Top 10 Reasons to enroll in the Seven Valley Writing Project Summer Institute, by Kelley

Top 10 Reasons to enroll in the Seven Valley Writing Project Summer Institute

10. you can take part in lively, thought-provoking discussions

9. you become familiar with professional terminology such as BTFU and “pain in the ass”

8. you learn interesting facts, like Liv Tyler’s dad was in some band

7. you can enjoy music, mayhem, and mashugana

6. your fear of math may transform into fun with math

5. you have the freedom to free write

4. you create some useful demos, and steal some useful demos

3. you meet some great people

2. great stuff happens in writing group, and whatever happens in writing group stays in writing group

1.  you will witness nervousness blooming into beauty at the Blue Frog

Kelley's mission

My Mission Statement:

I am a teacher who values lifelong learning, not simply for the sake of acquiring knowledge, but with the purpose of using it and sharing it. As we share our knowledge, we also grow. I strive for students to thrive. I strive to instill in students an intrinsic joy of learning, of reading, of writing, of math, of science, and exploring their world. I attempt to treat all students and colleagues with respect and kindness. My mission, as I tell my students, is to do everything within my power to “help you become your best you.”

Burning Question Final Reflection by Bird

I entered Summer Institute with a multitude of questions. How can I become more technologically savvy? How can I engage my students more? What is wrong with my curriculum? How can I stop feeling so frustrated with myself and with my students? How can I learn about the profession of teaching through a philosophy that reflects my beliefs? How can I learn some of the professional vocabulary that I have never been exposed to so that I sound like I know what I am talking about? I wanted the common language that all teachers use to discuss theory and practice. This was a lot more than just one burning question.

I began by trying to narrow down these questions by trying to find commonalities between the topics and finding what was being answered through the curriculum of Summer Institute, I slowly began to chisel away at the gigantic boulder that had been weighing me down. Specifically, Google Docs became my new best friend. He taught me how to blog and how to use him as a tool to keep myself and my students more organized and have less clutter. I learned about the write-talk-write method, found it to be personally and professionally fulfilling, so I began to restructure my curriculum to integrate more of these strategies. I stopped and asked myself- what is working in my classroom, what is not, and what power do I have to change it? I sorted though the body of my curricula and decided that my skeleton needed to be reconstructed with a 3D printer. I needed a better framework to hang all of the different systems that I taught. My bones would be build through my writing program. I was finally able to focus my burning question onto my writing journals and independent reading program. By this time, it was the middle of Summer Institute. I had finally stopped feeling like I had a tangled ball of string that I was desperately trying to unravel, but could never find the end, only more pieces. Through mentoring, conferencing, reading, participating in demos, and listening to stories of other teachers, I formulated a plan on how to set up writing logs for each of my classes: social studies, science, and ELA. I reflected on the problems I had in the past with my classroom journals and what I wanted them to look like this coming school year. I chucked out junk that was not working with wild abandonment. I redesigned my supply list for my students and began to explore more multi-modalities to use as texts and learning strategies for my students. I will be designing the strategy list and the rules for each book during the rest of my summer while I redesign my reading program to reflect more independent reading instead of book clubs. I know that my students will want to be able voice their opinions on the curriculum changes (excellent authentic persuasive writing time!) and we will reflect on them together in class using the write-talk-write model. I will probably be making adjustments after eight weeks of trying out our new system (if not sooner!). It is an organic process that will happen with both parties involved. I will ask them: what is working, what doesn't work, and what would you suggest? My goal is to keep writing about the process of these changes, taking notes on how the new ideas work and observing my students' reactions to the new learning styles. I will also chart if my changes to my curricula addressed my questions from the beginning of SI.

Ellie's Final Research Reflections

Ellie's Burning Question

When I am asked to help a student with writing, I wonder how much feedback to give.  Having worked in a college setting where we concentrated heavily on grammar, usage, and mechanics (because so many students arrive with large gaps in their knowledge), then moving to middle school level, I am not sure how thorough to be.  I understand that I need to approach each student where he or she is, and each classroom according to the teacher's style; but in the end, where should the students be by the time they reach high school?  And how can I best assist?  

Works Cited

Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: Writing, Reading, and Learning with Adolescents. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook, 1987. Print. Atwell provides the gold standard to teaching writing in the middle school. She believes that grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling are only addressed after the content is set, and the piece is ready for actual publication. Even then, she concentrates only on one or two high priority items, with the understanding that a student must build her skills slowly and deliberately.

