Writers Workshop Sharing

This week, our group shared our writing pieces for one another and provided feedback.

For my piece, I wrote a "I Am" poem. In my 3rd grade classroom, students are in a unit about poetry and culture. Their culminating project is to write an I Am poem about their own culture. I decided to write one as well in solidarity with them. My poem is a reflection of my personal culture, largely shaped by growing up with my family. I talk mostly of my childhood culture as this relates to the children; but at the end I make a few mentions to my adulthood culture (e.g. enjoying beer and gardening!).

Some of the feedback I received encouraged me to elaborate a bit more on certain phrases (e.g. what do "intense" games of hide and seek look like?). For next week, I will incorporate more detailed language to make the poem more interesting.

Twitter Assignment Reflection

This week I completed the Twitter assignment. I read about uses for Twitter in the classroom and followed educational Twitter users.

I already had a Twitter account that I've used to follow news, sports, work topics, and a few education topics. However, I found the list of recommended people to follow very beneficial! It gave me a starting point to follow people and organizations I am interested in and reminded me of others I might want to follow as well, including EducationNC. Following these users will expand my knowledge of what's happening in education and will link me to other education Twitter users.

I read through some of the ideas for using Twitter in the classroom. Some seemed fun and reasonable (e.g. pop quizzes for bonus points, updating parents). But overall, I don't think Twitter is the best medium for communicating information about school. For one, I don't think young people really use Twitter much anymore. Two, there are privacy concerns about kids being on social media, especially for younger ones. Lastly, there are better tools to organize information and ask questions than Twitter. I may use some of these options, but not heavily by any means.

The One and Only Ivan Blog Post #4

In our final discussion for The One and Only Ivan, our group was prompted to discuss activity ideas with the book. I enjoyed this activity both to think on my own and also to hear great ideas from other students who work with different grade levels.

Some of the ideas we discussed were

• Drawing responses (especially as it relates to the main character's identity as an artist): Students could be asked to draw Ivan after each quarter of the book, and how his expressions, body language, etc. might change. Another way to incorporate drawing / art would be to ask students how they would communicate to Julia if they were Ivan. Would they draw a different picture? 
• Perspectives: Students would be asked to write a piece of the story from a different perspective (e.g. Bob when Ivan and Ruby are taken away, or Mack really at any point in the story). 
• Write about difficult choices: There were several times in the book that characters were faced with difficult choices. While elementary students likely can't relate to George and his need to care for his family by working, students can be asked to write about a time they had to make a difficult choice and relate it to the characters in the story. 

I really enjoyed this book and some of the activities that stem from it will hopefully be used in the future. 

The One and Only Ivan Blog Response #3

This week, our group had an online book club discussion. Each person posted 3 questions to be answered by the other group members.

I noticed that many questions centered on Ivan and Mack's relationship. The author was pretty vague about Ivan's feelings toward Mack, but it is through Ivan's eyes that we see the dark and maybe not so dark side of Mack.

There were also several thoughts about the purpose behind Ivan's artistic character trait and what this means for the story. Some answered in terms of the author's purpose and some as a key factor in supporting Ivan's livelihood during his time at the mall.

Overall, this was an interesting way to discuss a book, but I prefer face to face conversations with threads of thought that connect.

6+1 Traits Analysis

This week, we were tasked with writing a narrative using Storybird. I wrote about Benny, a bunny from Argentina who attempts to dig his way to the North Pole to meet Santa. Unfortunately, he arrives in Iowa before his final destination, and his new friends try to help him fulfill his dream.

Following my writing, I am now analyzing my own writing using the 6+1 Traits Rubric. My analysis is below.

