Persistent Pondering http://persistentpondering.posterous.com Where do social action, art, music, technology, media, pop culture, and most importantly, student needs intersect? posterous.com Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:24:00 -0800 Civic Engagement Insights from the Harry Potter Alliance | NWP Digital Is http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/civic-engagement-insights-from-the-harry-pott http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/civic-engagement-insights-from-the-harry-pott

From fandom to activism.

From story to "cultural acupuncture".

The Harry Potter Alliance is propelled by the passion of individuals to unite and create movements for social justice. It is Connected Learning.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:10:00 -0800 Happy Digital Learning Day! http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/happy-digital-learning-day http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/happy-digital-learning-day

What a great event to celebrate how digital tools have transformed education!

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:58:00 -0800 What is Digital Learning? http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/what-is-digital-learning http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/what-is-digital-learning

Happy Digital Learning Day Eve! I hope you enjoy some reflections from my students on:

Digital Learning Is....

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:15:00 -0700 Begin with Identity... Yes, Gender is Part of Me http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/begin-with-identity-yes-gender-is-part-of-me http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/begin-with-identity-yes-gender-is-part-of-me

At a NSTWP Professional Development Advanced Institute I was co-facilitating, there was much discussion on student culture and identity and using an asset model to best serve our students. My thoughts are this. If each individual being a part of a wider system, and many systems at once, is not aware of his or her identity, this causes potential problems within any network that he or she is a member. If a person's identity is not recognized, affirmed, and responded to, this, too, can cause hiccups in that particular network completing its job and/or fulfilling its purpose.

On a separate project focused on Young Men, Writing and Literacy, I am working with other teachers across the country, the College Board, and National Writing Project to examine how to best serve our minority male students. We pondered the impact of gender in the literacy education: Is gender a significant issue to consider when teaching minority males? Here are my two cents... okay, maybe more than two.

Gender cannot be overlooked in an urban high school classroom, especially at the Freshman level. During the first week of school, students tend to separate each other by gender. There are the girls on one side and the boys on the other. Both genders taking a look at the other seeing who is cute, who isn’t. This is an act done by both genders.

At the beginning of the year, practically everyone tries. It’s a new year, and no one wants to disappoint. They see it as their opportunity to shine: to either continue their previous behavior or turn over a new leaf or figure out what is cool: smart or not. Unhappily, school smart does not win many prestige points on our campus.

As the year continues, it seems like a habit for the males to choose one student to represent their gender, one who will try and be the intelligent, well-behaved male student. I cannot understand this phenomenon. I know my girls are still very much teacher pleasers. If they don’t always have the right answers, most of them will try to out do each other on projects with artwork, colors, handwriting. But what happens to my male students?

I can say that as the year progresses, my newly arrived immigrant males become more aware of their financial duties to the family. They feel pressure to provide for their families either here or in their home countries. This leads to focus on work: more demands on time, shifts in priorities. In that respect, for most of my male students, their culture asks males to be the providers so many of them see education as secondary or tertiary or even further down the list of main concerns.

Coupled with the responsibility of being the provider, the question arises: when do my teenage boys get to be just that, teenage boys? When do they get to step away from the identity as provider and all of the responsibilities that go with that and be kids? For many, the response and the opportunity to be a teenager with fewer responsibilities and burdens is in school. Since, many of them are treated like children in the classrooms, it makes it that much easier for them to fall into seeing school as a social haven rather than a place of discipline and hard work. Besides, they have that already at their paying jobs.

We cannot overlook gender and its impact on teaching minority males or any student for that matter. If we do try to avoid how gender influences learners and learning, we might as well try to ignore culture. We might as well try to disregard identity altogether. That would be a disaster because teenagers are about finding their identity, about exploring, acknowledging, and respecting who they are. It is when people do not do this, when people discount, underestimate, disrespect, belittle, or even just ignore someone else’s identity that problems arise. If we want to reach all of our learners, identities must be the beginning. We need to understand who our students are, and gender plays a part in this discovery.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:12:00 -0800 Digital Learning Day: A Call to Action http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/digital-learning-day-a-call-to-action http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/digital-learning-day-a-call-to-action

Sitting at a district meeting yesterday, I heard more of an all too widespread and alarming discussion. “Our students aren’t interested in learning like we were.” “The kids today are distracted by gadgets. They would rather text than talk.” “Our kids don’t have a long attention span.”

All of these rumblings have a common thread. Yes, our students for the most part, are quite different than us, their educators. They are interested in technology. They do like to communicate digitally. They do multitask.

I felt so uncomfortable hearing our district leaders finding so many shortcomings in our students---especially since what these teachers were critical of can be such assets. What people were complaining about are very important skills in the 21st century.

Don’t get me wrong. I, too, have been frustrated by a student slyly texting a friend to socialize instead of completing the class project. I, too, have wondered why I constantly have to switch gears in a single class to engage students. I, too, have wondered how someone can spend hours and hours playing a game and not ten minutes on a journal assignment.

