The Party is Over, But Not Really

When I embarked on a sabbatical last January, I think my family was imagining me being on vacation from work. Maybe this is what some people do when they are on sabbatical, but I had other plans. I was looking forward to a semester of learning, reading, writing, watching. Yes, I could keep my own schedule and plan each day as I chose. This in itself is like a gift of gold. In fact, having my time be my own was so precious that I soon realized that I didn't want to waste a minute, because all too soon the time would come when the sabbatical would be over. It's likely I will not have a chance like this ever again. So I lost patience with wasted time - unnecessary meetings, gossip, and listening to others complain about things that are in their control to change. I looked on every day as a gift. I started with a stack of books I planned to read, a book I began writing, and a desire to learn - especially about technology. Now that my sabbatical has come to an end, I am happy to say I accomplished my goals. I am satisfied with what I accomplished and how I spent my time. I have no regrets!

Lest I seem like a workaholic, let me just say that I did step away from thoughts of teaching and learning to take on a completely unrelated project. I worked with my family to organize a fund raising walk for ovarian cancer - the Whisper Walk for Ovarian Cancer Awareness in honor of the memory of our mother. I could never had given time to leading this event without the flexibility of my sabbatical. Actually this project will impact my teaching in ways I hadn't realized. I believe real-life experiences add to the depth and details of our personal interactions, which is at the heart of teaching.

As my sabbatical has drawn to a close, I am thrilled to be able to say that I recently received a contract to publish my book - Forward Thinking: Language Arts on the Move, a multimedia language arts textbook. It looks like the fun will continue.
I am including a link to the digital essay I have created about my sabbatical. Not only the content, but also the video I created myself speak to the incredible collection of experiences I was fortunate to have over the past few months. Thank you to all of the teachers who let me visit their classrooms and to the children who made me feel at home.

mms://mythos2.emporia.edu/esumedia/edobler/project.wmv

I love being back in a Kindergarten classroom - the grade I last taught before coming to the university. During this last part of my sabbatical project, I specifically searched for a Kindergarten classroom to visit because I know it's such a special place; one that is unique from the other elementary grades. I was fortunate to find Gina Bennett's classroom where I have been reminded of the balancing act Kindergarten teachers play. Gina, and other Kindergarten teachers like her, must strike a balance between mother, nurse, coach AND teacher. They ease children into the transition of the school world and lay the groundwork for future success. They also button pants, dole out kleenex, calm tears, and listen to endless stories - some true, and some not so true. They are constantly modeling, nudging, and guiding, and for their reward, they receive a hug - from a walking germ box. :) But it's worth it!

Is It Noisy Writing or Music to Our Ears?

Writing time in Kindergarten is a noisy affair. Jubilant enthusiasm becomes apparent as students cheer with delight when the teacher says it's time to write. Young learners are a-buzz as they talk to their neighbor about ideas for writing. Little mouths are puckering and sputtering as they isolate sounds make their wonderful early attempts at spelling.

This week I have the pleasure of witnessing writing time first-hand in Gina Bennett's Kindergarten classroom at Meadows Elementary. Gina's classroom is alive with stimuli for writing - caterpillars in the process of becoming butterflies, sprouting seeds magnifying glasses sit in a tray, maracas await the Cinco de Mayo celebration, and even a classroom pet - Moe the therapy dog - may inspire ideas. Gina's Kindergarten students are at varying levels of writing abilities from dictating ideas to Gina, to filling in a word to a sentence Gina has written, to writing 2, 3, even 4 sentences on their own. Gina patiently meets each student at his/her ability level and gently nudges the student on to the next level. For the entire class, she reminds them that periods are small dots, a sentence starts with an upper case letter, and a pencil jumps over when starting a new word. Gina's persistence and patience is paying off as students have made progress by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the year.

What a joy it is to see young writers at work! They remind me of where we all began as writers and that progress involves baby steps and practice. They also remind me that writing is not necessarily a silent act!

Fixing the Economy

Imagine where we would be today if the current economic crisis could have been averted or at least lessened. What if we started, in the middle school, teaching students about the financial responsibilities of home ownership? I watched this teaching occurring at Turning Point Learning Center on a recent visit. The students were learning about mortgages, interest rates, foreclosures – the language of economics. Prior to my visit, the students had selected a career, explored degree requirements, colleges, costs, and salaries. They had each prepared a budget and were now ready to purchase a house. The search began with consideration of their housing needs and then proceeded on to a local realtor company’s website, where each student found a house to meet their needs. Considerations included price, size, value, and location.
On the day of my visit, a local realtor had come to visit and share her expertise about buying a home. Together she helped the students explore a mortgage website, where they calculated the loan payments for their home over 30 years. She talked with the students about principle, interest, and payments while encouraging students to remember they may not want to borrow as much money as the bank is willing to loan them. Part of the research for this project included looking up the property value and property taxes, to be included in the budget.
Definitely the fifth graders at this middle school had glassy eyes by the end of the lesson. Several of the older students were “getting it”. I could tell when one student compared paying off your loan early to eating your cheeseburger more quickly. Another likened it to returning in rented DVD back so you don’t have to pay a late fee. These practical comparisons reflect the depth of knowledge generated by these students.
Hmmm, what would happen if some of the adults in financial difficulties had learned these economic principles earlier in life? Maybe there would have been no crisis at all.

Writing on the Table

Imagine my surprise when Scott Ritter actually told the students in his third grade class to write the word algorithm on their tables. That astonishment continued when he asked them to write what they think the word algorithm means – on their tables. Scott actually likes academic content being written on the tables that students have instead of desks. By the end of the day, each table is an amazing collection of the learning that has occurred throughout the day. Besides the obvious saving of paper, I was struck by the notion that writing on the table makes learning seem more like the practice that it actually is. Spelling, math problems, sketches of ideas all become explicit rather than hanging in the air or kept tucked away in our brain. Different versions of an idea or word can be easily shared, easily corrected, and quickly referred to later in the day, if needed. No needless graffiti, scribbling, or otherwise non-academic writing is allowed. And of course, at the end of the day tables are cleaned by the students in preparation for the next day’s blank slate to be filled with new learning.

