here’s your intrinsic motivation ladies and gentlemen. Not only do you as the teacher get to see your students evolve as writers, but so do your students. This could be a very powerful and undeniable tool. Who doesn’t like to see physical proof that they grew two inches over the summer? Who wouldn’t own that?

Prepositions

2009-02-13T16:49:00.001-08:00

Another List

2009-02-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

Teacher friends, here is a brief list of genres of the multi type.

http://writing.colostate.edu/gallery/multigenre/genrelist.html

Storyman

2009-02-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

Just for fun. This is classic novels wheel of fortune style.

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/cgi-bin/go_daily_game.pl?game_id=Storyman&id=2

Take Two

2009-02-10T21:53:00.001-08:00

If you could do it over again, what would you do?

Would you change something, do another thing differently, modify nothing at all? How does that go…hindsight is 20/20? After every experience we have in our daily lives, whether it went well or it was unspeakably terrible, we have a tendency to occupy an inner dialogue, look back, and think such things. Oh I know what I could have done to make that better, what I meant to say, or in my case, I know what I should have said instead.

Revision.

It’s something I try and do on a daily basis as to not make the same “mistakes” again. It’s true that we learn from our mistakes although some of us (guilty) inevitably repeat them. Once a document, a piece of writing, has been spell checked (hopefully) and printed, it’s extremely hard to make changes. White out and black ink are an ugly combination. Revision, although I do not always practice what I now preach, needs to occur.

In my writing studies I have learned that once a draft has been written, printed, and handed in, does not mean this is the end. However, for most students, myself included, it is the end. In reading Fulwiler I understand that a draft, whether it honestly be the first, or the final, can really be just the beginning. I have been saying to myself for four weeks now that writing is a process. It’s not simply the process that one goes through to get to the printing stage; it should be a multiple draft affair. To attempt multiple drafts, one must revise. Just as in “what I should have said” is, revising our written work is where we actually begin to understand, find, and ultimately tell our story. I am reminded of what my cooperating teacher told his students: “Reread the literature. This doesn’t mean read it once, it means read it more than once, by not doing so means you are not fully understanding what you are reading.” Reading and writing go hand in hand; just as we reread words for comprehension we must revise our writing for the same.

Fulwiler says, “Although writing gets better by rewriting, there are no guarantees. I know of no formula for revising that works ever time or for everyone-or every time for anyone. Revision is a chancy process: Therein lies both the excitement and the frustration.” There are no guarantees for anything in life, but what have you got to lose? Even in an attempt to revise you may find that the original draft suits you best. However, you may never have come to that conclusion without the revision process. Chancy? You bet. You may uncover some things that were not there when you first began. This just might be the ten bucks you didn’t know you had until you finally did your laundry. Who doesn’t appreciate that?

Speaking of appreciation, I’m truly mad about Harper’s toolbox. What a concept. A place in which to keep select devices, i.e. tools, to help one become a better writer. We all have a toolbox, no matter what profession or occupation. They are a necessity of life. Some may contain red pens and coffee, some Dewalts and flathead screws, others tiny pictures of cameras for snapshots and small volcanoes for exploding moments, of which are essential for one’s particular vocation.

I appreciate Harper’s honesty in originally just telling her students to revise their writing. I’m not going to lie; I’m guilty of that. Revise! What does that even mean? How? What? Educators assume that “revise” makes sense and says in just one word what we understand it to mean. Not so. That’s just like telling a student to merely brainstorm without scaffolding. Also guilty of that. Equivalently, we cannot expect a student to revise a paragraph and make it “better,” whatever that means, by saying show me what you mean, don’t tell me. We have all heard that show don’t tell expression in reference to writing, but exactly! Easier said than done right?

I am reminded of the excellent and infectious pedagogy of Mr. Tyler Livingston. He made his classroom into a very similar workshop (I love the pun). He explained to his students that writing is like making a scene. A complete scene is a balance of these tools: snapshots, thoughtshots, and dialogue, if it’s called for. Instead of writing, “use more detail here,” Tyler could draw a small camera-like picture next to the section that needed work, and this helped the students see he was looking for a zoom-in, a close up of detail. This is the difference between describing and really seeing. This is equally true of his little thought bubble and erupting volcano pictures.

