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

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.  

Schleppin' Liver Puddin'

Schleppin’ Liver Puddin’                                    July 17, 2013

Based on Critical Literacy: Teaching Reading, Writing, and Outrage by Linda M. Christensen

Marissa Mims and Kelley Weaver Marissa.Mims@7vwp.com, Kelley.Weaver@7vwp.com

The Big Idea

What is Critical Literacy?  It explores the social and historical framework of literature as it is being learned. Critical literacy “creates spaces for students to tackle larger social issues that have urgent meaning in their lives”. We’ll be using student created text. The desired outcome is an increased sensitivity to the unique family, cultural, and regional language of others, and applying that sensitivity in the practice of critical literacy.

Marianne & Jen's Demo

Oh, The Drama!

Marianne DeSario, Teacher Consultant: marianne.desario@7VWP.com

Jen Liddy, Teacher Consultant: jen.liddy@7VWP.com

The Big Idea

People make assumptions about the truth of any given situation based on their own perspectives, experiences, and baggage. To teach people to explore issues in a multi-perspective way, Brian Edmiston, the author of “Ethical Imagination: Choosing an Ethical Self in Drama” uses dramas & dialogic inquiry to engage students into looking beyond a ‘what happened’ moment. He strives to immerse students in a historical or cultural scenario & allowing them to examine what is beyond the ‘what happened’ moment. Today, we will explore drama as a way to challenge our own perceptions and gain understanding of an event through multiple perspectives.

Classroom Goal

Help students re-examine a drama, issue, or problem from a multi-lensed perspective, examining the validity of a situation and navigating the issue from a place of dialogic inquiry vs. from a place of a power claim.

The Method

1. Write: 1.5 minutes

Introduce a ‘Drama’: We have all experienced drama in some form. Create a Facebook post, Tweet, or text that easily relays the “What Happened” in a  ‘dramatic’ experience

2. Share: 1 minute

In a whiparound format, share your post, tweet, or text.

3. Write: 4 minutes

Exploding your drama: Engage with dialogic inquiry with yourself by focusing on what’s beyond the “What happened?” in your drama. What’s underneath your drama? Expand on your post, tweet, or text (perhaps in a paragraph?) by expanding your drama to address the following:

o   What was your reaction to this drama?

o   Why did this drama occur?

o   Who else did it affect & how did it affect them?

o   How did others involved react? Why?

4. Close Reading: 6.5 minutes

Close Reading: Annotate the four paragraphs on page 63 & 64, starting with “I believe…”. As you read, focus on ‘hotspots’ for you. Annotate ideas that make you think, connect to your experience, make you question, or that you could use in your classroom.

5. Share: 2 minutes

Identify one hotspot and give a one-sentence explanation of why that was a hotspot for you.  

6. Write: 4 minutes

Choose a New Perspective: Think of your “exploded drama” as your initial view of the situation, as Edmiston describes it. Release yourself from your “single opinion” and create an “alternative possibility” in your drama. Revise & retell your story, post, tweet, or text from the perspective of another affected person. How can your perspective on this drama be expanded, complicated, or revised? Some questions to help you think are:

• How do others react?

• Why do they react that way?

• How did it affect them, emotionally/physically/etc.?
• What are the outcomes – long and short term?
• What could’ve been done differently?
• How can this be transformed into a positive experience?

7. Share: 6 minutes

Closing Synthesis of Ideas: Examine the dramatic piece you revised and notice the places where you now see an “inequitable view” that you held before and any “fresh perspectives” you uncovered. What did you notice? Share how, if at all, your lens has been changed?

The Wrap

1. In this teaching demonstration, we used a model of writing, sharing, and close reading to think through ideas presented in an article. We collaborated to allow participants to examine their viewpoints and practice seeing a problem from another perspective.

2. How can you use this idea of drama as a way to dig underneath the ‘what happens’ in your classroom and in your life?

Thank you for your time and willingness to write, share, think, speak, and listen. If you have any questions about this teaching demonstration, please contact us by email at marianne.desario@7vwp.com  or jen.liddy@7vwp.com.