Writing Process - Warts and All

What a wonderful chance I had today to watch the writing process – warts and all. Before writing, Scott, a third grade teacher, gave the students lots of background knowledge, ways to organize their thinking/writing, setting the purpose for writing, thinking about the audience, and what they want their story to be about, and still some struggled. One could easily see how much mental attention goes into writing. Of course there are the students who just take off and go, barely stopping to show they are aware of those around them. Then there are the ones who stop and start, getting out a few words then stopping, thinking, writing. Some will sit with their hand up, waiting, waiting, expecting some nudge from a teacher that will help them over their writing hump. There is usually a student or two who gets the title down in a quick burst of energy, but then stalls out, with no other ideas coming. And finally there is the student who has nothing but a blank page after 15 minutes of writing time. All of these are normal, and all pose some type of challenge to the teacher of writing.
I had the pleasure of watching this writing time recently at Scott Ritter’s classroom at Scott Technology Magnet School in Topeka. Scott did a phenomenal job of preparing his students to write a story by first giving them a prompt “ A tsunami is on the way, and you are the only one who knows it. Think about how you could warn people of the tsunami and help them escape the giant wave. Now write a story about how you saved the day.” He showed a video clip about tsunamis and discussed this with the students, incorporating much of the same vocabulary from the video into the discussion. He also told the students in the morning that they would be writing the story in the afternoon, giving them a three hour heads-up to think about what they wanted to write. I like this idea, instead of just springing it on them and expecting students to pump out a story. Then during writing time, Scott guided the students through the process of setting a purpose or purposes for their story, considering the audience, and thinking about the most important point of their story. He also gave them a short list of sequencing words he wanted them to try to incorporate into the story so there would be a sense of flow from one idea to the next. And then he did my favorite part of the lesson. Scott gave the third grade students a copy of the six trait rubric he wanted them to use to keep in mind the expectations for their writing. He told students that for this assignment they should focus on the trait of organization. Then he went one step further and talked about each level on the rubric, clarifying the terms as needed. It’s so important to set that criteria for young writers BEFORE they begin. This year I have been battling my son’s high school English teacher with doing this, and I am losing. So I was very heartened to see Scott clearly share his expectations with students. It is a joy to watch quality writing instruction, and I am incredibly lucky to spend time with some fabulous teachers who recognize this!

Meeting Students' Needs

On my visit in a second grade classroom, the teacher, Sarah, and her class made a class book that they had formally published by www.nationwide-learning.com. Sarah saved the book to share with students during the sharing time of writing workshop, which she called “The Big Reveal”. The book is hardbound with color illustrations, and the cover has a photo of the entire class. Each student read his or her page and showed the illustration while sitting in the author’s chair. It was easy to see the pride on their faces from being a part of this publication. There is a fee to purchase individual copies of the books, and not all students bought one to keep; however the teacher has a copy that can be kept in the classroom library for all to see. All students contributed to the book, no matter their abilities. Some of the written pages were short and some long; some of the illustrations simple and some elaborate; some handwriting was neat and some not so neat. The important thing is all could contribute at their level. This concept is at the heart of writing workshop!
Sarah spoke to me about her beliefs in the value of writing workshop. She sees the daily structure of independent writing time as a way for students to freely express themselves – something they may not have the opportunity to do during any other aspect of the school day, and for some, not even outside of school. She tells stories of students whose stomach aches and daily ailments seem to get better during writing workshop. Sarah is an advocate for the use of writing workshop to meet the individual of students, and she definitely has experience in this area. Within her classroom of 23 students, nine students have some type of special need. Four students are learning English as a second language. Sarah is bilingual, so she is able to communicate with the students when English is too challenging. I watched her conduct a writing conference in Spanish when she could tell that the student needed a more in-depth explanation than he could understand in English; however the majority of the teaching and learning is done in English. In addition to these students, there are three students with various challenges to learning, one student with autism who receives Tier 3 special education services, and one student with other health impairments related to behavior. Various adults move in and out of the room throughout the day to assist along with various students leaving the classroom for extra help.
Each of these students is a full participant during writing workshop. One student who is not writing words independently traces over his words that have been written down by another adult. Another student is able to write his story, but has difficulty reading the words aloud. Still another student can say the three sentences of her story, but cannot put sounds and letters together to write the words. While another student talks of being an author when she grows up, writing two-page stories which include vivid details and written conversations. It has been amazing to see what these students can do when given the opportunity to express themselves through writing.

Writing Workshop

My sabbatical travels have taken me to Whitson Elementary in Topeka, Kansas where I have the pleasure of being a part of writing workshop in Sarah Lucero's second grade classroom. I am making almost daily visits during this workshop time, which gives me the opportunity to collect samples and to interact with the students. It's such a pleasure to see a fully functioning writing workshop where the students choose what they want to write about and are given the time, space, and materials to take their writing through each stage of the writing process. Sarah has devised a clever system of having the students keep track of where they are in the writing process. A bulletin board display is used so that she can easily track the progress as students move from one step to the next.

Sarah begins the workshop with a mini-lesson based on the grade level curriculum and what the students need extra help with, as she has noticed during writing conferences. So far I have seen mini-lessons about inserting quotation marks, using a powerful writing tree to plan out writing, and publishing their writing in booklets. These lessons are brief, as Sarah frequently lets the students know that she wants them to have plenty of time to work on their writing. During the mini-lesson Sarah reminds students of the ways what she is teaching can be applied to their writing. During the actual writing time, students are working at various stages of the writing process. On-task students are rewarded with the use of a clipboard or pillow during writing time. The classroom is busy with active writers. Sarah is busy holding individual conferences with students.

Once students have finished a piece of writing, practiced reading it aloud to themselves, and visited with a peer editor, they are ready to bring the writing to a conference with Sarah. This is done at her desk, and the student is expected to use editor marks to make corrections as the two of them read the piece of writing together. They sit across from each other with the writing on a small shelf between them. Sarah gives specific individualized instruction to each student during the five minute or so writing conference. Between conferences Sarah checks on the progress of students and answers questions that have been waiting during the conference. She has trained the students not to interrupt writing conferences unless they are bleeding, can’t breathe, or barfing (the 3 B’s).

