Group Photo!

My shots of the whole group didn't come out, but this one of the Logan-Hocking folks is pretty good. BTW, I have a blog at www.sabbatication.blogspot.com that's tracking my year abroad (I've decided to call it my Gap Year--it's better than saying I'm unemployed;). Hope you guys are well!

Thanks For The Memories!

Many heartfelt thanks to everyone. I echo the sentiments of these last blogs. Mindy, I too have never been so anxious to read books. Merrilee, the most compassionate person I have ever met, I also feel this class has changed my life. Kris, I wish my algebra teachers had been wise enough to include writing to learn. It was great getting to know you (and your horses), keep on pacing! Missy, thanks for being such an inspiration. You will overcome the shortsightedness of administrators that mistake all change as good. Patti, I am so glad you are you, (even if you are the teacher's pet)! Don't forget to send me Jodi's email address. Bev and Kathy, I look forward to collaborating with you at H.H., I have a whole new respect for you as teachers and now understand why our school is so successful, despite the hurdles and pitfalls of senseless mandates. Lois, it has been my honor to get to know you. I am in awe of your fortitude and deeply admire your teaching expertise and compassion. Don't ever retire! Marlene, you are the voice for your school, so knowledgeable and articulate in matters of education. I know your students need you in the classroom but our profession needs more brilliant, caring teachers like you to be a catalyst for change-no matter where that takes you. Speaking of educational reform and matters of job security, Matt, I am so glad we have strong minded and intellectual union  leaders like you. I will definitely get more involved as I have "caught" your passion. Just remember to stay positive and united we will grow stronger.  Jayne, you brought so much insight and fun to the mix. I will eternally smile and say "how nice" and always think of you and your passion for books and teaching. Talinn and Deb, thanks for all your hard work, especially the behind the scenes "stuff" that enabled this experience to go smoothly for us. Don, I wish I could have had a high school teacher as dynamic as you-of course with your influence I would probably be an English teacher now with lots of papers to grade! :) Sue, I loved your personal essay! The letter format was perfectly riveting and I know your father IS proud. Stop by for coffee, I only live one half mile from Hocking College. Chris, what can I say, you are a writer! I want credit for "listening out the corner of my ear" when you get published :), and I am hoping we can also collaborate more this year at Hocking. Can't wait to go to our writing workshop in New York. Lastly but in no way least, Sherri, you  rock!!!! Sorry, but your genius leaves me at a loss for words. I know we will stay in touch, in the mean time keep "walking" that beagle even if he tries to pull your arms off! Simply, THANKS, for taking on the writing project and bringing this much needed and appreciated venue to we appalachian-ites (more formal term for hillbilly or hillbetty-got to be politically correct here) You go cowgirl! I hope to see you in in your class in September. Many, many thanks to all. May God bless.

Jackie 

I've learned lots

I have learned so much over the past four weeks and am so grateful for the opportunity to be here. I will be processing this information and ways to apply it to my instruction for some time to come. I know I can't walk away from this and put all of my new thinking on the back burner - I have to use it. I can see now countless ways to apply writing to learn strategies to my curriculum. I also see how grade contracts could be a huge change in the way I conduct business with students. I loved, loved, loved the daily discussion and so happy to have been exposed to great instruction through Sherrie, Don, Deb and Talinn. Can we come back next summer? I want to learn MORE!

Wow

My head is spinning with ideas and like Cathy, I can't wait to get back to my classroom and implement some of the many ideas I am conjuring up. My classroom will be called "Artists Workshop" and there will definately be opportunities for students to write about the art they create. My only concern is time concerns that may limit my new ideas. I hope to collaborate more with other phenomenal teachers in one of my buildings, namely Cathy, Chris and Bev, and together we will make a positive difference.

Wow

Thanks all...

I just like to take this opportunity to thank our wise and wonderful leaders, Sherrie, Don, Talinn, and Deb. You have all played a hand in bringing us all to this point. I feel a lot more confident in my own writing and being able to incorporate writing, as a whole, into my classroom. I enjoyed reading Cion, and the discussions and writing that were created from the book. I think if you change books next year, that you should stick to books about this specific area. There are many good local writers that often go unnoticed. Keep it local, and keep it real. It is much more relevant to us that way.

Reflections

This class has been revolutionary:) It has changed my concepts of teaching writing, my concepts of revision and the writing process. All of the class discussions have been relevant and made me think (sometimes to the inability to sleep). I have learned so many strategies and I hope I can remember them as I go back this fall. I really want to incorporate writing in all of my classes, especially the low stakes writings that build up and give students opportunities to think on paper. I appreciate the friendships formed, learning about other districts and having opportunities to share our ideas, thoughts and writing. Thanks to all of you!

Closing Time

I love that song, "Closing Time." Though most of this popular Green Day song does not apply - I think this line does, "Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." The song reminds me of that feeling of wanting to linger just a bit longer, and strangely enough, I feel that way today. Just a bit longer, mind you! I still want to get to all those good books I have not had time to read yet this summer! But I find this is a surprising way to feel, the desire to linger longer after giving up four weeks of summer, getting up early, working hard reading and writing!
I wondered at first how I would fit in with the "younger crowd" teachers, but I have continually felt my comments just as valued and relevant. I have learned so much from the demonstrations that I can take back to improve my college classroom.
Some of our discussions have just broken my heart - on one had to hear the love and dedication for students and on the other hand witnessing a system in action through everyone 's stories, full of testing and policies that seems to thwart strong teaching at every turn.

I hear echoing in the words of everyone the "new beginnings" that will be taking place in many classrooms this fall that have come from the end of this institute.

My greatest hope is that through programs such as these we can start to see our teaching of reading and writing on a continuum - each building the work of another all the way to college level, not just the incremental grade level to grade level.

Discussion

This discussion we had this morning about our grade level books was helpful. I enjoyed hearing about the other books that the other two groups read. It was also nice to hear suggestions of books that others have also read. I think my project for the rest of the summer will be to enjoy my time with my son Stewart and get a few of those books mentioned today to read. I've never been so excited to read books for pleasure as I am now. I also can't wait to head back to the classroom and completely change how I've been teaching writing. I've learned so much from this institute. To think how hesitant I was to attend. I'm really glad I jumped in feet first and gave it the good old college try. I'm excited about the people I've met and would love to stay in touch with them as the years pass. Thanks again for the opportunity, it really helped me grow as a reader and a writer and I now have a much better perspective of how my students really feel about writing.

Wow, I can't believe the end is in sight. I am actually excited about setting up my classroom and to begin writing daily with the students. I would never think about skipping math or reading when there were interruptions and now this year I plan to always make sure students are engaged in writing every single day! I will be excited to see and to experience the growth that I am sure will happen just by making sure kids have time to write.

Where did he time go?

It seems like yesterday we were setting here filling out the first survey! This has really been a great experience. I feel refreshed and ready to go back to school with tons of new ideas and beliefs. I would really like to thank everyone for all of their input and understanding. The friendships formed this summer, with others who have so much in common, will last a life time. Thanks for listening, sharing, and all the suggestions. Everyday we go to the most important job in this world, educating children. Never forget what a difference you make! Have a great school year!

Wow! I have so enjoyed our discussions! I am certainly going to miss our "academic dialogue " during the rest of my summer. I hope my brain doesn't shut down. For those of you who love to read, I will bring a reading list tomorrow of the things my book club has read over the last few years. We have tried to keep a running list. Some things I liked...some I didn't. If any of you are "down on the river"...give me a call if you're passing through Gallipolis. Or, feel free to just come there for a visit.

Post Survey Link

Here is the link for the Post Survey. Thanks for your help.

Don

Grading with Contracts

I struggle with the idea of contract grades. While I see the advantage of outlining for students exactly what they have to do to earn a particular grade, I wonder if this doesn't allow students to choose a particular grade because they think they are incapable of achieving a better grade, or if they just don't care, or if they are juggling more than one project at a time. When a child chooses a lesser assignment what are they saying about themselves? I see myself in the role as encourager, facilitator, and believer, in students, so they produce their best work for a project. I just don't like setting "lower" expectations so they can choose that kind of option.

Grading

I really appreciated the lively conversation about grades today. I, as the art teacher, have never believed in grades, even in high school art. It just seems to me that art is the last freedom, excepting maybe music, where assessments should be authentic (portfolio or performance based) and effort should be the only concern. Given enough stimulating activities and chances to succeed most students will become intrinsically motivated. I know this is not true for all children in all subjects but I think there must be a better way of keeping track of progress without grading that can make a child feel like a failure. I empathize with Kris when she tells of how most middle school children have seemingly lost the natural curiosity that keeps learning fun. I think enough bad grades early on would want to make anyone give up.

Elbow - Grades

I found myself really liking Elbow as I read about his views on grading. I liked the fact that he pointed out we don't have to assign grades to everything, and gave ideas as to alternatives such as rubrics, contract grades, and portfolio's. I thought the discussion was lively and it made me feel better knowing that we are all in the same boat; not really embracing the whole concept, but having to accommodate the system and give grades. I am still wondering whether or not I need to do my "grades" differently for math. Should I incorporate contract grades and portfolio's? I already do some with rubrics. But math is more concrete. I definitely want to incorporate writing to learn. So I have lots of things to consider and think about. Any suggestions?

Grading

I remember what I was going to say today during our grading discussion when my brain cells quit. I think the two most valuable things I've learned from this class is 1. doing vast amounts of informal (nongraded) writing and 2. revision. I have never been taught to revise, but I honestly think that just learning and practicing in this class will help me to help my students. That in turn will change how I grade writing in class. My grading will be based more on discussion-conferences and less on the final product. Grades be damned I guess- but then anything can be justified or modified.

