English Practice - bctela.ca · Krista Ediger (Richmond) [email protected] Student Writing Journal Editor Cindy Miller (Fort St. James) [email protected] Student Liaison Linda Mei

English Practice

The Journal ofBC Teachers of English Language Arts

Vol. 51 No. 2 - Fall 2009

Cover photo by J. Panas

Letters to the editors and other opinion pieces are welcomed

as long as they are author-signed, free of libel, and in good taste. Such material may be edited for length at the discretion of the editors. English Practice invites contributors to sub-mit manuscripts for publication. All contributions will be carefully con-sidered, but the newsletter assumes no responsibility for damage to or loss of unsolicited manuscripts. Your contribution to English Practice may be reprinted in the publications of our affiliate organizations. Fur-thermore, your contribution may be published on the BCTELA website, unless the editors receive explicit di-rection not to do so. All submissions should be emailed to:

Matt [email protected]

English Practice is the Journal of the BC Teachers of English Language Arts which also publishes the President’s Newsletter and the Student Writing Journal. English Practice and other pe-riodicals are distributed to BCTELA members throughout British Columbia and exchanged with other provincial specialist associations of the British Co-lumbia Teachers’ Federation. They are also distributed to other specialist as-sociations across Canada. English Prac-tice is a member of both the CCTELA and the NCTE Affiliate Information Ex-change Agreement. English Practice is registered with the National Library of Canada under International Standard Se-rial Number ISSN 0315-2189.

Table of contentsClick on a title below to link to that article or page:

EDITORIAL• May to September, by Joanne Panas

TEACHING IDEAS• Exploring Knowledge and Learning with Transdisciplinary

Inquiry and Writing, by Linda Mei• Blogging: Promoting Literacy Among Digital Natives, by

Melissa Turnbull• Making Writing Choices, by Joanne Panas

INVESTIGATING OUR PRACTICE• Learning Rounds: Engaging Teachers in Powerful Coversa-

tions, by Deidre Bjornson and Tammy Renyard• Creating My Own Recipe for Grand Coversations, by

Daryl Stevens

MUSINGS AND MEANDERINGS• Small Black Things, by Pamela Richardson• Hope Suite, by Various Students• In Praise of Ignorance, by Shelley Beleznay

NOTICES• Conference Brochure• BCTELA Writing Contest Rules and Cover Sheet• Student Writing Journal Order Form• Student Work Release Form• LSAs and Regional Conference Seed Money Information• BCTELA Volunteer Opportunities• CCTELA Membership Form

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BCTELA -- 3 -- Fall 2009 -- Click Here to Return to the Table of Contents

B C T E L A E X E C U T I V E , 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 0 9

PresidentLeyton Schnellert

(SFU)[email protected]

Past PresidentDave Ellison

(Surrey)[email protected]

Vice President / TreasurerDauvery MacDonald

(Richmond)[email protected]

Website CoordinatorCelia Brownrigg

(Vancouver)[email protected]

Website CoordinatorGrant Macmillan

(Vancouver)[email protected]

Conference CoordinatorSteve Stanley (Comox Valley)

[email protected]

Conference CoordinatorMara Brkich (Burnaby)

[email protected]

Journal EditorJoanne Panas

Richmond)[email protected]

Journal EditorMatt rosati

(Maple Ridge)[email protected]

Curriculum CoordinatorKrista Ediger (Richmond)

[email protected]

Student Writing Journal Editor

Cindy Miller (Fort St. James)[email protected]

Student LiaisonLinda Mei

(UBC Teacher Candidate)[email protected]

Records CoordinatorShelley Moore

(Richmond)[email protected]

BCTF RepresentativeAnita Chapman

[email protected] W. 6th Ave

Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 4P2Website: www.bctf.bc.ca

Curriculum CoordinatorSonia Iacuzzo

(Alberni)[email protected]

CCTELA PresidentJune James (Surrey)

[email protected]

NCTE HeadquartersDirector, Affiliate Services

Urbana, IllinoisFax (217) 328-0977

www.ncte.org

i English Practice — the Journal of the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts


May to September Editorial

Joanne PanasJoanne is co-editor of English Practice. She teaches at McRoberts Secondary School in Richmond. Her passion is igniting a love of language and learning in her students.

Did they learn? If they did, how would you know?

May can be an awful time to be a teacher.

The marking. The deadlines. June looms like a summer storm.After school, panicked students—and their parents—pack into your room like rats on a sinking ship.

Looking back on the year, you wonderif you made a difference—no,if you made even a dent, an impression of any kind.

Was there any point to the last nine months?Is there any point in going on? Should you fill in the blanks in the calendarwith busy work and time-killing projects?

Did you teach them anything?Did they learn? If they did, how would you know?

But then—

There is a day that makes you weep for joy and relief.The day your students show you that something broke through and took root.A random seed, perhapsor a deliberately, carefully planted one—it doesn’t matter.Something took hold, something pushed up, something sought the light.

They read a book with rapt, undivided attention; they talk and wonder and connect.You grade their essays one night and share your admiration with the cat.

And in their reflections they write of struggles and growth and how they’ve improved and what they’ve learnedand how they want to get better at writing.

And one studentjust one(not the one you expect)writes:Thank you.

And suddenly September is full of promise again.


“It’s Science Class—I Don’t Need to Know How to Write”: Exploring Learning with Transdisciplinary Inquiry and Writing Teaching Ideas

Linda MeiLinda is a Teacher On Call in the Richmond School District and is exploring transdisci-plinarity more in her MA studies at UBC. She is on a continuous quest to discover and sample all the most unusual food that she can find.

there is no better time to introduce a radical approach to teach-ing the curriculum if educators wish to help students succeed

As a new teacher fresh out of the B.Ed. program at UBC, I have had the privilege of meeting and working with passionate colleagues and

experienced teachers. Both groups of educators have taught me a lot about teaching. The former supports and encourages my exploration of idealistic novel ideas, while the latter offers practical advice and tested insights. My limited exposure to the world of teach-ing has inspired my interest in one of what I consider to be an increasingly relevant topic—teaching beyond the disciplines, or “transdisciplinarity.” My academic background in both the sciences and the arts really encouraged me to cross disciplinary boundaries during my practicum; for example, I emphasized the ethical and moral implications of biotechnologies in biology/science classes, and I investigated the mechanisms behind genetic modifications and cloning when I taught Brave New World in English class. This unusual background provides me with a unique perspec-tive on teaching, and my hope is for teachers of all subject areas to consider investigating and incorporating some transdisciplinary practices in their teaching. Current educational objectives mandate that students “‘become productive citizens of the 21st century.’ This means more than just obtaining high grades in school; it means being able to apply the skills learned within real-life contexts” (Drake, 1998, p. 12). Schools also encourage what Drake (1998) terms “success for all”, a view that acknowledges that “everyone has a talent or ability that can be devel-oped so they will contribute to society” (p. 12). With these perspectives in mind, there is no better time to

introduce a radical approach to teaching the curriculum if educa-tors wish to help students succeed as productive and informed citizens of society. However, despite enthu-siasm towards teaching in cross-disciplinary, multidis-ciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary ways, teachers today are faced with an overwhelming list of prescribed learning outcomes, which often hinders efforts to encourage an education that is beyond the disciplines.

Working definitions of the integrated approaches Before I proceed further with any research and arguments, I will define these ideologies so that these concepts are clear and unified. Drake (1998) defines

multidisciplinarity as a methodology where the “dis-ciplines are connected through a theme or issue that is studied during the same time frame, but in separate classrooms” (p. 20). Interdisciplinary teaching occurs when “subjects are interconnected in some way be-yond the common theme or issue. These connections are made explicit to students. The curriculum may be tied together by guiding questions, a common con-ceptual focus, or cross-disciplinary standards” (p. 21). According to Basareb Nicolecu (2002) in Manifesto of Transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity “concerns that which is at once between the disciplines, across the different disciplines, and beyond


all discipline” (p. 1). Drake (1998) elaborates upon this idea by explaining that this type of integration

differs from the other approaches because it does not begin with the disciplines in the planning process; rather, the planning begins from a real-life context. The disciplines are embedded in the learning, but the focus does not start there. This approach can include cross-disciplinary outcomes, but often em-phasizes personal growth and social respon-sibility. (p. 21)

Transdisciplinary education encourages recovering “the loss of meaning,” and satisfies the “universal hun-ger for meaning,” (Nicolescu, 2002, p. 1). Although the ideal situation would be to fully incorporate trans-disciplinary practices into our teaching, the secondary school structure, the lack of time, the unpredictable nature of this way of teaching, the lack of expertise in all subject areas, the funding and administration de-tails, and the incredible demand on energy and effort make this very challenging. My goal is not to over-whelm but to encourage a new perspective in teaching.

Why write? Finding a way into transdisciplinarity As English teachers, we recognize the signifi-cance and educational power of the process of writing, and the teaching of writing in all subject areas serves as a practical starting point to incorporate transdisci-plinary inquiry in our practice. We can offer students opportunities to actively engage with their learning and with knowledge in meaningful and transformative ways. In “Reading the World and Writing to Learn: Lessons from Writers about Creating Transdisciplinary Inquiry,” Douglas Kaufman (2003) explores transdis-ciplinary inquiry as well as its association with writing and learning. Kaufman refers to literature by Donald Murray that discusses the shift in the focus of writing in schools as moving from “learning how to write” to “using writing as a way to discover and examine other aspects of the world” (p. 104). Such a view presents the writer as an explorer, someone who inquires about the unknowns of our world. In other words, students, through the act of writing, discover and examine as-pects of the world that have previously been inacces-sible. According to Kelly Gallagher (2006) in Teach-ing Adolescent Writers, there is a “valuable reason why our students should be doing much more writ-ing across the curriculum: the act of writing extends knowledge. Putting pen to paper (or fingers to key-

board) creates new thinking…the act of writing itself is generative” (p. 37). Gallagher (2006, p. 123-124) explains that writers write to:• express and reflect on…life and experiences• inquire and explore to wrestle with a question or

problem• analyze and interpret phenomena that are difficult

to understand or explain• evaluate and judge on the worth of person, object,

idea, or other phenomenon• propose a solution to call for action and describe

the problem and provide justification • take a stand, inform and explain and seek common

ground Gallagher’s discussions demonstrate that through writing, students can reform and review experiences and ideas to extend knowledge in transferable ways. Furthermore, writing allows students the chance to draw on their experiences and relevant knowledge to contextualize new learning. Writing is both a process that drives learning and an act of learning. In “Writing to Learn: Writing across the Dis-ciplines,” Anne J. Herrington (1981) expands on the idea of writing to enable learning and discovery in all the subject areas by discussing the use of writing assignments that reflect course objectives. Herrington recognizes that “writing assignments should be oppor-tunities to learn to use the particular patterns of inquiry of a discipline, whether they be processes of observa-tion and generalization or a problem-solving process of applying a general principle to specific situations” (p. 381). Despite all the benefits of writing, those out-side the English language arts discourse traditionally view writing as a skill to be taught in English class-rooms only. Gallagher (2006) urges teachers to think otherwise, claiming that “we must move content-area teachers beyond the idea that they are responsible for teaching their content only; all teachers share the re-sponsibility of not only teaching their content but also promoting the literacy level of their students” (p. 11). Indeed, writing needs to occur across the curriculum. As more and more people recognize the limitations of disciplinary boundaries in that disciplines fail to realistically represent the world and fragment the unity of a holistic knowledge, some educators are beginning to explore and embrace the practices associated with integration. Although some secondary schools have al-ready explored teaching using cross-disciplinary,


multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary approaches, I feel that using transdisciplinary inquiry to generate units of instruction provides an ideal opportunity to incorporate writing in all subject areas. Nevertheless, despite people’s best intentions, a cross-disciplinary, multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary unit usually falls back into the domains of answering disciplinary ques-tions during the execution. Teaching in an integrated manner at any level is challenging enough – teach-ing at the transdisciplinary level, the highest level of integration (Drake, 1998), requires perseverance and time. We cannot expect this to happen overnight, but rather, we can focus on taking small steps to foster a learning environment where students are at the centre of meaning-making.

Writing and transdisciplinarity inquiry Kaufman argues that the typical interdisciplin-ary unit uses disciplinary knowledge to learn about a theme, which contradicts the initial intent of teaching with integrated methodologies. The transdisciplinary “approach differs from the conventional ideas of interdisciplinary teaching due to the fact that ‘inter-disciplinary programs start with the discipline, [while] transdisciplinary programs start with the issue or prob-lem and, through the process of problem solving, bring to bear the knowledge of those disciplines that con-tributes to a solution or resolution’” (Meeth, as cited in Kaufman, 2003, p. 102). Drake (1998) also supports this notion, explaining that “the disciplines are not necessarily in the planning stage [of units or lessons]. Rather, the real-life context is of utmost importance…the disciplines are embedded in the learning, but the focus does not start there…this approach can include cross-disciplinary outcomes, but often emphasizes per-sonal growth and social responsibility” (pp. xiv, 20). Transdisciplinarity emphasizes the understand-ing of learned knowledge, and this understanding is best demonstrated by students’ ability to transfer skills to solve new problems in novel real-world situations. Transdisciplinary inquiry involves developing a cur-riculum that is based on questions about themselves or society, or a socially relevant theme that students wish to explore, and this active participation and ownership of learning enables students to move beyond memoriz-ing facts. Instead, students are encouraged to construct knowledge by recognizing patterns and relationships during their pursuit of a theme, and this process de-velops analytical, evaluative and synthesizing skills. “Ultimately, when students can transfer learning, they

are more…likely to be lifelong learners” (Drake, 1998, p. 18). Writing in a transdisciplinary inquiry-based unit enables the exploration and articulation of knowl-edge, since writers as explorers need to know how to use disciplinary perspectives and expertise before actually using these specialized lenses of viewing the world. Kaufman (2003) asserts that by “writing to learn and to express one’s learning, a writer is im-mersed in an authentic context for writing, which forc-es the writer to examine his or her craft continually in order to learn and express” (p. 105). Writing is crucial to transdisciplinary inquiry in that transdisciplinary in-quiry requires that the learner understand the specific perspectives from which experts of certain disciplines

view the world in order to approach a theme, and writ-ing serves the purpose of helping students learn about a theme. In essence, writing facilitates both the pro-cess of learning new knowledge and the expression of new discoveries to others.

