Adding in Writing

Why?

1/18/2018

I'm the only teacher on the team doing this, but as I've reflected in my blog, it is time. My kiddos need to write. They need to learn to let the words flow. They need to write without the stress. They need to be allowed to write without fear of every word being grabbed on, changed, fixed - but they also need to have an audience to write for, a purpose, a goal.

So, that's the why.

It's going to be hard.

I now have to work to use only 4 days in each week instead of 5. Because this goal is key. The workshop can be used in a plethora of ways. There are plenty of tie-ins to whatever we are teaching, because it is writing. Writing can be anything.

My Goals:

The obvious one - writing. Make it comfortable and easy for even my most struggling students.
Tying in grammar and general mechanics so that it is REAL and MATTERS.
Bringing in parents and/or outside community members to talk to the kids about why writing matters.
Increasing student reflection.
Helping students to find it comfortable to think about their thinking - and to maybe even learn how to gain comfort from reflecting.
Give students a tangible product that may be shared with a real audience.

Week 1

First of all - thank you to Jon Corippo and Thomasson Morris for giving me a basis to work from! I watched the Ditch Summit conference this winter and my favorite video was definitely Jon Corippo's as he shared about EduProtocols. Many things struck home and two were started right away. One, I'll save for another time, involves kids creating the worst presentation ever - it's fantastic. The other revolves around the 8-Parts of Speech. Read this blog and see why I thought that this was brilliant. As Jon says, why teach one part of speech and then another - ensuring that our students have forgotten one as they try to struggle to learn another - why not teach all of them every week. Creating a procedure, a protocol, that imprints into the mind. So, thank you. Here is Morris' blog. It's fantastic: http://www.morrisflipsenglish.com/blog-ion-lucidity/teaching-grammar-common-core-style.

What We Did ~

We started with sketchnoting their thoughts about themselves. I had them draw either an I or an eye, and fill it and surround it with words/phrases about themselves. Write, draw, scribble. Whatever. THEY LOVED THIS! What a break from what they expected. One student asked, "Why are we doing this? Because it's Friday?" He had a look of interest and a spark of excitement when I told him that this is the kind of thing we will do every Writer's Workshop. That this is how we were going to learn to think about our thoughts. He got to work. Bonus, that for my on-level students, this was the first time that they had ever tried sketchnoting. It was a success.
I gave them 5 minutes, it wasn't nearly enough. I knew that. We extended by 5 more. Honestly we could have spent the entire time doing it - and had it not been pep rally day with shortened classes, I would have given them another 5 ... or even 10 minutes. Looking back, I rather wish that I had done that anyway. But my excitement at getting our protocol with 8-parts got ahead of me. Let's face it, I am never excited about grammar!
And then we started our 8-parts. It went really well. The kids LOVED it! The picture I used was the same as Ms. Morris', but I have a great selection thanks to Jon Corippo. And talk about an added factor of engagement, the students were really excited about the opportunity to find pictures to share with me. Most excellent. The basic premise:
- I showed them a picture. A crazy, "Oh my goodness, what happened here?!" type of picture (only you use stronger language to Google a selection).
- I let them look, then gave then 2 minutes to get the chatter out (oh my it got LOUD in #1113).
- Then I showed them the 8-Parts sheet. In a couple of weeks we will do this online, but since time is limited and the procedure is so new, I erred on the said of 'easy', we went with paper. I also felt that another fantastic bonus to paper is that they can put it in their semester folder so that they can look back for guidance in future weeks.
- As they worked I wandered. I checked in, I spoke to them, I saw just how weak their knowledge of the parts of speech is. There I was, thinking that our mentor sentences were doing the job, that our repetitive work has sinked in. No. It had not. Just as with everything that you do quickly with a handful responding, some of the students know it really well, others had nothing.
- As some struggled, I went back to some old 'parts of speech' comic strips that I had gathered from somewhere. I had made copies at the beginning of the year, planning to share them, but had never followed through. Perfect! I pulled them out and was able to give my strugglers a tool. Learning was happening. Engagement was real. Students were heard looking forward to next week's picture. The pressure is on!
For the handful that completed their paragraph, they had the opportunity to start building their Writing Portfolio on Google Sites.

This was fun.

This was active.

This was joyful for us all.

I can't wait until next week!

WW Day 1

Week Two

1/26/2018

What a difference a week makes!

Last week we struggled. We complained. We had more questioners than authors. There were successes, but as shown from my excited reflection, there were many students who clearly had hidden their lack of knowledge well - from a variety of teachers! The power of this edu-protocol is already clear.

I stayed with pencil and paper for this second week. I believe that it was a huge assist to building the protocol. Next week we step out and will complete it as an online assignment. They will post both picture and completed Google Drawing into the Writing Portfolio.

Since last week had taken so long for the students to complete their sheets, I had budgeted 30 minutes for the initial exercise - it was mor than enough time as some students completed their work within 20 quick minutes! It remains to see the standard of writing as we move from creating the procedure to actually working on the quality of the written word! Next week, as they publish their work to their portfolios, it will be interesting to see whether more care is taken to polish the work.

Everyone now has a Writing Portfolio. All students have now created the tool they need to publish their writing efforts.

Let the Record of Writing Begin!

WW Week #2

Building it Week by Week!

Week 1

Freaky picture, paper copy of the 8-Parts sheet, we talked, discussed, shared ideas, did it together.

Week 2

A repeat of week 1, but this time I just handed out the paper and let them get to work. We set up our portfolios.

Week 3

This time the picture was on the board when they walked in, but the 8-parts Google Drawing and a copy of the picture were an assignment in Google Classroom. The kids completed their slide and then embedded it onto their site. The goal was that they would embed both picture and 8-Parts, then create a text box in which to copy and paste their paragraph, where they could now edit it and polish it. Time was, of course, not our friend. Some of my advanced kiddos managed it, most of my on-level kids' work looked rather blank. I can't WAIT until next year when this stage is in the first month of the year! I can already see an improvement in their knowledge of parts of speech (although I still don't quite get why that matters, I know that they care a lot more in 7th grade, so this is at least a quick way to help them for next year), and for SOME, the writing is improving. If I could just the concept of POWER WRITING out there. Just write kids! We can pretty it up later.

Week 4

More of the same, but things are getting better. We published (well, those who followed directions did) sites and that allowed me to look over them on the weekend. Promise abounds - as do missed opportunities!). This might be one of the better things that I have tried as a teacher. Next year this is going to ROCK. Wow. So many things that we will be able to do to build. Yes. Awesome.

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