Milestones
Milestones vary.
As the odometer turned 48884, a mathematical palindrome, I wondered about the 50,000 mile warranties that would soon expire. And the endless phone calls and junk mailings about warranties . . .
I watched the green mile markers as I traveled . . . another mile completed.
In life:
The big ones are birth and death.
But what is in between?
Everything that happens in year 1 is a milestone:
that first bottle
that first cooing sound
that first “roll over”
that first “pulling up”
that first step.
And then as life progresses –
Age 5 – eligible for kindergarten
Age 13 – teenager
Age 18 – voting rights
Age 21 – adult rights
And then the “0” birthdays . . . 30, 40, 50 and beyond.
All these milestones are CELEBRATIONS!
For clarity, here is a definition of milestones:
What do milestones look like?
A fairly even and balanced stack of smooth, polished events?
Rough shapes, each one unique, that are part of a route?
Smooth shapes with a highly polished finish?
A combination of shapes, sizes, colors and routes?
Do we recognize and celebrate the scholarly milestones that grow our students into readers and writers?
Do we make allowances for alternate routes for students?
Must all students meet the exact same criteria at the same moment?
Who chooses the milestone path?
Milestones and benchmarks: Helpful? Harmful? Does it depend on how they are used?
Benchmarks that are used to “sort” students into colors, red/yellow/green, or groups for intervention or instruction may fall short of their goals because they are artificially imposed goals. They also may be goals that are set independently of the assessment measure being used. Benchmarks that are used in “punitive” ways to slow down instruction and build isolated skills that are not used in real world literacy activities may fit into the category of “unhelpful” or even harmful benchmarks. Benchmarks that require additional information to be collected including multiple reading and writing samples are a part of a “body of evidence” that covers many milestones . . . more than once! And more than one type!
What milestones are critical for your grade level? Why?
Bloom’s and Thinking 2.0
One aspect of travel time that I love is time to think. Taking a break from outside stimuli and letting my curious mind wander and wonder.
When I left off last time in this blog post, I was thinking an hour glass fit my model of Bloom’s and how it actually works in a student brain. After conversation here as well as with friends on Dr. Mary Howard’s facebook page, I decided to think about a broader conceptual piece. For those of you who know which lobes of the brain really control “what”, please ignore that and think about what happens to the bits of information that are processed inside our brains. (And do note – this is labelled as Draft 2.0)
Bloom’s and the Brain: How ideas may look as they are processed!
Sometimes the “uploading of ideas” may seem structured and other times the process seems to be more organic with much more give and take between levels.
Draft 2.0: What do you think?
How does your brain shift from one level to another?
Is there some automaticity like an automatic transmission in a car?
Or is there a bit of “gear-grinding” like a standard transmission with a tricky clutch?
What’s your thinking?
#SOL18: Remnants
In the trails
In the hollows
In the ditches
In the shady spots
Out of the sun
In those darkened spots
Traces remain
A glimpse of what was
Just two short weeks ago.
Flat spaces of brown
Dry and sparsely vegetated
Scattered collections of gray and white
Remnants of the great snowstorm of two weeks ago.
Snow in the news.
20 ” shattering records
Causing accidents
Collapsing roofs and
Exploding transformers.
A blanket of snow
A fresh new covering
Quickly fades as the danger emerges
For people, animals, and vehicles on the road.
Observation and Reading the World – First four stanzas
Final two stanzas – Found poem from CBS Nightly News @ 5:30 pm on December 10, 2018.
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.
#SOL18: Cookies
It began with a tweet.
And then my #OLW, “curious” surfaced.
What would a student response be?
Quirky, out of the box. Unexpected!
How about response #2?
And again, an unexpected answer!
Now, all in, I had to ask 3 more so I had an even 5.
Small data pool.
But yet, bigger than an N of 1.
Answer 1: “He will have to take the 98 burned cookies sprinkled in powdered sugar because Cameron’s friends and family ate the 185 good cookies!”
Answer 2: “If he promised to take 283 cookies, Cameron will go to the store and make 98 more cookies so he can take the cookies he promised.”
Answer 3: “Cameron wanted to make sure the cookies were good, so he ate four. Then he could only fit 135 cookies into his container. He took 135 cookies to the cookie swap and left the rest for his brother.”
Answer 4: “Cameron will be so embarrassed that he burnt the cookies that he will not go to the cookie swap. He won’t be taking any cookies.”
Answer 5: “Cameron was taking the 185 cookies that were fine to the cookie swap. Along the way, he met a man who was hungry so he gave the man five cookies. Then he met his friend Albert who was not going to the cookie swap because he didn’t have any cookies. Cameron gave him 80 cookies. Cameron took the 100 he had left.
Thinking?
Reasoning?
If any of these students “chose” a multiple choice answer and filled in the bubble, would we have known WHY they missed the answer?
100% accurate according to the stories. Hmmm. When a wrong answer is a RIGHT answer!
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.
#SOL18: Assessment
What do we value? Product? Process? Reflection?
It began with a conversation on Voxer.
How do we know?
My #OLW, Curious, led me on an interesting quest.
So how does this work in real life?
The first group began. All brass. They blew a few sounds through their mouthpieces. They were newcomers. Section by section. Each small group played. Then the entire brass group played two songs.
Same process for the woodwinds. A few sounds. Section by section sound off. Then the entire woodwind group played two songs.
BRAVE
BRAVE
BRAVE
The Premiere of THE 5th Grade Beginning Band (copied from the program) then played two songs. Their first practice together – the brass and the woodwinds. Their first practice EVER. During a performance. In front of a gym packed with family and friends.
How would you assess this 5th grade group in their first public appearance?
Product?
The number of students that participated?
How the three groups sounded?
Process?
How they have grown in the six weeks since 5th grade band began?
What comparisons would you make between assessing this instrumental group and other “assessments of 5th grade learners?”
I watched instrumental musicians last night representing grades 5-12 in the Central DeWitt school district. This was my second consecutive year to attend the fall Parade of Bands. It’s a 90 minute extravaganza led by two directors that showcases the performance levels of students in October each year. This year that was a total of 325 band students in grades 5-12: 215 students in grades 5-8 (She is simply amazing!) and 115 students in high school.
Product?
Process?
Reflection?
A combination?
What if . . .
What if all students had to take an identical screener in the fall, winter and spring?
What if the results of the screener was then used to determine which instrument students should play?
What if the students had to pass a “basic knowledge test” before they could choose an instrument?
Would there be 325 students in band if a general “proficiency test” was required of all students?
Again, how is success measured?
Is it measured by the “1 Superior” rating at state marching contest?
Is it measured by the new band uniforms provided by a community drive?
Is it measured by the audience that packed the gym?
Is it measured by the funds raised during the dinner before the Parade of Bands?
Is it measured by the applause of the audience?
Is it measured by the number of students who continue to participate in band year after year?
Is it measured by the distance that audience members travel to attend the concert? (195 miles one way for me)
Is it measured by the “JOY” of the students who continue to participate?
Product? Process? Reflection?
Is there any ONE measure that captures the essence of success?
The original conversation began with writing. Is this a conversation that needs to be a part of every content area in every school building?
What do we value?
What do we support?
How do we know?
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.
Full Disclosure: I’ve followed this band director for decades – to concerts and competitions, to the Alamo Bowl, and to the Orange Bowl so I’m a wee bit biased. Band opened the doors for me to travel in the US and abroad. I attended this concert with his grandmother, mother, wife and daughter. I’ve known him and his work ethic for 40 years, and YET I also know that FUN and a passion for music is also a part of his agenda. He’s my nephew!
#SOL18: Time
The lyrics from the Byrds have been going through my brain lately as I’ve lost track of day and night, days, and now even weeks, and WOW, how did it get to be August?
“To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven . . .” Video, 1965.
What does it take to be an award winner?
This song won a Grammy back in the 1960’s. Ah, yes, before many of you were born. So what is a classic? What is real? What needs to be repeated? What needs to be retired?
Cherish . . . and another tune instantly comes to mind.
Do I have songs on my brain?
Everything’s coming up roses and in verse!
There’s something about the JOYFULNESS of song!
I’m hopeful that the joyfulness in my life spills over to ensure that joyfulness is a part of every classroom this fall. Enthusiastic teachers. Refreshed. Relaxed. Rejuvenated.
Ready for challenges.
Ready to toil anew.
Ready to advocate for EVERY student.
Ready to lose your heart to that next room full of students!
And yet, every day the clock will continue! Can you find precious minutes for MORE reading and writing? Can you redistribute the time you have?
The students . . .
Excited students. Excited and eager for routines. Eager for learning. Eager to make a difference. Eager and enthusiastic to be back at school.
A time to be curious and focus on their brilliant minds and all the great things they do know. A time to think about next steps and small nudges of growth that will start spinning the success wheel.
Time shows what we value.
I love this quote from Ralph Fletcher.
“Time is a new kind of poverty. A schedule
that features daily writing communicates to
students: ‘Writing is one of my non-negotiables.