Sample themes of exploration Drake (1998) identifies transitions, identities, interdependence, wellness, social structures, indepen-dence, conflict resolution, commercialism, justice, caring and institutions as some of the key themes that originate from personal and social concerns, which are

FreeDigitalPhotos.net


the basis of exploration using transdisciplinary inquiry. Although there are various models of incorporating transdisciplinary approaches in teaching, they all share commonalities in that all encourage active student par-ticipation in the learning and exploration of knowledge that is grounded in meaningful and real-world con-texts. One way of developing a transdisciplinary unit is to start by brainstorming themes of exploration with the students, and then discussing the theme(s) even more by getting students to generate questions pertain-ing to the topic. For example, a school could hold an assembly for all the students of one grade and all the teachers of that grade during a specific block, and at this meeting (or meetings), everyone could brainstorm themes and questions. These questions could provide the foundation on which teachers build their lessons. Students could explore this knowledge in a transdisciplinary fashion when they identify which disciplinary perspective they would employ to inves-tigate a question. This requires that students possess a solid understanding of disciplinary practices and perspectives prior to the start of such an integrated

unit, and these skills and attitudes (and some basic knowledge) can be developed in the traditional sub-ject area classes. Following the assembly and during that specific block, all the teachers of this one grade could facilitate discussions of how to investigate the questions before taking students’ feedback to a staff meeting with other teachers involved in this unit. Teachers could also consider inviting some representa-tive students to flesh out the details of various lessons. (See Figure 1 for an example of a unit plan template.) For the theme of identity, if students ask the question of how their genes and DNA shape identity or define individual traits, and identify the lens of exploration as that of the biological expertise, then the biology teachers would take on the task of investigating this inquiry. Social studies teachers would be the primary experts to facilitate students’ learning of a question that requires sociological, historical, anthropological, and/or humanistic lenses such as how culture shapes an individual’s identity.

Figure 1. Transdisciplinary inquiry unit plan template.


Writing plays a role now as students learn information to answer their inquiries. As they write, they process the new knowledge, and as they discover, they express their understanding by using disciplinary discourse within the overall holistic context of theme. This writing can be in various forms, from response jour-nals and research notes, to persuasive paragraphs and expository essays, or from student goal organizers to what Kaufman (2003) calls the “KWHL” chart. Figure 2 (top portion) shows a template based on Kaufman’s KWHL chart, with “H” standing for “HOW are we going to learn?” As students write out how they plan to learn, they engage with the transdisciplinary unit’s focus on the learning process. Students can also document the types of disciplinary lens(es) that they chose to explore the theme. Writing in the student goal organizer (Figure 2, bottom portion) also offers stu-dents a space to come up with new goals and questions that arise from their discoveries throughout the unit. Kaufman also asks students to reflect in writing on questions such as the following:• What was your process of discovery? How, spe-

cifically, did you go about finding answers to your questions?

• How did you decide which disciplinary lens or lenses to use?

Figure 2. Kaufman’s (2003) KWHL chart and Student Goal Organizer.

• How did you solve problems that arose during your inquiry?

• How did you work together with other members of your team (or with people whom you used as resources)? What roles did you find each of you playing? Why did you adopt those specific roles?

• How and why did you revise your inquiry ap-proach as the unit went on?

• What did you learn by conducting this investiga-tion that will help you investigate, teach, or learn in the future?

• In the specific, what did you learn about the nature of the discipline or disciplines that you used to find your answers?

• What surprised you?• What else should we know about your inquiry and

learning that we would not know by experiencing just the products that arose form it?

When implemented well, transdisciplinary inquiry can offer students opportunities to genuinely learn and engage with topics that they find relevant, as well as provide them with the skills to learn, analyze and problem-solve effectively.


Final thoughts Writing is a process that is beyond all disci-plines, and its ability to help students learn knowledge and articulate understanding makes it invaluable in the implementation of relevant inquiries in a transdisci-plinary curriculum. This engaging way of teaching and learning encourages personal development and social responsibility—educational objectives that empower students to become productive citizens in society. Change is difficult, but I encourage practicing teach-ers to consider transdisciplinary inquiry as one way to provide a meaningful education to students.

References

Drake, S.M. (1998). Creating integrated curriculum: Proven ways to increase student learning. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.Gallagher, D. (2006). Teaching adolescent writers. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers.Herrington, A.J. (1981). “Writing to learn: Writing across the disciplines.” College English, 43(4), 379-387.Kaufman, D. (2003). “Reading the world and writing to learn: Lessons from writers about creating transdisciplinary inquiry.” In D. Kaufman, D.M. Moss, & T.A. Osborn (Eds.), Beyond the boundaries: a transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching (97-116). New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.Nicolescu, Basarab. (2002). Manifesto of transdisciplinarity. New York: State of New York Press.


Blogging: Promoting Literacy Among Digital Natives

Teaching Ideas

Melissa TurnbullMelissa is a grade 9-12 English and Social Studies teacher at Claremont Secondary in Victoria. She is actively working with the Saanich School district to promote digital literacy in teaching practices.

it was infectious and by the third week students were creating their own discussion topics that were relevant to the classroom

“In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer

exists” -Eric Hoffer

“Is this for marks?” “How much will this test affect my mark?”“Can I still pass without completing this assignment?”

As teachers, we grapple with comments like these every day in the classroom. We work so hard to create student engagement, but often students care more about meeting a requirement or “getting the marks.” If teachers use tools that mimic students’ out-side lives, students are more likely to care about and practice learning rather than simply doing it to meet a requirement. A year and a half ago, I integrated some web-based literacy initiatives into my own classroom teaching and started tackling the infamous blog! I hoped that the web log would turn into a resource that extended the classroom for each of my English and Social Studies grade 11 students. Surprisingly enough, it was infectious and by the third week students were creating their own discussion topics that were relevant to the classroom. Students were finding applicable links and articles to help enrich their study and the blog was accomplishing everything that I hoped it would. And although I thought that maintaining the blog would be extra work, all I had to do was read the posts and comment when I wanted. Whether they realized it or not, students were writing paragraphs in response to questions and other students’ opinions. Those who were hesitant to discuss in class were very

visible on the blog because they had time to reflect on their com-ments before they revealed them to the class. As our classroom blogging progressed, it became more and more noticeable how my class-room students were “native” to the technological world. They flourished in an environment they used for interaction outside of school. They may not have realized it, but in many cases they were forming their own opinion, backing it up with evidence, and then responding to others in paragraphs where they engaged and thought critically about pertinent top-

ics, such as political commentaries, political videos, current events, controversial themes and character debates. Soon we started to post student work on the blog where the entire class could view and respond to some of the “book trailers” that they created. This form of presentation prompted classroom discussion every day. Similar to other social networking sites that the students frequented, the blog became part of their online identity. In addition to engaging the students and prompting classroom discussion, blogging also helped me develop a more eco-friendly and organized way of providing feedback to my students. When it came to marking a task that I had them complete on the blog, all I had to do was look at the date and time in which they posted to the conversation. There was no paper involved, no missing assignments; it was either there or not. Plus, I found typing a lot faster than hand-


written comments. I found that I was providing more feedback because I had more time to do so.But my students and I are not the only ones blogging our way through school; many other educators have been reaping the benefits of classroom blogging. In Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson points out the many advantages of classroom blogging. He also advocates for the integration of technology into the classroom as a way to connect with the twenty-first-century stu-dent. In “Writing in the 21st Century,” Kathleen Blake Yancey, the former president of the National Council

of Teachers of English, suggests that writing is now “newly technologized, socialized and networked” (Yancey, 2009). She emphasizes that in the twenty-first-century, “writers are everywhere—on bulletin boards, in emails and on blogs” (Yancey, 2009). In addition Don Tapscott, Professor of manage-ment at the University of Toronto, Clay Christensen, author of Disrupting Class and the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, Clay Shirky, adjunct profes-sor in NYU’s graduate Interactive Telecommunica-

tions Program, and many others suggest that educators need to adapt to the power of blogging and online publishing. Holly Mair, Saanich Literacy Support Teacher and avid blogger, emphasizes the importance of having relevant, engaging “content on the blog [to increase] student participation.” Patrice Heppell, a Saanich Social Studies teacher, suggests that her blog-ging experience “allowed less vocal students to share their opinions in a ‘safe’ atmosphere.” Dave Gardner, Saanich Social Studies department chair, raves about his success with blogging in the classroom. One of his students noted that initially he thought the blog “was

going to be lame and boring,” but eventually began to “look forward to it every week.” All of these experi-ences suggest that as teachers, we need to embrace social networking skills into our own teaching practic-es so that we too can reconnect with the technological natives that fill our classrooms. Though our Social Studies 11 classroom blog ended in April, students continued to blog well into June. They were no longer getting marked on the content that they were contributing and it was no longer a requirement for the course; however, they


continued many discussions and they used the blog as a networking tool that joined all of them together. They held study sessions and made times to meet so that they could effectively study for the final exam. Some found interesting topics that they just wanted to continue to discuss. After reviewing the progress made on the blog by my grade 11 students, it was clear that many of them engaged in their own learning rather than looking at it as just another assignment for marks. The connection was made and students used the blog to advance their learning. Blogging allowed students to express their own opinions in a professional manner while online and students brought their previously learned social networking skills to the blog to help enrich it as a classroom resource. As educators “we need to recog-nize that out-of-school literacy practices are as criti-cal to students’ development as what occurs in the classroom” (Yancey, 2009). Classroom blogging can turn into a professional discussion that critically ana-lyzes different aspects of literature, current events, or practices in our society. By adapting our practices to adhere to the needs of the twenty-first-century student we may help “better connect classroom work to real-world situations that students will encounter across a lifetime” (Yancey, 2009). So while dodging the “is this for marks” state-ments in your classroom, consider adapting some new techniques into your teaching practices that incorpo-rate the social networking tendencies of the twenty-first-century student.

References

National Council of Teachers of English Web site. (2009, June 2). Retrieved June 2, 2009 from http://library.uvic.ca/site/lib/instruction/ citationGuides/APA.pdfRichardson, W. (2008). Blogs, wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.Weblogg-ed: Learning with the Read/Write Web Blog. (2009, May 6). Retrieved June 2, 2009 from http://weblogg-ed.com/Yancey, K. B. (2009). Writing in the 21st century. Na- tional Council of Teachers of English, 1-9.Retrieved June 2, 2009 from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Press/ Yancey_final.pdf See next page for more about this topic!


Sidebar: How to create student engagement through blogging -- Melissa Turnbull

For the past couple of years I have implemented blogging into my classes. In each circumstance I had to adapt my practice and find a different way to create student engagement; however, I always started out in the same way:

• I booked 20 minutes of computer lab time every week for the entire semester.• Before the class started I created a blog, a blogging rubric and a first task for the students. • On the first day of school I had each students log in and we went over the basic elements of the blog and the

blogging rubric. • I carefully went through the requirements of the first task with the entire class. In order to get confident with

using the blog, in the first task I had the students create a new post that included a link, image, movie, and paragraph about themselves that they would like to share.

• I was responsible for putting up engaging material on the blog. Students would then respond and I would slowly encourage them to start coming up with their own topics that somehow tied into what we were dis-cussing in class.

• Eventually after about three weeks, students started running the blog completely on their own. I would monitor the discussions each week and would respond where I thought necessary.

I have used music videos from YouTube, controversial privacy topics about Facebook, music reviews, current events and much more to encourage student buy in. It is not easy to get students to love the blog right away. Like anything in the classroom, it takes the teacher to really “sell” it to the class and to create engaging topics in order to create student engagement. Also, I have often found that it takes a couple weeks before students are really confident and excited about using the blog.

Before implementing the blog, teachers should consider the following questions:• Do all of the students in my class have the skills to use a blog? If not, how can I equip them with the neces-

sary tools so that they can succeed?• What are my purposes for using the blog?• What course related topics might spark interest amongst my students?• How much time am I willing to put into the blog?• Do I want the blog to be student run or do I want to be in control over all of the topics of discussion?

In summary, the basic steps in implementing a blog successfully in any classroom include the following:• Create a blog and get comfortable with using it • Understand the purpose of creating a blog in your classroom• Create a classroom blog• Create a blogging rubric• Ensure that there is class time once a week for all of the students to work on the blog• Create a first task that will help the students get comfortable with using the blog• Create classroom blogging rules • Take the class to the lab and help everyone log in and get started• Create engaging topics for your students


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ugh

ou

t th

e co

urs

e (e

x:

wee

kly

post

ings)

.

Evid

ence

: N

um

ber

and

dis

trib

uti

on

of

post

ings

and

com

men

ts

Wri

tin

g Q

ua

lity

Lac

ks

hook

s an

d e

vid

ence

to b

ack u

p o

pin

ion

s.

Stu

den

ts m

ake

no a

ttem

pt

to c

onn

ect

idea

s

bac

k t

o o

rigin

al a

uth

ors

via

hyp

erli

nk

s an

d

citi

ng r

esou

rces

. R

epli

es a

re s

urf

ace

lev

el a

nd

do n

ot

spar

k c

on

ver

sati

on

.

Att

emp

ts h

ook

s an

d t

ries

to u

se e

vid

ence

to

bac

k u

p o

pin

ion

s. S

tud

ent

atte

mpts

to c

on

nec

t

idea

s b

ack t

o o

rigin

al a

uth

ors

via

hyp

erli

nk

s

and

cit

ing r

esou

rces

as

wel

l. R

epli

es a

re

surf

ace

level

an

d d

o n

ot

spar

k c

on

ver

sati

on

.

Exp

erim

ents

wit

h h

ook

s an

d r

egu

larl

y u

ses

evid

ence

to b

ack

up

opin

ion

s. S

tud

ent

pre

tty

regu

larl

y c

on

nec

ts i

dea

s b

ack t

o o

rigin

al a

uth

ors

via

hyp

erli

nk

s an

d c

itin

g r

esou

rces

as

wel

l. R

epli

es

show

th

ou

ght

to t

he

com

men

t of

oth

ers

and

th

ey

rep

ly i

n a

man

ner

that

pro

mote

s co

nver

sati

on

.

En

tice

s re

ader

s w

ith h

ook

s an

d a

lway

s u

ses

evid

ence

to b

ack

up

opin

ion

s. S

tud

ent

also

dem

on

stra

tes

a sc

hola

rly a

pp

roac

h b

y

con

nec

tin

g m

ajor

idea

s b

ack

to o

rigin

al a

uth

ors

via

hyp

erli

nk

s an

d c

itin

g r

esou

rces

as

wel

l.

Rep

lies

sh

ow

car

efu

l th

ou

gh

t to

th

e co

mm

ent

of

oth

ers

and

th

ey r

eply

in

a m

ann

er t

hat

pro

mote

s

con

ver

sati

on.

Evid

ence

: W

riti

ng q

ual

ity e

vid

ent

in p

ost

ings

Idea

s a

nd

Co

nte

nt

Th

e id

eas

exp

ress

ed a

re n

ot

ori

gin

al, oft

en

con

fuse

d a

nd a

re n

ot

con

nec

ted

to c

lass

room

top

ics

or

dis

cuss

ion

. R

epli

es d

o n

ot

show

thou

gh

t to

th

e co

mm

ent

of

oth

ers.

Th

e id

eas

exp

ress

ed a

re n

ot

nec

essa

rily

ori

gin

al,

oft

en c

on

fuse

d a

nd

are

not

usu

ally

con

nec

ted

to c

lass

room

topic

s or

dis

cuss

ion

.

Rep

lies

att

emp

t to

sh

ow

som

e th

ou

ght

to t

he

com

men

t of

oth

ers.

Th

e st

ud

ent

exp

ress

es s

om

e ori

gin

al i

dea

s. T

he

maj

ori

ty o

f id

eas

are

rela

ted

to c

lass

room

top

ics

or

dis

cuss

ion.