But, after years of wondering and researching and collaborating and analyzing and experimenting, I know one thing. I have more questions. I also know that our students have a cultural wealth that demands our attention and respect. Their knowledge of building and sustaining community, creating and collaborating on multimedia projects, their hunger for information. All of this makes them candidates for being exceptional students.

Then, what’s the problem? Why is the United States lagging behind other countries in education? Why are some schools now being named “drop-out factories”? Why do some teachers perceive our students as being deficient learners rather than remarkable ones?

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It’s not the fault of the teachers. It’s not the fault of the students. It’s not the parents. It’s not the media. It’s not the technology companies. It’s not the video games.

It’s the educational system in the United States. We operate in an antiquated context far removed from the realities of today’s society, its demands and its challenges. We want our students to fit into some educational paradigm that was conceived eons ago.

Well, in case you haven’t noticed, so much has happened to transform our landscape. Technology has developed. There are now so many digital advances making once impossible things everyday common occurrences. Every day, there is something new, something that ups the stakes, something that creates another challenge to our obsolete educational system. One thing, however, that is not changing, not transforming, not responding---fast enough anyway---is education.

Today’s learners are different. They learn differently from most of their teachers. All true. I get it.

When, then, do we respond to these differences? When do we take into account these inconsistencies and make systemic changes that embrace our learners and all their skills? When do we create an inclusive environment to fit their needs instead of forcing them into an educational box where they must abandon so much that is part of their culture? When will we demand an education that our students deserve, one where instead of failing, they will thrive?

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Technology is not the enemy. It is not gadgets OR lessons. It is not cell phones OR learning. It is not social networks OR accountable talk.

On the contrary, we have the opportunity to use these powerful tools and many more to truly reform our classrooms. We have a chance to show our students how much we do respect and admire their skills by stepping out of our comfort zones to learn from them.

So for today, our first National Digital Learning Day, I ask what you can do to help these changes happen and happen sooner rather than later? Each day we do not advocate for our learners, each day we do not rally around this type of reform is another day where technology leaves education further behind.

Digital. Learning. Digital + Learning. Digital Learning. 

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:02:00 -0800 From Engagement to Equity: Bridging the Digital Divide http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/from-engagement-to-equity-bridging-the-digita http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/from-engagement-to-equity-bridging-the-digita

For many students, school is the only place where they can be on even ground with the rest of their peers. When implementing digital tools to learn, it becomes more than just a question of engagement and participation. How is digital learning an equity issue?

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:51:00 -0800 Grant Puts iPads in Hands of English Language Learners - National Writing Project http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/grant-puts-ipads-in-hands-of-english-language http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/grant-puts-ipads-in-hands-of-english-language

Grant Puts iPads in Hands of English Language Learners

Date: January 26, 2012

Summary: North Dallas High School is undergoing a $6 million grant-funded restructuring. At the heart of the work is North Star of Texas Writing Project teacher Janelle Quintans Bence, whose English learners will be using iPads to support their literacy development.

Janelle Quintans Bence

Janelle Quintans Bence

Janelle Quintans Bence, a teacher-consultant with the North Star of Texas Writing Project, helped write a successful Texas Title I Priority Schools (TTIPS) restructuring grant for her North Dallas High School. Now, part of that three-year, $6 million grant will be used to put iPads in the hands of her English language learners to support their literacy instruction.

The iPads, with their applications and easy-to-use functionality, Bence said, would act as an invaluable language learning tool for the students she works with on a daily basis. As Language Proficiency Assessment Committee Chair, Bence is also responsible for tracking the progress of 400 or so students to make sure they receive additional supports when needed. She's excited to see how the three class sets of iPads purchased under the TTIPS grant will be used by this wide range of learners.

"Even just being able to use the Internet so quickly to find whatever word and have a mobile experience, like `here's this word,' `here's this concept,' that's going to help them remember the language much quicker," Bence said.

Bence credits the "digital heroes" that she follows on Twitter, many of them fellow National Writing Project teachers, as mentors in helping her develop her own digital literacy knowledge—knowledge which has helped her as she has worked with colleagues as part of a Digital Literacy Team. The TTIPS grant calls for the development of sudents' digital skills and the Digital Literacy team is charged with determing how best to egnage in "meaningful tech implementation."

TTIPS

The overall goal of the grant is to aide in the improvement of student academic performance. There are, according to Bence, seven critical success factors named, including increasing teacher capacity, improving school climate, and broadening leadership.

The grant seeks to improve academic writing across the curriculum generally, and improve academic writing for the school's English learners specifically. To help implement the grant, North Dallas High School has turned to the North Star of Texas Writing Project. Capitalizing on the writing project's long work in the area of culturally-mediated instruction and reflective practice, the grant has led to the creation of an advanced institute, led by North Star, in which seven North Dallas teachers are conducting action research related to improving academic writing for their English learners. Additionally, North Star is acting as the university partner in the grant.

"They are guiding us to use strategies and put practices into place that will meet our grant goals," Bence explains about North Star's overall role in the process.

"It's a big responsibility to turn the school around," Bence said. "It's kind of a scary thing—because clearly we have to do it—but it's also exciting, something that should come along with transformation."

