Category Archives: nwp

Days in a Sentence on a Glog

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Over at our National Writing Project iAnthology social networking site, I hosted a writing prompt this past week called Day in a Sentence (which used to be a regular weekly writing activity here and in other spaces). I love how folks boil down their day or their week into a single reflective sentence. And the one sentence format makes it easy to create interesting projects. I took the collection of Days in a Sentences this week and put them into a Glog.

Peace (in the days),
Kevin

PS — Do you have a sentence? Add it as a comment.

DML Talks: Chad Sansing and Peter Kittle

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I love these presentations from the DML Conference from my NWP friends Peter Kittle and Chad Sansing.

First, Chad talks about gaming (check out his sketches that complement his talk).

Second, Peter talks about memes (and how ideas now get mobile quickly in this networked world).

Peace (in the shift),
Kevin

 

The Writing Project (Teacher) Writers

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For the past nine months or so, I have been coordinating a partnership between our local newspaper (The Daily Hampshire Gazette) and our Western Massachusetts Writing Project. My role has been to solicit teachers in our writing project to write an educational column for the monthly education section of the newspaper. It’s a partnership that our writing project once had with another regional newspaper (The Springfield Republican) and it’s a natural fit, in a way.

The newspaper needs columnists. Our teachers can write. And our writing project gets some nice benefits by being associated with some great writers and educators in a very public forum. (Unfortunately, they don’t get paid for writing for the newspaper.) While the newspaper runs a paid website for most of its content, they have agreed to provide us with public urls to the columns by our teachers. So, here is what we have written about and explored this year:

My wife, Leslie, is a media specialists/librarian at a vocational high school, and she has done a lot of work around book clubs for her students. A grant she received has allowed her to run after-school programs that now mesh books with film.

“When I started a book club at my school, I wasn’t so naïve as to imagine that high school students would choose multicultural classics, or even books with optimistic themes. But I also didn’t expect a steady diet of dystopian literature or books about youth getting a raw deal from those in power.” — read more of her column

Momodou Sarr teaches special education at a regional high school. His column was about the power of community and the power of expectations of our students, no matter the academic level. He also shows how project-based learning, with real involvement in the community, can make a difference.

“Teaching in a self-contained classroom means that a group of students becomes your family, in a way. It is interesting to watch how grade-level identities disappear. Students coming together in one classroom begin the difficult task of trusting each other, letting stereotypes melt away as they gain trust in each other as well as the teachers in the classroom.” — read more of his column

Alicia Lopez wrote about her experiences teaching at a middle school, and about how emerging student writers are a powerful group to be witness to, and help along. She also explains how difficult it can be for a teacher to juggle teaching with their own lives outside of school.

“I find it hard to believe that I am halfway through my 17th year as a language teacher. I have taught grades five to 12, and am now in my eighth year of teaching middle school in Amherst. Having come from a family of supremely dedicated and hard-working teachers, I resisted the profession for a long time. I saw the exhaustion and frustration on my parents’ faces after a long day of teaching and dealing with students. Eventually, though, the other side of that story is what has kept me teaching: the simple rewards of reaching a student, of making a connection, of, in the long run, changing a life.” — read the rest of her column

Michael Braidman teaches English and runs the Drama Club at a high school. He wrote about the experience of providing a multitude of rich experiences for his students, and watching them flourish on the stage.

“As educators, we find opportunities both in and out of the classroom. I’m fortunate enough to run my high school’s drama company, which, like all extracurriculars, provides valuable teaching experiences for its coach as well as great learning opportunities for participants. After school the auditorium becomes like a second classroom for me, a place where I engage students in intellectual discussions on literature (specifically, plays we’re producing) as well as teach them about the various tasks, materials and arrangements necessary to put on a theatrical production. When I bring together a cast and crew to prepare, rehearse and perform a play, I’m facilitating all sorts of learning, as well as giving students a chance to have some fun. Some of them also find unique leadership opportunities.” — read more of his column

Julie Spencer-Robinson used her column to tell the story of how she helps her middle school students understand empathy, and action on behalf of others.

““Who are those kids?” Andrew asked me. He was talking about the boy in the wheelchair who rolled down the hallway outside our sixth-grade classroom every day, accompanied by one or two of his classmates and their aides. “Oh, they’re in a special class down the hall,” I replied. Later, we learned that the name of the boy in the wheelchair was Gary, and he and Andrew quickly struck up a friendship. They would hang out together at Andrew’s locker, and Gary would use his communication device — or his aide — to crack jokes with his new friend. Pretty soon Gary was coming into our classroom to visit, and so were some of the other kids in his class. ” — read more of her column

And I kicked off the series last fall with a piece on understanding video gaming as I listened to my students.

