A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

I’ve done less work, or perhaps better to say, different work, this year. Less writing and presenting. More being with friends and sharing meals. (Fast Company suggests that in-person socializing should be a mandatory item on your to-do list.) Less “techy” projects with students, more research alongside them.  More productive messes in the kitchen with students. Less blogging, more hiking. These are every day sorts of choices, and it’s difficult to evaluate them until looking back over a period of time. I was surprised at how apparent they were as I was assembling this year’s Year in Pictures. It’s a different way to reflect on the year and getting a printed copy of the book eases my anxiety about all my pictures residing on tiny chips inside my phone and computer

It was a year of taking different sorts of risks, and I’m ok with that.

Click on the image to view the book. I used Lulu to put it together and Issuu for the online display.

Spammy Goodness

Sometimes spam is just too good to consign to the trash. I recently received this comment on the About page of my blog.

My husband and i felt very ecstatic Peter managed to deal with his survey out of the precious recommendations he came across through your web pages. It’s not at all simplistic to just possibly be giving freely solutions that some others have been selling. We really take into account we’ve got the website owner to appreciate because of that. The entire explanations you’ve made, the simple site menu, the relationships you can help promote – it is mostly superb, and it’s aiding our son and the family understand that idea is exciting, which is certainly truly indispensable. Thank you for all the pieces!

I hope Peter and his survey are well, whenever he is, despite his mother’s description of my blog as only mostly superb

Disciplines

In response to a recent post, a former colleague wrote the following. Rather than just respond via email, I thought I’d post his thoughts (with his permission) and my response here.

One line especially piqued my interest –

I’m not ready to argue for the elimination of discipline-specific teaching, but I do think that the “real world” doesn’t divide neatly down discipline-specific lines.

… I wonder what you see as the advantages to discipline-specific teaching… In my experience, whenever I tried bringing math into history class, I got the oddest reaction, as if students were saying “I don’t use that part of my brain in history class — what are you doing? No fair!”

It seems to me that — sticking with middle school here for a moment — if we are saying all students need to know math and science and English and history and a world language and arts and PE to graduate middle school, shouldn’t we require that all adults in the building (who have all presumably graduated middle school) be able to do the things that we require of all 8th graders?

This seems like an important question I need to think about — and I’m wondering why you see value in having the “social studies” teacher label, rather than the English teacher label. And when you teach about the environment, for example, aren’t you becoming a “science” teacher?

I get that your graduate work prepares you for teaching humanities more than it does for math/science, but if pressed, I’m betting you could learn about and teach any math or science lesson in middle school (in high school, I tend to agree with you — there’s more value in discipline specific knowledge).

I think that there is a difference between being able to do things and loving them. The value for me doesn’t come in the label of being a social studies teacher, but in loving and feeling confident in what I teach. Feeling confident doesn’t mean imagining myself the expert by any means, but it does mean having a framework of knowledge for a given topic above the level at which I teach.

I love teaching, period. But having had the experience of teaching third grade (math, language arts, social studies), fifth grade US History, sixth grade history and language arts, seventh grade World History, and eighth and eleventh grade US history, I believe that I am a more engaged, happy, challenging teacher when I love both the content and teaching. I could teach a lesson with heavy math or science content, but I’m less interested in that way of thinking about the world.

This all comes with the very strong caveat that I don’t believe that teachers should close their doors and should instead actively seek out opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues. Better to see teachers teaching what they love and working together.

I would push you to articulate why you think discipline-specific knowledge is more valuable at the upper school level. That seems to short-change middle school students. I would suggest that even at the lower school level students benefit from teachers who have the time and interest to be, not just competent, but scholars of what they teach. If anything, upper school strikes me as the very place for inquiry-based and interdisciplinary learning.

Hacked!

One of my favorite parts of NCTE so far wasn’t a scheduled session. It was an ad-hoc National Writing Project sponsored hackjam (not to be confused with Spacejam). Organized by the incomparable Andrea Zellner, the hackjam gave 20 or so folks the opportunity to muck around on the web. Using Mozilla’s FireFox browser and a toolbar button from the hackasaurus site to modify websites by changing the HTML code for the site.

