Virtual Author Visits

What do good writer's do? Why not listen to them tell you. NBC Learn  has curated a number of video taped interviews with well-known children book authors. These short interviews provide an insight into their creative writing process. Current authors interviews available include:

Moe Willems, Doreen Cronin, Peter Brown and many more.  Full transcripts of each interview are also available.  It might be interesting to paste the text from each interview into Wordle to identify the common language and ideas shared by these authors?

http://www.nbclearn.com/writersspeak

Flipping The Instructional Design In Core Subject Areas

One of the highlighted additions to the Common Core Standards is the focus on informational text. Students are required to demonstrate comprehension of such text as well as the ability to produce written text  grounded in research, analysis and argumentation.  In order to develop these skills and to prepare students for college and career readiness a paradigm shift must occur in many of our content areas. In many schools the approach to addressing this shift has been the integration of literacy instruction and application into core subjects such as social studies and science.

The design process looks something like:

What do we want our students to learn?

What content must we cover?

How can we integrate literacy into this process?

With the help of the Literacy Design Collaboraive teachers can now Flip this process in order to have a more focused approach to literacy instruction without minimizing the content. In  fact, teachers who have implemented the "template tasks" developed by the LDC have discovered students develop greater and deeper content knowledge.

This model involves:

Select a Literacy Based Template Task

Select a topic from your curriculum

Fill in the blanks in the task from the topic

Select the content/ text students will read

Select the text the students will write.

The task templates are available for download on the LDC website. The tasks are designed to be integrated into LA, Science or Social Studies.

An example task is:

 

[Insert question] After reading _____ (literature or informational texts), write _________ (essay or substitute) that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the text(s). L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views.

Sara Ballute and Timothy Lent in New York City used that template to create a teaching task for high school world history:

Were the achievements and growth of the Industrial Revolution Era worth the cost to society? After reading secondary and primary sources pertaining to the British Industrial Revolution, write an argumentation essay that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the texts. Be sure to acknowledge competing views.

Monica Cressman, Sean Houseknecht, and Alex Shubert of the Elizabethtown (Pennsylvania) School District used the same template for middle school science:

Should animals be kept in zoos? After reading the information texts provided, write an essay that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the texts. Be sure to acknowledge competing views.

The integration of the template tasks provided by the LDC represent a paradigm shift in core content instruction. While this model has proven to be effective it requires significant PD for all. This is a great opportunity in high schools for interdisciplinary PD. Having English teachers host PD on writing instruction for content area teachers, developing common writing rubrics and developing PLC's with a focus on this topic are some ideas worth exploring.

Students Use Social Media to Analyze Rhetorical Strategies in AP English Course

Social media has found a place in the classrooms of Chatham High School.  With the growth of social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google +, schools have been seeking out best-practice approaches to utilizing these platforms with students. Mrs. Heather Rocco, Supervisor of Language Arts, recognized the value social media can have in the classroom. She introduced Today’s Meet, a private micro-blogging platform, to her department. Ms. Falkner, a member of the English Department, was first to jump on board and integrate this tool in her classes. Recognizing the powerful impact that such tools have on instruction and the need to integrate them in a safe and effective way, Ms. Falkner worked with Mrs. Rocco to introduce this private micro-blogging tool in her classes.

The students in Ms. Falkner’s AP English Language class have been utilizing Today’s Meet to integrate Back Channeling in their classroom.  Back Channeling is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time, online,conversation alongside live spoken remarks. Today’s Meet is a free tool for developing  such a Back Channel. It allows teachers the opportunity to develop a private online forum for real-time discussions. Think of it as a private Twitter feed that is available to you and your students.  The service is free and does not require students to sign up or register to join the conversation.

Today’s Meet can be used in a variety of settings including presentations, workshops, movie viewing and class discussions. It encourages the room to use the live stream to make comments and ask questions . The feedback gathered can be used as a method to check for understanding, tailor your presentation, sharpen your points, and address audience needs. Ms. Falkner has been utilizing this tool to develop an active learning environment in her classroom. She is using Today’s Meet as a tool to teach the skill of analyzing rhetorical strategies.

