The Power of Choice During this Online/Pandemic Learning

**Mary Lee, Franki and Julie have been talking and thinking about choice during this time of Online/Pandemic Learning.  We decided to share our current thinking about choice and writing today and would love to hear from others on what is working when it comes to choice, writing and online learning. You can find Julie's post here.


From Franki
Writing Workshop is the heart of our classrooms and we believe student choice is so important for authenticity. Typically during the school year, we do 3-4 genre-based units of study and then between those, I do other units of study that cross genres. I want my readers to know there are so many ways to study and grow as a writer and although there are specifics for particular genres, there are also skills writers have that cross genres. Learning from Other Writers, Revising, Expanding Important Ideas in a Text, and Word Choice to Improve Writing are all units we've done across the year.

With this new online/pandemic teaching, it's been a challenge to stay grounded in what we believe about writing and writers.

I thought long and hard about what this time means for writers and I realized that this stay-at-home time is a perfect time for writers to do authentic work, to commit to a project with lots of time to work, to play around and to grow, to build a stronger identity as a writer.  So I decided that choice would be the most important thing over the next few weeks.

After talking with Julie Johnson on how she was providing her 3rd graders choice, I created this board for students.  Last week, students spent time thinking about the possibilities for their writing over the next several weeks and they committed to one of the ideas on this Choice Board.

Link to Writing Choice Board for 5th Graders

Having a writing workshop with very little live time together has been tricky so I built this board with this in mind. I knew I wanted students to have choice in genre, but I also knew that my focus for teaching as they were working on their writing would span genre. I knew I wanted them to find mentor texts and I knew revision would be important.  So I built some mentor texts into the slides so that as students explored options, they could see writers who they might learn from in each project.

This week, we will have small groups meeting to share and discuss their writing. And I am thinking about how to incorporate this brilliant idea from Clare Landrigan from Tuesday's blog.  My main goal is to support writers in lots of ways, to invite those writers who have lots of time to give to this, some options to dig  (working hours each day if they'd like) in in a way that isn't possible when school is in session.  I want them to know what that feels like they have a project they love and are committed to. I also want to give writers who don't have as much time or space for this the option to create and learn something--something they want to learn. It seems like an easy time during the year to do this as routines are set, students have goals as writers, they have learned from mentors all year and they have lots of writing ideas. 

I am already amazed at the ideas kids have shared and the work they are doing.  I am hoping this choice board meets the needs of all of my writers during this challenging time.

From Mary Lee

In our first full week of online learning, we had a very successful Flipgrid Science Symposium on Friday, where students shared their learning about food chains, food webs, energy pyramids, and the biome of their choice in a short video on Flipgrid. They loved having a project to work towards, and seeing how all of their work in reading, writing, and science could come together. In our "more of this/less of that" conversation on that first Friday, they definitely wanted more projects, and one student requested work with biographies, so I made a mental note to somehow work that in for our next project.

Last week and this week we have done some activities that are building towards an in-depth opinion piece. I wanted to weave together life science, biographies, and opinion writing. This is what I will present to the students next week. I hope I built in enough choice so that every student can find an entry point.

Link to Choose Your Own Adventure Opinion Writing

Students will be able to choose by person, by the person's area of science, or by the person's action -- what they're famous for. All of the links (except Julia Hill) go to our school's subscription (via Infohio) to WorldBook Student. 

Some of my students will be able to chose a topic and run with the research and the writing, but many will need scaffolding. We will brainstorm ways to make this an opinion piece. It will be very different than a "fuzzy socks are the best" opinion piece. They will need to make a claim about the importance of the person, the area of science, or the work. While they will start in WorldBook Student, they will need to do online searches and find information in unlikely places like BrainPOP.

I am struggling to get my students to keep their commitment to the small group session they signed up for, but in my dreams, those small groups will become writing support groups where we can discuss their progress and they can share their writing for peer feedback.

I envision this project lasting several weeks, and I have my fingers crossed that my students will be up for the stamina of this. Perhaps I'll have to drastically modify my expectations, or even toss the whole thing out as a spectacular failure. Time will tell, but I think it's worth a try!

Ode to My Hardboiled Egg

Ode to My Hardboiled Egg

You came into this world ready
to be whatever was needed from you --

glue, to hold together a cake,
glaze, to make a pastry shine,
shell, to become a work of art,
sustenance, to give my body the strength

to do whatever the world needs from me.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

We Are In This Together

We Are In This Together

When, in the human history of the
Earth, have

All the people --
Regardless of continent or nation -- shared the same
Experience? No one is

Immune from the daily
News of infection and death.

