Author: G2G

by Mary Howard

On 9/26/19, our #G2great team happily welcomed Ralph Fletcher back as our guest host for the second time. Ralph first wowed us on 4/13/19 with Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact Low-Stakes Writing (Heinemann, 2017). When word of his new book hit the professional airwaves we all knew that we wanted to extend another invitation: Focus Lessons: How Photography Enhances the Teaching of Writing (Heinemann, 2019). We love it when our gut level instincts transform into a twitter chat blessing. 

Your #G2Great co-moderators had the honor of reading Ralph’s new book pre-publication, an opportunity that multiplied our excitement. I still recall opening Focus Lessons on my computer for the first time at 14,000 feet. The introduction drew me in as he likened the jumbo lens of his camera to the stories he crafts on his laptop. (p xi) It was the first time I’ve ever finished a book in one day, thanks to long flights and an unwavering enthusiasm for photography, writing, and Ralph Fletcher. I scurried across inspired pages at warp speed, rereading craft lessons on pages 32-76 twice. I was smitten!

Focus Lessons is unlike any book I’ve ever read before. First, Ralph shares photography lessons he has learned and then shows us his learning in a stunning visual playground where the fruits of his labor beckon a long gaze. But Ralph isn’t content to leave us sitting on the edge of our visual delight. He then leads us on a journey where photography and writing converge in glorious union. In his words, “It turns out that photography can illuminate the craft of writing and help us understand it in a whole new way.” (p xiv)

What better way to add to those understandings than through Ralph’s words? In a phone interview 9/23/19 I asked Ralph this question:

What motivated you to write this book? What impact did you hope that it would have in the professional world?

As I’m learning about photography very much in the role of a student, it was really striking to me how much the instructors in photography were talking about things that seemed very much like writing: sense of detail; tension; story; point of view, angle. Time and time again, I said to myself, “They could be talking about writing. They are talking about writing.” I think that there’s a lot of common ground there and my hope is that my book will encourage language arts teachers to open the door and begin to look at the visual world, specifically photography, as a way to enrich our teaching of writing. The visual world of photography is a world that kids are very familiar with.

While I’d love to detail each photographer-writer inspired idea that Ralph generously shares in his book, I couldn’t possibly do his brilliance justice. I thought that instead I’d create my own visual gallery of the twitter inspired image-words merger so our #G2great chat can provide an added layer. This first tweet is a wonderful starting point. We find ourselves at a crossroads in education where the instructional pace has reached an all-time high. Facing the misguided attempt to squeeze as much as we can into precious limited minutes, Ralph wisely reminds us to savor the experience as we help students to imagine, capture and reflect on thinking at a deeper level. This was a big picture message across his book and our chat. 

With that stop time message at the forefront of our thinking, I’m going to use Ralph’s #G2Great tweets to create seven Twitter Focus Lessons that will both reinforce and extend his beautiful book:

Ralph Fletcher Twitter Focus Lesson #1 KNOW YOUR “WHY”

If any semblance of doubt was in the minds of our #G2great chat family that there is a connection between photography and writing, Ralph alleviated those thoughts as he clearly describes this connection. As I think about the mind-pictures that a photograph can inspire, Ralph also beautifully draws our attention to the decisions writers make that are closely related.

Ralph Fletcher Twitter Focus Lesson #2: RELINQUISH CONTROL

One of our questions invited teachers to contemplate challenges we might face. When the issue of permissions came up, Ralph encouraged us not to allow this to become a roadblock and highlights the impact when we make student ownership a priority. Just as we empower students to take control of their own learning, we can view images in the same way. Our thoughtful lessons begin this handover that will later support writing decisions. 

Ralph Fletcher Twitter Focus Lesson #3: EMBRACE PROCESS

Ralph illustrates the danger of surface level thinking while asking us to acknowledge the power potential of close viewing of images. Just as we encourage students to zoom in on their writing choices, we can also use images as mentor texts and then transfer this thinking to writing. The deep thinking of viewing can then become a pathway to the deep thinking we want when students put words on paper.

Ralph Fletcher Twitter Focus Lesson #4: LINGER IN THE MOMENT

Ralph asks us to embrace process and take advantage of opportunities to encourage students to ponder each step of photograph viewing across all stages. By encouraging “study” and asking questions we can help students put into words what will later be transferred to paper. This thinking time will then offer a forum to verbalize their ideas in ways that will lift this viewing process and ultimately translate into their writing. 

