#SOL22: Real Life!
Do I remember our first meeeting?
A park bench outside Thorndike. Early morning. One in running clothes and me with all my gear for the day: canvas tote filled with devices, electrical bar, and books. Pounds of resources to last the day. Goal: to have an initial face to face contact before the week was up.
What about the funniest meeting?
A message to meet up at Starbuck’s. Arrival. Waiting. “I’m here.” But nary a sign. Further messages. Who knew. Three possible Starbuck’s in a 5 block radius. The first try was unsuccessful.
Which was the most unexpected?
I was fan-girling. Excited to meet up in real life. “Fran, it’s so good to see you,” as I was greeted with a hug. Only a Twitter friend. Real life exceeded my dreams as we quickly chattered like decades long friends.
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Through TWT, TCRWP, ILA and NCTE I’ve met many folks in real life. I thanked many during the March SOLSC, but I want to return to two very special authors and friends: Christina Nosek and Melanie Meehan. Their talents are exceptional!
#G2Great chats highlighted their most recent books the last two weeks.
Literacy Lenses – Reading link Literacy Lenses – Writing link
Please check out the Table of Contents of both books from the links with the book covers above.
Check out the free chapters and resources.
Check out the Literacy Lenses posts (Reading by Dr. Mary C Howard and Writing by me).
What is your level of confidence in your knowledge and skills about Reading? Writing? What about your level of competence? How do you know? What questions have you answered lately?
Both of these titles would be great for a faculty book study!
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Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this weekly forum.
Check out the writers and readers here.
#Full portfolio of methods
When I return to my cooking thoughts from yesterday, I have to think of methodology and resources. Will I use “glass microwaveable” dishes in the microwave? A double boiler on the stove?
And what about the fudge? Do I really “butter” the pan? Not that nasty cooking spray either! Can I just use parchment paper to line the pan? (Shudder as I think of butter/oleo visible on the 9 x 13 glass casserole plan! Total ICK!)
When do I follow the directions to the letter vs. letting previous experience guide my planning?
Today’s post is considering Rule 4 from P. David Pearson’s presentation as a part of an #ILA19 panel titled: “What Research Says About Teaching Reading and Why that Still Matters.”
So who are the “cousins”? These are some possibilities from the table in “10 Things Every Literacy Educator Should Know About Research.” (Link)
(Note. The information in this table was drawn in part from “Standards for Reporting on Empirical Social Science Research in AERA Publications: American Educational Research Association,” by P.A. Moss, J.W. Pellegrino, B.L. Schneider, R.P. Duran, M.A. Eisenhart, F.D. Erickson, et al., 2006, Educational Researcher, 35(6), 33–40; “Qualitative Analysis on Stage: Making the Research Process More Public,” by V.A. Anfara, Jr., K.M. Brown, and T.L. Mangione, 2002, Educational Researcher, 31(7), 28–38; Literacy Research Methodologies, by N.K. Duke and M.H. Mallette (Eds.), 2004, New York: Guilford; Literacy Research Methodologies (2nd ed.), by N.K. Duke and M.H. Mallette (Eds.), 2011, New York: Guilford; and Educational Research: An Introduction (8th ed.), by M.D. Gall, J.P. Gall, and W.R. Borg, 2007, Boston: Allyn & Bacon.)
The methodology is not set in concrete, but it has to make sense and follow general research principles. All of these involve “science.” ALL. of. these. involve. “science.”
Some seem to over emphasize RCTs – Randomized Controlled Trials. We saw that in the “gold standard” in Reading First. And meta analyses were NEVER allowed but some RCTs just are NOT possible in education. Controlling for every thing in the environment is tough even when two classrooms sit side by side. Equally difficult is the history of single-subject experimental designs. At one point, single-subject experimental designs were the most favored and at other times they were not indicative of “authentic” treatments in classrooms so they were used more infrequently.
Narrowing the field to only one methodology is, in my mind, similar to giving someone a math problem and saying that you can only use addition to solve it. No other process. Just one.
Not helpful. Not logical. Totally restrictive for no real reason.
More productive thinking about the math problem could be multiple routes to solutions with the use of several processes. The solutions could be studied for efficiency or effectiveness . . . or “innovative” status.
What doesn’t count?
Relying on “The Google”
Relying on “Op-Ed” Pieces
Or 
Do the Work.
Stop.
Think.
Does this make sense?
What do you need to add to your repertoire to have a “full portfolio of methods?”
Where will you begin?
When will previous experience guide methodology?
If you have not been following along, here are the posts to date:
@ILAToday Literacy Leadership Brief: Children Experiencing Reading Difficulties
Today is a day to celebrate another #ILA Literacy Leadership Brief. This one is titled Children Experiencing Reading Difficulties: What We Know and What We Can Do and it has many implications for students, teachers, and school communities.
In its entirety . . . here
As announced by @ILAToday . . .
What are your takeaways?
What did this affirm?
What questions remain?
Where are you sharing this?