Turn on the media and you'll
Hear "furlough," "recession," "economy."
Incredible to see crops of tulips and onions
Sitting in fields, rotting.

Turn off the media and head
Outside. Nature will fill you with
Gratitude. Our
Earth -- spinning out days, circling out seasons --
Tells us change is inevitable,
Have hope, share wisdom, take care of
Each life.
Remember: we are in this together.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

Good News From Across the Pond

Good News From Across the Pond

in the village of

Ribbesbüttel, Germany

the storks have come back

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

It Never Grows Old

It Never Grows Old

Redbud
blooms burst from bark,
fleck the tree with color,
then open into a haze of
purple.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

This Online/Pandemic Learning Journey (so far....)

We just completed our 2nd full week of online learning. We started with a 3-day week, then had Spring break. So last week was our second full week of this new, online learning.  The journey has not been an easy one.  As teachers and students grieve the community space we know and love, teachers are also trying to support students and families during this pandemic.

The first week of online learning was easy. And boring. I put some things out there and kids did them. We were lucky to be able to send lots of books and some supplies home with kids before schools closed so that made things a bit easier. My kids were already comfortable with many tech tools, so I wasn't worried about that.

But at the end of the week I was frustrated and depressed. What I was doing wasn't teaching. How could I be teaching when students did the work in their homes, while I sat in mine? There was no laughter, there were no inside jokes, no greetings and no book talks. I mean the libraries are closed. Never in a million years did I imagine a world in which there are no libraries.

I missed the big kitchen table in our classroom and the way that kids would gather when they needed a bit of community support.  I missed read aloud and the collective thinking of this amazing group of 5th graders. I missed the conversations on the way down to lunch and I missed watching friendships develop.  I even missed indoor recess --and all the noise that goes along with that. I realized again that every single minute in a classroom is a minute that teaches us something about a child in our company.  I've always known how quick little conversations with kids add up across a school year but the absence of all of these quick conversations made it so much more clear.

When I was able to reflect last week, I knew I could create lessons. I knew I could find resources online. I knew my kids could use the online tools easily and effectively.  I knew we had Google Meet and we could gather in real time. But the thing I couldn't figure out was how I could possibly teach without the listening and watching. I teach by listening, by talking to kids individually, by checking in. I believe that my best teaching is in listening and observing children in the midst of learning and making sense of things.

So, I started to wonder about listening in this new world of school. What does listening look like? What could listening look like now? How could I create an online space that felt more right? That felt more like our real, physical space?  How could I listen and be responsive to individual students and to the classroom as a whole? How could I know what they needed? How can I be more myself as a teacher in this space and how could my students be more themselves?

One of my students said something amazing last week before a read aloud. She said, "I don't feel like I'm learning anything at home. I mean, I am learning new things but I don't get that happy feeling I get at school when I learn new things. I don't like that we can't turn and talk and hear other people's thinking. It just doesn't feel like learning."

So this last week, instead of spending my time finding as many great resources online as I could, instead of trying to find things kids could do independently, I spent time (thanks to Clare Landrigan) thinking about what was most important to our classroom community and what was most important to me as a teacher. I believe in student choice and agency.  I believe in invitations over accountability. I believe in authenticity, connectedness and intentionally. And I believe that if I am not learning, my students are probably not learning either.

And then I set up things that, even though they were asynchronous, gave me ways to listen. Just like at the beginning of the year, when I slow down and listen and watch, I did a lot of that this week. Even though they were nothing like being in a classroom together, my focus was on listening and learning from my students and that helps me plan better, I think.

Once I figured out that it was the LISTENING that was missing and that I cannot teach without learning from my students and allowing my students to learn from each other, I went from feeling like this:

to feeling like this:

So, here are some things that helped me listen and learn over the last week or so. These things helped make our online classroom feel just a TINY BIT more like our real, wonderful classroom.

6 Word Memoirs-I asked my kids to write 6 Word Memoirs and they posted them on a class Padlet. I was hoping that this was a type of writing would be an invitation for students that they could spend as little or as much time as they wanted on.  They could process what this time has been like for them or write a 6 Word Memoir about something else. They could add art, but they didn't need to. I could see where their thinking was, and I figured most kids would do this as it is a quick, low stress kind of writing play.

Friday Letters to Me--Each Friday during the school year, my students write letters to their families about their week's learning. Last week, I asked kids to write letters to me. Not necessarily about their learning but just a letter about how they are doing, how they are spending their time, how things are going, etc. They did these on Google Docs so I could respond individually.