Ralph Fletcher Twitter Focus Lesson #5: INVITE BRIEF DESCRIPTORS

Ralph has a way of helping us identify things that we have done before in such a beautiful way. His description of using “micro-genres” that we find are common on twitter can be a wonderful first step to this viewing-writing connection. It occurs to me that this would offers a supportive scaffold to this merger as we invite written captions that will capture big ideas first. 

Ralph Fletcher Twitter Focus Lesson #6: LEAVE A PAPER TRAIL

Ralph’s twitter message is a perfect segue between taking a photograph and using that image as an entry point to writing or a reflection to deepen that writing. The combination of close viewing and words offers a way to leave a visual trail that can then support the writing. Supporting this shift between images, reflections and writing can become a beautiful thinking marriage.

Ralph Fletcher Twitter Focus Lesson #7: THE GENTLE NUDGE

It seemed very fitting that those first three words were all in capitals so that our attention would be drawn to his message. I can envision classrooms where this photographer-writer merger would become a lock-step view so his cautionary words are an important reminder. Just as we encourage writing that brings student passions to life, we do the same with images.

Now that I’ve shared our Twitter focus lessons, let’s return to Ralph’s words of wisdom in his second interview question.

What are your BIG takeaways from your book that you hope teachers will embrace in their teaching practices?

It’s really two things. First of all, I really do believe and I think it’s almost indisputable, that the world is becoming more visual. The visual world of photography is a world that kids are familiar with in that they’re taking pictures all the time. When we draw on that world and the language of that world, we’ll find that it’s a language that kids are familiar with too. We could find more accessible, more tangible and more concrete ways for describing some of the craft of writing so that kids will understand it in a new way. Another big idea in the book is that I really do think that I’m sort of known for championing the idea of the writers notebook. It’s pretty clear that our kids today are using their cell phones as writers notebooks. They’re using it to react to the world. They’re collecting things. And they’re doing this with real purpose and often for a real audience and sometimes just to be playful. These are all things that we really work hard to get kids to do in their own writers notebook. I think that we could start by changing the way that we see what kids are doing with all the photographs they’re taking. 

Since I opened our Twitter Focus Lessons with a big picture message, I’d like to close with one! In his tweet Ralph elevates our understandings with those three words: Photography IS writing. His description of photography as “writing with light” helps us to understand the tremendous benefits of this process in such a lovely way. 

The depth of thinking that Ralph is wisely proposing is illuminated by two examples he shared on #G2great. Take a moment to look at how the two versions of a single experience can change the way we think about those experiences and ultimately the writing that we might do. As I looked at the pictures together, I couldn’t help but envision this thinking transfer.

In this final tweet, Ralph brings us back to the link between a photograph and writing. Just as the photographer is creating a story, we can translate that visual story into a written story.

My Closing Thoughts

Through his detailed overlap between photography and writing, both in his book and in our #G2great chat, we do indeed begin to understand in a whole new way. This thoughtful overlap between images and words serves to lift our understandings about photography while deepening understandings about the writing process. Ralph beautifully describes this overlap as we learn what most of us have not been privy to until reading this book:

“The central metaphor of this book involves ways in which the craft of photography mirrors the craft of writing. Both activities involve the creative process. Both involve self-expression. Both allow an individual to represent a slide of the world and comment upon it. Both require craft/technique to be successful. As we will see, the language of photography – a language that is modern and tangible – has a great deal in common with the language of writing.” Page 29

And so as I close this post, I want to return to Ralph Fletcher’s words of wisdom as he responds to our third question.

What is a message from the heart you would like for every teacher to keep in mind?

One thing I want teachers to keep in mind is that oftentimes language arts teachers, and I would include myself I this, tend to be text people. We really savor words, metaphors, and powerful language. Some of us, and again I would include myself in this, have been a little bit resistant or even maybe slightly hostile toward the visual world. If kids in our classrooms are sitting there drawing or doodling, we feel like they’re wasting time. As we move forward, language arts teachers will still value texts and words since that will never go away, but I think that the visual world can enrich what we’re already doing. I would hope that teachers could be receptive and open about that and say, “Gee, I wonder if this could breathe some new life into my language arts program.”

Thank you for helping us all breathe new life into our teaching, Ralph. We are so inspired to begin this beautiful photography-writing journey.

