Nope and nope.  Almost done with my portfolio though. I think, possibly, maybe.  And no running tonight cause we’re going out after class..oh boy is alcohol considered junk food?

No running, slept through alarm and have my digital portfolio due tom.  Argh where does the time go? Why am I so hungry? Gosh i’m going to miss UIWP! I really need to start training.

Guess What?

You got it! I didn’t get up this morning to run and I can’t run this afternoon either because of Zanne’s dinner.  Oh did I also mention that Dr. Melby says I should be wearing tennis shoes from now till the marathon, don’t want to hurt the toesies.  And also I have to give up junk food.  No ice cream during summer time..that’s ok I like ice cream during the winter time, it doesn’t drip all over me then, and I can taste the flavour.  Hmmmmm ice cream..wait what exactly is junk food?

I went to Dr. Melby today, told him I was doing a full marathon while he was adjusting my neck, (which feels awesome now).  He asked the date, which of course I didn’t know so I figured somewhere at the end of October, beginning of November.  I should probably find out the date.   Anyways according to Dr. Melby, I’m already behind.  I should be running at least six miles by now.  And as i’m typing this, my neck starts to hurt…Ah ha it is November 6th.  Ok so about three and a half months away. Not too bad (as my fingers and toes are all crossed).  So I will officially start my training today July 7th.

Nothing to report on, in fact not only did I not run, I slept through my alarm and almost missed my bus.  Ok tomorrow I will HAVE to get up to run, because tonight I have to go over to Patty’s and then there’s deadliest catch.  Hey I do know my priorities.

The videos were probably one of the more frustrating items that I had to produce during the course of this class.  Other items included the demonstration and the digital portfolio.  The first video I think in some ways was easier than the second.  There was a certain pressure because you were representing someone else, and you also wanted to make sure that you didn’t piss off the other person.  But having someone to bounce ideas off, and talking to the person gave you a vision of what you wanted.  It was during the first video that I learnt about imovie and editing, importing footage and pictures.  Once I got the hang of it I was fine, and ready for the second video. Well almost ready.

My first idea began with the ocean.  I was thinking about how the oceans rage and how it calms down, how it builds up and then breaks down islands.  I didn’t get very far with that idea.  But I started to tape random images.  The clouds overhead, the ducks in the pond, my ceiling.  As I was importing the clips, two lines came to me: “I took a walk to clear my head, I took a walk should have stayed in bed.” And that’s when the poem came into being.  I found images that matched my ideas, the final piece was the song I wanted in the background.  First search I came up with was the song “Footsteps” by Kotchka and it fit nicely into the video.  In many ways my writing process parallels my thinking process, and even though my learning curve was steep, I’m glad I was able to make the connection.  Now i’m thinking about the ways I could use this in my classroom.  The possibilities are endless.

Reflections of a Demonstration by Group.

So I had the immediate response after I did my demonstration. As part of the reflective process of the demonstration; there are groups of three to four people in a group who give a response to the demonstration.  These groups answer a list of predetermined questions which addresses: affect and motivation, articulating best practice, state standards, extentions and adaptations and any questions which may have risen from the demonstration.  Here are responses from three groups:

Group 1
We like how this activity and your general approach to teaching writing value independence. We feel it’s empowering to consider a student an expert on a topic.  Providing a range of forms of response helps take some of the stress of the task off.  We feel the mentor texts are valuable for giving students ideas for structure and language and showing them that this kind of text exists for and is enjoyed by all levels and kinds of people—for something you need to learn about or that you already like and want to see more of.  It is an authentic assignment.

Using peer response with “how-to” provides a great model for peer response—kids are lead to find real, fixable issues with the content and organization of text, rather than focusing on huge, unfixable problems or nitpicky issues like spelling.  Since it’s so easy to find examples of how-to writing, we feel this is an important genre to get kids comfortable reading and writing.  This seems applicable to a diverse group of learners in that each student can bring his or her expertise to the class and share it with peers in a meaningful way.  We loved the contention about humans being a teaching species.  That undergirds and validates the very nature of this assignment.  We also liked the use of talk—and the term “accountable talk”—as an important part of prewriting.  This is a great genre for publishing!

