It was a great last day for a great SI and this morning as our team read through the reflections and shared ideas for next summer we were all feeling the exhaustion and need for some relaxation, but what great memories and hopes to continue the community of SI08 on a new blog?  http://writeon08.ning.com/

Here just above us, Steve will create online copies of our SI Anthologies.  Hope visitors continue to stop by.

See you on Thursday, October 2, 2008

Bonnie

Writing into the Day: Letter to Self Chapter 2.

DD: Sue

Logger: Jose

Day Log for 7/30/08. By Jose Gomez

8:30
Mike graces us with bagels, munchkins, fruit salad and, ooh-la-la!, strawberry shortcake.
Katelin is busy writing on the board, titles of all our TIW’s
It is, believe it or not, our last full day at the New Paltz Campus!

8:35
Bonnie calls the room to order and announces that there has been a shift in plans (love it!)
Respectful of the reflecting mood in which we should all be now that our summer institute comes to a close, Bonnie asks us to write about the highlights of our TIW’s for us to discuss it in a Socratic seminar. She and Mary go over a kind of rubric to revisit and to rank a few of the TWIs from the perspective of how it
• Provides us with introductory and background information
• Describes and demonstrates the literacy practice
• Crafts real time aspects of the literacy experience
• Offers a rationale for the literacy practice

9:10 Barbara’s Digital documentation.

One picture of the duck cart (Barbara remembers having that very same duck at her Grandma’s?) and one picture of Lilah, posturing ( or, what is she doing?)

9:15 (A lot of things seem to happen in the next 10 minutes. Did I measure incorrectly?)

Katelin shares her log as a post card. It is beautifully crafted, creative. (By the way, does any one know where Katelin buys those oversized postcards? )
Swift aside: Steve shares his happiness about everybody doing what they had to do technology wise.
Cathy, and Lilah share with us our reflections about their TIW’s. Lilah tells us that many of us should improve our handwriting… (Sarah, Susan and I were discussing just that a few days ago. Someone has to bring back that Palmer method!)

9:25 Break

9:35 The Promised Socratic Seminar

Bonnie explains the rules and the focus of the seminar and for some reason expresses, rather eloquently, her views of what women did during Socrates times: “Stayed home cooking or whatever the hell they did then.”
We all speak. Mary starts, then Susan, Jose, Steve, Sarah, Marisol, Katelin, Mary…
And we share our thoughts about Kathy’s music, Marisol’s ELLs, Dianne’s tea party, Barbara’s recent modeling of some TIWs, Kathy’s delight at having all that input about her student work, Cathy’s advocacy and passion, Jose’s images of students working. Next, the exchange climbs up Bloom’s ladder and we discuss the experienced teacher as a facilitator, value of polishing activities, how one creates meaning in a collaborative way, the replication of student efforts, cross-grade adaptations, technology, research based pedagogy, theory, student-centered TIWs, inquiry and essential questions, need to create communities of learners, value of expository text structure, contrasts, conflict, intellectual sparks, coaching, interactive TIWs … (Did Socrates leave the room?…Need we say more?)

Yes!. Bonnie says she needs a bathroom break

10:30 Break…. We are asked to reconvene in the dim lit spaces where the future of pedagogy resides: the comp lab.

11:05 (was that a break or a happy half hour?)
Individual “clicking time” officially begins. To do: pick an article link in our edublog, read it and comment on it. Jose starts asking questions. Bonnie tells him to keep on task. Dianne tells Jose to keep a low profile. And we all click away….

12:15 Chow time

1:45 Individual comments and concerns about the e-articles we read and other in-depth stuff.