At the end of the day on Fridays, Sarah has scheduled a sharing time. She makes this a celebration atmosphere by having students put table cloths on the desk and passing out drinks and snacks. The author’s chair is draped with small Christmas lights, and the plastic megaphone is made ready for each author to use. One student sets the stage by saying, “lights, camera, action”, each author takes a turn sharing their writing. After each one finishes reading, the class gives two snaps (instead of clapping), and then share stars or positive comments. This is truly a celebration of the work and effort it takes for each student to write and publish their own work.

Sarah clearly values student writing as seen by the time she devotes to writing workshop each week. When I ask her about the development of writing workshop in her classroom, she kindly says that she first learned about it from me, as she is a former student. Although I may have planted the seed in language arts methods class, Sarah has clearly tended the delicate plant that has grown into a wonderful thing to behold!

Legit

My teenagers use the word "legit". Is it a real word? We were recently on vacation and stopped by the Westin in St. Louis to pick up our rental car, then drove to our hotel, the Residence Inn. The kids described the Westin as "legit" as opposed to the Residence Inn, which I describe as "homey".


On my recent visit to Turning Point Learning Center, I considered the term legit as it relates to school. I would compare legit to the term authentic - closely related to real life. The learning activities I saw throughout the day are legit - not a one time special project, not put on as a show for visitors, but a real part of an authentic learning experience. I have visited the school for 10 days (more than any other visitor - my badge of honor). Each and everyday is full of learning opportunities that reflect real life - learning opportunities that are so engaging, I wish I were a young student again. Here are some great activities that I observed - just in the morning!
1. Brain Attack (my term) - Students are given 30 minutes to become an expert on a topic; this time it was some aspect of life in Haiti in preparation for the Global Nomads video conference. They work in a small group and share the responsibility for locating information, creating a deliverable (a paragraph description of the information) and adding the information to a Google document that is being collaboratively created by the whole class. The teacher is continually reminding the students to work together and work quickly. Talk about reflecting what many of us are expected to do in our "legit" jobs or other real life situations!
2. Teachers share how they organize the desktop of their computer with a tool called BumpTop 3D Desk Enhancement. They compare the desktop computer screen to the top of their desk at home or work and discuss their personal organizational styles and how this tool can enhance their own style. I know I could use a little more organization of my virtual and real desk tops.
3. Book Club - TPLC students are partnering with students at the local high school to read and discuss the book "The Art of Learning". Through Skype, both groups hold an interactive discussion about the first few chapters of the book. A book club is a natural extension of reading. I know when I am reading a book, I often feel compelled to share with others - my husband usually. When I find someone who has read the same book, I seek out that connection - What was your favorite part? Why do you think that happened? Did you like the ending? Sharing with each other is a natural or "legit" part of reading.
4. Collaborative Sticky Notes - Wallwisher is a website where users can post virtual sticky notes with brief messages or links to other websites. The teachers and students at TPLC prepared a wallwisher to share with students at the local university in the Introduction to Teaching course. In about 25 minutes, the class brainstormed a virtual collection of online presentation tools that (future) teachers could use to present information. The group agreed that the tools should be universal (not specific to Mac or PC). One student started the wall and others added sticky notes to create an amazing collection of tools - many of which I have never heard of! This activity reminded me of the power of collaboration - each of us adds a bit of what we know to make a powerful collection of knowledge. Thus what we know becomes more "legit". http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/intro2teaching

I want the learning for my college students to be legit. I have always tried to make the assignments in my class authentic - ones that closely relate to what they will actually do as teachers. Now I want to focus more on what they will do as learners when they are leaders in their own classroom.

I had the pleasure of visiting with Dr. Cyndi Danner Kuhn at Kansas State University. She teaches teacher education technology courses and assists faculty with learning to integrate technology into their teaching. Cyndi is a wealth of information when it comes to technology resources for teachers, and I felt very lucky to have the chance to visit with her. I wanted her to help me understand what it takes for teachers to successfully integrate technology into their teaching - beyond having the hardward. Throughout our discussion, she focused on these points.

1. The number one thing is for teachers to have access. All too often school districts put limits on the Internet that keep teachers from being able to successfully use technology in their teaching. Instead of blocking almost everything and letting only a few websites come through, the Internet should be open, with only a few sites (inappropriate ones) blocked. For many school districts, this is a huge shift in the thinking used to make such decisions.

2. Bravery and a willingness to take risks are crucial for teachers to step out of their technology comfort zone. Cyndi often spoke about the fact that success breeds success. When a teacher tries something new with technology and it's successful, he/she becomes excited and wants to try something else. This enthusiasm is often contagious to other colleagues, and then things just take off.

3. Underlying the integration of technology into instruction is an attitude of sharing. This attitude is not limited to education though. There is a whole culture of sharing that encompasses the Internet. Blogs, tweets, Facebook, emails, vodcasts, videos, all reflect a person's desire to share with others. Do these things represent an innate need to be heard? Cyndi emphasizes the importance of having students create projects that can be shared with others. This act of sharing causes students to step up the quality of their work a couple of notches, since they know that others will be seeing it. Sharing also gives us a reason to create something - not just because it's an assignment from the teacher. Cyndi emphasized that there are tons of free resources where students can create projects to share with others. It makes me almost ashamed that I have been teaching the students in my language arts classes about publishing student writing in only paper form.

4. An important realization for teachers must be that things that are created for the Web are not ever really finished. We must help students move away from the notion that you complete a project and it's finished. Things like wikispaces and blogs are works in progress. Along this same line is the realization that there are several ways a project could be created on the Web and one way is not the "right" way. I think sometimes teachers hold back on using technology because they are not sure what is the "right" or best way. Do I share this information on a website, in a blog, on a wiki, or through a podcast? Each one is different and can be used effectively, depending on your purpose.