Calkins, Lucy. The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994. Print. In the chapter, "Editing: Learning the Conventions of Written Language," Calkiins prioritizes content writing over correctness, but she also makes a good case for "precise, graceful language," in final published pieces. To that end, she will take a student's work home and apply her blue editor's pen, but she qualifies her actions by telling her students that all published authors have the privilege of an editor. Therefore, she is providing a real world, authentic writing experience.

"Middle School Teacher to Literacy Coach." Web log post. : Incorporating Grammar and Conventions into Writing Workshop. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 July 2013. <http://middleschoolteachertoliteracycoach.blogspot.com/2013/03/incorporating-grammar-and-conventions.html>. A middle school language arts teacher discusses her inner pondering over grammar instruction. She posits that "writing should be fun and free." While I don't agree that that is always possible, I am in concert with her opinion that no student needs a personal editor in the early stages of writing, and that no teacher should be spending hours correcting. She says, "Students will never internalize how to use the proper conventions in their writing if they do not construct that knowledge and learn how to apply that knowledge to their own writing."

Weaver, Constance, Carol McNally, and Sharon Moerman. "To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That Is Not the Question." Voices from the Middle 8.3 (2001): 17-33. Print. The premise is that "a little grammar goes a long way," but that grammar lessons are often necessary, as long as they are not delivered in isolation. McNally offers a sample lesson using a passage from The Giver. She first chopped Lowry's sentences, putting the text through a "regression process," and then let her students "discover" the discrepancy. The authors are heavily influenced by the "brush stroke" technique of writing as delineated by author Harry Noden in his 1999 book, Image Grammar. Noden compares an artist's brush strokes to words that create imagery. The writing here tends to be technical and scholarly, most suited to the serious grammarian looking to hold off on the red pen.

Zemelman, Steven, and Harvey Daniels. A Community of Writers: Teaching Writing in the Junior and Senior High School. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1988. Print. "The English Teacher's Red Pen" provided an excellent overview of the philosophy behind limited selective grammar instruction. The chapter "Responding, Evaluating, and Grading" was especially useful in providing nuts and bolts procedure. Included are The Diederich Analytic Scale for grading and another generic scale, both powerful tools for times when there is need for more intensive assessment.

Conclusion

             Having perused these five entries, I have come to the conclusion that grammar instruction has a place in middle school writing, but that it must be approached sparingly and with great sensitivity.  No instruction should be ever given as a drill separate from the context of actual student writing, although it may be approached within a piece of authentic, published young adult literature, (as demonstrated by Carol McNally in “To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That is Not the Question”).  On any given assignment, most students will do best with one revision that, once pointed out in a limited context, they will then search out through the remainder of their piece.  No teacher should wield a red pen, marking out every correction until a student’s page is a sea of red.  Lucy Calkins, however, offers the blue pencil treatment once a piece is in the publication stage and with the author’s permission, because that is real world editing.  In conclusion, I am hereby satisfied that my “burning question” has been most satisfactorily laid to rest.

Ellie's Mission Statement

I am a bright, well-educated, talented individual who believes in the power of Teaching Assistants to influence change.  I value the thirst for knowledge and innate curiosity that lies with every student.  I strive for  personal, co-constructive relationships with my students, the ones who need my assistance and the ones who seem to stand on their own.  I will create change by rising above my status, giving all that I have to give, listening as hard as I can, and affecting growth, one child at a time.

Danielle's Teacher Mission Statement

I am a teacher who believes that everyone has a voice and a purpose. I believe everyone can learn and is an individual.  I value choice, freedom, and connection.  I strive to create an environment where everyone feels heard, valued, honored and respected.  I will create change by using writing to learn strategies with my students, colleagues, administrators, and other teachers to hold space, motivate, encourage, empower and guide them to be the best THEM they can be!

Final Research Reflections - Jen Liddy

I came to SI wanting to revamp my college-level writing course so that my writers could continue to improve without continuing to burn myself out. However, once I began Summer Institute, more questions quickly arose: “How can I encourage my students to write more without needing my approval and feedback on every piece? How can I empower them to own their work and care whether they’ve been heard?” From there, many more questions were generated. I read numerous texts to help me answer these, but what truly inspired me and really shaped my research was what I saw happening in real time during Summer Institute.

In Summer Institute, there is authentic and high-level learning going on everyday in a fairly unstructured environment. Teachers are treated as professionals, a novelty for most of us, and we are provided tools and encouragement to reach our goals. In this environment, I am thriving as a writer and a thinker. I am challenged, but not overtly or coarsely. No one tells me what to do, but I am inspired by what I see others doing. From day one, I wondered how to replicate this model in my classroom.

