#SOL19: Really?
I blew it! What was I thinking?
Twitter Chats are easy. A few questions. A few responses. Let’s talk. And then taking my turn on writing a summative blog post. Predictable patterns.
Book clubs . . . What’s the format? What’s the end goal? What’s my role? More questions than answers. And each club . . . renegotiating the roles and the expectations.
Check. Deadlines met.
Check. Responses entered.
Check. Make no waves. Agree with the participants
Check. Check. Check.
I was focused on the product and got lost in FEAR!
I was worried if it was good enough and was frozen in time!
I rushed to task completing and forgot it was about the thinking!
This was the format for my early book club participation and it has followed me around worse than the groundhog’s shadow ever since. Book clubs were a place of similar thinking; thinking outside the box resulted in social ostracism.
I went underground as a reader as I have had a LOVE/HATE relationship with book clubs. Some have been fun. Some have been tedious. All have provided learning. But what was that learning?
I love talking about books. Mary Howard and I talk about a tweet, a blog post, or a book on a regular basis. Her reading is also voracious! At CCIRA, Regie Routman handed me a book, I thumbed through it, and I had to order it. Penny Kittle told me about a book and I forwarded the title also to my sister and a niece. I hadn’t even left Maria Walther’s session and I was forwarding the book list. Reading and talking about books is fun!
And then last night I watched this video of Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. You can watch it too if you are a member of the Summer Book Love Club 2019. What do you notice? What would you name as the key points of the video?
Link
A photo clipped from the video
And because the link does NOT work if you are NOT a member, here are the TOP 10 REASONS you should join Summer Book Love 19 from the Nerdy Book Club here.
Elementary Book Club Books July 2019
Here’s what Penny said about the FB Live session:
“From Concord, CA… I’m here with Kelly Gallagher, my co-author and friend, to talk about the importance of book clubs in his professional life.”
The importance of book clubs in his professional life.
The sheer joy.
The number of books he has read as a part of a book club.
The fact that he, a good reader, learns something from every book club meeting and that they celebrate the different ideas everyone brings to the book club.
Somewhere
Somehow
Sometime
I lost the sheer joy of talking about books in a book club.
The book club became about the process of my notes, my annotations or my writing about reading.
The book club became more about compliance than learning!
I became that “kid” who completed the work but maybe didn’t invest very much of myself.
It’s book club season. I will be in several this summer. I will be watching my own learning. And just as I detailed the process for “Professional Learning” in the last 5 posts about Repeated Reading, so will I also monitor my own learning, processes and products. I think it will be critical to be brutally honest with myself.
And I can do that personally with a process that is also set up for bigger systems work.
How will I find the gold and the JOY in book clubs?
What is the process for professional learning?
- Set a Goal – Participate productively in book clubs
- Selection of Content which includes Checking the Research – Talk about the books
- Design a Process for Professional Development/Learning – Check the schedule and allow plenty of time. Refusing to allow lack of time to be an excuse.
- Teaching / Learning Opportunities – Checking in. What do teachers need to learn? How will they learn it? How can we set some measurable targets? – Pay attention to my “joy” meter. When does it stop being fun?
- Collaboration / Implementation Reading and Participating
- Ongoing Data Collection including Listen to the Students – Consider my responses to students with actions similar to mine
- Program Evaluation – Going back to the teacher data: Has there been growth? How do we know? Plan ahead – what will I do
ifwhen I get stuck? - Collecting / Analyzing Student Data – Is the gap closing? Are students growing more capable? Are students more independent? Balancing “habits” of reading, attitudes, processes and products
- (WHY would I use a different process?)
I will be a part of at least three book clubs this summer and as the summer wanes, I will let you know if I was successful and how and when I will be celebrating the continuous JOY in reading and talking about books!
What is your experience with book clubs?
What motivates you to continue to learn and grow as a reader?
What learning targets would you consider?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL19: What do you rate?
The plate looks gorgeous. Colorful. Artistically arranged. White space. Yet organized. How well did it match my expectations when I placed my order?
Do I dive in?
Confirming and correcting my prediction?
Do I admire?
Savoring the physical attributes before it is consumed?
Do I snap a quick picture and send it off?
I take a picture but don’t send it anywhere.
Dinner
Prime rib, baked potato & corn on the cob
I have a friend who often uses snapchat or messaging to share her dining cuisine. It’s not a typical go to for me. But sometimes, I think, “Wow. I should take a picture of that.” It’s not that I am thinking of an award for cooking but awards have been on my mind.
Do I fill out surveys about food and service at restaurants? Sometimes. How consistent are my ratings from each time to time? And is the criteria the same? That goes to reliability and validity. How critical are these ratings? Are they contextual?
How does this apply to life?
Awards: Who is included? Who is excluded?
Who gets nominated for the CMA Entertainer of the Year? There were 5 male candidates? Why only men?
Part of the criteria is crowd size in large venues, meaning tours, so if women are not out on the road for long tours . . . criteria is not met.
Wow! Criteria for audience rating the winner is . . . audiences putting their bottoms in seats at concerts. So different from having a captive audience where the buses deliver students to school.
What about books?
