Teacher as Reader and Writer

I have enjoyed and learned from our literacy readings this quarter.  The Routmann book and the Elbow article have given me a lot to think about and they will help me teach writing to my students.  Both emphasize the need for students to write frequently and for sustained periods of time so that our students write fluently and effortlessly.  They also emphasize that writing need not always be graded.  And when it is graded, you need to be careful to look at the whole as well as the parts and focus only on what the writer (or class) is working on to move forward and improve. I love Routman’s continued modeling in class of “this is what good writers do”.

I am thinking that if your teachers do not employ the writing techniques recommended by Routman and Elbow, you will likely need Lamott to help you write when you are an adult.  In my writing group this week, I learned that not everyone loves Lamott as much as I do.  I understand that she can be depressing, irreverent and somewhat repetitive.  I also know that as pre-service teachers we are not exactly her target audience, but despite all of that, for me she has been magical and what I needed to help me write.  I have laughed at her black humor when she described some of her bad days when she sometimes had the urge to “drink gin out of a cat dish” and “grab her infant by the ankles and swing him around her head like a bolo”.  Only on hearing the perspective of others did I realize that this might be viewed as “whackadoo” by those saner than me.

Lamott says that she wants her students to “see the bleak unspeakable stuff” to turn the “unspeakable into words- not just any words but if we can into rhythm and blues”.  The writers who can do this are the writers we want to read and compare notes with.  They take us deeper into ourselves by letting us see deeper into them.  So  perhaps it says a whole lot about me that I find myself “comparing notes” with Lamott and empathizing that we all have bad days, but we pick ourselves up and move on.  The book gave me insight into her struggles with writing and allowed me to look at my own writing in a new light.

Taking a Break

Alpine Lakes Wilderness

I have been fortunate to be able to enjoy two important family visits this quarter.  I was worried that the combination of classes and field work would make these visits difficult, but the opposite has proved true.  My brother and sister-in-law came to visit in early October just as the quarter began.  My sister-in-law has been very ill and this was an important trip to celebrate the end of a grueling round of chemotherapy and their 25th wedding anniversary.  We enjoyed camping in the Olympic National Park and day hikes at Mount Rainier and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.  I cannot believe I had never been to the Alpine Lakes before - what a beautiful gem!

Last weekend, I returned from a week in S. California for our annual Thanksgiving week with my husband's family.  Although my kids were a little disappointed to miss the snow, I was thrilled that we all missed very few classes.  I came back refreshed and renewed and ready to finish out the quarter.

I think it is Routman who suggests that teachers should sometimes choose a walk or a movie over correcting papers and preparing lessons.  I suggest you take a break and get some fresh air!

Exploring SketchUp

I spent some time exploring the Google Educator Tool SketchUp and I think it is pretty amazing. I can see  immediate uses in my dyad geometry class. Have you ever tried to draw a circle in front of a class of 8th graders? There are a series of tutorials I watched before trying out the tool for a test drive. Here is the one of the tutorials on circles to give you an idea of how easy SketchUp is to use.




I explored SketchUp using the free version that I downloaded.  There is also a professional version that is available and I asked my engineer husband if any of the CAD folks in his office used the tool.  He tells me that the software they typically use is pretty expensive and specific to their needs.  He was blown away when I showed him a couple of the tutorials on how to use the tool for designing buildings and bridges.

Writing Conferences

I spent time on the plane to California reading Routman's chapter on student writing conferences.  I wished I had read it a couple of weeks earlier as I now realize that I have been in a series of writing conferences with my son - we just did not have a name for it.  He is a high school senior writing essays for his college applications.  The whole application process feels very stressful and high stakes with the essays providing an opportunity to differentiate applicants.  I am comfortable with content conferences, but I also got pulled into editing conferences too.


As a parent, I focused on the content of the essays.  Was it interesting? (reviewers would be reading hundreds of essays).  Did it sound like him? (it needs to be his voice).  Did the topic he chose highlight an activity or accomplishment where he learned something? (this is not the time to be modest).  Does it avoid cliche and hyperbole? (not another athlete that overcame an injury to return to triumph).


As a teacher, I think that this is where we can really help our students be successful writers with great ideas to share and communicate.  I agree with Routman when she says to ignore editing concerns at first and focus on content.  I think that a lot of my "parent talk" translates to "teacher talk."  I suggested my son write another intro when I thought his did not provide enough of a hook.  One excellent essay ended flat and I suggested he reconsider the close.  In retrospect, I should have been using Routman's simple suggestion of having him reread his essay multiple times and especially each time he returned to the essays.


As a parent, the editing conferences were not comfortable for me.  I do not remember all the finer points of grammar.  Should it be "that or which" should it be past or past perfect (whatever that is).  What sounds right to me may not be grammatically correct and that worries me with so much at stake.  Luckily, my teenager seems pretty confident in all the editing.  As a teacher, I am okay with punctuation and spelling, but my grammar will need to be dusted off a bit.  I do like the idea of students doing most of the editing themselves or with their peers.  I like Routman's tips about students becoming as independent as possible by having one on one conferences only when the students have done everything they can on their own and completed requirements.

