#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.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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!
______________________________________________________________
Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for this weekly forum.
Check out the writers and readers here.
#NCTE19: The Beginning
Back to the beginning: Baltimore again. The crew. Face to Face connections. Twitter. Learning, Laughing. Sharing.
NCTE18 – 10 posts
NCTE17 – 4 posts
NCTE16 – 4 posts
NCTE15 – 2 posts
NCTE14 – 5 posts
Celebrating 25 posts already written about NCTE! Anticipating the posts and the learning from the next four days.
The program . . . link
on Twitter #NCTE19
in Baltimore
where my ancestor was born, George Herman Ruth.
In 2014, it was a Friday presentation described here.
In 2019, it will be a Sunday presentation as listed below.
Katelynn Giordano, Betsy Hubbard, Melanie Meehan, and myself
Challenged! Intrigued! Sparking Inquiry Through Collaborative Research
9-10:15 AM, Sunday, November 24 in Room 304
What are you anticipating for #NCTE19?
What is your plan?
What do you plan to learn?
What will you celebrate?
“Close Reading and the Little Ones”: #NCTE14
Wow! It’s been over a year since Chris Lehman (@ichrislehman) and Kate Roberts(@TeachKate) published Falling in Love with Close Reading. There have been Twitter chats, presentations, Twitter book study chats, PD sessions and much continued conversation about the many facets of close reading.
It has also been more than a year since the Close Reading Blog-a-thon! This post “Close Reading is not THAT important!” is one of my favorites. Have you read it? What about the series of posts between Chris and Kate? Check out the thought-provoking posts and reread CCR Reading Anchor Standard 1.
So today, it was back to work on reading for a bit. This is a short look into my thinking since Chris, Kate and Kristi Mraz’s (@MrazKristine) presentation at NCTE14!
- Reading –
- Close Reading –
- Reading Closely,
- Still thinking about!
- Who?
- When?
- How Often?
- Why?
- Wondering . . .
- Hopeful . . .
- Silent . . .
- Watchful . . .
- Curious
- Listening . . .
- Fun . . .
- Thoughtful . . .
- Effective! ❤
Close Reading Session – Not starting with a song . . . (sigh!) but here are screenshots from a presentation that made us laugh, cry, and cheer for its thoughtful work with “The Little Ones”! The presentation – “Close Reading and the Little Ones: How it’s Different (And Incredibly Fun and Effective) in Early Elementary Grades” from #NCTE14
Think about “HOW” you make sense of these pictures . . . where and when do you linger?
I was excited to try out the routine. Amazed! It’s all that Chris, Kate and Kristi promised. And even more! What an empowering tool for students! Supportive of curiosity, wonder, and so much talk – what a wonderful way to frame paying close attention to “read” the world! (NOT a bloody hammer for teachers!)
Not convinced?
Check out these notes! @ShawnaCoppola has the most beautiful notes. Here is her visual of the session! If you are on Twitter and are following Shawna, you would have already seen this! If you are not on Twitter, you should be. Lurking is encouraged. Explore the possibilities!
Convinced?
What questions remain?
Top Ten Quotes I have used from #NCTE14!
I can’t really believe that I’ve been back from #NCTE14 for two WHOLE weeks! Wow! Turkey Day and back to work with a vengeance. What to do before the holidays hit?
I found some time to work on another view of my first time attendance at NCTE. It involved a new use of Zoom. Still in draft/learning mode, but I wanted to share what this could look like!
So what have I used? My Top 10 Quotes in the order of frequency of use! This video should give you an idea about the topics I have been working on / using during the last two weeks! (It was also in response to a challenge from @davestuartjr – another virtual and now face to face friend!)
What are you doing differently since #NCTE14?
How are you sharing your learning?
#SOL14: “You can’t always get what you want . . .”
If you are interested in a bit of nostalgia (AKA classic rock), you can listen and watch the following video.