1. Ideas
1. Main Idea: 6 - I believe I conveyed a clear, focused, and original main idea that drives the piece. 
2. Details and Support: 5 - I developed the main idea with relevant information and some vivid details. 
3. Reasoning / Thinking: 3 - I'm not sure how this one necessarily applies, but as this is a children's story, some of the connections in the story aren't as obvious as to why a character does something. 
4. Evidence selection and Acknowledgement: Is this N/A in a narrative? 
5. Awareness / Engagement of Reader: 4 - I believe the text engages the reader to explore ideas and answer questions about Benny's desires and motives. However, I don't think it engages on multiple levels or address biases. 
2. Organization
1. Lead and conclusion: 6 - The lead was intriguing and encourage the reader to figure out what was going on. The conclusion wrapped up nicely as Benny achieved his dream and thanked the animals. 
2. Transitions: 5 - It has logical and varied transitions, with paragraphs ordered to support the development of ideas. But it's not a 6 because I could have varied the transitions even more. 
3. Sequencing: 4 - Sequencing is in order, but perhaps doesn't go "beyond the obvious."
4. Pacing: 3 - If I were to have more time or rewrite this, I would add more time and detail in the sections where Benny's friends are helping him get away. Instead, these sections feel more rushed when they are an exciting part of the story. 
5. Purpose / Text Structure: 5 - I think I used text structure to create understanding with dialogue, thoughts, sounds, and more. 
6. Title: 4 - My title connects to eh central theme, but is probably not unusual. 
3. Voice
1. Engagement with reader: 3 - I probably went with generalities as opposed to connecting to audience. 
2. individual expression: 4 - There were some unique examples of trying to convey what a zebra and rabbit might do together on a farm. 
3. Tone: 6 - The narrator Benny's tone is shown throughout the story with his thoughts and phrases. 
4. Commitment: 5 - Not perfect, but I feel that the writing is enthusiastic about the silliness of the topic. 
5. Fit with audience / purpose: 5 - the voice supports my purpose of telling a fun story to kids and the POV of Benny adds humor and perhaps a link to children (who wouldn't want to meet Santa?)
4. Word Choice
1. Word meaning: 5
2. Word quality: 5 - Has strong vocabulary to add imagery, but nothing striking or particularly powerful. 
3. Word usage: 4 - Some creative and precise words, but not many natural or original words.
4. Grammar: 5 - Correctly chosen grammar, but could probably add more energizing verbs
5. Fluency
1. sentence structure: 5 - Has sentence structure that flows well and moves reader fluidly
2. sentence sense and rhythm: 4  - employs dialogue or fragments effectively; reader can read aloud easily
3. sentence variety: 5 - some variety of structure is used to convey the tone of the moment in the story. 
4. Connecting sentences: 4 - Holds piece together with varied transitional words or phrases
6. Conventions
1. 6 - Uses conventions effortlessly without significant errors; may use conventions to creatively enhance message 

Overall, there are definitely improvements I could make to this story if I were to revise it. At this point, it probably sits at a 4 overall, with my biggest improvements to be made in voice and ideas.

The One and Only Ivan Book Club #2

Several members in our group agree that this book is hard to put down (and some of us couldn't stop reading at the agreed-upon pages - that was me this week). But as a group, our conversation stayed within the agreed-upon pages. Tonight, we mostly centered around the topics posed by Dr. Powell:

• the political climate surrounding the setting of the text
• challenges the character(s) face
• author's purpose

We started with the first topic about the political climate. I realized that I don't think the author has really identified a setting in terms of location in the real world (beyond Exit 8) or a year. We know it's at least within the modern day because of the cars, phones, reporters, etc. With this in mind, we tried to piece together what the political climate might have been surrounding Big Top Mall. We discussed how rare circuses and off-the-highway animal stops are (at least seem) these days. Was this in a time where these types of things were more accepted? Though big circuses are largely a thing of the past now, these types of highway stops still exist - but we agreed that we wouldn't want to stop. Additionally, the politics within the characters at Big Top Mall could be identified, as Mack could possibly be considered a dictator within the small business. 

Many of the characters face challenges at this point in the story. Ivan has just lost his best friend (Stella) and has promised to care for and essentially free Ruby - a promise he doesn't think he can keep. Ruby is struggling with adjusting to her new home/job, having to fill the shoes of Stella in Mack's acts. Additionally, Ruby and Mack are both struggling with internal challenges. Ruby has described the story of humans saving her, but also humans killing her family - and now Mack is threatening her with a claw-stick. What does Ruby really think about humans? How can she adjust in this world? Meanwhile, Mack is also struggling internally. The author shows him as a harsh, maybe cruel animal / circus owner. But as the book progresses, we see a different side of Mack before the circus - a side where he showed compassion toward Ivan and had a wife. Now, Mack seems to have fallen on hard times and is acting out of desperation. He clearly doesn't want to do things like hurt Ruby, and it seems he is upset about Stella's death (the author describes him drunk the day after) - but it seems the circus is all he has and he needs to make a living. This also seems to be the situation George is in. He's working a job, doing things he doesn't always agree with, because he "needs the money" to support his sick wife and growing daughter. 

