• Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog

life, love of learning, authentic learning

2/26/2014

0 Comments

 
I am in my writing studio answering emails, checking Twitter and Facebook, writing on one of my current 4 WIPs (Writing works in progress including two adult fiction novels and two Young Adult Novels).  Yes, I need to focus.

We had students respond to a video about how sometimes they need to "disconnect", and we asked them why that was important.

They were brilliant. 

My classroom windows face south and west, and there is farmland expanse between my windows and the mountains.  It is the perfect spot, over the shoulder of my computer, for me to stop and look out, and for me to focus, really focus, on the absurd beauty that is before me.  

I am too connected.  I'm almost addicted to the following:  information, research, social media that teaches me about foreign policy, stupid jokes, cute kittens,  programs and apps that make teaching more streamlined, give students immediate feedback, crazy wind and weather maps that tickle my weather-geeky mentality. 

And, not to mention, connects me with my family.  I'm there in their lives through photos, posts, and through what they share, giving me insight into who they are by what they value.  Like that.  Like that fast.

And I can write.  And research what I write.  And Improve what I write.  And read what writer's write about what they write.  

It's so much. 

Today, we had students share their presentations on active listening.  The purpose was to educate a class who didn't get to have the unit on active listening.  Their audience was that class.  Their modality?  Their choice.

Students presented their iMovies, Keynote...you name it.  Their choice.  

I stood in the back of three of our classes, walls opened, as students opened up their iPads and presented their work on three big screens, in front of 90 12-13 year olds.  The students watched each presentation with avid interest.  It was their peers' work, and they were engaged.

I got choked up.  I got teary.  For 21+ years I have wanted, envisioned, believed in an authentic learning environment that enabled students to soar.  

It's here.  It's now.  

I'm so lucky to be teaching still, to be teaching now.  

I stop throughout the day to gaze out my window at the mountains, the raptors that sit in the trees right outside my window, staring into the neighboring farmer's field. My husband and I hike up our property many evenings to watch the sunset.  

Our students spoke about how disconnecting was about connecting, really connecting, with friends, family, and real life.  I'm thinking we all just need to keep learning from each other, and most especially, learning from our students.  I think they get it, much more than we do.

Up next: How disconnecting will help your eyesight, and how I'm listening to my students with a different ear.


0 Comments

Googledocs and the "D" word

2/23/2014

0 Comments

 
Googledocs and The “D” word



Done.  I do not allow my students to use the “D” word about their writing.  I have instilled in them that they are never done.  I have told them that they can use that word if they get a publishing contract for something they’ve written.  We use expressions like, “I’m putting it aside for a while because I feel like I’ve done all I can to make it as good as I can for now.”  And, “I am no longer passionate about this, so I’m putting it aside,” and “I’m submitting this part for you to evaluate because it’s the best example of…”.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly students acquire class language.  They love repeating those phrases.  It’s like class language is a special secret code.



The other day, a student who came new to us during the second semester approached me with the following question:  “Ms. Cribby, I’m done with my writing.  What do I do now?”  A few nearby students stopped what they were doing and looked at me, round-eyed.



The new student picked upon their reaction, and I smiled at her and explained, with a slew of apologies, the basics of the writing process we used.  Her reaction is one that never ceases to amaze me.  She grinned and said, “Oh, great.”



I spend months setting up the process of writer’s workshop, and to have new students embrace the idea immediately always stops me in my tracks.



I have a few theories on why students like the idea of never being done with their writing.  I know as a writer, that I like the idea of my WIP (work in progress), but I also like the accomplishment of being “done.” However, my first “finished” novel (unpublished), was “done” about ten times, and now, it’s a work I have set aside, for now.   When and if I ever publish one of my novels, I know I might use that “D” word.



It occurred to me the other day, watching my students’ reaction to my new student’s question, that my students embrace this idea of not being done so much more readily and completely now more than ever.  So, what’s different?  I have been teaching basically the same model of writer’s workshop for twenty years(of course, I’ve tweaked it every year).  What’s different is that my students write on Googledocs.



Revising isn’t writing one draft, making notes all over it and then rewriting it.  Students are able to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite, and they don’t feel like they’ve done more work. They’re doing far more work on their writing than ever, but it doesn’t feel like labor anymore.  My students are far more open to feedback when it’s part of the dynamics of their writing.  My feedback and their writing isn’t static.



Sure, you can look at hand-written work and give feedback, and students can make changes.  Only the most intrepid writers though, would make real changes.  That process would take far more time though that now can be used in making even more changes.



Yesterday I was evaluating student’s writing on a compare/contrast essay.  I had tons of emails and responses from my students to my comments throughout the day.   Nearly every student took my feedback and made changes even though we were, in that point, “done for now” with that assignment.



There is a time and place for pen and paper.  From my perspective, drafting and crafting writing, for the purpose of improvement, is best done digitally.  I could go on about the increased engagement of using computers to write, and I could go on about how much more quickly students can improve their writing.  I could go on about class procedures that allow me to give tons more feedback in far less time.



My big aha came yesterday, though.  Students wanted to improve their work, which they’d already turned in, based on my feedback.  Students are feeling more ownership with their writing.  Again, I could speculate and theorize.  The bottom line is, it’s working.





On a completely different subject, I still haven’t written about that day we lost Wifi and the wonders that came out of that.  I also want to share some of the 8 million thoughts I’ve had about the ubiquity of teaching and learning using technology.  I also want to share some about my learning curve.  I also want to share why I’m so exhausted but loving teaching more now than ever.  I have to get back to evaluating essays though.



Up next:  who knows.





















0 Comments

    Author


    7th grade language arts teacher at Westview Middle School in the St. Vrain Valley School District

    Old dog learning new tricks

    writer of fact and fiction

    educator of middle schoolers and self

    cat lover

    Archives

    February 2019
    September 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly