180 Days by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle
Hacking Assessment by Starr Sackstein**
The EduProtocol Field Guide by Marlena Hebern & Jon Corippo
The Wild Card by Hope and Wade King **
The SPACE, A Guide for Educators by Rebecca Louise Hare & Dr. Robert Dillon
The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller**
Culturize by Jimmy Casas**
Shake Up Learning by Kasey Bell (plus webinar)
** means that I listened on Audible in addition to owning the text!
07/09/2018
Hopefully, by reflecting on my reading, I will in sure that I actually following through on these things! They are all important. Really important. Of course, right now we are still waiting for a new textbook training, so I don’t have the freedom of using what I know is going to come, in fact, we are approaching the great unknown as far as curriculum and pacing are concerned. Am I complaining? No not at all, I love change! I AM glad that this is not my first year though!
The biggest thing to continuously ask is, will this be best for the kids. My goal is simple. Read, think, and consider. Follow the words of the wise. Whatever I do, I’m striving to do the best for kids. That's the only goal that matters.
Now, to avoid a blog that is about five pages long, I am dividing my three top lessons up. After all, I am not known for my brevity.
I didn’t have to read a book to know that my students need more reading. What a lot of people don’t realize is, English language arts is actually two subjects-two sets of standards. We have both reading and writing. If I had one complaint about my school, it is the limited ELA classes.
I long for block schedules.
But I don’t have block, so it’s up to me to do what’s best for my kids.
So why the lack of block? What happened to reading classes? They still have them at other schools - but when I Tweet and FaceBook with other ELA teachers, I see one of three situations. Systems with a block schedule. Schools with reading classes separated from ELA. Schools that used to have reading classes and don't any more - and are seeing reading levels fall.
Teachers with block seem content and can't understand HOW we manage without it (me either!).
Teachers with separated classes want them joined. You just can't divide them up. To be a better reader you need to understand writing, to be a better writer you have to read....
Teachers without reading classes are struggling.
So why no reading classes? I THINK that it is due to Common Core/State Standards mandating reading in other content classes. Leaders are under the assumption that reading is now covered. Although I know that it is true that content teachers are striving to add reading, they also still have the same standards that they also had to achieve, so it is additional burden to them too.
So what to do? Well, we look for space, we look for things that we do that are maybe extras, perhaps reiteration/review that isn't as necessary. We determine where we can find moments or minutes that are for all students, not just during additional learning opportunities or help sessions.
My reading this summer helped me to create a plan.
The first book I read, it was The Book Whisperer. Oh my goodness, if anything convinced me that I don’t do enough reading, this was it. Of course, we read or novels in class, and will use texts for learning, but we don’t really read for the sake of reading. And the kids have little opportunity to read for enjoyment - in fact, I would say the majority of students have moved from loving to readin the first few years of school, to seeing it as a school task, not one to savor or enjoy. And that of course, is really the fault of school. Yes, I blame us all. Every test or quiz they get on a chapter, every mandatory book report, every list of chapter vocabulary, these are all the things we do that make us hate reading. I used to look at my children's work and wonder just why was the teacher making them do this? Why did the teacher make them want to hate this wonderful book? Don’t even get me started on required annotations! Knowing how to read deeply and make notes is one thing, having to use a specific little code, a number of annotations per page-that is something completely different.
Now you know why each of these points had to have a separate blog! This one falls under the title off, "Don’t get me started!"
The Book Whisperer showed me the need for more reading, it also gave me ideas of how to do it. It show me the power of free choice reading, and the fact that you could challenge students to number of books to read each year.
I loved it.
I loved the attitude of - who cares if they don't meet the goal, they read more than last year!
I loved the ideas for accountability, and lack of mandated book reports! I thoroughly enjoyed the entire nuance of the whole book. I can conference about books. We can talk about books. We can create a reading environment in Room 1113. I know we can!
Yes, reading will make a difference. How can you become a better writer if you don’t read good writing?
So much practical advice was given. So many hints and tips. I am ready to set up my library and go for my challenge ... I'm going to start with 30/year and see where we go. I know, Donalyn, you did 40....but I have to start somewhere!
If you haven’t read this book. Read it.
If you don’t have time, listen to it on Audible - that’s what I did!
Then had to go back and take notes 🙄😂. All good, it was like a second read!
As if the Book Whisperer wasn’t enough, the very next book I read was 180 Days by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle. Oh my goodness. Talk about imprinting what I had just learned. Yes, I know half the book is about writing-and that is something that I intend to continue to grow with my students, however I read this right after the Book Whisperer. That was the lens.
**Side note, it makes me think of the fantastic work Falling in Love with Close Reading by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts. It was their text that introduced me to the concept of reading through a lens. It’s such a great concept and skill to be aware of. It’s like when I have the kids go through something we've read and make notes. I give them a lens to consider. Read it from the point of view of characterization. Use the lens of connections. You have to have a lens. Well as I read 180 Days, my lens was definitely reading. It’s been such a weak area in my pedagogy.
