Thoughts on Teaching and Learning: May 2

Over the past several weeks, I have found myself doing a lot of reflection trying to get this online teaching right.  I keep meaning to get my thoughts on paper but then get caught up in the day-to-day work of teaching in this pandemic era.  I know if I can catch my breath, there is a lot to learn and reflect on during this time. So, I decided that every day in May, I will share my thoughts on Teaching and Learning.  This is Day 2.

Online Writing Workshop: Creating Lessons I Believe In

Early in this online/pandemic teaching experience, I had lots of conversations with Mary Lee and Julie Johnson and Clare Landrigan about how to make the asynchronous teaching relevant and meaningful and authentic. I realized right away how much of my teaching was about listening and responding and I had no idea how to do this in this new platform.  After lots of thinking with Julie, I created this Board of Writing Choices.

Questions I asked myself:

What were things in the standards that most kids could benefit from and that could be applied to every type of writing?

How can I make these minilessons feel closer to the mini lessons in the classroom?

How could kids be active?

How could I use mentor texts as I usually do in writing minilessons?

If I use any of the fabulous videos by authors, how can I embed those in a larger lesson?

I knew the lessons would not be exactly as they are in the classroom but after asking myself these questions I realized a few things:

• The kids were excited about their writing from the first day. They loved the choice and got started right away. I knew I could easily find skills to teach that would help kids if I focused on revision.
• My minilessons were always planned in cycles. We never did something and checked it off the list. Instead we explored several ideas around some concept and then tried it.
• I used mentor texts for kids that we mostly knew and I often threw in a bran new text to study.
• When I used videos from outside authors, etc. I often embedded those as one of the ways we study an idea. It never really stands alone.
• On the floor in the classroom, kids always have a chance to "try it" in their notebook before they go off to work on their own.
• We would need time to talk. 

I created 3 revision lessons that spanned about a week and a half.  I created slides with audio on each slide so that I could talk to make it sound and feel as much like a mini lesson as I could. I read aloud a book on Kindle that I embedded for us to study. I embedded videos from experts and I sent kids off to read a few books on their own (free access throough Epic). I highlighted some excerpts from picture books and invited kids to stop the audio to analyze the piece as a writer and then I shared my thinking aloud.  I also pulled some excerpts from our past and current read aloud books to study as writers.  I found excerpts that were great examples of the things I was trying to teach. And then I gave them a very small spot to give things a try (like a large sticky note but on slides).   Below are copies of the 3 lessons I shared with students (I'm not sure if you can access the audio files on each slide, but you can get the idea from these slides, I think.)

Revision Lesson 1

Revision Lesson 2

Revision Lesson 3

In between these lessons, I scheduled small groups for writers. I tried to meet with all students and most showed up to one of the groups. Groups ranged in size from 4-8 and students came at various places in the writing process. They each had their writing as anchors for talk and we also had these revision lessons. So we could talk about which things had worked, share their revisions, give each other feedback etc.

This was in no way as rich as it is in our classroom with daily writing partners, daily live feedback, individual conferences and the absence of a pandemic. But these lessons felt more right and more real than any I had done up until this time. For a few minutes during each of the small groups, I forgot we were on Zoom. I hope the kids did too.

Things I am still thinking about...

• We only have a few weeks of school left. And with all of the other subjects and the limited time we have each day, we probably only have time for one more set of writing groups. But I want to learn from this and to reflect on the things I would do differently next time.
• It worked to have the lessons asynchronous and the focus of the writing groups on the conversation and feedback. I think the key was that the minilessons were active and had many of the same features kids expect from minilessons in the classroom (even though timing was different).
• Things are slower in this online/pandemic teaching. I haven't quite figured out how much time kids need.  I have found that with choice, some put a lot more time and energy than expected into writing projects they love.  But without daily sharing, etc. kids shared the challenges of doing their best writing at home, writing without the support of a community, etc.
• I want to use student work as I do in the classroom. Using student work as mentors to study.  That is such a powerful part of our classroom learning and I think that would be an easy add.

