March SOLC–Day 18

 In fourth grade we spend a lot of time learning how to write essays: personal essays, persuasive essay, literary essays. We’ve learned about forming a thesis, finding reasons to support it and then providing varied evidence for each reason. We’ve also considered addressing countering arguments to make opinion writing stronger, starting with phrases like, “Some people might think…”, and then going on to offer a counterargument. Students in my class have really gravitated toward the structure of this genre and enjoy voicing their opinions and providing reasons and evidence for them.

We’ve had a couple of opportunities for some free writing time lately (highly unusual!) and many of my students are choosing to write essays. One essay I received a while back argued persuasively for a pajama day the next day. (Wish granted!) Another essay  was waiting on my desk after I returned from a sick day (I sliced about that here). Yesterday, a student handed me her essay with a big grin. It was entitled: “Mrs. Hogan is a good teacher.”

“Will you read it while we’re at specials?” H. asked.

“Sure,” I said, smiling. “Thanks!” So sweet!  After walking the kids to the Library, I headed back to my classroom to read the essay. I looked at the title again. A good teacher?  Hmmm…that’s a pretty tame claim. I mean, good’s good. But just good? In C’s essay I was the “best” teacher.   Laughing at my own thoughts and my ego, I started to read, looking forward to a feel-good moment. As I read, I had two different thought trains going. One focused on the actual essay structure:

She’s got the structure down pat. Hmmmm…Clear introduction…She’s got three reasons and decent evidence but she relies heavily on examples…

The other was channeling Sally Fields in her famous (infamous?) Oscar speech:

She thinks I’m cool. She thinks I’m helpful and nice! And fun, too! Oh, good, she likes me! 

(Ok, I know that being liked by my students is not the ultimate goal, but I’m only human!)

And then I got to the conclusion:

POP! My puffed-up ego precipitously deflated. So much for my feel-good moment!  I burst out laughing. Well, she’s definitely working on including that counterargument!  Now channeling optimism, I’m opting to believe that she’s not using it skillfully yet and not really indicating that there’s an ongoing student (or, God forbid, parent!) conversation about me not being a good teacher. Ugh! Now I’m not going to be able to get that thought out of my mind!

Luckily, a former first grade student of mine,now in second grade, arrived to save my day. Skipping into my classroom, she gave me a hug and handed me a St. Patrick’s Day card.

“Best teacher alive!” Now that’s a superlative! …though it does make me wonder how those contrasting dead teachers were performing.

March SOLC–Day 17
A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

In every season I spend a lot of time watching the birds, squirrels and chipmunks who come to enjoy my feeders.  Their visits entertain me and inspire many posts and poems. Recently I spent some time watching a grey squirrel feed and preen in the garden.

One winter morning
Spotlighted in a golden patch of sun,
the large grey squirrel
pauses beneath the dangling feeders.
It twitches its silver fluffy tail,
nibbles delicately on a few striped seeds
then scampers away
to gather rose hips
from the tatters
of summer’s blossoms.

Molly Hogan (c) 2017

March SOLC–Day 16
A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create a supportive community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

Across the curriculum we work a lot on making claims and supporting them with evidence. Yesterday afternoon I was checking science notebooks to see how this was going in science.  Were students clearly stating a claim? Were they using data from our experiments and observations to support their claims?

What I found in this student’s notebook was evidence of a growth mindset and a timely reminder to embrace the learning process with all its ups and downs. Priceless!

March SOLC–Day 15
A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create a supportive community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

“Do you mind if we stop and check out the waterfall?” I asked my daughter.

We’d been running errands and were finally heading back home. Earlier, on the way to town, we’d noticed that the cold temperatures had worked some icy magic on the waterfall down the road from our house. I wanted to get a closer look and hoped to snap a few pictures.

“I’m down with that,” she said, so shortly afterward I pulled into the icy parking lot across from the small park and we got out.

“Ugh. It’s colder than I realized!” I complained and burrowed further into my coat. “Let’s try going this way. Maybe we can get a better view.”

I love to visit this waterfall in all seasons, but it’s very difficult to get a good vantage point to capture its beauty in a photo. This time I was determined. I led the way across the road and around the fence marking the edge of the park area. Below the fence, the land was roughly terraced and covered with brush, trees and patches of ice. It sloped markedly toward the water. After ducking and dodging through branches and slipping and sliding a bit on the frozen slopes, I quickly realized the risk wasn’t worth the possible payoff.

“I don’t think this is going to work,” I said.

“We could try over there, up by the fence,” my daughter suggested, pointing up the hill.

