Kevin’s Meandering Mind

In New York City for the National Writing Project, I had the pleasure of co-leading a session that centered on encouraging teacher leadership and developing strategies for encouraging teachers to become more active in programs via the NWP and also showing some ways that current leaders can facilitate that growth and development. It’s not easy and we began our session by having folks come up with some inquiry questions — the ideas that brought them to the session in the first place.

(Note: TC = teacher consultants = teachers in the writing project)

Here is that list:

• How can I motivate/inspire overworked teachers to jump at the chance to be writers?
• How do we draw too-busy TCs into leadership?
• Are there “good reasons” to attract “teachers” – not just leaders – and if so, what are those reasons?
• What are different ways leadership can “look”?
• How do we keep others wanting to lead?
• How can TC leaders help us build participation in initiatives they lead?
• How do we open closed ears?
• What strategies can address burnout?
• What timeline should we pursue?
• How can we encourage those who won’t take risks?
• As the site grows, and the responsibilities of various positions grow, how do you figure out what positions to pay and how much is reasonable?
• What are the issues of teacher leadership from the perspective of school districts?
• How does a relatively new or developing site develop leadership capacity without “burning out” existing leadership?
• What are some incentives to encouraging TCs to take on leadership roles.
• How do we give up responsibilities that we do because no one else can do them?
• Why are people so afraid to step up to the plate?
• How can I keep the work I want to do and share the work others want to/should do?
• How do we groom leaders – allowing for “messy maturation” process and respecting the growth – without micromanaging or having crash and burns?
• Finding venues for TCs to grow?
• How do you get people to follow through on promises made?
• How can we sustain our current leadership – keep them from taking on too much responsibility or burning out?
• What resources are necessary for growing teacher leaders?
• What are the qualities of a good leader in the Writing Project? A good potential leader?
• How can we turn “leadership” into an opportunity instead of a burden?
• What carrots do you give? Long term and short term. What mentoring do you provide?
• How can we move from beyond sustaining our site and create systems for growth?
• Are there approaches that you have used at your site that have increased involvement of TCs after they have participated in the Summer Institute. (Our TCs are willing but time is such an issue)
• How do you find your voice among a strong leadership team that has defined its own?
• How can we empower TCs and share leadership and ownership?

[slideshare id=177099&doc=t-cs-leadership-and-sustainability-1195830581422589-5&w=425]

Peace (in inquiry),
Kevin

The Western Massachusetts Writing Project is hosting its annual Best Practices this coming weekend, which not only allows our folks from the Summer Institute to shine as workshop presenters but also showcases much of the work that the organization is doing.

I am giving a workshop presentation on podcasting and my hope is to post some of the audio we record at this blog and at our WMWP Newsletter blog. We also have a great local writer — Leslea Newman, author of many books for kids and adults — who will be leading a writing event for all of the day’s participants.

Here are a few of the other workshops on tap for that day:

• Why Write in Math? Communicating the Metacognitive Process of Problem Solving.
• Thinking and Rethinking Strategies for Working with English Language Learners.
• Thoughts in the Looking Glass: Reflective Writing in the Classroom.
• Writing Portfolios: Helping Students to See Themselves as Writers
• Assessment in Backwards Design
• Walking Tall: Autobiographical Writing

Looks pretty interesting, doesn’t it?

Peace (in the gathering),
Kevin

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post. Using some pics, I created a little slideshow movie for folks who attended the Professional Writing Institute this past weekend. I also used my SuperDuperMusicLooper program to make some music for the movie, as I continue to check out the possibilities and limitations of that program.

Peace (on the Long Island Sound),
Kevin

I got back yesterday, late afternoon, after three days by the Connecticut oceanside as part of a Professional Writing Retreat and it was just a fantastic experience. The house that the dozen or so of us stayed in was right on the water and the view across Long Island Sound was splendid (if a bit hot).

The retreat provided me with valuable to time to work on the first draft of my chapter for a book about technology and writing. I am focusing on a digital science book project, and although there were struggles along the way (aren’t there always?), I feel as if I made real and substantial progress. I know I need to add some more about assessment and standards, and go through a do quite a bit of trimming to what I wrote (11 pages), but I feel as if it is on the right path.

See — I really was working hard!

As part of my role as co-editor of our WMWP Online Newsletter, I also interviewed other retreat participants about what they were writing about and how the writing process was working for them, and then created a podcast of the interviews.

The topics under development for articles ranged from examining personal beliefs about teaching, ways for administrators and teachers to share leadership opportunities, the development of an after-school writing program in an urban city where kids are starved for creative writing, the ecology of a classroom and the impact on student motivation, and the use of technology to inform student writing skills.

Listen to the podcast

Peace (by the ocean),
Kevin

I have written before about a book I am co-editing that profiles teachers from k-college as they begin to study, think about and explain how technology is slowly changing the way they teach writing and the way their students are writing. We are focusing in on how teachers are assessing such tech-flavored writing in light of state and national standards, too.