Bence credits her school's principal, Dinnah Escanilla, for having the vision and foresight to lead a group of the school's teachers in considering restructuring and then writing the grant.

Looking Ahead

Bence will be transitioning into the role of "master teacher" as part of the grant. In year one, her teaching load will decrease as she spends more of her time assisting other teachers in English Language Arts. Then, in future years, she will shift her focus to teachers across content areas to increase their capacity to reflect upon and improve instruction in order to meet the needs of students.

While the school is still at the beginning stages of the transformation process and has many more months to go, Bence said she and the rest of her colleagues look forward to seeing the effects of their efforts and helping their students succeed.

"We're all very excited," Bence said. "We came in from summer vacation feeling like we've been on the starting line for a very long time, and it's now gaining momentum that we've got to continue throughout."

Related Resource Topics

So much wonderfully challenging work to be done. We are ready!!

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Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:29:23 -0800 No Literacy Left Behind: Why use digital tools in literacy instruction? http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/no-literacy-left-behind-why-use-digital-tools http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/no-literacy-left-behind-why-use-digital-tools

It's common sense. We have to meet our students where they are. We have to know our students and the cultural wealth they bring to our schools. Using what they already know as a method of mediating new learning is just good teaching. So why not meet our students in a mileu that they already know?

Using digital tools, thus, capitalizing upon a student's digital literacy, will facilitate literacy instruction.

How do we do this? How can we make this a campus-wide practice? How do we sustain it?

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:26:34 -0800 A Whole New World: Addressing the Literacy Needs of the On Demand Generation http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/a-whole-new-world-addressing-the-literacy-nee http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/a-whole-new-world-addressing-the-literacy-nee

"That's how I was taught, and I turned out okay." 

Who hasn't heard that before in schools across the country? Well, that's not going to work. Or more truthfully, it might work for some, but teachers will lose multitudes of teachable moments with that type of mantra.

Instead, we would better serve today's students by really considering their cultural wealth. What differences and simiarities do they bring with them to the classroom that can be supported by learning? What types of practices do they have in other areas of their lives that may need addressing and mediating for meaninful learning to take place? What role does identity play in literacy instruction?

 

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:54:00 -0800 Creating a Community of Readers and Writers http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/creating-a-community-of-readers-and-writers http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/creating-a-community-of-readers-and-writers

Digital Learning Day is February 1, 2012. Although I will also be exploring the best way to get my students to write/read digitally for that day, it dawned on me that we, as educators, need to continue to learn in the digital milieu. In response, I have decided to take a step back and blog about what literacy instruction means to me in hopes that these posts serve as resources for other classroom practitioners. 

This activity has also enabled me to revisit what I believe in as an educator. I have been able to reflect what pieces contribute to the whole of my teaching. In doing so, I am able to become reacquainted with some of the principles that keep me motivated. I'm able to articulate what I do, not only to refocus my practice but to also share it with a wider audience. At the very least, this may invite others to revisit what shapes their teaching.

Enjoy!

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1385196/Photo_on_2011-07-24_at_11.26__3.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4wzEg0n9lkIx Janelle Bence Janelle Janelle Bence
Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:30:00 -0800 What are your plans for National Digital Learning Day on February 1, 2012? | NWP Digital Is http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/what-are-your-plans-for-national-digital-lear http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/what-are-your-plans-for-national-digital-lear

What are you doing for Digital Learning Day? I would love to hear your ideas. Anyone else trying to get the whole school involved? How are you doing this?

Thanks for your input!!

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Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:14:00 -0800 How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? | Edutopia http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/how-important-is-teaching-literacy-in-all-con http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/how-important-is-teaching-literacy-in-all-con

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WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation

How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas?

By Rebecca Alber
8/4/10
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You are busy this summer planning and reworking lessons -- adding, adjusting, and tweaking. Here's something to think about, fast forward to fall: We know students do plenty of listening in our classes, but what about the other three communication skills they should be engaging in and practicing daily?

I'm talking about reading, writing, and speaking.

Let's define literacy. It was once known simply as the ability to read and write. Today it's about being able to make sense of and engage in advanced reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Someone who has reached advanced literacy in a new language, for example, is able to engage in these four skills with their new language in any setting -- academically or casually.

Literacy is an Every-Century Skill

If you are a math, history, science, or art teacher, where does literacy fit into your classroom instruction? It's common to believe that literacy instruction is solely the charge of language arts teachers, but, frankly, this just is not so. Naysayers, please take a moment to think about this quote:

"Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives." -- Richard Vaca, author of Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum

With content standards looming, it's easy to only focus on the content we teach, and covering material. We have so much to tell students and share with them. However, are we affording students enough time daily to practice crucial communication skills?

Here's one way to look at it: Content is what we teach, but there is also the how, and this is where literacy instruction comes in. There are an endless number of engaging, effective strategies to get students to think about, write about, read about, and talk about the content you teach. The ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to build a student's comprehension, writing skills, and overall skills in communication.

Ask yourself, how do I mostly convey the information and knowledge to my students? Do I turn primarily to straight lecture, or teacher talk? Or, do I allow multiple opportunities for students to discover information on their own?