We want our students to become better, good, excellent, talented, skilled writers yes? Then why not give them the tools they need to work with their words. This is so much more effective than “revise,” unless all you’re looking for is neater cursive. "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Could you just imagine….

NWP

2009-02-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

The National Writing Project (NWP) is a professional development network for teachers of writing in all subjects. NWP hopes to enhance student performance by improving how writing is taught, and how learning takes place in schools.

http://www.nwp.org/

Practicalities

2009-02-04T21:22:00.000-08:00

Oh the beloved/hated five paragrapher. Raise your hand if you’ve ever concentrated more on the intros, bodies, and conclusions than you have on the content within. Guilty. While I agree that design and organization is paramount, the five paragraph essay its not for everyone, and may not even be necessary for some. Graphic organizers and outlines anyone? This is certainly not to negate the importance of teaching students how to write in specific styles, for a particular audience, or how to orchestrate information. However, I see structure like this potentially imprisoning the written word, which I do think negates the objective of writing. Where’s the idiosyncrasy in that?

I’d like to meet the person who can actually organize their thoughts and feelings. Speaking of feelings…

Poetry. That word fills me with anxiety without even beginning to think about its implications or the expectations of me. Wordsworth:

A slumber did my spirit seal,
I had no human fears:
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
No motion has she now, no force;
She neither hears nor sees;
Rolled round in earth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.

Is this slumber literal sleep, or a lack of mortal awareness? I’m stressed out already, and I haven’t even been asked to write my own poetry. This makes the five paragraph essay look pretty good right about now.

I find it terribly interesting that something that is to be so personal is so difficult for so many. Many of us (ahem, as current students) roll our eyes, shoot one another looks from across the room, groan and sink into our seats when poetry is mentioned. Not all of us though, I envy those on the flipside. Now this isn’t to say I do not enjoy poetry, it’s just easier to give up on things that are difficult, right? How does that go? Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

The poetic illustrations within Romano are invaluable. He makes poetry seem less untouchable. And God help me, it’s extraordinary. I love that the multigenre paper is essentially anything goes. There is something for everyone, whether five paragraphs or two voices. Differentiation?

School should be a place for practice, not perfection. The multigenre affords a "try-on" before purchase, and brings about many alternatives or modifications to “the norm.” My coop told me that we all too often try to create change for the sake of creating change without every questioning whether or not it’s meaningful. This is something different that has the power to be meaningful in more ways, to more people, than can be registered. Today at the Young Writers’ Workshop, photographer Wing Young Huie was asked whether he shot or preferred film over digital pictures. His response was that he used film as it always seemed more real to him. He stated, “Authenticity doesn’t exist anymore. Keep it real.” I believe a multigenre paper helps a student explore and find their personal authenticity, whether their choice of film is a five paragraph or prose.

Hey, It's My Memory!

2009-01-28T08:02:00.000-08:00

Here is an excellent cast from NPR of William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well, talking about the challenges of writing, with the genre of memoir specifically examined. Apparently, the memoir has turned into pages dedicated to a pity party of it's author. Zinsser criticizes this victimhood while at the same time says something along the lines of "don't ever care what others think of you and whatever it is that you write, write it for yourself." Interesting kind of paradox...

Check it out:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5340618

Typography Affairs

2009-01-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

Dornan's framework for writing and writing instruction was truly appreciated and enjoyed. However, what I really savored was the acknowledgement of the importance of meaning to the writer, and the perception of writing as a tool that lends it's power. It seems as though the daunting task of writing for academic purposes has been somewhat lifted (until ch. 3), and that writing has taken on a new role of liberation that emphasizes personal and social connection.

