Catching My Breath

The school year is in full swing, and October was a particularly busy month at school. We have a couple of annual committments that we sign up for at the start of the year, and mine ended up both being in October. When I signed up for them I did not think about how it was also the same month as the end of the first quarter and the start of a block of time at our school called language development where we mix our 4th-7th graders into proficiency levels in either Spanish or English for 40 minutes. I also did not think about how I would still have so much to adjust and improve as I am implementing a workshop approach for the first time, as well as a new social studies curriculum. Needless to say, at the end of September I realized how I would need to gear up for a stressful month.

Now I am looking forward to a hopefully calmer November. I feel much more confident about my workshop approach and the set-up that I have created and adjusted throughout the first quarter. I have also made additional adaptions to accomodate the special education pull out schedule at different times throughout the day that will be a lot smoother than last quarter.

The TOSA at our school who will be meeting with small groups of students to provide additional reading support will be starting on Monday. I am very excited because this year she will be able to do a push-in model, rather than a pull-out. She was able to accomodate my schedule so that she will provide her support during reading workshop, so it will be a seamless integration. There will still be a little bit of time for me to check in with those students as well. In addition, that group will also be flexible so as we identify the need for adjustments in grouping throughout the year we will be able to make the changes. While it will not be as flexible as my groups because they will not change as frequently, it is nice to know that they are not set for the whole year. I am so excited for this new set-up and the collaboration that we will be able to do in order to better support our readers.

Although October was stressful, there was so much to celebrate with first quarter. I have noticed so many gains in my 7th graders that I had last year, as well as improvements in my 6th graders in just one quarter. Seeing student growth always reminds me of why I wanted to become a teacher.

There is a lot to look forward to in November. I am excited to move into this time of the year with more tranquility. Later I will post on the changes that I made in my workshop block for this quarter and how they are going. My goal area for improvement for this quarter is to improve with my conferring. I just received Carl Anderson's How's It Going? I have heard so much about this book/author when conferring comes up. I am also excited for a forethcoming book from Stenhouse called Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop, which is already available on line. I feel so lucky to have access to quality books that focus on conferring in both reading and writing.

A Place for Wonder

Although I often read books that are from younger age groups, knowing that I can adapt ideas to older grades, they are typically k-5 books. The last time (maybe even the only time) I remember reading a book targeted at the primary grades was because it was a required text for my reading endorsement coursework a couple of years ago. However, when I saw information about Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough's new book, A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades, my interest was piqued.

I loved Georgia Heard's Awakening the Heart, and my students just finished making their own heart maps. I was eager to read more from her. Also, my oldest daughter is in first grade now, so I thought it would be fun to see insights into her literacy learning and stage of development. The book gave me plenty of inspiring ideas on how I can continue to foster and nurture the curiosity that is characteristic of my daughter's age.

In addition, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of ideas that would also positively impact my 6th and 7th graders. My margins are filled with notes intermixing ideas to use with my daughter and with my students. At home I now have fresh ideas on how to connect literacy and her love of nature. Each spring birds come to build nests in our porch, and we have always watched with curiosity as a family as the bird prepares, takes care of her babies, and when they are ready to fly off on their own. The nest is right in front of a big window in our door which can serve as a perfect observation window. In addition, she loves to look outside the front window to see animals such as squirrels. At school this quarter we will be working more on developing ideas. Last quarter we talked about the benefits of using sensory details but it is an area where my students could use more support. So many of the activities in the book will help foster this sense of tuning in to the senses as well as everyday details.

In addition, the book sparked more ideas on helping students develop research writing and the sense of wonder reminded me of Cris Tovani's lessons about wonder from her book I Read It But I Don't Get It. This led me to think about how the elements of wonder in Heard's book could also benefit reading comprehension.

I am excited to see the endless possibilities that Heard & McDonough's book offer with my daughter and students. I also look forward to sharing the book with my daughter's teacher, as I can imagine that she would be excited to see the ideas specifically targeted to her class. They ideas match the philosophy of our school and I can picture them being seemlessly integrated into her classroom set-up.