Rep

lies

sh

ow

som

e th

ou

gh

t to

th

e

com

men

t of

oth

ers

and

th

ey r

eply

in

a m

ann

er t

hat

pro

mote

s co

nver

sati

on

.

Th

e st

ud

ent

has

man

y o

rigin

al i

dea

s an

d

exp

ress

es t

hei

r opin

ion

s an

d i

dea

s in

a c

lear

and

con

cise

man

ner

wit

h o

bvio

us

con

nec

tion

to

top

ic. R

epli

es s

how

car

efu

l th

ou

ght

to t

he

com

men

t of

oth

ers

and

th

ey r

eply

in

a m

ann

er

that

pro

mote

s co

nver

sati

on

wh

ile

chal

len

gin

g

pee

rs t

o t

hin

k c

riti

call

y.

Evid

ence

: C

on

tent

of

com

men

ts a

nd

post

s

Use

of

En

ha

nce

men

ts

Does

not

use

lin

ks

or

pic

ture

s. T

he

stud

ent

did

noth

ing t

o e

nh

ance

or

per

son

aliz

e th

e p

ost

and

com

men

t sp

ace.

Use

s on

ly o

ne

lin

k o

r p

ictu

re.

Th

ere

is v

ery

litt

le e

vid

ence

of

mu

ltim

edia

enh

ance

men

t an

d

the

stud

ents

post

s an

d c

om

men

ts a

re p

rim

aril

y

text

bas

ed.

Use

s 2

-3 a

pp

rop

riat

e li

nk

s or

pic

ture

s. T

he

stud

ent

enh

ance

d t

hei

r p

ost

s an

d c

om

men

ts t

o s

om

e ex

ten

t

usi

ng v

ideo

, au

dio

, im

ages

or

oth

er a

dd

-on

s.

Use

s ap

pro

pri

ate

link

s an

d p

ictu

res

con

sist

entl

y

and

oft

en. T

he

stu

den

t gre

atly

en

han

ced

th

eir

post

s an

d c

om

men

ts b

y u

sin

g v

ideo

, au

dio

,

imag

es o

r oth

er a

dd

-ons.

Evid

ence

: M

ult

imed

ia e

nh

ance

men

t su

ch a

s: p

ictu

res,

aud

io,

vid

eo a

nd o

ther

add

-on

s

Co

mm

un

ity

of

Pra

ctic

e

Does

not

mak

e ef

fort

to p

arti

cip

ate

in l

earn

ing

com

mun

ity a

s it

dev

elop

s; s

eem

s in

dif

fere

nt.

Dem

on

stra

tes

min

imal

to n

o p

arti

cipat

ion i

n

the

blo

ggin

g c

om

mun

ity a

nd

does

not

conn

ect,

com

men

t or

hyp

er-l

ink.

Rep

lies

lac

k c

om

ple

te

thou

gh

ts a

nd d

o n

ot

pro

mote

con

ver

sati

on.

Occ

asio

nal

ly m

akes

mea

nin

gfu

l re

flec

tion

on

gro

up

’s e

ffort

s; m

argin

al e

ffort

to b

ecom

e

involv

ed w

ith

gro

up.

Dem

on

stra

tes

litt

le

par

tici

pat

ion

in

th

e b

loggin

g c

om

munit

y a

nd

lack

sig

ns

of

conn

ecti

ng, co

mm

enti

ng,

and

hyp

er-l

inkin

g. R

epli

es a

re s

urf

ace

lev

el a

nd

do

not

pro

mote

con

ver

sati

on

.

Fre

qu

entl

y a

ttem

pts

to d

irec

t th

e dis

cuss

ion

and

to

pre

sen

t re

levan

t vie

wp

oin

ts f

or

consi

der

atio

n b

y

gro

up

; in

tera

cts

free

ly.

Dem

on

stra

tes

an a

ttem

pt

at

par

tici

pat

ion

in

th

e b

loggin

g c

om

munit

y b

y

con

nec

tin

g, co

mm

enti

ng, an

d h

yp

er-l

inkin

g.

Rep

lies

sh

ow

som

e th

ou

ght

to t

he

com

men

ts o

f

oth

ers

and

pro

mote

s co

nver

sati

on

.

Aw

are

of

nee

ds

of

com

mu

nit

y;

freq

uen

tly

atte

mp

ts t

o m

oti

vat

e th

e gro

up d

iscu

ssio

n;

pre

sen

ts c

reat

ive

app

roac

hes

to t

op

ic. B

log

entr

y a

nd

blo

gger

dem

on

stra

te a

ctiv

e

par

tici

pat

ion

in

th

e b

loggin

g c

om

munit

y b

y

con

nec

tin

g, co

mm

enti

ng, an

d h

yp

er-l

inkin

g.

Rep

lies

sp

ark

sch

ola

rly d

ialo

gu

e an

d

com

mun

ity b

uil

din

g.

Evid

ence

: E

ngag

ing p

ost

s th

at s

par

k c

on

ver

sati

on.

Cri

tica

l T

hin

kin

g

Blo

g e

ntr

y d

emon

stra

tes

no u

pp

er l

evel

thin

kin

g (

anal

ysi

s, s

yn

thes

is,

and

eval

uat

ion

)

and

ill

ust

rate

s a

care

less

ap

pro

ach

to c

on

ten

t.

Au

thor

show

s n

o s

ign

of

gro

wth

in t

hei

r

thin

kin

g.

Blo

g e

ntr

y d

emon

stra

tes

litt

le u

pp

er l

evel

thin

kin

g (

anal

ysi

s, s

yn

thes

is,

and

eval

uat

ion

)

focu

sin

g p

rim

aril

y o

n k

now

led

ge

reca

ll a

nd

illu

stra

tes

a fo

rced

app

roac

h t

o c

onte

nt.

Au

thor

show

s si

gn

s of

gro

wth

in t

hei

r th

ink

ing.

Blo

g e

ntr

y d

emon

stra

tes

mom

ents

of

upp

er l

evel

thin

kin

g (

anal

ysi

s, s

yn

thes

is,

and

eval

uat

ion

) an

d

illu

stra

tes

a th

ou

gh

tfu

l ap

pro

ach

to t

he

con

tent.

Au

thor

dem

on

stra

tes

gro

wth

in

th

eir

thin

kin

g.

Blo

g e

ntr

y d

emon

stra

tes

use

of

upp

er l

evel

thin

kin

g (

anal

ysi

s, s

yn

thes

is,

and

eval

uat

ion

)

and

ill

ust

rate

s a

thou

gh

tfu

l ap

pro

ach

to t

he

con

tent.

Au

thor

dem

on

stra

tes

gro

wth

in

th

eir

thin

kin

g.

Evid

ence

: D

emon

stra

tes

anal

ysi

s, s

yn

thes

is, an

d e

val

uat

ion w

riti

ng t

echn

iqu

es i

n p

ost

s an

d c

om

men

ts.

Cri

tica

l R

ead

ing

B

log e

ntr

y s

ho

ws

no e

vid

ence

of

pre

par

atio

n

thro

ugh

rea

din

g o

r re

flec

tion

. S

tud

ent

spea

ks

as o

ne

that

has

noth

ing t

o o

ffer

.

Blo

g e

ntr

y s

ho

ws

litt

le e

vid

ence

of

pre

par

atio

n

thro

ugh

rea

din

g a

nd

ref

lect

ion

. S

tud

ent

spea

ks

as o

ne

wh

o h

as k

now

led

ge

to s

har

e bu

t

wit

hou

t d

epth

or

bre

adth

.

Blo

g e

ntr

y s

ho

ws

evid

ence

of

pre

par

atio

n t

hro

ugh

read

ing a

nd

ref

lect

ion

wit

h s

om

e in

tegra

tion

of

idea

s. S

tud

ent

spea

ks

as o

ne

wh

o h

as k

now

led

ge

to

shar

e bu

t at

min

imal

dep

th o

r b

read

th.

Blo

g e

ntr

y s

ho

ws

evid

ence

of

thoro

ugh

pre

par

atio

n t

hro

ugh c

riti

cal

read

ing a

nd

refl

ecti

on

th

ereb

y d

emon

stra

tin

g a

n i

nte

gra

tion

of

rele

van

t co

nce

pts

, id

eas,

an

d p

rinci

ple

s.

Stu

den

t sp

eak

s as

on

e w

ho h

as a

bre

adth

and

dep

th o

f k

now

led

ge.

Evid

ence

: R

elev

ant

con

cepts

, id

eas,

an

d p

rinci

ple

s in

post

s an

d c

om

men

ts.

Mel

issa

Tur

nbul

l


Making Writing ChoicesTeaching Ideas

Joanne PanasJoanne is co-editor of English Practice. She teaches at McRoberts Secondary School in Richmond. Her passion is igniting a love of language and learning in her students.

How do I help students make powerful choices as writers?

In the Fall 2008 issue of English Practice, I wrote an article (“Choices Writers Make”) about how my senior English students could identify various

literary devices and writing techniques, but they could not explain the impact of those devices and tech-niques, or why writers might choose to use them. The activities I wrote about in the article helped students make that connection, and I used them again this past school year with good success. However, I could see that students needed further support to get to the next level of applying their understanding. I had a new burning question: “How do I help students make pow-erful choices as writers?” I had the privilege this year of co-planning English 11 with my colleagues Krista Ediger, Mehja-been Datoo and Leyton Schnellert. As we got into our third unit of the year in April, we knew we wanted to have more of a focus on writing, in particular creative non-fiction. The essential question for the unit was “How do we cre-ate and sustain hope for humanity?” In this unit, we spent some time exploring the idea of hope and work-ing through some lessons in the choices writers make using Alice Walker’s essay “My Mother’s Blue Bowl” and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. This was followed with a performance task analyzing the choices Barack Obama made in his election vic-tory speech. By this point students understood how writers make deliberate and effective choices, but they needed some support to transfer that understanding and apply it in their own writing. I had two short, personal pieces coming up for students to write. One was a piece explaining how an object of their choice represents hope for them. The second was a short, culminating piece for the unit on

almost anything to do with hope, which students would present orally in a class circle. As we began working on the “representing hope” piece we reviewed the BC Per-formance Standards for Impromptu Writing for grade 10. (I use this standard for English 11 with an eye to more sophisticated ideas, and students know that over the course of the year they should be steadily moving up on the scale as they improve.) In groups, students reviewed the “Exceeds Expectations” column and I asked them to tell me which of the criteria they did not really understand—in other words, which criteria

would they have a hard time pointing out or finding evidence of in a piece of writing? I encouraged stu-dents to look through the pieces we had already ana-lyzed to see if they could find evidence for each of the criteria, which would demonstrate if they understood it or not. The criterion which came up several times as challenging was “details and examples often show some subtlety.” Students understood what it meant to have relevant and supportive details and examples—but they weren’t sure how to “kick it up a notch” to subtlety. I took this information away and promised to come up with a lesson that would help them under-stand it next class. Thankfully, this was over the May long weekend so I had some time to think.


Inspiration I had had success several times in this class us-ing the metaphor of photography and film to describe the choices that writers make. For example, take these sentences describing the contents of Walker’s mother’s pantry in “My Mother’s Blue Bowl”:

One day, however, looking for a jar into which to pour leftover iced tea, I found my-self probing deep into the wilderness of the overstuffed, airless pantry. Into the land of the old-fashioned, the outmoded, the outdat-ed. The humble and the obsolete. There was a smoothing iron, a churn. A butter press. And two large bowls. One was cream and rose with a blue stripe. The other was a deep, vivid blue.

These sentences are akin to a film sequence in which the camera starts with a larger view of the cluttered pantry, then pans over several objects in succession to land and pause on the item of significance in the pantry. Students grasped how sentences and paragraph structures could create pictures in the readers’ head. I decided to use this visual medium to explain the idea of “subtle details.” From my personal photo collection, I chose a picture of two little girls sitting in their dad’s lap on the floor, reading a book about dogs. A black lab sits on the floor next to them; the background is somewhat cluttered with furniture, Christmas lights, and someone’s legs. A plate sits on a table; a jacket is slung over the back of a chair. Using iPhoto, my laptop, and a projector, I could project the picture and manipulate it as needed. I was ready to go!

Lesson 1, Part 1: Subtle Examples and Details I had two things I wanted students to get out of this lesson: how to choose subtle details for de-scriptive writing, and how to choose subtle details to support ideas or arguments. Since they were going to write a piece that described an object that represented hope for them, and explain why, they needed both kinds of subtlety. I began the lesson by flashing the photo and asking students what they saw in that second or two. What was happening in the picture? What stood out? Of course they were able to tell me that two little girls were reading a book with their dad; some of them saw that the book was about dogs. When I showed

them the full picture, they could see the details they had missed: the black dog, the cluttered background. I asked students to list all the “details” of the photo. Next, I used iPhoto to crop the picture, framing it tightly around the dad, girls, book, and dog. I asked students what they thought of my choice as a photog-rapher—what was the effect? They agreed that it took out irrelevant and distracting details and focused the picture on what was significant. I asked them to think about what I had forced them to focus on. What were some details that they could now see that they might have missed before in the clutter? What might be a subtle, telling detail? (I clarified the meaning of “tell-ing detail.”) Several students noticed that the dog was looking right at the camera, while the girls and dad were focused intently on the book, which added an element of poignancy to the picture. What I did next was crucial. I asked students to discuss in groups how what we had just done could be connected to their job as writers. They had some good insights, including the idea that more detail is not al-ways better; that they need to direct readers’ attention to specific details; and that different details could have a different effect on the overall picture (for example, if I had cropped out the dog, it would have changed the photo significantly). Students then turned to their draft pieces of

what represents hope for them (they had done a quick version of this topic in class a few days earlier, so they had something to work with). I asked them to take a few minutes to think about the details they were using in their description of the object, to include both a ba-sic, obvious description of the object but also to “look again” mentally and add details that they may not have noticed the first time. (They could also do this at home with the object in front of them.) At the end of class, they received a handout of a process for getting to subtle details in descriptive writing (Figure 1).

When I showed them the full picture, they could see the details they had missed: the black dog, the cluttered background


Figure 1: How to write details and examples that often show some subtlety, side 1

Descriptive WritingWhen you write to describe something, details and examples need to be both obvious and straightforward (to give the reader a general idea of the object/person/place/event, etc), as well as subtle (to give the reader a sense of the significance of what you are describing).

When writing a description, use these questions to guide you:

1. What do you notice at first? What stands out? What are some key words that will let read-ers know/guess what it is without actually naming it? These are the more obvious details.

2. Now take a closer look. What did you miss the first time? Which of these details help to make it unique or significant to your overall purpose or theme? This is subtlety at work.

3. Find a “telling” detail. What is a telling detail? It can be obvious or subtle…a. “One thing that pulls the reader into the experience of the [writing], one thing that creates the emotional connections to the writing…. It can be any specific detail. It can be a sight, sound, touch, taste or smell. It can be a specific thought or action. One thing that has tremendous mean-ing, almost a shorthand connection.” (http://condascreativecenter.blogspot.com/2007/11/writ-ing-and-telling-detail.html). b. It’s “a word, phrase, or image that helps the reader ‘see’ what you’re describing. It must be precise and illuminating, and to some extent, unique. Its uniqueness is often what makes it so telling…. It’s one thing that has meaning and says a lot with a very few words. It pulls the reader into the experience...” (http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2008/10/telling-detail.html).c. Your telling detail might come from what you have already written in questions #1 & #2 above, or you may think of one later. It could be to do with what you are describing or your reaction or connection to it. Whatever it is, it must be related to your overall topic, message, or idea.