Courage to Teach Final Thoughts?

I am missing the discussion in person today, but I thought I would post my comments on our "Divided No More" chapter.  This was a challenging chapter!  I related to the author's description of the despair that sets in when we think that we are powerless to bring about needed changes.  I hear the resignation in the voices of   many colleagues. I remain one of the cockeyed-optimists who thinks change is still possible. So is our AWP summer institute giving birth to a "movement" among southeastern Ohio teachers?  The author lost me a little with his distinction between organizational resistance and movements. I do think survival for the good teacher, the teacher with integrity does come down to the author's idea of centering. Such a bold thing to do --living basically by your own set of standards, not necessarily defined by your institution, but still functioning within but not buying INTO the organizational system. Matt, Deb, what do you think of his both/and analysis for educational reform? 

A Visit to the Cemetery

You all should re-read the cemetery scene in Cion now that we have visited the ridges. I did, and I found that I have a much stronger appreciation for Toloki's work as a professional mourner! Many of you commented on the "feel" of the place, the melancholy that we sensed as we looked a so many numbered, unremembered, unmourned graves. As I re-read the scene again, I had a clearer sense of the power in bringing the family to that cemetery to mourn.
I hope I don't miss the next Cion discussion while I am away! I have enjoyed the way the discussions are so lively because of the different ways we have each experienced the characters in the novel. The dialogue with a character exercise was such a great way to explore the characterization, and I feel like I really was able to get inside Ruth's head!

Sharon Draper books

Dr. Rice mentioned Sharon Draper, and shared one of her poetry books. She is a teacher from Cincinnati and has written some great books for young adults as well. I have her series of "Ziggy" books and they are great. One is about Ziggy and his friends (all the boys are African American, but with different family structures and cultural backgrounds) getting lost in a underground railroad passage under their school. They are all historically based around Ohio. I would recommend them anywhere from grades 3 and up. They are great read alouds because Ziggy's family is from Jamaica, Mon!!! He is a hoot and his language is so funny. She also has a great High school level book, actually is a series, but the first book is called "Tears of a Tiger". Great content and writing style!! See me tomorrow if you want me to share more information on her books...I have several of them.

poetry

Dr. Rice was so inspiring. I was very impressed with her delivery of information, always making her points interesting. Delivery of material is certainly an art, and she has it. I got some great new ideas to expand my already full schedule of poetry information for my students. I hope the "district powers that be" don't want to quibble over my unit plan if I extend it to 4 weeks!!! I enjoyed the sharing of new books and ideas and can't wait until school starts.

Linda Rice and Jayne both made a comment today that sometimes it helps to know the background of the poet. That was so evident when looking at the different poetry books. I know I have done this with artists in order to understand the pieces of art better, and on the 4th grade level we do sporadic author studies. This just brought it home to me that I need to mention the author, poet, or artist more in my discussions, or require the students to learn more about them.

Character/Talk

I enjoyed the opportunity to explore Ruth's character via an imagined conversation with her. I think this exercise helped me pinpoint specific aspects of her character; as I shaped the conversation it made me consider/reject things I knew Ruth would or would not say, or do. It helped me form a clearer picture of Ruth - what motivated her, her fears, etc.

Jayne did a great demo regarding poetry. I was impressed by the fact that every student could be successful with the activity. I plan to adapt the color poem to the first grade level. The demos have been very productive. I can't believe the amount of activities that I am going to take back with me to actually use in the classroom.

Wow, then to go into the afternoon also learning about poetry. Bev and I said we both want to find a book store while attending the math/literacy conference so we can buy the books we were able to view today. I want to try the stop and read a poem idea next year. I bet the my class would really benefit not only from the language perspective but I could see the benefits of stopping when several appear frustrated during math (or whatever) and read a poem and then go back to what we were doing.

Cion & Other Stuff

When asked to choose a passage from Cion yesterday, I was completely baffled at what to choose. I guess I didn't read the book that indepthly. I just read it as a novel. I know now that was incorrect. I felt fairly useless in my group by not having a passage to discuss. I enjoyed discussing the passages of others though. I can see the depth in Cion now that we have talked about it. Lois, Chris, and Deb each had great passages and we discussed them. I still agree with Deb about not seeing how a sororiety girl, such as Beth, could get past the sexual assault aspect with Obed to actually consider "dating" him. I'm really learning a lot in this class. Much of which I plan to take back to my little guys this fall.

Yesterday Merrilee did a wonderful lesson with us on stress. It would have been interesting to do the adult version of the stress test...I'm sure I would have been off the charts. My main source of stress is, unfortunately, this class and it's self-induced stress. I think even my little guys would enjoy just relaxing at some points in our school day. First grade has several requirements and I'm sure they feel stress at different points in the year. Great Job!

Today Jayne did an excellent lesson on poems. I was a little apprehensive at first, but she assured me this morning that I would do okay. I did!! It was a lot of fun to write my own poem with her help. I think even the lowest student could write a color poem with some help. It was nice to accomplish a poem on my own and I didn't upset myself to the point of tears. Thanks!! :)

Poetry

Wow, two great sessions on poetry! Jayne did an outstanding job bringing poetry to life for kids. I feel really good about using parts of her demo with my students. I am going to go home and look in my pacing charts for the grading period we do poetry in 5th grade and plan that unit before school starts. Thanks Jayne! On the other hand I am ready to run out to the book store and buy quite a few poetry books. I must be nuts but I never knew a whole book of poetry could go together and tell a story! I really want to read Sold and Keesha's House. I am going to start with them and move on! A Kick in the Head also looked great to a poetry novice! I know it would be so helpful in explaining the types of poetry to me and my students. Very interesting and rewarding day!

Poetry day

Poetry today was really great. I enjoyed Jayne's lesson on the color poem. I liked the concept of the pre-write form listing words or phrases about the color. Although my poem was not as good as I would have liked, I did like the fact that she gives her students the option to change it, re-arrange it, or do it on a color they like better. Options are always nice. I also liked that she gave a template for the poem. I think that could be very beneficial to students having difficulty in thinking up an idea or how to structure their poem.

Then this afternoon having the speaker present on poetry was also great, because we were already in that mode. Dr. Rice gave lots of samples and the list of things she provided will be very beneficial as well. I liked that she gave samples of poets reading/performing their poetry, and the Dead Poets CD was really great too. I never really thought about using poetry as a break before, but I think it could be really good to do in my math classes. I thought of that this morning in the teaching demo as well. I could have students write poems about a math topic or do a math concept as a song to give them a break from the stress we all feel from "THE TEST".
Overall, I thought today was very refreshing.

Plentiful Poetry

I had a good time today, didn't you? I visited a place in my brain I hadn't used in years - those poetry muscles. Like a car that has been sitting in the garage too long, my creative brain muscles struggled to be revived. It felt kinda good, like a good stretch when it gets the kinks out. Thanks, Jayne, for the fun exercise in writing poetry. I really liked the structure provided through the writing about colors strategy; even I felt like I might be successful in my attempt. Every student wants to experience that feeling; this experience was a powerful reminder of that important point. It is interesting how coincidence can play out in our lives - imagine that we then had Dr. Rice to share the joy in READING poetry today as a follow up to Jaynes morning poetry lesson! Dr. Rice clearly is joyful about poetry and it is infectious. I haven't really read any poetry in years but I now plan to do some serious searching for some of the books on her list. I can actually see ways in which I could successfully implement poetry in several of the topics I teach, something I had never previously considered. I was pretty impressed by Dr. Rice - by her passion for poetry, her expertise and of course her youthful good looks! It is too late for me but if there is a secret for her young appearance she could make a lot of money selling it!

Dr. Rice

Dr. Rice's presentation today served to remind me how important it is to search for excellent children's literature for our students. The more we know the more we are able to match students (who say they can't find any books they like) with an appropriate book. If we can hook them into a couple of books, the deed is done and may serve to catapult them into the world of reading. This was a welcome break from the normal routine of the workshop.

Linda J. Rice's Visit

I totally enjoyed the presentation today. Guest speakers always add a special touch to the classroom. I'm a big believer in working across the curriculum, so even though I will be teaching Math and Science next year in sixth grade, I saw many opportunities to use poetry in my classroom. I'm glad she gave us a list of books, because the books were coming at me so fast that I couldn't possibly write them all down. I did however highlight the ones that touch me in some form or fashion, or that I could use in my classroom next year. I feel like I've just been baptized by the river of poetry, and given a new life to learning. This class has been so good for me this summer, I hate to think what mental state I would've been in if I had not had this class to keep me occupied and give me fresh, new ideas to take into my new sixth grade classroom. I also appreciate all the support and positive attributes that my fellow classmates and professors have given me. You are truly the best.

Linda's presentation

Why didn't I ever have an exciting teacher like Linda? We just read poetry and even though I loved it I remember it as being kind of dull and boring (the way it was presented) I love the music and the readings on tape! Lets face it, music makes anything better. I know students would agree. Her passion for poetry is inspiring. Now I really want to incorporate more poetry into my art room!

Socially Responsive Poetry

Wow--I must use poetry in Freshmen Comp
thanks to you folks.

Yet, because language and the way we learn language is so very important when we are young, I especially can't wait to order and read Jackie Glasgow & Linda Rice's _Exploring African Life and Literature: Novel Guides to Promoting Socially Responsive Learning_.

