SOL 10: Winds of Change

It was VERY windy the last few nights.  As I lay in bed, listening to the wind blow, I was thinking of the MANY changes every day that we all experience:

Our personal children start out as totally dependent but then change to individuals who only "need" us at fleeting moments of extreme happiness or stress.
Our parents start as our caregivers but then depend on us more and more.
At school, the children take on more and more responsibility for their own learning.
There's APPR, CCSS and RtI and other lenses to scrutinize and reflect on professional practice.
Technology increasingly becomes part of what we do and teach.
Writing is changing as we can get support and build community from afar!

    Change is hard and often we miss the comfort of what we knew; yet, as they say in
    Lion King, "It's the circle of  life."  
   .   

SOL 9: Exercising fingers

I'm many things; however, I am not particularly athletic.  The closest I ever came to being an "athlete" was when I joined (you did not have to try out for that one) the synchronized swimming team in high school!  Things were different back in the "old days" before Title IX; however, so I am not sure if I had some innate capacity that never developed or if I am just not particularly athletic! 
For my kids, it was a very different story.  They gravitated to movement and sports with a passion that took me by surprise (ballet, tap, gymnastics, track, basketball, softball, football, baseball, wrestling......).  I was a reluctant sports mama and tried very hard to make academics their "vocation" and sports their "avocation."  Sometimes, I had to draw the line in Sharpie marker to make sure one of them could see it! 
Perhaps that is why I tend to marvel to the intense spirits around me.....my own children as well as my nieces and nephews....and have wondered where their affinity for sports came from....
Now I have a hunch..

This week, I've been thinking that, perhaps, it's not the competition aspect of sports that attracts and keeps people coming back for more...
Perhaps, it's the community part - being part of a community of people who share a similar passion.
Perhaps that is why people set their alarms early to go play golf AND to get up and write! 

I wonder if we need to talk about writing (or talking, discussing) as if were a more like sport?  What if we talked about writing as if it were "exercise" for our fingers?  What if we thought up ways to have more writing challenges, like this one, for our children! 
We are exercising our fingers!  WOWSERS...what a week! 

SOL 8 New Flash: Writing Clarifies Thinking

When I wrote yesterday, my post flowed - so quickly it amazed me.  I needed to write...I needed to talk...I had thoughts I needed to say.....and all this got me to thinking...

Our children (at home and in school) don't always hear what we say....but they are always watching and learning from the what we, the adults who care about them, do.  Some parents and teachers model an "exercise" and "fitness" filled life by exercising at the gym and running a marathon every few months.  Some parents and teachers model healthy eating by making whole grain bread from scratch and shopping at the organic food-mart.   Some parents and teachers model how to relax and vacation when they go on cruises or off the their beach homes. 
I'm beginning to realize that "my" kids have a slightly different model!

From the time they were big enough to hold a pencil, I told my "personal" kids to write their thoughts and ideas downs on paper!  Admittedly, as a working mom, there were times I told them to write things down just because I could not stand a moment more of bickering or any more discussion....and there were times when I used that as a way to stall them and force them to clarify their thinking about whatever they wanted at that moment.  Over the years, they have done just that.
For example, when my son desperately wanted his license - a few months ahead of our planned schedule - he wrote a passionate plea about his worth and good decision making - drafted overnight on the ol' family computer, that turned his "iron-clad" father into mush at the breakfast table!

Since that first NWP workshop I attended LONG ago, I have used a similar model at school encouraging kids to write for real purposes AND writing them notes - making my thinking visible to them.  Admittedly, as a busy teacher, there were times I told them to write things down just because I could not stand a moment more of bickering or any more discussion....(just like at home)....and there were times when I used that as a way to stall them and force them to clarify their thinking about whatever they wanted at that moment (just like at home)!   Yesterday, one of my former students wrote ME a note (ON A STICKY NOTE!) about her younger brother's improving reading prowess:
                                                           
                                         He's getting very good at reading.       
                                         But, not as good as me yet.
                                                                                      
Yesterday I realized I am writing as a way to organize and clarify my thinking.   It helps - it really does! 

SOL 7 Great Father: Mentor of life

I planned another post for this Day 7 SOL.
Something funny about writing every day
And about falling behind on laundry, dishes, exercising,
Report cards, emails and bills.....
Or something serious about lesson plans,observations,
IEPs and annual reviews...
Instead I am writing about a sad but very real slice of life....

I'm sad this morning,
Though I know his suffering has ceased,
There is a new angel knocking on Heaven's door.
He lived a good life,
Always had a smile and a chuckle,
Never an unkind word.

He fought through untold assaults on his body
To get a few more years with his family on earth,
He was a mentor father,
Kind and patient,
Filled with love,
Just like the son he mentored is to his children.