Standards-Based Grading Q&A with Mark Overmeyer

A couple of weeks ago when I read Mark Overmeyer's What Student Writing Teaches Us , it sparked an interest in standards-based grading. However, I was left with many questions on how to successfully use the concept in the classroom. Mark was generous enough to participate in a Q&A for my blog on the topic.

He began his comments with some thoughts to keep in mind when reading his responses:

Please note that all comments below are based on the premise that the standards used are strong standards. A standards-based grading system is only as strong as the standards themselves.

Overall, I think the standards used by my district are strong (and when they don't work, I use the NCTE / IRA standards).

With your experience with standards-based grading do teachers do a combination of daily assignments and standards assignments, or is it more beneficial to have the whole grade composed of standards based assignments?

My own experience with standards-based grades had been most successful when I connect every single assignment to one or more standards. I do less grading, and pay much more attention to my daily assignments. I no longer add assignments just to get more points in the gradebook. One assignment can span one or more standards: If I ask students to summarize their understanding of a science concept, I can score them on the science standard addressed, and also on the writing standard that requires them to concisely summarize a topic.

Using standards-based grading, how do teachers communicate progress in courses? Rather than progress reports with an overall average of assignments would it be a progress report with current demonstrations of work toward a standard that parents/students know they will be able to improve if they demonstrate a higher level of mastery throughout the quarter?

It is not that much different from my regular work with parents - perhaps just more clear. Remember that I said I always connect an assignment to a standard. My gradebook is organized into categories based on standards, and the assignments are not organized just by date. So, when I print grades, everything is printed according to the standard addressed. One assignment (as mentioned above) might list points for more than one standard. Averaging is a tricky question - there are whole books about grading (My favorite is Fair Isn't Always Equal by Wormeli), so this is not easy to address in a short space. But, I can determine how well students are doing, using a point system, and still use standards. For example, I may give students 5 points maximum for a list of possibilities they develop for their upcoming personal narratives. This addresses the standard about developing an effective writing process. Effective writers often come up with more than one idea so that they do not abandon the writing process when their first idea does not work. It seems fair to give 5 points to any student who has 2 - 5 ideas for the personal narrative. As students develop their pieces, I might give points for strong leads, points for specific supporting details, and points for structuring narratives effectively. These points can be given along the way - and when students take their piece to a more "final" copy, I can score it on a rubric and give them an overall score. Parents can chart progress in the same way they always do - I am just categorizing assignments intentionally by standard rather than by the date I give the assignment. Again - this works best when I never grade an assignment that is not based on standards.

How many grades would a teacher typically have for a quarter/semester? (Just one for each standard addressed in the grading period or more?)

I give fewer grades now. But, if I keep in mind that the practice I give students should pay off, I do not want to wait three to four weeks to give some points, because then I have no way of measuring progress along the way. So, many teachers I know give 1 to 2 grades per week, based on standards, and based on what students need to practice to get better at what we are actually writing.

How many standards do you typically address in a grading period?

When I am speaking about writing, based on my state standards, I would address all standards in all grading periods, because there are two main standards: Writing for various purposes, and Conventions.

Was standards-based grading a school-wide decision in your experience or a teacher to teacher decision?

I began standards-based grading systems for myself in the mid-1990s. Now, my entire district has standards based report cards for all elementary schools.

My students currently have some regular assignments, such as word study, an at home reading log, and reading and writing workshop participation. When students are absent they have to read/write for the equivalent amount of time that they would have done in workshop for the day in order to earn their workshop points. If I switched to standards-based grading would it be typical to not record such assignments in the grade book and communicate to students that they are beneficial in order to work toward demonstrating competency in the standards but will not count in the grade book?

I only grade based on standards. So, if I can address a standards for writing and reading on their in class work, how does this connect to a standard? It might connect in some way to comprehension, or to some type of writing process mentioned in standards - but if I cannot connect this practice to a specific standard, I do not grade it. I think writing and reading every day are very, very important - but the only way I know if this practice of reading and writing every day pays off is to connect this practice to a standard. (but see caveat above - this only works if the standards themselves are strong)

Do you report standards based grades as a letter grade on report cards or use a numbering system?