Above all, Cyndi emphasized that integrating technology should be fun for the teacher and students. Having fun is what seems to drive Cyndi to continue in this work, and her enthusiasm is contagious. I came home and was going on and on to my husband about the cool resources she shared with me!

http://www.cyndidannerkuhn.info/CDK/Home.html - Cyndi's webpage including links to her college class, blog, contact information, and the free newsletter she publishes

http://technologykeys.wikispaces.com/ - Wiki created by Cyndi and Mary Frazier that has TONS of resources for teachers

Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy

Part of my visit to Nevada took me to the Andre Agassi College Preparatory School in Las Vegas. Begun in 2000, this school exists for the sole purpose of helping students who might not be successful in school graduate and go to college. Those who graduate have the honor of walking across this skywalk as part of their graduation ceremony. Students at the school are selected through a weighted lottery system, giving first priority to students who live within a two mile radius of the school. Beginning in Kindergarten through high school, the school stresses high academic expectations and a value on education. Three state-of-the-art buildings make up the secured campus, where there is an emphasis on art and music as exhibited by the artwork in the hallways (professionals and students), the orchestra, Suzuki violin classes for elementary students and the African drumming class taught by an African who returned to Africa one summer to have the drums for the class hand-made.

I spent most of my time with the Kindergarten teachers, where they were celebrating Nevada Read Week by dressing up as a favorite book character. One of the K teachers is dressed as Clifford. The students were just finishing writing time as I entered. For several, they are recopying a rough draft that has been edited by the teacher in blue pen. They are able to work independently as the teacher conferences with individuals. Between the two classrooms there are three teachers. One is a floating teacher who goes back and forth, working with small groups of students. She was an apprentice last year through a program sponsored by Beachum where new teachers are hired for about half salary as they serve under a more experienced teacher. The program was discontinued, but AACPA elected to hire an aid for each classroom and a full time teacher for K, where they have 39 students. The students are grouped for reading into four groups – the first grade aid takes one group. Also, they are grouped into 3 groups for phonics and some math.
Kindergarten students come for a month in the summer before K starts. There they are taught about the structure of school and begin on the K curriculum. The academic expectations for the school are very high, so by October the Kindergarten students are beginning on the first grade curriculum. They use Saxon phonics and math, and I watched the students using first grade materials.

The Board of Directors sets the academic expectations for the school, but the K teachers can adjust the schedule and teaching activities to best meet these expectations. For instance, at the beginning of the year, they spend a lot of time on handwriting, to teach letter formation, and this is usually taught first thing in the morning. Then after a month or two, they back off from handwriting and move it to the end of the day, and process writing becomes more important. They have the professional freedom to make such decisions, and the two K classrooms operate jointly when making these decisions. Since the students move back and forth between the classrooms for grouping, all three of the teachers know all of the students. They discuss student progress frequently. I heard a discussion of a student’s writing, and how she had three disjointed sentences instead of three sentences on topic, like another student. They talked about how to help the one student move to this level.

Nothing I saw at the school was innovative or unique. Of course the facilities were top of the line, and materials were not in short supply. So I found myself wondering what made this school special. How were these teachers able to move the students at an accelerated pace? First, more time. The school day is extended. Other schools in Las Vegas get out of school at 1:30 while AACPA gets out at 3:30, not to mention the Kindergarten students coming for a month in the summer. Second, the quality of the teachers. The two teachers I visited with had experience and knowledge. One had finished her masters degree and one was working on hers. Third, class size. With three teachers and 39 students, more individualized attention could be given to students. Fourth, high expectations. The ultimate goal of the program is for these children to graduate from college. Instilling this value begins in Kindergarten. I heard one teacher give an explanation of what a banker does – helping students to “see” what the possibilities are for their futures. Fifth, parent involvement. Parents are expected to do 12 hours of volunteer work each school year. These parents are involved and their dedication is seen and passed on to their children. I think sixth on the list is facilities/materials. Having these things is helpful and gives a message to the students that education is important.

One has to look up to see the skywalk in the photo. I think this symbolizes having the students look up for their dreams, which clearly is promoted by the school. I am impressed with what they can accomplish and with Andre Agassi's commitment to education.

This week I have traveled to Boulder City, Nevada, a small town outside of Las Vegas. My close friend I have known since college is a first grade teacher at a small Christian school, and she and the other faculty members have graciously hosted me for the better part of the week. My friend Pam taught first grade for a few years after graduation, and then took time away from school to raise her children. Last year she returned to teaching and now has a combination class of 15 first and second graders. When I asked if I could visit, we began making plans for things she would like to do in her classroom, but there never seems to be enough time. This week, we have begun journal writing, created a listening center, had an author's study of Dr. Seuss' works, and set up a computer center. We have apparently inspired many of the children to write, as seen by all of the wonderful writing pieces they have shared with us. I think Pam has enjoyed the new ideas, and I know I have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in all the aspects of her classroom - including going to the office for a can of Lysol, observing two students arguing over a rock, and cleaning up guinea pig droppings. How quickly I had forgotten the glamour that is elementary school! I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend an extended time with children though. I have said before that teaching is like riding a bike, and it's comforting to know that I can still do it!

Grace Christian Academy has four classroom teachers and about 40 students. The school uses a Christian-based curriculum, something that is new to me. I am very comfortable with the daily chapel time which includes lots of singing and the prayer at the end of the day, along with the references throughout the day to values and morals. I think a small private school, like this one, fills a niche in a community and provides an alternative for children and families. I can't help but wonder if schools that are alternatives to the public schools will not become more popular over the next few years as public schools are pressed to meet the expectations for No Child Left Behind. The limit on the Kindergarten classroom is 10 students for a
3 1/2 hour program. Just think of the individual attention those students receive!

One of the most amazing things I have seen this week is the emphasis on handwriting and the second grader's fluent use of cursive. I would have never guessed that first graders could be introduced to cursive and second graders could be writing full sentences in cursive by the beginning of March.

Today I had the opportunity to read to the Kindergarteners and visit with their teacher, Mary Jo Zapolski. She is 71 years old has been teaching for 38 years in both public and private schools at Kindergarten and First Grade. It was a pure pleasure to talk with her about the ways she teaches language arts to the young learners in her class. Mary Jo feels she has been called to teach, and, although small, her classroom is bright and happy place of learning. We talked about my role as a teacher of teachers, and she offered a bit of advice to my students. She is a firm believer that good classroom management is the key to success in teaching. New teachers should set their expectations with students from the first day and then continue to remind them of those expectations. Mary Jo plans to continue teaching as long as she is enjoying herself and can give to the students. She shared a comment that made me smile, although I don't think these are originally her words. "I wish the history of my life were written on my resume rather than written on my face."