Ultimately, NWP’s Summer Institute is student-centered, and this is why it works. I have always said my classroom is student centered and that I am merely a facilitator, but I realize now that I have a long way to go before making that claim as truth. As I undertook the task of revising my first unit in English 098, a non-credit Fundamentals of Writing class, I had to revise and revise and revise my approach to teaching. I rewrote a unit plan on teaching the narrative essay by using the modeling, interactions, demos, and prompts I had experienced in SI.  However, I found it difficult to do because, since I’ve been teaching for so long, I have some teaching habits that needed to be explored and expunged. During this unit revision, I was mentally exhausted at the end of each day because I fundamentally re-wiring my brain to approach teaching (and specifically the teaching of writing) in a truly student-centered manner.

At the end of these three weeks, I have been exposed to excellent resources in the form of published authors, but it was my personal interactions with the directors, assistant directors, and participants that most effectively, vehemently, and powerfully affected the changes I now see in my revised curriculum. I would like to thank the NWP for this valuable professional development opportunity, as well as those with whom I worked closely, these women who taught, modeled, and provided feedback for me in an inspiring, supportive manner.

In honor of Friday love letter writing, this is my love letter to NWP. I think my students will thank you too.

Sincerely,

Jen Liddy

Adjunct Instructor, Cayuga Community College

Kelley's Burning Question

My Burning Question:
What new and effective practices can I implement to help a struggling reader overcome blocks in reading and writing? Through peer discussions and research, I have compiled an annotated bibliography of online resources, books, and journal publications. The bibliography will serve as a tool for me to use in the future. Several of the specific practices are already proving to be beneficial to my current students.

Christine's Mission Statement

I am a teacher who believes the interests and needs of each class should determine the curriculum. I value the students' input, experience, and background. I strive for understanding and excellence. I will create change by using writing and inquiry as a way for each student to expand his/her learning and possibilities.

Jen Liddy's Mission Statement

My Mission Statement, My Purpose:

I believe that teachers are professionals who can effectively solve problems if they are not oppressed and depressed by the overwhelming demands of educational tasks that do not propel student engagement and learning.

I am a teacher who values others’ perspectives; I focus on considering someone else’s experience and needs. I strive for student engagement, accountability, learning and growth.

I will create change by...

       forging communicative, supportive relationships with people, whether they are above or below me in the established hierarchies. I listen, ask questions, share my understanding & experiences, and ask more questions to further develop and support these relationships.

 
              empowering my students to explore their identities and stop making assumptions about  the identities of others. I will inspire them to ask questions and understand how their choices & behavior affect their outcomes.

Mission Statement

I am a teacher who believes in the the power of teacher inquiry as a major motivator for school reform. We live in a dynamic nation with many races, cultures, religions, and socio-economic situations.  To claim that there is one way to address these differences is to be color-blind to culture of teaching.  If we, as an institution, ignore the problems, they will go away.  But they won’t.  It is just hiding the problems. I am the co-owner of my classroom with my students. We exist in a building with other classrooms in which we have formed relationships with and work together to solve common problems.  We respect each other and share and learn from each other.  I value authentic learning.  I value writing for knowledge and reflection, both about myself and for my students.  Through using this process in multi-modalities, we will begin to create a community of learners and thinkers who stop to ask the question now what? I will create change in my classroom. I will be a facilitator of learning. I strive to address the needs of my students and their parents while keeping myself healthy and happy, for my well-being is tied into my classroom’s well being.  

Marianne's Teacher Mission Statement

I am a teacher who believes I can teach every student anything, including math.

I value learning by asking questions, writing, talking, and analyzing.

I strive for healthy, happy, positive interactions (for myself and others).

I will create change by engaging the people around me in deep thought through writing and discussion.

Thank you.

My Teacher Mission

I am a highly skilled, thoughtful and passionate professional who has been given the opportunity to change the lives of my students, but I only have 180 days to do that in. Every moment of those 7,200 is critical. I vow to make every one of those minutes count. I refuse to have that time wasted by anything that is not in the best interest of the students that I have the honor to teach. They deserve my attention, and my presence; for that there is no acceptable substitute!

Lorrie Moore's "How To Become a Writer"

Hi all,
I am doing work for my Narrative Writing Unit Plan, and I re-found this Lorrie Moore story that I love. I thought you might enjoy it.

Jen

Marianne & Jen's Demo: Kickin' Down the Door: The Math-Writing Connection

Kickin’ Down the Door: The Math-Writing Connection

marianne.desario@7VWP.com; jen.liddy@7VWP.com

The Big Idea

The purpose of this demo is to reverse the mentality that there is a divide between the math and writing processes. As a Math and English teacher duo, we discovered that it’s possible to redefine “writing”, since many of our students struggle to express themselves and explain their thinking on paper in all classes. By becoming aware of how we present writing and metacognitive strategies, teachers can kick open the door between math and writing processes.