Writing to Learn: Methods and Applications

Prewriting
Freewriting
Dialectical Notebook (two columns: specific quotes & further comments)
Reading-response Journal
Dialogue Journal (two columns: two-person exchange)
Triple-Entry Journal
Peer Critique
=Center of Gravity
=Listening for Voice
=Criteria Feedback
=Sharing Out Loud
=Cutting up the draft
Believing and Doubting
Loop Writing (writing from multiple perspectives)
Microthemes
"Museum"
Rotational Feedback: "Giant Post-it-Note" (developing inquiry topics)
Process Writing
Blogging
Creative Writing
=Round-table/string stories
=Haiku/limerick/acrostic/diamante
=Free verse poetry
=Character development
=Character dialogue (having characters "talk to each other")
=Stream-of-conscious
="Magical Realism" encounters
"Decoding/Dissecting the Text" Sectioned Reading in Small Groups
"Close Reading"
Spring Board Writng & Prewriting
=in small group (pick a passage)
=in large group (pick a sentence)
Using Writing as a Template & "echoing"
Random Number Reading (lottery for full participation and checking reading)
Comment/Questioning
Writing to a "Future Self"
Articulating Concerns/Goals

Another Fab Day

Today was another magical day in which disparate elements seemed to fit together without any special planning. This morning's discussion ranged from social (gender, class, race) implications of mental illness to the political aspects of having army recruiters in our schools, and then after such a heavy discussion, Marrilee revived us by teaching us how to deal with stress. I am very grateful for this particular demo because it reminds us how much good we can do for our students other than simply filling their heads with data that can be bubbled in on a Scantron sheet.

This morning, we opened up with a triple entry journal that predicted what people thought they would see when we visited the Ridges. I'm eager to her about your responses to what you actually encountered and how vivid the differences may have been.
I'm also excited to read about your impressions of the place in general.

This afternoon's reading activity in small groups, in which we all found a short passage and did a "close reading" of the text was very productive in the small group I sat in on; I would love it if some of you would blog (at some depth) about your own discussions and add, perhaps, a bit of reflection on how you might use the concept of "close reading" in your own classes.

No extra reading tonight so I hope you get to make some progress with digesting your research. See ya.

Don

Cion

I'm enjoying the discussions on Cion. I really liked the prompt yesterday (Tuesday) as a lead in to magical realism. It was astonishing to hear all the stories how weird co-incidences and meeting others in odd places occurred. Maybe "odds" aren't really so random as mathematical principles show. It was a great prompt to lead into how we can accept strange things in our lives but not be so open in our reading.

The whole genre of magical realism is new to me. I had read this book looking at it from a historical novel approach. I just accepted the "magicalness" in the book as part of the charm. I may have been able to accept it because I've read and love the C.S. Lewis novels, which must fit this genre. I am interested to learn more about the genre, other books that might be of interest to me or my students.

I also really enjoyed the field trip to the ridges. I had never been there before and it really made an impression on me. The actual buildings with the bars on the windows. I could almost feel the presence of those inmates. Then, visiting the cemetery was a profound experience as well. Seeing the name "Mahlon" on an actual tombstone there was interesting, as was the graves that made a circle toward the west end. I could see Toloki mourning in the center of the circle. It also made me wonder if the few stones across the gully were separated because they were negroes. It was a sad experience, and gave me more insight into the story as well as history.

A cool day

This was a cool day for me despite my concerns to the contrary. I didn't sleep well last night and came to school in some kind of mental fog. I felt like the synapses of my brain were drudging through sludge. Despite this sluggish effect I really enjoyed every element of the Cion discussion. It is fun trying to delve into all the nuances of the story and discovering Mda's genius. I say that like I truly appreciate his brilliance, but that is far from true. I feel I am just now digesting the tip of the iceberg of all the Cion offers. Today in our group discussion Talinn helped me see the beauty of his language and how specifically he chooses his words to create a specific mood. She also helped me understand the true nature of the sciolist. It was difficult for me to confess I didn't really "get" this character but after her help I really see the unique quality of this character. Never before have I seen this approach taken in the composition of a book. This unearthing the meanings of Cion is proving to be an interesting ride; I can't wait until our next discussion!

Cion

I really have enjoyed the discussion of Cion. I wish we had more days for discussion due to the depth that is evident in the novel. Did anyone else notice all the "opposites" or contradictions throughout the novel? I could find an example of almost an opposite for everything. Just some things I noted in my journal: poor vs. rich; magic vs. realism; Obed and Beth's whole realtionship; the hypocrisy of mourning (mourning for strangers); Toloki's relationship with Orpah was so physical and the one with Noria was spiritual; Ruth' stubbornness vs. her willingness to take in a total stranger; the power associated with sex vs. the weakness associated with sex; the powerful vs. the powerless; purity of race vs. mixing of races; quilts with patterns vs. quilts without distinct patterns. Just a few of my musings, but I found a bunch. Once I got started I kept doing that with the whole novel. It is amazing.

picking a pasage

Though I enjoyed today's discussion regarding the selection of a passage from Cion, I didn't feel that the passage I selected was one of the most profound I could have chosen. Like I said, it seemed as if the passages we all chose (Matt, Kris, Marlene) did have political implications because they revolved around social constructs. I feel as if my depth of perception is askew; I feel like I'm not getting the real message in Cion.

Magic or Realism

I thought today was very interesting with all the different thinking going on. It is difficult to answer the question regarding magic or realism. I would have to take a neutral stance. What is considered Magic? Is all Magic bad? Are Miracles magic? I have seen miracles, but when most people refer to magic it tends to have a dark undertone. Black magic, is of course one example, unless people are referring to the magic of prayer.

One episode of True Stories of the E.R. was about a man who swore that a lady who practiced black magic had put a hexing on him. He truly was ill, to the point of near death. He went to the E.R. and was admitted to the hospital. Finally a doctor who knew a little about black magic reversed the hex and the man was better by morning. This kind of thing makes a person think.

It is interesting when people cross paths out of the blue. People come in and out of our life and often it seems they had a specific reason for being in our life at that time. Magic? I don't think so. God's hand? Maybe. Just luck? probably.

Queen

I still want to know more about the Abyssinian Queen. I still think Mda givers her power over her surroundings. Or should I say Toluki as he is the narrator. But where did he get his information? I assume it came from Ruth? or perhaps Obed-so how reliable is it? I know, maybe it doesn't have to be an issue if we just accept the magic. I would like to have time to read Ruth in the Bible again to find connections with Obed's mom and maybe there will be connections with The Queen as it was mentioned today that there may be simularities between her and Ruth.

Missy's Demo

Missy, Thanks for another fantastic website. I can see many ways to use your lesson in 3rd grade. It would have to be on a much easier level, but the students will enjoy the website. Third grade students love to research and type. I don't know if I am brave enough to try to do anything with a power point though I have thought about it before. Baby steps...

Missy's demo provided an open ended worksheet that would work great for a challenge me center idea. Students could use that to study something of interest which allow everyone to have something to do at all time. I'm done would no longer be an issue. Thanks!

Our grade level reading discussion today (Writing Through Childhood) stated the importance of not assuming anything. Students need to be shown and have modeled every little thing including how to get paper, put it away etc.... so many things that we just assume they should know how to do since they've been in the building before.

CION Discussion was very interesting. Although we all read the same book we all had our own unique questions regarding the characters and events. My take on Beth was how could she end up with someone such as Obed. Then after the discussion my "picture" of him changed and I could possibly see the reason so now I wonder do we allow enough discussions in our classrooms following the reading of a book to allow our class to grow as readers and writers.

Beth

I was glad today when Kathy picked Beth to talk about, she was on my list also. In my minds eye I pictured Beth as a small dark haired girl. I know she belonged to a sorority but there are different types of sororities! Maybe the one she belonged to was not THE sorority! You know what I mean? I wasn't surprised when she dropped the charges against Obed. I thought that was due to Toloki's influence. I am not sure painting the sorority house was a good punishment. This would force Beth to actually see or maybe even come into contact with Obed, the person who committed the crime in the first place. When Obed announced to the family he was seeing Beth and staying in Athens overnight at first I did not believe him. I was really surprised he was telling the truth. It had to be magic from my view! The only sense I could make out it was her instinct to care and nuture someone, mold them, must of met her needs. I see where Mda was going with Beth being the catalyst to help draw Obed away from Ruth. If the book had continued I am sure Ruth would have a lot to say about Beth! Good discussion today!

Tuesday Topics

We changed things up a little and we're giving people a little more choice of when and how to blog. Remember, in the seven classes we have left, I would like to see everyone post three more times . . . but at a little more depth, perhaps, than we have been posting.

Okay, here's a recap of today's events and general blog topics:

The Morning Writing: Tell a story of an amazing coincidence or meeting
Magic Realism: Does life swing more toward "reality" or "fantasy"?
Teaching Demo: Missy's Science writing (and what to take to the moon).
Questions regarding the Inquiry Paper
Cion: What do we think about "Beth"?
Cion: Power and Sexuality
Cion: Cultural Perspectives and the Power of Magic

Of course, you folks can write about anything you want in this blog . . . just make it juicy enough for us to want to join in the conversation.

Don

Thanks everyone

It was fun to present my art with the Language component. I just hope I can find the time to incorporate it into my classroom. I also know this will be more effective if I can collaborate with the classroom teachers.