Paulette: Collaborative Problem Solving . Need to solve problem collectively in the Internet and join the “game” of technology, or strike out!
Katelin seems concerned about the Google article and attention spans.
Terri: what is the true technology balancing act?.
Gina: shorter attention span observed in K students from all the gaming experience.
Paulette: Use common sense- electronic devices when they are needed.
Katelin: how do we react to an adolescent saying: “you are removing me from a social network that did not exist when you grew up”
Mary: Not only the culture but their speech constructs are based on those games.
Steve: Teachers must somehow adapt to the culture or at least accept that is there.
Bonnie: If teachers ignore the evolving culture, the technology, students will feel ignored.
Jose: Don’t forget about the still-to-be-written book “Doing Mathematics to Learn Writing.”
Kathy: What is culture, today?
Bonnie: Globalization!
Mary: Multiple modes ?
Lilah and Dianne: New emphasis on reading speed. But where is retention, integration?
Mary: I am staying behind.
Sarah: Give her the broom!
Sarah: The Dominican Republic article would have been better as a visual presentation. It is awkward to ready it on paper. (Give her a tube!)
Gina: Can’t convince her grandmother to use the ATM machine
Lilah (gesticulating wildly): The world is just filled with stimuli!

2:40 Break

2:55 Book Reports. From the nontraditional to the more traditional:

“Raw materials for the Mind” by David F. Warlick. Steve gives a multimedia introduction. The team (Dianne, Susan, Sarah, Steve and Jose) shower us with a multitude of technology quotes, from the profane to the philosophical. Audience is asked to select one quote and pour discuss it. Cathy wants to explore MacLab. Wikispaces look like the (compulsory!) cool thing to do according to Katelin. Mike wants to get hooked on the Smart Board. We all agree this book is best used as a “how to” source.

“Radical Reflections” by Mem Fox. The Foxy Five team reports (Katelin, Mike, Lilah, Gina and Paulette). The books seems to be about good and not so good teaching practices. They make us follow a modified tea party format, break up in groups according to certain quotes and discuss them. They close the report with a two voice poem. What can I say but “that is FOXY.”

“Other People’s Children” by Lisa Delpit. The team (Barbara, Bonnie, Marisol and Terri) read excerpts from the book. It is all about accepting and embracing cultural diversity and language modalities in the classroom. “We’ll talk like them when we have to,” a voice tells us. Heritage, not title or position is the essence when returning to the family nest. Different places different identities: “I teach the way I was taught not the way I learned.” “I know my culture and that is how I teach.” A member of the team shares a personal anecdote about how she was victimized by racist behavior from a teacher. We experience the power of a personal story. Finally, we are asked to remember this book as “a kind of aspiring for a lack of self-awareness.” And we are given souvenir book markers!

“True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall” by Mark Salzman. As an introduction, the team (Mary, Cathy and Kathy) tells us why they were attracted to this book and we hear: I lacked empathy towards children with such experiences. Some of my students have been behind bars. My husband has been a PE teacher in a maximum security prison for many years.
The team reached the conclusion that our legal system is inept at treating this population that seems to march at its own beat. These children, most of them victimized by gangs, grow up without fathers but love and respect their mothers. We listen to some quotes. “There’s no North star for me,” everything being constantly moving and changing for this young man. Susan reads us a poem written by the same child, which she feels speaks of hope in what seems as a hopeless situation.

3:35 Day adjourns… tomorrow is graduation day!
To the Lab for writing! Make sure Steve gets copies of your work.

1. Letter of Advocacy

2. Conference Workshop Blurb

3. Short survey

4. REFLECTIONS

5. PROCESS PIECE

Send Advocacy letter, Process Piece, Workshop Blurb, and Reflections to me separately:

                                       blkdrama@mac.com

Off to Jose’s for our Celebratory Reading
July 31, 2008

Dear 2008 SI Fellows,

Thank you for an amazing month of July. Today is a day of evaluation and celebration, taking stock of what we have accomplished together.

Please write us a letter about your experience this summer. Please feel free to include your hopes for what you might like to do with HVWP and/or what you hope the HVWP might do for you. Please comment on the four main SI strands and special events. Don’t worry about the order of your letter. We will study the letters as we think, retool, learn, and plan next year’s Invitational Summer Institute.