Speaking

Students having academic or high-level conversations in small and large group settings does not happen overnight. It takes time -- and scaffolding -- to create a Socratic Seminar setting in your classroom.

In order for our students to engage in academic conversation, or accountable talk, they need plenty of practice with informal conversation in pairs and triads. Use the following strategies frequently for building students' oral skills: think-pair-share, elbow partner, shoulder share, and chunk and chew. Kids need to be talking and not sitting passively in their seats. Remember, Vygotsky believed learning to be a very social act!

For every 5-8 minutes you talk, give them 1-2 minutes to talk to each other. You can walk around and listen, informally assessing and checking for understanding.

Conversation helps immensely when processing new content and concepts. Students also will surely have more fruitful answers to share (be sure to always provide think time when asking questions of students).

Writing

When was the last time your students had sore hands from writing in your class? Just like conversation, writing helps us make sense of what we are learning and helps us make connections to our own lives or others' ideas.

You can't avoid thinking when you write.

Students need to be writing every day, in every classroom. How about adding to your instruction more informal and fun writing activities like quick writes, stop and jots, one-minute essays, graffiti conversations? Not all writing assignments need be formal ones.

If you haven't heard of the National Writing Project (NWP), it's the largest-scale and longest-standing teacher development program in U.S. history. Workshops are offered nationwide (usually through a local university) where teachers of all content areas learn new and exciting strategies to encourage, support, and grow the young writers in their classrooms.

Two tenets of the NWP that I think produce wide gains in student writing: teachers writing side-by-side with students, and creating time on a regular basis in your classroom for writer's workshop that follows a type of writing process that puts the writer in charge (of content, voice, and structure).

Reading

The days of believing that we could hand informational text or a novel to a student and assume he or she makes full meaning of it on their own is a teaching mode of the past. Whether we like it or not, regardless of the content we teach, we are all reading instructors.

Scaffolding the reading by using effective strategies for pre-, during, and after reading, such as: previewing text, reading for a purpose, making predictions and connections, think alouds, and using graphic organizers will support all our students, and not just struggling readers and English learners.

Another onus not only on English teachers, but all teachers as reading instructors? We need to inspire both a love for reading, and build reading stamina in our students (this means eyes and mind on the page for more than a minute!)

But, how do we do this? A high-interest classroom library is a great place to start. If you are a Title I school, there should be funds set aside for classroom libraries. If not, advocate for all classrooms at your school site to have a library, even if it's just a handful of books to get you going.

You can make the investment yourself, or have a book-raiser party. Email all your friends a wish list for books that students have requested and those easy sells (Twilight, Guinness Book of World Records...). Ask them to bring one or two of the books to your cocktail/appetizer party. (Read this Edutopia post for ideas on how to set up and manage your classroom library).

If you are a physics teacher, do all your books need to be about science? Absolutely not! But you might want to focus primarily on informational, non-fiction books. In fact, with the new national standards for English emphasizing more non-fiction text and quite a bit less literature, I say all K-12 teachers need to enhance their libraries with more non-fiction (this can include newspaper and magazine subscriptions as well).

(I'm not going to go into listening as a communication skill, since I think our students do plenty of that already, but here's a great Web site with characteristics of an effective listener you can share with your students and they can practice with each other.)

What role does literacy play in your classroom? What are some ways you weave instruction in reading, writing, and speaking into the content you teach? Please share!

Comments (61)

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LIbrary Teacher
Posted on 11/14/2011 12:25pm

classroom libraries

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I am seeing more frequent promotions for classroom libraries. In a perfect world there would be funding for these; however, it would be financially difficult in most schools to maintain a good curriculum supportive library and a number of classroom libraries. Why not work with the librarian instead to develop at good central library and use it in conjunction with curriculum delivery requiring reading? A good librarisn can help with reading lists and promotion of materials pertinent to classroom activities. Why do literacy advocates always ignore the school library?

Posted on 8/3/2011 8:25am

I agree the best way for

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+1

I agree the best way for students to learn something is by doing it. I am a high school English teacher, and I have seen it before my very eyes. Literacy is something that must be practiced. I am by no means qualified to teach a student how to read. If they did not learn that in elementary school, I am often at a loss. What I do know helps is reading aloud, whether it be literature or their own writing. In fact, reading their own writing aloud has been one of the most helpful techniques in teaching kids to become better writers. I love your article and cannot wait to share it with my colleagues. If my students were practicing reading and writing in every class, imagine how much more comfortable they would become. It's a vital skill.

6/7 Social Studies teacher
Posted on 8/1/2011 5:52am

What a great article. We

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+1

What a great article. We have been using literacy in the content area for a number of years now. I have really been working on accountable talk with my students. Knowing how to read a text or article is key to understanding the content area material. I also incorporate geographic literacy into my classes-how to read a map. For the kids it's a different type of reading, but they learn so much from the maps and appreciate the break from text or article reading.

Posted on 6/8/2011 10:30am

I think one key to making

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I think one key to making this idea succcessful is making sure that your content area teachers buy into the concept. If the teacher is convinced that it will not work, then it won't work.