This book took things up a notch. It clarified many things for me, especially the managing of schedule and timing. I love the way the authors gave sample schedules from both Kelly's 50 minute period that matches mine, and Penny's block periods. I'm no Kelly Gallagher, But at least it gave me confidence to see how he managed his time!!
So what changes did all this affect in my plans?
We will read every day. Instead of doing a warm-up/bell ringer, will come in and we will independently read.
I will have a book challenge over the year. I’m not quite brave enough to go with the 40 novels of The Book Whisperer, but I thought I’d start with 30. This will include our class novels.
I will not ask for book reports, but every month we will have some sort of accountability. Maybe a BookSnap, something like that.
I will follow Kelly's schedule and have a two minute book discussion after the reading time, and will be conferencing with them as they read. All of this should help with accountability.
I will read along with them a couple of days each week, conference the other days. Just as I write with them, I will read with them.
I will post the books I am reading and plan to read. I will read books they recommend to me.
This will probably put me behind my team 's timing, but my kids need reading.
They need to enjoy reading. They need to learn from reading. They need to find the joy of a good book.
They need it.
The Eduprotocol Field Guide helped me too with ideas for how to assess their reading through standard protocols (just change the question) and also reminded me of the power of the expectation that the work will be DONE TODAY. Don't give them the freedom to take it home - have them learn the stamina of getting work done in class. Practice the protocols and then the time is spent on the content, not the activity. Their book accountability moments will not be done at home. They won't be homework, they will be class activities that will match the work of the moment. If we're learning about dialogue, then they will use their independent novel to show me their understanding. If we are talking about plot, then their novel of choice will come into play.....
My nind keeps ticking over!
I could keep on and on about this reading stuff, but let’s just say this. My students will be read more than they have in the past, they will be able to choose the books that interest them.
It's going to be AWESOME!
07/17/2018
The messages were:
Read more
Get to know them even better
Assess more, grade less.
Today - all about getting to know them even better....GOAL #2:
I would’ve said that one of my strengths was communication and relationships overall. I work really hard to make sure that students know that I available for them, and to practice what I preach by responding to them almost immediately and helping them with how to communicate with adults politely (a lesson that I am constantly helping my sixth graders with).
But there is always more to do.
What to change and why?
First of all, I took the time this summer to really work on our school platform, itslearning, to set up communication pages ahead of time. I want to ensure the parents know all the apps that I like the students to have, as well as the students themselves. I want them to see all the options for communication [screenshots along the side]. After taking the Tech to Learn and The Dynamic Learning Workshop (Shake up Learning) webinar courses this summer, I want to really expand options, and use the technology that might best suit the need. For example, I’m offering up Voxer to both parents and students this year. It’s an experiment! I think of the power for learning if I could actually get verbal feedback to both student and family. Especially for those who struggle with English at times, it’s much easier to listen than read!
Things I’ll do to build relationships this year
Increase accessibility
Add options - Voxer, Google Classroom, itsLearning, teacher cell phone....
What I wish my teacher knew letter
An activity that I am going to start the year with that will help me to find out about my kids, and help them to understand that Room 1113 is a safe zone. Check out the resource at Letter to Mrs. Penrod and I Wish My Teacher Knew
Survey for kids & parents
I particularly love my parent one -
Conferencing plan
Talking with kids about their learning.
Helping them to reflect and learn about reflection.
We will be conferencing constantly - I can't wait to blog about that!
Data dig
Numbers aren't everything - but they can help with guiding me towards knowing my kids' strengths and weaknesses.
So, I have a plethora of communication tools available. Only time will tell which become our 'go to' this year - it always seems to vary! The bottom line is that I have ways to get to know my students, and they have multiple ways to contact me!
New this year! Room 1113 Blog. I will be able to communicate with families - but the students will help me to write the updates. Both Publishers and Secretaries will be taking responsibility and ownership.
All kinds of opportunities for help, work, or just MORE!
Parents and guardians need access. They can visit our class platform and find a myriad of ways to connect. Thanks to apps and their notification settings, it doesn't matter to me what they use, my phone will let me know!
Kids need to know where to go for help and how to find the answers.
And...just to make sure that parents know that I am aware of the pitfalls and ready to address them, I have posted handy links about how to set up privacy settings.
7/23/2018
It’s funny how when you read, there are always those standout phrases. I read so many books this summer, all of them great. The Book Whisperer really made a huge change in my pedagogical thinking, and that’s key. Eduprotocols filled me with ideas, which is more than helpful! All of the books I read gave me huge insights into my teaching, and ideas for the year. Each book made me think, not a little, about how I was going to have a textbook integration this year, and how I was going to manage it. And when I went to the textbook training, towards the end of the summer, and had the non-negotiables, it helped me plan how to best use the textbooks for exemplary teaching - or at least try for it! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not actually complaining about the non-negotiables, I understand the logic, however it is something I have to work with this year realistically. And so that brings me to goal number three. Assess more, grade less.
