March 31 - I did it, 2nd year in a row!!

This year, I wasn't so worried.

Not like last year. Last year was my first year doing this challenge. Last year, I was worried. I wasn't sure about the technology. Could I post a blog entry daily? Would I have a topic to write about every day? Would I have time to read and leave a comment? Would anyone give me a comment?

This year, I made 31 entries.
I gave at least three comments every day.
I did it!!
And I received 128 comments.

I wasn't expecting how much the comments would mean to me - both getting them and giving them. The process involved in commenting is so powerful. When reading others' slices, I noticed the craft moves made and thought about whether I could try this same craft move in my writing. I especially noticed what craft moves made me laugh or cry and then tried to write to elicit similar emotions. I would notice possible genres and structures of writing I could try. Without reading other slices, my slices would have been same old, same old. Probably all small moments.

But instead, I wrote:
3 poems
2 letters
5 memoirs
4 reviews
4 essays
3 informational pieces
and 10 small moments.

I spent lots of time revising and editing. This year I consciously tried to add hyperlinks and photos. I can now use the "LINK" button and photo button in blogspot! I can point to many places in my writing where the word choice and the structure and the elaboration are stronger than my writing from last March. A part of me feels surprised by this reflection. Yet, another part hears the saying "You get better at writing by writing." Of course, you do!

I can't thank the TwoWritingTeachers enough. Thank you for providing this space for a community of writers to gather. Thank you to all who left me comments. They gave me the energy to keep going. Thank you to my friends who did the challenge with me - Scott, Mary, Fran and Marilyn - I loved getting to know you all more through your stories and having your actually physical presence gave me energy to keep going. And know I can add Tara and Fran and Catherine to this list as I have met you too, though briefly! Finally, thank you to the 5th grade Janney students. So many of you wrote optional small moment stories and that also gave me energy to keep going.

Though I independently wrote and posted daily to the blog, I am so grateful that I could be together with so many SOL writers. As I celebrate today with my students - An Orange Party complete with the wearing of orange clothing and eating orange food - Scrabble Chees-its), I plan to show the scene from the movie The Wizard of Oz. That moment when Dorothy gets hit in her bedroom during the twister and then awakes, walks to the front door of her house and opens the door. Suddenly, the screen goes from black and white to vibrant techno-color! She begins to walk with Toto and says, "I'm not in Kansas anymore." Being part of a writing community has this same feeling - during March, as I wrote daily, I was so many other places. Just as Dorothy, I was on an adventure that only writing my stories can lead!!

Thank you Fran! I LOVE the roses!!!

March 30 - Before That

I entered my house, sat down on the couch, and closed my eyes for a moment, before making dinner

Before that, I walked my homeroom class downstairs for afternoon dismissal

Before that, I reminded M to pass out his birthday donuts, but "just to those students who are sitting and writing"

Before that, my homeroom class and I stood, according to height and said "Cheese" as the visiting photographer took our class photo for the school yearbook

Before that, my homeroom class listened to the writing mini-lesson and began to write independently

Before that, I sat next to O from Ms F class who has trouble focusing and when his pencil stopped, I said another prompt, to keep him writing ("For example...another example...I realize...Some people think...But I think....")

Before that, I sat with the team and the administration to discuss a prank-texting occurrence by some students

Before that, I took bites of my lunch while writing sub plans as tomorrow I need to be out

Before that, I sat with the 5 students from Ms L's class who did not put up their thumb when they heard "Thumbs up if you know what memory you want to write about now in your notebook" and I brainstormed with these 5 writers, until all had a story to go off and write

Before that, I watched the district evaluator come through my door after the first group of writing students arrived and my heart began to beat a bit faster, even though I had control of the first writing class of the day and had an engaging lesson ready to deliver

Before that, I was greeted by A who said, "Good Morning, Mrs. Donnelly. I am rooting for Duke" and I greeted F by saying, "Good Morning, F. I am rooting for UVA"

Before that, I turned the alarm off at 5:23am, showered, dressed, grabbed breakfast at Starbucks and drove to school, ready for a fun, busy day

Before that, I plugged in my phone that read Sunday - 11:11pm next to my bed, feeling ready to start a week of generating memoir ideas with my students during Writing Workshop

March 29 - Highlights of my day at TCRWP 88th Saturday Reunion

1. Kathy Collins suggested a way to know more about a reader is to look at a reader's SHELFIE - a photo of the stack of books they recently have read. What can we infer about this reader? Who in the room do you think matches THIS "Shelfie" photo? This reminds me of tweeting out this picture of my kindle of what I read over Winter Break:

What does this tell you about ME, the reader of these four books?