 I created a Padlet called "Stuff We Are Doing" and invited kids to share things they are making, books they are reading, ways they are helping etc.

I wanted to touch base with families without adding stress. So, I sent individual emails to families just checking in--inviting them to let me know how things were going.

We've had daily Live Read Aloud via Google Meet.  This gives us time to come together around a good story and to also have time to stop and talk.  It isn't quite the same as being in the classroom, but it does feel like our old routine and our conversations have grown more natural as the week went on. We also use this time to catch up--I open the meet about ten minutes early and have time to chat with students as they log on and as the group goes. We were even able to use this time to sing Happy Birthday to a few classmates last week!

Flipgrid has been my favorite tool during this last week. It seems to be the place where students are themselves and where they can share and feel like they are talking to and with classmates. They seem confident and happy in this space.  So, we've used Flipgrid for a few screenless Science challenges as well as some student-led Classroom Bookadays.  Then, in a conversation this week, one of my students suggested we make a FLIPGRID AT HOME so kids could post videos of things they are doing.  Almost like a talent show but more inclusive in terms of things kids could include. They are thinking playing songs on instruments, baking, introducing us to a pet, etc. I am anxious to see this Flipgrid grow.

If you haven't seen Georgia Heard's poem, "WhenWishes Return", this was an incredible conversation. I had a Google Meet to just answer questions and chat on Thursday. About 9 kids showed up.  I pulled up this poem as they had read it earlier in the week and we just chatted, looking at the poem. For a few minutes, I forgot we were online as the conversation was so much like so many we've had in our classroom. This poem invited such rich conversation. It was accessible. It had depth and it was relevant. I realized that this was something we were missing--the rich real time conversations that happen every day in the classroom around important ideas in text. At the start of every class meeting, we usually start with a shared book or poem or topic of discussion.  Talking about texts beyond just our read aloud in real time is going to become an important part of our routine moving forward.

Finally, my students told me they miss the small group time. That they love seeing the whole class, but they also want to meet live in small groups around tings we are learning. So, I created some Invitational Book Clubs and some choice writing for kids who were interested. Next week, I'll offer small group conversations and keep building on those.

The most important thing I did this week was to open up Comments on anything the kids turned in. Rather than turning something in just to me, I asked them to post it on a Padlet or on Google Slides so that others could learn from and respond.  I love Flipgrid because it allows video comments. By making "commenting" part of the daily learning plan that I sent out each day, students were invited to learn from each other and I could tell how important this was to students by the number and sincerity of their comments.

Like every teacher in the world right now, I'd much rather be in the classroom. And I am sad. So sad. But, this journey is definitely one in which I am learning every day. I'm not sure what next week will bring. But my main focus after much reflection is on trying to remain true to what I know is important whether in the physical classroom or not. So for now my focus is to make sure that whatever I put out there for my kids to "do," it is something that allows me to listen and learn, to give them space to be who they are right now and to share their voices. If I am listening and learning as if I were in the physical classroom, my hope is that they are too.

Poetry Friday -- Living is a Form of Not Being Sure

Living is a form of not being sure, 

not knowing what next or how.

The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.

The artist never entirely knows.

We guess.

We may be wrong, 

but we take leap after leap into the dark.

--Agnes de Mille

Living is a Form of Not Being Sure

There are all kinds of dark.

You close your eyes in fear, exhaustion, or prayer

and dark is there.

The sun sets, the clouds roll in, you step into shade

and dark is there.

Your mind fills with unmarked roads, closed doors, gaping chasms

and dark is there.

There are all kinds of light.

You open your eyes in hope, anticipation, or gratitude

and light is there.

The sun rises, the clouds roll on, you step into sunshine

and light is there.

Your mind takes leap after leap into the dark, guessing, risking

and light is always there.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020 (with help from Agnes de Mille)

Amy has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at The Poem Farm.

Now, More Than Ever

Now, More Than Ever

Breathe
in hope,
then exhale
your gratitude.
Remember these truths:
students over standards,
patience over procedures,
compassion over compliance,
care over content, and grace over
gimmicks. We must humanize our teaching.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020


This poem is an etheree.  It is also a found poem, comprised of bits of a post I read on the Nextdoor app, and this tweet by Shana V. White:

Unbounded

unbounded by walls

my classroom fits on my lap

hello front porch

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

This Is Just To Say

This Is Just To Say

I am not reading
the books
that patiently wait
on my shelves

and which
I should probably
have read
by now

Forgive me
I will read again
someday
maybe today


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020


My mentor texts for this poem are William Carlos Williams and Kate Messner.