Thank you for doing the standards work for us! 

How to books typically come in many languages; ELL students’ expertise
Any content that involves processes or patterns can lend itself to asking students to process it through writing how to or procedural text (e.g. “How to win a war in American history; how to solve a long division problem)
It seems especially relevant to life-skills settings; some teachers are constantly making how-tos for their kids…they could teach kids about the genre and empower them to learn and publish.

You gave us the audience information for time’s sake—how do you get kids that young to understand the relationships between audience, message, and style?  Do you handle this through varied mentor texts?

Group 2

1.  It is important to introduce students to informational writing because they can form an opinion about things, defend their ideas, and it gives them the opportunity to be the expert about something.  Being the expert gives a student ownership and authority in the classroom, which increases motivation.

We were all excited after the lesson and eager to try the activities in our own classroom.

2.  It is a very logical, easy to follow process and it is very satisfying to carry something from start to finish.  The activity encourages lengthy writing because there are many steps for most processes.  This helps build students’ writing stamina and gives them the opportunity to see the importance of details.  This activity is pertinent to everybody no matter their learning level.

3.  State Goal 3 – Communicate in a variety of ways
Technology 3 – Research information

4.  You could extend the task by increasing the complexity of the how-to as the students grow.  Students could also create their how-to’s using blogs or pod casts.  This lesson could be adapted in a variety of ways.  Students who struggle with writing could dictate their task.  Students with limited English could diagram their how-to.

5.  What time of the year would you do this?

Is there ever a situation in which you would dictate a how-to topic to students?  Or would you let them choose their own?

Group 3
1.    Affect and Motivation—
•    Dear Bridgey, we loved your activity right from the start.  The movement in the beginning (yoga) helped get us into the demo.  We loved how you helped us get into a second graders’ frame of mind.  We can see how your class would be a safe and warm learning environment.
•    You mentioned the importance of the human part of teaching and it was very clear to us that it is a big part of your classroom (e.g., learning how to be patient and forgiving).
•    We loved the flexibility.  You are a reflective teacher.  You talked about the things that didn’t work so well and ideas of how to make things better.
•    Loved to hear the stories about the Ninja boy and girl stories and to see an example of your students’ work.  It is obvious to see that there are a lot of great things happening in your classroom.
•    Concrete practices that students could really connect to (i.e., the peanut butter sandwich “talk” and looking at How-To books).

2.    Articulating Best Practice—
•    She differentiated instruction throughout by giving different graphic organizers and by putting us into different groups for discussion (pairs and groups).
•    Setting up the writing classroom so that students know where to get things.

3.    English/Language Arts Standards – How does this practice fit with national, state, and district standards?  (Answering this question can help you explain your practice and beliefs to administrators and others.)   Here are some websites you may want to visit:
•    Language Arts Goal 3:  Writing for a variety of purposes.

4.    Extensions and Adaptations—
•    Taking a video of themselves performing their how-to task and editing their final product (using it as a self-editing tool).
•    Using technology to publish the work to a wider audience (e.g., scanning their work and posting them online.
•    Have students read one anothers and try them.
•    Give students more complicated “How-To” guides (for older students) and have them try assembling it.
•    Write it, do it – Drawing shapes and writing a description of how to draw the shape.  The partner draws the shape based on the description.

5.    Questions Arisen—
•    How can upper grades teachers use Bridgey’s example to create a similar warm and nurturing environment in their own classrooms?

Writing Marathon – July 2nd 2010

For our tour of the University through our writing marathon, our group chose the Music and Entertainment tour.  The writing marathon was a lot of fun and this is an activity that I would like to do in my classroom.  The premise of this marathon is to find a spot, predetermined or otherwise, sit and write for ten minutes.  If you are with a group you share your writing with the members of the group, you say thank you and then move onto another spot and write for another ten minutes, and repeat the process.  The idea behind this marathon is to seek inspiration from our environment.  I wish we had more time to write, even though when I first heard about the marathon, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to write anything.  I wouldn’t be inspired.  Here are my three pieces, due to time constraints we only got to three places on our tour.