4. Put it all together—both the obvious and straightforward details, and the more subtle ones. a. Think about where you want your reader’s mental “eye” to go. Do you want to move from top to bottom, or left to right, or from the middle to the edges? Do you want your reader to get a key image and then fill in the blanks around it? Do you want your reader to know what it is up front or have to work a little to figure it out? b. Where you put your telling detail is up to you. You might put it after a more general de-scription, or you might put it right at the start. c. Try the description a couple of different ways and see what works best to convey the meaning of what you are describing as it relates to your topic.


Figure 2: How to write details and examples that often show some subtlety, side 2

Other Types of Writing

When you write to share ideas, responses, or opinions, you need to use examples and details to clarify your thinking to the reader. Simply stating an idea is not enough. Readers expect you to explain and elaborate on your ideas, answering any questions they may have (“Why?” and “How?” and beyond), and examples and details are part of this. Some tips follow:

1. Be logical and avoid extreme examples. “When kids drop out of school they end up on the street, in gangs, committing all kinds of crimes.” If you want to go there, you have to do your research and show readers the typical, logical steps between dropping out of school and joining a gang/commit-ting crimes. You cannot prove 100% that ALL people who drop out of school end up in a street gang. You can use anecdotes of specific incidents, but be careful not to over generalize to ALL situations. See tip #3 below.

2. Avoid “negative” or “non-existent” examples. “If A hadn’t happened, B and C wouldn’t exist.” This kind of thinking is not necessarily logical, as you cannot with 100% reliability predict or prove what would have happened (or NOT happened) if “A” did not occur.

3. Embrace tentative language. Unless you have rock-solid proof, trade out “absolutes” like every-one, no one, always, never, and all for words like many people, some, at times, occasionally, and often. This softer-sounding language actually strengthens your piece: readers can undoubtedly think of excep-tions to your absolutes. You will have lost your reader’s willingness to engage with you as part of the writer-reader dialogue.

4. Avoid repetition. You need to explain and elaborate on your ideas, but don’t just re-phrase them. Repeating your ideas will not convince the reader. (See what I just did there?) Each sentence must have a specific purpose: Are you adding something new to the main idea? Are you providing an explanation of it? Is it an example or detail that illuminates or illustrates the main idea? If not, cut it.

5. Find examples and details for your ideas. Think about your topic/ideas and write down the ex-amples and details that first spring to your mind. Now put them aside (but don’t get rid of them yet!). Chances are, if you thought of these examples and details, your reader has too. Keep working to think of some other logical examples and details. Consider analogies, anecdotes (researched & real, or real-istic & made-up) and facts. Once you have thought of some other examples and details, consider them along with your original list. Which examples and details are the most powerful? These are often the ones that resonate emotionally, not just logically, with readers. If you feel you can’t use any of the less typical examples and details, is there a way to use the more typical examples and details in a subtle way? Can you find a fresh angle?

6. Focus on your task. Remember that if you are writing to argue a point or support an opinion, you usually need to include (or at least acknowledge) the obvious examples/details to show that you “know your stuff.” The more subtle examples and details will show you’ve put in the time and effort to think more deeply about your ideas.


Lesson 1, Part 2: Subtle Examples and Details

The next part of the lesson focused on subtlety in arguments. I told students they would have 2 min-utes to choose a side on an issue and write down as many arguments for that side as they could. Once they were ready, I wrote on the board: “Students should wear uniforms in public school (basic uniforms pro-vided for free). Agree or disagree.” Students have strong opinions on this issue and they quickly came up with a few arguments for or against it. They chose one argument to elaborate on for 2 minutes with examples and details. When they finished, I gave them 2 more min-utes to elaborate further on the SAME argument—in other words, to come up with the less-obvious, off-the-top-of-your-head details and examples and get to the more subtle ones. This was a struggle for some students, but most came up with some ideas. Again, as in the first part of the lesson, I asked students how this could apply to their writing pieces. They understood that the first few ideas we think of are typically the ones that most people will think of—and those obvious ideas are fine, but they don’t “exceed expectations.” Students who want to do bet-ter will need to think beyond the obvious, not only in their supporting details and examples, but also in the arguments themselves. After debriefing this activity, we reviewed the handout in Figure 2, focusing on what kinds of ex-amples to avoid (point #5 was our activity in class).

Lesson 2: Effective Sentence Fragments

A second area that students identified as a challenge was in the general area of style on the Performance Standards rubric (“style and tone help to accomplish purpose, add impact; wide repertoire of ef-fective sentence structures”). We had noticed as a class that Walker, King, and Obama used sentence frag-ments to great effect; I also noticed that many students were not sure of what a fragment was (several students misidentified them on their performance task), nor were they using them particularly effectively. This information led me to create a mini-lesson on using fragments effectively. I re-wrote a passage from Walker’s essay and re-punctuated it to have a large number of fragments, some used correctly/effectively and some not (Figure 3). I also prepared another passage from the essay that

I felt had a particularly good selection of fragments. Using the re-written passage, students worked in pairs to identify all the fragments. This activity was very in-teresting—as I circulated to monitor their work, quite a few of the students thought they were done when a cursory glance at their sheets revealed they were not. This prompted some good conversations among pairs as they wrestled with the questions: “What is a sentence? What is not?” When everyone was finished, we went over the passage and students corrected their work. By the end, they were quite clear on what a fragment was. But what was an effective fragment? When could they “break the rules”?

Figure 3: Re-written Passage from Walker’s “My Mother’s Blue Bowl”

Each time I visited her. I marveled at the modesty of her desires. She appeared to have hardly any, beyond a thirst for a Pepsi-Cola or a hunger for a piece of fried chicken or fish. On every visit. I noticed that more and more of what I remembered of her possessions seemed to be missing. One day I commented on this. Taking a deep breath. Sighing and following both with a beaming big smile, which lit up her face. The room, and my heart. She said: Yes, it’s all going. I don’t need it anymore. If there’s any-thing you want. Take it when you leave; it might not be here when you come back. The dishes my mother and father used daily had come from my house; I had sent them years before. When I moved from Mississippi to New York. Neither the plates nor the silver matched entirely, but it was all beautiful in her eyes. There were numerous cups. Used by the scores of children from the neighborhood who continued throughout her life. To come and go. But there was nothing there for me to want. One day, however, looking for a jar into which to pour leftover iced tea. I found my-self probing deep into the wilderness of the overstuffed, airless pantry. Into the land of the old-fashioned, the outmoded, the outdated. The humble and the obsolete. There was a smooth-ing iron, a churn. A butter press. And two large bowls. One was cream and rose. With a blue stripe. The other was a deep, vivid blue. May I have this bowl, Mama? I asked, look-


ing at her and at the blue bowl. With delight. You can have both of them, she said. Barely acknowledging them. And continuing to put left-over food away.

Using the same re-written passage, I asked stu-

dents to identify which fragments they thought were effective, and to explain why they were or were not. This led to some very interesting discussions, as some students felt that my “incorrect” fragments were effec-tive—and sometimes they were right! Many students asked good questions about the effectiveness of the fragments and the impact on the paragraph and pas-sage as a whole. Next, we looked at the second, original pas-sage from the essay. Again, students identified all the fragments and we reviewed them together on the over-head. And again, students discussed why each frag-ment was effective. Several students wondered what to do if they felt the fragment was not effective, which led to a discussion about published work, and the idea that this piece is by a professional writer, and has been thoroughly edited—therefore we will assume, for our purposes, that the choices were deliberate and that Walker was going for an effect of some kind. In other words, we went back to the lesson that writers make choices for a reason—I was asking students to think like Alice Walker and to try to imagine what effect she was trying to achieve when she used these fragments. This shift in perspective was a challenge for some students but it was a powerful activity. By the time we finished reviewing why each fragment was effective, students were ready to look at their own pieces on what represents hope for them. They identified all their fragments (they could work with a partner for this), and determined if they were effective or ineffective. This was a very practical ac-tivity that led to some risk-taking on the part of many students, who enjoyed playing with this new “writer’s tool.”

Lesson 3: Writing Good Conclusions

The previous lessons prepared students well for their “representation of hope” pieces, but they

needed some additional support for their short oral pieces on hope. As they were to be presented and eval-uated as oral pieces, I again went to students to find out where they felt they needed some targeted help. Many students indicated, after looking at the criteria

for the task (Figure 4), that they needed help with conclusions. We had worked extensively on good leads earlier in the year and they felt confident with that aspect of the task.

Figure 4: English 11 Hope Unit Oral Presentation

The Task: Present a 1 to 2 minute oral piece that ex-presses your thinking about hope.

The Details: Topic suggestions include:• Hope/hopefulness• Loss of hope• Finding hope• Where hope lives• Diversity of hope• Representing hope

Format suggestions include:• Poetry• Monologue (in character)• Speech/personal essay• Open letter to…(friend, parent, school, editor,

celebrity, hero, leader…)• Dialogue (with a partner; double the time; indi-

vidually graded)• Explanation of something you created around hope

(ex. painting, photographs)

many students were not sure of what a fragment was . . . nor were they using them particularly effectively.


We began the lesson with a discussion about what makes a good ending. Students had some good ideas, which I recorded on the board. I shifted the question somewhat by asking “What is a satisfying and power-ful ending? How does it leave the audience?” Think-ing about the impact on the audience got students thinking of a few more ideas, which I also recorded. Of course, the next question was “How do you create a good ending?” To help with this question, I put the endings from a few recent student pieces on the overhead, and we discussed each one in terms of the impact it had and how the student created that ending. We also looked back at the pieces we had studied in class. We came up with a few ideas as to how to create good endings:

• Full-circle ending (use a key idea, phrase, image, etc. from the beginning of the piece)

• Imagery (leave readers with a powerful image related to your ideas)

• Backward/parallel sentences (“We are our hopes. Our hopes are us.” Michelle AuYeung)

• Shorter sentences following longer ones (“I know it will always stay with me: the glimmering eyes, the stained mini-socks and shirts, the shrieks of excitement—And I will always keep it. My hope. My Jack.” Rachel Yang)

• Rhetorical question and response (“If a simple seed can grow into a structure as great as the trees we see in the forests of the world, then one must ask oneself, what really is unattainable? With hope, nothing is.” Adam Webster)

Following this analysis students turned again to their own pieces and looked at their current conclu-sions. They determined what type of ending they were

using (if any at all) and what was or was not powerful and satisfying about it. Many students found it help-ful to work with a partner for this process, as well as when revising their endings to make them better.

Final Thoughts

These three lessons helped bring out some of the best writing that students did all year, and it was a pleasure to read and listen to their work. Even my most reluctant writers made efforts to incorporate the “writing tricks” they had learned; although some of students’ efforts were occasionally awkward, they were making the effort. It is my hope that they will continue to use and polish these skills in the craft of writing through their grade 12 year. The pride students took in their writing was apparent when they reflected on their learning in a final in-class assessment in June. Many students felt they had improved significantly in their writing, and they saw themselves as writers. I know I certainly saw them as such.

Aspect Minimally Meets: C Fully Meets: B Exceeds: AMeaning/ideas• Development of ideas• Details/examples

Ideas are generally clear but need more develop-ment; some details sup-port ideas

Ideas are clear and well-developed; specific, relevant details support ideas

Sophisticated ideas are well-developed; apt/tell-ing/subtle details support ideas

Oral language skills• Beginning, flow &

ending• Expression & impact

of choices

Clear beginning; logical sequence but lacks direc-tion; ending is mechani-cal/simple; expression & choices somewhat effec-tive

Interesting beginning; flows clearly to purpose-ful resolution; expression and choices are generally effective

Engaging introduction; flow is smooth/natural; ending is satisfying & powerful; expression & choices are effective and engaging

The Criteria

To see some of the student pieces from Joanne Panas and Krista Ediger’s Eng-lish 11 classes, see the “The Hope Suite” on page 39.

FreeDigitalPhotos.net


Learning Rounds: Engaging Teachers in Powerful Coversations

Investigating Our Practice

Deidre Bjornson & Tammy RenyardTammy has recently moved to Victoria (SD 61) as a Secondary Vice Principal. She is passionate about increasing engagement and learning for all students. Tammy has facilitated learning rounds at elementary, middle and secondary.Deidre provides leadership in a variety of literacy initiatives to support student diversity in today’s class-rooms. These initiatives include authentic assessment, strategies to guide instructional practice and learning rounds.

“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done,

then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.” -Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911, The Secret Garden)

Learning Round participants:“ …We appreciated planning lessons that helped us achieve our students’ goals.”

“…We liked the teamwork. It maintained our motivation and gave us the opportunity to de-brief immediately.”

“It was so exciting to be in each other’s class-rooms and to collaborate!”

“It was neat to see the kids in a different con-text and with a different teacher!”

“What a gift to have the time to work together.”

We are district support teachers. Tammy works in School District 79 (Cowichan Val-ley) and Deidre in Parksville/Qualicum (SD 69). Our work includes a range of possibilities determined by the needs and requests of the professional educators we support. Our purpose is to nurture and encourage teacher professional develop-ment. In particular, we facilitate opportunities for teachers to develop practices that support and improve the learning of all their students. We have shared new

ideas and philosophical perspectives about what to do before, during and after instruction. We have provided demonstration lessons to illustrate new possibilities in classroom practice and workshops to encourage teachers to reflect on and engage in dialogue about their practice. We have established professional book groups, developed school book rooms, facilitated whole staff conversations on teaching and learning, and more.

But does all of our talk and demonstration actually impact classroom practice? Our experience, combined with the work of Faye Brownlie, Susan Close, Michael Fullan and Leyton Schnellert, informs us that one powerful ap-


proach to support change in practice is structured, col-laborative learning rounds. Learning rounds provide an opportunity for teachers to come together with a shared interest in refining practice. Participating teach-ers commit to working together in a series of cycles or rounds of teaching. The rounds include identifying an instructional focus and, through co-constructing, conferencing, co-teaching, debriefing and reflecting, working towards deepening student learning and en-gagement and, ultimately, improving student success. In this article we will describe learning rounds as an effective professional development approach whereby teachers work together in real time, in real classrooms, with real students.

Purpose of Learning Rounds Our profession is changing the rules regard-ing the expectations of “good” teaching. Historically “good” teaching was to work in “splendid isolation”: alone, independent, and behind closed doors. Today, the criteria for “good” teaching is shifting toward a more collaborative culture of sharing ideas, discussing practice, working smarter together, “connecting peers with purpose” (2008, Fullan). To be a district support teacher in this time of shifting criteria demands a sort of “fearlessness” in the sense described by Margaret Wheatly (2008). Wheatley speaks about fearless-ness in her work with organizations and change. She encourages people inside the organization to begin to create “beneficial results on islands of hope”. She rein-forces the idea that “systems learn” (2008, Fullan). Participating in learning rounds provides an opportunity for teachers to explore instruction and to support each other as they actualize theory in practice. Learning rounds invite teachers to enter into a state of vulnerability, or fearlessness as Wheatley describes it. They are asked to take risks and to commit to learning together, to assume responsibility for personal learning and to truly believe that “learning is the work” (2008, Fullan).