Some #G2Great chat inspiration for Focus Lessons

FOCUS LESSON LINKS

Checking In with Ralph Fletcher: On Writing & Photography (Interview with James Preller)

Heinemann Blog: Enhancing Writing Through Photography

Ralph Fletcher’s Website

Heinemann site to purchase Focus Lessons by Ralph Fletcher

by Valinda Kimmel

Thursday night, September 12, #g2great hosted Heidi Anne Mesmer to lead our chat about her book, Letter Lessons and First Words: Phonics Foundations That Work. This is a timely chat as there has been much for educators to read lately in regard to the “science of reading” debate. You can see the chat in its entirety on Wakelet here

Heidi’s book and our #g2great chat help to make clear some pivotal points about the teaching of phonics and its foundational work in growing young readers. Before we look at the specific discussion points from Thursday’s chat, I’d like to share some of Heidi’s recent work on phonics.

American Educator published an article by Heidi and Nell Duke in their winter 2018-2019 edition. In that article, Duke and Mesmer shared seven faux pas that teachers make when delivering phonics instruction:

• Spending Too Little or Too Much Time on Phonics Instruction
• Neglecting the Alphabetic Principle, Concept of Word in Print, Concepts in Print
• Teaching Letter Names without Letter Sounds
• Using Inappropriate Alphabet Key Words
• Lacking a Scope and Sequence
• Using a Problematic Approach to Teaching Sight Words
• Missing Essential Elements of Phonics Instructions–
  • Specific Applicable Generalizations
  • Active Construction and Deconstruction of Words
  • Opportunities for Application
  • Responsiveness

Heidi’s tweets and quotes taken directly from her book spoke to many of these issues in our #g2great chat on Thursday evening.

It’s critical for students to have daily opportunities to build words and take them apart. This practical application of their new letter sound knowledge helps them to understand how individual phonemes and letter combinations form words.

Emerging, early readers need a combination of direct instruction and repeated practice on their own to try out the new learning. Phonics teaching must include instruction, modeling and lots of authentic practice through reading and writing in order for students to become proficient.

Heidi states that we must start by knowing what our students already know and what instruction they’ll need for decoding and encoding.

In Letter Lessons and First Words, Heidi reminds us that we must think back beyond our ability to read proficiently and embrace the importance of phonics instruction—

For a proficient adult reader, phonics can feel like a cumbersome distraction to the “real” work of reading and writing. But what this actually shows is that we’ve lost our awareness of what it is to be new to the printed word. As proficient readers, we read most words by sight and decoding is rarely a part of our reading and writing experience. Because phonics feels unnecessary to us, some teachers decide not to teach it or to give it only cursory attention. Others view it as necessary but don’t make the connection between phonics principles and real reading and writing. The latter kind of phonics instruction involves lifeless routines; odd, dreary activities; excessive repetition; or whole-group, scripted lessons that soar over the heads of some children and bore others. Instead of rejecting phonics outright, we might want to consider that it’s not phonics but how we teach it that is the problem. The teaching of phonics is a means to an end. Children need to decode in order to independently read and write. Phonics shouldn’t feel like an interruption or detour away from these authentic experiences. Phonics should be the building of a curiosity—developed by a passionate, informed teacher— about how words work, an inquiry about how the sounds of our language are mapped onto visual symbols. It is discovering the purpose of letters, how letters can work alone or be combined to symbolize sounds, and later in the journey, how the spelling of words quite often intersects with their meaning. Phonics instruction simply gives children the information about how letter–sounds work so that they can build automatic word recognition that frees their conscious attention to concentrate on meaning. (p. xiii)

 Mesmer created the chart below which clarifies for teachers the research-based steps in a well-planned phonics lesson.

There is more to phonics instruction than a comprehensive program with teacher’s guide and mounds of consumables. Heidi lays out the critical components of phonics instruction.

Good phonics instruction is about learning the architecture of words—what they are made of. It’s about putting words together and taking them apart. Think about Legos and how children learn from assembling and disassembling. Words are the same way. To learn how they work, children must work with them, understand the parts, put them together, and take them apart. The best phonics instruction relies on active, manipulative, engaging activities in which students read and spell words. Children learn it by doing it. They should have dry erase boards to practice spelling words and listening for sounds. They should have magnetic letters for building words. They should have (child-safe) scissors that allow them to cut the words apart and put them back together. (p. xix)

In the midst of all the hype around reading instruction and various groups touting products, it is important that we return to the research around balanced instruction that includes teaching AND plenty of opportunity for children to use the basic elements of language in practical and authentic ways. The time spent in manipulating sounds and applying new knowledge of letter sound relationships to read and write is exactly what emerging readers need.

