Inspired by Gratitude

November inspires thoughts of thankfulness and gratitude in a number of ways.  School-wide, we are focusing on the lifeskill of gratitude by writing letters to US military troops.  This activity is near and dear to my heart as my husband serves in the Army National Guard.  He and his fellow soldiers have endured deployments where letters from home were tremendous comfort and source of smiles.

In my search through TEDxYouth talks to share with the 4th grade Student Council group I facilitate, I came across this gem of a young woman who is an inspiration.   I admire her passion, patriotism, and commitment to the explosive moment that created her desire to reach out, and I am truly grateful for her initiative and action.  After showing this talk to the Student Council group this morning, one student's response was "Just, wow."  I agree.

As Veterans Day approaches next week, consider sharing this young woman's message with students, colleagues, friends, or family.  November 11, 2011 is more than just 11-11-11.  It's an opportunity to show gratitude and honor the servicemen and women who have served, past and present, to protect our freedom and ideals.

To connect you or your organization with soldiers actively serving or deployed overseas with the US Military, contact these trusted organizations:
Any Soldier
Adopt a Platoon 

Introducing Our Margin Mascot

Today we welcomed Mr. and Ms. Stick to our Writer's Notebooks.  Mr. Stick is our "margin mascot," an idea shared by Corbett  Harrison at the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Writing Fix website.  Students in my class love to draw, especially comics and cartoons, so Mr. Stick was a big hit today.  In addition to our new daily page writing strategy, students are going to include a Mr. Stick drawing to represent the emotion of the entry.  

We had a lot of fun learning how to draw Mr. Stick and using markers to add a little color to our margin mascot.  Here are a few examples from our daily pages today.

I was delighted with the variety of Mr. and Ms. Sticks that were added to notebooks today.  We took a few minutes and had a gallery walk so students could see one another's interpretations and purpose for Mr. Stick in their margins.   

Today my students felt a freedom and control when given the opportunity to add illustration to their notebooks.  I loved every moment and I can't wait to see how Mr. Stick adds even more personality to our Writer's Notebooks!

Daily Pages

I've had students use a composition notebook as a "writer's notebook" or "journal" for years, but it never seemed to have a focused purpose.  Then a few years ago I discovered Aimee Buckner's book Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook.  Reading through Notebook Know-How, I was immediately drawn to the strategy-based writer's notebook lessons.  Since we use The Sister's CAFE reading strategies model for reading workshop, a strategies approach for writing has made good sense.

One of my favorite strategies from Buckner is the "daily page" to develop writing fluency.  It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like, students write a page a day.  This is not a new idea by any means, but if we're truly going to work with our writing they way that good writers do, my students need to be able to write a substantial entry and have many entries in their notebooks.

So today, I made a pact with my wonderful class of good writers.  We agreed that good writers write more to become better writers, and we all want to become better writers.  They're going to write their daily page each day and I am going to write a blog post each day.  After all, I need to be a good model for my students and this a great challenge for myself as well.

A few kids wondered why they had to write in their notebooks and couldn't they just write a blog post?  Valid question.  We talked about our state standardized test and that they would have a writing prompt and would have a specific amount of time to write an amazing knock-your-socks-off story.  My wonderful writers agreed that daily pages could be good practice.

Together, we set some guidelines for daily pages:

• Write about any topic but stay on topic
• Write with complete sentences, correct spelling and capitalization
• Write varied sentence beginning and different types of sentences
• Write red line to red line (margin to margin) and use all the lines, normal word spacing
• Label each entry with the date and start/end times (we're calculating elapsed time)
• Begin writing your entry at school, but it's okay to finish at home if needed
• Have fun!

Each student signed our "Daily Pages Guidelines" and then began their first daily pages.  There is so much we can teach students about writing through the example of their own writing.  In her book, Aimee Buckner also uses the metaphor of "kneading the notebook."  While my students may feel that writing the daily page is a bit painful this week, it will get easier, the ideas will begin to flow, the conversations about writing will begin, and we will knead our notebooks in a recipe for wonderful writing.

Other favorite resources:
Choice Literacy - subscribe to The Big Fresh newsletter for practical and inspirational literacy ideas
The 2 Sisters -  Daily 5 and CAFE author's website
Writing Fix - the Northern Nevada Writing Project, sign up for the ning site and get an amazing monthly writing lesson delivered to your email inbox each month.

I Need an Intervention!

This afternoon I sat in my classroom, frustrated, staring at files and papers trying to plan for the coming weeks and generally becoming more and more disgruntled.  I began to fall victim to the trap of "do what I did before," but doing what I've always done just isn't the way I do things now.  My philosophy and pedagogy of what my teaching looks like has deeply changed and there's no turning back.  So, my conscience was citing me with offenses this afternoon and it all feels a bit like a rug being pulled out from under my feet.

I need an intervention from old files, cute clipart, and teacher resource books.

Student-centered learning is the goal.  This learning is not always "pretty."  Learning is the journey, the muddy pathway to reach the clearing, the rehearsal before the performance.  While I love the cute clipart at times, and I've had great ideas in years past that I enjoy revisiting with students, I feel convicted to qualify the planning and activities for how the learning takes place.  There is nothing "cookie-cutter" about my students, so there should be nothing "cookie-cutter" about the teaching and learning in our classroom.  Different paths lead to different adventures that may make all the difference.

Change is not easy, or clear, or pretty.  Changing my teaching practice does not come with a cute clipart decorated graphic organizer.  Change insists upon fidelity, perseverance, and whole lot of patience.

On August 1st, I referenced the lyrics from "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked.  I need a refresher:

"Too late for second guesses, to late to go back to sleep.  It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes, and leap.  It's time to try defying gravity..."

Instead of a rug being pulled out from under my feet, I think I'll try defying gravity...

 

Why I Write

         Inspired

               Creative

                      Enthusiastic

The words ebb and flow in ripe tide currents

Changing the directions of my thoughts

Forcing their way to the shore of my fingertips

         Passionate

                     Fearless

                           Exhilarating

Ideas clamoring for attention,

Relentless and delightful in their pursuit.

         Imagine

               Wonder

                      Share

Words written to discover a voice,

One of many, uniting together in crescendo, 

         Connected,

               Collaborating,

                        Community.