I enjoyed Jackie's demo! Also discussions of Cion were intriguing. As to blogging daily, I could use the time to work on final projects. blogging is new to me, too, and I'm glad I've had the experience. I'm okay with whatever, though.

Toloki/Cion

I enjoyed reading Cion, but I had a hard time buying into the reality of the story. Toloki seemed like a somewhat educated man and I had a hard time embracing his attraction for Oprah, and woman suspended between childhood and adulthood . The entire book lacked credibility, especially the relationship between Obed and Beth Eddy. I can't imagine two people (Beth or Toloki) being attracted to people like Orpah and Obed. I can't see a total stranger bailing someone out of jail soon after you've met them. I guess because I see Toloki as a somewhat "reliable" narrator, I can't believe the decisions that he makes. I'm having a difficult time suspending my disbelief. Interestingly, though, I did enjoy the book. I liked Toloki's voice and his sarcastic wit.

Thanks Jackie for the wonderful lesson today. Let's plan on email as a way to touch base regarding what we are doing in the classroom. Mindy and I were talking about how the tree activity would fit into our science unit. Bev and I also were trying to come up with a way that we could connect art time with what they have written in class.

Cion

I really enjoyed the Cion discussion. The differences among us make for interesting dialogue. I liked the examination of the characters and can't wait to continue. I'm glad we are finally into it.

Art Activity

Jackie, nice job today. I truly enjoyed the chance to create art. I think this activity would lend itself to poetry writing or creating a descriptive paragraph. I could also see it being used with characterization and setting. I forget how much fun it is to paint.

Trees

I really enjoyed Jackie's lesson today. I thought a few different activities I could use the tree painting with. I wish all grade level teachers had time to plan together. My special ed students love to work with their hands. The crafty or artistic activities I have done in my class are always a hit! Thanks for a new idea Jackie and I will make a better effort to keep in touch with you and let you know what we are working on in my class! Thanks, Bev

Demos

I just wanted to thank Jackie and Bev for two very creative and fun demos. I can use both of them in my classroom and still cover a multitude of indicators. Thanks!

morning activity

The morning activity of adding a fictional or imaginary person into a group of people that already knew each other was kind of cool. At first, I thought it would be hard to do, but once I started, I liked the way my writing went. It also didn't fit the pre-write, draft, revise, publish format we talked about later. Mine kind of morphed together as I wrote it. It wasn't planned out or outlined. It just happened and I liked it.

Jackie's Demo

Today was so much fun. I don't consider myself very artistic so I have trouble doing many "art" projects with my students. I definitely could do this with them. I'd love to do a tree for each season of the year and then we could link it to a piece of writing. Maybe an I AM poem or some "free" writing about their trees.

I also really enjoyed the poetry aspect of Jackie's lesson. I'm always trying to find more ways to encorporate poetry into my classroom. We have a weekly poem and then some extras about the seasons, weather, holidays, etc. but about an art project would be great!

Thanks Jackie!!

Blogging

I had never blogged before this class, and I think it would be a great tool to use in my classroom. I do think if there was something more specific to blog about, I could be more articulate. Sometimes it feels like I'm just repeating myself.

Blog Back

If you don't mind too much, would you please respond with a comment to this post?
What I want to know is whether the blogging should be more focused or if it should be left alone (or whether it should be, gulp, phased out). All feedback is welcome. I like the blog for a variety of reasons, but it's really okay if you don't. I'm just looking to find out how you feel about this "end of the day" activity.

Thanks, Don.

Not Just Another Blogging Monday

Hey Folks,

I'm going to ask you to do something a little different today. In addition to posting a comment on any topic (choose from the list or make up your own), I would like you to comment on the post above entitled "Blog Back." "Blog Back" as you will read above is focused on the utility of the blog itself. . . Thanks, Don

Possible Topics for your own Posts:

The morning writing exercise: Create Your Own Fictional Character and Mix Her with Real People.
Jackie's Demo: The Art of Creating Trees with Straws and Ink
Your interview with a Cion Character.
The Discussion of Character in Cion.
What You Would Like to Talk About regarding Cion that we have not got to yet.
The Role of Creative Writing in Your Classroom.
The Gray Area between Fiction and NonFiction
Reflections on the Personal Essay (now that's its turned in).
Questions and Concerns regarding the Inquiry Paper.

Another Record Post

Because the blog serves the function of both bulletin board and historic record, I like to add text from time to to time that serves to remind us later of what we did on a day (even if because of other activities, we don't actually blog that day). On Thursday, we spent the afternoon working on our writing and sharing our progress with each other. On Thursday morning, we began by doing a dialectical journal entry on some piece of research each participant had already found regarding their inquiry project. After that, Bev gave us an awesome teaching demo based on solving a mystery in which the students get to act as CSI detectives. That demo was really impressive for how much writing, science, and fun can be combined into a single unit. Bravo, Bev.

On Friday, we didn't meet because of the Fourth of July. I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Great class

I am just enjoying the process of thinking even though at times my brain seems so full I feel as though it will burst. I think teachers should do more of this type of summer learning.

writing groups

I can't believe how much help it was to have so many other people read my essay. I gained so many ideas from those who read it and I can't wait to see what Lois has to say. Thanks again!! It was extremely helpful to have the criterion based revision sheet available when we were revising yesterday. It gave me somewhere to start when reading the other essays. I'm definitely not a fluent writer, and probably never will be, so I hated to be critical of someone else's work. Since I followed the sheet, I didn't feel out of place with my comments.

The peer revision activity yesterday was very helpful. The examples being read along with the feedback allowed me to go back to the drawing board and really revise and not surface revise. Up until now I believe I clumped editing and revision together.

Reading Activity 7/2/08

I found the reading activity this morning quite helpful. Combining discussion of the text (in a small group) and having a specific task to complete (which helped me focus on the main ideas of the text) made me dig for meaning more deeply than I do alone. This is an interesting way to glean meaning from an unfamiliar or "unfriendly" text (no offense Peter). It is also time consuming. These kinds of activities make me realize how much time scholars must devote to understading their field.

Revision versus Editing

I think this is a hill to die on! I want to be much more intentional in "teaching" revision skills, and in building peer reviewers who can give great feedback. I am challenged to demonstrate and model the kind of feedback that students will find helpful while withholding my need to change there to their! The hardest thing is when the editing issues get in the way of understanding! 

 

Mindy's lesson

Nice job, Mindy. I'm going to add more "writing" to my unit on biography/time line. Your activity demonstrated for me how I could make the connection between the text, the time line, and a reaction piece to the text.

Harriet Tubman

This activity amazed me! The depth of the topic for 1st grade is astounding. I can use this stuff in my classroom with 7th graders and give them time to work cooperatively, summarize, synthesize, write, and draw. I'm always grateful for ideas to incorporate Multiple Intelligence in my class. This is what I love about the teaching demo's. Ideas, ideas, ideas...

rich discussion

Today's discussion (AM and PM) was the most engaging we have had. I really enjoyed getting into some "deep" conversation, not necessarily agreeing with everyone, but considering multiple perspectives nonetheless. Am I binary? Sherrie's facilitation of the Elbow chapter was great and the discussion provoked thought.

Again, my favorite part of the day is the teaching demo and then the discussion. No matter for what level the teaching demo is geared, I seem to think of a slew of ways to use it in my classroom. Thanks, Mindy. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with the readings, discussions, and the revisions of my paper. I know I have never been taught to revise and now that I am doing it, I can't seem to stop. Maybe I just need to sleep!!

Harriet's classroom activities

The pamphlet that you gave us was packed full of ideas to incorporate into the classroom. There are many more online I'm sure. Check this out: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1a.html It's an interactive reading activity about Harriet Tubman and slavery.

Reading Elbow

The reading process we used this morning was very helpful. After groaning when Don said we were going to talk about Elbow and binary thinking, I was not looking forward to the activity. I think that mainly came from my lack of confidence in my ability to understand the reading. Breaking it down in the activities plus sharing and hearing others take on the reading helped shed a light on the reading. When I can get to the point of trying to figure out how I can use this in my class or how to help others then I feel like I understand. I reached that point today!!

demo and Elbow and Reading group

I enjoyed Mindy's demo. Again, I can see how to apply this in 3rd grade.

The discussions on Elbow were interesting. I think it is difficult to "be all you can be" in Elbowology. But if you could you would be able to say you are an "Elbowologist!"

I loved the reading last night in Writing Through Childhood. I didn't know how to teach poetry but now I do. We (Hocking Hills teachers) have many ideas about how to publish students best work. We discussed having students poems read over the announcements, included in the school newsletter and displayed in the showcase. We also discussed blogging. Hmmmmm! Maybe even a school wide anthology of Poetry.

Fun time with Mindy

I had a fun time today Mindy! Thanks! I enjoyed being in the first grade world and gained insights into how these strategies could be used in a variety of ways. I think these same comcepts for reading books could be used to glean information on various topics. I enjoyed the reading of Harriet Tubman -I will never outgrow that. I remember almost climbing over the heads of other kids so I could be as close as possible to the pictures as the teacher would read to us. (That must have been so annoying to the other kids!) I need to ponder ways I might be able to still utilize reading to kids with my 8th graders. I know I have kids who coud still benefit from this. I think I could make adjustments in the writing - it is essentially a microtheme activity, isn't it. Thanks for the demo Mindy. I had fun!

Topics from Today

Blog on your heart's desire (with or without your eyes closed).