Writing strand…writing groups, journal, equipment (journals/pens/computer access), author’s chair, publishing, e-anthology, blog, “Professional Writing”, anthology; “Personal Writing” anthology. Suggestions/wishes?

Recent research/reading strand …reading groups, community reading with authors, book selections, sharing out. Suggestions/wishes?

Teacher Inquiry Workshop strand …coaching, pre/post, partner, leadership, learning. Suggestions/wishes?

Tech Literacy strand
Creating and using blogs, E-Anthology, communal lab support, sharing tech resources on HVWP SI’08 blog, planning beyond the SI’08. Suggestions/wishes?

Specials…Opening Orientations (Part 1 and Part 2), Hudson Valley Scramble, Staci Swedeen’s process drama workshop and monologue presentation, Visitor’s Day luncheon, potlucks, food. Suggestions/wishes?

Next steps with HVWP… Please take time to write about your personal and professional next steps within HVWP: What particular programs have you heard about from past fellows and/or that are occurring across the network that interest you? For instance, would you like to present at a Saturday Seminar? Coach a peer? Join the ELL Tech Study Group? Participate in or help organize a personal or a professional Writing group? Attend the NWP conference in San Antonio or NYSEC in Albany? Young Writers Programs? ,Empire State Network?
Suggestions/Wishes?

Finally, if you wish to nominate a potential fellow for next year’s SI, please let us know. We trust your instincts.

Thanks,

Bonnie, Mary, Marisol, Diane, Steve, and Katelin

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
p.s. We will send you an email about our Thursday October 2th Conference with directions and an agenda. This is a day when we will take time to reconnect, write, and closely discuss some of our conscious, post-SI explorations. Please remind your administrators that they have agreed to this previously.

Writing into the Day: TIW Reflections This writing will lead us to a Socratic Seminar for TIW wisdom.

Let’s make a list of all our TIW Titles and then revisit the elements of a TIW.

It’s official everyone can take a TIW breath. We have all created a first draft. Now how can we move them to the next place? Let’s write about what stands out to us. What TIW’s seemed to hit the mark in the specific elements of the TIW?

Here’s the 2008 Handout:

TIW description: In the Summer Institute,

you will share a well honed literacy-based activity or lesson that you do with your students in an 80-minute Teacher Inquiry Workshop (TIW).  You will take us through the process you use with your students, allowing us first-hand experience in the learning and writing.  An important part of your workshop involves sharing select examples of student work–how your own students responded to the lesson — as a way to illustrate and study your teaching practice and the range of students with whom you work. All workshops include time for collegial interaction and discussion.

What do presenters do in a TIW?

Explain (origins of) a teaching practice that is important to your literacy instruction and worth sharing and studying with colleagues. Describe your school setting, your students, teaching, and literacy practices. This is the context for my work- where, why, and how I’m working and thinking about a teaching practice to address students’ literacy.

Describe and demonstrate this literacy practice and how it supports students’ learning.  Share selected samples of real student work … excellent and warty. This practice reflects my hypothesis of what I do to support students develop skills as readers, writers, speakers, and/or thinkers. The student work I brought is data that I have been collecting in my study.

Craft real-time aspects of this literacy experience so that seminar participants can do what your students do (read/write) and/or think deeply about what they notice in the students’ writing.  Carefully structured learning activities can help adults learn about teaching methods/strategies through experience and reflection.

Offer a rationale this literacy practice related to your beliefs about teaching and learning, any outside research(ers), and the interests of your students, parents, or administrators. This is how I see my work in a larger context. These texts I have read and am now reading inform my work.

Invite participants to think about, write, comment, and ask questions about the workshop experience and to imagine how/if the practice would work in another setting.  Participants can think with me about this literacy practice, their experience of it, its implications in other settings, and/or new directions or next steps.

* We identify teaching as an act of inquiry and teachers as learners.