Getting Started in Learning Rounds There are many ways teachers can come together to identify a common concern or question around learning and practice. These concerns arise from school-based team discussions, class reviews, school growth plans or performance standard assess-ment conversations (Brownlie, Feniak & Schnellert, 2006). During these conversations, specific learning intentions for students are identified, such as inferring,

synthesizing, responding, and connecting. The con-versation may also present an identified instructional need where teachers would like to explore different strategies to better meet the needs of the diverse learn-ers in their classrooms. As district support teachers, this is often our entry point. We are invited to join the conversation as a resource and a support to look more deeply at their questions. Resources are shared and initial planning begins based on a common schema for instruction (Diagram A: Instructional Schema). The phases of a structured, collaborative learn-ing round include: • an agreement to co-construct a lesson between the

district support teacher and a “volunteer” teacher• conference with participating teachers in the learn-

ing round before the teaching• co-teach some part of the lesson sequence with the

support teacher• debrief teaching/learning with the group, identify-

ing what worked well and what might be changed and plan with the group a possible next step in the sequence

• reflect on the learning round experience• then repeat the cycle - another teacher volun-

teers to repeat the lesson or co-construct a lesson informed by the debriefing/learning of the first round.

Learning Round Phases in Detail Co-constructing begins with an “outside the day” meeting between the classroom teacher and the district support teacher. Together we develop a lesson, using the common instructional schema. Emphasis is placed on being clear on the learning intention of the lesson, being certain the lesson links to the IRP and being sure that there are opportunities for students to access their background knowledge. The classroom teacher’s knowledge of their students is critical in the co-constructing phase to ensure that all learners are included in the learning. Conferencing with teacher participants in the learning round can occur inside or outside the day depending on timetable and teacher coverage. The conference is the opportunity to share the instructional schema of the lesson, the learning intentions and specific information on students in the class. Observ-ing teachers are asked to record their thinking and any observations they might have while they are viewing the lesson. Observing teachers often articulate their personal goal for their participation in the learning


round at this time. During the co-teaching teachers are encour-aged to engage in the learning and the thinking that we are asking of the students. It is important for teachers to model for students that “learning is the work” (Ful-lan, 2008). At times, we have actually stepped outside of the lesson, and used a think-aloud strategy to reflect on what we are noticing about the students’ learning or highlight some specific aspect of instruction. For example, we might say to the observing teachers, “I’m asking students to move from A/B partner to table talk because they need to extend their conversation before they go to writing.” The think-aloud strategy allows us to model ongoing assessment within the lesson and the need to change or clarify direction based on our observations of student learning. Debriefing teaching/learning with the group ideally occurs right after the lesson. It is important that the classroom teacher has the opportunity to speak first in the debriefing. This honours their first-hand experience with their students and their personal commitment to the learning round process (Close, 2008). As a group we:• discuss what worked well and what we think we

want to change in the initial part of the sequence • reformat the lesson schema with the refinements

and someone else volunteers to try the refined les-son in the next round

• discuss and refine the next steps for the co-teacher as the original sequence may need to be changed based on observations and information generated

We noticed that when teachers take the lesson away and teach it, the collaborative conversation con-tinues. Teachers feel empowered because they have seen the lesson, they have the newly refined lesson and they have the confidence to proceed independently. To close a learning round it is critical to have participants reflect on the learning process. As teachers have set individual goals for participating in the learn-ing round, it is important for them to have the time to come back to these goals and reflect individually or as a group. Goal-setting and next steps are also impor-tant as we move forward in our shared conversations around improving our professional practice.

Gradual Release Framework Our work with learning rounds supports scaf-folding as illustrated in the gradual release of respon-

sibility. In the first round, new ideas and concepts are presented and modeled to provide direct support for teachers. In the following rounds, structures and cues offer guided support as new ideas and concepts are internalized. Suggestions and prompts identified in the debriefing of the round support independent practice. Finally, the ultimate goal in learning rounds is for teachers to use the collaborative structure of learning rounds as a professional development model to trans-form their practice.

Final Thoughts The power of professional learning rounds is supported by feedback from teachers who have had the opportunity to participate. In our experience, moving forward together through structured learn-ing rounds engages participants deeply as they work with their content, their students and their colleagues.

Learning rounds build capacity in schools through en-riched conversations about learning that continue long after the rounds have finished.

Learning rounds build capacity in schools through enriched conversations about learning that continue long after the

rounds have finished


References

Beairsto, B. (2007) Transformational leadership: Influencethatanimatesauthority. Keynote presentation for the Island Leadership Coalition. B.C. Ministry of Education (2006). English language arts integrated resource package K to 7. Brownlie, F, Feniak, W. & Schnellert, L. (2006). Stu- dent diversity. ON: Pembroke Publishers.Close, S. (2008). A leader’s guide for a smartlearning round. Vancouver: Susan Close Learning.Fullan, M. (2008). The six secrets of change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Wheatey, M. (2008). “Fearlessness: The last organiza- tional change strategy.” The Journal of the Association of Business Executives. England. http://www.abeuk.com. Wheatley, M. (2008) Journeying beyond hope and fear. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http:// www.margaretwheatley.com. Acknowledgment:Vancouver Island Network - Literacy has enabled district literacy support teachers to connect beyond individual contexts and has encouraged us to explore instruction and actualize theory in practice. We recog-nize that our ability to provide effective professional development is fuelled by the powerful professional conversations that take place at this network table.

Please see the next page for a sample Schema for Instruction!


Schema for Instruction

1. Shared Learning Intention/Goal/Target/Purpose 2. Link to the IRP

•

•

3. Before/Connecting: Accessing background knowledge

4. During/Processing:

Chunk

Chunk


5. After/Personalizing/Transforming:

6. Idea/Question to engage thinking about Metacognition/Reflection

Strategies Used Before During and After

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•

•

•


Creating My Own Recipe of Grand Conversations

Teaching Ideas

Daryl StevensDaryl is a half-time grade 6 teacher and half-time Instructional Support Teacher in Campbell River. When he isn’t teaching, he is being schooled by his three boys on the soccer pitch.

I made a major breakthrough for myself in my own practice

Literature circles—I have employed them for many years in my classroom, and every year I make adjustments that improve the learning

experience for my students. Yet, I have never got-ten anywhere close to the “grand conversations” and “thoughtful responses” that Brownlie (2005) made me so hopeful for. Yes, that guide developed my practice immensely and helped me move my students a lot further along, but the best I felt I got to was competent with the responses, and the conversations...well, brutal would be really generous. This past year I was determined to move beyond brutal and get closer to grand. By taking the time to really pay attention to what was and was not working for my students, and by reading several other great texts, I made a major breakthrough for myself in my own practice. Brownlie’s resource remained my anchor, and from that stage I went to other sources to learn how to improve different pieces. I still have a long way to go, yet I am excited now to continue on that journey. In telling my story I want to encourage you to go for it, too: take my learning and go further in your own way. By reflecting on my experiences last spring, I recognized seven main ingredients that I used to lead my students closer to grand conversations: purpose, learning intentions, a guiding question, comprehension strategies, thinking together through talk, co-created criteria, and descriptive feedback.

Ingredient #1: Purpose The recently revised K-7 English language arts curriculum (BC Ministry of Education, 2006) has been an important catalyst for my growth. To those who worked hard to develop it: thank you! Oral language is clearly valued in the new curriculum, and holds equal

ground with reading and writing as one of three main organizers. The rationale and other pieces of the intro-duction helped me to see how oral language, reading and writing are connected and complement each other. Further, the shared sub-organizers of Purpose, Strate-gies, Thinking, and Features also helped me make connections between oral language and the work I was doing in reading and writing. While I have realized consistent growth in my reading and writing instruction over the years, I have not made oral language such a priority, so I was keen to improve my oral language instruction. Specifically, and as a starting point, I wanted to hear my students having grand conversations; I’ve had enough of the brutal mumblings. The revised curriculum was one major purpose for my wanting to improve my instruc-

tion of students’ conversation skills: it’s my job and I want to do it well. I have also been learning more about the im-portance of talk for learning, so another reason why I wanted to improve students’ ability to talk with each other is because I want to be a better teacher in all areas. Miller (2008) describes the kind of classroom I want to create as a teacher, one that seems far away and yet still possible if I continue to work hard for it. In the kind of classrooms she promotes:

[Children] see themselves and each other as kids with purpose; they see themselves as the kind of kids that can figure things out. These children sense that they have the capac-


children’s ability to talk about both content and their learning process is a large part of an effective classroom

ity to roll up their sleeves, take action, and get things done…We witness it in their actions, their work, and their words. (p. 46-7)

That is the kind of classroom I want to move closer to, and developing children’s ability to talk about both content and their learning process is a large part of an effective classroom like that (Miller, 2008; Wilhelm, 2007). Improving my ability to develop students’ conversation skills in literature circles, an area I am already comfortable in, seemed like a good place to start. Nichols (2006) describes an even loftier reason

for teaching children to think and learn through talk, and it is a purpose that I believe in, too. It reawakens in me the idealism that I entered this profession with, and that I hold on to even amidst the challenging reali-ties of our classrooms today:

Through purposeful talk, we create con-structivist thinkers who will be poised to become the innovators of the new economy, the newer economies yet to come, and more important, the guardians and continuous authors of a fair and just participatory de-mocracy. They will live in a world that hasn’t forgotten the value of dialogue. (p. 104)

Those purposes prompted me to move my students and myself closer to grand conversations, and so pur-pose is an important ingredient in my grand conversa-tions recipe.

Ingredient #2: Learning Intentions (or Essential Understandings) Over time, I have found that students also need a meaningful purpose to guide them in their learning, and my reading of Miller (2008) has con-firmed my understanding: “[W]hen students are clear about what they’re going to be learning, why it’s important, and how it will help them, it gives purpose, focus, and direction to their learning too” (p. 85). I have become more explicit with my students about what we are going to be learning, and the progres-sions we will move through: Kids, it is a given that we are here to learn; these are the main ideas and the key skills that we will be learning about and practic-

ing; and these are the steps we will move through as we learn. I have found that being explicit with my students also keeps me focused and accountable; if I tell the kids we are going to do certain things, I feel obliged to follow through with what I said. One thing I need to improve upon is working with my students “to show them how the material relates to their lives and their needs” (Wilhelm, 2007, p. 25). I have my own electronic template to help me plan my units, so it didn’t take too long to modify my unit outline for our end-of-the-year literature circles. In the past I taught the unit, Overcoming Obstacles,

with a thematic approach. Many of the titles used for that thematic unit came from the book list generated by Brownlie (2005, p. 89-90) under the organizer of Hope, Courage, Survival, Persecution, the Power of

Family. While most of the unit remained the same, one major change in my delivery of the unit was the inclu-sion of specific learning intentions, which I stated for the kids in this way:

Reading Skills Focus:• Make inferences• Summarize• Synthesize

Speaking Skills Focus:• Agree• Disagree• Clarify • Add on The learning intentions I generated for the Overcoming Obstacles unit grew out of the assess-ments for learning I conducted over the course of the year, and they were connected to specific learning outcomes from the IRP. Students copied those inten-tions into their Reading Journals at the start of the unit, and, in order to keep our focus and purpose con-stantly clear, I started almost every literature circles session by having the whole class turn to that page in their Reading Journals and read out those intentions. By the end of the unit kids didn’t have to turn to the page because they had memorized the learning inten-tions. While they grumbled and rolled their eyes at me, they also knew that I was serious about their learning and that I expected them to work hard to develop their skills, which they did. All of our work—assignments,


conversations, assessments, feedback, reflection—was focused on those intentions. Although those intentions were there before in my unit plans as my goals or ob-jectives for the unit, making them explicit for students and keeping them central to all of our work made stu-dents’ learning clear, purposeful, and more effective. Wilhelm (2007) refers to the backwards design model promoted by Wiggins & McTighe (1998, 2003) to describe this idea of learning intentions as “endur-ing understandings”, which are often reframed state-ments taken directly from curricular standards. After reviewing Wilhelm’s work while writing this article, I realize I have some refining work to do with how I express and use learning intentions with my students. Still, I learned that learning intentions (enduring understandings) and a guiding question together were the stimulus package my students needed to get out of their conversational depression.

Ingredient #3: A Guiding Question Whereas explicitly stating learning intentions made the learning purposeful for my students, it was the guiding question that really motivated them. Their learning became more “Let’s do this!” than “You have to do this.” Perhaps I could say that the guiding question is the leavening agent in the recipe that really filled out the conversations. Whatever the appropri-ate metaphor, the guiding question is a very important addition. It also took the comprehension strategies we had been using to a higher level. Wilhelm (2007) was my lodestar for under-standing how to use guiding questions to motivate stu-dents. I certainly experienced what Wilhelm suggested I would:

[Students] learn what the curriculum and state learning standards require, but [they] are doing it with more efficiency, connectiv-ity, and verve. [Students] are learning how to read, write, argue, and think about how they want to live and be. (p. 43)

The guiding question is a crucial ingredient that I start-ed playing with last year in my science units, where I saw it making a difference. Using a guiding question in my Overcoming Obstacles literature circles unit at the end of last year catapulted my conversations to way beyond where they were. Let me tell you briefly how I arrived there. I started out the Overcoming Obstacles unit with some poems and the “Say Something” strategy (Brownlie, 2005, p. 7-9). As per my past experiences,

the “Say Something”s were very cursory. To support students in their saying of something more thought-ful and meaningful, I went to response organizers that we had employed earlier in the year to develop comprehension skills, such as making connections, visualizing, question answer relationship, and mak-ing inferences. I had hoped that with such preparation students would have more to say. It was disappointing that students did not apply those comprehension skills without my direction, and even with my direction, their mediocre responses weren’t eagerly used for talk-ing together about the poems. I was struggling with that lack of application and ownership of the com-prehension skills when one student’s remark was the trigger that led me to the use of a guiding question. As I was listening to a group floundering in a conversation about a poem, a flash of enthusiasm for talking appeared because two students disagreed about the meaning of a line in the poem. When I encouraged them to continue, one of the group members said, “It’s like we’re having a big argument here! Are we sup-posed to be having a debate?!” That comment got me to think of creating some sort of statement that kids could debate in their conversations, but I didn’t want a traditional debate. From there my mind connected to the questions I had been playing with in science, and the epiphany arrived: I can use a guiding question! I don’t know why I hadn’t considered it earlier, but I’m glad I finally figured it out. After some reflection and planning, I created this question: “How do certain character traits help individuals overcome challenges?” The next day I pre-sented the question to the class and from there we took several days and lessons to develop understanding of the question. We learned about characteristics; devel-oped vocabulary to name and define characteristics; revisited the traditional four kinds of challenges char-acters face in literature and life (persons vs. person/self/society/environment); considered what character-istics would be the best to overcome different prob-lems in different contexts; and wondered if there is one characteristic that trumps all of the others when it comes to overcoming challenges. As the students built up some knowledge, understandings and wonderings around the question, they began to apply their compre-hension strategies more purposefully to their reading. The results were fabulous: independent application of comprehension strategies; grander conversations; and, ultimately, deeper understandings of literature and of life. The unit was transformed from one with a cute


thematic title to one that students were motivated to engage in, and one in which they improved their com-prehension skills, conversation skills, and understand-ing of life’s challenges.

