Chapter 10-12 graphic

I got this graphic from http://www.clipart.com/
I thought this was a great picture to sum up chapter 12.  We become so overwhelmed with work, that we forget to make time for ourselves.  Although we did not go into teaching for the money, we still deserve a nice vacation on the beach.  I live 5 minutes from the beach, so you are all welcome to join anytime.

chapter 12

Making connections with students is important.  They need to know they are loved and that you are there for them.  Building a rapport can be hard with some students, but it is vital in order to create a great learning enviroment.  I think chapter 12 is my favorite because it talks about reducing the workload for educators and students.  Our time before and after school should not to be always grading papers, creating centers or making lesson plans.  Just as we spend too much time overwhelmed with work, our students also grow tired of completing too much homework the night before.  Writing should be fun and not overwhelming.  This chapter says we should relax and enjoy our job.  I think we can all agree with that!

Chapter 11

As educators we are always searching for research based practices that work for most students.  Chapter 11 explains what to look for in new practices.  Page 263 list several reserach principles that are applicable for all students k-12.  This past school year our school adopted the Kathy Robinson writing program.  I truly believe it is a great program, but how it is set up and designed is a little overwhelming.  Most of the lesson our designed around a hour writing block and our scheduled only alloted for two 45 minute writing blocks.  So it became a little hard to affectively implement the program as needed.  At the end of the school year we met with the 4th grade team and discussed what are the most important skills 3rd graders needed to perform well on the 4th grade writing test.  I believe this will keep us more organized as a grade level next year when implementing the writing program.  I also hope I have the oppurtunity next school year to sign up for some professional development courses on language arts especially in the area of writing.  Although we just adopted a new writing series, I find the checklist on page 275 a great tool to have when it comes time to adopt a new program.  How often our school district allowed to adopt new programs? 

chapter 10

Before I read chapter 10 I thought to myself how oftend did a create a writing assessment?  Over the course of the year I only used rubrics to assess student writing.  What else could I have used?  In the reading they gave a variety of ways to use rubrics and how to create kid-friendly rubrics.  On the other hand every piece of writing does not have to be scored.  Students can simply write for fun without having limitations.  In the state of Florida 4th and 8th grade students have take a state writing exam.  I had the oppurtunity to watch a 4th grade teacher teach writing lesson.  I took several notes, but what stuck with me the most was when she clearly noted and modeled a clear difference between scoring a 5 or 3 on a paper according to the district rubric.  I became so engaged in the lesson I lost track of time.  She did a wonderful job of breaking each part of the rubric down using fun interactive mini lessons.  I was in such awe when I left, I actually used comp time to go back into her classroom to see another lesson on elaboration being taught.  I love to write and I used her energy to find ways in classroom to engage my students.  Just as students learn from one another, educators can also learn a lot from our fellow peers. 

ch 7-9 picture

This cartoon came from http://www.nebwp.com/
I chose this cartoon because I believe some students think to hard when it comes to writing.  Writing should be fun and interesting for our students.

chapter 9

Chapter 9 focuses a lot on social skills and conferencing with students.  Students can become active listeners and great speakers through writing.  Each student should have oppurtunities to share and show active attention.  My favorite time during the writing block is when I set time to conference with students.  I did learn that I do not have to meet with every student each day, but meet with them as needed.  A conference can last anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes.  To make a conference move smoothly a great idea would to create a conference checklist.  A checklist will simply list thinkgs to discuss and simple reminders for students.  I love this idea.  There were times I would forget to remind the students of something.  A checklist will keep my writing block more organized.  A conference should be constructive and present a lot of praise. Students can also conference with one another.  They can give feedback and new ideas to fellow peers.  Without the conferencing piece students may never understand what it takes to become better writers.

chapter 8

Find the time for writing has been a struggle.  Routman states that "those who write every day in a regular planned writing session produce about twice the volume of ideas than those who do not."  I am going to post this statement in the writing center for next school year.  My ultimate goal is to transpire my students into well rounded readers and writers.  I hope by expressing my joy for reading and writing they will  also grow to share a love as well.  When I think about the time I spent teaching writing last year, must of my lessons were free writes.  When in the beginning I needed to focus on grammar and conventions.  When reading I discovered freewriting is a great way to build endurance and confidence.
On page 185 a first grade teacher reconfigured her daily schedule. How would adminstrators feel about taking it upon yourself to change your schedule?  I love the idea, but I wouldn't want to step on any toes.