Posted on 10/15/2010 5:55am

I really enjooyed reading

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+1

I really enjooyed reading this blog post. I gained so much information that I intend to use in my classroom. I recently completed my undergraduate degree. I am currently working on my Master's degree which is adolesent literacy and technology. Reading, writing, and speaking are very important. Speaking is often times overlooked. I think these three skills go hand in hand. Thses skills are also the foundation to a successful life inside and outside of the classroom. some of the strategies that were shared will help to make learning for my students more engaging and fun.

Posted on 10/11/2010 9:10pm

I couldn't agree more...

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I have been teaching for three years, and the idea of literacy education in all core contents is a must! I currently teach Eighth Grade Special Education English; therefore, literacy is a part of my everyday teaching. Literacy also plays a large role in the other core contents in our school. The students are provided with ample opportunities to speak, read, write, and listen to new ideas and build upon prior knowledge. The students also partake in a class titled, Communication Arts, in which the students learn and improve their communication skills from public speaking to drama, journalism, and more. The students seem to enjoy the class while improving their literacy skills. Furthermore, one area that I find to be very important in today's technological world is improving students communication via email and the internet. I cannot tell you how many emails I receive with the "words" "U, bc, and ttyl" scattered throughout. I personally feel the need to teach my students how to write coherent and appropriate emails in addition to the other literacy instruction.

PreK consultant
Posted on 8/26/2010 10:52am

Understanding Vocabulary vs. Decoding

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Rebecca is on to something true. Too many "literacy" teachers only teach decoding. Decoding skills are best taught between ages 5 and 8. The rest of the time students need to be focusing on understanding what they are reading. This is, after all, the purpose of reading...to UNDERSTAND. Before age 5 children's brains are hard-wired to learn new vocabulary in order to name what they are doing and what they see. They try to speak in order to say what they know.

When children are sitting still, quietly, and looking at the teacher they are doing very little and seeing only the teacher. When they are not allowed to speak, they have no opportunity to say what they think they know. If their parents do not use much language with them and neither the parents nor the teachers listen to them, students tune out.

A classic example of misguided "teaching literacy" for preK to age 7 is the teaching of phonics to 3 year olds for lengthy periods during the day. At this age children need to learn the whole word and what it means. They can play with the sounds of a word in songs and silly games, but they need to be talked with and listened to. Adults need to name what the child is doing so the child has the vocabulary to describe what he has learned from what he is doing. Later the child will use that vocabulary to understand what he is reading.

Teaching the daily calendar is a second misguided series of lessons. If children attend day care or preK from age 3, most of them are subjected to daily 20 minute lessons on days of the week, seasons of the year and weather. There is abundant research showing that the majority of children do not have a sense of time until age seven. In 300 days per year times 20 minutes of calendar a day, a young child has sat through 100 hours a year listening to a calendar lesson he is developmentally unable to understand. After 4 years of such lessons (age 3-7), a child has spent 66 six-hour days listening to calendar instruction he has no understanding of.

I believe that through making children sit still at these early years and listen to the teacher teach phonics and calendar, we are actually teaching them to NOT LISTEN and NOT UNDERSTAND. Word knowledge and understanding are critical literacy skills that require sophisticated forms of teaching. Children must be actively involved in developing vocabulary. Because textbook companies find it much easier to explain phonics lessons and because the calendar salesman was so effective we are ignoring two fundamental building blocks of real literacy from the very beginning.

Posted on 8/24/2010 10:05am

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With regard to Jimmy's comment, "...do not push this idea down to all subjects because, been there done that and it doesn't work," I must respectfully disagree. If you are saying that literacy instruction in a content classroom hinders students' knowledge or learning of the subject matter, you are ill-informed. Students can only truly understand any content through the application of literacy skills. It is these very skills that allow students to process text/information. When students, through scaffolded instruction, learn to effectively preview text, access prior knowledge and question throughout text, it facilitates connections between what they currently understand and what new information they are taking in. This process, along with a wealth of other speaking, listening, reading and writing techniques accounts for learning that "sticks."
Sue

Posted on 8/16/2010 3:17pm

I agree that the more

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I agree that the more students use reading, writing, and speaking in all content areas the more their critical thinking abilities and understanding of new material will increase. However many students do not learn effective literacy skills to begin with. This is a great way to advance literacy skills, but many students still need more effective basic literacy instruction. i've read several news articles lately about how low reading scores are across the nation. Before we focus on advancing literacy skills, many students need teachers to focus on helping them understand the basics. If not they fall behind in every subject and lack necessary skills: "3 Ways Poor Reading Skills Impact 68% of 4th Graders">

Posted on 8/16/2010 3:12pm

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I agree that using reading, writing, and speaking in correlation to every subject would help students improve their critical thinking abilities and help them understand what they are learning. Of course it shouldn't be the entire focus of literacy promotion- there are still many students that haven't even gained the skills they need to be able to read or write. Before trying to get students to use literacy skills to boost their learning in every area, teachers should first focus on ensuring students gain those skills in the first place. The news has covered a lot of articles about low reading scores lately: "3 Ways Poor Reading Skills Impact 68% of 4th Graders"

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So true. So true. And what a great shout out to NWP!!!

