#SOL21: Harvest
In cycles of life. it is one of several steps.
- preparation of soil,
- sowing,
- adding manure and fertilizers,
- irrigation,
- harvesting and
- storage.
How do you know it is time?
With soybeans, it’s obvious as a field of green
Becomes a mixture of green and yellow.
Over time the colors fade to brown
As the plants dry out.
Will it rain on the harvest?
What do you know about soybean production?
And within the US, what does it look like?
How many acres are involved in the production of soybeans? Is that up or down for 2020?
Soybeans: for animal and human consumption . . . A food source to feed the hungry around the world . . .
How can we use inquiry to consider new solutions for old problems?
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Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this weekly forum.
Check out the writers and readers here.
#SOL19: Fueling the Soul
I returned to #NCTE19 in the same site as #NCTE14 to present as part of a different panel group. Excited to rejoin face-to-face friends and colleagues. Exhilarated to learn with new friends and colleagues and just a bit exhausted from the prep and planning to take advantage of every single moment. Celebrating friends. Celebrating peers. Celebrating communities. Celebrating learning. So ready to lean into my #OLW: Celebrate!
NCTE: National Council of Teachers of English. So many folks from so many places. One night around the table, we represented Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Virginia, Virginia, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, California, Connecticut, and Michigan. That was the night of the Slicer dinner. Two new friends. Many face to face friends. Slicers all who intersect with #G2Great, #TCRWP, #CCIRA and our #NCTE presentation – the four of us together for the first time! Talking. Sharing. A laughing video of a grandson. Sharing of children’s artwork. Shared quotes. Food, drink, conversation, and fun. With just a touch of rain that did not dampen our spirits!
There is nothing like scintillating conversation, learning with peers, celebrating with authors, and after hours gatherings to fuel the soul . . . sparking a joyous celebration of friends, families, and ever increasing meet ups of social media friends. As the world shrinks when we write and speak collaboratively on social platforms, our knowledge base grows exponentially.
As I continue to reflect on my travel and learning while I sift through my notes, I will add three outside sources here.
One of my favorites from NCTE is Kelly Gallagher’s Top Ten Things he heard at NCTE:
Melanie Meehan, co-author of Two Writing Teachers wrote about three sessions here.
Stop and Think Reading List and Resources here.
How do you collect and organize your learning?
How are you refueling your professional soul?
Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this weekly forum. Check out the writers and readers here.
#SOL18: Hello, friends!
Literacy is important. It’s been a part of my life for years. Teaching, modeling, teaching, modeling, demonstrating! And yesterday was no different,
EXCEPT
I was a learner in the audience. A learner.
Here’s just a window into the learning:
If you are on twitter, you may know where I was and who I was with for my learning fun. but if you were not online, think about these quotes.
What surprises you?
What is worth talking about?
What would you say to a thought partner?
What would you write?
Instruction needs to change. Students need to be engaged. That doesn’t mean teachers need to do “a song and a dance” every day. But teachers do need to think about the needs of their students. And how students’ needs and teachers’ needs can both be met in better ways. Responsive teaching is hard. It means that the data from today drives the instruction for tomorrow. That data comes from a variety of sources: conferences, book talks, flipgrid responses, book check ins, student goals, teacher goals, the questions students ask, the questions students do NOT ask, student writing, and teacher writing.
It’s not a unit per quarter. It’s not a whole class novel per quarter. It’s not low level responses. It’s not fake reading. It’s not giving up accountability. It’s not about abdicating responsibility for learning.
It’s also not easy.
Teachers are change agents
Teachers change the world.
What was the message?
Here is a quick glimpse . . .
Who were these masterminds of change?
In West Des Moines, Iowa
About 340 of us . . .
Engaged
Empowered
Great learning!
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. 
Additional Resources:
Literacy Lenses: Link
Resourceful – Planning
Travis Crowder Review
#TCRWP Writing: Takeaways Day 3
Jack Gantos was the featured keynote today during the TCRWP June 2016 Writing Institute. And he ended with
“See the stories and be the person who can write the story.
If they can write them, YOU can write them, too!!!