The Widget Hunt

Okay, so I have been trying to figure out what a widget is for about two weeks. I first heard the term at Turning Point, but so many new things were swirling around in my head that I didn't really latch on to it until later. Then I was visiting the iConnect website and saw that Charlie from TPLC knows a thing or two about widgets. I checked out the resources there, but soon realized that my background knowledge was not strong enough to even really understand what I was seeing. Next I turned to my go-to-guy when it comes to technology - my fifteen year old son. He had no idea. My second go-go-guy, my husband was also clueless about widgets. Since I know I am supposed to be driving my own learning, I continued on in my pursuit. I went to the old standby - Wikipedia. Here is what I found, "a physically inspired applet on the web." I have no idea what that means. So my latest attempt is to just give it a try. My Shelfari account asks if I want a widget for my blog. Hmmm, I think, how bad can it be? If something goes wrong, I can just delete it, right? Not really knowing what I was doing, I worked through the steps in Shelfari to create the widget. Voila! My blog has a link to my Shelfari page. So what is a widget exactly? A link from one website to another? I am still not sure, but I am getting closer.

Frontline Digital Nation - PBS

I confess to being a multi-tasker. While typing this blog entry, I am listening to a television program and eating a snack. Within the matter of a few minutes, I have paused to let the dog in, restart the dryer, and answer the telephone. I relish the thought of simply sitting and reading, because it seems to rarely happens. Today I watched the television program Digital Nation on PBS. It's a documentary about the current state of the ways technology is influencing our lives. A theme throughout the program is the amount of multitasking done by students and how much this impacts their learning. The research in this area is limited, but early studies indicate that the brain can really only do one thing really well at a time. Consider driving, studying, and having a conversation. Students believe they can do 5-6 or more things at once all of the time. Teachers wonder about the decline in writing and reading skills and how much of this can be contributed to an increase in technology

The program narrators wonder if we are creating people who are unable to think well and clearly. Are we changing what it means to be a human being? Wow, these are important questions. The program also describes students in South Korea who have become addicted to video games to the point that they go to Internet addiction camp. Researchers wonder about the impact of the Internet on the brain. I do too! I have read such concerns before, but have not taken them very seriously. Like everything else, there must be a balance. Why did the parent let her child play video games for 50 hours straight without food or water? Have some become so wrapped up that they can't turn it off? Is technology just masking problems that have existed long before we powered-up?

I have to admit the program made me have some doubts. I know that multitasking is a problem, and the availability to instant information contributes to this - the urgent "need" to jump from one technology to another. I see my son and his addiction to his cell phone - is there cell phone addiction camp? I wonder how much the integration of technology into instruction contributes to this phenomenon. Food for thought.

A Learner or A Teacher?

The idea for my sabbatical project came during the fall semester of 2008, when I was teaching language arts methods. Throughout the course I gave my usual presentation of various writing samples I had collected from my classroom teaching days. As I was explaining the samples and what the students did, I noticed the dates on the students’ writing – 1989, 1992, 1994. Even though it didn’t seem that long ago to me (a sign that I am getting old?), I could tell that examples didn’t have as much credibility with the students as I would hope. Also, each semester I try to give a vivid explanation of writing workshop to the students, the structure I had used in my classroom for teaching writing. Unfortunately, only about ¼ of my students reported seeing writing workshop, and of those, the quality of the workshop varied greatly. So I thought I would go out in search of teachers who are using writing workshop and video/audio tape them to bring back to my students.

A difficulty I encountered early on was identifying teachers who use writing workshop and even teachers who teach writing at all. My years of networking came in handy as I contacted colleagues in various districts asking if they knew of teachers who used writing workshop. These teachers were difficult to find! I began to wonder if writing workshop is a dying art. If teachers aren’t teaching writing in a workshop approach, how are they teaching writing? Or maybe a better questions is, are they teaching writing?

Also, I had a profound experience in the grocery store (isn’t that a good place for a profound experience?!). I met up with one of the interns I supervised for her year placement at an elementary school and who was an outstanding student in both the reading and language arts classes I teach. Now this was not just any intern, this young woman was recently named as one of the outstanding new teachers in the state. I told her of my sabbatical project and had a thought that maybe I could visit her classroom. When I asked her if she used writing workshop, she gave me a blank stare, like she had never heard of it! Then she said that she does teach some writing, but not as much as she would like. She didn’t really know about teaching it in a workshop form though. I was stunned! Here I had thought that describing writing workshop was an integral part of my instruction. I had hoped that I would be inspiring new teachers to value writing workshop, and the opportunities to write daily, to the point that they would make time for these things in their hectic school schedule. I was crushed by the reaction from a teacher who was only in her second year of teaching.

Then I had the opportunity to visit Turning Point Learning Center for a day last October. I saw kids writing for the purpose of sharing with others through podcasts, tweets, new articles, annotations of websites, wikis, and much more! And that planted a seed that germinated and is now sprouting. Maybe I shouldn’t be lamenting the loss of writing workshop. Maybe I should be exploring the ways we teach students to create messages in all kinds of formats. There is a set of skills needed to write a 140 character tweet that may be a bit different than those skills needed to write a business-like email or those skills needed to write an eloquent poem. All are ways we share what is important to us with others and all rely on some foundational knowledge about spelling, grammar, punctuation.

Now I am not exactly sure where my project is headed, but I am sure having a good time figuring it out. At Turning Point, I watched students and teachers acting as co-learners (a clumsy term). I feel more like a learner than a teacher right now, and it’s a good feeling!

