To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect with Summer Institute. If you read my first blog post from orientation you can see that I was actually nervous about the class! Now, with one day remaining, I can say with assurance that I am so grateful for this experience. It has singularly been the best professional development experience of which I have ever been a part. Perhaps the largest reason for this is my fellow SI-ers. Each and every person involved in Summer Institute this year possesses such a wealth of knowledge. Their willingness to share this knowledge, and their personal experiences, for the greater good of our group is what made SI so great. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around all that I am taking with me (thank God for my daybook!), let alone accurately communicate it all in one final blog post.
I've never been great at goodbyes. So, if my goodbye is lackluster, know that I am so thankful for you and your friendship, and I can't wait for our reunion!
Friday, July 19, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Day 11 Reflection
How tightly do we hold on to what is ours? Among the first inductees into a child's vocabulary hall-of-fame is "mine". We live in a selfish world. Does that differ when participating in an intellectual community? Do we claim "mine" over our ideas and "makes" as educators and learners? What does this do to our intellectual community? When we share our thinking, don't we all benefit? This got me thinking, in what ways do I encourage and facilitate intellectual sharing among my students?
So I wanted to take inventory of ways in which I am planning on engaging my students in intellectual sharing and combating the "mine" mentality that is so ingrained in their fiber.
1. Reading circle discussions. Every Monday/Tuesday students will spend (roughly) the first 20 minutes meeting with their common reading groups to discuss various ideas surrounding their texts. Additionally, students will-following their weekly discussions-engage in person a Schoology discussion with their classmates. My hopes in doing this will be to allow students to see other students' thinking surrounding reading.
2. Tonya's demo today! I loved the collaborative and tactile nature of her cut and past revision strategy. What a great way to engage student writers in a dialogue with their readers. (I plan to post a digital copy of her demo to this blog post so anyone interested can adapt it for their own classrooms - I'm thinking senior project papers!)
3. Creating a real audience so students have a real purpose for writing. I am excited to jump on board with a TC First Year Writing partnership next year and initiate an inquiry into college readiness. I want to rattle students' thinking and encourage them to allow other ways of thinking about college readiness into their intellectual "mine" sphere.
I would LOVE to hear ways in which you break students' "mine" mentality through collaboration.
AND... Jenny made each of us this amazingly cute mini-daybook cover. How awesome is she?!
So I wanted to take inventory of ways in which I am planning on engaging my students in intellectual sharing and combating the "mine" mentality that is so ingrained in their fiber.
1. Reading circle discussions. Every Monday/Tuesday students will spend (roughly) the first 20 minutes meeting with their common reading groups to discuss various ideas surrounding their texts. Additionally, students will-following their weekly discussions-engage in person a Schoology discussion with their classmates. My hopes in doing this will be to allow students to see other students' thinking surrounding reading.
2. Tonya's demo today! I loved the collaborative and tactile nature of her cut and past revision strategy. What a great way to engage student writers in a dialogue with their readers. (I plan to post a digital copy of her demo to this blog post so anyone interested can adapt it for their own classrooms - I'm thinking senior project papers!)
3. Creating a real audience so students have a real purpose for writing. I am excited to jump on board with a TC First Year Writing partnership next year and initiate an inquiry into college readiness. I want to rattle students' thinking and encourage them to allow other ways of thinking about college readiness into their intellectual "mine" sphere.
I would LOVE to hear ways in which you break students' "mine" mentality through collaboration.
AND... Jenny made each of us this amazingly cute mini-daybook cover. How awesome is she?!
Day 10 Reflection
Wobble. No, I'm not talking about the dance that requires you to shake your bum while simultaneously doing some sort of dance-worthy gesture with your arms. I'm talking about wobbling in your thinking; the area in your thinking where you don't quite stand still because you're not sure if that's your intellectual wish.
As SI-ers we have wobbled so much on a vast array of issues. At times, I fought the wobbling for fear of where it may lead me. Now, as we approach the end of Summer Institute I am so grateful for the wobbling. The wobbling has lead me to step back from my teaching practices to question why I teach the way I do and whether or not my methods are my methods because they are familiar to me and easy to execute or are they my methods because they are best for my students.
At times I took intellectual thoughts that challenged my own to heart, thinking well, I can't receive that, it doesn't mesh with my teaching methods and philosophy. I got uncomfortable. Yet, in further thinking, I needed to get uncomfortable. I needed to be challenged. From that challenge came a rethinking and repurposing of my teaching convictions. I either was more firm in my stance of philosophy and methods or it caused me to question where I stood, wobble, and reposition myself in what is best for the students.