Here are some ideas if your heart is ambivalent about what to write on:

The Reading Process we used this morning.
Academic Language
Your own ideas about binaries
Mindy's Teaching Demo
Questions About the Annotated Bib
Concerns about Audience
Writing and Student Safety
The Peer Revision Process
What you learned in Reading group
How this Institute will change your classroom practices

For the Record

Today, we gave people options to either blog or keep on working on revision in writing group; things that we did today included an opening Haiku exercise, Kathy's teaching demo on center activities, a discussion of productive peer revision activities and we listened to a couple of essays read aloud. Although we talked a little bit this morning about binary thinking, we did not get around to really chewing through the Elbow reading for today. C'est la vie. It will have to wait for another day. The days are too full... not that that's a bad thing.

Anxiety

At the moment I am feeling overwhelmed and not sure how I want to revise my essay. I have a few ways I could go with it, but really don't have a good sense of what exactly I want to focus on. I think I've been too broad, and perhaps I need to pare down and focus on a few other students whom I have sent on their own reading journey. I just don't know. When I get into situations of "do this now", I feel like I go brain dead. I'm also stressed because with all the reading and exhaustion, I haven't even started looking at the research info to see if it is really what I need. How will I ever get it all done? I know everyone else is probably right there with me on this, but the anxiety is still there. Where's the Xanax?

Webquest Galour!!!

What a neat thing to reseach....oh, the possibilities are endless.

Distracted

I hope everyone will all forgive me today - I am distracted and unprepared. I HATE not being prepared and can count the total number of times I have come to any class not prepared on both hands of fingers (ok, maybe I might need my toes as well). The point is, I have not quite recuperated from the emotional tornado I experienced this weekend in essentially losing two sons, one to another woman (yes, I really do believe getting married to a wonderful girl is a great thing) and the second to West Point. As we speak this son is experiencing hell (which a course he chose) and there are pictures gradually being posted on the West Point website of the day as they are experiencing it. All I want to do is sit and scour over them in the fleeting hope that I might see his face. Please forgive me for being so self involved. I had to take time from this assignment to look at a few before I could force myself to get back on task. I am a wreck.

On top of this, I have these stupid fake nails on that I wore to my sons wedding. I can't type worth a darn with these contraptions on my fingers. I liked how they looked Saturday but have been trying to figure out a way to rip them off ever since. Nuts.

Kris, you did a great job today. I liked being exposed to alternative ways to facillitate learning for students. I also enjoyed the strategy of cutting up our writing to have others evaluate and reorganize it. I was embarassed that I didn't have one to utilize but that goes right back to my original apology of being unprepared. Rats. I will strive to do better tomorrow. Maybe with some sleep I will be more equipped for learning and my emotions will be under control. I appreciate any generous understanding you can extend my way.

Kris,
Great math activity. Have you ever considered this as a cross curricular activity with art? I tried doing tessellations with my 5th graders and it failed miserably. I think it is one of those activities that you need more abstract thought processes to understand. Of course I am not a math person so maybe it was my inability to teach. I wish I had more access to computers so students could at least have the chance to explore the web sites you told us about today. I have a very large Escher print that you may borrow anytime. It is like the one with the waterfall but I think it is a better example of the optical illusion. It could really make a bold statement to get your kids involved.

Scissors!

Cutting up my paper was very personal. I really had a hard time using those scissors. I am surprised that I felt that way! Once is was completed and put back together it was a relief to me that my partner put it back the right way! Compliance that's me!

believing/doubting

I don't think I can apply this in my classroom but I can see how it can help me with writing assignments. I will be starting my masters program soon and this will be a process I use. I found it very hard to write positives or argue for a viewpoint I did not agree with. It is a valuable tool and I think the more I use it the easier it will become to argue both sides of an issue.

write to learn

I was disappointed in the write to learn activity ONLY because we didn't get to the second part. I wanted to know why people thought that you couldn't become a good teacher even though you had never tried. This activity made me question my criteria for the excellent teacher.

Today went very fast! I loved the activity Kris did for her teaching demo! I can't wait to plan it out and use it with my math class. Also, our reading group does the elementary book which I am really appreciating. Someone made the comment that we used to do some of these things like writing notebooks and it will be nice to do them again. The only thing bothering me so far is not having enough time to find my research sources. I found several on Friday and cannot gain access to them, or I find so much stuff I get distracted. During the school year I often think how nice it would be to go on line for the topics I need help with and find activities or research. It's nice to be able to do that now.

WebQuesting

I loved webquesting! So often we just turn students loose on the internet to find material. I like the control that "questing" offers. Kris made the suggestion of having my college level students design their own webquest as well which is great for a few of my research-oriented writing classes.

BTW Kris, although I have absolutely NO idea the mathematical application of the tessellations, the designs were really awesome to play with - I will make this a bookmark for future diversions!

believing/doubting

The believing game/doubting game was a good way to get into a different frame of mind. I think it will be beneficial to my students in teaching them to make good arguments and a persuasive thinking activity. It could lead up to doing debates, which is something new I want to try this year with my students. I can also utilize it myself in writing the inquiry paper to see both sides of the issue and be able to refute possible arguments that others may see as problematic.

Webquest & Cutting

I really enjoyed the lesson that Kris did this morning on webquests. Wow!! As a "math" person I liked seeing and working with the tessellations. I found several useful webquests for 1st grade once we were given "permission" to just play before lunch. This afternoon I was a bit nervous when cutting apart my personal essay. I was having trouble seeing it any different than my completed copy. However, I agree with some of the changes that Jayne did. Thanks, Jayne! I plan to incorporate them into my final draft.

webquest

I really enjoyed the demo lesson. It was very helpful to have the time to explore. I was able to find areas that I could use with first grade in multiple subject areas. I believe since it involves the computer my class would be eager participants.

Demo

I really enjoyed the webquest activity. This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

Kris' demo

This demo was very exciting. I found webquests that I can use in grade 3. I can't wait to start. Thank you for introducing me webquests!

Webquests

Thank you Kris! Just in the little time we had to explore I really found a lot of information I can use with my students! Your presentation was also great! I bet the students can not wait for that unit!

Kris did a great job.

I have always struggled with ways to use the computer effectively with my 6th graders. Kris!!!!Thanks!!!The webquests will really help me. I can now see the application for a variety of topics. I have heard student teachers discuss webquests, but I wasn't really familiar with them. Now I'm excited to start exploring. I had a great time creating quilt patterns on the tessellation exercise. I'm visual and need to manipulate things to see what a finished product will look like. Great job. I got some useful information.

Blogging Monday

Hey Folks,

Ideas for todays' blog:

The Awesome Teaching Demo on Webquests
The "Believing Game" and the "Doubting Game."
Cutting up the Drafts
Reading Group Debriefing
Teachers and Excellence.
Thoughts on the papers/assignments.

Of Course Feel Free to come up with your own topic.

microtheme/big paper activity

Sherri,
Loved the activity today - what a way to take the stress out of generating a research topic. Everything you guys have done since I started makes me wish I were in my classroom so I can try them immediately. Instead of chewing on these questions alone, chewing on them with classmates helped a lot.

this afternoons activity was very helpful and calmed my nerves about creating a question. I also enjoyed the demo this morning. Thanks Chris!

Chris' Book Making Project

Chris,
This was a fun activity. I can see your student's little minds racing with ideas...I know ours were. I was just disappointed that we did not have time to color our pictures and bind our book. The examples that you provided were really cool. I bet the students had a blast creating them. Learning can be fun. I bet you are a great teacher.

Inquiry

I felt pretty good about the process of the inquiry after reading ch. 6 last night. Today, I'm feeling stressed even though we've gone over some ideas, and got feedback for more ideas. I'm still not sure what I really want to focus on. Maybe I am trying to narrow down too much at this point as Sherri pointed out. Maybe I need to backup and allow the broader question to guide my inquiry. I think I am very tired and overwhelmed right now. I'm glad we have help, guidance, and support.

Chris's Demo

Chris did an excellent job today during her Demo. It was a fun and creative activity and that students could participate in. I would probably assign roles in the group and them rotate the roles. One person would be the recorder, one an illustrator, and one the reader. That way they would all get to do all jobs and there would be no complaining. (I hope). Thanks for the great idea!

my thinker won't stop thinking...

I have really enjoyed this week. I have to admit yesterday was the point where I reached total exhaustion. I went to bed at 8:30 last night. I feel I have so much to think about. I have new ideas to use in the classroom. Thank you to all that have shared so far. I have new ideas about our educational system and the politics connected to it. I feel defeated in some ways. But...I keep thinking that I can still make a change. I can still make learning fun and jump through the hoops. I am armed with new ideas and a new attitude toward writing and teaching. I am excited, but scared to begin the Inquiry paper. I am always a bit leery of the unknown.

Post It Macro Themes?

This was a productive way for me to process the inquiry. I enjoyed the chance to comment on others ideas as well.  This strategy makes the hard work of generating this paper seem more collaborative from the start. 

WHERE WE ARE TOMORROW

Hi guys,

I know Don told you that you will me here in the lab first thing tomorrow morning and then head for Alden for the day. You can work anywhere in Alden you would like--well, the places you are allowed anyway. No lurking under stairwells. You will find us up in the Faculty Commons, where we met for the Pre-institute.

Chris and a great fun lesson

Chris, Thanks for the great lesson today. I sure had fun with Lois and Patty writing our own book. I would love to do this in my math class after reading a math literature book. I loved your sons creations. It's fun to see what other teachers/students do.