On the current report card, both are reported - numbers (4,3,2,1) and grades.

I appreciate Mark's insights. I already have plans for some changes to my grading practices for the start of the second quarter based on his comments and those of others. Reading his book and comments came at a perfect time for me, as I was already reflecting on the best way to assess and grade with a workshop model.

Writing Circles

The Heinemann emails always lure me in to want to buy more books. The lastest book I can't wait to read that goes along perfectly with my self-directed professional development is Jim Vopat's Writing Circles. I enjoyed hearing the podcast conversation between Vopat and Harvey Daniels. It confirms that the book will have a lot to offer as I continue to develop and discover what will work best for my students in a workshop setting.

Word Study Organization

I have mentioned word study frequently on my blog, and it appears to be an area that shows up often as searches that people do that lead them to this site. I thought some readers would be interested in seeing how my set-up looks.

 

I create all of my whole-group word sorts on sentence strips. I put heading words on a different colored sentence strip with a card on the front that abbreviates the level of word study and sort number (that correlates with the pre-made sort books that I bought). I still have not completed this on every sort yet, but I want to write notes on the back of every title card with any details that I need to remember about the sort. Then I clip each sort with a binder clip. I have a shoe box sized storage box for each category of sorts. This is what my Within Word Patterns (WWP) sort box looks like.

 

My cabinet right next to the area where I meet for small group introductions is where I keep all of the boxes, as well as clipboards for students to do their weekly spell checks.

 

This is the counter right above the cupboard shown in the second photo. I have all of my pre-made sort books as well as an organizer where I keep small pieces of paper and pens to jot down quick notes, markers, extra pieces of cut up sentence strips, paper clips, and binder clips. Then I also have a clipboard with the different groups by grade-level. I always set out the current weeks' sorts as well as the student sort copies and the word study form that I assign to my students each week.

Is there anything else you would like to know about how I implement word study?

Wall Space

As Stacey previously mentioned, I have a lot of wall space to display student work. I was excited to display some of their work Friday evening. I had a long day at the school by staying late, but I left energized knowing that my students' work was finally up.

(Picture temporarily down - I realized that the photo I took shows one of the Heart Maps with the students name clearly showing in the picture, so I am going to take a different picture to add later.)
I put all of their heart maps above the counter/shelving. I wanted to have them in a location where they were very visible, yet not down low where someone might accidentally bump them. Students put a lot of thought into their heart maps, and I did not want them to get torn or scuffed up inadvertently.

 

Originally I was going to create our bulletin board for social studies, but then I thought about how it was a perfect opportunity for students to be involved with the creation. For each section, I post an essential question. Then students create visuals for areas that I direct them to represent key concepts from our chapters. The first one shows an introductory geography challenge to start out our unit. I created a lot of this, but a couple of students filled in the map.

The second section is a better representation of what it will usually look like. Students created a visual for four main areas that we studied in which the Roman Empire continues to influence modern life. They completed the visuals in small groups.

I look forward to utilizing other areas of wall space to display more student work. Friday I also set up an outline for our time line and students will be creating different dates to add to the time line as we move through our unit.

The Book Whisperer

I heard a lot about Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child earlier this year when it was released. When I saw that there would be a discussion with Miller about the book on EC Ning, I went straight to Amazon to order it. Miller has been leading a great discussion, inspiring feedback from a large group of educators.

The whole book emphasizes the goal of reading programs as inspiring students to be life-long readers and her personal journey to reaching a set-up for "awakening" all of a passion for reading in all of her students. There were many comments that I underlined and starred for various reasons, such as they perfectly aligned with my philosophy or they shared a perspective that I would want to remember later to defend authentic reading programs.

One quote that resonated with me was, "Even with her extensive knowledge of reading and writing practices, Susie was always searching for methods to improve the literacy instruction in her classroom and still struggling to get it 'right'" (14). I extensively read about literacy. However, as soon as I start to feel like I am smoothly implementing one idea in a general sense, I start to investigate multiple questions that pop into mind about different components.

