A Day With Chris Lehman: Falling in Love With Close Reading

On Saturday, I attended The Literacy Connection workshop with Chris Lehman. Wow! What an amazing day. I know I can't capture in words how amazing the day was but I wanted to share the highlights. If you have not had a chance to hear Chris Lehman or to read his books, I would highly recommend it. He is an important voice in literacy education and he shares his understandings generously. It was a great way to spend a Saturday in early October.

I am so lucky to teach in Central Ohio. Being part of the Literacy Connection and this group of teachers from Central Ohio who is passionate about literacy learning is such a gift. And so many of these teachers are Dublin colleagues. I feel lucky every day to learn with such an amazing group of people who care so much about what is right for kids. We always have a great time learning and thinking together.

I started my day picking up coffee at the brand new Starbucks that is only a mile or so from my house! I already love this Starbucks and the feel that I have when I walk in there. As busy as they were since they are newly opened, they didn't hesitate when I asked about providing coffee for the teachers. So happy to start all my days here, especially rainy Saturdays when it is still dark! Picking up the coffee here was the perfect way to start the day!

I always love the beginning of the day at these events.  Reconnecting with friends and colleagues and having a few minutes to chat over coffee before the session begins is always important.  Saturday morning there was so much energy in the  room as we knew what a great day we had ahead of us. Lots of people had some time to chat with Chris and to each other.

And if you missed my tweet--Dublin librarian, Marisa Saelzler found the perfect dress for the event. A Lularoe dress that perfectly matches the cover of Chris's book, Falling in Love with Close Reading! (You have to zoom in to see the perfect fabric!)

The day started off with Peggy Oxley welcoming the crowd and introducing Chris. If you don't know Peggy, she is the woman who has run this organization for years.  Her vision for teacher learning and how The Literacy Connection can support that is amazing.  

And of course there were books! Cover to Cover came with so many great new titles.  I showed some control and only bought a small stack. Some great new books that I am excited to share with my students soon.

I can't possibly summarize all that I learned on Saturday, but the day was exactly what I needed when I needed it. Chris's whole message was perfect for early October. Chris gave us so much to think about. Here are some of the quotes I kept throughout the day--quotes that I will revisit over the next few weeks:

"Joy is grounded in good literacy."

"Reading closely is a very natural thing for our kids to do."

"Close reading is about discovering new meaning through looking at details."

"For close reading to go well, reading needs to go well!"

"In close reading you are trying to discover things you didn't notice before."

"If we are asking kids to close read, it has to be a text kids can read successfully by themselves."

"Our kids need access to a lot of books that they can read with strength and that they are interested in reading."

"Nothing's magic in education except your relationship with your students."

"If we develop a structure, it will become a habit which will lead to independence."

"The purpose of the structure is that we can make it more sophisticated over time."

"Young readers need a lot of time to talk and develop the oral language to talk about their thinking around ideas."

"Ultimately, good reading work is good life work."

"It is so important that we are really good kid-watchers. We need to see what our kids do well and build on that."

"Effective literacy instruction requires knowledge of what book levels require readers to be able to do to gain meaning."

Chris Lehman will be back for another day with The Literacy Connection in March. I can't wait to learn more from him then!

**On a related note, if you haven't been keeping up with all of the great work Chris is doing with The Educator Collaborative, I would go check it out. Great Think Tanks and all of the session from the September Gathering are archived and free. Lots of great PD by amazing people.

Chris Lehman will be Speaker at 2015-2016 Literacy Connection Events

Mark your calendars now!

The Literacy  Connection is happy to host Chris Lehman as our 2015-2016 speaker. As we do every year, we'll host a yearlong study around a professional book. This year, the book will be Falling in Love With Close Reading.  The year will kick off on Saturday, October 3 (in Dublin, Ohio) with a full day session with Chris.  There will be 2 after school sessions offered for those wishing to participate in the yearlong study. Then we will end our year on Saturday, March 12 for another day with Chris Lehman.

I love these events because they start great conversations with colleagues and friends. I wasn't able to hear Chris speak at the Dublin Literacy Conference but everyone who heard him said that his work in close reading is great for all grades K-12.

So, save the date--you can pick and choose the days you want to attend, or like many teachers--attend all 4 for this yearlong study.

More info to come but as you are thinking about your own learning for the 2015-2016 school year, this might be one you want to add to your calendar!

21st Century Thinking-My Blog Visits

I love when Jen Robinson shares her daily visits on her blog. She gives us so many great links and we get a little window into her thinking about literacy. I thought I would begin to do the same type of thing with my 21st Century Thinking--posting about my current thinking and linking to some great posts that helped my thinking each week-- or whenever I seem to be finding lots of good stuff around the topic.