Thank you Heidi Anne Mesmer for your book and your support for our #g2great professionals. We know that together we can collaborate for a more effective and efficient way to teach our youngest readers.

American Federation of Teachers. (2019). Phonics Faux Pas. [online] Available at: https://www.aft.org/ae/winter2018-2019/duke_mesmer [Accessed 17 Sep. 2019].

Mesmer, H. (n.d.). Letter lessons and first words. (2019).

The Greatest Adventures Begin with a Map

by Brent Gilson

If you missed the chat or want to relive it here is a link to the Wake

In my first year of teaching, I remember a coworker teaching her students how story writing was kind of like hunting for treasure. You start with a plan (map) and you follow it to craft an amazing story (treasure). She cautioned her students about wandering too far off the map. How not following the plan will lead the reader to confusion and take the story in a completely different and oftentimes difficult to follow conclusion.

As I looked at the topic for our chat this week I could not help but laugh at how this advice that was given to nine-year-olds is so applicable to us as teachers. The need for a plan that is centred around our students and organized in a way that scaffolds the learning towards student mastery. The purposeful work of bringing all members of the learning team into the equation early so parents/guardians see themselves as valued members of the team and not just observers from the outside. Building a community together, both the social aspects and the physical ones and how we must be purposeful in this as well. All pieces of a map that when followed and centred around our students will do wonders in creating an amazing learning space for our students and a community that helps support everyone involved.

In one of my favourite stories, The North Star, Peter Reynolds writes about a little boy who sets off on a journey. There are signs and markers and people all along the way telling the boy the way to go but he never feels it is the right way. He ends up choosing his own journey and follows the star. I like to think of a good plan as a star. At times I get distracted when teaching. I wander off the map because of these distractions (time, other responsibilities, bad lessons that shake your faith in yourself… you know…distractions).

Last week marked the start of a new school year. I LOVE planning. I have my year written out, all of my objectives set by the curriculum, some different options to address those outcomes and some open-ended options for culminating projects that are heavy in student choice. I stick to a digital format because it is easy to adjust when those roadblocks pop up. This week a big roadblock popped up. Just before I was about to begin my first class teaching 9th grade I received word that the plan I had set for the year would not work. Some miscommunication left me in a spot that I will have to (probably this weekend) rework my whole year. Now this is not a woe is me reflection but a great example of why it is so important to focus our planning, centre our planning on our students. I had built my ninth grade year around the Provincial Assessment. This was in an attempt to leave a large part of the year open to the cool stuff but we would do the lame stuff (standardized assessment) first. Unfortunately, that early writing of the exam was not approved. So I sat trying to figure out how to reframe the year minutes before it started. That uncertainty distracted me and our first class was less than the positive experience I wanted. The next day I apologized to my kids for the mess the lesson was, vowed to do better and now I sit here finishing this post and preparing to revamp a year plan that centres on my students, not a test.

Monday is the start of a new week. I am excited to take some time to talk about expectations, not rules. I didn’t start the year that way because I was excited and assumed that as I have taught many of the students I have this year twice before we didn’t need to discuss these expectations. The thing is though that the expectations are just not ones I have for them, my students needed time to tell me what expectations they have for me and for their peers. Rules just sound oppressive. Expectations create opportunities for students to rise. I have two expectations. BE KIND and WORK HARD. They sit above the board so students see them. It is a work in progress. Rules place limits. I think there is some chemical in middle school and high school students that is triggered when they hear “rules”, I think it is because they (the rules) are rarely focused on student success and more on compliance and kids can sniff that out a mile away. Expectations are centred on each student and can be individualized to assist in success. This purposeful decision has reduced “management issues” in my room and we spend less time talking about rules we have broken and more time discussing how we can rise to surpass expectations.

Reflecting on planning and how important it is to plan with our students at the centre has been a great reminder for me this week. I had lost my way a bit on the map of a successful year. Luckily I am only 1 week in and the path is still under my feet. I know where I am going. I am inviting my students to join me as we explore literacy and surpass our expectations.

By Fran McVeigh

On August 29, 2019, the #G2Great community gathered with Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey and Dominique Smith to discuss their ASCD book,  All Learning is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond. 