What a challenge!
If they (the students in your classrooms / your buildings) can write them,
YOU (all the adults in the auditorium – teachers, coaches, administrators) can write them (the stories), too!!!
Do you write?
Do you write on a regular basis?
The questions above were designed intentionally for you to think about your writerly life. How do your students know that you are a writer? Do you demonstrate your own writing? Do you use your own writing in your explanations? How do you “DO” these focused rewrites as Jack Gantos named them? How do you teach them?
| Closing Keynote
Jack Gantos The Writer’s Journal: Content, Structure, Rewrites = Success |
Takeaways:
- Elements from picture books are the SAME elements you find in short stories and that you will also use in setting up your writing journal so you can’t say, “Nothing interesting happens to you!” JG
- Your job when you sit down to write is to press the go button; you want to get words on the paper! JG
- Jack’s writing process: 2 hours 1st draft writing; 2 hours 2nd draft writing and then candy = 2 hours of reading! Another 2 hours of work after the scheduled reading. JG
- Don’t wait to read until the end of the day when you are too tired to remember what you read!
- If stop at physical ending, you will miss the emotional ending – what connects to the reader . . .JG
What Methods Do We Use with Mentor Texts?
Today, I heard Celena, Colleen, and Emily all talk the same language/consistent message about the instructional methods used with mentor texts depending on the purpose/needs of your students.
Demonstration Writing – How to do it step by step
- Has voice over of “how to do it”
- Might begin with a frame
- Shared writing
- Zero shame in using demonstration writing from the Units of Study IF it fits!
- Be aware that not all pieces work as well as others!
Explanation / Example
- Here’s the text and the explanation
- Example of how to take mentor text and put it into action
- Not step by step
Inquiry (Colleen Cruz details)
- Powerful in terms of agency and independence
- Learning theory – What student discover on own sticks more!
- Not everything is best taught with inquiry
- Sometimes there is content you need to know
- “Putting your hand in hot oven will burn it – don’t need to learn from inquiry
- That would be irresponsible
- No way to discover strategies – kids will not find boxes and bullets on their own
- Don’t use inquiry if only ONE right answer = allow differences!!
- 3 favorite things to teach during Inquiry
- Craft
- Structure
- Conventions
- Inquiry is good for ALL kids!
Centers (Emily)
- Develop task cards
- Combine inquiry with structure/small groups
- Include discussion as rehearsal
Takeaways for Methods of Instruction:
- There is no one method of instruction that works ALL the time for all students!
- Match your Method of Instruction with the needs of your students.
- Check your methods for when you PLANFULLY teach/provide for “transfer work”.
- Consider when students are able to “Do the work themselves”.
- Always consider: “Would the students be better off writing?” Is “THIS” teacher talk time really more important than student writing time?
How do we demonstrate process with mentor texts?
I also heard Celena, Collen, and Emily talk about both the need for as well as how to demonstrate process with mentor texts. This seems easiest with teacher or student texts. But you can also go to Melissa Stewart’s website for a behind the scenes look at the process involved in writing No Monkeys, No Chocolate here. That book was not written overnight!
In Celena’s session today, we actually worked on making our own process mentor texts with a plan for writing, first draft, first draft with some revisions, and draft fancied up!
Takeaways for demonstrating process:
- Physical revision (flaps, post-its, cross-outs, different colored ink) clearly shows that revision has occurred.
- Having “process” pieces that literally show the progression of work is helpful for revision conferences.
- Process pieces that show revision – at all stages of the writing process – keep the focus on continual rereading and revision.
- You need clear expectations for student writing – for yourself as the teacher and also for your students.
- You need a vision for your student writing.
What do you see as emerging themes for the week?
What have you learned this week?
(Internet difficulties again interfered with pictures and the structure of this piece!)
For further reading, writing, response, or reflection:
Remodeling the Workshop, Lucy Calkins on Writing Instruction Today
Takeaways from TCRWP Writing Institute 2016 – Teachers and Students Lifelong Learners
TC Reading and Writing Project on Vimeo – 59 videos
Resource - Full 