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Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:21:00 -0800 Navigating Multiple Identities of Learners? http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/navigating-multiple-identities-of-learners http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/navigating-multiple-identities-of-learners

I am most intrigued by James Paul Gee's notion of gamers having an arsenal of identities to choose from when playing video games. Isn't that the case for most of us in this participatory culture of ours? We all have various identities that we carry with us. Be it mother, student, teacher, consultant, blogger, wife, daughter, etc. These are the many hats we wear, and like it or not, we cannot or should not try to be all of these identities at once. There is a time and a place, a context specific for each identity. Some may overlap, but it takes experimentation, practice to figure this out.

How do we help students with this skill? How do we encourage them to adopt a certain persona in our classrooms? How can we create an ecology that fosters positive learning relationships where certain roles should be adopted for optimum learning? How do we generate conditions that challenge students to drop whatever identity may hinder learning at the door? 

In a video game, various characters are adopted and even created depending on the skill, strength, and intellect required to vanquish a boss on that particular level. Savvy gamers continue to progress to fine tune their multiple characters, all in hopes to increase their chances of progressing in the game. "How can I find an additional weapon to be used at a later time? How can I find more money to purchase a potion to use in the future?" This type of forethought often motivates gamers. They know that in order to succeed, they must be more than the character they were at the beginning of the game. If not, they will surely perish.

So what about learners? How can we get this same sort of survival of the fittest mentality across to them? Instead of weapons or magic, how can we urge them to seek habits that will better equip them in the quest for learning? How can we promote such reverance for learning that our students feel invested enough to craft a new identity that will better serve the purpose? How do we even invite them to this type of inquiry, this sort of self-reflection?

Maybe a bigger question is do students realize the need for this? Are they willing to do this? Why or why not? 

Once again, more questions than answers, but a thought is forming. A kernal of insight is developing. Let's see what happens.

 

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Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:09:00 -0700 Reflecting on my NWP work thus far... http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/reflecting-on-my-nwp-work-thus-far http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/reflecting-on-my-nwp-work-thus-far

I was asked to talk with the North Star Summer Institute 2011 folks about how to continue to be active in this fantastic, life-changing organization. It got me thinking about all of the incredible growth opportunities NWP has afforded me. So here is an overview of my journey with NWP.

I started with the Bluebonnet Writing Project at UTA with Dr. Jeannine Hirtle as the site's director in 2005. I became co-director and as that site was always very engaged with technology, I developed a High-Tech Young Authors' Camp. We used blogger for our Authors' Workshop, created digital movies, and so many other great activities. It was a huge success. So much so, I facilitated this camp in the summers of 2006 and 2007.

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There were numerous opportunities to grow both as a teacher and as a teacher leader. I attended a New Site Development meeting in California. I co-facilitated the SUmmer Institute for a few years. One of the highlights was attending Tech Matters in 2007. That was a great place to meet NWP Digital Literacy Leaders like Paul Oh, Paul Allison, Peter Kittle, Kevin Hodgson, and many others. It was at that event that I realized how innovative and cutting edge NWP work was and still is today. I am often awestruck by my NWP colleagues and their contributions to education.

Unfortunately, the Bluebonnet NWP site folded in 2007. At that time, I was siteless...until North Star of Texas Writing Project adopted me! I cannot thank Dr. Carol Wickstrom and Dr. Leslie Patterson enough for making me feel so welcome! What a joy to be involved!!

With North Star, I became very active in the Professional Development piece. I attended the PD Advanced Institute last year and had the amazing experience of being one of the facilitators for Dallas ISD's Summer Writing Institute.Dr. Wickstrom and I attended a PD Institute in Austin last summer to gain some more insight into PD. I helped to plan this summer's offerings of Read...Think...Write..., NSTWP's STAAR Workshop. I plan on facilitating this workshop in Keller this fall.

I am all about web presence so I begged my husband, Cobe, to help us develop our current NSTWP website

I attended the CMWI Advanced Institute this year, and I am very pleased that my campus will be able to participate in this significant research this school year.

Most recently, after attending the Annual Meeting 2010, I became quasi-obsessed with gaming in the classroom. I helped write a Tech Minigrant application for a Gaming Inquiry Group here at North Star. 

In March, I attended and presented at the Urban Sites Network Conference. Amazing!! Ernest Morrell has become a hero to me.

Along the way, I attended NWP Annual Meetings in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, and Orlando. I have presented 3 times at either NWP or NCTE due to NWP work.

North Star offers so many opportunities to stay connected: Book clubs, inquiry groups, advocacy, leadership retreats, etc. I love seeing the other North Stars whenever possible!

Now, I am dedicated to figuring out this gaming piece and facilitating work with my campus' incoming freshman in August. I am also super excited to work more on NWP Connect as well as Digital Is, and I cannot wait to meet and work with more NWP colleagues in Seattle in July for the Digital Is Resource Development Retreat.