It’s too important for me to squeeze in
once in a blue moon’” (p. 45).
~ Ralph Fletcher
The Writing Teacher’s Companion
Scholastic, 2017.
What is on your daily schedule?
What are your non-negotiables?
How will we know?
And just to come to a full circle . . . “So what is a classic? What is real? What needs to be repeated? What needs to be retired?”
What is really necessary in your classroom?
What do students really need to learn?
How will you know?
Life is all about decisions. Time is in your favor. Many have just begun. Many begin soon. Others have about three weeks. How will you use every precious second in honor of worthwhile and necessary learning?
Before we can ask for MORE TIME, we must make sure that we use our existing time wisely!
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL18: Why?
My #OLW stood me in great steed this weekend at #ILA18.
So much to see . . .
So much to do . . .
So much to learn . . .
But What’s the Point?
Back in the Dark Ages,
In the late 2oth Century!
I remember the value placed on
Whole-Part-Whole in education.
The goal was always LEARNING!
The intent was for ALL to be LEARNING!
Students
Teachers
ALL!
After #ILA18 I feel that many empowered teachers have been set free in the universe to “change the world” and continue learning. We haven’t learned it all. There is a real need to continue to grow and build our knowledge base.
And that brings me to one of my Sunday sessions. We were learning about the Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts (4th edition) under the leadership of Diane Lapp and Douglas Fisher. It has 18 chapters. Chapters that could be used in schools for professional development.
18 Must Reads.
18 Invitational Conversations.
Exploring the tight connections between research and best supported practice that promotes literacy for every learner.
This was not a book available to purchase in the Exhibit Hall.
But could it? Dare it be a lens to consider best practices? A lens to consider What? How? or even WHY we do what we do in instruction?
In its entirety this is one side of a handout from a round table at that session . . .
Chapter 16
8 Essential Components of Comprehensive Language Arts Instruction.
Any surprises for you?
As I reviewed the list, I found it quite interesting that this list of components included nine, or exactly half of the chapters. Curiosity, of course, won out. What on earth could the other nine chapters be about if this is “the list of components for instruction” and if THIS is the book for teachers to study.
So I was off researching.
In a classroom, I would have been in major trouble because I was on my computer and might have appeared to NOT be on task. But I was in search of more information. What is the other half of this book about? This book we should study? This book we should use? This 499 page book!
This post is titled “Why?” not to just allow me to pose my own questions but also to perhaps begin to develop some of my own theories. Why these eight components? Why do two of the eight (25%) not have chapter resources supporting them?
WHY?
What are the “Whys?” that are circling in your brain?
What format will the chapter take?
Will there be recommendations of “amounts of time” per component?
Will there be “recommendations of additional resources”?
Were any teachers involved in updating this handbook?
Is there any support for how to put these 8 components into action?
Or how to “know” when the components are all aligned?
Will this text continue to treat each component as a separate silo? What about the reciprocity of reading and writing? How will we grow readers and writers?
Why this text now?
What’s so compelling about this text, right now, that this book should be a part of a district’s professional development?
It was a pleasure to hear much rich conversation around real reading and writing at #ILA18. Real, rich, robust reading that is NOT about single standard instruction or assessment. It’s actually quite refreshing to go back to the “Whole” of language arts instruction in reading, writing, speaking and listening that moves stedents to take action in the real world.
Doing school must end. It’s time to capitalize on any instruction that promotes high learning and engagement that challenges students without mind-numbing page after page of annotation, Cornell notes, and skills-based minute particles that can easily be googled. Why do adults think these decisions can be made without broader input from our communities?
If the whole is our entire language arts program
and the part is the eight components,
what “WHY?s” will you need answered before you can implement these 8 components?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL18: #OLW
After a quick search, I found that last year’s check-in on my One Little Word (#OLW) was mid-July so I’m pretty much on target again. July. Summer. Heat. A time to reflect.
Where has “curious” taken me this year?
Paying attention.
Listening.
Watching.
Reading.
Writing.
Thinking.
Curious and Learning
Most recently:
Iowa Reading Association and
#TCRWP
Front row learner
Book Clubs
#BookLove, #CyberPD, and more
Curious and Joyful
Graduations
Near and Far
Birthdays
With Family
With Friends
And special serenades
Curious and Fun
Ladies Football Academy
With my sister
And finding cousins along the way
Teaching
Consulting
PD Prep
Reading, Writing, and Blogging
Curious and Books
A Novel Approach
Literacy Essentials
It’s All About the Books
180 Days
To Know and Nurture a Reader
Engaging Children
Embarrassment
Kids 1st From Day One
Brave Leadership
Being the Change
Megabook of Fluency
Reclaiming the Principalship
What are you curious about?