There is no denying that writing is a process and yes, I am much obliged for the step-by-step, how to of this is how you write this kind of paper, and this is how you write this kind of paper. I truly believe I was never taught how to write, I don't even know what it means to be "a writer." Aren't we all in some fashion? What designates one as this? I, like many of my colleagues, have found much value in the conversation ( it seems) about the brainstorming about writing, to the drafting, to the revising works in progress this books carries with its readers. It begs the question whether the importance lies within the end or the means to the end. It's always about the journey isn't it? Who cares where you go (although I'm sure it's cool), it's all about how you get there and what happens along the way right? Here is where one finds the passion (the "personalness," if you will) that is needed to make writing meaningful, interesting, relative and powerful. Case and point, in my coop teacher's class on Monday you could have heard a pin drop when he asked his students to reflect and write about themselves as students within the past semester. Now it's not as though a fantastic paper is the desired outcome of this reflective free write, but what a novel idea...what 10th grader doesn't want to write about themselves for 15 minutes.

I think we need to take a look outside the damn box as to what it really means to write, be a writer, write well, and all that jazz. Where exactly are you currently reading my words...the internet, in a web log, a blog of all places? Since when is that an acceptable place to leave my thoughts? Blogging is the new journaling ladies and gentlemen. Lately I've been reading about genre blending, which is completely refreshing, and this is a perfect example! As I said in class, I didn't realize how much pleasure I experienced when writing until I began to blog. It created almost a new genre of writing for me, one that fits me better than any other I've ever tried (and truly, I have tried them all). Writing used to be a disheartening task of which I was rather afraid, now I find it to be tons of fun and very rewarding. I have the personal investment needed as well as a genre that lends itself to me, it's a cause and effect kind of thing for me. Sounds like a great start no?

Why Homework Needs To Be Checked BEFORE It Gets To School

2009-01-27T17:38:00.000-08:00

Processes, Genres & Style

2009-01-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

Speaking of which, I'm now using this space for CI 5461: Teaching Composition in Secondary Schools, seeing as how reading and writing are like peanut butter and honey. Any posts beyond this point are reserved specifically for that purpose. Double duty, if you will. Cheers.

Words To Live By

2008-12-16T15:16:00.001-08:00

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater. ~Gail Godwin

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. ~Horace Mann

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ~William Arthur Ward

A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image. ~Author Unknown

Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed. ~Marva Collins

The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher. ~Elbert Hubbard

Definitions- Part Two

2008-12-16T15:14:00.001-08:00

What Teachers Need to be Flexible About:

• Schedules
• Materials
• Student needs
• Absences
• Money
• Snow days
• Mandates
• Curriculum
• Standards
• Buses
• Holidays
• Parents
• Technology
• Current events
• Etc.

Definitions

2008-12-16T15:13:00.002-08:00

A Teacher is:

• A juggler
• A comedian
• A good show/entertainer
• Organized
• Flexible
• Resourceful
• Collaborative
• Persuasive
• A Sheppard
• Task master
• A networker

Assessments

2008-12-16T15:13:00.001-08:00

I argue that formative assessments are useful in ways that summative assessments are not. The MCA’s are summative and are seen as the total amount, the end result of what one has learned. Formatives gather information along the way that may be of importance and interest, but may be lost by the time one reaches the end. I need to keep in mind that formative and summative assessments might not work at all. I need to be open to alternative assessments like portfolios perhaps. It makes me keep in mind the different learning styles out there, and the importance of differentiated instruction. This goes hand in hand with assessment. The necessity of structure and scaffolding is extremely beneficial when it comes to the organization of instruction, not to mention to importance of background knowledge and never assuming your students know what you want them to know.

Seventh Graders

2008-12-16T15:12:00.002-08:00

I have had the opportunity to work with two students, Alex and Sam, from Tyler’s seventh and eighth grade combined Language Arts class. Their names have been changed. Alex is a 12, almost 13-year-old seventh grade girl, and likes to talk with me about almost anything. She is a typical preteen girl that likes boys, hanging out with her friends, and of course, talking on the phone. Sam is a 12-year-old boy that likes black and white drawing and storyboarding, and playing video games. Most times he is completely uninterested in talking to me unless I really probe him-zone in on what he is interested in, and pull him in a little.