“So what’s up with the song? Those lyrics are pretty darn old!”
#NCTE14 hosted a twitter chat for “first time attendees” early in the convention week. I took much of the advice to heart:
“Wear comfortable shoes!” (Go Walks by Skechers ~ Thank you, friend Katie!)
“Download the convention app! (Done)
“Watch for Twitter PLN members!” (Thank you for initiating many conversations!)
“Plan for multiple sessions in case you can’t get into your first choice session.” (I had multiple choices for Thursday and Friday – before I left home. That took me through our presentation time.)
But I didn’t really believe that I would not ” get into my session” once I made my final choice. It was my first trip to NCTE, but I have attended IRA multiple years and even the World Literacy Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2002.
Imagine my shock when I didn’t get into my first session choice or my last session choice.
Bummed! Yes!
I assumed that due to the notoriety of the speakers, the presentation would be in a ballroom at least. Not so! Small room! Full room! Some chairs were eventually brought in and a few others were allowed in to sit on the floor.
The door guard was adamant about observing the “fire code” rules.
I knew I was missing out. I sat on the floor and logged into wi-fi and hopped onto TweetDeck on my pc. It was soooooooo slow.
Plan B: I closed my Dell and pulled out my iPad. Mumbling a bit because I had not brought my keyboard for my iPad, I waited for it to fire up and to get connected. Even three columns of Tweet Deck was slow. . . .wow . . . Home . . . #NCTE14 . . . Notifications. Three columns. “C’mon on. This is ridiculous!”
I often live by data. (Sorry! I know that is shocking!) But 140 character tweets were “averaging” three minutes to send. Connectivity was not a strength of the convention center. Without a calculator that meant approximately 50 characters sent per minute! . . . . SSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
By this time, I had been asked:
- “Who is in that room?”
- “Is that really a line for people trying to get in?”
- “How do I get to the parking garage?”
and I really had little to do BUT answer questions. (I was sorry, though, as I had no clue where the parking garage was as I had no vehicle and was not staying in the Gaylord Convention Center hotel!)
Plan C: I closed my iPad and pulled out my personal Mac Air Book that was my reliable all day lightweight tech friend for two weeks of Writing and Reading Institutes at #TCRWP last summer. Another series of log ins in order to connect to the wireless for NCTE. Password in. Tweetdeck up on Google Chrome.
Nope. Frozen.
Google Chrome was frozen.
No tweeting . . .
Plan D: ?#!/(*?
So what did I do?
As the song says, “Sometimes you get what you need!”
I took advantage of my first gift of time. I was the first of the 5 of us on our panel to arrive and I had volunteered to make sure we had “tech” so I decided to use time wisely and:
1) check out the room for our presentation – hmmm, table set in center, not set in rows of chairs . . . . . looking small . . . room located!
2) check out how well technology worked and preview our google presentations (3) and pdf formats (2). Google was sssssssllllllllloooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww! My presentation (heavy on pics) did not load. I tried Julieanne’s. After about 15 minutes, all but four pages had loaded. Technology was not cooperating very well. However (glass half full), it’s only Thursday and I have more than 24 hours to come up with a plan!
The plan for converting from google presentation to an offline format worked (combo of pcs and Macs) so we went with PDFs in a common google folder (not everyone had Office so powerpoint download was not going to work).
Reality: Not getting into my first Thursday session meant that I had the information that I needed in order to scope out our presentation room, check out weak tech and devise a work around and check into our hotel room before the next session. The sun, earth and moon continued to revolve and rotate as they always do. . . Life was good!
Sunday afternoon session:
What I wanted: To attend the Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle session on Voices in Democracies on Sunday.
However, the doors were closed and once again the doorkeeper was not allowing anyone in. (One poor teacher who had entered earlier, left her bags on her chair, and then gone to the restroom was ALMOST denied re-entrance!)