Foellinger Auditorium

As I was writing my latest piece last night, I was thinking about the general theme of my reflective writing.  They all sound so emotional.  They are all filled with tears.  Man am I a crier.  So my goal for today’s writings is to find inspiration and to reflect on the good things that happened in my life.
This morning I got a ride into school.  Then my friend Tina showed up with her son Jaden.  Laura’s in my group. Delores inspired my demonstration in more ways than one.  And I got the chance to find out more about Libbie.  It’s a nice sunny , not too muggy day.  And I get to discover the hidden(well not really hidden) but interesting places on campus.  Oh I also forgot to mention Jayden who will bring out the silly side of me.  I am grateful for all the experiences that I’ve had over the past three weeks.  And after reflecting on my writings, I’ve come a long way baby.
It’s amazing, 9:37 am on campus and its so quiet with the exception of a few bird calls.  The chirping, thrilling, grating; like each bird type is trying to outdo the other.  There is a hum in the background, sounds like a generator is constantly on.  A low, gentle hum that one can miss while having a conversation.

Krannert Art

The breakfast burrito was great.  Just the right thing to hit the spot.  As soon as I walked into the building I noticed the hum.  That low hum that’s always there, like an old friend reassuring you- “go have fun and when you get back tell me all about it. I know you’re going to be back, I’m never too far from you.”
Everything in this building is symmetrical. And I like it.  There are straight clean lines and edges.  And as a non symmetrical person I really appreciate when I see straight lines. I can’t draw a straight line, not even with a ruler.
The tiles on the floor, the lights on the ceiling, the bricks on the wall. I love it.  Even the pictures on the wall perfectly aligned on the lats.  Someone measured each side just to make sure it was straight.
I wonder what it will be like to work in a place like this – being in the presence of talented performers, having people continuously in and out like the waves- ebbing and flowing.

Spurlock Museum

The entertainer – “the idea was that a good performance would provide both the deceased and the mourners with a moment of respite at a time when they need it the most” Korean Death exhibit.
Its so funny I hear my friend the hum again.  This time its louder, clearer, announcing its presence this time.
The first exhibit I went to and ended up looking at in detail is the Korean funeral exhibit.  On my way to start writing, I notice a quote that says “by nature (human beings are nearly alike, by practice they become different” Confucius.
I can’t help but think of the similarities and differences within all of us.  Death is the one thing in life we know that going to happen to all of us.  And I’ve thought about it A LOT.  I have a huge extended family and quite a few of the have passed to the other side.  I have always envied them.  They no longer suffer, no longer in pain.  We the ones left behind are always in mourning.  I guess sometimes its more for ourselves than for those who have passed on.
When I was younger, I was always afraid of death.  Of course anyone growing up in our village would be afraid of death.  The village cemetery was way in the back of the village, surrounded by trees and the savannah.  But as I grew older and more people I knew passed on, my perspective changed.  I’m no longer afraid.  I keep thinking of the people I’ll be seeing: my dad, grandparents, uncles. Who knows, they may even be in our lives NOW!

Reflection of the Writing Project!

So I’m taking this class about writing is how I start my discussion about this class. Everyone has almost the same reaction,

“Oh so what type of writing are you doing?

“Well what do you mean what type of writing?”

“You know, fiction, non fiction…”

“Oh this class is about technology.  Its an awesome class, fast paced and lots of hard work.  In fact after the first two days, I wasn’t too sure about it.  We had to do this interview video and a presentation and then another video about my writing process. But now that I’m done with that I can really enjoy the class.”

“So what does that have to do with writing?”

“Everything!!”