If you don't know the work of Michael Wesch, his video "A Vision of Students Today" was one of the first that got me thinking that this was something I needed to think about! This week, I found his post entitled, From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able: Learning in New Media Environments at Academic Commons. My favorite line from this article "Nothing good will come of these technologies if we do not first confront the crisis of significance and bring relevance back into education."

I have found it interesting lately that the technology piece seems to be growing critical at a time when our schools are focusing more and more on testing and skills. So much bigger than technology is the issue of significance and relevance in our schools. But, my thinking is these new tools can encourage us to think harder about significance.

On another topic, there has been a lot of talk about blogging on the blogs this week. Is it already an outdated thing? Will people stop blogging soon? This article by Will Richardson addressed the issue of why blogging is still hard. He says, "Blogging isn’t about what I know as much as it’s about what I think I know, and I find that to be a crucial distinction. For me, it’s the distinction that constantly makes this hard. It’s also the distinction, however, that makes blogging worth it."

I agree and hope that blogging stays around for a while. For me, it is a way to make sense of my own thinking about books and teaching and it has also been a way for me to expand my network and learn from and with others.

Doug Noon at Borderland writes about What We Measure. This post addresses several of the things that have been concerning me lately--especially those dealing with testing and literacy. If we only teach what is easily measured, we are in huge trouble. When you look at those skills needed for 21st Century learning, the problem gets even bigger.

Chris Lehman "Motivation, Motivation, Motivation", Chris Lehman writes about motivation and the ways so many schools are running these days. He says, "If we want to move away from Theory X, we have to offer a different vision of our schools. We have to create a vision of schooling that does not assume that accountability trumps responsibility."

This may be one of my favorite posts of the week. For me, I loved seeing this profile of Rachel, all of the ways that this 5 year old is making sense of her world--using the tools that she needs. From a dad who can see all that she is capable of and who celebrates her many literacies. I was drawn to the post because I always love to see writing and drawing by young children. It will always amaze me. But the tech and movies that were also part of her day made the post complete. A 5 year old in a 21st Century world, learning and growing in a place that values what she has to say. What could be better than that?

An older posts that I just discovered hit on my own thinking this week--much of which came from talk at the English Companion Ning. So many of us, who have just joined in on blogs, twitters, nings and more, are often the only ones in our schools or districts who are excited about the possibilities for our classrooms. Ryan Bretag shares his thinking about Local, Global or Glocal on his blog. He says, "Many of us are excited about Global possibilities but sometimes at the expense of local collaboration." This post helped me to realize that for me, it is about both. Networking with colleagues from across the country and world gives me energy and helps me see possibilities. But I also need a group of local colleagues to think with--to go through the day-to-day struggles with. It can't be an either-or for me. And I imagine that is true for many of us. Both of our networks and the ways that they come together, are needed for our personal learning.

That's it for this round. Hope you found some links that helped stretch your own thinking. It seems like information-overload some days but I think it is well worth it!

#ISTEKids

#ISTE16 was a fabulous experience.  But one of my favorite things was the #ISTEKids session that was facilitated by Chris Lehman and Camilla Gagliolo.  Some third graders from our school were invited to be part of the Student Voices session--a session that focused on student voices and that had all student presenters.

Students from all over the world participated. Some were there live and others were there virtually.  It was an amazing session and the kids shared such powerful messages.  Kids ranged in age from 3rd grade to high school. They were from all over the world--California, Mexico, Wisconsin, Australia, Ohio.  They talked about things important to their learning--Maker projects, global connections because of Global Read Aloud, Project-Based Learning and more.  Our 4 third graders presented on #EdcampKids.

We were invited to participate late in our school year so the kids got together a few times to pull together what we wanted to say, to think about slides, and to make sure we could do it in the 7-8 minutes we were given.  Pulling this session together with the kids was amazing. Their insights about EdcampKids and what they thought others should know taught me so much.  We had fun and we experienced deadline stress but we were happy with what we put together. (Thank goodness for Google Slides and Google Docs!).

On the next to last day of school, Mr. Sweet, one of our Technology Support teachers came over to show the kids how the Skype would work and to test out sound and other features.  

Then the Friday before ISTE, we all met in the Tech House to do some final tech checks and a few dress rehearsals.  Mr. Sweet was such a huge help--we couldn't have done it without him!

Back in Denver, Chris Lehman was busy connecting with all the kids presenting from different places, checking sound and facilitating the technology for the session.

It was such an amazing session. So many great voices saying so many important things.  We were last on the agenda and this is what the screen looked like.  I was able to sit in the audience and watch their amazingness!  They were fabulous! 

Below are the slides that the kids shared.  I am not sure if they'll make sense without the kids' words but you can get a sense of their session.  (I blogged about #EdcampKids on our blog last spring if you would like to know more about it.)

