Soapbox: The Way I see Things

Slice of Life Day 13: The Light Dawns

Some folks out there know all about my recent foray into crowdsourcing. It’s been a game-changer for my fourth-graders, and it’s been fun to share our discoveries.

We’ve also been working on the importance of using the language of craft no matter what the medium: arts, sports, literature…

So. Today.

I had my kids do a final piece of writing expressing why they like their favorite author. It was my pre-assessment earlier, and today’s writing will show whether they can articulate works written, impact, and specific mention of writer’s craft.

I put on work music and let them go, expecting silence save for Thelonius Monk and purposeful key-tapping.

And then, I heard it. VOICES.

The kids were talking to each other. And I thought, HEY! We’re in the middle of a writing assignment! I’m trying to assess my kids! They shouldn’t be talking to each other.

And then another voice said, HEY, ya nincompoop! LISTEN to what they’re saying. Your kids are crowdsourcing. On their OWN. You didn’t have to tell them to do it. They’ve DONE IT! They’ve LEARNED THE THING! And it’s important enough to them that they’re doing it for themselves!

Wow. Talk about a ton of bricks.

This reminds me of earlier on in my teaching, when I was the type of teacher who did Sustained Silent Reading. I clung to the Sanctity of Sustained Silent Reading with a white-knuckled grasp, admonishing kids who destroyed such Sanctity with whispers and giggles.

And then one day I actually listened to what the kids were talking about. Their READING. And it hit me like a ton of bricks: who am I to stop them from engaging in conversations about literature? That moment marked a clear before-after point in my teaching.

All of which is to say, I keep learning again and again to use my students as a guide. I keep learning to follow their lead so that I can learn alongside them. And I hope I can always keep that spirit.

Slice of Life Day 12: Prithee

Today is one of those days where I have the delightful problem of having too many things I want to post about.

So today, I think I will share my fifth graders’ work with Shakespeare. They spent last week learning about the guy and all of his weirdness, even coming up with their own favorite fact videos.

This week, we ventured into compliment and insult territory. I always like teaching from this direction because…let’s face it: Shakespeare loved to play with language! Even better, Shakespeare was not above a rotten or inappropriate joke. Tell me what fifth grader isn’t going to giggle at the thought!

And in what can best be described as a sneaky move on my part, I taught a lesson on pronouns before we began so that kids could understand the difference between “thee” and “thou.” Don’t tell them, but I also used the lesson to teach a trick for why first, second, and third person narration are named as they are. Oh, the sacrifices I make…

Once they built that understanding, it was off on a choose-your-own-adventure compliment and insult fest.

And while I have the stage, just take a look at the paragraph above. All of those hyphens to create an adjective? I don’t know if you started them or popularized them, but thanks for those, Shakespeare!

Bottom line: Word play is fun, and Shakespeare was a master at it. Catch these kids:

LISTEN to those GIGGLES!

Next up? The kids are going to make videos of themselves doing compliments or insults, and classmates are going to vote on “Shakey awards” for creativity and craft.

Shakespeare may be old-timey, but fun is NOT!

Slice of Life Day 11: Technically Speaking

There I was, all set to publish a post gushing about the online Slicer meetup we had yesterday evening. What a good time it was! We shared where we were from, how many years we’ve been slicing, what types of writing we really enjoy, and what challenges we’ve faced as writers.

Look at us! All the wisdom and experience here is a MARVEL.

I always have an amazing time interacting with fellow writers online, but the chance to see faces and hear actual voices is a true joy.

But WordPress has decided to be mean.

I haven’t been able to edit WordPress posts on Chrome for almost a year now. Just now, Safari has gone on strike. And to top it all off with a cherry, my Jetpack app isn’t refreshing my draft.

Will this post go up? Will it be doomed to the rabbit holes of back end technology? Time will tell, friends. Time. Will. Tell.

Slice of Life Day 10: Current Sitch

There are lots of places around my house that I could work.

I could sit in the recliner chair with my feet up, right in the middle of the family room.

I could also sit on the family room couch, right next to the hubs as he watches TV.

I could nestle under my favorite cozy blanket on the couch in the living room, taking in the view of the back yard.

All of those places are nice…in theory. But in reality, I have two dogs who see my laptop and immediately view it as their opportunity to demand attention. Fingers on the keyboard? Better nudge ’em off. Mom emailing colleagues? Time for a distraction. Let’s lick her elbows.

No, there’s really only one place where the dogs rest and let me work undisturbed. Only when I’m in bed do they feel calm and comfortable enough to leave me be. Black dog Lilah is happiest when she hogs the dog bed, brown dog Winnie is just fine with the leftovers.

Some call it unprofessional. Others call it poor sleep hygiene. I call it a matter of survival.

Picture of one dog with paw on lap desk, the other in dog bed — WHO COULD SAY NO TO THIS FACE?

Slice of Life Day 9: Letting the Nerd Flag Fly

I am
a puzzler,
a worder,
a counter of things
(though I can’t
imagine anyone
surprised
to know
that’s mentioned in my
answer key)

I am
a planner,
a thinker,
a system worker-outer
(because I gave you
two guesses
and the first one
didn’t count)

I am
a watcher,
a wonder-er,
a looker at skies
(and I admit
that’s the “C”
of my
all-of-the-above)

I started this post thinking it was going to be a retelling of my day through the different puzzles I did and how. Then I realized…I do an embarrassingly large number of puzzles. So today’s post started coming out my fingers as a poem, whether I liked it or not. I think I was also inspired by Ona’s clever SAT post, if you’d like to give her a peek!

Will there be a post about the puzzles I do? Probably. I just have to own it…

Slice of Life Day 8: Six-Word Slicelets

I’m a fan of the 6-word memoir form. Thanks to Britt, for reminding me how much fun it is to play with! Check out the post that inspired me by clicking this link.

