Take some time to browse through the DVD. Choose a part to watch and then reflect on it. What did it make you think about? What did you notice about Penny's teaching that is something you could try? How does this make you think differently about your students? What did you notice?
Blog for January 24, 2012
ReplyDeletePam Alexander
I know now, but I didn’t know this past weekend when I was reviewing the chapters and writing my response, that the assignment was to watch part of the DVD and respond to that. I could stress out, go home, watch the DVD, write a new response, and maybe post it by tomorrow, but I think I’ll go with what I wrote yesterday and respond to the DVD later in the week. I do remember reading something that Penny said about the DVD conferences. She said that they weren’t really real. The kids acted differently with the cameras around. She also pointed out that she was able to edit what we saw and heard, something that we can’t do in the classroom and something that she wanted to be sure that her viewers understood.
Re: Chapters 5 & 6
I had fun with the photo write idea in Chapter 5 and ended up writing for several minutes about a picture of my brother Charly and me. It was taken probably 25 years ago and the writing took me into many smiles and a few frowns, but I finished feeling good. Then I remembered a photo project that I used to do with my 4th graders. Students were asked to bring in items that spoke of who they were and to keep them hidden. I set up a private spot where students arranged their items. I took pictures of each arrangement and hung them on a bulletin board. The kids tried to identify their friends based on their autobiographical photograph; they were writing without words.
At the end of Chapter 5, Kittle reminds us to be aware of all that makes up a child and that their lives may be full of conflict, confusion, or sorrow making it difficult for them to be “on” just because it’s time to write. I think sometimes it’s okay to give a kid the day off. I like it when one of my kids is comfortable enough to say to me, “I can’t do it today.” It speaks of trust, but as Penny also points out, we do need to nudge and push. Students should understand deadlines and learn a little something about how to handle the pressure that comes with due dates.
Her discussion of revision in Chapter 6 led me to a John Irving novel. I spend at least an hour a day on the road and enjoy listening to books. Currently I’m listening to Last Night in Twisted River by Irving. One of the main characters is a writer who teaches writing at a college in Vermont. In a conference with one of his students, Danny tries to explain the importance of revision. His student gives him the same resistance that we sometimes get from our kids – writing once is all they want to do. On occasion, the first write needs little or no improvement, but Irving says through his fictional Danny, “The rewrite is the creative part.” This is a new idea for me (that revision and rewriting are where the creativity is), and I was surprised to find myself agreeing with Danny and then, in turn, with Penny.
After exploring the DVD I chose to delve into conferring because we are in the midst of writing our research papers which includes a lot of conferences. Something that struck me is how informal all of her conferences were. I do these all the time but I was looking for a model in how to meet with a student on a rough draft of their writing and how to revise and edit with them. As I was clicking through I came across the clip where the student was stuck before they really started. This piqued my interest because I have many students this year that have struggled with this. In a classroom of fifth graders managing the walls that my students come up to are challenging. Each has their own hurdle from having the struggle to finding an idea to actually getting the idea down on paper. Also, she mentioned that the problem wasn’t solved in that one session and it was okay. That makes me uneasy. With a full class and time constraints I feel like I need to solve the problem that day. I might have students go work on something and meet with them after I have a few more conferences but that is the extent I have gone so far. The thing that I noticed about her teaching is that it was not 75 % behavior control. With the mix of students that I have this year that is what I feel like I spend a disproportionate amount of my time on. I was blown away by the maturity level and the ability for students to focus in their attention in the background. It makes me think how can I get the group of students I have now to that point?
ReplyDelete"Dude, this book's really good." As I watched the DVD, I jotted down so many things that made me think, but this is the one line that really touched me. It is what I hope happens for all of my students. I try to do group reading/writing shares to foster student to student book referrals. This line is what sharing writing and reading is all about.
ReplyDeleteEnding each class with a "symphony share of language". I love this idea. It is ok to just share a tiny bit, which takes some training for sixth graders. Some of them want to read every single word they wrote. I think I will also use Kittle's colored pencil idea to facilitate this. It will encourage students to really think about what is most important (and best) in their writing before they share with the group.
I also loved the idea of keeping the final page of the writer's notebook as a place to keep a list of possible future reads. I think this will help my students with their book choices. This is one idea that I will put into place this week.
I am going to piggyback on Denise because I too loved the response with the bookshare session( "Dude, this book's really good"). I have this happening in my class and have been lucky enough that the students in prior classes have been very strong readers as are my current class. We always say that they are more likely to read what their peers recommend so why not let them say so aloud and in writing!!
DeleteBecause I feel like the writers did the first day of Penny's writing class, I can share in my student's apprehension. I do know that she also uses a fantastic technique with sharing of her own experiences through poetry. My students love knowing what they call "secrets" about their teachers even if it is the smallest of personal knowledge. I also loved that when they were done sharing she stressed that what was shared in class was not to become the hall gossip of the day...On our team we say, " What happens in Ms. Miller's/Hackett's/Cruz's room, stays in the room!!" So far there have been no issues.
As I was watching the DVD I jotted down see phrases and ideas that stuck out to me. One was how at the beginning of it that Penny Kittle said that she gets nervous and unsure about the first day and that she is curious to know who is going to have a voice that day; that totally reminds me of myself…..nervous and anxious on the first days of school.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that one of the signs she had hanging up in her room was to write about what makes you different, I want to use that as one of my journal entries.
I wrote down emotionally invested and diversity of voices; those spoke to me on how I would like to see those same things in my own students.
I really like the idea of book talks and poem of the day; I am wondering how to bring that into my current classes. I also thought it was neat to see that she had interest journals with various topics that the students could pick to write in on the day that they were required to write in them. I was thinking that in one of my groups we could come up with different topics and then decide on a top 10 list and have them start using them once a week to write in.
