#cyberPD 2013 is here!!

I was so excited when I was catching up on twitter and blogs, and I saw that Cathy had posted an all-call for people to post pictures of what they want to read professionally this summer.  Better yet, I hadn't even missed the deadline for this.  Pictures were to be posted on Wednesday, June 12, and decisions about which book to think about together this summer would happen after that.

Count me in!!!  I love this summer PD.  The first year, we read and chatted about Patrick Allen's book, Conferring, the Keystone to Writing Workshop.  Then last year, we read and chatted about the wonderful words and messages in Opening Minds by Peter Johnston.  Great stuff, right?!!

my current summer professional TBR pile

This summer, I have kept my pile of professional reads small (at least for now).  I want to reread Franki Sibberson's thoughtful and specific, The Joy of Planning.  I also have received 3 books as gifts recently that are all clamoring for my attention:

• Assessment in Perspective by Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan
• Crafting Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres by Troy Hicks
• Join the Club! by Katie Doherty Czerwinski

I anxiously look forward to what the #cyberPD choice will be.  Chances are I may be adding yet another book to my professional TBR pile.  Stay tuned!!

For more #cyberPD bookstacks, head on over to Cathy's blog to see the round-up.

Opening Minds #cyberPD - July 18

One of the most important things for me as a learner during these #cyberPD chats is reading what everyone else has had to say about the same thing I read.  Last week, I wasn't surprised to see how many people focused on that powerful word, "yet".  But I loved, and probably grew the most, from the comments and thinking that were slightly different from mine.  Had I just been reading this book on my own, I wouldn't have the depth of thinking this PLN has provided.  Thanks to this #cyberPD community for your reflections!!

Knowing the power of others' reflections, I was really looking forward to this week's  assignment, knowing that the first chapter we were reading dealt with feedback, praise, and other responses to students.  Before reading the chapters for this week, I shared with a group of teacher friends that my "behavior management" plan has always been to notice students doing what they should, and try to encourage others to do the same, and after just reading the first three chapters of Johnston's book, I was pretty sure I might have to rethink this.

• "I like how Sally got her read aloud notebook and came to the floor so efficiently."
• "I like how Sam spent some time organizing his thoughts before writing."

So I began the reading, and then, KABOOM! I got to the top of page 42, and I knew I was right about rethinking these types of statements.  To use Johnston's words, "The 'I like...' part is not as helpful.  Rather than offering an agentive narrative, it offers a judgment and implies that the point of the child's efforts is to please you."

So I'm going to take Johnston's suggestion and focus more on, "Look at how you..."  I'll be taking out the part where the students need to please me, and focusing more on the process of what the students are doing.  My goal is to focus less on judging, and instead "position myself beside rather than above the student."

I loved the examples Johnston gives of writing conferences which really focus on cause/effect: saying to a student that you noticed they did a particular thing, and it resulted in a specific effect in that piece of writing.  One of my favorite phrases in chapter 4 was "feedback is cast in a language of possibility rather than criticism."  That phrase is one I will ponder and "carry in my pocket" all year long - the "language of possibility" - what an important goal for which to strive.  I believe it will change the dynamics of my relationships with all students.

What Johnston had to say about the importance of dialogue, dialogic classrooms, and uncertainty  in chapter 5 were all important and powerful messages for me.  I've decided to just list some thoughts I had as I read about these.