I enjoyed that the book gave me a lot to consider. In some areas it supported what I already do and in other areas such as reading logs, it caused me to revisit yet again whether or not I really want to continue that practice. (I even commented about this on the discussion, 4th comment down).

Above all, I appreciated this book in the same way that I appreciated Readicide. Miller has a well-developed rationale for best practices in literacy instruction. It inspires me to continue working through the bumps along the way as I am finding out what will work best for my students. It also reaffirms why I chose to teach in a school where I am able to have a workshop approach in my classroom, rather than being restricted to a canned program.

What Student Writing Teaches Us

This summer I loved the glimpses of Mark Overmeyer's What Student Writing Teaches Us through skimming sections of the on-line version available through Stenhouse and comments on the blog tour. I knew that eventually I wanted to read the full book. This weekend my copy arrived, and I could hardly put it down once I got started. As soon as I finished I got on-line and ordered Overmeyer's first book, as well as Carl Anderson's How's It Going?, two books I had heard a lot about.

With chapter two I was pondering the question Mark proposed, "How much time do I set aside for my students to meaningfully write each day?" (15). In this section Overmeyer commented on the value of quick writes in some settings. Lately I have been trying to re-think my writing block for my students who are pulled from my classroom to received additional writing support through special education services. Typically they are in class for word study, they are pulled out for most of workshop, and they return for our Everday Editing lessons (I decided to call all of my lessons inspired by Jeff Anderson Everyday Editing lessons because of the catchy title of one of his books). However, when it comes to the Everyday Editing phase where students look at their own writing rather than observing the writing of others, the students who were pulled out from my classroom do not have many writing samples. I wanted to see how they could get some meaningful writing in the short time frame when they are in my classroom. I loved the possibilities of quick writes to help these students to consistently produce writing even if they are not in my class for the whole writer's workshop.

In addition, this summer during the blog tour Overmeyer mentioned the value of prompts and quick writes, so I had an idea to have Free Flowing Friday where students would write from a prompt each Friday. I have not been able to layer this into my writing block yet, but the book reminded me that it could be a very beneficial portion of my instruction. I appreciate Overmeyer's distinction of "framed" choice promps where "there are many possibilities within the story idea" (19). I will keep this concept in mind as I develop prompts for my students, whether they are for students returning from pull-outs or for Free Flowing Friday.

When discussing rubrics and possible pitfalls, Overmeyer stated, "As with so many issues in education, the tool is not the problem or the solution. Great tools can be misused, and marginal tools can elevate thinking in a well-run classroom," (47). I loved this reminder of the importance of always being cognizant about why we have the practices we do and making sure that we are utilizing our resources (including valuable instructional time) in the best way possible.

Many of what Overmeyer suggests reminds me of the philosophy of my university writing lab. When I first took the course to become a writing tutor I had no idea how influential it would be in my formation as a writing teacher. It was heavily emphasized to first comment on an improvement students could make globally (such as ideas, content, organization) and then move on to a local issue (such as conventions) in later drafts. The key of not pointing out every mistake/place where there was room for improvement was also emphasized. Overmeyer said, "When I read student work, I notice something to praise, and I look for something to wonder about, and then I look for teaching points," (48). Later he mentioned, "I chose to tell him what he was doing well and to pinpoint one thing he could work on," (86). I always love comments that remind me of the essentials I learned through the writing lab.

The chapter that stuck with me the most and that is really making me consider how I can improve was about grading. This quarter my students' language arts grades are mainly composed of workshop participation (rubric), home reading log, writing samples, Everyday Editing activities, word study, book clubs, and small group assignments. However, I am not completely satisfied with how student scores average out and translate into grades. Overmeyer's comments about standards-based grading sparked an interest to dig deeper into the topic and to consider possibilities for improving in this area. I appreciate how standards-based grades provide more clarity about where students are at according to state standards, as well as providing multiple opportunities throughout the marking period to demonstrate competencies. Another important focus of the chapter was fostering a community of writers that focus more on improving as writers than on their grades (91). In one way or another I will definitely be adjusting my grading practices next quarter to incorporate standards-based concepts.