I believe this line came from 180 Days. I hope that I’m giving credit to the right authors! So this is why this speaks to me, on so many levels. First of all, before I even knew about the textbook integration, or had done any of my summer reading, one of my biggest goals for the year was done to, quote unquote, fix my grading. Teaching, reading and Twitter had already led me to this place. Frustration with kids only asking about their grades had sent me looking, and the teaching world had answers! The first book I read this summer was Hacking Assessments, which gave me so many insights and inroads towards managing grading & data. We had already created a PLN, and were already well on the way towards determining how to use our required grading system, with more standards-based reporting. Shift This, one of my favorite books of last year, (let’s face it, the favorite), really help me to find my thinking in this too. “Assess more, grade less,” also spoke to me, because I had already planned to do more conferencing.....
I’ve been trying to be more conferencing to two years now. I’ve not done a good job at it, but many of the techniques and hints given to me in the reading over the summer are going to help me to improve. From the idea of printing out shipping labels with each student’s name for notes (you know who you’ve done and it can be stuck right in a file), to ideas on timing and questions to ask, I have a much better plan. One thing I started last year, to the chagrin of some to the n my team, was to do initial feedback on writing, and then give students the opportunity to go back and adjust things. It’s easy to see why some of the teachers don’t like this, because it appears to create a lot more work. But really it doesn’t. First of all, what joy to see the students actually read and listen to my comments and make changes. Secondly, the second read through was quick - did they take it advantage of my commentary or not?! And the bottom line is, no one employed me to get kids ready to write an essay for the test. NO. As far as I know, I was employed to help my students learn how to write better. Just giving them an assignment and grading doesn’t really do much to improve their skills. Plus, even claiming that the grade is an incentive is skewed. I don’t want them to get an A. I want them to have the desire to become better writers. So, yes. Assess more. Grade less.
So, how am I going to use this mantra in my teaching this year? Well first of all, I will continue to encourage edits for writing. Let’s keep on going until we are all happy! Secondly, our PLN has been granted permission to move towards summative only grading next semester (Bridget Bryson performs a happy dance). The first semester we will have graded formatives, but as we build relationships, we have the opportunity to build towards our goal. In January, we will start to to assess and conference, but only grade the final piece of work that shows mastery. I’m so excited!
A grade is not an assessment of the child. A grade is an assessment of mastery of a standard. We need to assess more to give the information needed to allow students to know just what is needed to meet standards. Yup, you guessed it, we need to assess more and grade less!
This is where the textbook is actually helpful. When I first heard about textbooks, I was horrified. That is not how this district rolls. This district is about good, creative, out-of-the-box thinking. That would not be a textbook. I do understand that some teachers need more support than others, I also understand that with ELA (of all subjects), vertical planning is a problem. No one in eighth grade should find out that something was taught the same way in six grade. Or if it was, that it was taught such a way that contrasts with the 8th grade curriculum. We spiral all the time though, so I am going to teach plot in sixth, just as structure is taught in eighth. What’s important is that we know what the other is doing. It matters what texts we use. Do we want them to repeat a text for growth/comparison purposes? Or would we rather they not see that text until he or she reaches a certain level? These are questions that the textbook simplifies for us. So I understand. Another benefit of the textbook is, for them in order to sell it, they have to be continuously talking about the standards. The textbook breaks things down by standards, depth of knowledge, and generally helps the teacher clarify which standard is embedded where. Is the textbook 100% correct?! No. That’s why we had a curriculum Committee working throughout the summer to create a pacing guide and add in what was missing. Thank you for that. So now, I can use that textbook to help me with my standardization goal. I don’t like to use the word standardization there is no standardization in the personalized learning environment. What’s a better word? I guess records of mastery? Anyhow. What’s important is, it’s a way to see the textbook as a positive. Another positive, is that the thematic units are filled with reflection opportunities. The textbook writers really jump onto the common language of today, it’s as if they were reading all the Twitter chat threads. Which I’m sure they are. So although there is not nearly the room for creativity that I would like to see, the opportunity is there for me to spend some time building to build some hyperdocs, create Socratic seminars, do some playlists, create tableau environments, add in some role-play, and do all the things that I do well.
It’s just gonna take some time. It might be a year or so before I can truly build the creativity I’d like to see in there, but in the meantime, I believe I’m up to the task. Hey, I’m looking forward to it. I just wish there was a little bit more time in every lesson to do all the things that I would like to do to improve my practices!
So back to the assessing. Lots of assessing and self-assessment, pair assessment, Mrs Bryson. I hope to use ReadWrite for Google and Voxer, offering the opportunity for spoken feedback and commentary. I can’t always be with my students, but I can always connect. I plan to use the independent reading time to conference about the reading. I plan to use independent writing time to conference about the writing. Conference conference conference. The Book Whisperer showed me it was possible, 180 Days gave me some plans. All the other books I read were powerful. And now I’m reading is Sparks in the Dark, so even more strategies are on the way.
