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. 

Chapter 7

In chapter 7 the focus was put on perfecting quality before moving onto another skill.  With the timeline and the emphasis put into testing I often moved my third graders on before they had time to master a previous skill.  Although I hated the fact that most of my students would have benefited from more practice and perhaps me reteaching certain skill, I also felt obligated to move along in order to meet all standards by the end of the school year.  Time restraints are a huge effect on teaching as well as learning.  Also reading through this chapter I loved the rubric that describes what a good readers should do on page 151.  That is such a great idea, so students can get a better understanding of what is expected of them.  When creating a rubric like such you are able to integrate the standards and expectations into one.  The more I read through this book, the more ideas I get for next school year.  I have set a goal for myself to find time, master and integrate more writing for my students.

sharing (optimal model)

This graphis refers to the share piece of the optimal model.  Teachers shares and students will soon follow suit.
I received this graphic from http://www.wlscd.com/

Graphic-This is what brings a smile to my face each and everyday.

I picked this graphic because it just shows exactly what students in the primary grades are capable of.  1st and 2nd grade students can draw and write about each of their own drawings.
I got this graphic from http://www.swcs.com/

Graphic #2

  This graphic reminds me of how exciting students become when they find something they love to read.  This is my goal  as an educator to get every student excited about reading.
I got this graphic from http://www.nylearns,org/

Chapter 6

Integrating reading and writing is a key component in student learning.  Students can always write about their reading and also reread they writing.  I believe students should learn these skills starting in Kindergarten, but sadly enough my third grade students lack so much with grammar.  They barely have the basics and it makes it hard to move forward to more in depth skills.  I do not blame any one, because from day one students are taught skills that will help them take and pass test after test.  What age should they learn to take notes?  This skill is a great skill for students to have, but when are students ready to take on this task.  I know when reading basasl we track our reading, but its usually done through one or two words.  Throughout this chapter I have jotted down and highlighted several key concepts and tips I would like to incorporate into my classroom.

Chapter 5

As I talked to about in my ver first post, I absolutely believe in allowing all students to share their work.  They worked so hard it, why would I take away there fame by not allowing them to share it with others.  I understand its almost impossible to let every student share everyday, but I used the Kagan structure Round table to make time so that all students can share.  They each get one minute to share and the team members get 30 seconds to praise or share something they liked.  It is Awesome and I recommend any teacher to use it to allow all students to share their work. I love the concept of mystery message to grab students attention.  This was a great chapter!

Chapter 4

Raising the bar for each student can look significantly different.  Each student learns and comprehends at different rates.  Its important to understand what we expect of them.  It sometimes may pose a problem with other students.  As educators we accomodate to meet each students needs, but younger students don't understand that.  How can I tackle this issue with my students?  In chapter 4 I enjoyed taking a closer look into the optimal learning model.  Demonstration, shared demonstration, guided practice, and independent practice work hand in hand.  Once students have all four of these components in place they will be in a situation to master that particular skill.  All students are capable of sucess....No EXCEPTIONS!

chapter 1-3 graphic

English and Literacy



I found this graphic on http://www.englishandliteracy.com/.  I found this graphic cute due to the fact that it reminds my a lot of my third grade students.

Writing Essentials ch 1-3

Reading through chapters 1-3, I could not help but to wish I had more time in a school day to teach and work on writing.  I can remember a time in elementary school where we not only had time to do creative writing, but we looked forward to sharing our writing.  In chapter 1 the author gave great examples when analyzing your own beliefs about teaching writing.  Just like in any other subject, there is not perfect way to teach everything.  I do like the optimal learning model found on page 11.  This year being my first year teaching writing was a bit challenging.  A lot of responsibility is put on third grade teachers because students in 4^th grade take writing testing.  With no writing curriculum to follow it was very challenging and frustrating to complete and teach reasonable writing lessons.  I had no way of knowing where to start.  When reading through the 12 writing essential it summarizes everything I had to discover for myself this past school year.  The most important key to creating successful writers is through modeling.  As educators we spend a majority of our teaching career showing and explaining to our students how to master a skill.  Getting and keeping students’ attention will create a great working environment for students.  They adjust well when writing about themselves.  Personal writing is the easiest for students, but they tend to grow tired.  To prevent my students from growing tired of personal writing, I allowed them to do personal writing for homework and would allow other forms of creative writing to be completed during school hours.    Because my students usually had to complete most writing work at home I always allowed time for at least 4 or 5 students to share their writing daily.  This was absolutely my favorite part of the day.  They were always so eager to share with their classmates.  If for any reason there was extra time in the day, I would allow them to partner share their writing.  Although I never had enough time in the day to teach writing, we cherished every moment we did have time to write.

Testing Testing...1 2 3

Testing