Inquiry Fear

Actually writing down a question now makes the inquiry paper seem less scary. I really appreciate the input from everyone and it offered some questions for me to consider as I proceed. I am now actually anxious to start. I also enjoyed the time to work on my personal essay. The bits of stuff in my head are beginning to come together.

Thursday, June 26th

So much to do and so little time. This is what I'm feeling right now. I greatly appreciated the time during lunch and this afternoon to work on the first writing project I will be doing. I have approximately 3 pages written, now to just add, revise, and edit. I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend. :)

personal essay

And I thought this would be the easy paper to write! I have plenty to write, some 52 years of experiences that have made me the teacher I am today-but I am having trouble establishing a voice. I keep wanting to choose a humorous approach because the more I think about these experiences the more I am afraid of releasing an emotional floodgate that may be hard to control! (Draining a brain that is already wary.) I have had to fight my way to this point in my life and writing about these "mountains" seems overwhelming. Further, I guess I just do not feel comfortable writing about myself, even in a group I trust.

June 25th

Sherrie's microtheme activity was valuable information. Just the idea of taking pressure away from otherwise hesitant writers by using small paper and quick results. brilliant! I can see many applications for these "mini activities" in any classroom, K through college.

Chis' Demo

I.
I liked that Chris' demo gave students the opportunity to "shake things up a bit." (By "things," I mean those Western-type narratives we all learn at this age: rescued princesses, boy-meets-girl, etc.) When we worked in our group, we were looking for alternative ways to tell stories with alternative identities (hence the surfer, Latino, turtle). In fact, I loved the group who looked at Chinese pandas--social studies shouldn't be the only place we think of other peoples. Even Dreamworks' _Shrek_ works to shake up those norms (my WS100 even uses Shrek as a breaking point from Disney's fairytale hegemony). So, yes, I can see lots of places to take this idea!

II.
Collaborating in the 3rd grade, or even lower, is a marvelous endeavor--bravo to those who do this (I can't imagine)! Wow. If only more citizens learned those valuable, collaborative skills at such young ages so they could practice more . . . say, superintendents, parents, admins, and more teachers . . .

III.
Finally, I am swept away by all the publication opportunities you folks are giving your kids. How very meaningful this must be to them! Then you have all of these great examples to keep and use as well. I hope to do more publication in my own classrooms--so thanks for your ideas!

Possible Blog Topics for Thursday

Yo Yo Yo,

Here are some ideas for your blog topic this afternoon. As always, follow your heart can create your own topic if none of my suggestions are appealing enough for you.

Something from some other teacher's dialog journal from this morning
Your favorite "tool" from Reflecting and Sharing
Something you wanted to say about the Crowley article (but didn't get around to saying it yesterday)
Chris' Book Making Demo
The Giant Post-It Note Activity
Reflections on Your Personal Essay
Reflections on Your Inquiry Paper

Don't forget that we are meeting in Alden tomorrow for writing and consulting. Yeah!

For convenience sake, we are starting out here in the computer lab just to get things rolling and to set some writing goals for the day.

Library Link to Research Database

Here's the link to the library database to begin an article search.

Great experiences

Today was another amazing day. I wonder if I will ever get used to all this mental stimulation. I was so surprised by the free write this morning--I haven't used that method (for myself) in a long, long time, but it seemed to generate ideas for me that I had no idea about until I began. The experience taught me a lot. I really need to give my students this opportunity a lot more than I do. Also, I so appreciate Marlene's enthusiasm and compassion for her needy fourth graders. They are so fortunate to have her! Thanks everyone for comments and insights!

Crowley

What a challenge reading Crowley's article last night. Although I read the article, and reflected upon it, I was not reflexive. I didn't dig deep enough for a more profound meaning. This is what frustrates me as a reader. I lack the insight to dig deeper. I journaled somewhat with this article, but was not successful in identifying the thesis statement.

Sherrie, I am fascinated with the new idea of seeing or thinking of writing as a spectrum form thinking to communicating. I guess i am still making the transition in my mind from only looking at writing as communicating. I think i am stuck more in the realm of either/or not and/both. Because of that I still see the need to have an assessment or accountability for all to ensure the acquisition of those skills. I hear and agree with what Don is saying about standardized tests, but i also see abolishing them as a tactic the elite are waiting for. If we have no assurance of providing the masses with basic skills, i think the have nots will fall handicap more so than what they already are.

Don, Thanks for the explanations of today's article. I appreciate your passion about the subjects. At first I thought the essay/chapter was way over my head, but the more I persisted, the more sense it made. Luckily I could relate some of the ideas to experiences in an English literature class with an ancient professor who was in love with the arts and believed in the beauty of English. But he was not a snob about it and read and recited Shakespeare in the classroom to the delight of all. A wonderful teacher. Again, thanks for the insight. Lois

6/25/08

Jayne, Thanks for the nice comments. I'm glad you can use the ideas. Personally, I steal most of my good ones. Hasn't everything been intense? I wonder if I have any more room in my brain.

I really enjoyed all the discussion today. I think I am slowly synthesizing the information. Lois' presentation was fun and I can think of so many ways i can adapt it to my class.

The Courage to Teach Reading Group

In my reading group's book, The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer focuses on (gasp!) the teacher and not learning. This is a refreshing view from an education guru and one I happen to share. I see my role as union president as making room for teachers to do their jobs to the best of their ability without undue influence from outside forces. I know that giving teachers the freedom to do their jobs will directly benefit their students.

my head hurts!

I have many thought fragments hanging around my mind. When we talk about "the test" and the direction of education I can see from reading Crowley that some things really haven't changed that much. It frustrates me to watch "the powers that be" who have not been a classroom in ages, to dictate what I should do in my classroom. It frustrates me that we fight to set up programs that are successful and the administration brags about just to find out that when it come to money these programs don't really matter. It frustrates me that teachers are not replaced as they retire or leave the district, class sizes are larger, children who need IEP's are not being identified but we are expected to perform like masters on the test. I feel defeated.

I do love teaching. I like the idea of being a rebel in the classroom. How should I dress for this?

Lois and thought

Lois, great lesson. I really enjoyed both activities and can instantly use them in my classroom. I am sure my kids will have a great time with them. I really enjoyed today's discussion about questioning tradition and having the gumption to not just accept something because "that's the way it has always been." The rich discussion of today really made me engage in more meaningful thought than I have for a some time.

Lois' Demo

Lois,
I thought you did a great job today. That was an exceptionally fun activity which allowed us all to participate and yet still come up with different products from all of us. Very Cool! I hate it when there's an assignment and everyone ends up writing the same thing. Teaching science I may have to be a little more inventive to incorporate it into my classroom, but I can also use it as an ice breaker at the beginning of the year, or as a time filler on those 2 hr delay snow days when we only have 3rd period for 15 minutes, or for a fun activity just as a fun activity. Nice job. Thanks for the ideas.

thoughts 6/25

Today was mindboggling. I found the discussion on the reading last night very enlightening. I'm still ruminating on that. Wow, Don got wound up, and wore me out, but I'm following his thoughts and I'm totally seeing that contrivance in testing, and the whole political side that I never really knew was there from the get go. That makes me angry too. I also believe in the "revolution". I always think of the line in Hunt for Red October where Sean Connery says "a little revolution every couple of hundred years is a good thing." We're past that by several years. But I also believe we can do that revolution within our classrooms, even if we aren't like Don with tenure, we can begin somewhere in changing how we operate within our own realm. I'm finding many areas where I can start that change.

The Revolution will not be televised

This is a test of the emergency reality network. It is only a test. Had this been an actual existential crisis; you would have been given directions that you would find ultimately pointless and depressing. Please move along your merry way.

Wednesday, June 25th

The discussion in our reading group was interesting. We were discussing how we feel we need to go back and allow our students to do more "free" writing without taking their writing through any further steps. We talked about our students needing more time to write and discuss "childish" things that only children truly understand. We want them to write like children and no longer try to get them to write like adults. As a 1st grade teacher, I totally agree with this aspect. I am going to totally rethink my students writing time and what I focus on this year.

Wednesday June 25

Third day has brought me a feeling of routine, which I find wonderful. I am getting comfortable with the excitement of learning. The discussion today was stimulating and brought about all kinds of thoughts I had never considered before. I guess I was most challenged by the discussion about Crowley's essay and Don's presentation regarding SWE. I totally got Don's point of view and can see how the English requirement was used to protect and exclude people based on gender, class and race. I can see his point on how the standardized test still does this. I am still conflicted on some things however. Is it really ok to not prioritize rules of grammar and sentence construction? Is it really ok to ignore my students when they say, "I ain't got no (whatever)"? Shouldn't I WANT to help my students reach above the Hockingese speaking mentality to prepare them to be ABLE to dwell and succeed in another world outside of Hocking County? I know I am not alone in equating AIN'T with poorly educated when I hear it spoken - how can I protect them from future bias in any other way than to persuade them to drop its use? Despite our lengthy discussion, despite Don's convincing argument, I still haven't resolved this. Can someone address this issue and help me out?

Blog Topics for Wednesday June 25

Hey Campers,

You can blog on anything your heart desires, but lacking the heart's desire to come up with something, feel free to draw from my list below:

Sherrie's Mircotheme
Points of Interests from your Reading Group
Freewriting this Morning
The Politics of Writing Instruction
The Politics of Standardized Testing
Anything That You Want Clarity On . . .
Lois' Teaching Demo

Have Fun.