Sometimes, the slices of our lives mean we lose
Those in the inner circle
Sometimes the outer circle of our lives,
Whenever the losses occur,
Our lives here on earth are a little different,
And Heaven gains a new angel.

You will be missed, Ralph,
By your children
And those precious grandchildren
I'll do what I can
To hold all you held dear,
A little closer and tighter,

I'll do it for you.
A great father: A mentor of life. 

SOL 6 Highly Effective Teachers Hire Interior Decorators?

I've been thinking a lot about teacher performance and evaluation lately.  It could be the APPR committee...or it could be the scores in the New York Post..or my concern about shifting too much focus away from children onto teachers!

. Whatever the reason, the "grade" we will get or the desire to be highly effective, I have been wondering what aspects of an observation will stand out to administrator as they do the quick "drive bys" they will need to do to defend their scores. 

While I HOPE our teaching and children learning will be the focus, I wonder if SOME teachers and administrators will be fooled or lulled into a false sense of complacency by classrooms that are "tidy" and teachers who teach to their plans. 

Those of us who are down in the trenches learning with the kids every day know that learning is a messy (at times) process and thus classrooms where learning takes place may have desks that become askew.  There may be some piles of papers that collect because the most effective teachers are NOT organizing during their precious moments with kids.  Instead, they are focusing on the kids and their learning. 

Those of us who are learning along with our children realize that in order to empower our students as learners, we have to encourage our kids to take risks and sometimes, we have to deviate from our stated plans...accepting those teachable moments and embracing those moments where we pass the control of learning over to our learnenrs.

I am just hoping that those who will be doing the assessing will know the difference between a perfectly coiffed classroom and a classroom where learning takes place....

There is a need to paint, decorate and generally upgrade MANY classrooms across our country.  

If SURFACE looks and a great paint job are valued, then, in the future, there WILL be a need for classroom interior decorators to help out those of us who have spent too many years learning to focus on the kids!

I'll need to hire one because I am too busy teaching!    

SOL 5: Aunt Zulu and the Rainbow Family

"You tell me the words and I'll read the story," she insisted.
"She's just pretending," her sister whispered, making sure I was not fooled by the ruse. 
"That's a rhyme, like in Dr. Seuss," she commented. 
"It was just his birthday," her sister whispered, making sure I was not fooled into thinking she could rhyme.
"Just three more books and then you can TELL us both a story," she murmured.
They both leaned into my shoulders and cuddled closer for a lively rendition of the classic, Put Me in the Zoo, and Scholastic's attempt at contemporary literature, Birthday Surprise. 

After 6 books (3 chosen each) we settled into bed for story telling about the adventures of the Rainbow Family (Mom, Dad, Charlie, Purp, their friend Indigo, their dog Blue, their cat White and their Aunt Zulu).   If I didn't know better, I might think this family, loosely modeled after one we know but with names inspired by the Rainbow Fairies,  might be real!  I feel like we are beginning to know so much about them: a) they love rainbow ice cream; b) they go for walks and look at colorful flowers; and c) they wear colorful clothes (think indigo jackets)!  When I was asked what this Rainbow Family was giving up for Lent, I even knew the answer!  They were not giving up anything this year.  Instead, they were trying to be the best they could be!  They were working hard, listening to each other and trying not to fight over their iPad!  It's this Auntie's attempt at contemporary bedtime storytelling! 

 

SOL 4 I KNOW how to get kids to write!

I was pretty sure that adding more tests was not going to work.  I was pretty sure that the new APPR standards and publishing teachers' grades in the New York Post was not the answer. 

I was pretty sure that more tests, harder tests and longer tests were not the answer.  I tried to give more and more models and more and more mini lessons about craft and ideas - it helped some - but it was not enough to motivate the reluctant ones. 

I tired encouragement, scaffolding and even a bit of bribery...sometimes that helps a for a while.......

NOW I KNOW...I really get it....

I set my alarm on a Saturday morning so I would have time to get it all done.  I literally ran down the stairs to write!  On Day 3 of this challenge, the thoughts were coming fast and furiously...I could have written 2 or 3 posts!  I was feeling the same kind of passion for my writing that I did back when I was writing that dissertation! I hit attach and send before heading off to make a cup of tea and checking my emails.....

And when I came back, it was there....on the Internet.....the answer....how to get the reluctant writer to write more.......one of my teacher-blog heroes had responded to MY post!  Who would have thought that would ever happen!  I think I was actually shaking with excitement as I hurriedly opened the browser ....and there were other comments....already?  WOW......

So now I know the answer.  They have to write a lot - maybe every day.  We have to genuinely want to read and respond to their writing.  They have to know we care. We have to provide them with comfortable ways to write.  We have to embrace technology. They have to have feedback that comes right away...and we have to make sure they are not penalized for taking risks with their writing.