2. Lucy has me wanting to teach READING again (presently, I teach 5th grade writing). The grade-level specific Reading Units of Study come out in a few months (click HERE foor info ) and she gave a workshop overview of them. She reminded us that both reading and writing need to be taught differently now in the 21st century. Then she challenged us: What are the pathways of my teaching to get students to read in this new way? She suggested in her hour workshop doing three things:
* Kids need to be assessed in reading using a running record and the data needs to be used and valued. It can be an informal RR - as they read their own book, listen and note their rate and miscues and then tell the reader what level of book to read.
* Running Records aren't enough. Performance assessments (developed and included in the new Reading Units of Study!) based on a progression of reading skills need to be used. This provides a clear pathway for a reader to know what they are able to do and what needs to be done. How to get better at a skill is named and known because the progressions name the skill, grade by grade so a skill can be deliberately practiced!

"Deliberate practice of a skill makes us better, not just doing a skill."

*Writing About Reading - we need to show HOW to write about reading in Reading Workshop. Mentor texts showing how the writing of a post-it needs to be shared and displayed so when writers stop to jot, they are using this non-reading time wisely.

3. Kylene Beers - this was my first first hearing this funny, smart voice of literacy. A Texan, she was appropriately wearing very cool red cowboy boots! I was able to get a seat for her first workshop on Fiction. As I was leaving, the line to get in was 3x as big as the room. All wanted to hear about her new book coming out - Notes and Notices for reading Nonfiction which she talked about in the next session.

In this session, she walked us through the Six Signposts to look for when reading fiction. I honestly have not taught using this language but I own her book and have skimmed it. Hearing her, it makes perfect sense to me as to why it works. As Ellin Keene got readers to notice what THEY were doing as they read (connecting, questioning, inferring, etc), Kylene tells us to notice what is happening to the CHARACTER and to pay close attention when the character acts out of character or has an ah-ha moment. Notice when another character asks a tough question of the character. Notice when something keeps appearing or is repeated again and again. When these moments are noticed, the reader is sure to get what the author is really saying through this book. Kylene's strategies build on how I thought about reading comprehension and I need to actually READ her whole book and get her new Nonfiction book coming out soon.

She also had us read a poem called Forgive My Guilt by Robert Tristram Coffin (read it here)
With a partner, we were to fill in the chart Somebody-Wanted-But-So for the narrator and for the birds. Then she asked for volunteers to share sentences written. She asked us: Was the hunting deliberate? Accidental? What is the text evidence? She had us notice words we didn't immediately know, like frostflower, headland, plover, and quicksilver. This summary lesson still has me thinking about this poem! And such a simple strategy - using SWBS chart!

4. Shana Frazin - Help Students Love Rehearsal, Revision and Checklists: Tap the Power of Merging Joy with Assessment. She joked that the real title is Turning the Titanic! She walked us through an inquiry lesson on What is Revision? After stating what we know, she told us to look at some writing and to notice: 1) what revision work did the writer make? 2) how did the revision affect us, the audience? 3) as educators, what was the teaching that happened between the two pieces of writing
Here's two of the before/after writing pieces she shared:

The last part of the inquiry asked us to complete this sentence: I used to think that revision was ___ and now I think revision is ____.

A gem that she shared at the end was a way to help the checklists work better for student writers.
She reminded us of the brilliance of the writing checklists - the same 3 categories (structure, development and conventions) across the three genres (narrative, NF, and essay) and the same skills with in each category. Maybe to help our students, we hang 3 charts up, one for each category. In the first column, we list the skill (the part of their writing, like lead), the middle column, we add the words from the checklist that is the grade-level expectation of this part. Then in the last column, we add an example. We talk about if this example meets the expectation and why.