DD: Barbara

Logger: Katelin

Dear Matt,
I know I have been gone for a while, but I still can’t believe that there is only one day left. Today was amazing and exhausting…we started our writing day by penning postcards to those we haven’t spoken to in a while (I figure with my hours you deserved a postcard!). Accompanied by classical Brazilian guitar (provided by Bonnie, of course), we set to work to reconnect and write for an truly authentic purpose. Mary even gave us stamps to avoid the follow-through problem.
We continued our day by exploring two very different worlds, classrooms, and groups of students:
Cathy voiced her desire for her usually marginalized high school students to have meaningful writing experiences that can offer them ways to both express themselves in more abstract terms while giving them the tools they need to move themselves across the line society imposes upon them. We examined curious objects (ooh…I wanted to take that duck home with me!) and discussed the work of two students after we engaged in the same writing activity. I was left considering the implications of this kind of literacy engagement for all students as depending on what happens in the future, many of them will traverse the line of marginalization more than one time. Cathy’s work is important and interesting. I am glad I am lucky enough to be here.
I can’t wait for the book presentations tomorrow. Bonnie’s bells are going to get a workout!
Lilah closed our afternoon as she navigated us through the world of young learners who are not a part of the “literacy club” (which I, by the way, totally want to join. Is there a local chapter?). Lilah moved us into her classroom (“I rode my bike yesterday. Oh, and then I ran to the park. I was so sweaty. I ran near the swing sets and the sun was sooooo hot!”) within the TIW (“One type of scaffolding I use is scribing where I literally write down what my students say.” It was really useful to be opened to the world of beginning writers, and I am still thinking about the common scaffolding I use in my high school classroom.
I am unsure what happened the rest of the day. I went to the lab to help Steve with the anthology (read: sat and watched him format like nobody’s business) but I made sure to turn Mary into my loan shark to ask for cash for the shirts. I can’t wait to see the design when I get home. Thanks again for doing it a second year (Do you have any ideas for next year yet? What? Too early?). I guess I will see you around 9:30 when you get in. Thanks again for tiding up yesterday; I promise to clean out the litter box when I get home. Thanks, thanks, thanks.

Love,
Katelin

TIW Reflections: Cathy W. and Lilah

Writing into the Day

In the spirit of the National Writing Project’s call for social and political activism and with our continued focus on writing and publishing to real audiences, let’s use this writing time to draft a letter to a political leader, an administrator or a colleague, sharing your experience here at the Summer Institute.

If you are a visitor, you probably know just how powerful letters can be. Parents and community members often use this genre to share their feelings about education with the local newpapers, so here is you chance to take time and write your own letter about something that you care deeply about.

We will write for about 20 minutes and take just a few shares, but don’t worry no one will call on you to read your work.

Digital Documenter: Terri

Logger: Sarah

Please note: The following does not purport to represent the views of the Hudson Valley Writing Project and should be viewed as a piece of creative writing.

Transcript: The NCLB Tapes
Clearance Level: Top Secret

Interview between Commissioner S.O. Wiley, NCLB Special Investigations Unit
and Agent S. Lang

Date: 7/22/08
Re: HVWP SI ‘08

SOW: So how’s the undercover going?

SL: Fine. They don’t suspect a thing. I’ve got my age and gender on my side, and those couple of months subbing in New Rochelle gave me totally authentic bags under my eyes.

SOW: Good, good. Now level with me, Lang. How bad is it up there?

SL: Well, sir, the word ‘subversive’ has come up a few times, and I guess you saw the test-bashing poster from the first week.

SOW: Yes, yes, troubling signs. Listen, tell me about yesterday while it’s fresh. There might be other things you’re missing – codes you’re not picking up on.

SL: OK, sir. Well, we began with breakfast.

SOW: Was there granola on the table?

SL: Yes, sir, there was. And fresh fruit.

SOW: Mmmm… typical fare for test-hating types.

SL: But also giant double chocolate chip muffins, coffee cake and caffeinated coffee.

SOW: They may be getting soft. Go on.

SL: There were reviews of the previous day, and then we wrote about baggage.

SOW: Baggage?