In summary, this chapter was filled with great tips for having writing conferences with students.  Routman's ideas about "frontloading" are among my favorite.  She says that frontloading means "doing whatever you need to do before students write to ensure they understand the talk and expectations and are prepare to succeed. ...the payoff is huge: quality writing, right from the start, along with efficient conferences.  The month of December will be filled with more college applications and essays.  I am prepared to let my son know that before I read another essay that there are certain expectations that I have for him too. 

Whoa!! Weebly, Wikis and Widgets ....

I know that the technology classes at UW Bothell are going to help differentiate me from other school's teacher candidates.  I am trying to embrace and learn technology so that it can help me be a better and more efficient teacher (and student).  It feels like slow going this week!

We videotaped our read-aloud lesson and it took some help from our master teacher to get the file onto my flash drive.  I smugly headed home with thoughts of getting "ahead" on an assignment.  Three computers later and although I can see the video, the sound is gone.  It might be just as well since the video itself has shown me that I have many lessons to learn.  I am still smiling.

I chose a "virtual field trip" for a social studies assignment and got completely lost in a rich and engaging website.  I was hoping for a developmental opportunity as I do not gravitate to digital resources.  Next time I will either just head to a museum or I will plan for more time to mine the web for information.  I am still smiling.

My home scanner would not cooperate and so I headed to my local Kinkos to scan some old photographs for my digital vignette. I missed half of one of my kid's soccer games trying to figure out how to use the scanner and get the photos onto my flash drive.  I am still smiling.

I have struggled with unit plan templates from two different sources. One is a pdf file that I cannot copy or write to and another is a Word document that causes me difficulty when my lesson is longer than one page.  I spent WAY too much time and ended up creating a new template.  I am still smiling.

I did the Weebly tutorial as I knew that I would need remedial assistance for this assignment.  I think I finally created a portfolio with a link on our Wiki.  I am still smiling.

My own blog now has links to my blogging circle and I have managed to figure out how to comment on all of them.  Now that I have seen a lot of different blogs, I think I need to mess around with some Widgets so that my blog is easier to read and navigate. I am still smiling.

I cannot imaging doing this week's Literacy Running Record without a recording device.  That means that I will need to borrow and use more new technology.  I am still smiling.

Wish me luck!

Writing Vignettes

After writing (and sharing) one vignette, I find myself agonizing about the whole process.  What do I want to write about that feels okay to share with my writing group and eventually the whole class?  I purposely chose a topic for the first vignette that was not too personal, a remembrance of a Mary Oliver poetry reading I attended.  My writing group made the obvious comment that I described the event, but never really shared what it was about her poetry that made me connect so deeply to it.  Public writing, I know it will be a challenge for me.


According to Routman, teaching writing to students needs to include lots of guiding and demonstration. I feel comfortable with certain kinds of writing - reports, emails, memos and the kind of business writing that I used to do.  Personal vignettes and more creative types of writing that include emotions are a different challenge.   It is only one of many areas where I feel stretched and out of my comfort zone.  It certainly will assist me in understanding how some of my students are likely to feel and perhaps we will work through some of the issues together.


I did love the opportunities to work with our kindergarten buddies.  It is so helpful to get to explore the Emergent Literacy Profile by working with a student who is actively working through these important stages.  It has often been the highlight of my week and I look forward to going back to the class in the spring to see all the progress.

"I Like Middle School Read-Alouds, They Are a Good Waste of Time."

Those are the words that I heard as I let out a sigh of relief after completing my read-aloud. One of the girls was whispering (ok, it was pretty loud) to her classmates as I walked past and made my way to the back of the room. I thought it was funny on the one hand, but as with a lot of humor, it felt like there was some truth to her comments as well.  During the read-aloud, I asked the students if they had ever had any teachers read a-loud in middle school and only one student raised her hand.  I went on to explain that on our way to becoming teachers, we were reading many articles about education.  Some articles recommended that Middle School read-alouds be used in conjunction with science or social studies classes and their teacher was giving us some time at the start of class to try one out.  We had used over 30 minutes of her block science class and although we were hoping to activate and engage learning, it was hard to be sure.


I know that I spent way too much time over the last couple of weeks on my middle school read-aloud - probably more thinking about it than actually working on it.  I could not get comfortable with the idea of reading in one of my dyad math and science classes.  At first I thought about using a math novel for the read aloud, but could not find one that seemed to fit the level and subject matter of the students.  Then I considered a novel about astronomy for science class and spent time on the internet looking for book that would "match" the class.  I also spoke with my cohort members and decided that a magazine article might be a good fit (thanks Elizabeth!).


Finding an article was also a challenge.  I picked an article about the Big Bang Theory, but changed course when we realized that the schedule dictated we both do our read-aloud the same day.  After Sandy had the inspired idea to read a Native American myth about the stars and planets, I changed my article.  I would find something about how stars are formed and we could have a discussion of the different ways people make sense of what they observe in the sky.  Long story short, I will still revising the lesson plan at 5 AM yesterday before heading to school.  It went pretty well, lots of room for future improvement and we will have the chance next week when we teach our first lesson. I also learned from my Master teacher that he uses his librarian at school to help him select novels and other materials when he his trying to enhance content areas.  I needed a librarian consultation!


Next up, my vignette first draft.  I have a tendency to over analyze things (yes, I am a South) and so I am going to make a conscious effort to write more and think less - wish me luck!