“It’s become clear to me over the last few years that video gaming is one of those worlds that most teachers and most adults know very little about, and one area of youth culture that we are more likely to dismiss as entertaining diversions rather than immersive environments where interesting learning and skill development takes place. We’re more likely to dismiss gaming rather than embrace it.” — read more of my column

We’re proud of our teachers and about the ways we have worked with the newspaper to focus on our teachers as writers. Just as important, we know we have important things to say, and the newspaper has been just another way to reach our audience.

Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin

The Issue of Lurking Versus Listening

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I’ve been taking part in an online study group at the P2PU Open Course site with some National Writing Project friends. The discussion group is centered around the theme of writing in a digital age (with leaders Troy Hicks, Christina Cantrill and Katherine Frank). We’re nearing the end of things, and so some of us are reflecting a bit (a stalwart activity of any NWP event) on where we might go from here with some inquiry work.

I had posted a bit about how I was considering the model of the study group for a year-long inquiry theme at our Western Massachusetts Writing Project that will begin in September and be the thread of discussions throughout the year. I pointed out the difficulty in online spaces to make sure everyone is involved. In the study group, there are a bunch of people just reading and following but not writing. In other words, there are many more observers in our study group than there are writers.

How do we pull those all of those folks into the activities and get their voices heard so that a select few don’t take command of the discussions because they have the loudest voices, I wondered? (And I know I am one of those loud voices.)

This is an excerpt from what I wrote:

On a “bigger picture” note, this study group also reminds me that a lot of people may be following the discussions here but not participating. I’m not judging because this is a part of online communities across various platforms and there are many factors that go into why a person “lurks” or participates. There are lots of reader; fewer writers. The question remains of how to get more folks involved as active participants in activities (thinking now of how our WMWP inquiry work might learn from the interactions here). This pondering parallels with my philosophies that I have for my students — shifting them from passive consumers of media into active creators of it, and giving them agency with the technology.

Certainly, having specific, do-able activities is part of the solution, and also, having some playfulness in the community is a key component, too. If it’s too much like work, then no one is going to spend time doing it. We do enough of that during the day. Finding some balance between thoughtful inquiry, meaningful play and positive connections is the way to build an online community.

One of my study group colleagues responded:

… what drew me immediately to my computer this morning was the light suggestion that those of us who don’t participate with the community are “lurkers.” I know that Kevin didn’t mean this in a disparaging way — and perhaps his use of the term as strategic (It certainly got me typing).  Just as we create classrooms where all students participate and contribute, do we also need to create these online spaces where the same kind of participation takes place? (I think so). And just like we don’t always have one large group conversation where anyone can contribute their thoughts at any time in our classrooms, I wonder if we need to think about how to create different kinds of interactions in spaces like this one.

What I know from my classroom experience is that once the “smart” students start talking, other students who don’t feel as smart or knowledgeable will often remain silent. And I think we may want to think about race and gender and probably other factors which may be at play as well. Who is silenced in this space and why? It is easy to think that it just a time issue, but I think there are probably other reasons as well.

One of the lessons we learned at the Greater Kansas City Writing Project (through our Project Outreach work focused on serving the needs of those most affected by poverty) is that just creating an open and welcoming space doesn’t mean that we are doing enough to address our lack of diversity. If we wanted to diversify our site, we had to take strategic steps to do so. I think that if we want more participation, we may need to think strategically about how we do so. I agree that having specific tasks to complete is one good strategy. And I guess my own inquiry has much to do with how we ensure that these digital spaces are participatory and democratic, and not replicating historically racist, classist, sexist ways of silencing us.

And a very minor note, but there are online lurkers; they are not good  for the community.  But there are also online observers, some of whom are learning the rules of the discourse community they are visiting, or are just dropping in to see what is going on. These observers are good for a community. We want to encourage these guests to stay for the party, not make them feel like the outsiders they may already feel like they are.

Another stated this:

In response to some of the concerns about diversity, or making all voices feel welcome, again I don’t think there is a technological short-cut. You just have to take the time to form human relationships, and take people and their contributions seriously. This is different than just having a “friends” or “follower” list. One also has to be cautious about only interacting with people like oneself, forming a perception bubble that excludes opposing points of view. Optimistically, one could argue that digital learning is more empowering because it is less tied to socio-economic privilege. In the U.S., the privatization of education means that the only thing an advanced degree indicates is that you could afford one.