Ingredient #4: Comprehension Strategies We had worked hard through the year on comprehension strategies and I was pleased with the movement students made over the course of the year. Therefore, to prepare for their conversations in our literature circles unit, I asked students to complete responses using a variety of the comprehension strate-gies that we had used earlier in the year. As I men-tioned above, while the students dutifully completed their responses, it was quite clear that they had had enough and were just going through the motions. Their responses were mediocre, and of course that lack of enthusiasm carried over into the conversations. The guiding question changed all of that. Once the guiding question and the work that we did around it was established, students began to apply their comprehension strategies purposefully. The guiding question provided motivation to use the skills; they were intent on answering the question and sub-questions, and the skills then became a tool to an end, not simply an end in themselves. I was amazed to see how much more the guiding question enriched the use and development of the comprehen-sion strategies. Since one of the learning intentions for this unit was making inferences, students were asked to find passages in their novels that suggested a certain characteristic a character had, or might need to have, to overcome a challenge. As well as finding a pas-sage that provided a clue, the criteria the students and I developed together required that students tell the characteristic, identify the challenge, and provide some reasons and explanations for their thinking. The transcript below is from one student’s response jour-nal, and is an example of the great thinking students demonstrated as they worked to find answers to the guiding question. Clue from the book: “By dinnertime, not even close to halfway done, he felt like a gasping marathon runner, wondering why he made himself do it. The whirligig ended up taking 3 days.”

Reasoning: This clue suggests that Brent is exhausted and sick of building whirligigs. Brent has to build 4 whirligigs and put them on the 4 corners of the U.S. because he killed a girl and the parents said that the only thing he could do for them is build the whirligigs. The characteristic that Brent needs is a lot of patience. He will need patience because whirligigs are hard to make and if he gets frustrated now things are only going to get worse and more stressful. The challenge for Brent is person vs. self. Yes, the guiding question was huge, but also they needed the practical comprehension strategies to develop answers to the question. The guiding ques-tion and comprehension strategies complimented each other beautifully. The responses students made and the conversations students began to have demonstrated the richness of their thinking and learning.

Ingredient #5: Thinking Together through Talk Like comprehension strategies, speaking and listening skills were also a focus earlier in the year. We had co-constructed criteria for speak-ing and listening, and students par-ticipated in more traditional speak-ing situations, where one student presented to a group or the class, and the audience members listened. As we did for our comprehension strat-egy work, we had gone through our instruction, practice, and descrip-

tive feedback loops for both speaking and listening, so the students were familiar with the criteria and had practice opportunities earlier in the year. Another big improvement in our Overcoming Obstacles unit came when thinking together became the focus of our speak-ing and listening activities. The conversation skills we focused on for the unit were agreeing, disagreeing, clarifying and adding-on (Nichols, 2006, p. 43-46). I introduced each of these skills in quick succession and provided charts with sentence starters, based upon Nichols’s work, to support students in their application of the skills (Figure 1). I also modeled the skills for them by using a fishbowl strategy. It was beautiful to hear the kids using those skills and being so thoughtful together. Conversations amongst groups of four went from 1-3 minutes of taking turns and saying very little to easily more than ten and often into fifteen or more minutes of


Natural LanguageWhat you are doing as a listener/think-

er/ talker

Why learners do this when talking pur-posefully

•“Oh, yeah ...”•“That’s what I thought, and...”•“Me, too, because...”•“That’s just like...”•“I agree with you because...”

Agreeing

•To support and idea•To cite more evidence•To make the idea bigger and stronger

•“No, no, ...”•“Wait, but...”•“I don’t think...”•“But...”•“I disagree with you because...”

Disagreeing

•To offer a different opinion•To clarify something the speaker misun-derstood or did not hear

•“Yeah, and...”•“Oh, and then...”•“That’s because...”•“And also...”•“I can add on...”

Adding to an idea

•To support an idea•To cite more evidence•To make the idea bigger and stronger•To give an explanation or example

•“I don’t get you!”•“Could you say that again?”•“Could you say more about that?”•“What do you mean?”•“Why?”

Clarifying meaning

•To clarify something the speaker misun-derstood or did not hear•To clear up confusion

actual conversation. It was grand! The speaking and listening skills we developed earlier were a good foundation that made thinking to-gether more effective. Students had practiced speaking and listening and were expected now to apply those skills in this different situation. And again, the guiding question proved to be a crucial piece; students were talking and thinking together to answer the guiding question and the sub-questions that we had connected to it. The time we spent at the front of the unit forming opinions and ideas about the most important

Figure 1: Conversation Skills Chart

characteristics for overcoming obstacles provided the knowledge base and motivation for some very skillful conversations. For next year I am excited to expand upon this bit of learning by implementing more of the ideas outlined by Nichols. The agree/disagree/clarify/add-on skills actually come at the end of a section of her work that describes how to teach conversational behaviour

through certain steps, and is described in a chapter sub-section titled “Keeping Lines of Thinking Alive” (Nichols, 2006, p. 39-46). Other steps she outlines are titled “Saying Something Meaningful” and “Listening with Intent.” Since I had huge improvements with the small piece of instruction I worked through in “Keep Lines of Thinking Alive” (agree/disagree/clarify/add on), I am really looking forward to even more success when I guide students through the next steps in her book.

Ingredient #6: Clear, Co-constructed Criteria The works of Davies (2007) and Gregory, Cameron, & Davies (1997, 2000, 2001) have been a cornerstone in my development of more effective assessment practices. Setting criteria with students and using it with them to guide our work together has made my classroom a more enjoyable and effective place of learning. After we worked through mini-


lessons and began our trip down the slide of responsi-bility, we set our criteria for our grand conversations when students had begun to practice using their new conversation skills of agree, disagree, clarify and add-on. I found that building criteria at that stage gave me insight into what the class was starting to own, and what pieces hadn’t stuck yet. That insight enabled me to focus my descriptive feedback to individuals and the whole group to reinforce the criteria they were beginning to own, and it also allowed me to review and re-teach important pieces that students hadn’t yet grasped or started to apply in their conversations. Our co-constructed criteria looked like this:

Grand Conversations Criteria (Student names have been changed)

Givens•people in a group (Grant)•use manners (Beverley)

Listen•eye contact (Mark)•face the speaker (Karen)•don’t interrupt (Tim)•pay attention (Dave) •park thinking (Mr. Stevens)

Speak•eye contact (Cathy)•enunciate (April)•loud and clear (Norm)•expression (Neil)•fluent/smooth (Lois)

Think Together Through TalkFocus on Purpose•stay on task (Jacqueline)•stay on topic (Barb)•longer conversations (Rod)

Begin•say something (Liam)•makes sense (Isaac)•use RED (Tait) (RED: our acronym for Reasons, Evidence, Details)

Build•agree (George)•disagree (Vicki)•explain strongly, in a different way (Deb)•ask questions (Marni)•clarify (Mr. Stevens)•add on (Mr. Stevens)

As we moved into the practice phase of our grand conversations, students and I used the criteria to guide our work together. After reading their nov-els for a period of time, students had time to write a response in preparation for their conversations. When they entered into their conversations with our guiding question to focus on, it became a matter of students striving to meet the criteria for conversations we had established together, and of receiving feedback on how well they were meeting those criteria.

Ingredient #7: Descriptive Feedback The co-constructed criteria became the gauge for our practice work, and both the students’ and I

provided feedback to others. The practice sessions started in pairs, then moved to pairs with peers for feedback, then we moved to quads with peers for feedback. The tool students used for feedback was one that has become my standard feed-back tool. It is a variation of the “2-stars and 1-wish” routine. I have students make a simple T-chart, with the headings Done Well and To Improve. When a peer is assigned to give feedback, the student involved in the conversation gives his T-chart to his peer assessor, who will then listen to the conver-sation and provide feedback on the T-Chart. In the two columns, peer assessors have to

use criteria statements directly from the posted criteria chart, and are asked to provide 2 or 3 Done Wells and 1 or 2 To Improves. Students who receive feedback on their T-chart from a peer assessor could accept the feedback as it was, or if they didn’t think it was accurate they could write a note to me on the T-chart to explain what they thought was inaccurate. I found that this became important to the students as they became more purposeful in their conversations; they understood the criteria well, and knew what they were trying to achieve, so they were concerned if they felt their conversation skills were not recognized accu-rately. Providing an opportunity for students to review


Anna Grand Conversations June 8, 2009

Assessed by: Martin

My Focus Today: Loud & Clear

Done Well To Improve

Eye Contact Longer Conversation Clarify Clear and Loud Face the speaker Ask ?’s Explain strongly Stay on topic Put up hand Use RED Don’t interrupt

I think Martin’s assessment is accurate because I don’t think my conversation was very long. Next time I will try to make my conversation longer.

their peer assessment before it was handed in to me prevented arguments, and it also served somewhat as a self-assessment for students. Before students handed in their T-charts to me, they had to use the feedback they had received to set a goal for their next conversation. Students stapled their T-chart slips into their Reading Journals, and I re-viewed their T-charts along with their responses when I gathered in Reading Journals. Below is a transcript of one student’s T-Chart (names have been changed): As the whole class practiced in these various groups, I circulated and provided descriptive feedback to individuals or pairs or small groups. I also used my observations at those times to assess for my instruc-tional planning, and would start the next lesson with some general feedback about what I saw/heard that

was working well and what I saw/heard that could be improved. When it came to our final, summative evaluations, students worked in groups of eight, and one group went at a time while others were reading and responding in preparation for their own conversa-tions. In those final groups, four students would be in conversation, and they would each have one peer evaluator using the same T-chart feedback form. I sat outside the group and evaluated the four participants in the conversation. Again, students in the conversa-tion were allowed to review their peer evaluation, and

write a note if they disagreed with any of it, or if they wanted to add anything they thought was overlooked. I used the peer evaluation along with my own evalua-tion to arrive at a final score for those conversations.

Conclusion There are many things that I can improve on, of course, but I think that I have a good foundation to build upon now. I have moved my students beyond brutal and closer to grand in their conversation skills, and I know of many ways that I can continue to tweak and improve my instruction. Weaving these ideas and skills into other curriculums will also enhance my ability to instruct and motivate students in those other areas. Finally, and ideally, perhaps my students will not only have dialogue skills, but also value those

skills and use them to contribute positively to our soci-ety.


We all know the impossible array of learning needs in ourclassrooms. Collaboration not only supports the practicalapplications of sound educational ideals, it also provides apositive teaching partnership for our students that can sup-port their individual learning needs and facilitate their owncollaborative efforts.

Unintentionally, our teaching partnership became a modelfor our students. Many of our students participated in spon-taneous editing sessions with each other, shared resourcesand research information, and conversed about what theywere learning on a daily basis. In the end, the conversationsthey had with us and each other motivated them to continueasking questions, searching for answers and completing proj-ects of which they could be proud.

“With each response, I felt that I improved and knewwhat to improve on for future responses. After finishing eachresponse, it felt so satisfying. Having friends and peers checkmy responses relieved me of part of my burden. When I edited

their responses, it helped lift their burdens too. Really, it ishitting two birds with one stone. After the whole project wasover, I felt so ‘destressed’! I had finally gotten through all thehardship and hassles of the project! Looking back, I thinkmy project looks really professional. I feel more mature andknowledgeable. I know so much more now about essay writ-ing, asking questions, citation, persecution and compassion.”

(From Stephanie’s Research Learning Log,January 2009)

Collaboration reassures me that what we are doing ismeaningful and rewarding. It motivates me to come to workin the morning. The “mess” that I find myself in reminds methat I am not alone. It reminds me that the writing processis messy, research is messy, relationships are messy and lifeis messy. And that is when learning really happens.

continued from page 30

Collaboration: A Mess of Rewards

Vol. 51 No. 1 – 2009 www.bctela.ca 31

LSAs and Regional Conference Seed MoneyBCTELA will supply up to $500 for start-up costs

subject to the approval of a written request.

For more information, contact:

BCTELA President Leyton [email protected]

If you are interested in having your own regional

spring conference, BCTELA will supply up to $1000

for seed money subject to approval of a written

request. For more information, contact:

BCTELA TreasurerDauvery [email protected]

References

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2006). Eng- lish language arts kindergarten to grade 7: Integrated resource package 2006. Online at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/irp_ela.htmBrownlie, F. (2005). Grand conversations, thoughtful responses: A unique approach to literature circles. Winnipeg: Portage and Main Press. Davies, A. (2007). Making classroom assessment work. Courtenay: Connections Publishing Inc.Gregory, K., Cameron, C., & Davies, A. (1997). Set- ting and using criteria. Merville, BC: Connections Publishing Inc.Gregory, K., Cameron, C., & Davies, A. (2000). Self- assessment and goal-setting. Merville, BC: Connections Publishing Inc.Gregory, K.; Cameron, C.; & Davies, A. (2001). Con- ferencing and reporting. Merville, BC: Con-

nections Publishing Inc.Miller, D. (2008). Teachingwithintention:Defin- ing beliefs, aligning practice, taking action. Markham: Pembroke Publishers. Nichols, M. (2006). Comprehension through conversation: The power of purposeful talk in the reading workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heine- mann.Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (1998, 2003). Understand- ing by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Wilhelm, J. (2007). Engaging readers and writers with inquiry: Promoting deep understandings in language arts and the content areas with guiding questions. Toronto: Scholastic.


Small Black ThingsMusings & Meanderings

Pamela RichardsonPamela loves being caught by a poem and so walks slowly whenever possible. She teaches Language Arts in the Faculty of Education at Vancouver Island University and is a doctoral candidate in Special Education at UBC.

i.

This morning as Itrekked sun-blindedacross a field of delphinium, the black iridescence ofa slug caught my eye.

Sole of rubberboot suspended – I stood and mimed herimpossible slowness,thick and unctuous.

I wanted to merge with herthen, be tuckedin a sweep of tall grass.Sly as a commain a José Saramago novel.

Time slips past likethe slow handon the clock.Like molasses in January,my mom would say, when January lasted half the year and molasses made every disha French-Canadian specialty.

~

When I got home,plums, small as kalamatas, beckoned me to pick thembefore they fell.I could only reach a few.

ii.

Read to taste the pleasureof entire worldssubmerged in a single letter.

H HH H HHHHH H H H

H is a ladder step for a descent into writing. A bridge from I to I.

In French, H is hache -meaning ax,echoing ash,tool and result,one.


So then, what is fire made of? I asked my love.It’s a process, he smiled. The in-between, I thought.

When I finally slept, H. Cixous, doyenne of dreams, sent me a letter.