I loved the power of the Student Voices and that Camilla and Chris had the inspiration to create a session like this.  A big message of #ISTE16 was the power of student voices--that they don't need to wait until they are adults to be leaders, that they are leaders now. This session was proof of that. I hope to see more of these.

Really this was one of the best experiences I have had as both a teacher and conference participant.  

(The Student Voices session was not the only place that student voices were heard. There were students presenting throughout the conference in sessions, at poster sessions and at playgrounds.  Below is a photo of me learning from some students from Mexico--ways they are using Skype to connect and understand the world.)

21st Century Thinking-My Blog Visits

I must say, I had so much more free time in life before TWITTER! But, because of Twitter, I have learned so many new things. I get so many great links and find so many smart people through Twitter. I have learned to manage my time better when I am on Twitter, but it has really helped me think through lots of things related to teaching/21st Century Skills.

I followed lots of sessions at Educon 2.1---a conference hosted by the Science Leadership Academy. So many great people in attendance and I was able to actual participate in some of the sessions --it was like I was sitting in the room. That part alone was amazing. But, The Science Leadership Academy is amazing. One quote by Chris Lehman (principal at SLA) from the conference (that I got via twitter was this: "I want 4 things for SLA kids. I want them to be thoughtful, wise, passionate and kind." What a goal! You can hear the voices of SLA students and teachers in a video here.

So, as I mentioned, I popped into a few of the virtual sessions at Educon. Watched and listened a bit. Love that I could do that. Chris Lehman is pretty amazing. But I was pretty struck by the fact that a very, very small percentage of people at these types of conferences and in these conversations are elementary teachers. I was always struck with that as a literacy coach. The absence of classroom teachers. It is easy for those of us not in classrooms to think about these things but how do we make sure classroom teachers are part of the conversations? Not just coaches, and tech leaders, and administrators. Change can't happen without classroom teacher leadership. How do we network so that classroom teachers--especially at the elementary level---are leading some of this conversation?

A great place worth spending some time is Networking: A New Literacy wikispace. I learned about it from Karl Fisch. The wiki is designed as a way to promote conversation but there is so much to explore and so much great thinking to do. Lots of reflective questions that really helped my own thinking. And many great links.

Totally fascinated by this idea from Dr. Michael Wesch. He and his group of students read and discussed 94 articles--having each student read 5. From what I can tell from the article, the conversation, because of the way Dr. Wesch structured the work, was powerful because expertise was built quickly. Lots to talk about early on. I can't explain it as well as his blog post does but this is the kind of things where some tech tools can really change teaching and learning. What a way to share so much in so little time.

Kevin of Kevin's Meandering Mind has a great slide sow of the different ways to use video in the classroom. I keep thinking that, as teachers, we just need to see the possibilities and this post does just that--quickly shows us lots of possibilities for using cameras in the classroom. I got several ideas and am hoping that others post things like this using other tools. Seeing the possibilities for learning is what helps me create a vision and this did just that.

A great post about the power of teachers who share. I appreciated the beginning of this post, "While I know that like any profession, there are good teachers and bad teachers, I don’t see many bad ones. My work usually has me working with passionate, caring teachers who truly want what’s best for kids."

As always, Karl Fisch posts in a way that helps us think and reflect on our own teaching. His post, "What's Impossible In Your Classroom?" helped me to reflect on the limits that I place on teaching and learning. This post will stay with me as a way to listen to my own words--do I think some things are impossible and I do I take a new stance?

And, I don't really get digital storytelling yet. But this post helped me to see the amazing possibilities in digital storytelling. It includes links to several different examples of the ways stories can be told. Definitely worth a look--again, to see what is possible.

I revisited an older article by Carol Dweck, thanks to Debbie Miller. The article, "The Perils and Promises of Praise" seem to tie in completely to all that we are working toward with any 21st Century Learning. The urgency to teach children in ways to build agency and identity is key. When students are engaged and interested in their work, there is no need for outside motivation. So much of my thinking around 21st Century Learning is more about student agency and learner identity and this article connects to that thinking.

December -- A Month of Nonfiction

When I looked over all of my fall assessments and I added that to observations of students over the last month or two, I knew that I needed to spend time on Nonfiction Reading. Even by 4th grade, my students have not really found nonfiction that they love. They read nonfiction only when they have to.  I have spent years building a decent collection of nonfiction books--books that are not connected to any content unit that we study, but just great nonfiction books. Even though I've tried to incorporate lots of nonfiction since August, I knew December would be the month that we really dug in.

Then I went to hear Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts at NCTE.  And I was reminded, as I was often at the convention, that I need to SLOW DOWN.  I have somehow pressured myself with a teaching pace this year that I know is not good for kids. So, in December, I am taking lots of time to help kids fall in love with nonfiction reading and to think about the kinds of writing that might go along with that.  Kate mentioned a yearlong study of notetaking and that idea was so freeing for me.  I am going to spend reading workshop minilesson time, writing workshop time and content time, really discovering all that nonfiction reading and writing has to offer.  A study on writing around nonfiction (notetaking and more without any finished product) will be part of this month's work.