Personal Narratives

I think the opportunity to process through our personal experiences related to our teaching may be as cathartic for many of us as Peter Elbow's was for him! I am challenged to review some of my experiences through  more than one lens! 

museum activity

The "museum" microtheme activity was interesting. I can see many applications for this in just about every classroom. It really does take away some of the stress of writing to use smaller format paper. Of course, as an art teacher I just love the reference to the museum. I can see setting up some art prints and giving my students a post-it note to write their reactions to the art. I might even discuss vocabulary of art terms to help make their writing more descriptive. I am looking for more ways to bring art experiences into my classroom. A lot of my indicators deal with art appreciation and I have found it difficult to include this in my curriculum. This mostly due to a time constraint but also a lack of inspired lesson ideas on my part.Thanks for the idea!

June 24

As I toured the room examining all of the "art" work in our museum, I noticed that there were far more similarities than differences in our products. There were several phrases which stood out that I thought made several pieces very good for me. One included the words, the teacher must have an infectious love of writing. Another statement was to be honest, but not brutal.

I like the idea of microthemes and look forward to trying them in the classroom. I want someone in this group to e-mail me once a week next school year and remind me to try new techniques every week.

Teaching Demo

Great job connecting literature to worldly events. I would like to simplify the list and use it in my first grade classroom.

good writing instructor.

This is not Merrilee, it's Missy' Blog....sorry, I forgot to log in.....

I have learned that being a good writing instructor one must be very versatile. It helps to know a little bit about many subject areas. It also helps to be aware of the many different learning styles that students have. Also, don't be pushy, especially when students are already stumped...it only deepens their anxiety. Give them a safe environment to where they can feel comfortable in sharing their true feelings. In any learning environment, it helps to have a good sense of humor. This makes students relax, and makes you approachable for questions. It also helps to accentuate the positive....(I just had a flash back of the Disney Song of the South...now that song is going to be stuck in my head all night)....Anyway, it's true, if you are too critical of a student's work, they are liable to shut down complete. Always have something good to say. Furthermore, I do feel there is a difference in being a teacher and being an Educator. It may be a fine line, but it's the one that separates the men from the boys, or the women from the girls, as it may be. An educator is that special someone who is willing to go that extra mile to help others learn, and who is a life long learner themselves. Many teachers just run through their routines and put in their time, not really caring what kind of students that they produce. Which one are you?

recipe

Here is the bean salsa recipe. Also known as Hillbilly Caviar.
2 cans of black eyed peas (rinsed)
1 can of hominy (yellow or white) I think yellow looks prettier!
a couple of chopped tomatoes (can used canned)
approx, 1/2 cup each (chopped) of: green onions, red onion, parsley, green pepper (vary these amounts if you particularly like something)
8 oz. bottle of Italian dressing
I also throw in a bit of garlic (a minced clove or two)
Just throw everything together in a bowl. It is best if let to soak overnight before serving. It will keep for about a week, but it never lasts that long at my house!!
You can actually substitute or add anything. I didn't have any black eyed peas once so I used pinto beans. I have also used regular corn instead of hominy...and you can add some hot sauce if you are so inclined.

Enjoy!
Jayne

Elbow's "Failure"

While I don't consider Elbow's personal trials and tribulations failures (teaching at MIT after dropping out of Oxford is not like ending up working at a canning factory on the New England coast) I'll suspend my disbelief and allow that he saw it as a failure.

That said, I do think we learn more from "failures" than we do from "successes." I'm using quotes because (as we can see in Elbow's case) one person's failure is another person's success and vice-versa. It is how we deal with those failures that is crucial to our learning. Hopefully, the critical comments we receive or give to our students will be constructive and delivered with good humor so they will be well-received and learning can take place.

I liked doing the museum or gallery walk this morning with the micro themes. I think it would be a good way for students to review before class. Definitely worthwhile for a math class, seeing what the students learned or what they were confused about from the day before. i also appreciated what was listed as character traits of a good writing teacher. Mostly I appreciated the talk about language; spoken, written, and read. Given the language skills and experiences of our student clientele, I think much reading and discussion needs to occur in the classroom before and as the students write.

Inspiration in the midst of mental chaos

I am not sure what to say about today yet. I think I am still mentally processing all the highways on which my mental thoughts were trying to travel. Several things stick in my mind a bit; the micro-theme activity from this morning, (I definitely want to use Don's "museum" activity in the future) the stimulating discussion following Marlene's wonderful presentation and the additional discussion following the activity of the afternoon (selecting a sentence that had meaning - great strategy). It was the exchange of thoughts and attitudes however, that I found most provocative and will continue to ponder throughout the evening. I could see the stress on Marlene's face as she talked of her life as a teacher at New Lex and I new she paid a price for caring. Not all teachers have the strength, stamina and love of students to tolerate the toll that is exacted on them by dealing with difficult students under difficult situations. Kudos to you, Marlene. I think that was the most memorable part of my day - considering her willingness to still show up every day and give her best to kids who need her, despite the toll it takes. You are the inspiration of my day, Marlene. Thanks for sharing.

Resistance/Compliance

I have been thinking about Elbow's essay. On page 22 he says, "Resistance gives us our own thinking and the ownership over ourselves that permit us to do the giving in that we need for learning; compliance fuels resistance and gives us the skills we need for better resistance."

I think this statement rings true in all areas of life. I think of teenagers who are compliant by following the rules, but grow their hair long, dye it green or have some strange hair style. They are resisting, trying to find their identity, grasping ownership of whatever they resisted. Yet they are following the rules in other ways.

The concept of the resistance/compliance tug-of-war as it applies to learning is huge. I think of Einstein. He was far from the norm; thought to be insane. Babe Ruth was thought to be incorrigible but he sure could play ball.

I know that we learn through the process of disequilibrium. We are taught something or thrown a new concept to chew on and end up in a state of confusion. Our brains work through this confusion and some where along the line we begin to grow and understand new concepts. Our brain wants that balance or equilibrium.

So my concern is...how do I get my third graders to not give up, or not whine, complain, cry to go to the nurse because I have thrown them something to chew on? Where is the desire to figure it out? How do I get them there?

Microthemes

I liked the concept of microthemes regarding the qualities of good writing teachers. I thought with first grade I could have them draw or write about the topic we were learning about and post it on the front wall which I would read the post-its if it were early in the year.

Tuesday, June 24th

Today...what a great place to be! I've learned so much and it's only the 2nd day. Especially on my anniversary. It's a good thing I'm at least having dinner with my husband this evening.

Okay onto more serious issues. Reading the Elbow selection was difficult, confusing, yet interesting all in one. The best part was choosing a sentence that spoke to me. The only difficulty with this was the actual choosing of one. It was hard to choose just one. I chose the sentence dealing with helping students love their writing and love their own ideas. I felt that valuing a students' work, words, and thoughts, would allow them to write, take chances, and be willing to share.

The microtheme was an excellent way to begin our day as well. Noticing so many of the same ideas about the qualities of a good writing instructor was comforting. The teaching demo was helpful and I was able to come up with some ways to use a few of the ideas in 1st grade.

Finally, we discussed our personal essays. So many ideas and I have no idea how I'm going to put them together to make sense to anyone other than myself. So now I have lots of work to do and only a little time to do it in.

Microthemes

I really liked this mornings lesson using microthemes. It was a quick write and non threatening. Posting the stickies around the room allowed everyone to communicate with each other! It gave us an insight into what others want a writing teacher to be like. It was neat to see how much in agreement most of us were. Good activity that can be adapted to many subjects!!

6/24 Good Writing Instructors

I really liked the activity we did this morning on the sticky note listing our thoughts on an ideal writing instructor. It was not really all that time consuming, but gave us time to think, reflect, and share ideas. Then when we did the "museum" part, we could read what everyone else wrote, agree or disagree with it, and keep it in our own journal. That process was simple, but allowed deep thinking, and sharing at the end through discussion was also very helpful. The key point was that no one listed "edits well, or criticizes paper" as something an ideal instructor should do. One common idea was that the instructor should be positive. Validating another's writing is key.
Kris

Day Two Post Ideas

Feel free to blog on the topic of your choice or choose from this list:

Microthemes
"What makes good writing instructors"
Today's Teaching Demo
Elbow's "failure"
Issues of Authority in writing.
Writing as "performance"
The usefulness of "Writing to Learn" activities
Anxieties about your personal essay
Something you learned in writing group

I also wanted to say/ask/explore . . .

I.
When Don assigned the microtheme topic asking us to describe our "ideal" writing teacher, I was especially glad/anxious to see someone write that such a teacher would "assign meaningful readings."
I've been questioning this "meaningful" business in my own teaching: what is meaningful? to whom? Even after a few years, I'm often surprised when my freshmen do not find the topics I'm particularly invested in, well, interesting or meaningful. (I guess this issue also ties into Patti's "bubblegum" debate--where she used bubblegum as an example of engaging students in topics they care about). Well, having typed all of this out, now I've come to conclusion: I'm sure Sherrie will tell me to do both--introduce topics meaningful to both me and topics meaningful to students. Hello. I'm queen of reiteration.

II. I _loved_ our Elbow conversation. For me, Lois' implicit observation that we were mostly talking about young boys resisting writing spoke volumes about internalized gender expectations--especially in terms of what Don was saying about "performance": if males in our culture are socialized not to submit, and if they are indeed afraid to be labeled as "sucking up" and "brownnosing" (all implicit, sexualized forms of submitting, as Elbow notes 24), then their resistance to writing may also be attributed to gender aspects of their identity that we must consider.

