All That And a Bag of Chips

We've all been to the professional development where you could half-way pay attention.  You could get caught up on your email, make your shopping lists, grade papers, make lesson plans, take a nap . . . okay, the last one's a slight exaggeration.  But, you know what I'm talking about.  The UNC Charlotte National Writing Project Summer Invitational Institute is NOT one of those professional development opportunities.

This experience puts the meaning back into the words professional development.  I have new self-identity as a professional and new respect for my professional colleagues because of the demos we've shared, the community writing we've done, and avenues of inquiry we've pursued.
I've developed my identity:
as a teacher (through collaboration with other amazing teachers),
as a writer (through reconnecting with my creative writing for myself instead of just as a part of a class),
as a professional (see above :) ),
as a learner (through the journals I've subscribed to and resources -digital & human - I've found),
and as a member of society (REVOLUTION!)
all because of our time together!

I also need to thank each of you for the contributions you've made to my classroom.  I really hope we continue to share our ideas and better our classrooms, teaching practices, and writing-selves through that communication and community.

PS: Please let me know if you have any suggestions for a location, date, and time for the first meeting for the revolution/rebellion/All That And a Bag of Chips Campaign.

Campaign for Change . . . for Teachers . . . for Education

Let's start a dialogue.  What can we do to change the paradigm?  Post your ideas below.  Post links to you blogs about the topic.  Let's DO something!

Reflection from Day 7 of the UNC Charlotte NWP Writing Institute

I.
Breathe in, breathe out
Greet the sun

II.
Revolution? Evolution?
Today in education, what do we need?
Are we ready for the casualties of a revolution?
Can we wait out an evolution?
How about solution?

III.
Who am I on facebook? Twitter?
v. in my home? in my classroom?
Shout out to Carrie for taking
Willie's Fakebook page from the wall
to the web.
Yay! www.myfakewall.com

III.
Inquiring about our world and
our place in it
Looking at the big,
the moving picture
with Katie and Gapminder
and Worldmapper

IV.
Instead of Yes, but
Let's Yes, and
Together we'll change the dialogue

V.
"We think best in the language that's closest to self."
Remember that
and always respect that
while showing your students the other worlds of language.

Reflection from Day 6 of the UNC Charlotte NWP Writing Institute

Today was a day for really stepping back and looking at how we apply the learning that we do together.  How brave to take the reading, discussion, and reflection we've done in the Institute and really apply the concepts.  I've been struggling with reworking my classes at school to reflect my changing ideas about education and learning and it's not easy - especially when so many of them fly in the face of the conventional concepts of today's system of education.  So, to come in today and work with the group to rework the portfolio assessment for the Institute was inspiring and a little humbling.  I will take this experience with me to my classroom for all those fledgling, not-so-successful experiments.  I am so blessed to be working with this group of educators.  Aileen and I talked about it on Twitter, but I feel I have to mention it here too.  This is what professional development, professional support, and REAL teachers do.
We teach, but above all, we learn.  And we aren't afraid to change and grow.
Thank you.

Reflection from Day 5 of the UNC Charlotte NWP Writing Institute

Another powerful day at the UNCCWP - I can't believe we've started our last week!
After two amazing demos - one on painting Image Grammar and making our writing come alive by painting pictures with words and one on writing circles and how to really make them work for our kids and for us -  and a tasty lunch, we moved on to a discussion of the assessment pieces read over the weekend.  The common thread that I kept hearing as we discussed our pieces as the authors in the jigsaw groups was that what we're doing now (or what we're prescribed to do by the testing corporations and the bureaucracies) doesn't work.  While there may not be a total consensus on the best means to fix the "system", there does seem to be a consensus that it's broken.  So why do we keep doing the same things over and over and again?  (I believe it was Einstein who said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.)
My theory is that it all goes back to our rant from our beginning-of-the-day warm up.  After our group rant, I once again noticed a common thread in the anger of the voices of these amazing teachers I've been gifted with spending the last week with: there is a marked lack of respect for the profession that they've given their time, money, energy, and hope to.  And what's even more saddening (and angering) is that this lack of respect isn't just coming from people who are outside of the field and therefore don't recognize the depth of work, thought, and will we put into what we do every day for our kids, but from people within our very own fields.  Colleagues, administrators, department heads, those we look to for support and, at times, commiseration, and maybe even protection from those outside forces that so oppose the profession of teaching, are sometimes the ones who are there with nothing but more  negativity and browbeating.
So where are we to turn?  What are we to do?  Do we have a recourse?  Or do we return to our little egg cartoon classroom, do what we can for the students we have, and say a prayer for the rest?  Can we really be okay with that?
Or is it time for a revolution of teachers? 