There were so many great ideas in Overmeyer's book. I was excited to see the Stenhouse post announcing access to a webcast Overmeyer did earlier this year focusing on his key concept of admiring student work. I cannot wait to see it. I will be referring back to the book in the future to reevaluate my practice and refocus as needed.

MAP Assessment

This year our school will be starting to use a new assessment, MAP. Friday we had our initial training, and I am excited about the possibilities. The computer based assessment is adaptive, so it adjusts to the students level. Unlike the state assessment that only shows how my students are doing at grade-level, this assessment will give me strand data at the students' instructional levels. The program also has many very user friendly and helpful ways to present data, as well as a student goal sheet. Next year it will be nice to start with this at the beginning of the year, but for this year we will be having students take the assessments as soon as it is all set-up.

An initial thought is that I may advocate for giving this assessment three times a year, rather than conducting QRIs three times annually. This assessment will only take about one block of instructional time, as opposed to the weeks it takes to do one on one QRIs. I would still want to utilize the QRI with some students, as needed and to see one more piece.

I am looking forward to having access to an efficient and valuable new avenue for discovering data about my students. As a staff we find having this tool valuable to help triangulate data. Now I will have state assessment data (students can take state assessments up to three times/year, except writing and English Language Proficiency), MAP, QRI, and classroom observations/data. I always love finding one more way to get a fuller picture of who my students are as readers, writers, and learners.

Word Study Tracking and Set-Up

Kristin recently asked me for more information about the new Word Study tracking form that I mentioned I had created for this year.

This is the form that I started out with intending to keep in each student's individual section of my anecdotal records/data binder. However, I quickly realized that both my binder was getting too big and I had to prioritize what I would keep there. In addition, it was very time consuming to switch to every single student and repetitive to fill out the information about level and sort for every single student. Instead I decided to track by group (see below). I still included the original form here in case it easier for some people to have an individual student form, which might be nice over time as some students shift among groups.

Word Study Tracking Form

I created an Excel spreadsheet with tabs for each of my groups. For example, I have multiple within word pattern groups, so I abbreviated the tabs by stating WWP and the number of the first sort they started on. I could not get the Excel document to show up well with Scribd, so I created a similar table in Word. I do, however recommend using Excel because it is easier to navigate and get a glimpse of the whole class. I have 6th and 7th graders who started with the same sorts, so I put them on the same tab, still separating them by grade level. The Pre and Post SC section stands for Pre and Post Spell Check to see their growth within a set of patterns.

Word Study Tracking

Please let me know if you would like further clarification about how I have been tracking my students' progress in Words Their Way.

Memorable Learning

Today I had a parent comment how much her daughter loved the Medieval Feudalism simulation that we did yesterday. She said she could not stop talking about it at home and that she will not be forgetting the concepts anytime soon. I can't wait to continue using the TCI curriculum for the rest of the year. The energy and memorable learning that I anticipated is what drew me to the curriculum, and it is living up to my expectations.

Classroom Pictures 2

Before I posted a couple pictures of my new classroom when I was still moving in and getting set up. In the last two weeks my projector was set up and my round table and rolling chair arrived. Since the original pictures, my custodian also put up rain gutter shelving for me. Now my classroom is complete! I love it so much.

 

This is what my writing menu looks like. I have a chart for each of the traits on our state's writing rubric. We have been adding areas of the rubric as we discuss them in class, especially with topics that come up with our Everyday Editing lessons. We started out with paragraphs, so that is why there is more on the organization chart than the other areas right now.

I am still not convinced that this is the best set up, but for now it is functional. I know a lot of teachers dedicate a bulletin board for their literacy menus; however, I created these posters because I wanted something that would work year after year with the flexibility to add on strategies and later remove them, as well as something that I can flip depending on the language week. It is essential to me to have the target language represented on the walls in most cases. At the start of the year this was the best way I could think of creating them, but we will see how it evolves over time or if I end up using the same model. Either way, I love having literacy menus!