Books: How do you rate them?
Informal rating? Formal rating?
In your head? On Goodreads? On Amazon with formal reviews?
How do you share your response to books?
Book Rating: What works for you? A? B? C?
A.
B.
MUST READ!
REALLY, YOU MUST READ!
DESPERATE, YOU MUST READ!!!
C.
My Goodreads account consists of mostly books rated 5 with a few 4’s sprinkled in. Does that mean that all books I read are automatically that good? I’m sure that you will be disappointed but books that would be below a “4” or “5” star rating on Goodreads, just don’t get entered. Selective memory? Or was it once a conscious choice to only include the top books. But you wouldn’t know that unless you knew my methodology for reporting. A bit erratic! A bit unplanned. My concession to compliance and using someone else’s rating system.
Daily life decisions: Using skills and strategies steeped in literacy. Determining importance. Predicting. Confirming predictions. Re-predicting. Aligning expectations with the “real” thing. Comparing and contrasting. Developing criteria. Communicating.
How do your students rate their books?
How do your students share their response to books?
What do they prefer?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
Added:
And yes, the vegetarians in my family would rate the meal pictured above as a -10. The devout pork producers might rate it a 0. The poultry eaters might rate it a -5. And then you all who hate any medium rare meat might not have gotten past the “shudders”!
It all depends on perspective . . .
and your own definition of a quality meal!
Book Love Foundation Summer Book Club
“Registration is open! Join the Book Love Foundation Summer Book Club to read with colleagues and learn from authors during our exclusive online LIVE events.This year we have both elementary and secondary book clubs. Check out summerbookclub.org @HeinemannPub @ncte @ncte_cel”
Secondary (Teachers of Grades 6-12+) June & July
Elementary – JULY (+ guests Donalyn Miller & Debbie Miller)
So you will go to summerbookclub.org
Watch the video with Penny Kittle.
Watch the video with Clare Landrigan.
You will have three choices:
MS/HS book club (June-July) (Books, swag and online content)
Elementary book club (July) (Books, swag and online content)
Online resources only (open as soon as you register for discussion and specific “units” for each week of discussion) BONUS – all online options see all discussions and content – the whole shebang.
See you at summerbookclub.org
What are you waiting for?
Conversations with teachers,
Conversations with authors,
And more libraries for teachers . . .
#SOL19: Day 31 SOLSC
On this last day of #SOLSC, let’s celebrate. (I know. It was a sneaky way to bring my #OLW back in)
Which would you rather eat?
This could become a “3 Corner” activity – which do you choose and why? The choice could be made silently and then after groups are gathered in their “corners”, they could create a “claim” and supporting reasons for their choice. (Psst: That’s oral practice first before ever writing a word.)
Where would you rather play?
All three are outside choices so they are fairly comparable. Some lend themselves more to “parallel play with a friend. Would that make the decision harder? Again, this could be a silent, individual choice. And then what if you introduced the concept that students could choose one activity with a partner. Now what skills do the students need?
Which would you choose to read?
What would you choose to write with?
“The average classroom teacher will make more than 1,500 educational decisions every school day. In an average 6-hour school day, that’s more than 4 decisions every minute.” (TeacherVision, Source)
How do we support students in making decisions?
Claims?
Making choices – good, poor or bad?
How should we support them?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily March forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL19: Day 30 SOLSC
New learning . . .
Skippety do dah!
Slicers share so much . . .
Some days it is ideas and
Some days it includes learning tips!
Thanks to my friend Sally
For teaching me about slide show in wordpress.com
Skippety do dah!
I learn so much from my Slicer friends!
Don’t let fear, doubt, or past experiences defeat you!
You can do this!
You can learn something new!
Slide show learning courtesy of Sally Donnelly at “Read and Write by Sally” here! The directions are in the comments section on her blog!
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily March forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL19: Day 29 SOLSC
Day 29
Rise and Shine
Walk the narrow line.
Check out the view
What is there to do?
Two days ago the temp was 72
Tonight the forecast includes snow
and wintry mix with winds that will blow.
How will the rest of the week go?
I fear March may yet go out like a lion . . .
The uncertainty of wintry possibilities
Makes for a leery traveler.
But maybe it will reduce that TBR pile.
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily March forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL19: Day 28 SOLSC
Four days left.
Four more posts.
Four more ideas.
Four more slices.
Why does it feel so different?
The pressure to have a story.
The pressure to not have a bandaid.
The pressure is real.
The pressure for students is real.
The pressure for teachers is real.
Is it self-inflicted?
What’s the solution?
Yesterday was amazing.
Our Heinemann reps have established a #ConnectandCollaborate group and provided support requested by local teachers, coaches, and administrators. Yesterday we, groups in Iowa, Missouri and South Carolina heard answers from our questions posed to Lucy Calkins about coaching.
How do teachers step into conferring?
First task: Set up the Environment
- “Do no harm.”
Lucy reminded us that, “You will be conferring all your life. It helps to put yourself in the writer’s shoes.” Consider when has someone’s feedback left you scarred for life? “Don’t do that.” Kids will be vulnerable.
