A National Conversation

I spent four days in San Antonio, Texas at the NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English) conference. This is one of the largest conferences for teaching of reading and writing. It was a very eye-opening four days because I found myself thinking about the state of our teaching and how that impacts our students. Here is something to think about...


Ellin Keene argues for a "National Conversation" and so I would like us to be a part of that conversation. What is essential for our students? Keene would argue for a the learning theory that asks this of us...

Learning Theory:

• To focus on a few key concepts;
• of great import
• taught in great depth;
• over a long period of time;
• and applied in a variety of texts and contexts.

Seems simple almost...doesn't it? Please take the time to think about and respond to this in terms of you and your students. Let's begin this conversation with your thoughts and ideas in response to this theory. Think about an area that you have done this, or would like to do this....and ultimately what IS essential for your students?

Thought Provoking....

"The cognitive actions that readers employ while processing print are essentially the same across levels. Readers are simply applying them to successively more demanding levels of text."

Someone gave me this quote and I find it very interesting to think about. Please take some time to think this over and react to this statement. Do you agree? Disagree? And if so why? State your case clearly and let's see where we end up. There has been a great deal of discussion about our younger primary readers...what do you honestly think and believe in terms of this statement?

What is reading?

What is reading? What are the different pieces of reading that we need to teach to our students? If you had to break it down, how would you do that and how much importance would you put on each individual piece? How do those pieces add up to make a "full" reading/learning experience for our students?
Take some time on this one and really think it through. Where do we want to emphasize our instruction and how do we do that?

Observations...

When you find the time to observe one of your colleagues, please find this space on the blog and post your thoughts about your observation. What is something that you left the observation wondering about? What is something you will try as a result of this experience? What did you notice? What did you learn? How is this classroom the same or different from your own? What did you notice about the particular strategy lesson you observed? What did you notice about the structure of reading in the classroom?

Reading Workshop...

What are you thinking about a Reading Workshop after our last class? What about the idea do you like? Not like? What seems to make sense? What is confusing? I am very interested in your thinking so that we can figure out where to go next. Please write anything you are thinking...there are no "right" answers...

Who are you?

Now that you have taken the time to go through all of your closets, and attics and basements and anywhere else you could find items for your Bio Book Bags, what does this collection say about you as a reader? As a writer?
Choose one of the items from your bag and do a quick write on it...right here on the computer...right NOW! This is not something you have to draft and revise, just let your thoughts flow as you explore the corners of your mind to discover how this item influenced you and who you are today in terms of attitude, your teaching, your likes and dislikes. Have some fun with this. Here is mine as a model.

My Winnie the Pooh cookbook makes me think of my Nana. Nana was the one person in my life who really saw me as her "favorite". How do I know this? I know this because of the way I felt when I was with her. She listened to me and really heard what I was saying about what I liked and what I didn't like. Her gifts, which include this cookbook and my Raggedy Ann and Andy chalk board, were gifts that "showed" how she knew me in a way nobody else seemed to. Somehow she knew that I loved to bake and that this cookbook would be something I would always treasure.
The chalkboard was something that validated my desire to one day be a teacher, but it was even more than that because at that time in my life I was an avid collector of Raggedy Ann and Andy. Anything with Raggedies on them...I HAD to have!
It was not just the gifts, but the fact that she really listened to me and would take the time to hear what I had to say. This meant the world to me and now that I think about it, that is one of the things that I carry with me as an educator...a teacher...a mom. To listen, to really listen when someone is talking shows that they matter. It shows that their thinking, their thoughts, and their ideas count. Yes, that is what my Nana showed me. She showed me the power of someone hearing you out and truly listening to what is in your heart.

That is my quick write. Notice how I get "off track" a little bit. THAT is what a quick write is! Just start writing and see where it takes you. I had NO idea that was where I was going. Quick writes ask us to follow our stream of consciousness...to make connections where there might have been none. It is a way for us to discover what it is that we did not know before.

Syllabus Fall 2008

Learning Through Teaching Syllabus
Salem, NH
Tomasen M. Carey

Required Text: Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor
Class Dates and Topics:
September 19th: Histories and Metacognition. Who are we as readers and writers? How does that impact our teaching of reading and writing?
Model Bio Book Bag.
Assignment:
• Read article on Bio Book Bags and Chapters 1 and 2.
• Create your own bio book bag to share.
Classroom Invitation:
1. Using a digital camera, take a picture of what reading “feels” like. Write a sentence to go along with each photo. Post them outside your classroom.
2. Draw a sketch of a reader and write about your sketch. What does a reading look like? Sound like? Feel like?

October 6th: More Metacognition: Discuss readings and share Bio Book Bags in small groups.
Use Graphic organizer from book.
Demonstrate using paint chips to “monitor” your reading.
Assignment:
• Read Chapter 3 (and possibly another article from me)
Classroom Invitations:
1. Try one of the ideas from the reading with your students that deals with metacognition. Invite me in to come and observe!
2. Model Bio Book Bags with your students. Let them create their own bio book bags.

October 23rd: Schema and Making Connections. Model “I am From” poetry discussing “reading like a writer” as a a think aloud.
Assignment:
• Read Chapter 5 in Comprehension Connections.
Classroom Invitations:
1. Try “I am From” Poetry with your students
2. Do a think aloud on schema using the book Roxaboxen. Track connections for your students in the hallway illustrating how one connection leads to another. Watch the connections grow throughout the school!

November 6th: Questioning. Identify the types of questions.
Model Passion Poster
Model Think Aloud using The Three Questions.
Assignment:
• Read Chapter 4 in Comprehension Connections.
• Create your own Passion posters. Will be used for questioning in our next class.
Classroom Invitation:
1. Model a think aloud using the book, The Three Questions to your class and post their questions about this book out in the hall.
2. Try something from our reading and invite me in to observe!

November 20th: More Questioning and a bit of Inferring: Put Passion posters up around the room. Ask everyone to go around the room and write questions or inferences on sticky notes on each poster. Discuss the implications of this poster and the other uses for it across the curriculum.
Assignment:
• Read article by Cris Tovani
Classroom Invitations:
1. Work on passion posters with your students. Post them outside your classroom encouraging other students to also put post it’s on your posters asking questions that cannot be answered with yes or no.

December 9th: A day of Reflection and Celebration!!
Bring something you have tried this semester that you were happy with! Please also bring a letter to the class that outlines some of your thinking and reflections over the past semester. Please bring a copy for everyone to have their own!

Course Requirements: These requirements will be evaluated to determine final grades.
• Regular attendance and participation at group meetings, having all of the assigned reading completed and ready to discuss it in detail. (40%)
• Classroom Invitations (30%)
• Weekly blog entries on (http://thinkingitthroughsalem.blogspot.com/) 20%
• One visitation in your school or within your district of a colleague. I will ask that you post your observation on our blog. There will be a special section on the blog specifically for visitations. (10%)
If you ever have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at tomasen@comcast.net or you can call me at 772-4351. Here is to a great semester together.