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a popular “buzzword” in education although the concept is now about 20 years old. The goal of SEL is to educate the whole child and many programs purport to do so as one more “program” added into student days. Fisher, Frey and Smith contend that no new programs need to be purchased. Let’s check our their responses to three questions to begin this post.

 1.  What motivated you to write this book? What impact did you hope that it would have in the professional world?

“We’ve witnessed the power of integrating SEL into the academic flow of daily learning. The students at the school where the three of us work learn to use these skills to understand the biological, physical, and social worlds. In doing so, they gain insight about themselves and their value to the world. We hope that works such as this one open up schools to the potential of SEL as an essential part of the curriculum.” 

2.  What are your BIG takeaways from your book that you hope teachers will embrace in their teaching practices?

“One big takeaway is that SEL is fully expressed through public spirit. Learning about oneself and others is foundational, but ultimately wasted if it isn’t in service to families and  communities. Another big takeaway is that strong teacher-student relationships make social and emotional learning possible. Face it, we teach SEL whether we intend to or not. How we carry ourselves shapes how children and youth see themselves and the world. Why not be intentional?”

3.  What is a message from the heart you would like for every teacher to keep in mind?

“As teachers we have tremendous influence in the lives of our students, and our number one job is to teach with hope. The words we choose, the books we select, the discussions we hold, matter to our students. Hope-filled schools ensure that our students are wise, resilient, and courageous.” 

So what did we learn?

All learning is social and emotional. In order for students to thrive, SEL should be included in content instruction every day in all subjects and grade levels. It is too important to be an “add on”. It is too important to be a “separate curriculum”. And it is too important to not have a predictable framework that equips students for life. The language of teachers, the values they share, the materials, tasks and skills they choose to teach kids matter. Teaching kids (not standards) is the target (A shock for many of our readers to consider!). An SEL focus will influence how students think, how they see themselves, and how they interact with content and with others based on their agency and identity, the emotional self-regulation, their cognitive self-regulation and the development of community in classrooms and the cohesiveness of parent and support groups outside school groups. 

Agency and Identity

 Agency (my belief that I can take action) and identity (how I see myself) are foundational for students’ social and emotional learning. Choice and voice empower students. Classrooms are filled with teachers who make choices every day about addressing students’ agency and identity in their conversations with their students, the learning they design, and the actual tasks developed to elicit student learning. Specific tweets from the authors about building agency and identity, the consequences of limiting agency and identity, and ways to empower students address these issues.

Emotional Self-Regulation

Children learn the vocabulary of identifying their emotions as one step on the road to emotional self-regulation. Naming emotions is an important first step in empowering students. Teachers can infuse emotional regulation skills into read alouds during the academic day and provide opportunities for students to consider the effectiveness of emotional self regulation through reading, writing, and discussion. Selected tweets from the authors follow.

Cognitive Self Regulation

Fisher, Frey and Smith note that goal setting is an essential component of cognitive regulation. They suggest that the adults can lead the way by modeling their own cognitive regulation by sharing their experiences with goal-setting. Involving students, their families, and their community in goal setting has the potential for increased student social and emotional learning. This practice during school and academic content will enable students to be better decision-makers for the remainder of their lives. 

Development of Community 

 Many teachers use circles and regularly scheduled class meetings to address issues that arise in the classroom community. Fisher, Frey and Smith shared how their school faculty uses circle discussions to foster community.  Planning in advance to strengthen family and community involvement also pays off by strengthening social and emotional learning. Planning for involvement makes the learning seamless instead of the appearance of SEL initiatives as an afterthought. Wise tweets from the authors include these.

In Closing . . .

In our lives the “R’s” we face daily go beyond the old Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic to include relationships, responsibility and regulation. It behooves us to make sure that instruction includes agency and identity, application in authentic situations, as well as opportunities for important decision-making that build real life practice. Having SEL be a part of school content work will equip students to be confident and competent as well as informed and involved citizens!

 Links 

Wakelet with all tweets

Learn more about All Learning is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond at http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/All-Learning-Is-Social-and-Emotional.aspx

Nancy, Doug, and Dominique have prepared a Quick Reference Guide on these principles. Learn more at https://shop.ascd.org/Default.aspx?TabID=55&ProductId=220752758

Nancy Frey, Doug Fisher, and Dominique Smith will be hosting a full-day pre-conference session on this topic at the ASCD Empower 2020 conference on March 13 in Los Angeles. Check this link for further details: http://www.ascd.org/conferences.aspx 

by Mary Howard

This week, #G2great merged two days into a collision course of celebratory joy: 

MARCH 1, 2019: I took my first step into Zaharis Elementary and entered a magical world conceived by Mike Oliver and his staff as my professional dreams exploded into technicolor view. 