Additional ILA Resources: Link
NCTE Position Statements: Link
NCTE: Act of Reading: Instructional Foundations and Policy Guidelines link
Reading Recovery: Responding to the Reading Wars Link
Reading Recovery: Offering a preventative intervention for young children learning literacy. psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psyche…
Richard Allington “The Hidden Push for Phonics Instruction” (TN Literacy Journal) tiny.cc/s6hbhz
Lucy Calkins: No One Gets to Own the Term “The Science of Reading” – Link
Paul Thomas – Mississippi Miracle or Mirage? Link
#SOL19: #OLW19 Celebrate
Celebrating 2019 Reading
29 books listed for my 52 book goal in Goodreads
7 of 29 books are professional books.
Celebrating Writing and 2019 Publications
Two posts at Literacy Lenses: “Creating a Conversational Thread: Engaged Reading, Writing and Talking Across the Curriculum” and Game Changers!
Here at Resource – Full: 22 posts this year in 56 days
25 PUBLISHED!
Celebrating 2019 Talking (Twitter Chats)
Cohosting an #ILAchat on Independent Reading on 2/14/19 http://bit.ly/ILAchat_IndependentReading
Cohosting #G2Great chats – 7
Celebrating 2019 Learning Destinations
Minneapolis with Kathryn, Kari and Cornelius Minor
Denver CCIRA – 3 fabulous days of learning here, here, here, here, and here
TOTAL 29 + 25 + 8 + 2 = 64 literacy reasons to celebrate
Evidence of Reading, Writing, Talking (Chats), and Learning . . .
What are you celebrating in 2019?
How are you progressing with your #OLW?
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.
#ILAchat: It’s a Wrap!
The chat was amazing. Many preservice teachers from #UNILitEd in Cedar Falls, Iowa, were participating in their first Twitter chat. We hope they will continue to participate in chats, grow professionally, and find additional sources of on-line learning.
Chat questions:
Resources for Quotes:
I quoted Donalyn Miller’s research in the chat. (link) Also Nell Duke’s Edutopia article here. Another new source during the chat was “Sustained Silent Reading: What the Research Really Says“.
Accountability for Independent Reading. Students can choose many non-invasive ways to keep track of their reading. I can’t say enough about how I love the “book stack” showing a month of reading here in Christina’s tweet via learning from Penny Kittle.
Archive from the chat – Link
And after all, what are a student’s rights?
What will you do to ensure quality implementation of Independent Reading?
What is your first step?
Resources:
Clevern tweet from NY Public Library
Kelli Westmoreland – Research on Independent Reading
Barbara Moss – Independent Reading
Matt Renwick – Silent Reading vs. Independent Reading
Children’s Book Council – The Value of Independent Reading for Kids
ala.org – Independent Reading
Stephen Krashen – What Does it Take to Develop a Long-Term Pleasure Reading Habit? **
#ILAchat: Independent Reading
The definition for Independent Reading from ILA
What does that mean?
How well does your independent reading align with the definition?
What have you changed or tweaked?
How has that impacted student reading, especially student joy and passion for reading?
How can you capitalize on the “Power and the Promise of Independent Reading”?
Please join the chat to share your ideas!
#NCTE18: Sunday
Sad Sunday Smashing Slashing Schemes
Sad, it’s the last day of #NCTE18
Sunday, wow, really? It’s easy to lose track of the days!
Smashing! Great line up of sessions. Still difficult to choose!
Slashing! That was the session back in the dungeon, in the back, back, back, under the auditorium.
Schemes! Already plotting for #NCTE19
The final general session with twins, Peter and Paul Reynolds. Gifted artists. Gifted story tellers. Gifted. And what a gift to us! Peter read two books to us. The Word Collector and Say Something. Treasured moments! So much to learn from all of those around us and we do need to share our voices.
What’s New in the 4th Edition of the Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts
This was my second session (ILA the first) about this book. Critical ideas that teachers and administrators need to be aware of and discussing.
And on assessment: YOWZA!
I’m researching more information about #affectiveassessmentsmatter and Comprehensive Reader Portraits through Career Dream Drawing Assessment. Talk about relevance for students! (UK parallel research link)
And a quick vocab note: Bill Nagy, quoted by Susan Watts-Taffe University of Cincinnati, “There is no magic list of vocabulary words. Cohesion around kinds of cohesion is helpful. Thematic work with vocab offers significant practice. It’s about what you do with the list.”
Breathe New Life into your Writing Instruction: Practical Roundtables that Will Push Your Writing Further
Kidblogging – Joy Writing Through Student Blogging with Margaret Simon and
connecting with Teach Write friends. First F2F meeting with Leigh Ann. YAY!
And as the conference wound down, one last social event Sunday evening with some #G2Great friends!
What’s next on your creating list?
Where will you go?
What will you learn?
And with whom?
Thank you, NCTE!
In case you have not been following along, here are the links to #NCTE18 . . .
#NCTE18 Bound #G2Great
#SOL17 and #DigiLitSunday: Learning?
Today’s Topic: A Burning Question
More posts with Margaret Simon here
Who is learning and how do we know?
Are the students learning?