WOW - Shana - you are SO clear. I'll be tweeting the charts I make and how the Revision Inquiry lesson goes with my 5th graders next week as I'm determined to turn this lesson you taught me around with my students!

5. Mary - Good to Great Pathways and Ladders for Strong Writers so They May Become Extraordinary - Teaching in a school with lots of great writers, I loved hearing from Mary ways to help these top students. As she said, often these are the kids who get the least attention because a teacher's time gets sucked up by the struggling writers. Yet, these strong writers deserve attention so they don't just get good but can become brilliant writers.

Basics:
* Make sure you actually confer with them
* Pair them up with other STRONG writers
* Suggest meeting with them at extra times or outside of class - give them the encouragement and the opportunity to work hard on this skill that they are strong in
* Offer them tools - the checklist at the next higher grade, a different mentor text, different inquiry questions

Strategy
* Show them how to draft an entirely different draft - use a different style, write it for a different audience, try the 1st paragraph 5 different ways. She reminded us that this is the strategy suggested by Don Murray, Steven King and Mark Twain!

* Do serious and open ended inquiry work with a mentor text.
For example, use technology - she showed us the music video of Wake me Up by Avicii and asked us to think about the work the author is doing with SETTING. How is the setting important?
Click here to watch Wake Me Up  Then she played it again, turning off the sound and voicing over a story as the images appear emphasizing the setting. Then she suggested: Now try this SETTING WORK in your writing. Mary - you are so brilliant!!

6. Final Keynote by Kylene Beers
I feel lucky that I got a seat in Riverside church as my one friend stopped to use the bathroom and got closed out and could come in. The nave and both balconies were filled. As I read tweets afterwards, Amanda Hartman tweeted "4,000 people today, wow!" This was my 12th reunion - I've come every Fall and Spring following my first Summer Institute in 2009. It definitely felt more crowded. More and more, teachers want to learn HOW to do literacy work well. And in my opinion (and probably the opinion of the 4,000 around me yesterday), TCRWP is THE place to learn.

Kylene opened by pondering What do I believe about teaching?

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

She then gave a brief overview of the history of education in America. She pointed out that literacy has always been tied to wealth. First, you were considered literate if you could sign your name, sometimes just by making an X.  Next, great penmanship was valued (clearly, the poorest didn't have time to write using beautiful penmanship). Then great speeches and poetry recitation. During WWI, the assembly line led to analysis and things like diagraming sentences and cliff notes. But now, she remarked, instead of taking things apart, we need to put things together. 

We need education practices to not just be interesting, but to be relevant. She suggested we need CHOICE, a curriculum based on more than tests, and that through literature we teach COMPASSION. Only than can those with power through literacy can use their privilege to learn how to navigate life well. 

7. Meeting Slicers at The Kitchette!! Hi Tara, Catherine and Fran!!

Far right is Fran - see her reunion reflection HERE

Middle is Catherine - see her blog HERE

Far left is Tara - see her blog HERE

So glad I went to the TCRPW 88th Saturday Reunion.

So glad I know it is worthwhile to spend all day learning on a Saturday, miles away from my home.

So glad I have a place to write about it here to share these great ideas with others who also believe that teaching literacy well is important.

March 28 - Currently

Currently:

sitting on the train headed north

watching the sky begin to get brighter

munching on a protein-rich powerbar

sipping my Starbuck's venti hot-chocolate with no whip-cream

chatting with my friend about books and methods

anticipating all the smart ideas I'll hear all day long

rereading the pages of workshop offerings

jotting down the 20+ talks I want to hear

preparing to only have time to hear 4 plus the keynotes

tweeting "I'm on my way to #TCRWP Saturday Reunion"


 What are you doing, currently?

March 27 - Birthday Letter to Brian

Dear Brian,

Happy Birthday!!