Some goals for the month include:
-falling in love with nonfiction as a genre
-noticing different ways that authors approach nonfiction writing
-finding nonfiction authors and series to love
-developing tastes as nonfiction readers
-playing with notetaking with nonfiction--taking notes on thinking
-trying out various notetaking techniques and discovering how/when it makes sense to use them
-discovering nonfiction beyond text (websites, videos, slideshows, etc.)
-finding topics of interest (new and old)
-how we approach assigned reading differently from choice reading

As part of this study, I have decided to read aloud/think aloud a book from a series I love.  I love the Scientists in the Field series and I recently purchased The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity (Scientists in the Field Series) by Elizabeth Rusch.  I know almost nothing about the Mars Rovers but loved that this was the topic of a new book in this series.  So, I've decided to read aloud this book over the next week or two, without having really looked at it much at all.  I want my students to see my true thinking when reading a book that is interesting to me (a little) --one that I have very little background knowledge with.  This is a longer book so I am thinking my thinking, my notetaking, my questions, the resources I look to for more information will be authentic. This will be just one piece of our week but one that will be interesting for all of us, I think. This is also a longer nonfiction book so I am thinking the whole idea of stamina with a topic will come up---reading beyond short articles for more information. This is probably not the best place to start with my reading on a new topic.  So I may pull up some articles --Wonderopolis has a few related articles that might help.  (I'm also revisiting Chris Lehman's new book ENERGIZE RESEARCH READING AND WRITING--it is good to revisit it after I heard him speak at the convention.)

Another part of this week will be exploring lots of nonfiction books--getting their hands on books that have been sitting on the classroom shelves. I am hoping by the end of the week, they have discovered the genius of Steve Jenkins and Nic Bishop. I am hoping that a few kids have fallen in love with the Face to Face series.  I am hoping that we build some baskets around certain topics of interest.

This week is all about rediscovering nonfiction as readers.  I don't think it will be hard--there is lots of great nonfiction to fall in love with. I just need to give kids time to dig in with some minilesson support along the way.

Below are some tweets from Chris and Kate's session. Lots to think about.

18 NovKellee Moye ‏@kelleemoye

@kelleemoye: Chris is writing a nonfiction paragraph teaching about sharks... in his PBS voice #L16 #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

 Retweeted by Franki Sibberson

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18 NovCindy Minnich ‏@CBethM

Mentor text show how the author teaches. More options - but now about how to use those notes purposefully in writing.@iChrisLehman #ncte12

 Retweeted by Franki Sibberson

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

@iChrisLehman & @teachkate doing an amazing job of helping us rethink the teaching needed for strong research reading and writing. #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Am anxious to revisit Energize Research Reading and Writing by @iChrisLehman after hearing session at #ncte12.

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Am loving this idea on unit of notetaking outside of research project/units. So smart. Great way to end #ncte12. @iChrisLehman@teachkate

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

@teachkate is talking about ways to teach kids how to annotate drawings. #ncte12

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Probably the most important skill my kids needs as notetakers, is to make a choice. @teachkate #ncte12 Expand

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

RT @budtheteacher: "Do better things, not things better" says@skajder I like it. #reportsfromcyberspace #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Across the ages, people have tracked their thinking and learning in notebooks. @teachkate #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Think about doing a study of note taking in a unit outside of the research unit. Think about a yearlong study. @teachkate #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

If they've not taken notes before, they are not going to be very good at it. @teachkate #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

When am I going to teach my kids to be strong note taking in the midst of all of this? @teachkate #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

I like the idea of one person in mind when thinking about audience for research. @ichrislehman #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

What does your audience (individual person) need to know, or what is audience interested in knowing about the topic.@ichrislehman #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

It's important that a writer has a particular person in mind when thinking about audience. @ichrislehman #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We have to help our kids deal with the texts they have for research. What's my first text (highly readable)? @ichrislehman#ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

When we hand kids resources, we take away part of the process. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We could just hand kids sources. Instead, we can think about how sources guide us. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

You start with what you know and help yourself finds slants or angles--what you want to work on. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Instead of writing to PROVE that he read, let's have writing to teach. @ichrislehman #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

Right now, kids are taking notes from text. Instead, take notes from your learning. @ichrislehman #ncte12

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18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We're handing a lot us. Instead, let's start where research actually starts. @ichrislehman #ncte12

18 NovFranki Sibberson ‏@frankisibberson

We are trying to humanize research. Research can be as wonderful as it should be. #ncte12 @iChrisLehman

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