How much does it mean to you to get a real compliment? A real authentic response from a peer or an administrator; not a judgement. “Do that!”
Teachers have power. We can make kids want to put words on the page. Make sure you are responding in a human way. Warm. Human. Don Murray said, ”Be the kind of person for whom kids want to write.” Respond in human way to the content. When you are headed for radical change, do NOT criticize. Do NOT point out all the things they screwed up.
Second task: Check your Posture
Are you sitting side by side?
The student holds the paper. The student writes on his/her paper. The goal of the teacher is to get students to say more with little tips to keep them writing: “Holy Moley, what happened next?”“Wow! Look what you have written in 5 minutes.” All of this is setting up the backdrop because in order to respond to writers, you have to set a climate where students want to and DO write!
BEGIN by Studying Conferring
- Read the guide about the predictable parts of a conference
- Watch the Videos: Amanda and Lucy
- Identify and Practice the Conference Parts
Don’t expect perfection. Plan to grow and learn. Check out the suggested problems in the “If…Then…Curriculum resource online. Have those solutions ready. Talk about the common issues.
READY, SET, GO!
Thank you Beth, Kelly, and Kerry (Lisa and Ashley) for setting up this Zoom opportunity.
What did you learn yesterday?
How will your passion and excitement carry your learning forward?
How will you build on your own “I can . . .”?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily March forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL19: Day 27 SOLSC
Post its: Assorted colors
Post its: Assorted shapes
Sharpie Permanent Markers: Assorted colors
Flair Markers: Assorted Colors
Card stock: Assorted colors
File Folders
Plastic Sleeves
Game boards
Classroom Look Fors
Glue Stick
Assembly Time
New skill: Generating QR Codes for document access
What does your work space look like?
What materials do you use?
How do you organize?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily March forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL19: Day 23 SOLSC
It was that kind of a morning.
I woke up early, before the alarm, so I smiled and thought of all I could accomplish. It was 0 dark thirty.
It was that kind of a morning.
I stumbled down the hall, brewed a cup of coffee and stared at the two deer in the driveway.
It was that kind of a morning.
I had no list, but quickly set to work: a blog post, some emails, and off I’d go.
It was that kind of a morning.
There was frost on the windshield. Old-fashioned, scrape with pressure, hard frost not the kind that disappears with a spray of windshield washer fluid.
It was that kind of a morning.
Two thin white ribbons marked the path in the road, veer off the beaten path at your own risk to become mired in the mud.
It was that kind of a morning.
Deer in the road. Deer in the ditches. Deer in the timber. Deer everywhere.
It was that kind of a morning.
School bus with flashing lights, yellow line do not cross, destined to follow from bus stop to bus stop.
It was that kind of a morning.
Time gained from that early wake up at 0 dark thirty has slipped away. Now the pressure of a timely arrival was weighing heavily.
It was that kind of a morning.
Fuel light lit . . . Aw, rats. When did that come on? #$&*! Of all days . . .
It was that kind of a morning.
Sun barely peaking over the hood of my car. Blinding. Annoying. Really?
It was that kind of a morning.
Finally town and red light, and red light, and red light with no right turn on red. Minutes slipping away.
It was that kind of a morning.
Fuel, pit stop, BUT no vegetarian breakfast? Ah, Lenten Fridays!
It was that kind of a morning.
Red light, red light, red light.
It was that kind of a morning.
Three semis on the roundabout. Felt like a wasted hour.
It was that kind of a morning.
And then MAINT REQD light. Really?
It was that kind of a morning.
I was thirty minutes into a day with over five hours of driving.
Could I just, please, go home?
To read a book?
To do some work?
How will I ever survive an entire day at this rate?
When a day has a less than auspicious beginning, how do you “turn” it around? What are your “go to” strategies to regain positivity?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily March forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL19: Day 21 #SOLSC
I check the calendar.
Hmm.
Meeting coming up.
Do I:
a. Cheer and high five with excitement over a meeting
b. Have a mini eye roll
c. Yawn in anticipation of a lively session
d. Plan to arrive early, stay late and be totally energized?
Which one fits your feelings toward those regularly scheduled meetings?
At the TCRWP Saturday Reunion I deliberately chose Meghan Hargrave’s session titled: “A Session for Coaches and Teachers Leaders: Professional Development that Sticks” and like the theme for the day, Meghan talked about a clear purpose, relationships, facilitation, and cycles of learning.
The topic was important. The room was packed. People sat on the floor in the back, on the sides, and leaned in to catch every word.
What do your meetings look like?
The information that I found most intriguing was when Meghan talked about different methods for meetings. Just like in workshop, different methods for meetings. Here are the five she shared.
Methods for Meetings
Mini-lecture 5 – 10 min.
Demonstration & practice
Role play
Make and Take
ON-demand teaching – both coaching method and meeting method
Meetings
Could be faculty meetings
Could be PLC meetings
Could be grade level meetings
Could be collaborative planning meetings
And the methods could vary.
Does that happen in your world?
Or are your meetings pretty much structured the same way, with the same method, meeting after meeting?
What’s the best that could happen if you changed the method of the meeting?
What could be the potential impact for students?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this daily March forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