I think Paul and Andrea were pretending to type

I took the opportunity to “hack” the NY Times webpage to date it a day forward in tribute to my favorite 90′s TV show, Early Edition, and to replace some of the ads with Buy Nothing Day logos. With so many people on the Corner Bakery wi-fi we were draining it, so instead of tweeting out a pic from my page, I took a pic and tweeted it out.

On one level, it was a futile activity. Other than a screenshots we took, there was no evidence of our work. Using hackasaurus doesn’t actually modify the website, but just the way it displays in your browser. It’d be easy to say, “That sounds fun, but what’s the point?” For me, mucking around in the HTML was like making bread from scratch or changing a tire. They’re activities in which I want to engage as an act of understanding and joy, not necessarily of utility or efficiency. I think for ourselves and our students understanding the means of production are important, so that we can be responsible and thoughtful teachers, students, and humans.

Evidence of Struggle

Yesterday, Jim Burke began his presentation at NCTE with this slide.

I thought- Thanks, Jim. That’s exactly what I need, more pressure when it comes to writing. If writing is a public performance of my intelligence, then what does it say for all the times that the page is filled with garbage, or even worse, blank? 

It didn’t matter that Jim then followed that slide with a hilarious story about burning his own poems in his backyard when he was in high school or acknowledging that we are always at risk of feeling stupid when we’re writing. I still had that first slide burned into my head.

But then Jim said, “If the page is blank, that’s evidence of struggle.”

Evidence of struggle. Not evidence of stupidity. Not evidence of failure. It was such a useful characterization for me. I’ve always heard the blank page characterized as a place possibility and opportunity. But the idea of the blank page as a place of struggle seems to helpfully reinforce the idea that the work of writing starts even before the pencil hits the page or the fingers hit the keys.

For the writing to happen, there do eventually have to be words on the page if the writer is to win the struggle, and so I was also grateful for Penny Kittle’s reminder of Tom Romano’s entreaty to, “Write in faith and fearlessness.”

Honoring the Writing Journey- NCTE 2011

Looking forward to our presentation tomorrow at NCTE. Below is the info for the session and my slides. Click on the title of other panelists presentations for more info.

Handout with presenter contact info and links

Session: I.22 – 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm 11/19/2011 Format: Panel
Room: Chicago Hilton/Waldorf Room, Third Floor Topic: Writing

Title: HONORING THE WRITING JOURNEY: STRATEGIES FOR FOCUSING ON PROCESS, REVISION, AND PRACTICE
It’s easy to affirm that students should receive feedback during the writing process in addition to a final grade. But how do busy teachers make this a reality? We’ll explore ways to offer feedback and engaging opportunities for student revision and reflection throughout the writing process while still keeping your sanity.

Presenter: Jennifer Ansbach, Manchester Township High School, Manchester, New Jersey , ‘We’re Going to Do What?!: Novel-Writing in the Secondary Classroom‘

Russ Goerend, Waukee Middle School, Iowa , ‘Write Strong: Strengthening Composition through Practice‘

MaryBeth Short, Cary Academy, North Carolina , ‘Are We Going to Be Graded on This?: Assessing the Process‘

Meredith Stewart, Cary Academy, North Carolina , ‘A Home on the Web: Creating E-Portfolios’
See below for slides and click link for article about portfolios

This Is the Middle

This is the middle.
Things have had tome to get complicated,
messy, really. Nothing is simple anymore.

From “Aristotle” by Billy Collins

NCTE this year has been an interesting experience for me so far. Because I’m not teaching any English classes this year, so on one level, it might seem strange that I’m here at all. But I’m grateful for the chance to present with a Language Arts colleague from last year and to connect with old and new (at least in-person) friends.

Perhaps it’s my new position description as a history teacher than led to my frustration with some of the “teachers in subjects other than English don’t like/aren’t good at teaching writing within their disciplines” vibe I got in one of the morning sessions. I’m certainly aware that is the case for some, maybe many, of non-English teachers, but it rubbed me a bit the wrong way. I’m also thinking more about the idea of discipline-specific teaching responsibilities. I wonder if sometimes keeping disciplines in their place is more about convenience and comfort for adults than benefit for students. I’m not ready to argue for the elimination of discipline-specific teaching, but I do think that the “real world” doesn’t divide neatly down discipline-specific lines. Why not help prepare our students for that world by modeling it better in schools?