We backtracked through the tangle of branches, grasping at bushes and trees to avoid an unplanned descent toward the water. Back in the fenced area, we crunched through the frozen remnants of snow and approached the fence. The waterfall roared in the frigid air. Water coursed over, around, and through the frozen falls of ice and churned at the base. I focused on the falls, taking picture after picture, frustrated by the branches that prevented me from taking a clear shot and generally unsatisfied with my attempts to capture the beauty of the moving water amidst the tumble of vertical ice.

“Mom,” my daughter suddenly said, “Look over there!”

She pointed slightly to the left and I turned my back to the waterfall to look. There in the dark water, miniature icebergs swirled like frozen lily pads. They bobbed and circled in a mesmerizing aquatic choreography driven by the currents generated by the nearby falls. Looking at this new view I noticed that here, the “intruding” branches actually augmented the scene. It was absolutely beautiful!  I took a few pictures and we stood for a while together, watching the hypnotic movement of the ice.

When I looked at my photos later that day, I was struck by how different they were and reminded how it always helps to have another set of eyes, a different perspective. Without my daughter there, with my single-minded focus on the falls, I might have missed the beauty that was right before me, slightly to the left. I wonder how often this happens in my daily life and in my classroom…

March SOLC–Day 14
A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create a supportive community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

During the March challenge I scour the saved drafts on my blog for seed ideas. Often I start writing something and run out of time or steam and then save it as a draft to come back to later. Also, I like to let my ideas simmer a bit.  So, right now I have 75 drafts on my blog! Many are only a sentence or two, or an inspiring quote or picture, but some are a few paragraphs, or even half-finished. Sometimes I forget all about posts that I’ve started.

While browsing the other day, I found this post that I’d written this past fall. I’m not sure why I didn’t publish it, as it was essentially complete. I suspect I was concerned about sharing my vulnerabilities as a new fourth grade teacher, and I didn’t necessarily love the idea of advertising my feelings of inadequacy in a relatively public forum. Don’t we all worry about being judged when we share ourselves in writing?  I’m still feeling vulnerable , but when I reread this post, I was struck by how much it captured my concerns and by how relevant this remains to me. I know that writing involves risk-taking so, I’m opting to share it now.

Fall Flashback (unedited):

I read a blog post this weekend and it has stayed with me, crystalizing some concerns that were lurking beneath my conscious notice. The author, Vicki Vinton, posted here about her daughter’s experience with writing and why she, herself, loves writing and her daughter does not. She ended with these final words: “How many other children, I wonder, might come to hate writing as well because they never experience what made me want to write: not just the pleasure in creating something out of words, but the sense that my perceptions and perspective were valued? I actually shudder to think. So let’s remember why we write: not just to master a set of skills but to give voice to our unique take on a text, a topic, an issue, the world.”

In all honesty this year, as I’m learning the curriculum, my focus has too often been on preparing for and getting through a lesson, in other words, teaching students to master skills. We’re writing essays at the moment and there are several students really struggling with engagement and volume. The impact of one day off-task is significant –if you don’t have your evidence prepared, it’s tough to start writing your essay. If you haven’t written your introduction yet, it’s tough to revise it. So, I’ve been feeling a bit more like a taskmaster than a cheerleader, and I don’t like it.

I read through all of the comments, eager to see what others had contributed to this conversation. One poster commented, “I’ve come to believe that there no children out there who “hate to write”, there are only teachers who make them hate to do so. We take away choice and the option to discover voice…how can writing be fun without either?”

Ahhh!  Am I going to be that teacher?? I’m attempting to learn the curriculum as I teach it, and have certainly not mastered how to incorporate choice within its seemingly inflexible boundaries and within the filled-to-the minute schedule of our day. How do I encourage and support students who are passionate about writing fantasy or fiction when they have to write realistic fiction and essays?  How do I highlight the joy of capturing one’s thoughts with the perfect phrase, when I’m struggling to make sure I’ve covered the teaching point, “deftly” woven in a mid-workshop point, and followed up with a meaningful share? That doesn’t even begin to build in the work with students who are actively resistant to writing, who already do not see themselves as writers. How do I encourage them to dip their toes into this rewarding water when I’m choosing how they have to do it?  Negative thoughts come first–there’s no time, there’s no choice, this is overwhelming, this is impossible!