• I was not shocked to read the research about 8th and 9th grade English classes and their lack of dialogic interactions.  Let me clarify that that isn't a judgement about those particular teachers, but rather an observation that, as my own children went through the school system, dialogue was not always valued in some grades and across subjects, but certainty was.  As a parent, I want my child to be so much more than just someone who can spew back information.  I want my child to be a consumer of information, who then processes it in many different ways that help them make sense of the world around them.
• I thought a lot about where the control lies in my classroom.  While I would like to think that my beliefs in children and in workshop make it a democratic place, I know that control is a hard piece for me to relinquish.  However, as I read the suggestions on page 55 of how we can start to take ourselves out of a controlling position, I realized that I do several of those things all the time: wait time, taking ideas seriously, asking open questions.  What I will be working on: not judging with my word use and collaborating with the class so the control of who talks next doesn't always lie with me.
• Ann Marie Corgill had already paved the way for my thinking about this.  In a recent edition of Big Fresh from Choice Literacy (one she had written before), she thinks hard about classroom space so that all the students sit in a circle when they came together to think, giving the class more equality.  In addition, she works very hard at the beginning of the year to establish expectations of how her students talk with one another.  It doesn't involve raising hands - something I can't quite seem to master... yet.
• Loved the idea of changing the name of "read aloud" to "thinking together with books".  While I think my classes have always known it is the latter, the semantics are pretty important.  
• I plan on introducing uncertainty into my classroom on a constant basis.  The quote "uncertainty is the foundation of inquiry and research" spoke to me -- we start our year wondering about topics together.  Continuing to push where we are uncertain will help us all grow.  I thought about my own growth as a learner when I read this part.  I push forward in my learning because I reflect, possibly question a practice, and am uncertain.  My best learning occurs when uncertainty is present; why would I not want that for my students?
• I haven't used Voices in the Park in recent years, but may need to bring it back this year.  The concept of understanding multiple points of view might be a great way to begin our year together.

The last chapter about Social Imagination also spoke to me.  I thought a lot about specific students in the past few years who did not have the skill sets to do either the "mind reading" or the "social reasoning".  I have a new appreciation for all the time our intervention specialists put into working on social stories with these students.  I knew it before, but see with more clarity now, the reasons for doing such important social work with individuals.  But, I also realized in order for all students to be productive citizens of our classrooms, schools, communities, and the world, it will take much more work than the support of our intervention specialists.  Johnston's quote really made an impression on me:

• "As teachers, we increase our skill at social imagination the more we listen to children."

One of the many things I plan to do this year will be to listen so that I know my students and can help meet the needs they have that will allow them to be productive citizens.

I can't wait to read what everyone else thought about this week's reading.  This week, Jill Fisch at My Primary Passion, will be the hostess for our #cyberpd thinking.  Have a great week!

Opening MInds - #cyberPD 1

From Peter Johnston's very first quote, "Children seldom misquote you.  They usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said," I was hooked.  My self-reflection with Johnston as my guide had begun.  That quote made me think about all the times I had started a conversation with a student, only to have it fall apart because of something I said, wishing I could take it back.  Johnston couldn't have set the stage more perfectly for me.

He gave words to things I do, and things I wish I did more often.  One of those was the idea of rehearsing agentive narratives with students.  To use Johnston's words, "Errors usually happen at the edge of what we can do, when we are stretching into new territory - when we are learning."  This rehearsal happens often in my class, especially in the beginning of the year, as we're establishing community in our class.  I want students to see how I work through issues when things get difficult, and then I want to identify the same actions when students work through something as well.  But I found myself wondering why, at certain times of the year, I forget these important lessons.  Why in January, when I'm reflecting on what learning paths we still need to travel, do I get anxious, and start pressing a little more, giving less time for these important rehearsals?

So, when Johnston went on to say that, "Teaching is planned opportunism.  Teaching requires constant improvisation.  It is jazz," I realized what a perfect analogy that was.  To keep me mindful of the jazz and improvisation that needs to occur, I am considering actually putting jazz music into our classroom - having it be the opening of our day, possibly play it during transitions, and see how it works to have jazz as a backdrop for writing workshop.  I think the auditory reminder of the improvisations that always occur in jazz will help me be more mindful of the improvisations that need to happen in our classroom as well.

