Blogging with Summer Institute 2008

Good morning and a very happy Tuesday to all you writers ready to rock the house!

Writing into the Day:

Let’s try something a little different today: Image Explosion

Here’s the poem we will work with:

Billy Collins

Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.
A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,
And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,
I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,
Then Baxter and Calabro,
Davis and Eberling, names falling into place
As droplets fell through the dark.
Names printed on the ceiling of the night.
Names slipping around a watery bend.
Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.
In the morning, I walked out barefoot
Among thousands of flowers
Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,
And each had a name –
Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal
Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins.
Names written in the air
And stitched into the cloth of the day.
A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.
Monogram on a torn shirt,
I see you spelled out on storefront windows
And on the bright unfurled awnings of this city.
I say the syllables as I turn a corner –
Kelly and Lee,
Medina, Nardella, and O’Connor.
When I peer into the woods,
I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden
As in a puzzle concocted for children.
Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash,
Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and Upton,
Secrets in the boughs of an ancient maple.
Names written in the pale sky.
Names rising in the updraft amid buildings.
Names silent in stone
Or cried out behind a door.
Names blown over the earth and out to sea.
In the evening — weakening light, the last swallows.
A boy on a lake lifts his oars.
A woman by a window puts a match to a candle,
And the names are outlined on the rose clouds –
Vanacore and Wallace,
(let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound)
Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z.
Names etched on the head of a pin.
One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.
A blue name needled into the skin.
Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,
The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.
Alphabet of names in a green field.
Names in the small tracks of birds.
Names lifted from a hat
Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.
Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.
So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.

1. Leader reads through the poem slowly

2. Another voice reads poem a second time and each person selects a phrase/line to write from

3, That phrase can begin your writing poem or prose piece you will create for the next 15 minutes.

4. The leader will read the poem again, slowly. When she gets to your line jump in and add your writing.

5. We have created a community poem.

DOWN THE TECHNOLOGY LANE…

DD: Jose Gonzales

Log:

7.14.08

I. Introduction

The context for this inquiry: What I have observed of various HVWP days.

II. HVWP structures (to provide us with an overall understanding of what happens)

1. Breakfast and slideshow
   1. Egg bake care of Terri.  A delicious savory complement to Gina’s contribution.
   2. Some crazy concoction that is already sweet but comes with syrup. I don’t ask—I taste.  Thanks, Gina.
2. Morning Write (“Make a map of the earliest neighborhood you can remember…Now tell us a story from your map.”)
   1. “Busting my behind learning to roller skate…God forbid you got into a fight with one—you would have to fight them all.” Paulette
   2. “We said hello to our bouncers… We were never quite sure what he was screaming as it was always a different language than ours.” Gina
3.  DD, Logs and Reflections
4. TIW (Barbara asks us to consider how we teach the reading and writing of expository (=informational = nonfiction) texts in our classrooms. 
   1. Brainstorm text structures and view models
   2. Engage in constructing/writing a collective biography
   3. View thematic biographies created by students
   4. Consider how knowledge of text structures may impact student writing and how this enhances/supports/changes how we teach expository text
5. Books Groups (DISPERSE!)
6. Lunch
   1. I went on a nice walk through New Paltz.  I talked to my mom for a while.  My grandma is home from the hospital and her sister is visiting (yay!).  Matt and I decided to have grilled fish and fresh salad for dinner tonight, so it looks like I am stopping at Adams on the way home.
   2. The Bakery is busy.  I order a quick salad and leave.  I see Denise Maltese on the street and we have a stop and chat (but not one of those, “Oh God, now I have to talk to someone I don’t like about his or her life, which I really don’t care about”).  She is excited to close up the Building a Writing Practice course and looks forward to visiting us to discuss the article we will read for Wednesday.
7. Tech time (Despite varying levels of experience and confidence, this SI has incredibly competent people!  Don’t let them fool you…They are blogging posting away.  At this moment-3:02-14 people have posted on the e-Anthology.  Congratulations and welcome to the 21^st century version of the writer’s workshop!)

III. Construct a tech history and post it on the blog.

1.  
   1. “My TechLife? I typed in college on a typewriter.”
   2. “I remember DOS and continual crashes and total confusion all the time — but boy, was it better than a typewriter.”
   3. “I would like to know more about using the Smartboard, and digital stories with the kids.”
   4. “1986    Oregon Trail.”
   5. “I’m a bit of a tech dork.”
   6. “Yes… I remember those first experiences formally learning about computers and cringe.”
   7. “I couldn’t tell you what I found so confusing at the time, but I think I’ve come pretty far since then.”
   8. “For thirty years I worked as a designer of computers, using the computer to make computers.”
   9. “The guy who ran the course assumed that we knew how to turn the computer on. I didn’t.”
   10. “My most fun on the computer is finding reviews about my son’s band, the Felice Brothers when he is on road trips. He says, “Mom, read a book or get a hobby” if I tell him what I’ve learned.”
   11. “While it is a web full of information–I also find it to be a “web” that is hard to get out of.”
   12. “From here, I would like to do more graphic and digital works as well as to become familiar with blogs, websites and webinar post sites.”
   13. “I am completely psyched for all this. Now all I need is the time, and keeping my techno fears at bay.”

IV. Breakdown- Mary invites us to talk about the tech interactions of the day.  She tells us about the accidental air scheduled for tomorrow (happy accident, ala Bob Ross) and Staci’s visit on Wednesday, asking us to brainstorm:

1.      What critical issue in your school or classroom (or education in general) isn’t receiving the attention it needs? What problem or issue seems unresolved?

2.      What problem or predicament seems to stop or silence you as a teacher?

V. Release- We leave reflecting upon how we support student reading and writing of informational texts, our advances in using technology, and the real world issues we face in our schools.