Flashback 1982

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this space for me to share my corner of the world.

Eight jelly donuts.  To all of you these three words have no importance or significance whatsoever.  You may not even like jelly donuts.

For me, these three little words hold so much laughter and so many memories.  You may think that is quite odd.  I would too.

Eight jelly donuts, or more affectionately called the EJDs, are my high school group of friends.  Yes, there is a story behind that name, and when I told some of my colleagues about how we arrived at the name, they were shocked.  They couldn't believe that I would do something like that.

The eight of us were behind many pranks using jelly donuts.  My favorite memory is making a banner for our homecoming game that said, "EJDs say smear 'em!"  That pretty much explains it all.

Several weeks ago, we had a reunion of sorts.  The eight of us got together for a weekend, as we do every couple of years.  

We laughed until we cried, and then laughed some more.  

We ate until we were stuffed, and then ate some more.

We stayed up late, and got up early.  

We soaked in every single minute of our time together.

The best part of these weekends together is that time seems to stand still.  We always pick up right where we left off.  The only thing that really changes is the topic of some of our conversations.  We have gone from having babies, to busy mom schedules, to needing reading glasses, to sending kids off to college, to being grandmas, to colonoscopies and menopause!

This time, two of my friends decided it would be fun to recreate our senior prom picture.  They gathered up prom dresses from their own girls and from friends of theirs.  Can you just imagine 50-something year olds trying on prom dresses that really belong on 16-18 year old young ladies?  

This is one of the many times where we laughed until we cried, but we had so much fun trying to zip up those dresses!  

So may I present to you Prom Night 1982 in the year of 2016!

Reflection

Digilit Sunday

Today I am participating in Digital Learning Sunday with Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche.  This week Margaret has encouraged us to write about reflection.

Today, September 11th, seems to be the perfect day for reflection.  I, as I am sure all of you, remember exactly what I was doing the day of the terrorist attack.  I was a stay-at-home mom at the time.  Megan was a 3rd grader, and Ethan was in pre-school. My sister-in-law was staying at my in-laws who lived next door.  She came running over, telling me to turn on the television.  And I was glued to it the rest of the day and into the night.

Our world has been forever changed.  During those next few days, months, and even years, many people reflected on our country's patriotism and our faith in each other, our country and our God.  Reflection came to the forefront through this tragedy.

As a teacher, reflection is as routine as planning lessons.  It is a part of the daily process.  As a writer, reflection is a common thread woven throughout my writing.  It's what I do.

These beginning weeks of school, I have come to realize that many of my students do not know what true reflection is.  Many of them can write opinions, can summarize text and answer text based questions, but writing how they are affected or what they learned through an experience or by reading a text, escapes some of them.  

I have to ask myself, is this a product of the testing culture?  Are we stifling students' ability to connect with a text? Are we giving them a chance to express emotions when reading a text or to write how this reading has affected them?  Are we asking them to think beyond the evidence?  Is prompt writing so ingrained in them, that reflection is foreign to them?

Or have we, as teachers, not taught them how to reflect and given them the opportunity to try it out.

These are questions I am reflecting on as I learn more about my students as writers.  But I don't want to wait for a tragedy to create reflective writers.

I assign an article of the week each week.  Part of the assignment is some type of writing, mostly standard-based. This week after reading and studying examples, they are to write a reflection paragraph (we are starting slow).  This will be their first one, so I have to keep in mind this piece is a benchmark and my goal is to see them grow as writers.

I plan to move into digital reflection through blogging, Padlet, and Google Slides.  Finding an outlet for reflection that meets their needs will be a key part in motivating them. 

I know I have lots of teaching and modeling to do, and I know they need lots of practice.  

I hope to use my own reflections from reading Katherine Bomer's new book, The Journey is Everything to help them become writers who better understand themselves, each other, and the world in which we live.  

To me, that is the essence of reflection.
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Blessings - Celebrate #17

Each week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week.

A person is blessed when they have an abundance of celebrations.

I am blessed to work in a school with a team of teachers who make me laugh. Every. Single. Day.

I am blessed to have administrators who treat teachers with respect when they voice their concerns.

I am blessed to have people who believe in me and in my writing. 

I am blessed to work in a school who lets me share my literacy life on our weekly morning show.

I am blessed to have a son who is thinking...just thinking...about a major.

I am blessed to have a daughter who experiences the joy of being a teacher.

I am blessed!

A 1971 Writer's Notebook

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this space for me to share my corner of the world.

Last week a former student walked into my room and said, "Mrs. Eck, I know you like old things, and I thought you might like this."  She handed me an old journal.

"Where did you get this?"  I asked her.