Teacher as Professional Inquirer

Do you think I could get a job as a professional inquirer? :)
On Friday after Lil's session on inquiry where I was able to look through some great academic journals, Sally helped me reconnect with NCTE, of which I had once been a member but had since lost touch.  This weekend I was able to rejoin and subscribe to some of those journals which allowed me access to the back issues too.  Can I just say: AWESOME!
My hope was that this would help me to narrow down my field of inquiry a wee bit . . . . well, not so much.  Instead I found myself distracted by the wealth of really good information.  Everywhere I clicked there was something else of worth.
I found myself printing out Two Voice Poem: A Conversation With Writers on Writing - an amazing poem written for two voices that contains the voice of "a" writer and the paraphrased voices of professional writers, riffing on writing.  I'm bringing it to our Institute tomorrow for those who'd like to see it.  For those who have a subscription: English Journal 100.5 (2011) 82-89.
I also printed Bullshit in Academic Writing: A Protocol Analysis of a High School Senior's Process of Interpreting Much Ado About Nothing.  First of all, who doesn't want to read a scholarly journal article that starts with a "bad" word?  Second of all, as a teacher who hasn't read something that could be classified as just that?  Something that was technically all there, but totally lacking in real substance? I'm so excited to read through the entirety of the analysis and see the student's process.
But I also printed several articles that I'm hoping will deal more directly with my inquiry into perception of teachers . . . perhaps teacher evaluation (because I think the two are linked: How does one "judge" the effectiveness of a teacher? With student progress (i.e. test scores) as NC BOE has just decided to do?  And who is qualified to make those judgments? The public? The BOE? The principal? The students? ETS?)  At any rate, I found a few articles that I'm working through: What Makes for a Good Teacher and Who Can Tell? (Harris & Sass), Standpoints: Perspectives on Highly Qualified English Teachers (Gere & Berebitsky), and Priest, Prostitute, Plumber? The Construction of Teachers as Saints (Carter).
I also found a few that I'm hoping will help me with an idea I have about how our voices, as the educators, as the primaries in this whole "debate" over teacher quality and the downfall of public education, should be the ones that are heard.  We need to be shouting from the rooftops . . . or writing from the rooftops, as the case may be.
So, I found a few articles that fit almost in with Melissa's idea of social activism . . . only for us, not our kids.  We're Smarter Together: Building Professional Social Networks in English Education (Cercone) and Writing for the Public: Teacher Editorializing as a Pathway to Professional Development (Perrillo) are two articles that I hope will help me with my understanding of the teacher-voice in the public discourse. 
Anyway, lots of resources, lots of reading to do, lots of avenues to explore.  If anyone's interested in the articles I found, let me know.  We can make copies.  There's amazing stuff out there.  I highly recommend an NCTE membership and journal subscriptions if you're able to swing it.  And not just for the inquiry - we've got quality people in this field!

Reflection from Week 1 of the UNC Charlotte NWP Writing Institute

Reflections on a Gift of a Writing Week Received from a Friend Called UNCCWP

(Modeled on Reflections on a Gift of a Watermelon Pickle From a Friend Named Felicity by John Tobias)

During that first week

When names of friends-to-be were being learned

When spines of daybooks

Were being broken in

When sounds of technology abound

     (The click-clack

      Of keyboards and

      And the hum of

      Projectors

      In our ears)

When writing histories were explored

While tweets twitted out

And over the web

Spreading the words

Of self-realization;

During that first week—

Which may be over now,

But will live on through E-anthology,

SI-ers blogs, and daybook memories—

Writing ruled.

Mingled, riffed, our words

Free-flowing, unpolished, real

Halting, sometimes stalling

Finding, creating meaning,

Writing the best part

To be shared

For each other

With each other

By each other;

And when we thought we were spent,

There was always just a bit more:

It was a week of limitless growth,

Of writing like running

And asking all the right questions

Waiting for the next breath of learning.

The time seems shorter now.

Each moment is savored lingeringly,

Swallowed reluctantly.       

But in a network gathered by UNCCWP,

And lovingly fostered by this group of friends-in-writing

This flowering of knowledge, questioning, and growth

Has been snipped and shared,

And when we replant it in our homes

And let it flourish and spread,

Unicorns become possible again.

                Dorry Altman

My Writing is Communal

Here's a sneak peak of my Glog for today's Digital Story E-gallery crawl!
Enjoy!

Reflection from Day 3 of the UNC Charlotte NWP Writing Institute

Day 3 Reflection in Storify Inspired by Stephanie

Reflection from Day 2 of the UNC Charlotte NWP Writing Institute

My mind is spinning - so many thoughts, ideas, things I want to remember.

I've actually started multiple lists in the back of my daybook: things I want to remember to talk/blog about with other SIers, things I want to remember to include in my teaching next year.