SL: Yes, sir. Like when you go on trips – things you forget, things you take that you don’t need, weird things.

SOW: Weird things? What kind of weird things?

SL: Well, one of the examples was a towel Mick Jagger wiped his forehead with.

SOW: Did this come from that Bonnie person?

SL: Yes, sir, that’s very perceptive of you, sir.

SOW: You’re still checking her blog on a daily basis, right, Lang?

SL: I’m trying to keep up, sir, but her output is huge.

SOW: She’s trouble, that one, she and her Mary ‘friend’. More like co-conspirators. OK, go on.

SL: Psychic baggage. “Wounds, betrayals…”

SOW: Bingo. They’re running a therapy group in that place. Make sure that goes into the weekly memo, Lang.

SL: Yes, sir. Would you like to hear some of the writing, sir?

SOW: Yes, yes I would.

SL: OK, well, Steve — Mr. Subversive himself – wrote about traveling in Africa and I quote: “Sunscreen and bugspray – Generally these were sprayed on together at one-hour intervals and when mixed with sweat formed a toxic chemical soup, a second skin that probably smelled pretty funky to the natives.”

Jose, the renegade artist? He said: “The baggage of the mind; do we shape it, move it, pack it, discard it; or does it shape us, move up, pack us, discard us? Baggage – what a tricky construct.”

And Barbara, the college prof? She said her 5 _ year old son has a toothbrush fetish.

SOW: That sounds suspicious. Check out the boy, Lang. See if he represents a danger to his first grade class.

SL: Yes, sir. Then there were two TIWs.

SOW: Pardon my French, but these people are worse than we are with the initials. TIW?

Sl: Teacher Inquiry Workshop, sir. First up was a lovely young woman named Gina, a kindergarten teacher in a bilingual transitional classroom.

SOW: See how they’re trying to infiltrate at lower and lower levels? And lovely? I assume you want that remark stricken from the record, Lang.

SI: Sorry for the lapse, sir. And I hate to disappoint you, sir, but her TIW seemed really on the level. First people wrote about their early experiences with writing and reading.

SOW: Ah, those were the days, my friend. (Sound of one hand slapping the other.) Did I ever tell you about having my hand whacked when I made a grammar or spelling mistake?

SL: (Clearing of throat.) Yes, sir.

SOW: Sorry, go on.

SL: Gina had us explore how phonemic awareness affects the development of a kindergarten writer. She broke us into groups and we rotated through four different centers that she uses to have her students practice phonetics. Then we looked at how her students did on a test –

SOW: yes!

SL: where they listened to a poem, then drew and wrote a response to it. It ended with us trying out a word review game Gina uses, called ‘I have, Who has’?

SOW: She’s clean. Next?

SL: We broke for reading groups and lunch. When we came back Kathy B, a first-grade teacher, led a workshop on how musical elements and music can be used to… let’s see, “enhance language skill development” and “motivate and inspire creative writing experiences in primary-age children”.

SOW: Music! Now we’re getting somewhere!

SL: Yes, there’s a decadent focus on the arts and creativity. Kathy took us through how she scaffolds with music and passed around a number of picture books based on songs. Then we closed our eyes, listened to two different pieces of music, drew pictures of where they took us and all the sensations we experienced there, then wrote about it.

SOW: This woman is a revolutionary!

SL: I have heard her muttering about testing, sir. But I have to say when we looked at her kids’ writing – it was solid. Those kids knew what they were doing.

SOW: Lang!! Are you going over to the dark side?

SL: I hope not, sir.

SOW: I won’t take that chance. Before you leave here today, I want you to have a session with the Mental Adjustment Unit. Understood?

SL: Yes, sir. Thank you for your time.

Nancy Mellin McCracken, Co-Director, Columbus Area WP, The Ohio State University:

Metacognition and Revision: Uncovering Tacit Writing Knowledge for Strategic Use in Revision

Writing into the Day:

How does it feel? How about taking some time to just reflect on your writing life at the Summer Institute,( a bit of a process writing). Feel free to include your Scramble experience.