Ms. Falkner discusses how she uses Today’s Meet below:

 

“My AP language students are very strong at identifying rhetorical strategies in a text, but they struggle to be able to articulate how a particular strategy functions or what effect it has in the text. In short, they struggle to analyze rhetorical strategies, but they can identify them with ease. In using Today's Meet while viewing a documentary, I'm attempting to separate out the two skills: students identify the strategies as they watch and note them in 140 characters, and then they work in small groups, after the film ends, to select a few of the strategies noted in the conversation and analyze how the strategies function and for what purpose(s)/to what effect(s). This division of "tasks" enables students to differentiate between what it means to identify and what it means to analyze.

The "backchannel" conversation also provides students a lens through which to view the film - they are watching each scene with the intention of identifying a strategy to "tweet" out to the class, so there's active viewing vs. passive viewing of the film text. The students are motivated to write thoughtful comments because they have an authentic audience of their peers (whose opinions are often far more valuable to them than that of their teacher!).

The activity requires that we teachers "let go" of our control of the lesson and turn the reigns over to the students to dictate the direction of the discussion following the film. With that said, I could always interject a "tweet" of my own if I felt that the students were missing a key rhetorical strategy in the film”

How have you used micro-blogging in your classroom? Please share your experiences by commenting on this posting.

Image Source:
Social Media Band Wagon: http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/media/social_media.html

Today's Meet: http://www.todaysmeet.com

Common Core Writing - The NY Times Can Help!

The NY Times blog Room For Debate is a great resource that can be used to instruct students in the process of writing logical arguments which is identified in the Common Core Standards.

Room for Debate is full of posts that take an issue or event in the news and curates opinions about it from four to six knowledgeable sources. The responses are limited to four or five paragraphs. This allows for the integration of this resources to fit within the constraints of standard class periods.

Here are some ideas offered by the NY Times to utilize this resource to support the common core standards.

• Analyze one of the debates and judge how the authors compiled their arguments agains the CC writing standards for making logical arguments.


• Start your own Room For Debate using Blogger or Google Docs. Post a link or details regarding and article and then invite 4 or 5 students to present logical arguments for or against the topic.


• Create a fantasy version of room for debate
  
  
  
  • Have characters in a novel debate an important issue or topic in the work
  
  
  • What about scientists debating a belief or argument?
  
  
  
  


• In the student opinion feature a question so posed for students to respond to. Students may publish their written arguments for a global audience of their peers.

Resources:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/constructing-arguments-room-for-debate-and-the-common-core-standards/

 Image:
http://scm-l3.technorati.com/12/08/28/71661/copywriting-not-copy-my-writing.jpg?t=20120828121602

High Achiever or Creative Thinker...Developing Deep Thinking?

A couple of recent publications that arrived in my Google Reader prompted my thinking regarding "defining student achievement" .With such a high focus on standardized testing and data driven evaluations these articles present a fresh perspective as to "how should we define achievement?" What type of outcome are we looking for in our classrooms? Who will find more success in our global landscape, a high achiever or a creative thinker?

Grant Wiggins recent posting on "thoughtlessness" discusses our focus on "covering content" vs. developing depth of thought. He discusses a system in which achievement is obtained by working hard, completing assignments and testing well on materials that were taught. This is a system that does not dive deep into content. The below quote summarizes this thought process.

" But teaching is not about what you will do; I am interested in what the student will be able to do of value as a result of your teaching, because that is all that matters. Thoughtful teachers don’t design backward from the content (the inputs); they design backward from worthy performance in using content (the outputs)." - Wiggins.

In many of our classrooms we focus our attention on how to address students who do not know content. The reaction to this results in differentiation, specific interventions and formative assessments. What about the student's who do know the content? What do we do to develop these students depth of knowledge? Are we providing a classroom environment that offers growth for these students?

I believe it is important to spend some time reflecting on our instruction. Can we spend less time developing pacing guides and more time discussing methods to develop high order thinking within our units of study? How can we challenge our "high achiever", "content masters" to become creative thinkers? Are we providing opportunities to solve and discuss problems, ideas and questions?

This chart published on a blog posting by Bertie Kingore, Ph.D. discusses the differences between a high achiever, gifted learner and creative thinker. As we review the descriptors we should reflect on how we are creating classroom environments that support each.