The Process of Learning

I have spent nine days total at Turning Point – a short time in the scheme of things, but I have learned so much. This extended time has given me the opportunity to follow a project through the learning process. The 5th and 6th grade students researched the five major world religions. Online research was done to collect information, which was recorded on a chart using Google Docs. Information was gathered from websites and videos listed on the class Diigo page. Discussions about new learnings occurred among the students and teachers using instant messaging and small group project time. Once students had collected the information listed on the chart, they prepared to share what they had learned with others by creating a podcast. Each one wrote a draft of a podcast using Google Docs. Their directions were to make a 30 to 90 second podcast, introducing themselves and their grade level, but giving no last names. They should also tell the religion they studied at the beginning of the podcast along with being given the following suggestions:
Religion Podcast Notes
1. Brainstorm words that describe your chosen religion
2. Think of two interesting details and 2 wonders
3. Write 2-3 paragraphs form your podcast
4. Words to avoid – big, things, stuff, small, like a lot
Next a whole class lesson was given by Charlie about how to make a podcast. I found this very helpful! Students practiced mixing music to begin and end the podcast, learned how to fade the music in and out, and even received a little training on editing the podcast. At the next session, students found a quiet spot throughout the school for recording their podcasts. They were given almost an hour and told to practice reading the podcast several times before making a recording. What a great real-life application for reading fluency. Their quiet spots ranged from being under a cardboard box in a closet to hiding out in the back corner of a hallway. Throughout the building one could see students hard at work. When they returned to the classroom with a finished podcast, there was time for a couple of students to hook their computer up to the speakers and share with the class. The fellow students gave feedback in the form of compliments and wonderings (rather than criticisms, because there might be a logical reason the creator made that decision). I could see the podcast producers blossom when they heard the praise from their colleagues. They also gave deep thought to the wonderings and often explained their decision. The final step of the project was for the podcasts to be uploaded to the school website at www.turningpointterriers.com. How exciting it has been for me to watch this project all the way through! The enthusiasm and engagement of the students was a joy to see. Even I learned new things about some of the religions and about making an effective podcast, and I was just watching! Imagine what these students are taking away from this experience, and all of the many amazing other opportunities they have at Turning Point.

Enthusiastic Learning

My visit to Hamilton Middle School yesterday took me out in the snow-covered country. The school is located about 30 miles south of Emporia. The Hamilton School District is comprised of an elementary school with combination classes, a middle school, and a high school – all connected or in very close proximity. The district superintendent is also the principal. School is in session four days a week, with Friday School being held for those who need extra help.

The lesson I planned with the teacher, Renee Johnson, focused on reading to make a decision, and the decision we asked students to make was which cell phone to buy. We told them to pretend that the principal decided to but a cell phone for each teacher, and she had to choose from the two we presented, the Bing900 and the TwisterA3, both modeled after real cell phones. The enthusiasm of the students was great because we were talking about something they know! The lesson focused on jargon and persuasive techniques as they had to write a letter convincing the principal which phone would be the best for the teachers. One student wrote, “There are so many other good things about this phone. You won’t regret buying it. It is also a very good price too. The Bing900 is cooler, smarter, and has more technology. Did I mention it was cooler?”

I had fun working with the students. Their enthusiasm was wonderful to see – but who wouldn’t be enthusiastic talking about something so near and dear to their hearts. Watching their interest reinforced the idea that having students read real world texts that apply to their everyday lives is so important.

Fearlessness at Turning Point Learning Center

The word of the day is Fearless. In an interview with Ginger this morning, she mentioned the importance of students being Fearless. We are not talking about the fearlessness of a warrior going into battle. This is the fearlessness that comes from a genuine desire to learn and not being held back by your own insecurities or a fear of being wrong.
So today I am watching for examples of students being fearless and what the teachers do to encourage this. Before school even starts, a few students are trying to figure out how to contact McDonalds to ask if they will include plant seeds and a mini-terrarium in Happy Meals. Next I visited the piano class where students were exploring the various sounds available when connecting their keyboard to Garageband. They explore with a sense of play and wonder, not worrying about making a mistake, but maintaining a sense eagerness to explore. The next activity involved students taking a virtual tour of Greece through Google Earth. Previous lessons have taught students how to use Google Earth, so their prior knowledge was developed before sending them out on their own. Students start the afternoon writing news articles about the happenings around the school. Ginger shares a link for an online new article that is used for a class discussion about paragraphing and quotations marks. The use of a real world example gives students a model that they can return to when working on their own. Next Charlie shared a lesson introducing GarageBand to the 5/6th grade group. During the lesson Ginger put herself in the place of a learner since she hasn’t had many experiences with GarageBand. She asked questions that were likely the same questions that students would have had. By anticipating their learning needs, both teachers set students up to have the confidence (and fearlessness) to explore the program and begin making their podcast. During Spanish, Eric prepared students to create a conversation in Spanish including important phrases that a person would need if visiting a Spanish speaking country. To anticipate their needs, she listed some of the key words that would be included in a conversation, such as why, where, left, right. This scaffolding gives students a bit of structure so that they are less fearful of creating a conversation and trying it in the class.

Being a fearless learner, having the confidence to try to solve learning problems on your own, does not sprout up overnight. It’s built through the stringing together of conversations, interactions, modeling, and attitudes. I believe it stems from a belief that students should be responsible for their own learning – something I have seen every minute of everyday I have been at this school. This attitude of independence is really taking hold for me as I think about how I can incorporate it into my own teaching. I am guilty of doing way too much handholding for my students – and even my own children. I have to remind myself I am not doing them any favors!

It's Like Riding a Bike

I recently spend time in Renee Johnson's classroom at Hamilton Middle School. We have been planning a series of lessons about reading and writing technical text, and finally had the opportunity to teach the first lesson in the series. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous - that feeling that teachers get when they are starting a new unit or activity and they are not exactly sure how it will turn out. It's a good nervous that keeps us on our toes. Before the lesson, Renee gave me a tour of the school, introduced me to the principal, and told me a bit about her class. The students were enthusiastic about the activity, and seemed to enjoy trying something new. We first talked about the kinds of instructions they read at home, and then we shared examples of friendly and unfriendly instructions - a magic trick and instructions for operating a digital camera. Next we shared 4 different versions of instructions for making a paper pyramid. We had them prioritize the instructions from most to least helpful, then the students actually used their favorite instructions to make the paper pyramid. It was interesting to see that different students preferred different instructions. For some, their preferences changed after they actually began making the pyramid. Others couldn't follow the instructions, so they just figured it out on their own. Renee did a good job of pointing out several of the math terms associated with the pyramids. We also discussed jargon - what it means and some examples from the instructions. The lesson was concluded with a discussion of things to consider when reading instructions outside of the classroom. All in all, it was a good experience, and it felt nice to be teaching again. :)

A Snowy Friday at Turning Point

Everything I am observing at TPLC is for the purpose of sharing with others – helping others to learn, true collaboration. Such an emphasis makes learning always have a purpose – besides writing a paper that a teacher reads (or may not read) and grades. Whether it’s a podcast, a tweet, or on diigo, the information is presented to others. What an incredible way to make learning seem like real life! It’s because of this value of sharing, students are enthusiastic about working and doing projects.