Digital Documenter Mike

Logger from Wednesday: Mary
HVWP SI2008 Tratoria
Mercoledì, 16 di Juli 2008

Antipasti
Journal writing: We dig through our handbags and wallets for clues and discovered these characters:
.
“His calligraphy was just like him, deliberate, rigid, and complicated” (Catherine Wille, an old receipt)

“She had become good at the deception, tilting her head in a certain way, having her hand close to her ear to make it seem as though she was just leaning…” (Paulette Easterlin, cell phone traffic ticket)

“It was the final days of a long three semesters. All but one assignment was turned in. My final project, a Powerpoint presentation on developing vocabulary for ELLs was placed on my memory stick.” (Terri Colon, memory stick)

”I reach for the cortisone: My only temporary relief in this vicious war zone.” (Lilah Weiss, cortisone cream)

Insalate
Community Reading with special guest, Denise Maltese

We agree that we DO NOT want to teach writing so that it puts our students in a narrow tunnel. We DO want our students to perform well on state writing tests AND we want them to experience writing as an act of empowerment, voice, and even, dare we say, subversion. We raise concerns about the use of tests to control teachers: Who are we testing? Is it really the students? These tests show that teachers are not to be trusted.

Primi
Susan Olsen’s TIW: The Power of Poetry

We learn how poetry can “grab” even our most disaffected students, and how students’ natural talent in writing poetry can surprise them as much as us. Thank you, Susan, for a delicious poetry reading and writing experience! Kathy Berstell inspired us with her front yard/back yard poem:
The Field Trip

Follow the rules, play the game
No time for field trips cuz money is the name
Invest in the surface
Appearances count
The front yard is school board and budget costs mount

But think of returns
Why can’t we try this?
The backyard is freedom
Opportunities not to miss.

Overtime, insurance
Obstacles in the way
Who’s in charge? How’s and whys,
And who will pay?

I say,
Let’s open that back door
Bring some sunshine to the night
And let our XP student
Find experiential light

Secondi
Staci Sweeden treated us to theater community-building exercises and a process-drama (for developing our voices as teacher-advocates) in which we considered the role of the poverty in our schools and how the federal government might respond.

Staci (AKA “Karen Armstrong): Ma’am—we haven’t heard from you. What do you think about what you’ve heard today?

Terri: My name is Old Lady Terri and I can’t hear a blessed thing!

Dolci
We needed tiramisu, but we got better than that! We were treated to a 10-minute performance of her monologue, Pardon Me for Living

(Imagine Julie Andrews singing “It’s May! It’s May!)
It’s May, it’s May, and it is a beautiful day in Sleepy Hollow, the small village where I live on the Hudson River. The sun is out, and I really want to get some of that vitamin C or D or—I don’t know why I can’t remember vitamin names much less remember to take them…but I know there is some kind of vitamin in the sun and dammit, I want mine! …

Grazie Staci!
TIW Reflections:

Paulette’s TIW

Professional Piece is Due: Ugh…

Back in the Lab with Bonnie and Steve

Steve presents Wikis

Bonnie takes us back to edublogs, our blogs to make sense of  process pieces

Here’s a sample:

Mike’s Process Essay

Mike and his Monologue project

One day in April, just before spring break, Ms. Kaplan began class with a weird announcement. She let us know that there would be no formal final exam.  We cheered but I watched her and she had more to say.
I was right.  She had more to say.
Instead of a written final exam, we would work on a project, a monologue project.  What’s a monologue???
Ms. Kaplan kept smiling.  We weren’t.  She explained that we would write a monologue, present it to the class, and then write about the experience in an essay that would be due on the last day of school.  Ugh.  I began to wish we were going to take a final exam.
She read us a monologue written by a student from last year and then we began the project with a photo she offered each of us.  I got a  little boy on a scale wearing boxing gloves. What?  And I had to write as if I were this kid?  She was smiling again a demented smile.
I put my pen on the paper and nothing came out.  I held it there.  With Ms. Kaplan, I know if she sees me not using my pen, she will push me to write- the writing cop.  I stared at the kid and on my page I wrote the word “I remember.and then I just continued as the kid, as me.
Fifteen minutes later Ms. Kaplan called time and asked if anyone would like to share.  I didn’t want to but at least I had something on the paper.  I wasn’t totally sure about what a monologue was, but I was thinking about what I would wear if I used this writing as my monologue.
I was hoping to see more of her photo collection, to pick my own.  She told us we would be using photos often so we didn’t have to feel stuck with this first one.
This was just my beginning and I didn’t use this writing.  I never added another word to this start,.  In fact, I had lots of starts before I came up with my final topic.  I didn’t use any of the photos I wrote about.
I was actually out with my family on a picnic and I began to watch an ant crawl on the blanket and I wished that I had my journal.  I couldn’t believe that Ms. Kaplan was in my head at our picnic, smiling. “You should have taken your journal, just in case.”

Now to your blog and time to create a post there.  Let’s do this together.

Writing into the morning:

Part I: Mapmaking

Make a map of the earliest neighborhood you can remember.

Include as much detail as you can.

Who lived there? What were the secret places? Where were your friends? Where did the weird people live? Where were the off-limits places?…

Part 2: Map Story

Now tell us a story from your map. “One day back in Anchorage…”- and off you go, elaborating on your recollection that you and Ellie Totten used to throw frozen fish through garage windows.

Don’t edit yourself much; don’t try for anything finished.

“If nothing happens, it’s not a story.” Flannery O’Connor

(from Writing Life Stories, Bill Roorbach)

Here’s a few photo memories From our first week together:

Digital Documenter: Kathy B

Logger: Gina

The last day of our first week of the HVWP started off with Jose’s delicious frittata and cinnamon buns for breakfast. We quickly moved into our free write activity. After hearing a short excerpt from Sandra Cisnero’s House on Mango Street, we wrote about the history of our own names.
We listened as Barbara lovingly told us, not about her own name, but about her strong fiery little boy, Brian and of her grace from God, “Troublegail”, aka Abagail. Marisol shared her desire as a child to be just. plain. Mary.
From there we revisited the E-anthology site. We looked at some of the feedback on Bonnie and Steve’s work. Bonnie reminded us to use this short window of opportunity to get that important feedback from NWP’s trained eyes. Did everyone post this weekend?!
Next came Paulette’s turn to share her favorite digital moment, or shall we say her favorite shot from her day as a paparazzi? She chose a wonderful “behind the scenes” picture she had taken on one of her many spontaneous dashes between the classrooms.
Following Paulette, Terri read her recap of the previous days work.
Housekeeping: Katelin gently reminded us to recycle, we have enough cream cheese, and best of all we have printing privileges!
Steve then shared his reflections from his TIW. He thanked the class for the terrific letters and support.
After a short break Diane began her TIW focused on the reluctant learner. Later on we broke into our own chat rooms and discussed important points of the article she presented with fellow group members.
After another short break Kathleen Yeager joined us for the remainder of our morning. We focused on her article and broke into the Passing Notes and Talking Back activity. We all chose the paragraph that made the most impact on us and discussed this with our neighbor. We discussed the idea of a “fast” in the classroom. Mary commented that we need to give students a chance to sit on the steps and figure things out. Lilah summed up her feelings about the article in a quote from a recently listened to song – “You’re the freeway, I’m the country road. “
Our morning turned into afternoon as we met with our writing groups. Later that afternoon our very hungry bunch reconvened at our host Sarah’s lovely home for some good food and even better company.

In the Lab:

EAnthology: TIme to post and offer feedback.

Returning to the Homepage to share something of your Tech Life Autobiography: What was your first experience with computers? How far have you come? What do you feel good about? What would you love to learn?

Final Reflections:

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?

What problem or predicarment seems to stop or silence you as a teacher?