Last year, on your 50th birthday, this picture was taken of our project:

*

Today, on your 51st birthday, these pictures were taken of our project:

*

*

Neither of us expected that our project would still be a work in progress after a full year.
However, I truly believe that in another year, we WILL live in our project, our completed project.

We will awake on the 3rd floor each morning when the sun streams into the big, bedroom window.
We will slink out of bed and walk across the radiant floor for a morning shower.
We will sip coffee on the rooftop deck as we read the morning paper.
We will watch Jeopardy after work in the 2nd floor TV room.
We will prep and cook and grab a beer from the street-facing kitchen.
We will entertain in the double-height dining room space and onto the backyard deck.
We will retire to read before bed in front of the living room fireplace.

Neither of us expected that our project would take so long to complete.
This whole past year, you were architect, designer, project manager, quality controller, lawyer, bank negotiator, tour-guide dad, and calm husband. Soon, we WILL inhabit 5218 N 12th Street.

May all your wishes come true this birthday!

This amazing house you are creating for us is making mine come true!
Happy Birthday!

Love,
   Sally


* photos from www.whiteouthouse.tumblr.com

March 26 - To slice - definitely not in Kansas anymore!

Yesterday I shared lines from three of my favorite movies (inspired by my daughter's trip to Austria to see where the Sound of Music was filmed (another all-time favorite film of mine).

When I recall my favorite films, I recall these lines:

1. "M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E"

This is a line delivered v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y by the priest in The Princess Bride as Princess Buttercup and her not-true love are being united in marriage. I'm reminded now that Buttercup is played by actress, Robin Wright, the same actress that plays Claire Underwood so well in the series, House of Cards. If I was asked to compare these two characters (say like as a PARCC Literary esssay response!) I do think similarities and differences exist. In both, the female character is striving for true love only to be manipulated by the men around her. I think I'll rewatch this movie soon with House of Cards in mind. (I don't need to rewatch House of Cards - it is fresh in my mind as I sliced about it on Day 3 HERE )

 

2. "Let's be independent together."

This line is delivered by Rudolph to the misfit dentist-wannabe, Herby. They decide to go off to find the Island of Misfit Toys and cleverly say this line. I've always loved this line. It seems to be the opposite because being independent implies going it alone. Yet, it always feels better to me to not be alone, to be part of a community, whether it is family, school, work, friends. Even as I enourage my student writers to be independent, I know by being together as a writing community, we are stronger. Hey, maybe that is what SLICERS are - being independent together! I also relate to these two misfits who are both so brilliant in their own way, yet feel inferior. Don't we all feel that way at time? I know I do.

 

3. "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

This is stated by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. It is that magical moment in the movie that I still recall so vividly as I watched it on TV as a child. That moment when the movie transformed from being in black and white to being in COLOR! The streets of yellow immediately appear so vibrant. The colors everywhere so bright. And clearly, Dorothy and her dog were "not in Kansas anymore."  

Looking back at all three of these films, I see connections. If asked to discuss the theme across these films (say like on a PARCC ELA assessment), I would highlight the theme of a journey and each of the above lines could be my text evidence. In one, the journey to find true love. In another, a journey to fit in. In the third, a journey home, because there is "no place like home". 

Not to sound too sappy, but being part of THIS writing community for 26 days plus 31 last year has been such a worthwhile journey, one where I am finding my true love while being together as I write independently. To slice - definitely not in Kansas anymore!

 

March 25th - What movies stick with YOU?

My daughter is on Spring Break and she went to Europe to see her sister in France and included a trip to Salzburg, Austria. Yesterday she posted pictures to facebook with this statement:

The Sound of Music was my favorite film, growing up. I must have watched it over 100 times over the years. I even distinctly remember that I turned 7 on a Tuesday and therefore obviously wanted a pink parasol, just like Marta. Yesterday I explored the locations where the movie was filmed. So amazing!

Stories, whether read or viewed, do stick with us. 

When I recall my favorite films, I recall these lines:

1. "M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E"

2. "Let's be independent together."

3. "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

(Can you identify the movie? Answers tomorrow!)

What STORY sticks with you?

What LINE sticks with you?!