This online/pandemic teaching has made me feel like a new teacher on many days. I feel like I am not quite sure what is right for kids in this space. But I felt like these lessons helped me find some grounding and help me think about what we needed more of during these days. And they helped me think about what is possible and how to bring in more of who we are as a classroom community.

Thoughts on Teaching and Learning: May 1

Over the past several weeks, I have found myself doing a lot of reflection trying to get this online teaching right.  I keep meaning to get my thoughts on paper but then get caught up in the day-to-day work of teaching in this pandemic era.  I know if I can catch my breath, there is a lot to learn and reflect on during this time. So, I decided that every day in May, I will share my thoughts on Teaching and Learning.  This is Day 1.

Today I am feeling thankful. Thankful for the community of educators who are working so hard to make these months right for our students and to support each other.  I have always relied on thinking with others and I've always believed strongly that none of us can do this work alone. I noticed right off--after saying goodbye to my students not knowing when we'd be back in our classroom--how much I relied on colleagues.  When I found myself planning and teaching alone in my house, I missed thinking with others almost immediately.  I realized how often a 2 minute conversation in the hallway helped me make sense of something and helped me know what to do next in the classroom. I realized quickly that I would need to figure out how to make collaboration happen during this time when all of every educator I knew was busy just trying to keep up and figure this out.  I have relied on so many people to figure out how to do this online teaching and to keep up my energy and hopefulness during these days stuck at home.

I am in awe of all of the sharing and support we are giving to each other and I am so thankful for it. It is truly amazing what we have accomplished together.

I am thankful for Antero Garcia, Detra Price-Dennis and the entire NCTE staff for hosting Member Gatherings each week. When I've been able to attend these gatherings, they have been nourishing and inspiring.

I am thankful for NCTE Ambassadors, Christina Nosek (@ChristinaNosek) and Michelle Rankins (@MichelleRankins), for hosting an NCTE Social Hour that was an hour of self-care that was truly needed.

I am thankful for my Zoom Book Club. After weeks of not being able to read (even though I had plenty of time), I have gotten my reading life back:-)

I am thankful to Mary Lee for her month of poetry. Each one of Mary Lee's poems has helped me make sense of these days and all I have been feeling.  Especially this one.

I am thankful for the authors who have shared lessons, read aloud and been so generous with their time.   And I'm thankful for all of the publishers who have revised policies so that teachers can share books with kids online. And a big thank you to Kate Messner for curating all of this for us, so that we could find everything we need in one place.

I am thankful for Julie Johnson, Mary Lee, Ann Marie Corgill (@acorgill)  and Clare Landrigan who spent more time than I think they probably wanted to helping me think through choice and agency in these early days of distance learning.  Having colleagues who helped me figure out how to stay grounded in the things that are most important--how can we do this work without that?

Thank goodness for group texts --I can't imagine doing this work without being able to text my 5th grade team and local colleagues to get ideas on resources, think through a lesson, figure out a tech tool, etc.

And thank you to the all of the teachers who are writing and sharing their journeys so that we can do better-- Kristin Ziemke and Katie Muhtaris, Stella Villalba, Aeriale Johnson, BernNadette Best-Green, Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle.

I am so thankful to have rediscovered our National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. If you have not watched and rewatched "The Miracle of Morning", you must. I have watched it several times over these last couple of weeks.

And I am so thankful for this new gift from Katharine Hsu--LemmeTryThat--reminding me about balance and to make time for joy and hobbies and fun. Her weekly newsletters and social media post are fabulous.

As I said early in this post, I noticed during those first few days at home--after we said goodbye to our students not knowing if we'd be back to school--that I have never taught alone. That it is the thinking together that helps us do the best job we can for our students. I worried so much about how that would happen during those first few days planning alone at my kitchen table. But I shouldn't have worried. Our educator community is one I've always been proud and grateful to be part of. I can say that now more than ever.