It's that time of year again! Are you ready to go back to school? We're not quite there yet. I'll tell you about that later.
I thought I should let you in on what I did over the summer break. The Virginia Department of Education hired me to serve on the Content Review Committee for the 8th grade reading SOL test. They also paid me to work on the Range Finding Committee for the Virginia Substitute Evaluation Program. Both groups were filled with dedicated educators with a single desire-- to ensure that we are assessing our children in fair and rigorous ways.
Do you think that you would like to work for the DOE? Check the state website every Friday afternoon for Superintendent's Memos. This is a great information hub for the latest news in Virginia as it pertains to education. It's not top secret; it's open to the public.
I also enjoyed being a teacher assistant for two weeks at William & Mary's Summer Enrichment Program for the Gifted. Learning about engineering and chemistry was fun for this English major. Did I mention that I was not responsible for lesson plans? I may propose a unit to teach for the summer of 2012, but as for last summer, assisting was just right for me. I had the good fortune of being paired with Mrs. Carolyn Kendall. Her hands-on approach to some seriously sticky science was brave and inspiring. It's always a bonus to see a master teacher at work. Sure, the chances that I will ever teach chemistry are slim, especially if my high school chemistry teacher gets wind of the plot. Great teaching is great teaching. We can always learn lesson-design tips from our colleagues.
Not only is a passion for teaching contagious, so are summer colds. And, boy, did I catch one. It felt like the flu and clung to me like nothing I've ever experienced. If you have stock in Kleenex, you're welcome. That's all I need to say about that.
I also enjoyed taking on the role of guest teacher at William & Mary's 2011 Eastern Virginia Writing Project. You didn't miss anything since my main focus was on resources and ideas I've already posted here.
Finally, my last week of freedom included some time with dear friends in the Outer Banks. Ahhhhh.
So, yes, I need to get back to work to take a vacation from my vacation. I have a nice little corner trailer in our temporary modular units. I have two windows and my own air conditioning unit with a thermostat. I even have my own phone and extension.
Although our office staff has worked tirelessly over the summer, they were unable to build over 400 student desks and such. We are anticipating some NEW furniture by the end of this week. To tide us over, we were able to scavenge through some items that were salvaged from our school. I found a chair that students painted for me years ago. I also eyed an old, old, old oak desk that I hope to get soon. My pal Willie Thornton let me have one of his wooden bookshelves. I picked up a few ancient wooden chairs, a wheeled metal cart and one of those cool book-holders librarians' use to exhibit dusty dictionaries in all of their glory.
So far this week has been a whole lot of time spent with cardboard boxes. And then there was a whole lotta shakin'. When that earthquake took hold of us yesterday, we were having our first faculty/staff meeting of the year in a teacher's classroom. Yep, we were in a trailer up on cinder blocks. It was one wonky ride! Everyone's fine, but we're looking forward to Irene's departure a.s.a.p.
Showing posts with label William and Mary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William and Mary. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
2-Sentence Journals
Thanks to Dr. Jim Beers and his team of mastermind educators, I had the wonderful good fortune of attending the Eastern Virginia Writing Project at the College of William and Mary a couple of summers ago. One of the instructors, Emily Pease, was so amazing that I just had to find a way to be her student for a little while longer. The next fall term, W & M offered a graduate level class called "Teachers as Writers," and guess who the instructor was. Yep, the brilliant Emily Pease. Jackpot.
This is one of her ideas, and perhaps she got it from someone else. Now I'm passing it on to you. It's the 2-sentence journal.
Even writers do not find it easy to make time to write. I have always loved the idea of a diary and still do, but I don't use one...ever. Sure I've tried, but every time that I would read over one of my entries, I would roll my eyes and tear the writing into confetti for the circular file parade.
Emily Pease brought our class tiny marbled composition books the size of a memo pad. Two sentences for each twenty-four hour period seemed like something that I could do. Besides, when someone nice and reasonable asks you to do something, you do it. Right?
To make it work for me, I would draft on any scrap of paper I could find. I would first list about 5-10 words that reminded me of what took place during the day. Then, I would choose one topic to focus on. Two sentences are not long. It's like composing a haiku. Every syllable counts, and you want to create a small image of a fragment of time. The cornerstone of good writing, I believe, is "Show. Don't tell." I would write, re-write, edit and revise. It was only two sentences, so I found it easy to go through the complete writing process in one sitting.
Yes, I used this in writing class with 8th graders this year. Here's what I was looking for when I assessed their diaries. The first two weeks of school, I was happy to see what they thought were two sentences. I taught vivid language. I then looked for evidence of that lesson. I moved on to "Show. Don't tell." I expected them to follow. We tried some sensory imagery and a lot of voice. We learned about fragments and run-ons...and when you could use them for effect. We wrote in third person omniscient for a week, so we could step outside of ourselves. You see how flexible this assignment can be? You can mold it to be an extension of a mini-lesson for independent practice.
