I stood there. Still. Basking in the early morning sun as the salty water calmly rushed over my ankles with its rhythmic persuasion. I observed...drawn in by the magnitude of the ocean. I saw waves fighting, racing to be the first to tackle the packed-down shoreline; others in no hurry to reach their destination. There were some, even, that appeared to be yearning to collaborate with other waves, jaunting sideways and defying the logic of the current to find their partner. Regardless of their pace and process, each wave left its mark, it's stamp on the land. These marks, like the waves, were distinct and unique, forming a tapestry of individuality that was both beautiful and inspiring. Before I knew it, an hour had passed, and I had done nothing but stand and observe, peacefully enveloped by nature and my own thoughts, realizing that these waves were all around me, reaching the horizon as far as I could see: beyond my reach yet right there for me to hold, to support, to encourage.
Not that I ever needed the ocean to convince me that differentiated instruction is the best way to help all students learn, but the realizations, lessons from the ocean, now washed over me with the force of a thousand PD books on DI or standards based learning--in fact, greater than that force. You see, for some time now, I have been thinking about re-imagining the way I teach, putting the standards at the core and the skills at the forefront. I have been conceptualizing what it would look like to create a structure in which the first month of school is a skills boot camp dedicated to teaching all the major skills that, traditionally, my students would develop slowly over the course of the year. It's sort of the "learning how to swim by just jumping in" philosophy. My frustration over the last few years has been that all of these skills (close reading, academic writing in response to text without a prompt from the teacher, presentation, developing personal voice in student writing, etc.) are so intertwined that I really struggled teaching them in isolation, and, despite my best efforts to keep all of these skills married via my instruction, I feel as if I often times failed--that the traditional model of slowly presenting new skills over the course of the school year made it challenging for me to show students how all of these skills are connected and even overlapping.
Thanks to the ocean's mesmerizing uniqueness, I now see why I have struggled so greatly. In the model in which I slowly present new skills over the course of time, the arbitrary nature of the school's calendar is what dictates the progression of skill instruction, and while we all do our best to differentiate in that model, the calendar still is the foundation for that plan with the skills and students being the next level of consideration. Yet, these waves know no calendar. They are beholden to nothing but their uniqueness and desires. So, if I were to give my students all the skills they will need up front (providing all the discipline-specific terms, strategies, and maneuvers) and make the rigor and difficulty of the text and task the elements that slowly change over the course of the year, each individual student would be free to follow the path of his or her own wave in meeting the standards. Assignments and time with the material will vary by student based on where he or she is in relation to mastery of each skill. Let's be honest, the discipline of English has a wide-range of skills, and, for the most part, each student is inherently strong in some and weaker in others. This model will allow each student to spend the time needed developing their weakest skills without "wasting" time on skills they have already mastered.
Here is the catch: I don't know if this will work or not. But I do know that the traditional model of instruction could use a face lift--at least in my class. I plan on working hard to ensure all my students have the best learning experience possible, and that is no different than every year I have ever taught. However, this year, the calendar will not be the foundation of that learning experience, their learning will be! I am sure I will fail. I am sure I will learn a ton. I am sure I will have a great time along the way. But most importantly, I am sure that in trying new things, I will become a better teacher. So I ask: what new things will you try this year?
Friday, July 25, 2014
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Teaching Literacy in 140 Characters: part II
Last November, after returning from the NCTE and CEL National Conventions, I wrote a piece called Teaching Literacy in 140 Characters. In it I argued that we, as educators, must start to teach writing in the Twitter space, and, if we don't, we are not only ignoring the future but actually ignoring the present reality of our students and world. However, when I wrote that piece, I had not fully immersed my students and class in the digital world that is Twitter, but now over a year later, I am here to share all that I learned from actually teaching my students to write for Twitter and using it on a daily basis for my class (check us out at #bronke2nd) each student had his/her own Twitter account for class). So, here are my top five takeaways. I hope that they can be helpful to you on your journey to getting your students (or even just yourself) to write in the Twitter world.