How is your #OLW?
Have you checked in lately?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL18: Why #TCRWP?
Three letters
One word
Connected to my #OLW – curious
WHY?
A recurring theme on Day 1 of the 2018 June Writing Institute at #TCRWP
As the day began in typical fashion at Riverside Church with 1200 teachers strong, “You’ve come from 41 states, 36 countries, those who’ve attended 25 or 26 institutes, as children in workshop schools or those who came alone who are now back with principals and teachers… movers and shakers.”
If you are not on Twitter, this is a time you should be. Because you can capture thoughts such as these:
Or these . . .
But you had to be there in person in that setting to capture the eloquence as three fifth graders from Tiana Silvas’s classroom stepped up to the podium. These students were definitely a part of a level three writing workshop as they, oh so eloquently, delivered their memorized poetry and reminded us of all the many reasons that we teach writing and we continue our tireless efforts!
The enthusiasm of the beginning of the day carried the theme of
WHY?
bringing purpose as we considered the energy, independence and transfer that comes from the creation and use of tools with Simone Frazer and building bridges between reading and writing with interactive writing with Marie Mounteer.
Decisions about Choice Sessions are never easy. They are all amazing. But Kisha Howell rocked Horace Mann with her tips about increasing writing volume. The big ideas centered around: feedback, talk, clear tools, “other texts,” meaningful process, and sketching. Exquisitely delivered in a way that my ancient brain absorbed, retained and connected the tips in true “showing not telling” fashion . . .
I’m fascinated by this chart. Where has the feedback that I’ve received fallen short? What about the feedback that I give? All feedback is not equal . . .
This opening day of 2018 June Writing Institute at #TCRWP satisfied my “WHY” to attend . . . . in order to continue and grow with some of the brightest literacy minds. Thank you, #TCRWP, for being a place to satisfy my “curious” and grow my thinking!
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOL18: Process? Product?
“I don’t know what to write.”
Is that a struggle with the process?
I don’t have a beginning point, a topic, an idea, or even a glimmer of a slice growing in my brain.
I don’t have an outline.
I don’t have a plan (other than to publish a blog post).
I don’t have a graphic organizer to fill in the blanks.
Is that a struggle with the product?
I know I need to produce a blog post,
but I had no idea percolating in my brain as I fell asleep.
No inspiration emerges from my sleep-heavy brain
as I peruse at least a dozen slices this morning.
And where, oh where, is my idea file?
You know, that list of, “ideas and topics” to write about!
Or my heart map?
The one with pretty colors and fancy word art,
that writing notebook,
Out in my work bag, in my car, in the freezing cold.
And I, snug in the house, barefoot, sipping my coffee.
“No words appear on the page (or screen). “
Is that a struggle with the process?
Just write.
Anything.
Rearrange and fix it later.
Begin something.
The clock is ticking.
Rewrite the prompt.
Repeat the quote.
Reread last week’s post.
And still, no words appear on the page (or screen).
Is that a struggle with the product?
Am I really still stuck on “What should I write?”
Or is it fear that what I write will be unworthy?
My words will remain unread.
My thoughts will not be validated by comments.
Inside, my brain is cluttered with ideas, words, phrases,
but, YET, no clear starting point emerges.
What word should be first?
“My grammar and the conventions of language are atrocious.”
Is that a struggle with the process?
Should I not have words on the page before I worry about spelling, subject/verb agreement, and writing a post with the same verb tense?
After all, wordpress will give me red underlines when it doesn’t like my draft, my first revision, my second go, or my “Oh, silly Word press, Now are you happy?”
Is that a struggle with the product?
As soon as a red line appears under a word, do I respond and immediately fix it?
Or do I let my fingers remain ever moving across the keyboard
in an attempt to quickly capture some words, any words,
because after all, in my mind . . .
I’ve missed my personal deadline to post my blog.
Lack of
Ideas,
Production,
Grammar and the Conventions of Language
Is an intervention in order?
Do I need a writing intervention?
I’m dying here. I don’t know what to write. My mind is fuzzy. More coffee please.
What do you notice when a student is sitting quietly and not producing “writing”? What do you name?
How do you use your own writing (process or product) to gently nudge the writer onward?
Just curious . . .
Is it black or white? Process or Product?
Or are there shades of gray? Shades of both?
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
Resource - Full 