Outline:

• Solve: [1 minute] Word Problem: solve the problem silently.

• Write [2 minutes]: Use the Math Log format to internally dialogue how you solved the problem, conveying the thoughts that went through your head as you solved it.
• Solve: [1 minute] Number Problem: list the different ways can you express the number 6.
• Write [2 minutes]: Use the Math Log format to internally dialogue how you solved this problem, conveying the thoughts that went through your head as you solved it.
• Write: [2 minutes]: Compare/contrast your experiences with the two problems. Examine how your experience with the word problem compared to your experience with the number problem?
• Share: [6 minutes]: Popcorn share: What experiences did you have with the math problems that are similar to the experiences our students encounter with writing?
• Write: [3 minutes]: How can we help students see a connection (rather than the usual disconnect) between writing and math? Brainstorm the ways that the writing and math processes are alike.
• Share [6 minutes]: Record ideas and create a chart for all to see overhead.
• Collaborate [10 - 15 minutes]: Work with a small group to create as many concrete ways as possible to help your students redefine writing and buy into the concept that math & writing processes or outcomes are alike in some ways. In other words, how might you use your awareness of the math & writing connection with your students in terms of talking about writing? Record your ideas on large sticky notes. Feel free to illustrate as needed.
• Share & Publish [10 - 12 minutes]: explain your ideas and share your sticky notes on the Math/Writing Connections poster.
• Write [3 minutes]: What is personally or professionally significant about these connections, ideas, or insights?  

The Wrap:

In this demo, we have used a variety of writing strategies. The root of this Demo is to help teachers see the connections between the seemingly dissimilar subject areas of math and writing. However, when teachers redefine their schema of what is “math” and “writing”, they are able to facilitate the students’ awareness and implementation of specific cross-curricular tools to help struggling writers. These tools can also help students in an interdisciplinary way, encouraging students to synthesize, apply tools, and connect transferable thought processes across the curriculum.   

Thank you for your time and willingness to write, share, think, speak, and listen. If you have any questions about this teaching demonstration, the Seven Valleys Writing Project, or just want to talk about teaching, please contact Marianne by email at marianne.desario@7VWP.com or Jen by e-mail at jen.liddy@7VWP.com.

Bird Cramer and Elinor Boisvert Demo- "Who Are You?"

Who AreYou?  

Bird Cramer, Teacher Consultant                                                       Elinor Boisvert, Teacher Consultant                                            

4th-8th Grade Teacher,  Peachtown Elementary School                Support Teacher, Dewitt Middle School

anne.cramer@7vwp.com                                                                      elinor.boisvert@7vwp.com

The Big Idea

Adolescents construct their identities through relationships with their peers, the school environment, and their teachers. It is important to build a classroom community as soon as possible.  A way to understand how these identities form is to construct identity posters to create a museum in the classroom.  These identity posters can be used  to form relationships and thread together common interests to start to create community. It will also give the teacher a window into others’ perceptions of self, giving each other a breath of others’ interests.

Method

Step One: Two minute free write; answer the question “Who Are You?”

Step Two: Look at your writing and share one thing with the group

Step Three:  Five minutes:  Go back and review what you wrote.  Pick your hotspots, expand on these, and give examples.

Step Four: Getting into groups of three, share what you wrote with each other. As you listen to the people in your group, jot down your impressions.

Step Five: Using magazines, papers, and markers, make identity collages based on what you wrote: a visual representation of yourself.  You can pick from your hot spots or you may revisit your writing

Step Six:  When you are done, hang up your collage.

Step Seven: Using post-it notes, we will conduct a gallery walk for ten minutes. Comment on as many posters as you can.

Step Eight: Chose one or all of these writing prompts- For three to five minutes, write about:

1. How would you use this in your classroom?
2. Dump your brain (how are you feeling)
3. What are your thoughts about the process?

Step Nine: Choose one idea to share with the whole group

The Wrap

Creating a classroom community is a long process.  Through their “Who Are You?” collages, students instantly see themselves in their classroom and can begin to collaborate with peers and teachers. In this teaching demonstration we used the write-talk-write model to think through ideas and collaborate. The writing we did was not graded, but was used as a means to engage in thinking and discussion. By working together we were able to create a useful “product” specifically tailored to our own individual needs. This model works here, and it works in classrooms!

Thank you for your time and willingness to write, share, think, speak, and listen. If you have any questions about this teaching demonstration, the Seven Valleys Writing Project, or just want to talk about teaching, please contact us by email. anne.cramer@7vwp.com or elinor.boisvert@7vwp.com

Everybody In!