If we give them almost immediate feecback through our responses to their writing and if we tell them we really care ...they will feel like they hit the jackpot...SO long notebooks....bring on the iPads and laptops....it's a new world...and we have to see it THEIR way!

SOL 3 I'm the fastest "flipper"

"Phew, I'm tired," the 7 year old sighed as he settled into the pillow to read a comic."
"I know what you mean," his friend said supportingly, "She's so fast."
"I mean you just can't even breathe she is so fast."
 "I bet she's the fastest flipper in the whole world."
"She's faster than Superman."
"She's faster than lightning,"
"She's faster than my dad."
"She's faster than anybody."
"She's so fast she makes my hands fall off."
"Phew, I'm tired."
"Wanna read with me?"

While some get mugs reassuring themselves they are the "best" or the "greatest," I might be infamous as the "fastest" flipper around.  It's a skill that I have worked on for many years and the kids I overheard discussing my prowess were right - I am pretty fast at the word card reading and sorting activity we do to build automaticity! 

For those of you who don't spend your day supporting struggling readers and writers using multisensory techniques (Wilson, Fundations type programs), you'll have to practice this skill at home.  I suspect you could use a few packs of 3x5 cards (that is what I use) or perhaps a few old deck of cards. 

I do at least have this one item to brag about, among Fundations word card reading and sorting teachers I might just be the "fastest flipper."    However, now that I am making my prowess public, it is possible that someone might read this and might want to challenge my title.  I say, "Bring it on!"

I'm the fastest flipper!

SOL 2 Pieces of Love

A long time ago, when I had very little money and a little more time, I made my first baby quilt.  It was not a huge stretch for someone who had been sewing since she was 14 and who had made her own wedding dress (don't get too excited...it sure was not like the dresses of today)!
That first quilt was a gift I could afford for the first of my peers to have a child. Yet that first project of pieced remnants and turned into something more than I could have imagined.  I spend a lot of time sewing and quilting and I imagined that it might soon wrap a "miracle" on a cold night.  It's most important job, however, was likely its role as that little girl's "lovey."   About a year later, I made an elaborate Blue Bonnet Sue quilt for my sister's first daughter.  My financial situation was a little better and I also threw in a car seat as a baby gift; but I realized there was something special in that quilt that represented the many hopes and prayers I had for that child and her family.  Over many years, I have made many not-quite-so-elaborate quilts for other babies of friends and family.  I have incorporated themes and family hobbies such as fishing and jogging!  I've made quilts with thin "slices" and fat "pieces" of fabric.  I've used remnants and fine Egyptian cotton in the same quilt!  Once, I used tie-died batik fabric for a child who was named after a Grateful Dead song! 
When my daughter (who has many intersecting identifies herself as well as a challenging professional career) called on Sunday night to tell me about her weekend quilting obsession, I smiled because I knew. I too had spent the day making a quilt and I could have just plucked something off the registry.  I am pretty sure I did not tell her - but somehow she figured out that pieces of love are better than anything money could buy.

SOL 1 learning to be a writer in the 21st century

While certainly not the "best" view of me, this picture depicts a few of the multiple intersecting-slices of my life! As a literacy specialist during the day (lots of reports, paperwork) and an adjunct professor in the evening (lots of case studies, lesson plans), I spend a LOT of time at my computer!  So, when the disk-drive on my overworked desktop-computer crashed last week, it seemed like the time to align my needs and wants!

The computer world had certainly changed since the last time I "shopped" for computers and at first I thought I might be able to fill my needs and my wants with a new incredible slim-line laptop; however, the more I pondered, the more I knew that what I really wanted was a tablet to serve as an "e reader" and note taker and a computer to do those excel spreadsheets and power points. 

So, Monet (she is "champagne" colored) arrived on a UPS truck late on a snowy afternoon and shortly thereafter I was reading the Times and exploring her functions.  It was close to 7 when I reluctantly left her charging on the counter and made my way to the stove to stir up some dinner.  Moments later, my husband appeared out of nowhere and began playing with my new writing tablet!  I almost erased the picture and its text as "play" but fortunately I came to my senses just in time.  The picture and text are really much more and perhaps even symbolic of the writing journey that we are ALL taking as writing changes. 
 
ALL this made me reflect on this blog.  I started this blog to do what I "preach" as a teacher of teachers.  If we really do learn to be writers through the process of writing (as the great writing gurus of the 20th Century - Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins - said), then our students need to write about topics that are personally meaningful to them on a regular basis.  I finally began to understand the process as I wrote, endlessly it seemed, for my dissertation.  While I started this blog FOR my grad students, at some point, I realized that this really was more than just a diversion; I really was learning to be a 21st Century writer.  It's a little scary to be putting all these thoughts, ideas and pictures out there for others to possibly read; but that is what writing is all about!