This particular reflection was a perfect introduction into the powerful Chapter 2 where Johnston so carefully builds our background knowledge about the difference between "fixed performance frame" and "dynamic performance frame." Understanding the theories behind these performance frames was a powerful learning for me, and a humbling one as well.  The further I read in chapter 2, the more I found myself really sitting up and paying attention.  First of all, as a former special education teacher, I realized what a catch-22 being identified as someone needing more assistance really is.  While it is a good thing the student is getting more help, Johnston is correct in saying that those students are always working on their identified deficits.  How vitally important it will be for me to celebrate with ALL students their successes as they work through something in reading workshop, writing workshop, or word study.  I want all those successes in their learning process to help them want to tackle more and more, and feel confident about it.

Another eye-opener for me was, "Children who adopt a fixed-performance frame tend to become helpless when they run into trouble.  They cease being strategic."  It's that learned helplessness that I've seen time and time again in students.  Getting them to break free and take risks is an important goal.  But, like with Johnston's Choice Words, I realized that these concepts apply outside the classroom as well.  How frequently have I heard adults/colleagues say they just can't get something?  Actually, I'll use myself as an example.  For well over a year, I've wanted to learn VoiceThread, but I just heard myself say the other night to a colleague for the 100th time (she must be getting tired of hearing it), "I really need you to help me.  I just don't get VoiceThread."  While I always do better in learning something when I have a visual model first, when did I become so dependent?  I'm a pretty good problem solver normally.  A lot of self-reflection on this one!

"Within a fixed performance perspective, people can be judged quite quickly."  Later in the same chapter, "If we judge quickly and stereotype people, it will limit our likely relationships with them."  Once again, my reflections on both of these statements fell in the classroom setting as well as the personal arena. With a few students I've had in recent years, I definitely type-casted them after awhile, and once that's done, it's hard to reverse.  That will be another goal for me as a teacher this year.  As a person,  these statements really made me think.  I find that with children I can be encouraging and patient most times, but with adults I don't always exhibit the same care.  This was a huge reflection, and one I will need to ponder for quite some time.

Chapter 3 was a great chapter of hope for me.  After being quite hard on myself as I reflected on the first two chapters, chapter 3 opened the window for ways in which I can develop; can change the "learning narratives."  But as well as hope, it presents a challenge as well.  I want to adopt a more dynamic learning performance frame for myself, which will hopefully result in a change in my narratives with students, peers, family, and friends.  That's a lot of narrative!!!

As a language arts teacher, I really loved what Johnston had to say about not assigning character traits to people.  If that shouldn't be the goal (and it shouldn't), then we do have to be careful about talking about characters in literature.  To use Johnston's words, I will be talking with students about characters "in terms of internal states, feelings, intentions, contexts, and change."  In fact, because of that, I will be choosing read alouds for beginning of year with that in mind.

Finally, "yet" will be my new go-to word this year.  As Johnston states, that one little word can really change the dynamics of a statement or a thought.  I haven't learned VoiceThread... yet.  But I will.


For more of the great #cyberPD reflections, head over to Cathy's Reflect and Refine Blog.  Thanks so much for hosting us today, Cathy!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? - July 9

Because I took a break last week from posting, I have read so many delicious books in the last 2 weeks, I'm not sure where to start, so I think I'll just share the highlights by category.

First of all, as I've mentioned on twitter, I have become addicted to our public library this summer.  I go to the library and least once a week, and never bring home less than 8 books each time.  This is a picture of my most recent haul: you'll see some YA titles, some middle grade chapter books, and two adult books by authors I love.  In addition, here is the bookshelf in my living room  - the 3rd shelf and the 5th shelf are all library books.  I plan on having plenty to read at all times this summer!