The teachers are truly a part of the learning community – eat lunch at various tables, not hiding out in the teacher’s lounge, acting like they can’t wait for a break from the kids. Students start coming early in the morning by 7:30 even though school doesn’t start until 8:45. Teachers arrive early too, but instead of sitting in their rooms, or in the lounge, they are sitting at the tables where the students are sitting. All are busy. Teachers are talking to each other or working online. Students are doing the same. Of course TPLC isn’t perfect. Sometimes students get tired, sometimes teachers get frustrated, and sometimes things don’t go as planned. But this is all normal. It’s refreshing to see a true learning community. All are lucky to be here!

Readicide - How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It

You know how people drive by an accident on the highway and slow down so they can gawk at what is going on, even though they know it's not polite. Well, this book reminds me of that slow drive by the wreck. The state of reading in schools is in sad shape. I knew that already, but this book takes a slow drive past the scene, zeroing in on the details with painstaking precision - so much so, it almost hurts to read about it. Because teachers are spending so much time on test preparation, there is little room in the school day for just "plain 'ole" reading. And on the occasions when reading is done, it's often chopped up into little pieces so that students never get into the "reading flow" and have the chance to enjoy the book. One thing I like about Readicide is that the author, Kelly Gallagher, gives lots of suggestions for what teachers can do. For instance, he espouses the dire need for more books to be available in schools. He shares with teachers several options for scrounging up money for books, including being a pesky asker to the principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent, school board, and media - whatever it takes. He says this is the one thing we should all go to bat for. My question is, why aren't we already going to bat for more books in our schools? Duh! This should be a given.

My favorite quote is not from Gallagher, but from Lev Vygotsky, "Children grow into the intellectual life around them."

What You See Is What You Get

Throughout my day at Turning Point, I have been struck with things that are different here than at a traditional school.

What You Won’t See at Turning Point:
• time spent doing busy work
• formal bathroom breaks
• students walking in lines
• teachers grading papers
• papers on the floor, filling up the trash can,
• teachers going to the copier
• misbehavior among students (I am not kidding) because they are so busy doing meaningful work
• unnecessary assemblies that take students away from learning
• students sitting, waiting for others to finish their work
• students wasting time sharpening pencils, finding textbooks, papers, folders, walking around the room
• long pauses of time between activities where students don’t have anything to do


What You Will See at Turning Point:
• all activities have a purpose
• the highest expectation for student learning that I have ever seen – we learn because it makes us smarter, not because it helps us on a test, gets us a better grade, moves us ahead of someone else
• an enthusiasm for learning from both students and teachers
• students running the stairs and hallway to get their energy out
• a general expectation that students will try to figure something out themselves (usually using the information box [computer]), then ask a couple of classmates, then ask an adult
• students working in different places within the classroom, hallways, and other classrooms (and they are really working!)
• students using cellphones for a short period for a specific purpose
• students listening to ipods when working independently
• equipment being operated by students (microwave, projector, speakers, computers)
• teachers and students communicating with each other through chats
• students learning to play musical instruments of their choice and learning a foreign language
• teachers constantly modeling problem solving with technology
This list doesn’t even begin to capture the amazing value of learning that is embedded throughout the day and even continues after school with clubs and at home with individual and group homework.

It will be very difficult for me to go back to traditional schools.

Running in Place

I feel like I am out of breath from a long race that began this morning when I arrived at Turning Point. There are so many ways to share ideas here that I feel like I am running in place. Ginger, or one of the other teachers, mentions an application, and the students immediately access and use it. I am two steps behind, trying to catch up. I watched a great lesson on social bookmarkng - a new concept to me. Immediately following the explanations, the students went off to give it a try. At the same time, I downloaded the application, created my account, and tried to figure out what to do next. I have quickly learned one adage here: when in doubt, ask a student. In fact, the expectation for students is to ask two or three classmates before asking a teacher. I am trying to follow this when I can. A student gave me a great explanation of how to use diigo.com, how to bookmark, highlight, and make a sticky note. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to go to my computer immediately and try it out. It feels like I am fumbling around. I don't know why I expect to know how to do this, except that the students make it look so easy! I have to remember, it's as natural as breathing. That's no lie! While I am still trying to figure out Diigo, we move onto Twitter. Shortly after that it's time for AIM and Bonjour. Before I came here, I thought I would mostly be collecting things to share with my students. Little did I know I would be learning so much myself.

Brain Dead

Oh my gosh, I just resubmitted my book proposal, and I feel brain dead! I don't know how I ever thought I could write a whole book! I must be crazy!

Back to Writing

I have decided that writing is a very selfish act - even when you are creating something for others to read. I have done enough writing to know that in order for me to meet a deadline, I have to stay focused. I need chunks of 2-3 hours of uninterrupted time. To get this, I am finding that I have to put off other things and, unfortunately, other people. My sister called and wanted to talk to me about something I didn't know was urgent. I put off returning her call because I was in my writing "groove". My daughter wants to talk to me about where to buy her physics book, but I am reluctant to talk because I might forget my train of thought in my writing. A colleague wants to meet about a project, but I have to beg off because I am trying to meet a deadline. Maybe these are sacrifices all authors make, I am not sure. I do know that it takes a single-purposed, drive to maintain the stamina it takes to write a book. It's the stringing together of minutes, hours, days of writing until you have something that makes sense to others. When I finished the first book that I edited with Tara, I remember likening it to giving birth. I am not sure if that's how I would describe it now. I can say that it's a long, slow process full of self-doubt, tediousness, and mental draining. Why do I do it? I guess it's because I have something to say.

The Old and The New

The old radiator represents the contrast between old and new I am seeing on my visits at Turning Point. The school is wireless with a 1:1 laptop ratio. Just about everything is done on computer. However, the school is housed in, what I would guess is, one of the oldest buildings in the district. I heard that at one time the school was condemned, but I am not totally sure about that. I can say that the building is old. Old isn't necessarily bad, but it provides a stark contrast to the "newness" of the technology. The building itself has many beautiful elements - maple wood trim, built in wood and glass cupboards in the classrooms, a staircase at either end of the main hallway with a solid wooden balister, and an interesting arched and barred window in the hallway that looks like it used to be a ticket booth. At a quick glance one wouldn't guess that some of the most innovative teaching and learning is happening here. The feeling I get inside the school is one of hominess, which is nice when I am also surrounded by new ideas, applications, and ways of teaching.