AUGUST 22, 2019: Mike Oliver and Zaharis Elementary in Mesa, AZ graced our #G2great chat as we took a collective Twitter peek into Beyond Borders where the Journey to Becoming is in full bloom.

Two dates. Perfect union. Life-altering.

When an experience literally changes your life, detailing that experience in a blog post can be a foray into writerly trepidation. The idea of putting the Zaharis story in writing from an outsider’s perspective felt monumental. But as I wrestled to find a sense of direction, beyond borders on a journey to becoming beckoned me back to safe ground. I lovingly recalled my first visit and suddenly understood what it was that took my breath away that day. I walked through the Zaharis doors with a two-fisted grip on beliefs I hold dear and those beliefs had a palpable heartbeat in every nook and cranny of Zaharis. That feeling of being HOME gave me a unique perspective.

The Zaharis spirit moved me to tears of joy for what is alive and well in Mesa, Arizona. Yet, it also made me cry for the children who may never experience what I saw that day. I spend a great deal of time in schools across the country, and I can tell you that Zaharis is not the norm. In recent years, our profession has been in a perpetual tug of war of epic proportions as we fight for the very values that are the heart and soul of Zaharis. They are winning on those battlegrounds but others are succumbing to the very antithesis of the beliefs we hold dear. I stared at my computer pondering how to write the words that would do Mike Oliver and his teachers justice… and then I thought about our dear friend, Heidi Mills:

And just like that, Heidi’s HOPE gave me an unwavering sense of direction. According to Merriam-Webster, a verb shows action, occurrence or state of being. The Zaharis spirit resides in these words since they are in a continual state of being along an action-oriented path to becoming. They show us Heidi’s HOPE in action and remind us what is possible if we are unfettered by ties that bind. When we allow hope to turn beliefs into actions, we would move mountains to bring our hope-fueled vision to life in the company of children. Heidi’s Hope lives in Zaharis and I’ve seen it in glorious action. 

And so, in this post I’m going to share how I see Zaharis bringing Heidi’s HOPE into view – for their teachers, children, community and now for each of us. If we can put a name to actions where Heidi’s HOPE already lives, we could then see hope through the eyes of Mike Oliver and his teachers so that they can serve as a beacon of HOPE that could inspire every school to take their own transformational journey to becoming. For the sake of this post, I identified six ways that HOPE can LIVE, but I needed Mike Oliver’s words to show us what is possible in a space where HOPE already LIVES. Through is insight, his voice can lead the way for others to start the Zaharis journey:

HOPE lives when we verbalize the values that could propel us forward. 

Mike Oliver Words of Wisdom to Live By

Our mission at Zaharis is this: “Learning, caring, rejoicing, and working together to create a more just, compassionate, insightful world.” 

We never ever compromise it.   

Zaharis IS the school of my dreams.  We built on the foundation of learning through inquiry, where learning is co-constructed, agency is fostered, and learning is elevated to another dimension—life, complete with all its wondrous complexities!       

HOPE lives when we see barriers as our lighthouse to change.

Mike Oliver Words of Wisdom to Live By

We recognize standardized test scores for what they are—one metric, one star, in a constellation of many!  Never has it been more imperative that we nurture the skills and dispositions needed in today’s ever-changing world, those skills often referred to as “soft skills.”  Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communicating in many ways, kindness, compassion… you know this list. These skills are anything but soft! 

In a recent district meeting, I suggested that we flip the script.  Soft skills are the ones that can be bubbled-in on a scantron. The ones that matter most in the 21^stcentury world of today are the ones that can hardly be bubbled-in.  It’s quite simple. We can’t chop up the world into a sequence of standardized test questions and bubble-in truth with a #2 pencil. 

We must avoid falling into the trap so many others are imprisoned by—trying to do the same stale, boring, antiquated things better.  We need to do better things! Those “better things” are not always best measured by a standardized test question. In fact, they rarely are. 