I’ll admit I have a thing for the acerbically witty professor-type, so Billy Collins is just my cup of tea. Hearing him read at the Middle Level Luncheon and getting to meet him afterward was the highlight of the day so far. What I love about Collins is the way his poetry sneaks up on you, they way it turns on a dime from funny to pensive.

I was sad to miss Gary and LeeAnn’s session, which was totally packed out, but happy that I decided to wander down to the exhibit hall and ran into Alan Sitomer signing copies of his new book, The Downside of Being Up. Think Judy Blume but for the male set.

I expect there’s more good stuff to come in the next couple days. I’m super-excited about a session on Open Ed Resources that Paul and Antero et al are doing Saturday morning, and I’m looking forward to sharing about our sixth grade students’ ePortfolios. Jim Burke, Alan Sitomer, and Jeff Wilhelm’s session is always a riot, a thoughtful riot, of course, and I’m glad it’ll be capping off the conference for me. Seems a proper way to go out.

Reflecting on the Fly

It’s been almost a month since I’ve blogged. One of the frustrations of this year is that I’ve felt that I’ve had so little time to reflect. Reflection is one of those activities whose absence one doesn’t necessarily feel immediately. It’s like sliding by on too little sleep; you can do it for a bit, but soon you start to feel it’s absence. Here are a few ways I’ve found time for reflection even in the midst of the chaos.

Turn your planner into a reflection journal 
I’ve never been one to write detailed lesson plans (and I’m grateful I’m not required to), but I do tend to sketch them out in my planner. In the 5 minutes before the beginning of a faculty meeting or while waiting for an oil change, I’ll pull out my planner and jot quick notes to myself- This worked well overall, but didn’t engage quieter students or Need more time for brainstorming or Totally befuddled students. Scaffold better. These notes are invaluable in planning the next time around. Don’t feel guilty about making your reflections short; some reflection is better than none.

Don’t let being stuck without your preferred medium be an excuse
If you generally keep your notes electronically and you find yourself without your computer or tablet, scribble reflection on a napkin or a receipt. Later you can snap a pic of it with your phone and insert it into a document. If you’re without a pen or pencil, there are mobile apps like Evernote or the Notes app on your phone that are perfect for these kinds of quick notes.

Let your students reflect for you
They can’t do all the work, of course, but I’ve found that asking students to reflect on an assignment or project is useful in jogging my mind later. I often use a Google form for this purpose. It’s great for gathering quick feedback. Here is an example of a feedback form for a 7th grade medieval travelers documentary.

Put reflection on your to-do list
When you can schedule time for reflection, literally block it off on your calendar or put it on your to-do list. Making reflection a need-to, rather than a “gee, wouldn’t it be nice if I had time to,” makes it much more likely to happen. That’s the only way this post got written

Are there other ways that you’ve found to carve out space and time for reflection?

Dichotomy of Writing

Today’s the National Day of Writing. The National Writing Project is encouraging people to tweet the reasons they write with the hashtag #whyIwrite

Writing is strange in the sense that it has the potential to be both one of the most anxiety provoking and anxiety relieving actions for me. I think much of it is related to audience, which I both crave and abhor. When someone suggests that a group should write together, I have to breathe deeply to quell the urge to bolt from the room. As much as that kind of potential audience makes my heart pound, there are few things better than clicking send or publish and receiving the response, “Yes, I hear you. I have felt this, too” or “I wonder…”

P.S. If you’re looking for something to read on the subject of writing, I highly recommend Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. I love her voice and how real and honest her writing feels.

Writing for Publication with Students

Independent School magazine has just posted an article I wrote with two students in last year’s blended learning US history class as a Fall 2011 online feature. It’s entitled “Learning Differently- and Deeply: Reflections on a Blended Learning Class“.

Writing an article with students for publication was a challenging and rewarding process. We tried several different formats to arrive at something that felt like it honored all our voices and was clear to the reader. While a part of me feels like the piece might have been a bit more polished with only one author, I’m glad that I included students in the process. I strongly believe in the importance of student voice, and it is so often missing from professional publications. As a teacher, writing with students was another way to push myself to cede some control in the learning process.

The process of writing the article was a great way for students to begin to develop professional voices. The article shows up on the first page of a Google search for each of their names, which is a solid step toward a positive online presence. Throughout the class, all students spent time reflecting on what they’ve learned, but for the students who volunteered to help write the article, they had the opportunity to push that reflection even further.