I have been so lucky to find NWP. It's my duty to myself and to my students to continue this work. All I can say is you get out of NWP what you put in, and I feel that as much as I have invested in NWP, NWP has returned at least 100 times over.

 

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Thu, 05 May 2011 08:31:00 -0700 Using Digital-Age Tools to Prepare Students for the Future http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/using-digital-age-tools-to-prepare-students-f http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/using-digital-age-tools-to-prepare-students-f

How New Digital Media and the Internet are Fueling an Innovative Surge in Communication, Creativity and Collaboration. from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

Shout out to NWP's Elyse Eidman-Aadahl! What a wonderful video reiterating the importance of understanding that it's not about the technology, it's about using the tools to help students become more precise writers who are aware of audience and purpose. She discusses the many changes that have ocurred since her childhood. Consider the many changes yet to come. We are preparing our students for the unknown. As she states, "The moment to capture is not now. The moment to capture is the future."

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Sat, 30 Apr 2011 08:05:00 -0700 Alicia Keys P.O.W. http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/alicia-keys-pow http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/alicia-keys-pow

This should get them thinking. Nice way to validate vernacular and get them writing.

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Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:06:00 -0700 Interrupt Racism http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/interrupt-racism http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/interrupt-racism

Check out the video. Think about it.

Can I be brave enough to take ownership of my own biases, their manifestations, their impact? I must. One person at a time. Change begins with me.

Silent Racism - Inner Compass episode from Calvin College on Vimeo.

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Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:44:00 -0700 Because of NWP http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/because-of-nwp http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/because-of-nwp

I choose to teach. I choose to work in an urban school. I choose to explore various strategies to engage my students and help them feel more invested in their education. I choose to spend my free time collaborating, inquiring, and composing with like-minded educators. I choose to do so because of National Writing Project (NWP).

Because of NWP, I have grown as an educator.

Because of NWP, I have grown as a writer.

Because of NWP, I have grown as an advocate for my students and fellow teachers.

What is NWP? It's an invaluable network of educators investigating literacy education, discussing what works and doesn't, and combining efforts to best serve our students and teachers. Ask anyone who has participated in an NWP event and just wait for the positive comments to abound. I can honestly say that every NWP experience from the Annual Meetings to midweek Skype conversations has inspired me. I have left every occasion feeling renewed and resolved to do more to better teach my students. That's why I, along with the more than 130,000 other educators who participate in NWP professional development annually, keep coming back for more.

Because of NWP, I reach out beyond my classroom and my students to share not only what I have learned but to learn from others as well. Young Authors' Camps, District Writing Institutes, blogging, tweeting, researching, facilitating and developing professional development, online discussions about gaming, ELL literacy instruction, equity, and so much more. NWP has given me the confidence, the knowledge, the motivation to be a teacher leader. NWP teacher consultants (TCs) assume roles that surpass the boundaries of the four walls of the classroom. NWP TCs enthusiastically accept additional responsibilities to further their own knowledge and skills, all the while knowing that they will openly share this with others. Why? Because of NWP.

 A couple of weeks ago, one of my adminstrators asked one of my students how she has improved so much since last year. My student said it was because of me. We teach for moments like these. We strive to have a positive impact in our students' lives. But how do we achieve this? Well, if that same adminstrator were to ask me how I was able to make such a difference, my response would be:

Because of NWP.

@chadsansing @EdPressSec @Ed_Outreach @nwpsiteleaders @whitehouse #blog4NWP @JohnCornyn @kaybaileyhutch @FlorenceShapiro @RepKenPaxton

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Fri, 10 Dec 2010 20:42:00 -0800 Gaming: Playing to Learn http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/gaming-playing-to-learn http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/gaming-playing-to-learn

One of the greatest advantages of being a Writing Project teacher is being exposed to learning frameworks that are innovative, research-based, and highly engaging. At this year's NWP Annual Meeting in Orlando, I attended a fantastic session entitled, Taking Gaming to the Next Level, facilitated by Paul Allison and Grace Raffaele from the New York City Writing Project as well as Barry Joseph from Global Kids. They are working on creating game-based curriculum. It got me so excited. It made so much sense. I wanted to know more.

I am currently reading What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee. It discusses how good game design stems from cognitive science---how we learn. This is why good games allow players to learn the systems and rules quickly and easily. This is why people can spend hours and hours engaged in playing. And by the way, they are learning. They are learning more and more about the system that is the game. They are exploring the boundaries and norms of that environment. They are testing various methods to win. They have a clear expectation in mind and are learning how to succeed.

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I am excited to delve further into what implications this has for education. We all see educational gaming, but there's so much more. There are fantastic serious games that teach about current events and dilemmas. Think about the amount of thinking that goes into writing, designing, promoting, and of course, playing these games. Imagine the potential of gaming curriculum.

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Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:12:11 -0700 Foreword to Bring It to Class - National Writing Project http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/foreword-to-bring-it-to-class-national-writin http://persistentpondering.posterous.com/foreword-to-bring-it-to-class-national-writin

Foreword to Bring It to Class

By: Kylene Beers
Date: May 2010

Summary: Students' backpacks bulge not just with oversize textbooks, but with paperbacks, graphic novels, street lit, and electronics such as iPods and handheld video games. Bring It to Class is about unpacking those texts to explore previously unexamined assumptions regarding their usefulness to classroom learning.