A High Achiever...	A Gifted Learner...	A Creative Thinker...
Remembers the answers. Poses unforeseen questions. Sees exceptions. Is interested. Is curious. Wonders. Is attentive. Is selectively mentally engaged. Daydreams; may seem off task. Generates advanced ideas. Generates complex, abstract ideas. Overflows with ideas, many of which will never be developed. Works hard to achieve. Knows without working hard. Plays with ideas and concepts. Answer the questions in detail. Ponders with depth and multiple perspectives. Injects new possibilities. Performs at the top of the group. Is beyond the group. Is in own group. Responds with interest and opinions. Exhibits feelings and opinions from multiple perspectives. Shares bizarre, sometimes conflicting opinions. Learns with ease. Already knows. Questions: What if... Needs 6 to 8 repetitions to master. Needs 1 to 3 repetitions to master. Questions the need for mastery. Comprehends at a high level. Comprehends in-depth, complex ideas. Overflows with ideas--many of which will never be developed. Enjoys the company of age peers. Prefers the company of intellectual peers. Prefers the company of creative peers but often works alone. Understands complex, abstract humor. Creates complex, abstract humor. Relishes wild, off-the-wall humor. Grasps the meaning. Infers and connects concepts. Makes mental leaps: Aha! Completes assignments on time. Initiates projects and extensions of assignments. Initiates more projects that will ever be completed. Is receptive. Is intense. Is independent and unconventional. Is accurate and complete. Is original and continually developing. Is original and continually developing. Enjoys school often. Enjoys self-directed learning. Enjoys creating. Absorbs information. Manipulates information. Improvises. Is a technician with expertise in a field. Is an expert who abstracts beyond the field. Is an inventor and idea generator. Memorizes well. Guesses and infers well. Creates and brainstorms well. Is highly alert and observant. Anticipates and relates observations. Is intuitive. Is pleased with own learning. Is self-critical. Is never finished with possibilities. Gets A's. May not be motivated by grades. May not be motivated by grades. Is able. Is intellectual. Is idiosyncratic.

References

Szabos, J. (1989). Bright child, gifted learner. Challenge, 34. Good Apple.

Granted - http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/thinking-about-a-lack-of-thinking/

http://www.bertiekingore.com/index.htm

Google Docs Features Every Teacher Should Know

Google docs is my favorite collaborative authoring tool for the classroom. Over the years they have enriched the product with a number of enhancements that are valuable in the classroom.

Peer Review and Commenting

Peer editing and review are simplified with Google Docs. Students can share documents with each other or their teacher. Teachers gain the ability to review student writing in real-time. They can add comments or notes where appropriate to guide student progress.  Long gone are the days of collecting a rough draft - conducting an autopsy on it and then waiting for the final copy. Now you can intervene immediately as well as review how students construct their writing by reviewing the history.

When reviewing a written work you can insert comments which will appear on the right side of the screen. Just highlight the text that you want to add a comment near and click INSERT - COMMENT. The comment feature allows for discussion which can represent a small conference between the reviewer and the author about their work.

Research Tool

Another great feature is the RESEARCH TOOL. When activated the author can search for text, images, maps or any other relevant content without leaving the document. Click on TOOLS - RESEARCH to utilize this feature.

Auto Save, Revision History, and Spelling/Grammar checks are long-time features that are useful for students and teachers. Collaborative projects are simplified by reviewing revision history to get a snapshot of who the contributors to a document are.

There's an App For That

Zite
http://www.zite.com/
Zite is a personalized magazine for the IPAD. You can select your favorite news sources or topics. Zite will build a magazine full of articles relevant to your interests. This app has a number of uses in schools. Teachers can use the app professional development. Their education topic and technology top-cs have excellent articles that are applicable to the classroom. Students may use Zite to catch up on current events, read non-fiction text, and explore articles related to health, social studies, mathematics, science and literature. Articles can be saved and shared easily.

Evernote
http://evernote.com/
Evernote is one of the first APPs that I have used on the IPAD as well as on my Android Phone.   Evernote is a great tool for teachers and students to capture notes, save research, collaborate on projects, snap photos of white-boards, record audio and more. Eve-rything you add to your account is automatically synced and made available on all of your devices.