So! How do I address that (all of the above and more)? Day to day? Perhaps I need to make adjustments to my own "performance" as a teacher. Back to Elbow: even if I can't completely swallow his "hypothesis that everyone is brilliant" (12), ehem, perhaps I should teach/perform as if they were! I must admit, my strongest classes have been those where I've found myself practicing this very technique (some may simply call it "acting positive," I guess, but I believe the performance goes deeper in ways I should explore).

The discussion about Elbow's essay was very enlightening. Everyone, regardless of our teaching assignments and our experience with personal writing, seem to have serious concerns with helping kids write willingly and well. It's not surprising that we worry that kids have so many problems writing in standard English. We are trying to produce capable, literate students--it's what we do. What I liked about Elbow's essay was his understanding of this problem and his desire to give students exactly what they need--from recording the earliest, least readable thoughts to creataing the finished product. The class discussion was helpful in that we were all struggling to get our heads around some pretty important ideas, and ones that seem on surface to be contradictory.

june 23, Presentation

Patti's presentation was wonderful! I really like the idea of hands on to keep students engaged. I can see many applications for me in my art classroom. It would be better for students in elementary school to write a sequence of steps to explain how the "art" was made than to get into the weighty discussions of judging art and using art terms that may be unfamiliar to some. This would be excellent practice that could spill over into the regular classroom. I actually do a 2nd grade project called a paper sculpture that is very similar. Students could write after the fact to inform someone as to how the process unfolded and tell it in their own words.

Monday, June 23

Well, I'm glad my demonstration is finished! That makes today a stellar day. Only 17 days left. Now if I can just get my personal essay done tonight, and my research paper done this weekend, I'll be all set.

I loved the "Writing as Reflective Action" article and am anxiously awaiting the opportunities to use them. I really think these are going to make me a much better thinker. I am also eager to use the response journal to reinforce what my students recall about text-based assignments. I have found that my students do not often understand or recall important vocabulary or major concepts even though I try to provide hands-on experiences that will reinforce them. I think the response journal would be a perfect technique.

I am glad Peter Elbow so eloquently expressed some of my more primitive thoughts about student dialect and SWE. I have long resented people who say we speak "Hockingese." What else would I speak since I live here? He suggests a balance between SWE and the mother tongue, which I find interesting. The diagram and discussion about writing to learn and writing to communicate helped me to understand his article even more.

I had a chance to look over the CD Rom. It was quite helpful and seems well-organized. Sharing and Responding looks interesting; again I'm looking forward to trying out some of these strategies. I am already beginning to think of the many practices I will change this coming year.

I'm anxious to see how our discussions develop regarding In the Middle. It's one of the first graduate classes I've taken where we (several students) will monitor our own reading and discussion of a text.

Monday- Day 1

I believe I have a better understanding regarding writing to learn and writing to communicate and I know I need to move away from expecting capital letters and periods with every sentence that students write but I wonder if parents or others will think I am not doing my job when I allow them to write without using capitals and periods.

Day 1/ Patti's Demo

I thought this was a great hands on activity that can be used in any subject area at any level. Students love to collaborate on projects and activities, especially if they are hands on. This is also a good activity to stress the importance of following instructions. So often students misinterpret or completely disregard directions of a particular assignment. This activity will illustrate to the students the importance of following instructions to a "T". This activity could be used in science to stress the importance of finding certain locations on the globe. For example use a Styrofoam sphere and have the students use different items to locate the equator, north and south poles, prime meridian, Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, continents, ring of fire, etc. This can be done with given written directions or with the "Write it/ Do it" technique. The students may find it frustrating at first, but once they get the hang of it...watch them go.

Theory v Practice v Real Life

My greatest concern is being able to transfer writing theory, e.g. Peter Elbow, into classroom writing practice. I teach five English classes with an average of 25 students per class and I want to find the balance of doing right by my students and having a life. I'm confident, however, that I will find what I need to strike the balance.

OAWP- Monday

I love this class because I have learned more about teaching writing through the readings and the information presented in the last two days than I have learned through any teacher training or any other experience. One thing I might have some trouble with is my journaling. I start out with reflections and connections, etc. but I seem to end up with summarizing the text.

Writing to Learn/Writing to communicate 6/23/08

The whole discussion on the writing to learn continuum to writing to communicate was very engaging. I think I have so often focused writing assignments on only one end or the other and left out a lot of the middle ground. I have found it difficult to know how to grade and felt like Marlene at times, where I feel there is not enough time to do writing justice. When I was teaching intervention English, I felt so inept at helping the kids grow their writing ability, as well as teach grammar, literature, and research. Now I am seeing that writing daily, small amounts of time about what students are thinking is just as important, or even more important than just focusing on spelling, grammar, etc.. Writing to learn is a freeing concept. I don't have to expect kids to have a finished draft for every writing assignment. I can feel OK about an assignment that I just check as done or not done. But I also need to move students toward the end of communication at times. I liked Don's explanation "What is the Goal?", as well as Sherrie's explanation that it is "Both, And". The question "What is the goal?" helps me see what I want the kids to focus on and let them know that, so they don't focus only on spelling, and grammar. The "Both, And" concept helps me see that we don't just do one thing or the other, but rather we are trying to accomplish student learning and work toward the communication end as well. I found the discussion very thought provoking.

Mother Tongue!

After the discussion today on Elbow and the Mother Tongue I understand the difference between writing to learn and writing to communicate. However, I still fill apprehensive about when and when not to worry about conventions in the early grade levels. I can imagine one of my students writing on a topic and the paper will be one mass of words not making any sense to them or any one they share it with. I am going to really work hard on my thoughts and practices concerning this topic!

June 23, 2008

Today in class we discussed writing to learn versus writing to communicate. As a 1st grade teacher I'm having difficulty finding the ability to allow my students to write without using typical conventions. I understand the reasoning behind allowing them to write freely but on the other hand I find the need to make sure that they learn those conventions such as spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. This will be a true learning experience for me. I definitely need to loosen my expectations at the beginning of the year and then add expectations of those typical writing conventions as the year progresses. This will benefit myself as well as my future students.

Also during class today we had a presentation by Patti. What an interesting activity that I can adapt for my 1st grade students. I was thinking instead of having my students write the directions, I could have them tell another adult and they could scribe for them or they could record their directions onto a machine and then the partner could listen and then follow along. This will be a great addition to my classroom routine. Thanks Patti!

First Day

Until today I was pretty fried with any ideas for writing or teaching writing. In fact, if any one asked 2 weeks ago, I would say I hated teaching writing. Last quarter was a difficult one - mostly just work/grading overload.

However, gearing up for this institute with the readings and then Patti's demonstration this morning has re-energized me. Being with other teachers and building off one another's passion to teach well is always a boost and gets me hooked all over again.

I think we covered a lot of ground discussing the tension we all experience between addressing our responsibility to teach standards/ conventions and encouraging thinking and processing through writing. I often feel, as a college level instructor, that if middle and high school teachers of all subjects did more of the learning through writing experiences so that students come to college prepared to think and respond critically in writing ( and speech) that I would be happy to spend the time refining the conventions, honing the communication skills.

I just want students to explore what they think - and care about showing thinking in their writing! So many come to college still wanting to be told what to think or avoiding thinking to any degree or depth. Grasping this continuum concept for writing at the earliest levels of writing instruction is such a welcome idea. Intuitively, I would expect that many of us already do this, but to understand it as strategy takes it to the next level.

journals

I am excited about using journals across the curriculum. I like this idea for a couple of reasons. One being that the student will have to read to respond. Another reason is some kids don't like to ask questions out loud and this would give the opportunity to ask questions or make comments. I think it will take time to get the students in the practice of writing good journal entries. It will take a lot of demonstration on my part. This will be my second year in 3rd grade and I feel like journal writing will fill in some of the gaps I felt existed last year.

I think I can set up a KWL journal for some topics/subjects. This would be very similar to the Triple_Entry Incident Journal mentioned in the article "Writing As Reflective Action." I am looking for ways to get all the student engaged. I think this is one way.

I also want to incorporate more shared writing activities to teach some of the mechanics of writing. This will allow the students to learn in a non-threatening environment.

June 23 - Writing to Learn?

Writing to learn? What a concept. I found myself very engaged in Don and Sherrie's diagram of Writing to Learn (versus writing to communicate). The discussion really got my brain working and wondering about how I should change old attitudes about writing. It was exciting to consider writing as a means to learning WITHOUT BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR GRAMMAR AND FORMAT ACCURACY! Wow. Case in point: my father was a journalist and an excellent writer. I still remember him gently and sometimes not so gently, tearing apart my writing as he looked for grammatical problems. He was trying to build my skills but all I remember was feeling like a failure. He tried to point out positives, but all I remember was my sense of inadequacy. My dad (the expert!) spent more time rebuilding my work than finding any redeeming value in my message. My experiences directly point out the problems with focusing TOO much on structure without developing a sense of confidence in the development of a message. With that in mind, imagine my epiphany moment as I realized that I am fundamentally a product of the problems that occur when there is an over emphasis on structure! I have had that approach so ingrained in me that I find it difficult to rewire my thoughts about the way to approach writing. But rewire I must. Wonderfully, I find myself excited about this rewiring I find happening in my head. In fact, just like when I have seen a great movie I want all my friends to see, I want to tell every teacher I know about this great way to view the teaching of writing. The good thing about my previous teaching is that since I was not actually an LA teacher, no great damage was caused by my ignorance. The great thing about future teaching is that even though I do not teach LA, I can be a more positive influence in the development of m students writing skills!