While at the 2008 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) convention, I answered an AP English teacher honestly when she asked me what I had read during the previous month. I don't remember all the books I listed, but I do remember one, not because of the book but because of her response. After I mentioned one of the Harry Potter novels, she interrupted me and said she was surprised to hear I wasted my time on such "popular fiction" when there were so many great classics to be enjoyed, "such as War and Peace."

Before I could offer a response, she continued her lecture on the value of "real" literature and how popular literature could only be seen as a stepping stone to "better" books. To her, popular literature—"Da Vinci Code books"—appeal to the less-educated because they demand so little. She called young adult literature and popular adult fiction "drive-by books" because, as she explained, readers ought to drive by them on their way to the classics. Finally, reading my face, she stopped mid-sentence. After a brief moment of silence she said, "Well, perhaps because you've never taught AP English, you don't really understand the great literature students are capable of reading. Perhaps the students you work with really ought to stick to pop culture. Perhaps that's all they can read." And then she left.

While I was disappointed at her abrupt departure, I wasn't surprised at her attitude. In too many places and too many times, popular culture texts are seen as "easy reads," "fads," or "teen reading," or even "inappropriate" texts—whether print, film, or music. In 2007, at a state English/language arts convention, when I asked the audience of about 500 secondary teachers to define popular culture texts, the most common response was, "What the mainstream media provides." Most of the teachers agreed that, "It's what kids read outside of school but isn't appropriate for school."

When asked why it's not appropriate for school, the answers were equally divided: "Pop culture is easy, so kids don't need help understanding it"; "Pop culture is what's popular for the moment, so there's no reason to study something that will change so quickly"; and "Pop culture contains language and images that are not appropriate for school-based discussions." Though some teachers did point out that rap was being used more often as a part of poetry discussions, most said that kids "got" rap without instruction so there was no reason to spend valuable instructional time discussing this genre. Another group pointed out that for reluctant readers, pop culture texts offer "a way in," but these teachers, as the one who lectured me earlier, also stated that these texts are still best used as springboards to "real" literature.

* * *

I wish I knew then what I know now, after reading Bring It to Class: Unpacking Pop Culture in Literacy Learning. I wish that back in 2007 and 2008 I had understood the concept of turn-around pedagogies and the literacy of fusion. I wish the three authors of this book had already handed this text to me so that I would have been better equipped to talk about how 21st-century demands, today's "anytime, anywhere" learners, multimodal texts, standards, and home and school literacy practices all intersect, creating nothing less than an educational mashup that clearly reveals the value of using texts that connect—pop culture texts, school texts, and student-created texts. I wish I could share with the AP English teacher at the 2007 NCTE convention and the secondary teachers at the 2008 convention many of the activities offered in Bring It to Class because all students—not just the ones who struggle to read, but all students—will benefit from the critical, evaluative, collaborative, and creative thinking activities in this book.

Margaret Hagood, Donna Alvermann, and Alison Heron-Hruby go beyond offering some ways to bring popular culture texts into a classroom. They challenge our understanding of what it means to read, of what defines something as a text, of what it means to construct meaning—of what culture is. They remind us that in today's world, "attention—not information—is in scarce supply," a sentence that caught me up short and became my cornerstone for constructing meaning throughout the rest of the book. If I agree—and I do—that attention is what is in scarce supply, then I would be smart to wonder how popular culture texts, which already have students' attention, can be a part of the curriculum. The authors would argue, how can it not?

* * *

Recently, Thomas Friedman (2006) announced that the world is flat once again. "In the future," he said, "how we educate our children may prove to be more important than how much we educate them" (p. 301). He is reminding us of a principle that may have faded into the background as we have been pushed by NCLB and other forces toward a type of accountability that is measured by neatly bubbled exams. Yet, in a world of 21st-century demands, we need students who know how to think collaboratively, solve problems, create solutions, share widely, listen intently, and act ethically. We need students who possess literacies that are, as explained by NCTE, "multiple, dynamic, and malleable."

Indeed, we float on the edge of uncharted waters in this flat world, toward barely imagined possibilities for our students and the future they must navigate. The direction we take from here will determine that future and the destinations that await us. If our teaching is flat, our understanding insubstantial, and the experiences we offer students one-dimensional, we will fall into old ways and old results. Bring It to Class offers a "how-to" guide about new ways to educate that offer new results. It helps us develop the multiple, dynamic, and malleable literacies our students need. It is a guide on these uncharted waters of this flat world, one I'm glad to hold close.

—Kylene Beers, Ed.D, senior reading advisor to Secondary Schools Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University; president, National Council of Teachers of English; author, When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do

Reference

Friedman, T. (2006). The World Is Flat (Updated and expanded ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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I really need to get this, but I wonder how the book addresses the lexile gap between many popular teen reads and that of standardized assessments?

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