Really good middle grade reads in the past 2 weeks:

• Close to Famous by Joan Bauer : I enjoyed this book so much I really need to read more by this author. Love the backdrop of the main character being a good cook but a great baker, however she can not read or write. She just memorizes recipes from the Food Network. I worked up an appetite reading about all the different cupcakes and muffins she baked. Some of my favorite lines from the book:
  - When Foster holds a cookbook she gets from the bookmobile over her heart, the librarian says, "That's where a book should be carried."
  - "There's nothing wrong with having a different way of learning. What's wrong is when people blame you for it."
  - "Cooking is about life. It gives us what we need to keep going, and it gives us something to share with other people."
  "But for now, I'm going to make the world a better place one cupcake at a time."
  A must read!!!! 
• King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige: I was at our public library reserving books, and I just happened to check my GoodReads. Noticed that a friend I trust for recommendations had recommended this sports historical fiction. For any students who really enjoy baseball, and liked We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson, this would be a perfect fit. I enjoyed so much about this book: each chapter is sequentially titled with what inning it is and whether it is top or bottom of inning (so clever), the main character had polio but learns to overcome some of the disease's obstacles, the main character and his father have a very strained relationship which made for good reading even when I didn't like the dad, and the best part of all was how the author took real events from the life of Satchel Paige and fictionalized their context for the story. The author takes a good look at the bigotry of the time as well without being too preachy. I would agree with my friend, Susan, who recommended this book - King of the Mound is a must read (and now for me, a must buy!!). 
• The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng: I enjoyed Cheng's Where the Steps Were, so when I saw this on our public library's new book shelf, I grabbed it. In addition, several twitter friends have read it lately. Anna, the main character, could be a member of the #nerdybookclub. She always has a book at hand. I love the artwork where it shows so many great titles Anna has read. More of a girl book as a little girl is trying to find where she fits with the other girls in her grade; she would much prefer to read rather than be involved in their drama. 
• Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: This book was recently recommended by my friend, Tony. He thought it would have an appeal for both boys and girls, and I have to agree. It appears that this will be the first in a series of books by Lissa Evans. I loved several things about the book:
  - almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger
  - the clues that the main character, Stuart, has to follow that were basically sent to him from the past by a relative he's never met
  - Stuart's dad has language that will be fun to share: "I shall be preparing a Neapolitan speciality, with fungal and caseous addenda" translates to I will making a mushroom and cheese pizza - a great way to have kids play with words
  - the role magic plays in the story
  - map on inside cover to hep with locations of main events
  Great read and a wonderful book to share with my students. 
• Capture the Flag by Kate Messner: Really enjoyed this book. Definitely has a good guys / bad guys thing going on. I think kids will really enjoy the antics of the four children trying to solve a big mystery, and will laugh at loud at what befalls some of the adult bad guys. In addition, they will enjoy the silliness of the plot along with the idea of a secret group of people trying to protect things, references to video games to help capture the bad guys, and references to Harry Potter by one of the main characters. This was just a fun book! 

Adult books I would recommend from the last 2 weeks:

• Plantation by Dorothea Benton Frank: What a perfect book to read on a summer's day - full of lovely, quirky characters and the charm of the South.  I currently have her latest, Porch Lights, in my TBR pile.
• Island Apart by Steven Raichlen: This book literally just came out this month, and I was fortunate enough to get in from the "new books' shelf at our public library. It was a perfect summer read - it is set on Martha's Vineyard, it talks about amazing food, and there is a romance piece, but not an over the top one. Reading this makes me want to head to Martha's Vineyard asap for some amazing seafood. 
• Calico Joe by John Grisham: I really enjoy John Grisham as a writer, but this is an entirely different side of him. He tackles a story about baseball, with one narrator, the son of a so-so Mets pitcher who had a serious anger management issue. Even with the one narrator, the story is told in two parts, jumping back and forth, between current day and 1973. This is a work of fiction, but Grisham seamlessly fills in the story with real players and real games.  Great for baseball fans, but also just a well told tale.

Professional book I am currently reading:

• Opening Minds by Peter Johnston: I am participating in a #cyberPD that begins this week.  I have read the first 3 chapters, and will be writing a reflection about them to be posted this Wednesday, July 11.  I participated in this #cyberPD last year, and loved the interactive part of it.  After you post your own reflection, you head to other participants' blogs and post on theirs as well.  It culminates in a twitter conversation with all participants.  For more info on this great opportunity, check out the details at Cathy's blog, Reflect and Refine. 