All of the above conversation led us to talk about one potential purpose of the author: to show that humans are both good and bad. She compared overall humanity through Ruby's situation: some humans saved her, others took everything away. And the author also showed good and bad within a single human: in Mack we see the bad and potential good - the struggle he faces and the possible reasons he makes bad choices. 

Because I'm ahead, I'm trying to wait to read more until next week to realign with my group. 

Book Club Reflection 1: The Only and Only Ivan

In our first conversation about The One and Only Ivan, we decided we are still learning about the characters and we have some ideas that there is a deep, potentially sad history with many of them, particularly with Ivan. We identified several hints that Ivan is not happy and that he is possibly suppressing his sad past. For example, Ivan is having a "hard time remembering" the past, yet Stella remembers everything. Ivan also commented that "you can get used to anything" if you do it long enough. Finally, he conveys that other people have drawn him with different emotions; Mack advertises him as an angry gorilla, but he said he doesn't relate to that. Julia draws him, and Ivan notes that her drawings make him look sad - an observation he doesn't dispute.

We also discussed briefly the other characters such as Bob. We wondered why he chooses to be there in the domains, while Ivan, Stella, and now Ruby have no choice. Why does Bob stay when he could be elsewhere? Some of the ideas we discussed are that he has a distrust of humans given his past; and the author has indicated this is likely the case through Bob's comments about humans. We also thought that he views this place with Ivan and Stella as home. He has lived there since he was dumped on the side of the high way.

I'm eager to keep reading! I had to stop myself at our agreed-upon page to honestly and thoroughly discuss ideas with our book club.

Differences vs Deficits

As Adger, et al. (2007) describes, there are two schools of thought about working with those whose language variety differs from the mainstream: the deficit position and the difference position. The first school of thought identifies those with different language as socially and cognitively handicapped. These students generally perform lower on standardized tests, which in the minds of those in the deficit position, confirms this idea. However, what they fail to consider is test bias - students are being tested in a vernacular with which they are unfamiliar. In this way, students are being told to conform to the mainstream English, and because of this, they are set back even though they are not "intrinsically disadvantaged." The second school of thought is the difference position. Those in this position simply view students as different, calling into question those test scores. This position believes that we need to allow language varieties in spoken word and use the student's knowledge of a different vernacular to support their learning of Standard English in reading and writing.

The difference and deficit conversation extends beyond language varieties, however, as exemplified by Souto-Manning & Martell (2016). According to this text, a student who speaks multiple languages and uses all of their resources to communicate, at the expense of correct English, might be thought of as having a deficit. However, according to Souto-Manning & Martell (2016), a deficit is determined by lacking something, being inferior, or not having appropriate development. This would be the case with students of speech and language disorders. However, a student who uses translangualism should not be considered as having a deficit, but as having different strengths. A student who calls upon various languages through their funds of knowledge are able to aptly express themselves. If we limit these students to one language, the language we see as superior, we are missing out on their ideas and insights. Worse, we could be sending them signals that they are inferior.

Both texts highlight the point that the powerful are the ones who determine what is "appropriate" or "correct." Overall, we as teachers need to see students who differ from this mainstream as having their own unique funds of knowledge, their own assets they bring to the classroom to best learn and share ideas.


References

Adger, C., Wolfram, W., Christian, D. (2007). Dialects in Schools and Communities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Souto-Manning, M., & Martell, J. (2016). Reading, Writing, and Talk: Inclusive Teaching      

            Strategies for Diverse Learners, K–2. New York: Teachers College Press. 

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Welcome to my blog, where I, an elementary teacher-in-training, discover the art of expression in many forms. (At least that's what I think I will be doing...)