So, thank you to those who helped me wobble. I'm a better teacher because of your influence.
As SI-ers we have wobbled so much on a vast array of issues. At times, I fought the wobbling for fear of where it may lead me. Now, as we approach the end of Summer Institute I am so grateful for the wobbling. The wobbling has lead me to step back from my teaching practices to question why I teach the way I do and whether or not my methods are my methods because they are familiar to me and easy to execute or are they my methods because they are best for my students.
At times I took intellectual thoughts that challenged my own to heart, thinking well, I can't receive that, it doesn't mesh with my teaching methods and philosophy. I got uncomfortable. Yet, in further thinking, I needed to get uncomfortable. I needed to be challenged. From that challenge came a rethinking and repurposing of my teaching convictions. I either was more firm in my stance of philosophy and methods or it caused me to question where I stood, wobble, and reposition myself in what is best for the students.
So, thank you to those who helped me wobble. I'm a better teacher because of your influence.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Day 9 Reflection
Since my inquiry revolves around rhetorical awareness I LOVED that today explore, in so many different ways, audience and purpose! To summarize our day, here is my Day in the Life storify project.
A Day in the Life at UNCC Writing Project Summer Institute 7/15
A Day in the Life at UNCC Writing Project Summer Institute 7/15
Friday, July 12, 2013
Day 8 Reflection
Some thinking surrounding Wendy's demo...
Do I have anything in common with someone who lives halfway around the world? If I say no, am I close minded? If I say yes, am I ignoring nuances of social, historical, cultural, generational context? Is there a correct answer?
I think there are elements of the human condition that cross the multiple boundaries that exist between a mystery person halfway around the world and myself. Take, for example, love. I've experienced multiple variations of love: romantic, sibling, familial, friendship, self-love, even the loss or absence of love. Now, let's look at said mystery person. In some way, shape, or form, he-or she-experiences love. It might be a facet of the love I experience, or it might even simply be the absence of some sort of love. Either way, love holds a place, knowingly or not, in his/her life.
In consideration of theme, there has to be a marriage of these two ideas: universalization and contextualization. Certain elements of the human condition exist no matter who or where you are. A fuller understanding of said elements comes only when the elements can be more closely contextualized.
But, this is just what I believe. You may believe what you choose. And, in the end, we may find ourselves united by the human condition of belief.
Do I have anything in common with someone who lives halfway around the world? If I say no, am I close minded? If I say yes, am I ignoring nuances of social, historical, cultural, generational context? Is there a correct answer?
I think there are elements of the human condition that cross the multiple boundaries that exist between a mystery person halfway around the world and myself. Take, for example, love. I've experienced multiple variations of love: romantic, sibling, familial, friendship, self-love, even the loss or absence of love. Now, let's look at said mystery person. In some way, shape, or form, he-or she-experiences love. It might be a facet of the love I experience, or it might even simply be the absence of some sort of love. Either way, love holds a place, knowingly or not, in his/her life.
In consideration of theme, there has to be a marriage of these two ideas: universalization and contextualization. Certain elements of the human condition exist no matter who or where you are. A fuller understanding of said elements comes only when the elements can be more closely contextualized.
But, this is just what I believe. You may believe what you choose. And, in the end, we may find ourselves united by the human condition of belief.
Day 7 Reflection
Yesterday I experienced the classic student anxiety of public reading. We were handed an excerpt of a piece by Foucault and asked to read portions of the passage out loud to the rest of the class. I quickly counted the people who would read before me and then scanned the text to see if there were any words, names or phrase I might trip over.
Then I thought Is this what my students do?! I'd hate to be the cause of anxiety for them, or any anxiety, surrounding reading. My desire, for every student, is to encourage and foster a safe, comforting, welcoming reading environment. How do I engage students with reading in class while combating the same type of anxiety I felt?
Well...the SI resident experts prepared me for such questioning. Here's what we did. All SI-ers were handed a passage of difficult text; the assumption being that the text will be difficult for everyone in the room. We then took turns reading a line or two of the passage as the reading was passed from person to person. My anxiety melted because I wasn't the only person reading and I benefitted from others tackling words that peaked my concern. Then, together, we all picked one sentence and everyone read the same line in different dramatic representations. In doing so, my anxiety melted.