And so at this point I would usually get into a discussion about what we’re doing in the class and the readings and talk about the demonstrations that I did, and who is in the class.  As an elementary teacher, I always look for connections in everything that I do.  Who is in the class connects to who Zanne knows (everyone).  Or in the case of dinner on Monday night, it maybe people that Hannah and Jack know, so we can sharing our experiences with each other there by decreasing some of the awkwardness that is usually there went you don’t know someone too well.

Then I draw the connection to the elementary folks that are in the program, so the person I am speaking to can make a connection to how displaced we feel as the minority in a group.  Every class or workshop that I have taken since I’ve started teaching, there are a whole bunch of my peers.  So not having anyone from my school was an anomaly in itself.  So I make a connection to the elementary people in my group.  Then I make connections with the other folks in the group.  And now I‘m just connected all over the place.  I guess its important to me that I make connections. So after I discuss the connections I’ve made and who else is in the class and what have you etc etc. I actually move onto what we do in class.

And here it goes, so our day starts in the morning at 9:00 am.  We “write” for an hour, and by writing I mean we type for an hour. I must digress here and say, that my experience this time around with a mac is much more pleasant that the one I have a few years back.  Also I can see why having a laptop is so convenient.  Just put it on, look for a wireless connection and you’re good to go. Now back to the schedule.  After writing for an hour we have our break, which is 15 minutes to chat and eat with our colleagues about things going on in life, you get the picture.  After our break, one of our colleagues facilitates a demonstration.  This demonstration reflects ideas about the person’s beliefs about writing, they also find contentions that support their beliefs; through research articles, and books.  This demonstration is approximately 75 mins, give or take a few mins for questions, comments, and clarification.  After the demonstrations which are usually spectacular, we break out into predetermined response groups and then answer some reflective questions to give the demonstrator constructive, non-judgmental feedback.

After this we have another break, this time lunch for an hour where you can brown bag it or join colleagues for interesting discussions on local dialect. (Very interesting).

After lunch we meet again in small-predetermined groups for our professional book study discussion.  So far we have read two books and will be starting book number 3.  Not everyone in the groups has the same book, but it’s usually a thematic study.

You guessed it, after our book study we rev up our engines with another food break. And then we finish the afternoon with developing technology skills.

That was just an overview of our daily schedule.

So what does that mean to me?

It means getting a chance to do some reflections.  Reflections about what I knew, or thought I knew when it comes to writing.  It also reminded me about my learning style, which I still haven’t quite figured out YET!  And quite a few times, I kept saying; “boy, now I know how my students feel!”

This class also frustrated me to no ends, hence the previous thought.  But I’m hoping that this experience will make me a better, more reflective teacher.  The tools I have been introduced to I hope to use in my classroom.  Although my students are a little to young for blogs, there is no reason why the second grade teachers or even grade level teachers  can’t use blogging to respond to reflective questions or post solutions or experiences to foster better communication.

Having done the writing process and recognizing that my writing process parallels the ways I make decisions in life, may be I could help my students develop their processes.  I look forward to the new school year and using some of my new found technology skills in my classroom.  Anyone interested in collaborating via g-chat??

After reading the book What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher. I decided to read Boy Writers also by Fletcher.  This was a “cult favorite” as Judy mentioned.  Everyone wanted to read Boy Writers.  I think every elementary teacher should read Boy Writers. Like  What a Writer Needs, its an easy book to read.  I really like the way the chapters start, with an example of a piece of writing by boys of different ages, as well as genres.  It is very enlightening to read the poetry pieces by these young authors. Fletcher ends his chapters with suggestions that you can use in the classroom.  He also adds reflective questions for teachers.  As a teacher sometimes I overlook the obvious.  For example at the end of chapter three, Fletcher asks us to “consider how gender might affect how you respond to the substance/style of boys writing.” Also at the end of the chapter three, he suggests that we evaluate our classrooms to find what works or doesn’t work for boys’ writing.