One reason that it is scary to post in online forums–you have to work without the safety net of time delay, editing, or peer-review. In traditional publishing, once you reach the level where you have the chance to speak at all, you are coddled by editors, assistants, and an entire culture that leads to a very well proof-read (but limited and often toneless) voice. Even as a grad student the mentality was that only the most worked-over and approved prose should ever be public. We were told that the more we posted on social networking sites, the less likely our chances would be of finding a job.

I’m thankful for their comments, as it now has me thinking more about those who are “lurking” (and may have no intention of ever joining in a conversation but just are passing through) and those who are “listening” (and are seeking a road in or an invitation to join, but also, may be getting a lot of just following the conversation because it connects to their own learning). Lurkers are fine, and I suspect we all do it when we are online in one form or another.

But listeners are whom we want to connect with if we are building an online space or community. Once again, I am struck by the Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers. I’ve become interested in the slices where the writers talk about what drew them into creating a blog and joining the challenge. Most refer to personal connections with Ruth and Stacey, and the sense of a supportive writing community that values their voice and thoughts. We can learn a lot from those kind of connections.

Peace (wherever you are, whomever you are),
Kevin

 

On Reaching and Nurturing Teachers as Writers

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I’m going to try to pull a few different strands together here …

PART ONE

The other day, I was invited to present at a school district to the north of me. My focus was on the expanding definition of literacy and how the four strands of English Language Arts (writing, reading, speaking and listening) remain the center of the new Common Core standards (which our state has adopted and adapted) and the concept of 21st Century Skills (re:technology). The district wanted me to focus on how I nurture and value writing in my own sixth grade classroom.  I began the session with what I thought might be a good opening — I asked the crowd of about 45 teachers (mostly 4/5/6 classroom teachers) what their philosophy around the teaching of writing is.

I was not ready for the silence.

You could hear a pin drop.

I am not sure if my question was unfair to them at that point in the session or whether they have not really had the time to sit down and think about this issue, and articulate a philosophy. I don’t want to make any judgments. They were an attentive group of educators, with lots of questions and insights as the day moved along. They were very engaged, and they wanted to be there. (Sometimes, that is not the case). But I keep thinking back to my question and the lack of response, and what it might mean in a larger picture.

I did try to articulate my own philosophy around writing and literacy in the session. Here is what I share with parents and students, and which is part of my classroom curriculum website:

  • The act of writing is an important way for students to learn by processing their ideas into coherent and organized form;
  • Writing should be done across various curriculum areas and not be taught in isolation;
  • Students should write for various audiences; At times, they may write just for themselves, for the classroom or, sometimes, for the world;
  • Technology can be a useful tool for composing various forms of writing and media, including audio podcasts and video;
  • Writing should be authentic and allow students to make connections between school and the world outside of school;
  • Artistic elements and the concept of design play a role in the way that young people compose writing and other media;
  • Reading quality books and stories of various genres provide an insight into the writing process and allow students to reflect, connect and utilize critical thinking skills;
  • All students can succeed and improve as writers and readers and composers of multimedia.

PART TWO

A day or two later, I picked up my latest edition of Voices from the Middle journal from the National Council of Teachers of English. The theme of the March 2012 edition is “Preparing our Student as Writers.” This is right up my alley! But something struck me in the introduction by the editors (Diane Lapp, Doug Fisher, and Nancy Frey). They note the results of a survey they administered to about 120 practicing teachers in summer courses they taught.

The teachers were asked questions such as how they define themselves as writers and do they like writing and teaching writing?

“The majority reported they did not enjoy writing, did not believe they were good writers, and did not believe they were well-prepared to teach writing.” (p. 8 )

Yikes!

Is that just a fluke of the teachers in their programs or is that an indication of something larger among teachers?

PART THREE

This brings me to two personal observations.

First, most of the readers here know that I am part of and a strong advocate of the National Writing Project, which is built on the premises of teachers as writers, and writing to learn. Now, more than ever, as many states make the shift to standards that have writing and research and analysis at the center of classroom instruction, organizations like the NWP that support and nurture teachers as writers, and allow for reflection for how to bring those skills into the classroom, are more important.

And more in danger than ever, too.