And I need to write my chapter on the digital science book project that my students worked on this past spring, so this weekend — thanks to Western Mass Writing Project and National Writing Project — I am heading to the beaches of Connecticut for a writing retreat for other teachers in our network who want to write for professional publication and I hope to get much of my chapter written. Ambitious? Yes, but much of the chapter is unfolding in my head during the days when I am not writing. I just need to capture it.

I am looking forward to a Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon writing-and-nothing-but-writing (except for some walks along the beach and a few beers at night) getaway.

On a related note, I was rummaging through my computer and stumbled upon this old PP show that I did in my Summer Institute for the Western Massachusetts Writing Project about the uses of picture books in the upper elementary classroom. This was a research question that I pursued that summer and then presented to the rest of the SI folks. Some of the information is still helpful as I think about my chapter.

So I uploaded it to Slideshare for more sharing.

[slideshare id=61693&doc=the-power-of-picture-books2418&w=425]

Peace (in pictures),
Kevin

As our Massachusetts Writing Project moves further into the Edublogs network (via premium service), I have started to map out the various connections of our blogs so that we can think about how best to strengthen the ties between the various initiatives. Our hope is to have a vibrant web of activity among our various sites.

I turned to Bubbl.us to work on a concept map. It was fairly easy to use, although I wish I could have embedded it directly into this post. Instead, I have to provide a link (via this picture) and let you wander through the sites yourself. The map includes individual links to various blogs in our network.

Peace (in networks),
Kevin

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my work with the Western Massachusetts Writing Project and our intent to use blogs more frequently. So far this year, through a generous grant from the National Writing Project, I have worked with almost 30 teachers and WMWP leaders to create their own blogs within Edublogs as a way to understand the potential and tinker with podcasting.

The second phase of that project is to establish a network of blog sites through our entire Massachusetts Writing Project network and we decided to contract with James Farmer and use his new Edublogs Premium account that allows us to create and administer our network, with James doing all the maintenance and upgrade work (Thanks, James!). Plus, everything will fall under the url/banner of a common MassWP web address.

In the past, we have used the Manila platform made available by the National Writing Project and we certainly appreciated the no-cost element to the blogs, but they just never caught on with our teachers, mostly due to the complexity of the platform. I used to see eyes rolling on the back of heads when I gave workshops. I am hopeful that Edublogs/Wordpress will be easier to use (it is) and more likely to become part of our network.

Our hope is that over time, a MWP/WMWP network of interconnected blogs begin to form and that first phase is the concept of online newsletters with rss feeds pulled together. We hope the blogs are not only for individual teachers, but also for the various programs within WMWP and MWP — such as Project Outreach, the Reading Initiative, and the English Language Learners network.

Here are some of the blogs I have established in the past month:

• The Massachusetts Writing Project Weblog
• A new home for the Western Massachusetts Writing Project Online Newsletter
• The WMWP English Language Learners Network Site
• My Weblog/Podcast Workshop page
• A site for the Summer Institute 2007 (which will be closed to the public)

So far, so good.

Peace (with shifting platforms),
Kevin

My big blogging project — Making Connections — is coming to a close and students and teachers are doing some reflecting on the experience. We had more than 200 middle school students from six different schools (targeted at rural and urban schools that are struggling) working on a variety of blogs. One wing did poetry, memoir writing, and friendly letters, while another wing (which I was part of) did shared science experiences and data collection and science-based fictional stories. The Making Connections project is funded through the National Writing Project.

Here are some student reflections:

“I like this weblog project. I like it because you got to communicate with other students. I liked doing all of the work for the blog. It was fun reading and responding to some work from students from other schools. Weblogging in school is very fun. I learned many things doing this project. I learned different kinds of ELA writings such as I poems. I learned how to use constructive criticism. I learned how to write better in the Blog project. I learned how to respond better to other students. I learned personal thing about my friends and classmates. I have learned a lot doing this Weblogging Writing Project.” – Mike

“I liked this project. I liked it because you can express yourself without getting bullied. Kids could write from the heart. So they could write without pressure on your back. By my calculations 90% of students in 99% of schools are not the way they make themselves seem to be. They could be really smart, but not want to show it because of popularity. I learned how to express myself. I was able to write about Megan without feeling mad or sad. I learned how to be a polite critic. I learned to say nice things about others.” — Rose

“I really liked this project. The best part of this project was when we got to write our different stories. Also another good part of this project was being able to use this to talk to some of your friends you don’t really talk too. It was a pretty fun project overall. This was one of the best projects I have ever done or been a part of. I learned how to read a little more carefully. I mean like being able to find any mistakes in the poems and if they had creativity or not. Also I learned that you can have fun with writing poems and stories. I also learned how to be a lot nicer to people than i used to be. I learned how to listen a lot better too.” – Nick

