Monday, April 10, 2017
I'm Hooked
Class is complete and I just created QR codes for another student project, and I'm writing a short Blog about it. I must be hooked.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Update
I have not survived two trips home from school with my son at the wheel. Yesterday Daniel was impressed that I didn't reach for the door handle even once. Progress for us both.
Oh, my! what a difference one letter makes. I have now survived 2 trips . . . I'm sure all are happy to know I am not Blogging from the world beyond!
Oh, my! what a difference one letter makes. I have now survived 2 trips . . . I'm sure all are happy to know I am not Blogging from the world beyond!
Oops!
I have 2 Twitter accounts that I manage, one that I opened for this class and one that is for the school yearbook. Luckily, I only tweet professional things or things that are not overly personal or embarrassing to the account for class because I mixed the two up this weekend.
I posted a picture of the trail that my husband and I created when we kayaked through the ice on Round Lake. My students laughed at my "old person with technology" moment, and were not really impressed that we had created our own island that we ruled over until it melted the next day.
I posted a picture of the trail that my husband and I created when we kayaked through the ice on Round Lake. My students laughed at my "old person with technology" moment, and were not really impressed that we had created our own island that we ruled over until it melted the next day.
Book Chapter: Chris Tovani
Tovani chapter
Tovani, Cris. (2011). "Annotations: A Trustworthy Source of Data." So What Do They Really Know: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
If you are interested in reading workshop at the high school level and haven't read Chris Tovani's work, you should. I have seen her speak twice, and I purchased her book when at the WSRA Convention. Her methods are things that I have incorporated to some extent, but I want to do more of it as we move into true reader's workshop.
In the chapter, Tovani provides concrete techniques about how to get kids to annotate, having them begin with asking questions of a text. As with most skills, one key is model, model, model. The other is feedback. She explains multiple ways to use this strategy, including teaching that not all questions have answers, that many questions will be answered if one continues reading, and that this can help them isolate their confusion.
She also explains her strategies for dealing with logistics like students not being about to write in books, and how to deal with all those sticky notes.
Because Tovani has and continues to be in the classroom, she can predict issues that may arise, like a student refusing to annotate and the most likely causes for it and her ways of addressing those issues.
The most important part of this article is how Tovani uses the annotations to assess students' comprehension, to plan mini-lessons, and to direct individual conferences.
In order for students to see the value in annotations, I believe they need to see their teacher valuing them. If we say they are important, but we never look at them, they won't believe us. Striving readers have probably been given lots of advice on how to read better, and for many of them, it hasn't worked, so they may not trust that this technique will either. If we use their annotations effectively as a way to see into their thinking process maybe they will buy in.
Tovani has used the annotations as a pretest, for immediate feedback, and to create mini-lessons. A goal of mine is to use annotations more effectively in my own classes with these ideas as a guide.
Tovani, Cris. (2011). "Annotations: A Trustworthy Source of Data." So What Do They Really Know: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
If you are interested in reading workshop at the high school level and haven't read Chris Tovani's work, you should. I have seen her speak twice, and I purchased her book when at the WSRA Convention. Her methods are things that I have incorporated to some extent, but I want to do more of it as we move into true reader's workshop.
In the chapter, Tovani provides concrete techniques about how to get kids to annotate, having them begin with asking questions of a text. As with most skills, one key is model, model, model. The other is feedback. She explains multiple ways to use this strategy, including teaching that not all questions have answers, that many questions will be answered if one continues reading, and that this can help them isolate their confusion.
She also explains her strategies for dealing with logistics like students not being about to write in books, and how to deal with all those sticky notes.
Because Tovani has and continues to be in the classroom, she can predict issues that may arise, like a student refusing to annotate and the most likely causes for it and her ways of addressing those issues.
The most important part of this article is how Tovani uses the annotations to assess students' comprehension, to plan mini-lessons, and to direct individual conferences.
In order for students to see the value in annotations, I believe they need to see their teacher valuing them. If we say they are important, but we never look at them, they won't believe us. Striving readers have probably been given lots of advice on how to read better, and for many of them, it hasn't worked, so they may not trust that this technique will either. If we use their annotations effectively as a way to see into their thinking process maybe they will buy in.
Tovani has used the annotations as a pretest, for immediate feedback, and to create mini-lessons. A goal of mine is to use annotations more effectively in my own classes with these ideas as a guide.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Bittersweet
Today my 15-year-old will get his temporary driver's permit. While it's satisfying to see every accomplishment, it's difficult to know where the time has gone. Those round cheeks have lengthened and his tiny voice has deepened. He's long been taller than I am. I feel like if I turn around I'll find myself at his graduation.
I'll try to remember this feeling when he's driving me crazy and I find myself wishing for adolescence to come to an end. Every stage has its beauty . . . when looked at through nostalgic hindsight.
I'll try to remember this feeling when he's driving me crazy and I find myself wishing for adolescence to come to an end. Every stage has its beauty . . . when looked at through nostalgic hindsight.
Friday, March 31, 2017
It's done!!!
104 pages of yearbook are submitted. I have to figure out how to get students to actually do the things they showed they were capable of on formative assessments, but right now I'm going to R-E-L-A-X!
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Article Response: Building Transformative Communities
There is a group of teachers at CHS working to develop a school-within-a-school for students who are not successful in our traditional school structure, so I thought this article might be helpful in determining how to effectively create a transformative community. They have identified the importance of parent and community involvement, and I was hoping to meet with some concrete examples.
While the article provided a description of the key characteristics needed for transformative communities, it did not share a lot of concrete examples of how the schools demonstrated these qualities. I think it would have been helpful to be able to "see" these qualities in action.
One interesting point that was made caused me to think about the family visits our district has been doing for the past 2 years. The statements about "forcing doesn't work" ring true. (See excerpt below.) I think we should have continued with the program being voluntary after the pilot year rather than making it mandatory for all faculty. If it was beneficial to those parents and students, it would have expanded through the endorsement of those involved. As it is now, there is a lot of resentment on both sides and I don't see more connection between the school and parents than I did prior to this program's implementation. At this point, I think we need to bring teachers and parents together to discuss whether there is a way to make this program more authentic and to clearly define its on-going goals so that it is not a "one and done" connection with families. It would have been interesting to see the ways in which the sample schools from the article created their family connections.
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