L L L L

L LLL L L L

L sounds like elle, meaning she, echoing ailes, French for wings –

L’Hirondelle avale ses ailes.The swallow swallows her wings.

J’avoue avoir avaler mes ailes, mes ailes pour voler, I confess to having swallowed my wings, my wings to fly or steal away. (Crook, caught out, abject bird!)

Right there then nowL splits. Half flies upwardsthe other halfis left behind tofall, fail, flail,

L L

L like an elbowsoft and sharp,a folding over, bending in, a lever of bone, wrapped in skin.L is reunited in a lullaby.


The Hope SuiteMusings & Meanderings

McRoberts Secondary School“The Hope Suite” is a series of contributions from the classroom of Joanne Panas and Krista Ediger. The context article and lesson plans can be found on page 16 of this journal.

The moon reminds us that there is always a tomorrow to make things better

My Reassurance By: Crystal Chan

There has always been something mysterious about it. It was always floating in the sky.

When I was younger, my father and I would sit together to view it whenever we could. He always loved to look at it. One night, as he was staring at the moon and the scene before us, I glanced up and no-ticed the expression on his face. I could tell that he was at peace, but there was something else to it too. A question peaked in my mind and I asked: Why? Why do we always look at it? Why was it so peaceful for him? My father was not the type to be at peace. There was too much to do and usually very little was gained from it. The day before, I had overheard the landlord arguing with my father, stating that if we didn’t pay this month, we were out of here. He replied with a familiar crinkle in his eye, “Because it’s always here when we need it. No matter where we are, it‘s present, though sometimes it’s just hiding behind the clouds.” “Does this mean the moon is following us?” He chuckled lightly, “May-be, but then it follows everyone else as well.” I turned back to watch that big nightlight in the sky. It was a mysterious thing because it was always there, shining it’s never-ending light on our planet. “How about the sun? Its always there and also hides behind the clouds.” “Yes, but we work in the hours of the sun. The moon reminds us that there is always a tomorrow to make things better.”

“So tomorrow will be a better day?” He paused for a moment. “Yes, it will.” How do you know? -was the question I want-ed to ask next. What if dad was wrong? What if things got worse tomorrow? However, I stopped when I noticed that expres-sion on his face, the one I could not identify before. It was a combination of peace and that mysterious something that somehow reassured me. I turned back to watch the moon, keeping my silence.

ChopsticksBy: Herman Wu

A simple utensil used to bring food from a food container such as a bowl or a plate to the mouth.

Chopsticks may appear plain and boring to many, but they are a symbol of food, relaxation and enjoyment. They remind me of my daily meals and each meal is a vacation. When I sit down to breakfast or lunch, I can finally relax, savour the taste of my food, satisfy

my hunger, regain my energy and if I’m at home i can finally spend some time with my whole family instead of typing more homework assignments. They really do represent something relaxing. Don’t they? Everyday is stressful. There are so many things to do. Math problem practice packages to finish. French vocabulary questions to complete. Dishes to wash. Laundry to do. And sometimes, I have ecol-


ogy tests for which to study. Social studies projects to work on. Windows to wipe. And bathtubs to scrub. Be-tween each event, I may travel by the dining table and if I’m lucky, I just might, from the corner of my eye, catch a quick glimpse of chopsticks set on the table. Then my heart soars. My taste buds begin to halluci-nate about food. I forgot the problems that dominated my head and become ignorant to my sore legs from badminton lessons. I’m just eager to relax and feast. Chopsticks symbolize the pause in my life and they fill me with hope every time I see them because they foreshadow something enjoyable that is about to take place. No matter how busy I am, when it is time to feast I can always count on it to be started with the hopeful setting of chopsticks on the table. But of course meals are not the only reason I believe chopsticks represent hope for me. Meals, which are also represented by chopsticks, are wel-comed around the world; nobody would decline the offer of a nice mean meal, especially those who live

in less fortunate environments where food is not an accessible necessity but an unobtainable luxury. And when eating utensils are set up, we just become ex-cited and curious of what we are about to be served. Also, chopsticks can symbolize inventions. I believe chopsticks brought a whole new method of eating-- today more than 1.6 billion people use chop-sticks every day. It shows the hope of a better meal utensil creating a big change. However, only a pair of chopsticks can truly be a symbol of hope; one chopstick is not enough, like how both optimism and determination are required to obtain our goal. And that is what our dearest compan-ion -- Hope, helps us achieve. Right?

School of HopeBy: Jane Chi

Summer is coming faster than the speed of light. We are all hopeful. We hope for that sun, we hope for

that laughter, we hope for that freedom. No school? Like a dream come true. School is a burden; it’s competitive, it’s demanding, it’s a destroyer of hope. School is a pain in the butt. Now, change the location in which we live,

change the cultural perspectives that we see, change the values that we hold. We are now a society that lives in poverty. In each of our closets there are two t-shirts filled with holes and decorated with dirt, a pair of faded blue shorts, and a sock with a round hole in the bottom. School is now different. In school we play, we learn, we feel hope as we absorb that knowledge that could be the key to an improved life. School is a luxury. We do not need it, but it can shine the way to a better job a better pay, and a better life. School is a temporary pair of wings that takes us to a higher stan-dard of living. Building schools in developing countries requires money, but it should be an issue that we can divide and conquer. We often say, “Sharing is Car-ing”, and it’s true: sharing brings hope. We can share not just material goods like money and clothes, but we can also share our knowledge, our laughter, our time. Imagine sitting in front a group of students and read-ing a picture book to them, you look up, and you see

big sparkling eyes smiling at you. That there, is hope. That there, is my future.

Hope and MirrorsBy: Michelle AuYeung

I can see my reflection in the mirror. An ordinary face --one you wouldn’t look twice at if you saw it in the

mall, made exquisite by the heart shaped frame that encircles it. The mirror’s edge is encrusted with count-less crystals sparkling red and pink while sunlight dances off their many facets. A moment of Vanity. Self. Hope. No two people in this world share the same smile. No two people share the same hopes. Like our reflections, they are unique: sometimes plain, some-times plastic, but never perfect. Hope can be vain, or people may hope in vain. When I look at myself in the mirror, I hope. I hope for bigger eyes, flawless skin and sculpted features. I believe that everyone has at least one feature that they would gladly change about themselves. However, the variation in these hopes lies in the distinctive change that people wish for. Perhaps we both wish for a pret-tier smile, but maybe you’d like one whose beauty is subtle, like a flower hidden in the shade, while I long for one that has the power to capture the attention of a room. Hope is as diverse as we are. As I look into the mirror, steering my eyes with difficulty from the flashes of color on the side, I see

if i’m lucky, I just might, from the corner of my eye, catch a quick glimpse of chopsticks set on the table


my reflection. I see myself. When I look at the core of my hopes, ignoring the aches of longing and the dis-tractions of desires better left forgotten, I see myself again. I see the jealousy, the malice, the love, and ev-erything else that is me, for hope and I are inexorably entwined. We are our hopes. Our hopes are us.

HopeBy: Pardeep Sidhu

My dad lost his father at the age of 12 and he had to take the role of being a “father” for his

siblings. My father hoped to have enough food for everyone, he hoped to get his siblings married, and he hoped god could have taken his life instead of his sis-ters. Today, my father hopes to see a smile on my face. Me? I hope to smell take-out when I come home from school, I hope to have the latest iPod, I hope to sleep in every morning, and I hope it’s raining so I don’t have to walk home after school. As you heard, my father and I had different ideas about what we hoped for. Most of my father’s thoughts about hope were things he hoped to do for others, to make others happy. All of my father’s hopes were the basics of life, while mine were all to make myself happy and they all involved extra, non-essen-tial things. I thought about why this was, and I believe it is because of our minds. Once we know we have some of the essentials like food, water, and shelter, we go onto the next step of making ourselves happy, the things we don’t need for survival, and we forget about all the things we already have. I was not looking at the fact that I have food, water, and shelter since it was something I had every day. I believe some of you guys may have hoped for some of the same things I did. I think that our genera-tion needs to take one step back and look at everything we have and not what we need. I am not saying that we should not hope; I am saying just for today, look back at what you have, and be grateful for it.

Hope IsBy: Veronika Bondarenko

To the question of what hope is I answer that hope isn’t tangible, it’s a concept.

It’s an old flame that flickers, but never burns out.Hope is there when nothing else is,giving you strength to hold on, to go on, to keep on keeping on.For me hope is born in the darkest of times.It stems from losing yourself,

hitting rock bottom, giving up.It stems from loss of dignity and loss of respect. It stems from tragedy.But I have always been dramatic. For many hope is about something as simple as what they’ll have for lunch or do tomorrow.We throw the word around, not really pausing to think about what it means, not really understanding that hope can build you or break you.It can help you overcome difficulties and guide you through the dark tunnels of life. But hope alone won’t do it.Those who hope without doing are almost as lost as those who don’t hope at all.I guess that hope is to me, like a stream,always there, running beside you,offering guidance if you seek it,but unless you choose to work with it, it is just scenery.That’s what hope is.

ApolloBy: Amanda Wiebe

Apollo Ellis opened his eyes. Already he knew what was coming. He knew he’d spend his day

grappling with his body, with the pain there would be, the pills he would swallow. He knew that, even after a year, there would still be times when his walking stick, his cane, would escape his grasp and he would be forced to fetch it, balancing awkwardly on one leg and looking like some sort of demented chicken. There would be times when people would offer to help him when he was perfectly capable of helping himself. People would ask why he had a cane, why he walked funny. Children would ask if he was ever going to get better, if his leg would ever heal, if he would ever walk normally again, and he would have to say no. He would have to explain that he had been in a big accident and he was never going to be better. There would be times when he was in pain, when time would be measured in chunks of four hours, which was how long he had to wait, how long he had to survive, before he could take a pain killer. And then he would get home and he would hobble around, making dinner. He would eat, relieved to be able to sit down for a while. He wouldn’t want to get up, but he would anyway, and then he would pop some more pills. He would lay down and he would go back to bed, steeling himself for this again


tomorrow. Apollo got up, because he was alive, and a year ago he didn’t think he would be. He’d thought he was going to die, and yet, here he was. Apollo got up, he grabbed his cane, took his pills. Maybe he’d never be normal again, and maybe he wasn’t a ray of sunshine, but he still had air in his lungs. What else did he need?

Fairytales By: Michelle AuYeung

We’ve all read them as children. Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzle -wonderfully pleasant bed

time stores that used to lull us to sleep. As a little girl, I always rooted for the princess, for her prince, for the happily ever after. Lately though, I’ve been wondering –what about the evil stepmother? Who is she really? In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, all the characters seem to fit perfectly in to their roles except for the queen/evil stepmother/witch. Snow White is the typical damsel in distress: beautiful, kind and oh so frail. Her prince charming is just another cookie cut-ter cutout of a prince. And the seven dwarves? Pffft, barely worth mentioning. They’re loyal and lovable, but slightly dense. If you ask me, the evil stepmother is the easiest character to relate to. She has her faults, but just like the rest of us, she has hopes and dreams as well. She hopes to become the queen… she becomes the queen. She hopes to be the most beautiful in the kingdom… and she is the most beautiful in the kingdom… until Snow White comes along anyways. Then she hopes to become more beautiful than Snow White, and just like the more ambitious of us, she works hard to reach her goal. To make her hopes come true. The main differ-ence is that she uses some… ah, more creative meth-ods of achieving this. Hope can be so different depending on who it concerns. It can be simple and pure, like a child’s hope for acceptance. Or it can take on the form of twisted ambition filled with vanity and desire so strong it is painful unless attained. The hopes of the evil step-mother are just one out of an infinite amount of vary-ing dreams that our imagination houses. So in the end, hope is as unique as the face that we see in the mirror, mirror on the wall.

TheHope Suite


In Praise of IgnoranceMusings & Meanderings

Shelley BeleznayShelley is a resource teacher in SD68, Nanaimo. She feels deeply fortunate to work in a profession where she gets to learn every day.

In the summer I try to catch up on my reading. Ev-ery available surface is covered with towers of books and stacked magazines at the ready for my next spare minute; I read dozens of blogs daily, several online magazines, the latest education reports from research organizations; I clip articles, bookmark strategies, and read, read, read with pen in hand, stickies at the ready, and my notebook open. Lately, though, I’ve been won-dering if I’m wasting my time, not because I’m look-ing for an excuse to sit in the sun with a mystery novel (although that would be lovely), but because I’ve been struck by this awful possibility: I’m building this wall of information to hide behind, creating a mask of expertise to disguise the fact that what I don’t know is growing faster than what I do know. My suspicions were first aroused at my daugh-ter Katie’s convocation in May. To my initial delight, the guest speaker exhorted the room full of newly minted doctors to teach. (Katie, looking back from the stage with a smug smile, said later: I knew you’d be taking notes.) First, he said, experts aren’t the best teachers; the most experienced physicians aren’t as effective as the newest ones, who haven’t yet forgot-ten what it’s like to know nothing. Here’s a dreadful irony, I scribbled in my notes: the more we know, the less well we can teach. The trouble is, of course, that whether we’re telling someone how to remove a gall bladder or write a paragraph, there comes a point when it is so automatic to us that we no longer remem-ber the slow steps, the confusion, the constant dance of forgetting and beginning again until that learning sticks. The speaker continued: there is another more selfish reason that new doctors should teach. Teaching, he said, is the best way to learn and doctors desper-ately need to learn. Four percent of everything they are taught at medical school will become obsolete each

year. (I hastily add the dread-ful question to my notes: how much of what we teach is no longer relevant?) That means, he went on, that in twelve years half of what they spent a good deal of money and long hard sleep-less hours to learn will be useless to them. Here is yet another irony: what we need to learn isn’t merely more of what we already know, but what we didn’t even know existed. We seldom do this sort of learning as adults. Most often, like my summer reading, our time is spent in confirming, deepening, and building our expertise. To learn something completely new is to discover, which physicist Sajeev John once defined in a phrase that has stuck with me for many years, “requires exposing your ignorance.” To learn from a place of ignorance is not just hard work, but it also makes you feel, well, stupid--a feeling, I think, that gets harder to appreciate as we get older. Yet when you consider that we expect our students to learn something new every day, it might be important to remember the vulnerabil-ity that comes with it. Happily (although that wasn’t the descriptor I used at the time), I had an opportunity this year at the end of the school year in those last hot, tired, cranky days of June to step into uncharted territory. I had agreed to co-teach science. Did I mention that I’m an English teacher? We called it “Science Plus” and invit-ed 20 students who were failing Science 8, but were, in their teachers’ eyes, “redeemable,” to learn with us for nine half-days during the exam session. Our top-ics, given to us by the science department head, were kinetic molecular theory and the behaviour of fluids, identifying the parts of cells, comparing bacteria and protists, and describing the nature of light. I admit that I knew nothing but the vaguest generalities about any