1. Twitter = the F word:
No, it is not what you think. While there were times when I wanted to curse technology for not working, that is not the F word to which I am referring here. The F word to which I am referring here is even better: FORMATIVE assessment. Let's be honest, collecting this sort of data in a fast, easy manner on a daily basis is something for which we all yearn (especially about student reading of text). Well, Twitter did it for me. Each night the class had a reading assignment, they also had to Tweet out what they would normally text-mark in their books (most did both--marked it in text and tweeted it). We called it "Tweet-marking." I quickly realized that if I started my day by reviewing all that they Tweet-marked the night before, I had my lesson plan for the day. I knew the parts of that reading that they clearly did understand and those that needed clarification (without having to collect all their books or give a reading quiz). I knew the parts of the chapter that they really enjoyed and wanted to discuss, and I knew the parts of that didn't really excite them. I knew which students needed help with each specific learning goal for our reading, and I could create my base groups for that day based on that data. IT TOTALLY CHANGED HOW I LESSON PLANNED. Every lesson plan was now adapted based on real-time formative data. I must now be honest: when I first got my class into the Twitter space, I had not thought about this benefit; however, I now cannot imagine teaching without having my students Tweet-mark and getting that formative data daily.
2. Writing in 140 characters isn't easy:
We struggled, together...a lot. Learning how to capture deeply intellectual thoughts about rigorous and challenging texts wasn't easy. For me the challenge was making sure that Tweet-marking didn't push students away from making direct reference to the text (obviously a major goal of all English classes). So, we had to get creative. Students started taking pictures of the quote from the book on which they wanted to comment. Then they could post that picture and still have 140 characters to comment on it. This became a very valuable tool. But the reality is, like with any sort of writing, the more we did it, the better we got at it. Students really did become quite skilled at talking, in a very deeply discipline-specific ways, about literature in 140 characters; however, it didn't happen overnight. So, my advice here: stay the course and help them fight through the frustration. It will be worth it. And, if you help them see the parallels, you will also see your students become more succinct (and less needlessly verbose) in their own "regular writing" (whatever that means in the 21st century--as if writing for Twitter isn't regular to the students or society today).
3. Students enjoying reading? What???:
Regardless of your view on the balance between student choice vs. assigned core novels, the goal (and probably biggest challenge for English teachers) is to get students to enjoy reading, to become, hopefully, life-long readers. Well, I cannot sit here and say that all students enjoyed every reading assignment or that I know for sure that I helped produce 28 new life-long readers, what I can say is that, by and large, it was clear that students enjoyed the reading because of Twitter. When reading became a social act (and let's be honest, isn't that why the concept of the book club still plays such a prominent role in society today?), students found much greater joy in the task. The ability to "talk" with others while reading--ask questions, challenge one another, or just share a favorite passage--opened up a new enjoyment that many students had not previously had with reading.
4. Engagement = classroom management
"Oh my...but you can't have students with their cell phones out in class; all they will do is check their fantasy football lineups, text their boy/girl friends, or be searching Facebook." I get that thought/fear--I do, but we are not a 1:1 school, yet. So, I had no choice if I wanted Twitter in my class. And the reality is, that fear is just not valid. When used in meaningful ways that allowed things like having students from different base groups interact, or allowing the outer circle of a fishbowl discussion to chat, or surveying my entire PLN on a specific English topic/questions, students were engaged, on task, and super productive. In fact, as I reflect back on it, the times they were not engaged with Twitter via their cell phones in class were the times when I didn't structure the day's activity in a purposeful enough way thereby basically inviting them to check out other content on their phone. So, if you have concerns about the classroom management piece, reflect on your lesson plan and the purpose of Twitter during the class first. It will work great if you have a targeted and specific use that helps bring discussions and content to life in ways that aren't possible without it.
5. Learning and fun...say it isn't so:
I know that there is a school of thought out there about the use of technology in the classroom that, loosely summed up, believes that technology should never be used simply because it is fun--that if it just to add bells and whistles, don't do it. While I don't totally agree or disagree with that, I can say that I learned that Twitter made class more fun. It made homework more fun. It made discussions more fun. It made learning more fun. I don't know about you, but I like having fun. Whether or not it directly impacted actual student learning, I don't know (however I would strongly argue that it did--just don't have the data to prove it yet); however, I do know that fun is good and that, all too often, there isn't enough fun in learning. So, I challenge you to add some more fun into your students' learning experience...add Twitter to your class.