My comment to Vicki Vinton was this: “This post will linger with me. It has me thinking again (and worrying) about the long-term consequences of the limitations we impose on our students’ writing.  In particular, I worry about the year-long genre restrictions that come along with a set curriculum that must be taught “with fidelity.” New to teaching fourth grade, I have much to learn about that curriculum and about how to nurture passion and choice within it. There has to be a way, right? Your post reminds me that finding this way is work that cannot be postponed until I’m more comfortable and confident within the framework of the curriculum. The idea that a student will leave my class not liking, or even hating, writing horrifies me.”

But the overriding thought is clear to me: I refuse to be the teacher who makes a child hate writing. So, what am I going to do?

Reading through the comments again, I realized that there’s a common thread. I need to take the time to make clear how much I value each writer’s voice and perspective. I need to emphasize explicitly that writing is a vehicle for communicating and clarifying thoughts and ideas. I can’t just share my enthusiasm for writing, I need to actively generate that same enthusiasm within my students. This isn’t news to me, but somehow these ideas have been displaced by the heavy learning curve of fourth grade curriculum.

Back to today—I’m still working on this balancing act. Sometimes I feel better about it. Sometimes not. But overall, I’m so glad I reread this post. It reminded me that I still have work to do in this area but more importantly it reminded me why I write –to process, to reflect, to share, and to remember.

Now, let’s just hope I don’t regret pushing publish!

March SOLC–Day 13
A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create a supportive community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

I always enter the classroom with a bit of trepidation after having a Guest Teacher, as I’m never quite sure what I’ll find. On Friday I took a Personal Day. This morning I beelined to my desk to check for notes. At the bottom of my sub plans was scrawled: “We had a great day!” There was even a smiley face. Phew! That’s a relief!

As I set down my bags, I noticed some student writing next to the sub plans. I’d left plans for the kids to have some free writing time, and apparently one of them had opted to write an essay. She left it on my desk for me to enjoy.

Talk about a wonderful welcome back to school! Sanity Saver #8 from my post yesterday (here) was unexpected notes from students. I certainly didn’t expect to get one today. What a great way to start the week!

March SOLC–Day 12

A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create a supportive community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

Last week I read Amy Warntz’s  post about “sanity savers”, those little things that keep us going when life seems overwhelming. Amy pointed out that we tend to look to what’s “killing” us, rather than to what’s “saving” us. She emphasized the importance of changing one’s perspective and recognizing the small things that make a big difference in our lives. I loved reading her list of “sanity savers” and I tucked the idea away to use later this month.

Today I woke to continued 2 degree temperatures and the realization when I stepped into the family room that the heating pipes had frozen…again. This is a long story involving a fine balancing act between wood stove use and circulating water in the radiators. Clearly we haven’t gotten it right yet. It was darn chilly in the house and to top it off, I was already grumpy about losing an hour to that bold, pernicious thief,  Daylight Savings Time. When you’re already discontent at 5:00 am (ok, fine 6:00 am!), it’s time to make a deliberate mental shift.

That’s when I remembered Amy’s post!

So here is my current list of sanity savers, in no particular order. (Among other things, Amy and I have Flair pens in common!):

• early morning time on my own
• watching the birds at my feeders
• messaging with my kids
• fresh baked bialys or everything bagels
• listening to Kurt play guitar
• reading–not just a sanity saver, a life saver!
• heated car seats–sheer bliss on 2 degree days!
• unexpected notes from students
• my slippers and thick warm socks (especially today!)
• chatting with my sisters
• making big vats of steamy, delicious soup
• reading blogs
• a venti Starbucks nonfat half-caff latte with two pumps of peppermint
• sharing stories and laughs with my friends and colleagues
• Pens, especially multi-colored Flair pens–I just got a mega pack on sale at Staples for $5!!! (Ok, full disclosure, I went back and picked up 3 more packs. Who can resist at that price?)
• getting outside, walking and taking pictures
• my warm, cozy, ever-welcoming feather bed
• time to write and reflect
• watching the puppies on the live cam at Warrior Canine Connection (a new addiction)
• comments on my blog posts

As I reread this hastily constructed list, I realized that I tend to think of so many of these as distractions from what I’m supposed to be doing. Whoa! When did I start thinking that way? Clearly, I need to reset my perspective in more ways than one. I’ll be giving that some more thought, but for now, mood reset, I’m ready to dive into this day. Thanks, Amy!

What are your sanity savers?

March SOLC – Day 11

A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create a supportive community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

It’s a beautiful day with brilliant blue skies–the kind of day that lures you outside to play. Unfortunately, it only takes one step out the door to remind me that winter is still firmly entrenched here. It’s so cold that it hurts! A quick look at the thermometer confirms my diagnosis of an unreasonably cold temperature. At 9 am the temperature is hovering at 4 degrees and with a brisk breeze, the wind chill must be well into the negative digits. Our planned walk doesn’t sound like quite so much fun now. Were we really at the beach a week or so ago?