8th graders still can't drive...legally. That's why I priced tiny journals over the summer and bought them in bulk. I then sold them to my students at cost, 50 cents. Of course, I took I.O.U.'s since most 8th graders are not financially independent. Sure, they could write two sentences anywhere, but I liked the idea of the students having a "book" of their own. Also, when I collected these notebooks, I was not asking for their main writing notebook (where I required them to write their drafts for insurance purposes as well as having enough space to go through the writing process).
Will this be a huge, unparalleled success for you? Maybe. But let me take a moment to remind you of one of the most insightful statements concerning writing. It's a classic from Thomas Mann. "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." Your writers will produce some stellar material. So will those dear students who have the gift of listening to instruction and believing your advice, even if writing is not their favorite subject, yet.
There will also be those students who slap down two lines in 10 seconds flat, and think they are ready to be published alongside Pulitzer Prize winning authors. You'll be able to convert some of them over time. You probably won't be able to convert all of them. Alas.
I'm taking this idea with me to my next classroom, and I hope to iron out some of the speed bumps I found when implementing it this year.
Tomorrow I will tell you about a technique I used to jolt my 8th grade writers into more thoughtful crafters of language.
________________________________________________________
The honeysuckle is beginning to bloom, making me long for summer. If you are local and would like some flowers of your own, there will be a fundraiser for the tornado victims of Gloucester County in Grafton tomorrow. Follow this link for details: http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-york-tornado-fundraiser-20110505,0,6313392.story
This is one of her ideas, and perhaps she got it from someone else. Now I'm passing it on to you. It's the 2-sentence journal.
Even writers do not find it easy to make time to write. I have always loved the idea of a diary and still do, but I don't use one...ever. Sure I've tried, but every time that I would read over one of my entries, I would roll my eyes and tear the writing into confetti for the circular file parade.
Emily Pease brought our class tiny marbled composition books the size of a memo pad. Two sentences for each twenty-four hour period seemed like something that I could do. Besides, when someone nice and reasonable asks you to do something, you do it. Right?
To make it work for me, I would draft on any scrap of paper I could find. I would first list about 5-10 words that reminded me of what took place during the day. Then, I would choose one topic to focus on. Two sentences are not long. It's like composing a haiku. Every syllable counts, and you want to create a small image of a fragment of time. The cornerstone of good writing, I believe, is "Show. Don't tell." I would write, re-write, edit and revise. It was only two sentences, so I found it easy to go through the complete writing process in one sitting.
Yes, I used this in writing class with 8th graders this year. Here's what I was looking for when I assessed their diaries. The first two weeks of school, I was happy to see what they thought were two sentences. I taught vivid language. I then looked for evidence of that lesson. I moved on to "Show. Don't tell." I expected them to follow. We tried some sensory imagery and a lot of voice. We learned about fragments and run-ons...and when you could use them for effect. We wrote in third person omniscient for a week, so we could step outside of ourselves. You see how flexible this assignment can be? You can mold it to be an extension of a mini-lesson for independent practice.
8th graders still can't drive...legally. That's why I priced tiny journals over the summer and bought them in bulk. I then sold them to my students at cost, 50 cents. Of course, I took I.O.U.'s since most 8th graders are not financially independent. Sure, they could write two sentences anywhere, but I liked the idea of the students having a "book" of their own. Also, when I collected these notebooks, I was not asking for their main writing notebook (where I required them to write their drafts for insurance purposes as well as having enough space to go through the writing process).
Will this be a huge, unparalleled success for you? Maybe. But let me take a moment to remind you of one of the most insightful statements concerning writing. It's a classic from Thomas Mann. "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." Your writers will produce some stellar material. So will those dear students who have the gift of listening to instruction and believing your advice, even if writing is not their favorite subject, yet.
There will also be those students who slap down two lines in 10 seconds flat, and think they are ready to be published alongside Pulitzer Prize winning authors. You'll be able to convert some of them over time. You probably won't be able to convert all of them. Alas.
I'm taking this idea with me to my next classroom, and I hope to iron out some of the speed bumps I found when implementing it this year.
Tomorrow I will tell you about a technique I used to jolt my 8th grade writers into more thoughtful crafters of language.
________________________________________________________
The honeysuckle is beginning to bloom, making me long for summer. If you are local and would like some flowers of your own, there will be a fundraiser for the tornado victims of Gloucester County in Grafton tomorrow. Follow this link for details: http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-york-tornado-fundraiser-20110505,0,6313392.story
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