           Everybody In!

Christine Stephens, Teacher Consultant

Fourth Grade Teacher, Candor

Big Idea

Students come to our classrooms with many assumptions about school. For many students, there are painful experiences in which they feel they can’t be a part of the group. In this demo, we will think about how changing learning environments in various ways helps give you a sense of freedom and control over how you learn and how comfortable you feel contributing to class discussions and activities.

Method

1. Write: 3 minutes

Think about a classroom experience when you felt uncomfortable, overwhelmed, or anxious.

2. Share: 2 minutes

Reread what you wrote and circle 3 words or phrases that sum up the experience. Everyone will choose one word or phrase you circled in a whip around share.

3. Write: 3 minutes

You are going to write again, but this time you may, but do not have to, move to a space in the room where you feel more comfortable: on the table, under the table, next to the wall, or simply turning around or write on your lap.

Think about a time when you had a learning experience where you had an “aha” moment or “got it”, meaning you learned something new or felt like you were contributing to and/or getting a lot out of a class discussion or activity.

4. Share: 5 minutes

Find a partner and share your “aha” moment. Also discuss what outside elements (setting, noise level, time, teacher, etc.) contributed to your new learning. Share your partner’s positive learning experience.

5. Compare/Write: 2 minutes

Did changing your environment affect the way you wrote? Did your learning change when you changed or had the opportunity to change position in the room? What were some differences between the first experience you wrote about and the second experience?

6. Share: 2 minutes

Go back and read and write down one difference on a sticky note. Share.

7. Synthesize: 2 minutes

Describe your optimal learning environment. Write a positive from your writing to include on our poster.

8. Final Share:

Put both of your sticky notes on the poster titled, “Tools to Help us Learn Better”.

Wrap:

We wrote about an learning experience that didn’t work, we changed our positions while writing about a learning experience that did work, and through writing and sharing we came up with tools to make us learn better. You can think about how you can use this in your own classroom or practice.

           Everybody In!

Christine Stephens, Teacher Consultant

Fourth Grade Teacher, Candor

Big Idea

Students come to our classrooms with many assumptions about school. For many students, there are painful experiences in which they feel they can’t be a part of the group. In this demo, we will think about how changing learning environments in various ways helps give you a sense of freedom and control over how you learn and how comfortable you feel contributing to class discussions and activities.

Method

1. Write: 3 minutes

Think about a classroom experience when you felt uncomfortable, overwhelmed, or anxious.

2. Share: 2 minutes

Reread what you wrote and circle 3 words or phrases that sum up the experience. Everyone will choose one word or phrase you circled in a whip around share.

3. Write: 3 minutes

You are going to write again, but this time you may, but do not have to, move to a space in the room where you feel more comfortable: on the table, under the table, next to the wall, or simply turning around or write on your lap.

Think about a time when you had a learning experience where you had an “aha” moment or “got it”, meaning you learned something new or felt like you were contributing to and/or getting a lot out of a class discussion or activity.

4. Share: 5 minutes

Find a partner and share your “aha” moment. Also discuss what outside elements (setting, noise level, time, teacher, etc.) contributed to your new learning. Share your partner’s positive learning experience.

5. Compare/Write: 2 minutes

Did changing your environment affect the way you wrote? Did your learning change when you changed or had the opportunity to change position in the room? What were some differences between the first experience you wrote about and the second experience?

6. Share: 2 minutes

Go back and read and write down one difference on a sticky note. Share.

7. Synthesize: 2 minutes

Describe your optimal learning environment. Write a positive from your writing to include on our poster.

8. Final Share:

Put both of your sticky notes on the poster titled, “Tools to Help us Learn Better”.

Wrap:

We wrote about an learning experience that didn’t work, we changed our positions while writing about a learning experience that did work, and through writing and sharing we came up with tools to make us learn better. You can think about how you can use this in your own classroom or practice.

The Future is Ours To See: Education Reform Exploration

The Future is Ours To See:  Education Reform Exploration

Danielle Sullivan, Teacher Consultant

5th and 6th Grade Special Education Teacher, Candor Elementary School

Danielle.Sullivan@7VWP.com, or dsullivan@candor.org

The Big Idea

There are so many ideas floating around regarding “education reform.”  Everyone seems to have an opinion or idea on what should and should not happen in schools.  In this demo, we will examine different perspectives on education reform, using close reading and writing strategies.  We will use videos, cartoons, Facebook groups and articles as “text” to form a framework of understanding, and then synthesize these views into possible solutions of how we can affect positive change in our own classrooms and schools.