A good day starts with chai

Kid performers make me so proud

Extra plan time? Please and THANKS!

Half days mean a long lunch

Time to plan, time to collaborate

Stick a fork in me. DONE!

Dog snuggles, snack time, mindless TV

Slice of Life Day 7: Planning and Plotting

Today, I took advantage of a rare day of light classes and meetings to work with a fellow colleague (co-conspirator?) to develop poetry units for a couple of grade levels. Sure, we knew we needed to use the Common Core Standards as the basis for content, but c’mon. It’s POETRY. We want our units centered around these ideas:
– it’s FUN to play with language!
– poetry is meant to be read aloud
– we can build literary analysis through meaningful responses and feedback to one another

Short list, tall order.

Boy, was I grateful I had my fellow colleague (partner-in-crime?) along for the ride. I’m the Google-Earth-big-picture-pie-in-the-sky-big-dreams planner, and she is the nuts-and-bolts-how-is-this-going-to-work-and-does-it-do-what-it-needs-to-do planner. Together, we settled ourselves in to work out our approach to planning. I think we might be on to something kids will enjoy learning, and teachers might enjoy teaching. I guess you could say my fellow colleague (aider and abettor?) found our rhythm (rhyme, simile, metaphor…).

Funny thing our work today comes hot on the heels of me talking about how powerful collaboration is for my students. Go figure that the universe is out there doing her thing, reminding me yet again to live how I teach…

Slice of Life Day 6: A Story of Our Own

Earlier today, I posted an article to Two Wring Teachers on “crowdsourcing” as a tool for story building and revision.

When I read the post to my fourth grade students (the subject of my article) I could see their nods and smiles as confirmation that, together, we did a GREAT THING. Even my most rugged individualists conceded their work wouldn’t have been the same quality of they hadn’t relied on other minds.

I count that as an absolute, total, 100%, holy-cow-time-for-a-high-five WIN.

I also had some inspiration for our cover.

Whatif we named our book after A Color of His Own, Leo Lionni’s tale of friendship and belonging?

And whatif the cover were visual evidence of our learning, both about Leo Lionni and about the power of collective effort?

Folks, I give you…OUR COVER REVEAL:

I mean…this is PERFECT. I can’t imagine this turning out better than this!
To say I’m proud would be an understatement.

Slice of Life Day 5: Testing the Waters

I don’t enjoy writing fiction.

THERE. I said it.

There are times, though, that I need to pull something together, especially when I’m demonstrating a process with my students. (You’ll see that process in the Wednesday, March 6 post on TWT…just as a shameless plug!)

My students are crafting stories in the style of Leo Lionni, using crowdsourced ideas and suggestions to improve their work.

Below is my work-in-progress. I’m about 60% of my way through the story, so I thought I’d share it with you here. Who knows? I may even end up finishing it at some point. If so, you bet I’ll post again!

Once there was a small brown hop-toad named George. He lived in his own little nook, tucked away in the crack of a concrete step by the patio door of a small, quiet, suburban house. Usually, nobody ever noticed George, and that was how he liked it.

George liked to stay in his nook, listening to the sounds of the squirrels, chipmunks and birds all around him. All day long he would hear them chirping and arguing with each other over this or that: a good nesting spot, a buried acorn, or the best place to keep an eye out for predators.

And the main reason why George liked to stay in his nook? Because George was not the kind of hop-toad who liked to be noticed. Somehow, whenever he ventured his way out from the step, somebody would notice him. Maybe it was the people who lived in the house and would shout, “Look! A toad!” Or perhaps it was the dogs, forever sniffing and prying and poking with their stinky dog breath.

One day, George heard a commotion outside his hidey-hole in the patio. Now, George was shy, but he was also curious. He plopped right to the edge of his entrance, where he saw – of all things! – another small brown hop-toad! She was smaller, browner, and even hoppier than George. And she looked scared and confused as all of the animals circled around.

“Hey! Who’s that?” a squirrel shouted.

“Looks like someone new,” chirped the cardinal from her spot on the backyard fence.

“She better not steal any of my food!” responded the squirrel.

“You mean MY food?” the chipmunk scoffed. The squirrel rolled her eyes.

“Tell me about it,” said the cardinal. “I have my wings full trying to fend off the bluejays. I don’t need any more competition around here.”

“Oh, come on,” said the squirrel. “We all know you -” but the squirrel never finished her sentence. All the animals went quiet as they heard the familiar thump-thump-thump of paws on the deck from the other side of the house.

“DOGS!” their terrified stares seemed to say. “Let’s get OUT of here!” went the silent command. The squirrel, chipmunk and birds left, leaving the new little hop-toad standing all alone in the middle of the patio.

George watched as the dogs sniffed the air, caught the scent of a newcomer, and slowly tracked their way to the patio.

“Who’s THIS?” they growled, circling the toad. “Smells like someone new.” More sniffing, a little growling. “Smells like a new toy.”

What will happen to the little hop-toad? When will George learn that stepping outside his little step is sometimes the best step? Will they live hoppily ever after? Tune in…eh, whenever I wind up finishing…

Slice of Life Day 4: Spring Peepers!

You could say I’ve been preoccupied lately. Still, one thing that connects and reconnects me with the natural world, is the watch for signs of spring each year. Crocuses and newly-green shoots stop me in my tracks, green shoots call to me from barely-thawed ground, and the smell of rain in the air brings me hope. Today, I chanced to hear one of my favorite sounds on my afternoon commute.

There,
at the
red stoplight,
driver’s window
cracked to let in air,

I
picked up
a sound, strange
at first because
it has been a year

Spring
peepers,
signature-
croaking their call
to me: remember!

Look
at the
sky! Listen
to the world! Please.
Keep Wonder close.