So instead, I went to a poetry session. It was fabulous. Multiple poets and teachers shared student writing that made us laugh and cry. Mary Lee, Catherine, Cornelius, Katie. . . were all there. Words, images, and voices filled my soul!
I still had books to pack to ship home. I decided this gift of poetry from the heart would be my last session.
Reality: Poetry, and the power of words, was one theme of #NCTE14. It fit in with the “Be Kind” theme from Lester, Colleen, and James Howe where “laughter meant learning was taking place”! I had time to hang out and chat a bit with my roomie as she packed up to leave. Another gift of time. Time to chat about our learning and our plans to use that learning.
REPRISE:
When have you gotten what you needed instead of what you wanted?
What’s your story?
Tuesday is the day to share a “Slice of Life” with Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to work collaboratively.
#SOL14 Friends + Family = Framily
Tuesday is the day to share a “Slice of Life” with Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsy for creating a place for us to work collaboratively.
During a weekend of exhilarating conversations and sessions at #NCTE14, someone mentioned the word “Framily” based on our personal and professional relationships.
So what does this really mean?
So what does this look like?
Friday
On Friday, it looked like this after our presentation . . .
and we also had to capture this sign that was posted saying our session was full!
The conversation continued and our “Framily” grew at Aloft . . .
Saturday
Saturday evening our “Slicer Dinner” also provided more conversation and a larger group of “Framily”.
And the fun continued out on the beach at National Harbor.
Do you know the story of this art work?
How many “Slicers” can you name in these pictures?
How did your “Framily” grow as a result of #NCTE14?
#NCTE14: The Learning Continues . . .
Time to stop and think . . . reflect . . . and wonder.
Friday Session C.13 What the Common Core Forgot: Community, Collaboration, and Social Justice
How much time is spent on the routines in middle schools and high schools to build collaboration? And what about the subtitle: “Step-by-Step Lessons for Respect, Responsibility and Results!”
We practiced “eye to eye, knee to knee, and sitting closely” so that we could have interaction!
* * *
Identity Webs
“Who am I?”
“How do I see Myself?”
This information comes from Harvey Daniels and Sara Ahmed’s new book.
After viewing Sara’s web, I had some questions . . .
Where and how is Sara Ahmed connected to Iowa?
And what sports?
And exactly what team/location?
(Lots of sports choices in Iowa)
Check out Sara’s identity map!
What questions do you have?
#NCTE14: First-timer Report
What a day!
What a day!
What a day!
I cannot even count the number of times that I heard, “Oh, Fran! I follow you on twitter!” Thanks, all, for helping me out! It’s truly a pleasure to “meet face to face” and sometimes I can manage to locate folks all by myself!
Obviously, I am not matching names and faces very well. Also not very quickly. I already tweeted out that I would be more successful (if you all enabled me) and posted your pictures daily so I could just match the clothes for the day with the pictures. Or a second option would be to have name tags with shorter strings so they would be in closer proximity to the faces of the wearer. Too often the name tags become hidden under layers of clothing.
What a fabulous first full day for the NCTE14 Conference!
The day started early with coffee and a fire alarm in the hotel (and yep, no teachers followed the directions and left the building) but it was ONLY a false alarm.
The sessions ended with our presentation at 4 pm. What a privilege to be on a panel chaired by Vicki Vinton with rock stars: Julieanne Harmatz (CA) and my two new friends Mary Lee Hahn and Steve Peterson (met them both face to face yesterday for the first time). Our session was full with 65 participants who laughed and cheered with us. What a fun time as we shared a variety of “What Ifs?” based on the “Know and Wonder” charts in What Readers Really Do by Vicki Vinton and Dorothy Barnhouse.
So for three of us it was a really big “first day” of many “first times”.
- First time to meet.
- First time to attend #NCTE14.
- First time to present at #NCTE14.
But yet our evening was reminiscent of earlier times. Remember this photo from summer #TCRWP Reading Institute? Six of seven were present again tonight!