It’s time to move on to Plan B. “Does anyone want to go with me to the farmer’s market?” I ask my husband and daughter. After hesitating and  glancing at the thermometer again (and again) and debating for a few minutes, they finally agree to go. We layer up and move on out.

Within 20 minutes or so, we’re walking into the warmth of the market. It’s an oasis on this frigid day. A duo plays violin in the corner and a happy babble of voices fills the large hall. There are baked goods, preserves, clothing, cheeses, crafts, seafood, meats, and all sorts of tantalizing prepared foods. Vegetables fill woven baskets and spill in rainbows on coarse wooden tables and the scent of coffee and freshly baked bread fills the air. We wander through the aisles, absorbing the colors, smells and sounds. We pick out some kale to add to tonight’s lentil soup and choose a rustic flour-dusted loaf of bread. Then we wander over to the far side of the market, where my favorite everything bagels are. Today I’m in luck and they also have plump golden brown bialys with glistening oniony centers. Who can resist those? After purchasing a few of each, we’re finally ready to leave. Thankful for the brief reprieve, we leave the warmth and color of the market behind and head back into the bitter cold.

I started reading Wendell Berry’s poem, “How to be a Poet (to remind myself)” because the title grabbed me. I mean, I can always use some tips on how to be a poet and would welcome any advice from Mr. Berry!  His initial words (and his wonderful matter-of-fact reading of them in the video clip) reminded me once again of the importance of just showing up to do the work. (Really, how many times do I need this reminder?! “Make a place to sit down./Sit down. Be quiet.”) Berry also reminds me how important and powerful it is to actively clear a space in my whirring mind and busy life–to  pay attention, to clear away the distractions and to listen to the silence and my own inner voice. (“stay away from screens/Stay away from anything/ that obscures the place it is in”)

And then these wonderful final lines…

“make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.”

How to Be a Poet (To Remind Myself)
…

iii

Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.

I chose to share the final stanza of his poem, but encourage you to click on the title to read it in its entirety. If you’d prefer to listen to Wendell Berry reading this poem, click the link below. You can also treat yourself and do both!

To read other poetry, please go to Today’s Little Ditty , Michelle H. Barnes’ most wonderful blog. Not only can you access other poems for this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup there, you can also read her wonderful interviews and find information about her monthly challenges. What are you waiting for?  Click on the link!

March SOLC–Day 9

A huge thank you to  Anna, Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Lisa, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for all that they do to create a supportive community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write, learn, share and grow.
twowritingteachers.org

I feel very fortunate to work in a K-8 school that truly values school climate. We’ve done a lot of work to create a caring, supportive, safe environment for students, and we’ve even extended this work to address bus communities with the Peaceful Bus program. Three times a year bus groups gather and older students partner up with younger students. The bus groups work in these partnerships to identify ongoing issues and possible solutions, participate in team building activities,and work on building their bus community.  It’s heart warming to hear the coaching that goes on and the gentle, kind ways that the older students support their younger partners.

Yesterday’s Peaceful Bus meeting was run by the middle school students as part of our Anti-Bullying Week activities. First, partners worked on answering a series of questions about bullying. Kids chatted and wrote together. “Would it be a adult or an adult?” a sixth grader asked me as I wandered by. I referred him to his second grade partner who, when he asked, correctly suggested, “An adult.”

I overheard an 8th grade boy softly encouraging his Kindergarten partner, “That’s a great strategy. Can you think of another one?”

After this, students were asked to  write down a compliment for their partner. Here are a few of them for you to enjoy:

“You have really pretty hair!”

“You are caring about other people.”

“You’re awesome and nice.”

“I like your boots.”

“You are smart. You are tall.”

“You’re a good friend.”

“I like your shirt and you have good handwriting.

“You stand up for people.”

“I like your shoes. I like your eyes. I think you’re really nice. Have a nice day!”

“You make me feel happy and safe.”

Our last Peaceful Bus meeting of the school year concluded shortly after this activity and I walked back to my classroom. Once again I was reminded of why I love working in a K-8 school and especially in this particular school. Building community isn’t just paid lip service, it’s something we work on consciously and consistently. So, to borrow a few lines from student compliments, to my co-workers and my students I say, “Thanks! You are caring about other people! You make me feel happy and safe!”