"I found it in an old abandoned house in my neighborhood."

Upon further inspection, I noticed the pages, brown and brittle with the passage of time, but on each page, the writer captured the finest details of his day, recorded with neat penmanship and written with a black marker.  Every single day was recorded.

Anyone who blogs, especially those who slice, knows the power of a story.  We know that stories are all around us, and we know everyone has a story to tell.  

As I read through the pages, I began to wonder what stories this journal held.  

I found out his name was Chauncey Carr, and he lived in Louisville, Kentucky and here in Vincennes, Indiana.  

I believe he had a close relationship with his mother because he frequently wrote letters to her, and on Mother's Day he sent her $5.00.  She must have lived in my hometown, yet he traveled quite extensively - many trips to Louisville, Evansville, Cincinnati, Terre Haute, and New York City.  Again, recording all of his travels and collecting artifacts and ephemera which were carefully glued into the journal.

At some point he lived at the YMCA and "sunbathed on the rooftop."  He spoke about his quiet evenings in his room and the people who came to visit with him.

He listed his meals - what he ate, with whom he ate, and where he ate.  I assume that because he lived at the YMCA, he ate most of his meals out because he listed the cafeterias and the restaurants.  

His mother regularly sent food with him because when he would return from a trip home, he mentioned that he had a "quiet meal, food from home, in my room".  I know he enjoyed a "Big Boy (whatever that is) and pecan pie at Frisch's", and he must have made a mean Italian meatloaf when he visited home.

He was a reader!  He recorded when he finished books in the daily pages and kept a running list in the back.  He favored Agatha Christie and shopped frequently at used book stores.

To many people, this journal would be considered junk or trash.  I consider it a treasure.  He must have been a disciplined writer to record his life each and every day.

In one entry, he mentions a family that I knew from my childhood.  He says he took James "Digger" Foster to a department store and bought him a cap.  He also mentions James' sister, Rhonda on her 5th birthday.  James and I went to elementary school together, and we would have been seven years old at the time.

I would love to find out more about Chauncey.  I imagine the two of us sitting on a porch, he telling the stories in a voice like Morgan Freeman, and I listening to his every word.

He never mentions any family other than his mother.  I wonder how old he was when he lived here?  Did he pass away here?  Is he buried here?

I have always said I am a notebook wanna-be.  Seeing this notebook is simply inspirational.

Book Shout

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this space for me to share my corner of the world.

“Never underestimate 

the power of a great book 

in the hands of a teacher 

who knows how to use it” 

~Steven L. Layne

Any good reading teacher knows the power of a book.

A great teacher knows how to use it.

I believe in these words by Steven Layne with all of my heart.  His words are in my email signature line because I want my world to know I live, breathe and believe in the power of these words.

Many of us have the opportunity to talk about books in our classrooms.  Many of these book talks are extensions from our online communities.  We know that when teachers read kid lit and talk books with our students, 

we share our passion,  

we foster a love of reading.

we create readers.

Wednesday, I have the wonderful opportunity to take book talks to a new level.  I start a new segment on our morning show which is written, produced, and broadcasted by students.  

My segment is called "CMS Book Shout," and I will be sharing books with over 600 students each week.  That is a reading teacher's dream.

Below is part of my script for the first show.

Many people ask me why I read kid lit.  Although I have many answers, I would like to share one of those with you today.  

I read kid lit because it helps me to be a better teacher.  Now you may be wondering just how that happens.  

You see, when I read a book about a kid whose parents are going through a divorce, I understand you better.

When I read a book about a kid who feels different, I understand you better.

or when a kid is bullied

or when a kid’s parent is dealing with addiction or is in jail

or when a kid loses someone they love, 

I understand you better.

When I read a book about a kid who accomplishes a goal, 

or makes the team

or overcomes a fear

I get to celebrate with you because I understand what it took for you to get to that point.

But this understanding doesn’t just work for me as a reading teacher.  It works for ALL teachers, including math and science and health and PE teachers, and even principals and counselors and cafeteria workers and custodians.  When we read books with kids as the main characters, we understand all of you and what you are going through just a little bit better.

But here is the best part - this level of understanding can even work for YOU.

Just imagine what could happen if we took the time to read a book and learn what other students are going through.  If we create a culture of understanding and acceptance by reading,

we could become a better school.

a better community,

a better world.

That, my friends, is the power of books.  And that is something worth shouting about.

A Little Note - Celebrate #16

Each week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week.

Last week I celebrated being unplugged for an extended time.  I thought maybe writing about it would bring me back.

It didn't.

You know how it feels when you have not seen or been around someone, and you feel that you can't go back because it won't be the same?  Like their life continued without you?  When you do, you stumble on your words because everything feels "uncomfortable."