Who was missing at this evening’s Loft gathering?
Ryan
Who were some of the new faces?
- Clare and Tammy
- Jan and Kim
- Mary Lee and husband AJ
- Steve
- Melanie
- Mary E
The community of friends continues to grow and our lives are enriched by the stories shared by each new addition. What validation of the need to continue to meet face to face to share our learning and our lives!
Schedule Recap
- 7 – 8 First Timer’s Breakfast
- 8-9:15 General Session Marian Wright Edelman – “OUTSTANDING” Panel: Rudine Sims Bishop, Christopher Myers, Matt de la Pena, Mitali Perkins, Ruchsana Khan
- 9:30 – 10:45 A.06 “Revising the Story: Reluctant Readers Overcoming Shame” with Justin Stygles, Kara DiBartolo, Melissa Guerrette, and Lynda Mullaly Hunt and Lisel Shurtliff who both overcame predicted obstacles on their path as they became published authors. Shaming reluctant readers could result in students being bodily present but mentally absent.
- 11 – 12:15 B.16 “The Nerdy Book Club: Shaping Reading Identity through Community, Story and Choice” Great titles and recognition of authors and teachers!
- 12:30 – 1:45 C.13 “What the Common Core Forgot: Community, Collaboration, and Social Justice” with Harvey Daniels, Sara Ahmed, Nancy Steineke, and Steven Zemelman
- 2:30 – 3:45 D.05 “Developing Strong Literacy Practices in Content-Area Instruction to Support Reading and Writing Development and Deep Content Knowledge” with Amanda Hartman, Celena Larkey, Emily Butler Smith, and Anna Gratz Cockerille
- and of course our session from 4 – 5:15 under #teacherswonder E.09 It’s Not Just for the Kids: Stories of Waht Can Happen When Teachers Embrace Curiosity, Openness, Creativity, and Wonder in the Teaching of Reading.
The equivalence of seven sessions. No wonder I am exhausted!
Did you attend any of these sessions?
Where did you have “new learning”?
SOL14: Collaboration
Tuesday is the day to share a “Slice of Life” with Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here. Thanks to Stacey, Anna, Beth, Tara, Dana and Betsey for creating a place for us to work collaboratively.
Collaboratively
What does it mean to work collaboratively?
Dictionary.com defines collaboratively as:
adjective 1. characterized or accomplished by collaboration:collaborative methods; a collaborative report.
noun 2. a product resulting from collaboration:This dictionary is a collaboration of many minds.
How do you work collaboratively?
Do you use Google Docs? Google Hang Out? Zoom? Skype (some form of video conferencing) Telephone conferencing? Email back and forth? Texting? How does it work for you?
Do you focus more on the process or the product?
How do your students work collaboratively?
What devices do they use? How do they use them? Does their “quality of work” improve with collaboration? Does extra “talk” up front encourage deeper responses? Does rehearsal with a partner in a collaborative environment promote higher levels of engagement?
Is their focus more on the process or the product?
Planning for NCTE14
It was truly a pleasure to join a Google Hang Out on Sunday with fellow NCTE14 collaborators: Julieanne Harmatz, Steve Peterson, Mary Lee Hahn, and Vicki Vinton. Our conversations interwove both process and product as we shared our thinking about student work and what we wanted to share. The combination of visually seeing each other and talking through our ideas was exhilarating as we added to each other’s conversations and made connections across multiple texts.
No surprise to those that know me; I have a plan that I will begin later this week with some professional development. I hope to bring in a snapshot view of how the reading/understanding/thinking goes with both teachers and students. Because I am not in a classroom on a daily basis, I’ve been thinking about a progression of events for a bit and found what I believe to be the perfect material to use. And as always, the plan will be flexible so that learning is the priority so maybe process and product will take a back seat for awhile.
When do you collaborate? When do you literally have to share your thoughts with others? How often do you work collaboratively? What are your personal benefits from working collaboratively?
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