The NWP lost all of its federal support a few months ago during budget cuts, but recently, it received some back through the federal SEED initiative. Teachers need support networks and places to share expertise and learn from each other.

Second, I began thinking of the Slice of Life challenge that has been going on this month over at Two Writing Teachers. Each day, more than 100 educators are now writing, and sharing, and commenting, and creating a writing community. Some days, the numbers reach nearly 200 posts, plus countless comments that writers are leaving for each other.

This is a huge jump from other years of Slice of Life, and it shows how technology can transform writing practices for teachers. Ruth and Stacey, the wonderful overseers of ideas at Two Writing Teachers, have really nurtured a lot of teachers who sometimes express in their posts their fear of writing in a public space coupled with a desire to see themselves as writers, if not just for themselves then for their students. They are diving in with Slice of Life, and hopefully, they are experiencing something transformative.

Teachers, as well as young writers, need places to be nurtured as writers. Formal organizations like NWP and informal networks like Two Writing Teachers and countless more that are out there in the world are making a difference. If you have been on the outside looking in, come join us with your own writing and then reflect on how that experience as a writer might shape or reshape your own teaching instruction with your students. Writing is more than writing for the classroom. Writing is about making sense of your world.

Peace (on the soapbox),
Kevin

 

Some Thoughts on Digital Curation

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digital is pinterest

I’ve been taking part in an online study group through the National Writing Project around the topic of digital writing, with the NWP’s Digital Is website as our “text.” This week, we’ve been giving some guidance to consider the importance and role of “curating” content for ourselves and our students. Being a thoughtful curator means gathering pertinent resources that, taken together, have some meaning to the one who is viewing the collection.

In some ways, teachers have always been curators, right? We seek resources and information that we can share with our students in hopes of sparking insights and education along a line of thinking or inquiry. We lead our young people into places will get them writing, thinking, shifting. We help them see the value of things (through our own lens.) Why I choose this article over that article for them to read is all about the act of curation.

But the access to information and data in the digital world has made this responsibility ever more important, it seems to me. Given the deluge of sources (some maybe not so useful) and materials, our students often have trouble navigating in a way that is meaningful. Our role as educators is to provide some intellectual framework, and we do this by curating the content. (On the flipside, curation can also be viewed as a negative by narrowing the possibilities or filtering the content, right?). Technology tools that allow this kind of curation navigation include Diigo and other bookmarking tools; Jog the Web and other Internet site “tours”; Webquests, and more.

And even Pinterest is a curation tool, of a sort. (See my board on collections within Digital Is that I find notable and notice how I was able to provide a little commentary on each, and how others can react to my comments.)

An interesting discussion we have been having in our study group is all about annotation, and how technology can provide more and more means for collaborative marking and sharing of ideas and reflections right within the documents themselves (sort of like margin notes, but saved and shared electronically, and conceived for collaboration). I have not yet done this kind of activity with my sixth graders, but with the shift towards more research-based writing under the Common Core, it makes sense to try to figure out if there are tools that might pave the way for better and more efficient research gathering for our students, who then can make the shift themselves into the role of curator.

I like the NWP study group is sparking my thinking along new paths, and new possibilities.

Peace (in the information),
Kevin

 

Beyond This Moment in Time: A Digital Poem

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I was reading through the National Writing Project’s Elyse Eidman-Aadahl’s comments about digital writing over at the DML Central Blog. As usual, she has some interesting things to say about where we are, and where things may be going, and the increasingly important role that teachers have in these transitions.

Read the interview

I found myself stopping at some points in the piece, mulling over phrases and ideas,, and so in the spirit of remixing someone else’s content to create something new (I hope), here is a found poem from the article (with apologies to Elyse). I began it as a traditional words-on-paper poem, and then added it as a podcast, but then found myself trying it as a digital poem, with some powerpoint and a screencasting program. (In my old PC days, I had a nifty software program that would convert a PP with all transitions and animations into a video format for me. But alas, I have found no equivalent for the Mac.)

 

Peace (in the poem),
Kevin

 

Developing a Keynote: Why Literacy Matters

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screenshot of Literacy Matters Presentation
It seems like a long, long time ago that I was invited by my friend Ben Davis to give a keynote address to the Red Mountain Writing Project’s 21st Century Literacies Conference. And yet, here it is. Tomorrow, I will be presenting my thoughts and stories on what it means to be teaching in a world dominated by shifts to the Common Core, and technology as tools for writing, and more. (Today, I travel). I’m excited about the opportunity to visit Birmingham, Alabama, and of course, a tad bit nervous about the responsible of giving one of the keynote addresses (the other is by writer Sharon Draper). I hope what I have to say resonated with the crowd, and I hope I am not boring.