Please join Kellee and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, who are the cohosts of this wonderful Monday event!  I love finding out what others are reading, and start planning my next week's reading using some of the participants ideas.  

Conferring - Walk-aways (Part 3)

In this final reflection post about Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop by Patrick Allen, I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about some of my "walk-aways", to coin a term used by Patrick. He defines walk-away as "a tool or strategy used or discovered as students negotiate text and develop the capacity for independence."

After spending time with Patrick and his thinking these past few weeks, I've developed some walk-aways of my own; some tools that will allow me to negotiate my conferring with students and help me develop capacity for fine-tuning these skills to meet my needs and the needs of my students.

So, with no further ado, here are my final walk-aways:

• I want to be more brave about conferring this year. As I read about Patrick recording hours and hours of conferences and then having a colleague come in and videotape him as well, it reinforced for me the importance of opening myself up in ways that allow for analyzing words and strategies used with students. This is the very essence of a reflective teacher; someone constantly doing action research to discover best practices.
  
• To tag onto this first point, I plan on recording (video and audio) my conferences with students this year, spending time analyzing what happened in the conferences, and refining my conferring skills and ability to help students grow with the evidence I gather.
• Patrick approaches each conference as a case study of the student - what the student says, what he says, teaching implications, his thinking. Gathering specific data like this allows us to understand our students' needs in much deeper ways than a number from a standardized or state test (I know, I know - I'm preaching to the choir here!).
  
• As I reflect back on recent years, I know my data collection hasn't been as thorough as Patrick's, but has been incredibly in-depth for the first 2 months of school. At our first conferences, parents are amazed at what I know about their child as readers/writers and how well it is documented. It's what happens next that I need to fine-tune. In addition, to taking better conference notes, I plan on not slacking after my initial burst of knowing students. This year, I will look at learning about my students not as a short race, but as a year-long marathon. That puts an entirely different context on how I plan to confer.
• This last point ties in to a great quote Patrick includes from David Elkind: "Education is not a race. Learning and education are lifelong processes that come to an end only when we do." So truly, it shouldn't be a "race to the top", but rather learning forever.
• Patrick shares an analogy of learning to building with tinker toys (page 156). He says, "We should observe children tinkering with words, sentences, and whole text." And if we observe carefully enough, we can help build something wonderful -- "independent and engaged readers who walk away from conferences with strategies and tools to help them become confident, effective, and deeper readers."
• Finally, Patrick ends his book with the subtitle, "Conferring Ain't Easy", followed by multiple premises he has discovered in his study of conferring. Pages 176 - 180 are full of the nitty-gritty of possible roadblocks to strong conferring and what we, as teachers, can do about that. A must read section!! My favorite two are "What Was the Question?" and "You Need a Mint."
  

I will miss hearing Patrick's voice as I read - as I said in my last post, he writes in such a charming way, I'm sure he is talking personally to me. But even though my book is falling apart with so much use, I will be coming back time and again for "refresher courses" when I feel like my conferring needs a fine-tuning. Patrick's voice will never really leave my head, and all the smart things he has so diligently discovered through analyzing his own conferring will continue to guide my best practice while conferring myself.

Thanks so much to Cathy Mere, Jill Fisch, and Laura Komos for organizing this #cyberPD on twitter for Conferring. It has drastically changed my thinking, and when I read what the other participants share each week, it furthers my thinking even more. What a wonderful opportunity this has been to engage in professional development that has personal meaning for me!! It's interesting to note that all three of these ladies are primary teachers. It proves what I've thought all along - best practice happens in similar ways at all grade levels.

This week, the rest of the conversations can be found at Camp Read-a-Lot. Thanks to Laura for hosting!!

Conferring reflection - Part 2

Ok, so my title is deceiving; it would indicate I actually posted a part 1 which I didn't. :) However, in the spirit of my new #cyberPD PLN on twitter, I thought I would get on the same page as everyone else, which brings me back to "part 2."