Today was particularly full of things I can't wait to implement in the classroom:
Zip, Zap, Zop - Wouldn't it be fun to set this up as an expected element in the classroom?  When you can feel the class wandering, you can institute a Zip, Zap, Zop session to remind them to transfer energy and remain focused.
Riffing - We talked a little bit in class about the ways to make riffing more comfortable for a less confident group, but I wanted to review them to make sure I was really sure of all the options.  You could model it with an original jazz an example, having them pick out instruments and discuss/write out why it works.  Make sure they have the safety blanket of an idea on a sticky note or paper with them when they enter the "riff zone" in case they get stuck.  Maybe if they were seated (maybe on the floor - criss-cross applesauce?) or facing out from the circle they wouldn't feel quite as intimidated.
Prelutsky's Scranimals
Responding to the writer instead of the writing. - This will be invaluable, and I can't wait to share this concept and the handouts with the other AP teacher.

I can't wait to see how all of this transfers to my classroom!

Visualizing & Re-Visualizing my Writing Story in Poetry

Dorry, the Teacher-Writer

In the days of yore,

There was a girl with swinging blonde braids

Always in the front of the classroom.

Pencil at the ready,

Writing all her teachers asked of her,

And so much more.

Today that same girl, all grown,

No swinging braids to be seen,

Still seeks out the classrooms near and far.

Only now she’s the one

Encouraging the words of her students,

And so much more.

The teacher.

The writer.

The wreacher.

I Am the Wreacher

Once I was the girl

With the swinging blonde braids

In the front of the classroom

Pencil poised

Writing all my teachers asked

And so much more.

Now, so much the same,

Though braidless

I still seek the classrooms

Only this time,

I’m the one asking for the writing,

And so much more.

I am the teacher.

I am the writer.

I am the wreacher.

Thoughts?  (I feel like the second version makes me sound like a creature from the deep!)

Reflection from Day 1 of the UNC Charlotte NWP Writing Institute

What an amazing day of writing and thinking! 
I am always energized when I get to spend the day with fellow educators, but this institute is a step above!  The activities and opportunities for reflection, fellowship, and growth in just this first day comprise more learning than I've had in some of my graduate classes as a whole. 
I'm particularly excited to begin work on my digital story.  Tonight I'll be going home and digging up the old folder my mother gave me that contains all the writing from my early years.  I haven't looked at it in forever and to be given this excuse to go back to it is great.
I'm also looking forward to the start of the Demos - our group's lunch discussion today has me really excited to see what all the other SIers have planned as well.
I'm planning tonight to do a basic blog of questions about my inquiry topic: helping students learn to reflect in a meaningful fashion.
My goal for tomorrow: Sit somewhere different and change my perspective and get to know some different people!

*Purpose*Audience*Context

     I read Chris W. Gallagher and Amy Lee's Teaching Writing That Matters: Tools and Projects That Motivate Adolescent Writers, because as a high school English teacher who's taught 10th graders in the name of preparing them for the writing test and is now teaching AP Lit & Comp Seniors in the name of preparing them for the AP test, teaching writing is something I struggle with on a regular basis.
     I know as conscientious teachers we all struggle with the pressures of standardized testing and its impact on our classroom practice.  This book addresses that concern specifically as it relates to the teaching of writing.
     The text is broken down into three parts, which are basically a primer on the concept of Writing Studies, the Key Concepts, and a Tool Box of writing strategies for the classroom.  In a move designed to help the novice theory reader better follow the "why" behind the "how" of the Tools and Projects That Motivate Adolescent Writers mentioned in the subtitle, the authors relate the teaching of writing to the process of teaching, especially in the first two parts.  The third part provides the hands-on application of that theory.
     The introduction and part one introduces the reader to the idea that there is no one single "academic discourse" because each discipline has its own language and conventions. (p X in Intro)  They also address the idea that students are unable to 'transfer' generalized writing skills (the kind we're asked to teach for the tests) across different contexts.  Instead it is argued that students need to learn to work within the 'discourse community' they entered.  In other words, instead of teaching them to be prepared for one particular scenario, we need to teach them the skills (think ninja writing skills) to be equipped to deal with any writing situation that may come their way.  Which is where I got my title from: the authors see purpose, audience, and context as shaping all writing, so instead of teaching by style/type of writing I think these might make my next writing focus lessons.  "Active intelligence" and "sound judgment" should drive our writing.
    The authors also call for rhetorical awareness - on the part of writers and teachers. (Although, if we're asking our students to do it, shouldn't we really be both?)  One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "Writing teaches writers how to write - - and how not to write."  It's all about reflection - which is a difficult concept to teach to immediate-gratification-driven teens.  Any suggestions?  That was the one area in which I found this text lacking.  I loved so many of the writing suggestions . . . and tried them myself or tweaked them for use in my classroom.  There is, however, a frequent call for reflection, and after attempting to implement that consistently throughout my classes last year I had great difficulty getting my students to understand and participate in a meaningful way.  I tried modeling.  I tried writing out the reflection.  I tried small group reflection.  I'm open to suggestions, especially because I'm starting with 9th graders next year who may be more open to it.
     The text closes with three toolboxes of writing activities.  If you're struggling with ways to incorporate writing into your classroom in ways that matter, then flip to this section.  The first two parts will help you understand why you really want to and really need to, but this section will give you the practical application.