Alex’s best school subject is Language Arts, and sees herself as a pretty good reader. However, she also thinks that if she were to spend more time reading, she might become an even better reader. At times, she claims to have a hard time understanding what she is reading. Alex says she mostly reads when she is bored or when she has to for school. When Alex gets to choose what she reads she looks for adventure stories, biographies, history books, romance novels, teen issues travel books, detective stories, mysteries, humorous stories, occasional westerns, but most specifically, realistic stories. She likes to learn about things that are real. As a preteen girl, she is also guilty of reading celebrity magazines, like J-14 and People. Her family subscribes to them, and she likes them quite a bit. Currently, she is really interested in the A Child Called It series, which she checked out from the school library.

Sam’s best subject in school is art and he sees himself as just an okay reader although he says he loves to read. Sam reads for fun and likes to read, I often see him with at least two different reading materials in class. He mostly has some sort of fantasy reading with him; he says it helps with imagination and helps his mind wander. Currently, Sam is really into the Magic series of books. He also plays the card game that goes along with it with his friends. He told me he became interested in this series after finding one of the books in Tyler’s library. He often looks for books in his classroom and likes books on history, a little bit of travel, detective stories, some poetry and astrology, mystery, art, humor, folktales, but mostly he loves science fiction, adventure, and supernatural stories.

According to Sam, he reads to “get into a book.” He often likes to “zone out” and reading helps him accomplish this. He also likes to put himself into the story he is reading, especially if it is fantasy or science fiction related. Alex likes to put herself in the story she is reading too. She really likes to read realistic stories, mostly about children or teens, usually surround some sort of problem. Alex also likes to try and be apart of the story-like she is there watching it unfold and happen.

I think it is truly important to have a knowledge base of what your students are reading, and what they are or might be interested in reading so you as the teacher can help make such material more available to them. Both Sam and Alex claimed they went looking through their teacher’s classroom library for books the most often. They might not be reading at all if they had not found something of interest in their classroom library. Also, from working with Alex and Sam, I’ve learned that despite their gender differences, they actually like to read rather similar things, read for very similar reasons, and do very similar things while reading. While gender may play a role in group discussions of texts, there really aren’t books for girls, and books for boys. Certain books, styles, genres, etc. may be geared towards a specific gender, but assuming such books are only going to be read by the gender they are geared towards is totally false.

At first I was put off by Sam because did not want anything to do with me, but I figured out how to meet him half way. I’m embarrassed that I thought that way to begin with, but I was clearly thinking about myself and not about him. I feel like I’ve learned a bit how to relate to him, there’s always a way, it just takes time and patience. I learned that what works with one kid may not, probably won’t, work with another student. I need to be able to see this and differentiate what I’m doing so that it works a bit better for more than one student. It’s not about me, it’s about them.

Goals and Challenges

2008-12-16T15:12:00.001-08:00

Our goals as educators should be to get students to think outside their own lives and experiences, to get them to be independent thinkers whom are critical of the world around them, to participate and take responsibility in their own learning, and to facilitate intellectual growth. Learning needs to be authentic and meaningful. I don’t know how many times since June I have heard that, but it’s true. Why else would students care? Education needs to be connected with students’ lives, and it needs to be stretched across the entire school year so they see the things that are important, real and worth knowing and doing. Educators need to know their students and shift their teaching style to fit their students. We should model critical habits of mind. Students need motivation, and passion for what they do. We need to be meaning makers, and accept that there are many, many different perspectives in the world and there is no right one. There is a difference between people and ideas, and constructive thought and empowerment.

Education Changes Lives

2008-12-16T15:11:00.002-08:00

Tyler teaches his students about writing, and how to do it, via a writer’s workshop in his classroom. This is excellent. In all of my academic history I have never seen nor participated in a writer’s workshop. Sad huh. Tyler has his students set up their writing notebooks like textbooks. He has them cut out notes and outlines he provides, and tape them in their notebooks for reference. Then, they can also write their own notes and writing drafts. This works so well for student and information organization.