He also gives us an idea of how we should approach the “uncomfortable” topics of violence.  Just because a boy is writing about violence does not mean that the boy is necessarily violent.  I love the example that he used on page 91, the Smell of Death story.  The teacher is conferencing with a student about a particularly unsettling topic; hunting.  The example discusses the teacher’s discomfort and lack of knowledge about hunting, but does not dismiss the boy’s idea.  Instead she helps the student discover that he could write about this topic, through “understanding of culture, recognizing the father-son experience in hunting in a neutral way.” It also underscored the need for wait time, both with students and with teachers who are unsure of how to deal with conferences.

Some strategies which Fletcher suggests, I think are important in setting up a boy writing friendly environment.  “Don’t automatically outlaw stories with weapons, think carefully about what language is deemed allowable in their writing and most importantly try not to judge students by what they write, accept it and help them make their writing better.” Pg 56 Boy Writers.

Among some of the characteristics of boy writers that Fletcher discusses is the use of humor in their writing, hence the popularity of Captain Underpants books.  Boys will write what they think will allow them to meet their target audience, usually other boys.  Fletcher also encourages us to use the technology, which are available to us to encourage boys to write.  He showcases this through the story of his son and the IM chat.

The final chapter of the book addresses residual concerns which we may have as we start the process of developing boys’ interests in writing.  Overall this is an excellent book, the layout of the book makes it an interesting and easy read, definitely a great  addition to a professional learning library.

Jason Ohler, in his book Digital Storytelling introduces us to an new genre of literacy.  “We forget lectures but we remember stories” (pg 94). Everyone has a story to tell, and the author uses technology to give voice to that story. He underlines the fact that “technology does not make teachers obsolete, in fact more than ever we need teachers to help students filter the truths from the lots of non truths out there.”  One of the points that Jason Ohler discusses and is hence the title of his book is the importance of storytelling in our daily lives.  Often times as an elementary school teacher, I start my day, my lessons with a story.  We all use stories to make connections, understand stereotypes and organize the ways in which we think.

Digital storytelling is a way to integrate the art of storytelling with the limitless technology that is available to everyone.  This does not mean that students are allowed to create any project they want to create.  In fact Jason Ohler is very adamant about teachers’ roles in the process of digital storytelling.  He states that “teachers need to determine what they need and what they have access to before DST.  Teachers need to teach/model whatever grammar they need so that students know that they are being assessed.” pg 36 DST.

One of the concerns however, about DST is the use of the technology language arts standard; “teachers can’t require what they can’t evaluate.”  However DST provides a number of features which can be evaluated.  Features such as good, clear expository writing, short movies, gaming interactivity and participation, animation, inclusion of original artwork and movies,and advance editing techniques just to name a few.  DST also addresses multiple intelligences as well as provides  multi-modal outlet for students to produce work.

Some of the other ideas which he discusses is the different uses of technology : the effective use, creative use and wise use of technology.  He also links this to the use of Art Literacy as a digital tool which provides assessment technology for the Art challenged.  He also talks about Art as an “international language”.  He uses the letters DAOW  which means Digital Art Oral Written to connect digital storytelling and literacy development.  All thorough out the book he discusses the importance of literacy skills.  Just because we are using technology, it doesn’t mean that we are sacrificing literacy or the development of literacy skills which our kids need to be successful in the technology world in which we live..

Just as we have in the regular, non technical classroom, Ohler discusses the importance of rubric and rubric evolution.  He uses a story core to simplify the idea of transformation. There is a problem which either new you or life is pushing you to change and in which the old you or old life is resisting that change.  The transformation results in a solution, he discusses  “the ability to recognize, evaluate and apply the methods of media persuasion.”(pg 75).  If I think back to all the stories make believe or otherwise there is always a problem that the main character has to solve.  Even in our own lives we have problems and solutions which make our lives or the journey which we call life colorful and entertaining.  Even if we take out the work media persuasion, this idea of transformation, the story core can be applied to any aspect of our daily lives and across any curriculum area.

This is another book that I am going to add to my professional learning library.  Its an easy read and has revelation points which highlights the key ideas within the chapter.