As I have been developing the ideas to present, I have been working hard to connect what I teach to not only what is expected of me as a teacher in this standardized environment (ie, Common Core influence), but also, how I can best engage my sixth graders as writers in this digital age when our definitions of writing is in the midst of some shift, and just what that may mean to a classroom teacher.  My aim is to share my own classroom experiences, and to relate how I try to “pay attention” to what my students are doing with their literacies outside of school. I’ll work to weave those stories together into a narrative that (hopefully) inspires others.

I named my talk “Literacy Matters” because it seems to me that now, more than ever, writing and literacy is at the heart of all that our students are doing — in school and out of school. When they communicate via text messaging, they are engaging in literacy. When they shoot a video and post it online, they are engaged in literacy. When they play a video game, they are engaged in literacy. When they write a story or an essay or a poem or a reflection, they are engaged in literacy. The technology aspect of composition sometimes hides the literacies taking place, however, and we need to make those ideas more visible, bring them to the surface.

That’s part of my intention, anyway. I hope it goes well.

🙂

Here is a handout that I developed to accompany my talk.
Literacy Matters Handout

 

Peace (in the keynote),
Kevin

 

Connecting the “Make Movement” with Technical Writing

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Check out this video documentary of some friends at the Prairie Lands Writing Project (in Missouri) as they use the concepts around the “Make Movement” (build it yourself) and technical writing to pursue connections to the curriculum (Common Core, in particular) around informational writing.

Two years ago, I took part in a National Writing Project session similar to this one (I demonstrated stopmotion animation) and it was a pretty interesting experience, but I have not yet been able to make that leap to the classroom. Documentaries like this one help keep the idea in mind — that our students have talents that we often don’t know about, that they can use that expertise to teach others, and that literacy connections abound in those ideas.

Thanks to the Prairie Lands folks for sharing out their project!

Peace (on the Make),
Kevin

 

Development of an Idea: From Conference, to Camp, to Classroom

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I’ve been doing very little other than reflecting on our current science-based Game Design Unit now underway. But it occurred to me the other day how far back this idea of how to use game design in my writing classroom began to ferment. It all began with the National Writing Project, and a session that I attended at the 2010 NWP Annual Meeting on gaming. There, we learned about the philosophical underpinning of game design theory and how those concepts can intersect with learning. We played games; we made games; we talked games.

I came away from that annual meeting, thinking: this is important.

But I had no idea where to begin. Then, I realized that the youth summer camp program that our Western Massachusetts Writing Project runs would be a perfect incubator for ideas, and with the help of my WMWP colleague, Tina, we launched a very successful and interesting summer camp program for about 15 game-playing boys, using Gamestar Mechanic and Scratch and some other programs for a week-long adventure into somewhat unknown territory for both Tina and I.

I saw enough of what was going on in that small group to think: this has real potential for my classroom.

But I vacillated towards the end of the summer: should I consider offering an after-school gaming program? Or should I bring the video game design ideas into all four of my sixth grade classroom? Was I ready for that? I even emailed my principal, asking if I could get permission to run a for-profit after-school gaming program. He supported the idea. Then, I had second thoughts. Who would come to that program? A select few hard-core gamers. I always complain that some of the most innovative ideas seem to be happening only outside of school. Who did I want to reach? All of my students. I want them all to be engaged. I decided against the after-school idea.

That’s when the National STEM Video Game Challenge came back onto my radar screen, and I realized that a collaboration between my science teacher colleague and myself might lead to something interesting: science-based video game designs that might have the potential for national recognition. That’s where we are right now: in the midst of game development, and it’s hectic, crazy, fun, interesting and exciting to be in my classroom every single day. There are challenges, and collaborations, and technical hurdles, and writing going on. It’s an amazing amount of learning.

And so, this path that began at the conference with the National Writing Project, and emerged in our Western Massachusetts Writing Project youth camp, is now flowering in my classroom for my 75 sixth graders. Sometimes, journeys begin like that, and that is the potential power of conferences to lead to change in the classroom (I say, somewhat sadly, because the defunding of the National Writing Project means no more conferences like that, for me).

Peace (in the reflection),
Kevin