I also found myself wanting to see more of her classes and how it actually flows and works. The bits and pieces I was getting was just not enough for me.
I enjoyed watching the DVD and thought about much of what I saw. I really liked Penny's Interest Journals. I feel that those journals will draw in not only those students who enjoy writing but more importantly my reluctant writers. What a great way to get a class started. I feel that when students who do not like to write are given a time limit it takes some of the pressure off.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the storyboarding. 5th graders love to write when given pictures. I have some students who are very good artists. I would like to try to pair students who write with those who like to draw to do some storyboarding.
Booktalks are a great way to introduce different genres to students. Spending a few minutes at the beginning of class to introduce books that I have enjoyed will give students more of a selection of books to read. I am finding this year that many of my students tend to read the same genre over and over.
Lesley Said...
ReplyDeleteAs I poked around the DVD, I found myself paying close attention to the books that Ms. Kittle recommended because I’m always happy to read a new book. In the video she spent quite a bit of time talking about a great book by John Green but she never gave the title. In another clip, a student talked about the same book and how much he loved it but again, never gave the title. Now I was really intrigued! I ended up going onto Amazon and looked up the author and scrolled down until I saw the matching book cover. In case any of you were as curious as I was, the book is called “Looking for Alaska.”
Her mentioning the books brought up something that I struggle with: finding time to read books that my students would enjoy. I barely have time to read books for my own enjoyment; never mind for my students. However, although she didn’t use this technique, I think I would like to have the students start doing their own book-talks. They are always looking for other books to read. What I find interesting is that oftentimes students will ask me to recommend a book but will still choose to read what a peer suggests instead. I think that this age, where they are so wrapped up in themselves and their peers, is a perfect opportunity to do a peer-led book talk.
As part of a mini-lesson, I thought it was interesting that she used the technique of combining three sentences to focus upon punctuation. I did a similar example with my students but used a paragraph of run-on and similar (yet redundant) sentences to teach a mini-lesson on word choice and being concise yet effective. I agreed with the student who pointed out that her revised sentence ended up being longer than the three she originally wrote.
Other random thoughts from the video include: I like the idea of taking a scene from something and focusing upon dialogue. I was happy to see that the students not only saw SSR as a time to relax and “let it all go” but it was also the vehicle that lead to additional reading and enjoyment. I too love bringing attention to “beautiful words” to my students. My last incredibly-random observation is that I noticed three boys wearing hats in class! Now, call me old-fashioned but that should NOT be acceptable in school. That’s just my two cents.
January 29, 2012
ReplyDeletePam’s DVD Blog
Today, I decided, was the day to watch some of penny Kittle’s DVD. I got out my notebook, grabbed a ginger ale, and inserted the disc. The TV admitted that the Sony was functioning but flashed C:13:00 in the lower right corner. Hmm – pushing play repeatedly from my seat on the couch did not change the display. Hmm – open the drawer, take out the DVD, look at it (for what?), put it back in, blah, blah – nothing. I thought, “Well, I’m off the hook; the thing won’t play.” (Notice I used a semicolon in the previous sentence. One of the lessons I watched – yes, it did eventually play- dealt with that particular punctuation.) When the DVD finally decided to give it up, I was pleased with the quality of the filming.
The first lesson I watched was on combining sentences. In my previous life, I did teach this, but the sentences were not my own. I found it amusing that the lesson spoke to semicolons as I was recently asked a question regarding their use. They’re part of the “home row” in typing, and the kids wondered about them. As I am a veteran user, I taught a brief, impromptu lesson. Amusing too is that Last Night in Twisted River also discussed semicolons. I’ll need to look back at some of Hemingway’s writing as I think Irving mentioned that he was over fond of them. Anyway, there weren’t enough samples of how the kids joined the 3 sentences, so, other than the semicolon thing, I didn’t get much out of this lesson.
Lesson two was on story boarding and how to help a reluctant Mark. This lesson was great! A few of the kids’ suggestions were different enough to make me want to try the story. The only part that bothered me was when Penny said to Mark, “You don’t really have fun at Hannaford’s, do you?” Maybe he did, but given the question, and a room full of peers, I don’t think many teens would admit that they enjoyed work. Other than that, the model was very good.
The last lesson I watched today was on personal narrative. Whether or not the DVD was edited for content, by the time I’d finished watching Penny model her dilemmas regarding her tennis piece, I thought, “Yeah, this is good,” and I could see how writing with kids can help them become better writers.
As I watched the DVD, one part that really stood out to me was the segment on combining sentences. I believe that we often ask our students to write in order to answer questions. This has created a trend of what I like to call "short and choppy" sentences. I loved the way Penny goes about workshopping with her students on combining sentences. I believe that the way in which this starts off with a real and true and authentic purpose for doing so is very effective. She is talking about the word limit connected to the piece she wishes to submit for publication, so she must cut down sentences....she must craft sentences carefully. I love the way she has the students first tackle her three sentences independently and then get together to share their reconstructions with a partner. I often use this very same format. Then the students must select which one of their creations works the "best," etc. I love the way this skill is revisited here as a means for making her writing more effective and possible "publishable." I love the way the students have a true purpose for combining sentences. Of course, the comment she makes about how research has shown that through sentence combining, punctuation can be taught and truly learned in a meaningful way. This makes total sense. Within the context of real writing, there is a true reason to find the correct spot for a comma after an introductory clause. There is a real reason to have two complete thoughts "connect in meaning" in order to use a semi-colon. When the conventions are needed and meaningful and are carefully selected, writing grows and changes and morphs into something that is its own entity. Once again, I am reminded of how critical it is for our students to have authentic and purposeful reasons to use their words and share their voices. I enjoyed this segment very much!
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