Tyler had previously shared with us that he suggests taking everything and anything anyone else gives you to use as teaching tools and references. Compile your resources. A lot of the notes and worksheets he uses he has taken, borrowed, or stolen from other teachers. He even saved things from his student teaching, currently uses them, and has for ten years. I guess, “good teachers are good thieves.” When a student busts Tyler on a typo on one of his old worksheets, Tyler allows a few laughs, giggles, and even laughs with them. Then he woofs, “let’s keep going, we’ve had our fun, we laughed a joked for a minute, but let’s get back to business.” He then does a remarkable job at explaining the 6 Traits of Writing process and rubrics, and I’m intensely impressed with his ability to explain the usage and importance of details.

Later that day we had the opportunity to grill Tyler on his personal perspectives on teaching, why he was a teacher, what was his philosophy, etc. He only laughed and said, “it’s hard to answer that without using clichés.” This is so true. We all seem to want some kind of profound, deep and caring reason to want to teach children. We probably have these, but more often than not, we all have the cliché reasons in common. However, he did tell us, “I believe all kids can learn and that I can help. I’m driven to be good at what I do, so I think that helps fill in the blanks.” I’m not sure there is a better reason or explanation for wanting to be an educator.

One of my favorite days to be at Crosswinds was the day after the election. Kids all over the school were wearing Obama shirts. Upon entering Tyler’s class that day we asked as a group, “do you always have lesson plans? Everyday?” He smiled and said no. Then he and his class talked about the election and the history that was made for the next thirty minutes. “This is a teachable moment, why would I use lesson plans today,” he said. I got chills just typing that. That’s why I want to teach.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

2008-12-16T15:11:00.001-08:00

In a homeroom today I saw an incredible thing, totally engaged students. The community building activity was team rock, paper, scissors. Two different classes were pitted against one another. Potentially this could lead to some serious competition that is not entirely healthy, and also a lack of engagement and participation. Both can be scary. However, Tyler addressed this right away: “Remember last Friday, some of you didn’t play and lots of people were disappointed. Play at your own level. Even if that’s walking, play at your own level.” This took the unfriendly competition out of it, the potential lack of engagement, and the student fear that maybe they can’t play well enough. Everyone played. Tyler held everyone responsible for the same things, and placed all students at the same level regardless of skill. It was a great debriefing right off the bat, and worked well as an authentic opportunity and performance for all.

Woof

2008-12-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

Tyler Livingston has divided his white board into sections with tape. Genius. This allows the students for each day and class to see exactly what is expected of them, what’s due, when it’s due, and the daily agenda. I love that he physically writes a daily agenda on his board. I think this obviously benefits his students, as well as helps him with organization and time management. His schedule looks like this:

• Warm ups/Announcements
• Mini-lesson
• Progress check
• Directed activity
• Workshop activity
• Closure/all class activity

Each of these elements of his schedule completely compliments the set up of his room. Tyler has set up his room in different sections. He has clearly developed a community of learners, and an effective learning environment because each student knows and understands his rules and expectations. The front of the room is where a student goes when he or she is still working, needs to work with others, or ask for help. The middle of the room is a “copy center” if you will, as this is where most of the classroom supplies are kept for student access. The back of the room is “no man’s land” where students can go for a quiet place to work, or a private conference with him. Tyler is clearly conscious of how and what his classroom affords him and his students, and what it does not. Speaking of room set up, who in the world constructed these classrooms? Clearly not teachers. The middle of the classroom cannot be seen when either in the front or the back of the room. Hence, why it’s for taping, stapling, etc., then leaving. Constantly being aware of space and how it is and can be used is a sign of a good teacher. He clearly has his students benefit on his mind, not his own. Now if only he could do something about the lack of doors!

Open classrooms are difficult. There is a ton of noise coming from other rooms at all times. It obviously takes a lot of skill to drown this out, ignore it, and hold control of your own class. I understand open schools are trying to build a sense of community, but it you have to take the doors off your classrooms to do this, something is clearly wrong in the first place, in my opinion. However, this also goes back to how one builds their personal classroom community. Some teachers and classrooms have it, others do not. Community should not have to be forced.