“I liked this project because I got to learn a lot of different things about computers. I also enjoyed the fact that I got to leave the classroom every now and then. Since we got to use the computers it made writing more fun for me. I liked this project because I got to talk to different people in different schools and grades. I learned a few things from this blogging project. One of the things I learned is to elaborate on certain topics. I also learned that are mean seventh graders who don’t answer the letters we wrote to them. This blogging project helped me to use better grammar, kind of. I learned how to give constructive criticism. Which was very helpful. That is some of the things I learned using this blogging project.” – Emily

“The project, Making Connections, lasted for months through the school year. I liked this project for many reasons. One was that it used technology and a different way of a school writing project in a good way. Another thing that I liked was that the writers got to use feeling into their writing and most of the writing entries were very good. Finally, another reason why I liked this writing project was that you got to interact with many schools in this area. They were also very creative writers and had similar and different opinions as I do. This is why I liked this project. I also have learned many things while using this blog. I learned how to use constructive tips and not hurtful ones. I have also learned that many writers feel the same way I do in some topics. I have also learned about many writing assignments and how to improve them. This is what I have learned from this project. “ — Jim

Here are some teacher reflections from a few who were new to the project this year and had no technology experiences prior to Making Connections:

“I have definitely furthered my technological knowledge through this project. I originally thought I would have some difficulty with the technology aspect, but was relieved to discover that it was relatively easy. I have learned a lot about blogging and how to connect writing and technology. I feel more confident with computer technology as a result of this project. I think my students have learned a great deal as well. They have learned how to blog appropriately and meaningfully, and they have gained technological skills. I think they also learned a lot just from reading about the personal experiences of older students involved in the project. Finally, they learned how to give both positive feedback and constructive criticism in their responses to posts.” – Paula, Chicopee.

“I felt it was very important in the beginning of this project to get together as a group. We were able set timelines and goals for ourselves and the group, which was very important and helpful for me as a way of keeping focused and on track. However, sometimes time limitations and trying to work around so many peoples’ schedules made this difficult. One of the most productive professional development sessions happened during a scheduled leave day from school. This was an opportunity for us to spend a good amount of time together and actually utilize the computers and learn by doing, not just listening. . One of the easiest parts of the project was having each student post their own introduction. Students love using the computers. I think many students find writing on the computer easier than writing on paper and so we’re more willing to write and share more about themselves or respond to others. We have a mobile computer lab so each student is able to have his own computer. The only problem at times is access to the computer cart. Our school only had one cart at the time of this project and many teachers use this cart. It can be frustrating to know that you have a deadline and then not have access to the computers in order to meet this.” – Lisa, Southampton.

“I think the biggest goal that I had this year was to incorporate technology into the lesson modeling that I needed to do as an ELA coach. I was also concerned in the beginning as to the benefits of this project in terms of being a more effective way of writing than traditional. The students responded in a very positive manner to this project and I think that blogging made them forget their sometimes negative feelings about writing.” – Michelle, Chicopee

Peace (in reflection),
Kevin

My sixth graders are nearing completion of a book project in which they used MS PowerPoint to create and publish their own fictional Science Journey Stories as a picture book format. Their intended audience (we start sharing our books tomorrow at our school) was other students in grades first through fourth, and I have been presenting mini-lessons on some deeper aspects of PP to give them some ideas on how to use the tech to create a different kind of book.

They are also publishing their books to our Making Connections Science Weblog, which is a much larger project in which my students and other middle school-age students from three other schools in Western Massachusetts have been doing shared science experiments, posting scientific abstracts and now publishing science-based fictional stories.

Meanwhile, I am also planning to write about this science picture book project for as a chapter for a book on technology and the classroom that I am helping to edit with two esteemed college professors. As a result, I have been having my students reflect on how using the computer has been altering their composition process, and how their books will be different once I print them out on paper. I’ll share some of those observations at a later date.

Anyway, here are a few of the books:

Journey into the Cell

Mr. Beebo

Adventure of a Cell

Water, Water Everywhere

The Adventure of Mel the Cell

Inside a Cell

Elmo and Dorothy Explore the Cell

Rudolph the Rappin’ Raindrop

Peace (in pictures),

Kevin

My wife and I are trying something new this year — we are working together to offer two week-long Claymation Summer Camps for kids at her vocational high school. This is a new partnership between our Western Massachusetts Writing Project and her high school, and it is exciting. I stole this idea from my good friend, Tonya (she will recognize some of the information on our flier, as it comes from her flier).

Right now, I am in the midst of a claymation project with my sixth graders (in collaboration with second graders) and we will start filming any day now.

Here is a little movie I made for my Collaborative ABC Movie Project that shows some of the kids making their little clay creations. Some of them are very interesting and remain works in progress (I mean, clay creatures here, but I suppose I could be talking about my students, too).

I am sharing this via TeacherTube, which now allows for embedding into Edublogs, which is very cool and a great alternative to YouTube and Google Vid.

Download:Letter C - Powered by TeacherTube.com

Peace (with squishy parts),
Kevin