Our approach to life in this era of high stakes testing and accountability is this: approach the test like a genre study… 

“Boys and girls, sometimes people want to know what you know about the world around you by looking at your score on a standardized test.  We’re going to do an inquiry into this test so when you take it, you have a few tools to be armed for success.”

Get in and get out.  Be intentional and deliberate.  Do not let this “genre study” spill out and contaminate the learning experience throughout the school year. 

HOPE lives when we embrace the resources that will bring our values to life.

Mike Oliver Words of Wisdom to Live By

 Hire teachers who love books and take care of their own literacy!

Provide children with access to real and carefully selected books EVERYWHERE on campus.  Carve out time for deep, critical and authentic conversations where students and teachers can share their insights, interpretations and noticings in response to reading.  Foster and cultivate voice, choice, agency and identity as students engage with texts and develop as readers and writers.   

HOPE lives when we can celebrate the powerful potential of collective agency.

Mike Oliver Words of Wisdom to Live By

Because of this united support, our school board and superintendency are undoubtedly part of this viewing audience!  Not only are they supportive of our model of inquiry where agency and excitement abound, but they are leading the charge for its expansion. 

Years ago, we decided to no longer be content with a school unlike most others.  Too many times I have looked into the eyes of a mother after leading a group tour where I could see a sense of wonderment.  It’s not uncommon to see tears well up when others enter into the heartbeat of Zaharis. High up on my list of least favorite things to do is to inform a parent who believes to have found an answered prayer that they are soon to be at the end of a very long waiting list.  This simply shouldn’t be.

The leadership in Mesa Public Schools is changing this.  We are all working together in Mesa to offer our 63,000 students and 81 schools a learning experience free from stale scripts and programs, where authentic learning experience is commonplace.  Readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, and social scientists are beginning to engage in real world work and thrust it out into the world where it belongs. 

School board members and administrators also want what’s best for children.  We have to help each other learn to see with new eyes as we envision new possibilities and pathways to success. 

HOPE lives when we build our foundation on professional knowledge.

Mike Oliver Words of Wisdom to Live By

A friend of mine once said, “Ya can’t lead where ya ain’t goin’.”  We have found it next to impossible to lead others on a journey we are not on.  One cannot inspire others to travel down a path that he or she is not travelling.  

Our mentor wall was created to declare to all who enter, “We are learners.  And we take our own learning every bit as serious as our students’ at Zaharis.”

The interviews for teaching candidates at Zaharis are no more scripted than our teaching.  But there is one question we ask without exception. It’s a three-part question: 

What are you reading for your own pleasure right now, what are you currently reading aloud to your students, and what have you most recently read professionally and how has that informed your practice?

You simply can’t fake being a reader.  We know in two seconds when someone tries.  There is a ceiling for those who are given the charge to develop readers who are not readers—who are not learners themselves.  And that ceiling is not very high. Unfortunately, we have discovered during interviews that not all teachers are taking care of their own literacy. 

Not only do we have a mentor wall, but we also have a wall dedicated to the declaration of our own literacy.  Each staff member, all teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians—everyone has a framed picture of themselves holding a book that has influenced them in some way.

We are a community of readers.  

HOPE lives when our entire school family is at the center all we do.

Mike Oliver Words of Wisdom to Live By

First and foremost, we must truly value them!  Roland Barth once coined a term that changed the way I look at Zaharis.  “Schoolpeople.” All one word, no hyphen. Schoolpeople are not simply the paid employees in the building.  Parents are Schoolpeople. Grandparents are Schoolpeople. Local business owners, operations workers, groundskeepers, the manager at the local coffee shop and state policy makers are all Schoolpeople. 

So many schools fall into the trap of looking at parents as a populace to be informed—“This is how we do things here, and this is what you need to know.” 

Communication is often a one-way transmission, not much unlike instruction is in far too many classrooms. 

Schools where community and a curriculum of caring abound, schools where a sense of family exists, tap and harness the enabling power and culture shaping influence of Schoolpeople. 

Not long ago, I was in a rush to get to a district meeting.  I was stopped abruptly on the way to my truck by a little first grader named Ashley who greeted me with a hug and a smile.  I patted her on the back and asked, “How is my little friend?” She replied, “We’re not friends, Mr. Oliver, we are family!” 

That hallmark moment is not one I will soon forget.  It serves as a testament for what we have developed at Zaharis.  Family is not a metaphor, but a way of being, a way of existing for us.  In a world where it is not deemed safe for educators to hug a child, it is not uncommon to hear a teacher tell one just how much he or she is loved and valued. 