Tyler has such a presence in his room. There was an individual that needed to take a break today and check his behavior. Tyler simply needed to point to the chair in the back of the room without disrupting his lesson; the student understood and was able to self-regulate. One of my peers today gave a perfect example of what this presence means. It’s the difference between the big dog and the little dog. One simply needs to give a singular woof, while the other incessantly yips. Tyler has a great woof. This begs the question: when do we pick and choose our battles at the expense of class disruption and possible student humiliation? It’s trial and error I think, something one discovers over time, what is worthwhile and what can be left alone.

I Am

2008-12-15T22:57:00.000-08:00

I had the privilege of shadowing an extremely talented 7th and 8th grade language arts teacher: Tyler Livingston. The Crosswinds educational philosophy contains the Responsive Classroom management system. This is a management technique I am familiar and comfortable with, I have also seen it work wonders for some, and fail others, both students and teachers. The downfall of systems in general I suppose.

The morning begins with a message and brief task for the students to accomplish to potentially jumpstart the creative thinking process, followed by a morning meeting. I agree with Tyler on his views about morning meetings, they’re great, but only when they’re done well. I have seen morning meetings flop terribly with out of control or disengaged students. Another teacher I observed, Mrs. Peterson, had a great morning meeting philosophy: begin with a handshake as a greeting, as the school day is the start of a business day. Community building activities are essential followings and should not be confused with simply game playing. What’s key here is the teacher introduction and facilitation of the community building. Mrs. Peterson brilliantly brings those whom are off task back to the group by giving them the responsibility of reading the morning meeting message aloud to their peers. Tricky, tricky. I have seen four different teachers here use this technique: directing questions towards, or delegating responsibility to those students whom are having difficulties. I think it helps give them self-agency.

This day they continued to build their homeroom and school community by each completing a piece of “I Am” poetry. This specific activity empowers the students by allowing them to define themselves as they see fit. “I am…I am…I am apart of this community.” The community-building piece can be incorporated in the classroom in so many ways. I watched another teacher, Mrs. Hall; lead a Circle of Power and Respect morning meeting with lessons in diversity and personal habits. These activities were also school wide morning meeting components, and days after the school had used the “I Am” poetry activity and talked about personal habits, Tyler brought them up in his classroom, it’s awesome to see him make these connections. I like that a lot of teachers in this school cover ideas and activities across content.

During these activities Mrs. Hall stressed the importance of eye contact, and calling a person by name when shaking hands. These are necessary social skills that can and have been developed in just twenty minutes a day. This is truly an effective use of time, and these are small lessons that kids may not get elsewhere. It’s about building and providing a safe place, a community, for such things to take place.

I think being a teacher is having the ability to feign the illusion of control. Or perhaps it’s not even about having control. A wise Thomas Szaz says, “A teacher should have maximal authority, and minimal power.” This is more like it. No, we are not the keepers of knowledge. We, in all actuality, should merely leave a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the threshold of one’s own mind. We merely assist. It’s not about what I know; it’s about what I can help my students know.

It Begins

2008-12-15T22:40:00.000-08:00

The following blog entries are a compilation of my thoughts, views of patterns, beliefs, and relationships to educational frameworks, with implications for teaching stemming from my personal practicum experience at Crosswinds Art and Science School.

I remember my first thoughts: this is a crazy school. Clearly. The first impression of this school from winding and twisting Weir Drive is that of a circus show short of elephants, or a ridiculously cheap deal on multicolored paint from Sherman Williams that year. This is a school? I’m briefly reminded of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural scheme. The drive up to the school seems to take forever, but it’s beautiful. What a setting: amongst the woods, away from bustling suburbia and the busy freeway. This is going to be a trip, no doubt. Upon entering the school I see this is clearly a place like no other, nonetheless a school, with it’s open performance space greeting you upon entry, and it’s teeth like exposed beams shining down from the ceiling. An open school.