It did.

I feel scared to write again.  I see my communities of online friends continuing with their writing and reading lives, and because I have been absent for so long, I no longer feel "comfortable" being a part of them.

I don't.

Just now, I had my computer open, begging for the words to come.  Wanting to write a celebration post, to reconnect with those people who have meant so much to me.

They didn't.

Just now, I received a direct message on Twitter that said, "Hi! I was thinking about you." It was from Loralee from This and That.  When she first started blogging, I sent her the Sunshine Award to encourage her and to welcome her to the blogging community.  I knew what it felt like to be a part of something much bigger than myself, and I wanted to share that.

I did.

If she only knew how much I needed this small message at this exact moment.  I don't think it was a coincidence that she sent me that note, and I don't think it was a coincidence that these are the words on her last post:

A simple little note can lighten
someone's load and lift a heart!

- Renee Swope

It did.

Thank you Loralee!

Unplugged - Celebrate #15

Each week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week.

Today I feel as if I am a stranger in a place that once was so familiar.  A place where I could share and celebrate and think and wonder and laugh and cry.

But it also became a place where I felt over-committed and tired and empty.  I took a much needed break and abandoned my routine of blogging and writing.  My small writing break stretched into days and weeks and now months, something which wasn't intentional, but much needed.  

I tried to come back but I just wasn't ready yet.  I still needed more time to figure out why I write, where I wanted my writing to go and who I am as a writer.

Then school started two weeks ago, and as I began to plan my writing lessons, I felt like an impostor, a phony.   I became someone who says she writes but has rarely opened a notebook or picked up a pen in two months.

I strongly believe that in order to teach writing effectively, one must write.  Realizing the day had come when I needed to begin writing again, I picked up my pen.  I opened my notebook.  And the words and ideas flowed onto the page as if no time had passed.  

During these two months, I learned that sometimes we need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and unplug ourselves.  And that is perfectly OK.

Realizing I "still work" gives me reason to celebrate today.

Have a wonderful week 

and may you find many celebrations along the way!

"Introduce Yourself" with Google Slides

Digilit Sunday

Today I am participating in Digital Learning Sunday with Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche.  This week Margaret has encouraged us to write about preparing for a new school year.

Last Thursday I began my 10th year of teaching, and I still get excited to greet a new group of students and wonder about all the magic that the new year holds.  

This year's students have a special label - "the students I abandoned."  

Two years ago I moved from the elementary level to the middle school level, and these are the students I would have had, had I stayed in 4th grade.  That spring I invited all of the third graders up to my classroom, and we had a wax museum where my current students became the person they read in a biography.  We talked about what it was like in 4th grade, and I told them all how excited I was to have them next year.

And then I left.

I look forward to finally being their teacher this year.  

I have spent a lot of time this summer learning about Google Classroom and all the amazing things I can do with this technology.  After attending a conference in June, I wrote a post and had teachers share their summer learning on Google Slides.  It was a fun way for me to try it out and connect with others.

This week I am using Google Slides with my students to introduce themselves to the class.  They will all have a slide in a presentation where they will tell three things about themselves and take and post a picture.  I will then play it for parents during our Back to School Night in a couple of weeks. 

If you use Google Classroom and have never been to Alice Keeler's website, I highly urge you to go.  Here is a link which will take you to the Google Slide template I used.  The best part is that it is all set up for you.  Just copy it, and you are ready to start your own Google Slides presentation with your students.

I am so excited to get back to school, to get back to blogging after taking the month of July off, and to get back to reading, writing, and teaching.

Let the school year begin.

Singing a New Song

I know with many of my posts I am just preaching to the choir because many of my readers and I share the same beliefs.  This post is no different.  As Donalyn  Miller often says, "You preach to the choir because you want the choir to be loud."

But what about those teachers who do not know how to sing?

Last year I was having a conversation with an elementary teacher about independent reading in my classroom.  I teach in a district that uses Accelerated Reader, but she knows I do not like the program.  She asked me "If you don't do AR, how do you get kids to read?"

That's when I realized this teacher is one of those who did not know how to sing. Sadly, I think many more are just like her.  They have become so dependent on a program, they no longer remember "the words" or maybe even have a voice.

Today I am answering that question with a simplistic, yet multi-faceted answer.

By living a literate life.