1. Twitter = the F word:
No, it is not what you think. While there were times when I wanted to curse technology for not working, that is not the F word to which I am referring here. The F word to which I am referring here is even better: FORMATIVE assessment. Let's be honest, collecting this sort of data in a fast, easy manner on a daily basis is something for which we all yearn (especially about student reading of text). Well, Twitter did it for me. Each night the class had a reading assignment, they also had to Tweet out what they would normally text-mark in their books (most did both--marked it in text and tweeted it). We called it "Tweet-marking." I quickly realized that if I started my day by reviewing all that they Tweet-marked the night before, I had my lesson plan for the day. I knew the parts of that reading that they clearly did understand and those that needed clarification (without having to collect all their books or give a reading quiz). I knew the parts of the chapter that they really enjoyed and wanted to discuss, and I knew the parts of that didn't really excite them. I knew which students needed help with each specific learning goal for our reading, and I could create my base groups for that day based on that data. IT TOTALLY CHANGED HOW I LESSON PLANNED. Every lesson plan was now adapted based on real-time formative data. I must now be honest: when I first got my class into the Twitter space, I had not thought about this benefit; however, I now cannot imagine teaching without having my students Tweet-mark and getting that formative data daily.
2. Writing in 140 characters isn't easy:
We struggled, together...a lot. Learning how to capture deeply intellectual thoughts about rigorous and challenging texts wasn't easy. For me the challenge was making sure that Tweet-marking didn't push students away from making direct reference to the text (obviously a major goal of all English classes). So, we had to get creative. Students started taking pictures of the quote from the book on which they wanted to comment. Then they could post that picture and still have 140 characters to comment on it. This became a very valuable tool. But the reality is, like with any sort of writing, the more we did it, the better we got at it. Students really did become quite skilled at talking, in a very deeply discipline-specific ways, about literature in 140 characters; however, it didn't happen overnight. So, my advice here: stay the course and help them fight through the frustration. It will be worth it. And, if you help them see the parallels, you will also see your students become more succinct (and less needlessly verbose) in their own "regular writing" (whatever that means in the 21st century--as if writing for Twitter isn't regular to the students or society today).
3. Students enjoying reading? What???:
Regardless of your view on the balance between student choice vs. assigned core novels, the goal (and probably biggest challenge for English teachers) is to get students to enjoy reading, to become, hopefully, life-long readers. Well, I cannot sit here and say that all students enjoyed every reading assignment or that I know for sure that I helped produce 28 new life-long readers, what I can say is that, by and large, it was clear that students enjoyed the reading because of Twitter. When reading became a social act (and let's be honest, isn't that why the concept of the book club still plays such a prominent role in society today?), students found much greater joy in the task. The ability to "talk" with others while reading--ask questions, challenge one another, or just share a favorite passage--opened up a new enjoyment that many students had not previously had with reading.
4. Engagement = classroom management
"Oh my...but you can't have students with their cell phones out in class; all they will do is check their fantasy football lineups, text their boy/girl friends, or be searching Facebook." I get that thought/fear--I do, but we are not a 1:1 school, yet. So, I had no choice if I wanted Twitter in my class. And the reality is, that fear is just not valid. When used in meaningful ways that allowed things like having students from different base groups interact, or allowing the outer circle of a fishbowl discussion to chat, or surveying my entire PLN on a specific English topic/questions, students were engaged, on task, and super productive. In fact, as I reflect back on it, the times they were not engaged with Twitter via their cell phones in class were the times when I didn't structure the day's activity in a purposeful enough way thereby basically inviting them to check out other content on their phone. So, if you have concerns about the classroom management piece, reflect on your lesson plan and the purpose of Twitter during the class first. It will work great if you have a targeted and specific use that helps bring discussions and content to life in ways that aren't possible without it.
5. Learning and fun...say it isn't so:
I know that there is a school of thought out there about the use of technology in the classroom that, loosely summed up, believes that technology should never be used simply because it is fun--that if it just to add bells and whistles, don't do it. While I don't totally agree or disagree with that, I can say that I learned that Twitter made class more fun. It made homework more fun. It made discussions more fun. It made learning more fun. I don't know about you, but I like having fun. Whether or not it directly impacted actual student learning, I don't know (however I would strongly argue that it did--just don't have the data to prove it yet); however, I do know that fun is good and that, all too often, there isn't enough fun in learning. So, I challenge you to add some more fun into your students' learning experience...add Twitter to your class.
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