Every single one of them—and a more diverse group I’ve seldom had the pleasure of teaching—fell in love

of the topics. My teacher partner Tad Davis—a science teacher, you’ll be relieved to know—gave me the text book with the pertinent chapters marked. I was set. I would read the chapters, find some overarching theme that connected the concepts and outline some engag-ing ways to teach the content. Did I mention that I am also a literacy resource teacher for our district? I know every “reading strat-egy” and then some—how to access prior knowledge, ask questions, make connections, chunk the text, use images. Surely I could conquer a few chapters of a grade 8 textbook. Grade 8! After reading the chapter on fluids three times, I began to realize that no strategy would fill the gap between what was on the page and what was in my head. While the text is brimming with text features designed to enhance readability including interest-ing sidebars and “learning tips,” the concepts are explained through a string of vocabulary words that are in themselves explained through another string of vocabulary words. I could answer the questions at the end of the chapter and got 100% on the online quiz

(thank goodness), but truly I had no real understand-ing of these important concepts. Experts, of course, wrote the text book. But the trouble with experts (oh, how much more obvious this is when you are your-self without expertise) is that they have a wealth of information that is so deeply embedded that they don’t even know they know it. Each word is so richly con-nected that they can’t imagine it stripped down to a few stark letters—meniscus—and a thin description—“the curved surface caused by the adhesive forces between a fluid and the wall of a cylinder.” “I can’t learn science,” one of the boys said to me. I felt a wave of compassion. I couldn’t learn sci-ence from the textbook either, but luckily for both of us, Tad fleshed out what was missing, missed chunks from the text that were complex and confusing, and in the end we both learned. “Science is fun,” the boy wrote in his final reflection. Of course it is. Tad and I agreed to put “learning how to learn” and “science as discovery” at the centre of the experience. We made time for demonstrations and challenges and got stu-

dents moving and debating and thinking and asking questions. Reflecting on it now, I realize my ignorance contributed almost as much as my partner’s expertise. The surprise that isn’t really a surprise: the students (and I) learned faster as we slowed down. Our experiment with Science Plus was built from another project completed earlier in the year. We took 20 young men and women from grades 10 through 12 who were in danger of failing English and put them in our “mini-school” for three weeks. These students were failing multiple courses or were part time, so spending a half day in English allowed them the possibility of one course credit against none, of learning and working hard rather than sliding out of the semester in hopeless hall wandering. Here was an experience much more comfortable for me, but in retrospect, its success was due much more to a lucky accident than to my expertise. All the pieces only came together at the last minute and I wanted a novel that we could all read, a touchstone to build our expe-rience together. Based on recommendations, I ordered Stickboy by Shane Koyczan, a short poetic novel about

bullying. When I finally read it, just days before the program started, the literary critic in me, trained from years of university, began to swell in indignation: the metaphors were ponderous, the subject clichéd, the coarse language unnecessary. Still,

I didn’t have anything better. I told students about my reservations and put them in the place of critics. Should we use this text again, I asked? Every single one of them—and a more diverse group I’ve sel-dom had the pleasure of teaching—fell in love. They begged me to allow them to take the book home (these were not students who, in general, asked to do home-work), they groaned when we stopped reading (imag-ine my complete astonishment when students asked if they could read through the break), they debated the questions (their own) with gusto, and inferred with in-sight that stunned me. And they wrote. Inspired by his style, they wrote as we all learn—through imitation. One young man who began the course with the usual “don’t-even-try-to-teach-me” stance (head down, sullen, resistant, alternating between rude com-ments and surly silence) came to life as a learner in reading Koyczan’s work. In his school description piece, he opens with a charming daydream and then describes his “awakening”:


I had been awakened from my self-induced coma, only tofindmyscienceteachertoocloseforcomfort.Shehadn’t tried to put a foot down this time; she smashed animprintofhershoeintothelinoleumfloor.Fistsclenched, teeth grinding, her face was as red as the pen she used to mark my blank chapter tests, “F”. “PAY ATTENTION!” she screamed at my face as it helplessly stared back at the saliva holding on the brim of her mouth, like someone from a James Bond movie might hold onto an airplane wing 3,000 feet in the air. Then with no warning, it lost grip and specks ofspitsplatteredallovermyface.Ihadjustfinishedwiping my teacher’s leftovers off my forehead when it hit me: is this what growing up is all about?

When I commented on how hard he worked (this young man, for the final draft of another essay, stayed after class for three hours to craft, re-craft and begin again), he said, “This isn’t me. I don’t try. I don’t work. This just isn’t me.” Why, I asked, is it you now? He shrugged. I think I know. He glimpsed the vista we want all our children to see—the power of words to shake your soul, to open wounds and then heal them, to give meaning to the dark spaces within us. For the first time, he had words himself and was able to shape meaning out of his experiences, to move past the frustration and powerlessness of a blank page and a jumble of inner sounds to an expression of his heart. And when he felt this, when he arrived here, he wanted to read another book, to learn more words, to understand how to use a semi-colon, to paragraph ef-fectively, to use imagery. He yearned for more words, more tools, more experiences. I yearned for more time. We teachers are always trying to do our very best. But we forget. We forget that on the road to reading Shakespeare, we read hundreds of comics, the entire Hardy Boys series and, if we were lucky, books like Stickboy that could speak directly to us. We lose sight that it took thousands of years of scientific endeavour to understand kinetic molecular theory. We only see the yawning gap between what students know and what they need to learn and frenetically try to fill the gap as quickly as possible with as much as possible. Lately I’ve been thinking that our very hard work has not been as successful as we wish for those who most need it because we focus on coaching for expertise (reading strategies, writing strategies, study skills, vocabulary, word work), rather than fostering discovery. But expertise always comes in the second place. We skip a step; the children need to discover the

point in the first place. It isn’t that we are bad teachers, but like the experienced physicians, we forget what it’s like to be ignorant. I’ve added three new books to the stack by my bed. The problem, I realize, isn’t my expertise at all. Certainly, I would rather have my children taught be a highly qualified teacher (and qualified as well in their subject matter). And, truthfully, I would rather have surgery performed by a very experienced doctor than a brand-new one. On the other hand, I might wish for a young doctor at my bedside explaining the procedure to me. She, after all, would be better versed in the new research that our emotional state is at least as impor-tant as technical expertise. No, I’m happy to conclude as I pull out a fresh package of stickies, it isn’t that ex-pertise is a bad thing, but rather that, at the same time, we need to openly, often and humbly acknowledge our ignorance, as well. We need to continually scan the horizon for new things we didn’t know we didn’t know that might change everything. After all, like medicine, much of what we learned about teaching is no longer valid; we need to radically redesign educa-tion for a new world. In fact, the worst thing about the wall of information I’ve been building around myself isn’t that it can’t keep back the flood of things I don’t know, but that it might keep me too busy to explore the unknown. And walled in, I risk not even seeing that the landscape has shifted all around me. To open a window onto the larger vista, we need to keep the young close and listen well to them (how fortunate, as teachers, that we are constantly surrounded by fresh ideas); we need to surround ourselves with people who are see things differently or work from a different per-spective (I learned more from a grade 3 teacher than I could possibly have imagined when I first became a high school English teacher). And perhaps the best thing we can do, as our expertise spirals, is to expose our ignorance regularly by learning something com-pletely new. Next year, I think I’ll teach math.


BCTELA — Student Writing JournalOrder Form

Name and address of person / school:

Attn:

Please order via fax or mail to: Cindy Miller

Box 1699

Fort St. James BC, V0J 1P0

[email protected]

Please make cheques payable to: BCTELA Association

www.bctela.ca/guidelines-student-writing-journal

Each year, the BC Teachers of English Language Arts produces a Student Writ-

ing Journal containing a selection of province-wide student poetry and prose. It

has been past practice to provide complimentary copies of the journal to second-

ary school libraries across the province. Regretfully, we can no longer afford to send

copies to schools because of the expansion of the contest to include grades 6 & 7 and the rising costs of pro-

duction and distribution. Students who are selected for publication and current BCTELA members will con-

tinue to receive copies of the journal at no cost.

We would like to encourage school libraries and teachers who are not members of BCTELA to order copies

at the cost of $10 per issue so students from across B.C. can continue to enjoy the poetry and prose of their

peers. Orders will be accepted while quantities last.

BCTELAStudent Writing JournalOrder Form


BCTELA presents a

Northwest Regional Conference of the National

Council of Teachers

of English (NCTE)

October 22–24, 2009

The NCTE Northwest Regional Conference brings together educators who are committed to teaching practices that respect and engage diverse learners. Come join the conversation with teachers, thinkers and scholars from British Columbia, Oregon, Alberta, Montana, Saskatchewan, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Alaska and beyond!

Featuring:

To register, go towww.bctela.ca

Registration will open May 1,

2009.

Jeff Wilhelm

Carol Jago

Sharon Jeroski

CarlLeggo

John Golden

Shelly Stagg Peterson

SusanClose

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SueMontabello

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FEE SCHEDULEThursday : $125

Thursday Friday: $225Friday and Saturday: $275

Saturday only: $125

October 22–24, 2009 Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby, BC V5G 1C7

Ample free parking across from the hotel.

To register, go towww.bctela.ca

Registration will open May 1,

2009.

THURSDAYResearch

Morning2 90-minute sessions

LunchBuffet

Afternoon90-minute session

EveningWine and cheeseFeatured speaker Jeff Wilhelm

FRIDAYBreakout sessions

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FRIDAY

Choice of 18 sessionsPlated lunch with Carol Jago Friday features a choice of eighteen engaging two-hour sessions with presenters from BC and beyond. NCTE President-Elect Carol Jago will inform, provoke, and inspire you during your plated lunch.

SATURDAY

Choice of 3 full-day institutesBuffet lunchSaturday offers three full-day institutes with some of the biggest names in literacy education. This is your opportunity to immerse yourself in a specific topic and come away with a deeper understanding of language arts education.

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36 English Practice — the Journal of the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts

Are you submitting an article to English Practice that contains samples of student work? If so,it is necessary to get permission from the students’ guardians. Please submit the followingform (photocopied as needed) completed with your article. If you have questions about this,please email or fax an English Practice editor. Thank you!

B.C. TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTSAN ASSOCIATION OF THE B.C. TEACHER’S FEDERATION

The B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts sometimes prints samples of student work in itseducational journal, English Practice. English teachers from around the province both enjoyreading student work and find assignment samples useful in planning for their teaching.

BCTELA would like to have permission to publish some of your child’s work in one of theupcoming issues of English Practice. Please fill in this parent/guardian permission form if youwould allow this to occur.

I, the parent/guardian of ____________________________________ give my permission to publishhis/her work in English Practice, the educational journal of the B.C. Teachers of EnglishLanguage Arts.

Date:___________________________________________________________________________

Child’s Name: ___________________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Name (please print): _____________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature:_______________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________

Telephone: _____________________________________________________________________

AFFILIATE OF THE CANADIAN COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

AFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

STUDENT WORK RELEASE FORMEn

glis

hPr

acti

ceRelease Form -- Student Work

Parent or Student Email Address: ______________________________________________


CHECK THIS OUTMUSINGS & MEANDERINGSINVESTIGATING OUR PRACTICETEACHING IDEAS

BCTELA OPPORTUNITIES

Vol. 51 No. 1 – 2009 www.bctela.ca 37

Did you know that BCTELA provides funding for the fol-

lowing initiatives and special projects?

LSA Support

BCTELA will provide up to $500 to members who wish

to start up a Local Specialist Association (LSA).

Members interested in more information about the

requirements for this grant, may contact BCTELA’s

President, Leyton Schnellert by email:

[email protected]

Regional Conference Support

BCTELA will provide seed money for at least one

regional spring conference in a given year. Special

consideration will be given to conferences held out-

side the Lower Mainland.

Members interested in more information about con-

ference support may contact BCTELA’s

Treasurer, Dauvery MacDonald by email:

[email protected]

Send PSA Membership Applications to:

B.C. Teachers’ Federation

100-550 West 6th Avenue,

Vancouver, BC V5Z 4P2

BCTELA (English PSA) Membership Fees:

$35.00 for BCTF Members/

$15.00 for B.C. Education Students/

$55.64 for Non-BCTF Members

School Information

School number ______________________________________

Name of school ______________________________________

Address of school/institution/business _________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Mr. __ Mrs. __ Miss __ Dr. __ Ms. __

Surname ____________________________________________

Given Name(s) ______________________________________

Address _____________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

City ________________________________________________

Postal code _________________________________________

Home Telephone ____________________________________

Engl

ish

Prac

tice


9.

10. Teachers of writers selected for publicationand honourable mention will be notified.The list of those writers will also bepublished in

11. Entries must be postmarked no later than

12. Mail entries to:

Student Writing Journal EditorCindy Miller Box 1699Fort St. James, BC V0J 1P0E-mail inquiries: [email protected]

1. Entries must be typed … or word processed… on 81/2 x 11 paper and on one side ofthe paper only.

2. Prose entries must be double spaced andcannot be more than or sixpages in length.

3. Each entry must have a title.

4. Students may only submit two poems andone prose piece. Students who exceed thismay be disqualified.

5. A completed cover sheet must be stapled toeach entry. Please type or printinformation neatly.

6.

7. Entries become the property of theBCTELA and will not be returned.

8. Outstanding entries will be published in theStudent Writing Journal. The BCTELAreserves the right to not award publicationshould there be no outstanding worksubmitted in a category.

BCTELAWriting Contest

May 1st, 2010

Note: Winners will be contacted to submit their entries electronically.

1500 words

2009 - 2010

(Please read and follow them! The success of your entry depends on it!)

English Practice.

This contest is open to all students taking English Language Arts in Grades 6 to 12. Our purpose is to recognize the excellent work being produced in English classrooms. Students are invited to submit their best poetry and prose (fiction or non-fiction) to the contest. Writers whose work is selected will receive

copies of the journal in which their work is published or honorably mentioned. BCTELA’s Student Writing Journal is now part of the National Council of Teachers of English Information Exchange Agreement. This agreement allows student writing to be quoted wholly or in part in other NCTE publications.

Copyright of the work reverts to the authors one year after publication of the Student Writing Journal. During this time pieces may be reprinted in BCTELA’s journal, English Practice; NCTE affiliate publica-tions through NCTE’s Information Exchange Agreement; and on the BCTELA website.

Students must NOT put their names on their work. Only the cover sheets may identify authors.


BCTELA 2009 - 2010WRITING CONTEST COVER SHEET

We would prefer that this information be typed or word-processed. If this is not possible, please fill out the followingform in neat, accurate printing. Do NOT leave out any information as we need to be able to contact the right personat the right time. Incomplete forms will result in your writing being disqualified from the contest.

Poetry Prose

Phone

By signing on the line below, I am verifying that the work I am submitting is my own, has not been previously published,and has been written after May 1, 2009

STUDENT SIGNATURE ___________________________________________________

Postal Code

Phone

Fax

Postal Code

Teacher Email:

Grade Category:

Title

Name

Address

City

School Name

Address

City

English Teacher

Teacher Signature


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• 2 double issues of English Quarterly

• 3 issues of the CCTELA Newsletter

Individual Membership• In Canada and the United States: $50.00

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Documents

English Practice - bctela.ca · Krista Ediger (Richmond) [email protected] Student Writing Journal Editor Cindy Miller (Fort St. James) [email protected] Student Liaison Linda Mei