1. I read the books my students read so I am better prepared to recommend titles to them.  Building reading relationships with students is built upon my knowledge of books.  Throughout the school year, our relationships move from teacher to student, to reader to reader.  They trust me to give them suggestions, and they trust our conversations.
2. I share my reading life.  I set a yearlong challenge for myself, and they see when I struggle with a book or struggle to find time to read.  Students get to know my preferences, and they know when I laugh, when I cry and when I abandon a book.
3. I have a well-stocked classroom library where books are within the reach of my students.  School libraries are essential to developing a reading culture, but quickly handing and suggesting books to students "in the moment" is even more important.  
4. I talk about books.  I talk about the books I am reading, I talk about the books they are reading, and they talk about the books they are reading.  Reading is a social activity, and it deserves a place at the discussion table.
5. I value independent reading.  I give my students time each day in class to read books of their choice.  I have 48 minute periods, but those 10 minutes we read have become nonnegotiable  I have this quote by Donalyn Miller posted outside my room.

A place where "all readers are valued

and all reading is valuable." 

It is not a program that creates readers.  It is the teacher who lives a literate life.  This past year my 100 students, which is one half of a grade level, read over 2,400 books. We read more books than each of the 7th or 8th grade classes.  We did it without a program.  

Because I know I am preaching to the choir, my goal is for you to share this with a teacher who has forgotten how to sing.  Teach them the words to a new song, so our choir can lift our voices for everyone to hear.

Our students deserve it.

#cyberPD: DIY Literacy - Week One

This summer I am participating in #cyberPD, an online book talk, with an amazing community of educators.  We read, respond and share our learning with each other. The summer's book is DIY Literacy Teaching Tools for Differentiation, Rigor, and Independence by Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts.  To learn the basics about #cyberPD visit Cathy's blog, Reflect and Refine.  It's not too late to join us!

Chapter One:  Extending Our Reach

In this chapter Kate and Maggie identify three obstacles we face when teaching our students.  These obstacles are memory, rigor, and differentiation. Our students struggle with remembering all of what we are teaching them. Learning is hard, and sometimes this hard work gets in the way of learning. Our classrooms are full of different learning styles and abilities, and sometimes those students' needs are not being met.

But the beauty of this chapter lies in the answer - "Teaching tools can be...the seemingly simple things that cause great positive change" (3).

I use many of these tools already, but Kate and Maggie have shown me how I can tweak them to help my students "become more powerful, independent readers and writers of a variety of texts".  Don't we all want these "powerful assistants" in our classrooms?

They give three reasons to use teaching tools with our students:
1. Make teacher clear
2. Bring big ideas and goals to life
3. Help learning stick

Simple tools...positive change. 

Chapter Two:  An Introduction to Teaching Tools

Teaching Charts - I love the label of "teaching charts" instead of anchor charts which is what I have always called them.  Looking back at my charts, I use them more as repertoire charts, or a list of strategies, rather than process charts which take a larger skill and break it down into the steps the students need to master that skill.

Demonstration Notebooks - Once again, this is one of those simple things that I think will make a huge difference in my teaching.  To have interactive lessons at my fingertips will be powerful as a teacher.  I have started a list of lessons I want to include, but would love to hear or even see what others are including in their demonstration notebooks.  

Micro-progressions of Skills - Personally, I think this tool will be the most difficult for me.  I know I will struggle to clearly define the three levels of work.  This tool is one I will certainly be looking for examples from all of you and the hashtag #DIYLiteracy.  In the bonus chapter, Kate and Maggie suggest "never teach alone," and that is one piece of advice I intend to heed. 

Bookmarks - I use several bookmarks in my classroom, but all are pre-made and copied for students.  Lightbulb moment -- Letting them make the bookmarks themselves will "create space for them to be self-directed and reflective on the teaching happening in the classroom."  Again, a simple tool for powerful learning.

Bonus Chapter:  How Do I Find (and Write) Strategies for Teaching Tools?

For me, this chapter was the Jackpot!  When I read this book the first time, I remember thinking to myself, "This is all great, but where do I find all of the strategy steps to include in the making of these tools?"  Then, as if they heard my question, Kate and Maggie wrote the bonus chapter!  I find that in my own teaching, I tell the strategy more than I teach the strategy in a clear way for students to use independently and to transfer to other work.

I know I need to do this strategy work for myself.  I need to determine "the what + the how + the why" with many strategies in order for this work to be successful in my classroom.

My personal call to action from week one:

1. Think about how I can better use these tools in my classroom, especially the micro-progressions and the demonstration notebooks.
2. Determine strategies I want my students to clearly understand and be able to do.
3. Find or create examples of learning progressions.

The information in this book is powerful, but just reading the book is pointless if I am not doing the work myself.  I love how Julieanne shares her learning with us by creating her own strategy work with the book Pax.  She has truly set the bar for my summer learning, and I encourage you to read her post.

Now, it is time to get to work!