 

This is my new round table - another component that I am loving. When our custodian first brought it in to the room I was surprised at how "small" it was. I was shocked when I realized that I could sit with seven of my students and still have some room to spare. It will be a great addition to our room. I also used it when having one on one writing conferences, and it is an additional area for partner/small group work for social studies. Today we had the room set up for our feudalism simulation, so I was able to have a group of students sit at the table since their desks were already set up as the throne and castle for the simulation.

The sentence strip chart on the wall is used for our small group word sorts. I also have all of my word study supplies set out on the counter in the corner or in the cupboard for easy access and organization.

 

Here is how my Smart Board and white board ended up. It has been so nice to have them side-by-side at the front of the room. The writing menu is on the left, and the reading menu is on the right. I also just got my map switched over to my new room.

 

Here are the rain gutter book shelves. It was a great addition to our classroom library set-up. Last year I did not like having my forward facing books on the regular book shelf, and this was the perfect solution. I may add another row later if needed, but they actually each hold a lot of books. You can also see the blinds that I just got last week. They will come in handy on sunny days when we want to use the Smart Board.

The charts on the wall were adapted from this Two Writing Teachers blog post, and I also posted the information on our classroom blog in our writer's handbook.

TCI Simulation

This fall I started using TCI History Alive! social studies curriculum. One of the components that drew me toward the program was its interactive activities. I knew that students would grasp the concepts so much more through this type of learning. Today we did our first simulation (feudalism in medieval Europe). It will be so nice to have that common learning experience to relate back to tomorrow as they dive further into the chapter's reading. I look forward to seeing how much the students are able to learn this year.

I am still using our class created interactive notebooks for social studies. Although TCI does come with one commercially prepared for the program, I decided to continue using the spiral notebooks we organized as a class for now. With our self created INs I like that we have learning objectives and titles on the top of every page. However, I am still also using a lot of the TCI IN activities. The kit comes with an electronic version of the materials, so teachers are able to print off the IN. I am going to start with using a mixture of our class IN, as well as students completing some of the TCI IN pages and keeping them in their binders.

This is a big learning year for me in various areas as I am trying out new programs, fine-tuning my literacy block, and making adjustments as a result of reflective teaching.

Banned Books Week

Not surprisingly, this week posts were popping up all over the blogosphere about Banned Books Week. Here are some of my favorite posts:

Laurie Halse Anderson posts
Halse Anderson wrote multiple posts focusing on attempts to ban her books and updates. The first that I read outlined an example of when parents not only object to their child reading a book but try to move forward and dictate what all students in a setting can read. One of the scenarios mentioned was a school that wanted to use Halse Anderson's Twisted for literature circles.

This is what I responded:

That is unfortunate that the parent was doing a full on challenge of literature circle options. While many are against any type of censorship, this seems even worse since it was just an option, not a whole class read.

In my own classroom I try to be careful that the books I have are appropriate for middle schoolers. I often struggle on where to draw the line. I have a box full of books that are intended for high school readers that I just can't get rid of because some day I hope that I will be in a situation where I can utilize them, even if it is lending them to former students when they are in high school.

I try to honor parent wishes. There are some books in my classroom library that not every parent would agree is appropriate for middle schoolers. I would respect such parents' wishes in regard to their children, but I would never want one parent to decide for all 51 of my middle schoolers. That is why this challenge bothers me so much. It is reasonable to say that the parent would prefer his/her child reads a different selection for literature circles. The parent could even talk to other parents if he/she felt so compelled to do so in order for each parent to make the decision for his/her own child.

However, it is unfortunate that the parent felt it was up to him/her to take the book out of all the students' hands. Every student is different and the books may very well have been exactly what some of them needed.

Diana Rodriguez Wallach's How Books Get Banned by Good People
She addresses a recent interaction with parents where she saw a glimmer of the slippery slope of parents objecting for their own children and soon feeling like they need to object for all.

My absolute favorite - John Green's vlog I am Not a Pornographer
This hilarious vlog was a humorous, creative way to react to his book being challenged. If you had not seen it yet, it is a must see.

It was fun to see how different authors addressed this topic this week and interesting to see different aspects to the issue through each post.