Today, I gleaned some interesting methods to help my own students avoid reading anxiety. Perhaps the extra confidence boost will even bleed over into their recreational reading. One can hope! :)
Then I thought Is this what my students do?! I'd hate to be the cause of anxiety for them, or any anxiety, surrounding reading. My desire, for every student, is to encourage and foster a safe, comforting, welcoming reading environment. How do I engage students with reading in class while combating the same type of anxiety I felt?
Well...the SI resident experts prepared me for such questioning. Here's what we did. All SI-ers were handed a passage of difficult text; the assumption being that the text will be difficult for everyone in the room. We then took turns reading a line or two of the passage as the reading was passed from person to person. My anxiety melted because I wasn't the only person reading and I benefitted from others tackling words that peaked my concern. Then, together, we all picked one sentence and everyone read the same line in different dramatic representations. In doing so, my anxiety melted.
Today, I gleaned some interesting methods to help my own students avoid reading anxiety. Perhaps the extra confidence boost will even bleed over into their recreational reading. One can hope! :)
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Day 6 Reflection
This morning began with Ashley's demo encompassing a variety of questions toward the ubiquitous nature of technology in our society. For your sanity, and, selfishly, mine, I will spare you my position on the balance of technology in our lives.
This afternoon, Jenny, our resident early childhood montessori guru, presented her demo on creative story telling. Wow! I am embarrassed to admit that my ignorance toward early childhood education led me to believe that there is more "babysitting" and less "educating". Jenny, I'm sorry. I write corrected. My eyes were completely opened even through just a glimpse into the your world. Children as young as 3 have creative minds a desire for expression.
One particular strategy Jenny shared was that of dictation. Essentially, her students (ages 3-6) receive a picture (which she pulls from National Geographic). As Jenny positions herself, on the child's dominant side, with paper and a highlighter, she asks the child what story he/she wants to tell based off of that picture. The child provides a sentence. Jenny repeats it back to the child before writing, and simultaneously sounding out, the sentence. When finished, Jenny repeats the sentence back to the child before prompting the child for more of the story.
So, how does dictation fit in with high school seniors? Well, I think it has its own deserved place. Kendra so wisely pointed out that writing is a social endeavor. (Take this blog, for example.) What if my students, perhaps after brainstorming on a particular prompt/topic/idea, dictate a paragraph or two to another student? In doing so, the student collaboratively creates a written piece. The scribe serves as a sounding board, and revision assistant, in helping the dictator to negotiate organization, clarity, content, grammar, conventions, and so much more. Additionally, the practice may help students overcome their fear of sharing their work, fear that it's "not good enough"; an idea that I cannot quite grasp its origins.
Perhaps we did, in fact, everything we need to know in (and before) kindergarten.
Jenny Formon teaches 3-6 year olds at Charlotte Montessori School in Dilworth.
This afternoon, Jenny, our resident early childhood montessori guru, presented her demo on creative story telling. Wow! I am embarrassed to admit that my ignorance toward early childhood education led me to believe that there is more "babysitting" and less "educating". Jenny, I'm sorry. I write corrected. My eyes were completely opened even through just a glimpse into the your world. Children as young as 3 have creative minds a desire for expression.
One particular strategy Jenny shared was that of dictation. Essentially, her students (ages 3-6) receive a picture (which she pulls from National Geographic). As Jenny positions herself, on the child's dominant side, with paper and a highlighter, she asks the child what story he/she wants to tell based off of that picture. The child provides a sentence. Jenny repeats it back to the child before writing, and simultaneously sounding out, the sentence. When finished, Jenny repeats the sentence back to the child before prompting the child for more of the story.
So, how does dictation fit in with high school seniors? Well, I think it has its own deserved place. Kendra so wisely pointed out that writing is a social endeavor. (Take this blog, for example.) What if my students, perhaps after brainstorming on a particular prompt/topic/idea, dictate a paragraph or two to another student? In doing so, the student collaboratively creates a written piece. The scribe serves as a sounding board, and revision assistant, in helping the dictator to negotiate organization, clarity, content, grammar, conventions, and so much more. Additionally, the practice may help students overcome their fear of sharing their work, fear that it's "not good enough"; an idea that I cannot quite grasp its origins.
Perhaps we did, in fact, everything we need to know in (and before) kindergarten.
Jenny Formon teaches 3-6 year olds at Charlotte Montessori School in Dilworth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)