Shout out to my mom. She turned 90 this morning!

Writing into the Day:  The History of My Name

Reading: “My Name” from the House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros to begin

Digital Documenter Paulette

Shared with Flock – The Social Web Browser
http://flock.com

Log Terri:

SCENE I: At 8:30 our entire cast appears refreshed even after two days of shooting. Now all are preparing for another exciting day of writing and learning. There are bagels, juice and coffee, our usual fuel that will keep us going until lunch. Katelyn remembered the granola! That goes so much better with fruit and yogurt than summer squash and chives! Thank you for that! As Bonnie has inspired some to be more tech-savvy, Diane and Sarah begin clicking away at our morning prompt given by Mary. She tells us to “write about your first experience with writing”. When just as we begin….

CUT!!!!!

Jose reminds us that we already had that prompt. Take two! Mary then tells us to, “Write about your most painful writing experience instead!” Ritualistic apologies.

SCENE II: At 8:55 Mary reviewed Peter Elbow’s Book, “Writing Without Teachers”. She shares the basic premise of this book and how the author values the importance of focusing on the content of our writing then on its form in an effort of fostering creativity. Steve introduces his sister Kristen to us and she is graciously welcomed! Mary shares her favorite photo of Katelyn’s TIW, and honors her with well deserved accolades. The log of the day was very cleverly written in itinerary form my Barbara as “The Amazing Race to SI ‘08”. Katelyn thoughtfully reviewed her reflections and got all of her three questions answered! She plans to incorporate those shared ideas into her classroom next year! She comments on the reflections being “extraordinarily useful” and was very appreciative.

CUT TO BATHROOM BREAK SCENE!

SCENE III: Steve begins his TIW titled, “Multimedia Writing: Collaboration, Construction & Reflection.” The terms Media Literacy and Visual Literacy were reviewed prior to his performance. We worked in groups of four advertising teams to design and produce a print advertisement or public service announcement on various controversial topics. We shared the experience aloud, responded to a self-reflection prompt, partner-shared our thoughts, and previewed student reflections. This activity was challenging, engaging, appropriate and provocative. We then watched 6 minutes of the film he and his students worked feverishly to produce BY DEADLINE! The film “Becoming the Media” was a documentary born from the desire of students to learn more about what media is, how is it constructed and how in impacts our lives. The audience was captivated and wanted more. Steve received rave reviews and some offered comments about the process of making a slogan…

“It’s all in your presentation. It can establish viewpoints and opinions.” Paulette

“I thought about who you want to touch or affect”. “What difficult decisions companies who spend millions of dollars on advertising must make”. Gina

“With one or two words you ‘have’ to read it, with a picture,
if your eyes are open – you got it – it’s done! Katelyn

After a round of applause for Steve on an award-winning stellar performance we moved to writing letters of reflections for him to read and ponder over.

CUT TO BATHROOM BREAK SCENE!

SCENE IV: It’s 11:15 and the TIW Groups begin to address questions and concerns about the entire TIW process. The coaches did a fantastic job trying to reduce our anxiety. Then without a moment’s hesitation Paulette leaps from her seat to continue to snap her camera like the paparazzi, determined not to miss the most valuable shot!

CUT TO LUNCH BREAK SCENE!

SCENE V: At 1:40 the Book Groups meet to discuss all the chapters read…..or almost all the chapters read!

SCENE VI: At 3:00 the Author’s Chair looks cold and uncomfortable, but not for long! Paulette takes the plunge and dives right into it! Several follow suit. Some are still unloading their thoughts of the day’s events. Few are still looking for a piece of writing that will motivate them enough to get out of their seat after a long tiring (but valuable) day and share in the author’s chair. No more takers! Mary thanks Nancy for joining us, even for just a brief time. She then reminded us of the articles we must read by tomorrow but stresses the importance of Marisol having enough time to bake that PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE!

Steve’s TIW Reflections.

Diane’s TIW

The Community Reading with Kathy Yeager.

Publishing to the Eanthology????