I have so enjoyed reading Patrick Allen's Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop. As many people posted last week, he writes in such a personal way; I feel like I'm sitting at the kitchen table or in the family room with Patrick as he talks. I imagine we have coffee (ok, Patrick does; I probably have a Pepsi) and some wonderful treats we enjoy as we converse. The book has a very welcoming tone.

This week's focus was the 2nd section of Conferring which deals with the essential components of conferring. In chapter 4, Patrick describes the R.I.P. model of conferring. I loved this section. For those of you who haven't read this book, R.I.P. is an acronym for the structure of conferences:

• R = review, read aloud, record

• I = instruction, insights, intrigue

• P = plan, progress, purpose

I don't want to oversimplify what Patrick is saying, but as someone who sometimes flounders when conferring with students, this acronym is such a clear, organized system for thinking about conferences as 3 separate, but overlapping components. Not everything listed above happens in every conference, but the concept of touching base first, pushing the student's thinking next, and finally clarifying the "what's next" step at the end is brilliant! So intuitive, but I love that Patrick has thoughtfully named what he does.

**Taking a slight detour here: In this same chapter, he shares much about his friend and colleague, Troy. The two of them are often found in each others' room after school. Patrick says, "It is good to have a person with whom you can share your frustrations and successes, risk free and without judgement." As I read this section, I couldn't help but reflect back on my first years (back in the mid-80s) in my current school district. I had the same relationship with another newcomer to the school district, none other than the incredibly bright Mary Lee from A Year of Reading. From day one, we talked almost every day after school about what went well, and what really bombed. We talked about workshop, good mini lessons, conferring, small groups. As I read this section, I realized how important the Troys and Mary Lees of this world are to us -- we need them to support us and help us grow and hopefully, we do the same for them. **

As I read the assigned section for this week, the word "thoughtful" came to my mind frequently. This is a true professional at work here. Patrick has recorded hours of his conferences with students, and has honestly critiqued what he's heard. He has meticulously recorded and documented what has happened in conferences with his students; the forms he shares are incredibly helpful for a visual learner like myself. He is such an inspiration, and I find that I want to push my thinking while conferring with children. More importantly, I want to hone my conferring skills. I want to make it an "art" form, in much the same way Patrick has.

The conversations Troy and Patrick have on an ongoing basis reminds me of another point. In one of their conversations, they were discussing the difference between a photograph of a child versus a video. Troy says the following:

"I look at a picture and immediately make a judgement... I make a decision based on that one single moment. It's different when I watch a whole video. I get to experience more, think about more..."

Later, Patrick says that this is what happens when we confer. How true -- we get to know our students over a period of time, not necessarily looking at a video, but most definitely looking at multiple moments in the student's reading life. This is a point that will keep me motivated to confer on a regular basis. I'm going to want the "video" of each student to help better inform my instruction and their learning.

So much more to share, but since this post is getting long, I'd like to wrap things up with Patrick's idea of developing an intimacy and scholarly relationship with the readers in his room. To do that he has 3 important questions he asks:

1. Who does the talking?
2. Who owns the text?
3. Where do I sit?

Before I even read the sections in the book devoted to each question, I knew I had some work to do. I need to do a better job of letting the students guide our conversations. Those assessments that guide my instruction are important, but I also need to listen to what my students have to say. I also need to do a better job of moving to each student for a conference, not having them be the ones to always move. This wasn't a problem before, but in the last year, I've become more stationary, partly due to some knee issues. This coming year, with my brand new left knee, I plan on finding a small stool, and carrying it around the room with me as I confer. I've always worked hard at building relationships with each student, but I will have a different, more focused lens for this work in the coming year.

Thanks so much to Jill Fisch for hosting the conversation about Part 2 today at My Primary Passion!!! I look forward to reading what my #cyberPD group had to say this week.