Talk about a learning curve! Today is my first day to visit Turning Point Learning Center - a school that centers around project based learning and each student has their own Macintosh computer. As Ginger Lewman, the lead teacher puts it, technology is as common as breathing. This is true! One of the first things I have noticed is the lack of paper. No wads of paper on the floor, no loose sheets falling out backpacks, no stacks of papers carried around by teachers for grading. Another initial impression is that the students treat their laptop as an extension of themselves - carrying it with them from classroom to classroom, sometimes wrapped in their arms. Today I have learned about Google docs, tag clouding, microblogging, twittering, and personal learning networks. Whew! I am thrilled to be here and apprehensive at the same time. My goal is to figure out how to take the project based learning format with an emphasis on technology and apply it to my college teaching. Ginger says that immersion in social networking is going to be the key. Certainly this is a great place for me to learn from both the teachers and the students. Today I have joined Google, Diigo, and Twitter. It's all a good first step, but the challenging will be learning how to use these for instruction!

Writing is just plain hard work! I know this, but I had forgotten it, as I have been out of practice from book writing. The words stamina, resilience and, crazy come to mind. The other day I spend 3 hours writing two paragraphs – and I don’t know if they were even that good! I am currently revising three chapters for a proposal. This is the third revision based on reviewers from three different publishers in a year. At this point, I feel a bit lost in the whole thing. I know that is a typical feeling during the writing process, but that doesn’t make it any easier. I enjoy writing, especially when it’s finished! We write because we feel like we have something to say, but over the past week or two, I have found myself wondering if I am writing something that people will really want to read. I guess I am feeling self-doubt. It’s a good thing I have a writing partner to inspire me. This keeps me going, at least for another day.

Snow Day?

I missed my first two school visits to Turning Point Learning Center due to bad weather. How disappointing. Even though the school district was closed, Turning Point was still in session virtually. The students were expected to log on by 9:15 am and participate in a small group chat with their advising teacher until 10:00, at which point the teacher gave them individual schedules of activities to complete. Here are the directions for the day: "Read carefully and if you have questions, read again. If you still have questions, ask a classmate. If you still have the same question, then ask your advisory teacher. ASK YOUR ADVISORY TEACHER ONLY AFTER YOU'VE ASKED ANOTHER KID or TWO."
My colleague, Melissa, shared the following description of what her son did that day (thanks for sharing, Melissa): The schedule has choice and flexibility, yet is also structured. He was given a five minute break to move from advising and to begin his schedule. He went to the kitchen to get a drink and then he sat back down to begin to search for a science fair project idea. He set his timer to remind him when he needed to have his science completed so he can move to his next requirement for the day and stay on schedule. It is interesting to watch him manage his tasks! He is having a blast!!! They are also required to do one "fun" activity today during the snow day as well. Keyghan is trying to decide if he will create an imovie of him making a fun lunch or "make a flake" on the snowflakes everywhere website. He laughed out loud when she told them when they could break for lunch, but NOT to eat it at their computer!

He can log off at 1:30 to "enjoy" the remainder of the snow day! I believe he is having the most fun for this day right now. They will not have to make up this day since they have officially had school. I am once again amazed at how this works....but most of all at Keyghan's enthusiasm about being "in school"! He carefully set his alarm last night to make sure he was up and logged in at exactly the right time. He has not complained and I have heard him laugh and enjoy what he is doing several times already. Isn't learning fun!!!!!!
What a concept - to continue having school when there is no school. Learning is no longer contained within the school walls, during the school scheduled time. Choice, flexibility are the key. I would venture to guess that Keyghan was not the only one who enjoyed having some structure to their snow day (students as well as parents). I know that students at Turning Point are also expected to log on when they are home sick (unless the illness is extreme). I am curious about how this whole concept changes the ways we teach and the ways students learn.

I have two projects for this sabbatical. One is to write a book, the other is to visit schools. So far, my first two school visits have been cancelled due to bad weather, so that only leaves writing. I have been having a hard time getting started to write. Once I get in the groove, it goes a little better, but starting is one of the hardest parts – next to writing a good conclusion. My self-imposed deadlines are usually very motivating, but I also have the tendency to put off writing. Tara talks about how when she had to write, and her sons noticed her cleaning the house, they knew she was having trouble getting started. Like Tara, I can come up with dozens of excuses to put off writing, one of which is the urgent need to clean my desk. But there comes a point when you just have to put your poe-poe in the chair and get to it. Since the wind chill is supposed to be between -15 and -30 today, there is really not excuse not to stay in my fortress (as Eric describes my office) and putting fingers to keys . I am sure something will come to me amidst this mess of inspiration.

Joining Facebook

This must be the season of technology! Several friends convinced me to join facebook, much to the disappointment of my children – neither of whom want to be my friend. I had hesitated to join facebook even amidst hearing about lots of people “my age” joining. It just seemed like another thing to check besides my current three email accounts. I didn’t want to make the commitment or take on the responsibility of more communication. What convinced me to join was a couple of experiences I had at NRC in December. First, lots of people talked about being on Facebook, to the point where I felt a little left out. Some friends encouraged me to join, well in fact, I would call it badgered me to join. Talk about peer pressure! I guess I just wanted to see what all of the hoopla was about. Also, I went to a session where the presenters discussed the concept of “wobbly identities” referring to the way technology is changing how we present ourselves to others. And this way of presenting ourselves is always changing. Maybe as a teacher who promotes technology, I should consider my web presence – or fix my lack of it.
So I took the plunge, and I am glad I did. Already I have been in touch with several relatives and friends who I only typically contact through Christmas cards. I have seen photos of cousins and their children that I do not usually get to see. I have learned how and where to post messages, and my children are enjoying the opportunity to teach me something new. Plus on cold, wintery days when it’s just me and my computer, I can be connected to people by reading about the movie my niece is watching or a friend’s trip to the mall. Exciting stuff - but I guess that’s what life is about.