How do we know?
What can they tell / show us about what they can do NOW that they could not do before instruction?
Is the learning important enough that the student will use “this” the rest of his/her life (beyond school)?
Am I learning?
How do you know?
You can search my blog for the following topics and see my learning:
TCRWP
NCTE
ILA
Shouldn’t our learning be public?
Shouldn’t we have multiple pieces of evidence about our learning?
(Hint: It does not have to be a number.)
How are you sharing your learning?
What is your “Burning Question”?
Learning a new device has kept this post brief, but I conquered “Where do downloads go on a chromebook?”, inserted a picture, and posted it all with this new chromebook!
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Lanny, Lisa, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum and the #SOLSC that runs from March 1 to the 31st. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#SOLSC and #DigiLitSunday
This week’s theme for #DigiLitSunday is “Slicing our lives”. Head on over to Margaret Simon’s “Reflections on the Teche” for additional posts.
Slicing our lives is what many bloggers do each Tuesday throughout the year. But when March arrives (whether like a lion or a lamb), it’s time for the “Story Challenge” where bloggers write each day of the month. So that’s 31 consecutive posts to write as well as to respond to fellow bloggers in the community! This year is the 10th annual SOLSC so that’s a whole lot of stories.
Why Slice?
It’s an opportunity to write stories every day and live a more writerly life . . . in public. Sharing stories allows us to build a community of writing friends. Perhaps in the first year of slicing, you only read the posts of those persons who post just before and after you. But after a while, you branch out and look for those who write about similar topics, teach the same grade, have similar jobs, people you follow on Twitter or those you have met in real life (IRL) or face to face (F2F).
What is a community?
It’s often considered to be a group of people joined together for a common purpose or passion. Today I celebrate both the Slice of Life Community and the DigiLitSunday Community. Friends from around the world that I rely on when I’m looking to learn more. Friends that I often meet in both the blogosphere and the Twitterverse. Friends with whom I enjoy spending time!
Members of both communities that I have met face to face at NCTE and/or TCRWP Institutes or Saturday Reunions include:
- Margaret Simon
- Tara Smith
- Carol Versalona
- Julianne Harmatz (We even presented on a panel together at NCTE15!)
Slice of Life Community members that I have met face to face at NCTE and TCRWP (Institutes and / or Saturday Reunions)
- Stacey
- Dana
- Betsy
- Deb
- Michelle
- Melanie
- Lisa
- Catherine
- Paula
- Glenda
Slicers that I have met face to face at TCRWP Institutes or Saturday reunions:
- Sally
- Erika
- Phyllis
- Lanny
- Dayna
Slicers that I have met face to face at ILA or NCTE:
- Clare
- Lynne
- Rose
- Elsie
- Jennifer
- Leigh Anne
- Linda
- Ramona
Slicers in my neighborhood that I see at local/Iowa events:
- Kathy Scuitema
- Deb Day
Slicers that I am looking forward to meeting:
Everyone of you that I have not yet met. I so enjoy reading the “About” section of blogs to see where you are from and whatever additional information you provide. I have gone with you to quilt shows, Africa, France, to family events, to dinner and have so enjoyed learning with and from so many talented writers!
My life is richer for all the slicers that I know around the world IRL (F2F) or online! Thanks for being so generous with your time and stories! I’m honored to have so many great “blogging mentors” in my life! Thanks to so many of you for stopping by, reading and commenting.
(And my sincere apologies, in advance, for anyone I’ve accidentally left off the list. I started it two days ago and I’ve been checking my blog posts and my ILA, NCTE, and TCRWP notes to try to be as accurate as possible. However, the mind is the first thing to go . . . with old age!)
Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Lanny, Lisa, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum and the #SOLSC that runs from March 1 to the 31st. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.
#DigiLitSunday: “Possible Sentences
Join Margaret Simon at “Reflections on the Teche” for additional #DigiLit Sunday reading here.
Kylene Beers and Bob Probst are both speakers that I can listen to time and time again I’ve seen them at ILA, NCTE, and Kylene more than once at #TCRWP. One strategy that I participated in that has stuck with me is “Possible Sentences”. As a workshop participant, it went as Melanie Swider of “Two Reflective Teachers” described here although the session I attended was on a different date.
How can students more “authentically” USE vocabulary words and do more of the vocabulary “heavy lifting” in understanding and owning the words?
Possible Sentence Basic Process:
The teacher chooses vocabulary words.
The students, doing the work, predict and use the words in sentences.
*Then as a class, all the sentences are compiled and then questions are generated for each sentence.
Students read.
Students return to their sentences and questions to revise them based on the understanding of the topic after reading.
How could we start using “Possible Sentences” in Book Clubs or in Content Area classes and add in some meaningful, very purposeful, use of technology?
Here’s what I proposed for our first learning practice:
You can go to the actual documents through the links below and save your eyesight:
Google Drawing Student Task Card link
Google Drawing Teacher Card linklink
Tools: NewsELA article, Wordcounter.com, Google Drawings cards, Google Docs – Response
Resource - Full 