Schoolpeople of all forms are culture creators.  

MY CLOSING THOUGHTS

Heidi’s HOPE is on the horizon my friends, and it is waiting for us to take what already lives in Zaharis and allow it to create a ripple of HOPE in every school. One Zaharis is simply not enough because no child should have to take the luck of the proverbial HOPE draw – yet that is happening across the country as I type these words. The HOPE that I witnessed as soon as I walked in the front door of Zaharis Elementary needs to spread like a wildfire into every school where all children can reap the benefits of HOPE because it will live and breathe everywhere.

There are no programs and packages anywhere in Zaharis Elementary so they show us that these things are not needed. Yes, they must also adhere to outside obligations, but they do not allow them to deter their singular focus on HOPE. They make HOPE their constant companion in a sacred space where passion-fueled professional endeavors grounded in a mindset of inquiry-based learning and teaching defines each day in every classroom. They believe in the impact of books and so they put that at the top of their priority list across the building. Above all, they believe that Heidi’s Hope as a verb means that our every action is a choice that we make in the name of children and they make that choice every day because they know that their children deserve no less than the very best we can give them.

Zaharis Elementary is the poster child of HEIDI’S HOPE and we can draw from their inspiration to create a collective ripple effect of what COULD BE!

Zaharis Visual Gallery of HOPE

LINKS

Mike Oliver Comments above with#G2great questions in a Google Doc

Mary Howard Zaharis Facebook Posts with Images

March 1: My first visit to Zaharis

March 2: Zaharis Beyond Borders Conference

March 3: Be a Zaharis: Advertise Your Intent

March 9: Be a Zaharis: Let your WHY illuminate across a Building

March 10: Be a Zaharis: Write Your Own Story

News Article: Mesa School Getting National Attention With Different Approach to Teaching

Zaharis Elementary Website: Mission Statement

By: Brent Gilson

Full chat archive can be found here https://wke.lt/w/s/WoYDGS

Sitting down to write this post has been a great opportunity for reflection. According to my school calendar, I see my students for 179-184 instructional days which works out to approximately 1000 hours give or take. I thought it would be overwhelming to look at an hour breakdown but in reality, it just solidifies my resolve that we have so much to do and so little time that what we choose to do must honour our students. They do not have the choice to be in our rooms so it becomes our moral responsibility to make sure the things we do in that room are worthy of them.

In the last few days of school this year I overheard a student in Social Studies class talking about his Language Arts class (I didn’t teach him both) and the textbook they used. His table partner (who I do teach LA) asked him to repeat himself and on verification of the Language Arts skill and drill textbook instruction, he apologized to his friend and then began to explain how we did LA. I was really excited in the moment because it verified that the time we were putting in, the real books we were reading and stories we were sharing, the authentic writing and even the Ted Talks we were discussing were establishing with this student a sense of value and joyful literacy work. On the last day of school, he excitedly proclaimed he read 6 books over the year.

“That is 5 more than last year Mr.Gilson and I fake read that one.”

So what helped this student learn to appreciate reading? TIME. The choices in our classroom, the opportunity to “bond with books” will only come if we prioritize our time to reflect that important shift. As the #G2Great community came together this importance became clear.

As we move through the chat so many established their “non-negotiable” with the time they have. Time for students to explore books, explore words and writing, explore their ideas.

As I am currently finishing up “Why They Can’t Write” by John Warner I am constantly reminded about our duty to help students explore their curiosity. To write about what interests then. To use the precious time we have to serve our students in a way that establishes school as a place for joyful learning. This stops happening when we use our time for isolated skills practice over a balanced approach to exploring literacy. We must be purposeful about the choices we make.

1000 hours of instruction is my school year, I can’t afford even 1 minute wasted on disengaging work that contributes to my student’s apathy towards school. School doesn’t need to be a party but the work needs to be purposeful, engaging and worthy of our students time.

This is still a journey for me and many I know have yet to start this purposeful reflection on how they use their time. We have work to do.

Valinda Kimmel

A few years ago, Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D., wrote an article in which she spoke about teachers as model learners. Dr. Gerstein posits that in order to lead students in the process of learning, teachers themselves must engage in reflection about “how they learn, set personal learning goals, regularly self-assess and adjust their performance, and use strategies to support their learning.”

Often when reading an article on progressive educational practice, it’s tempting to think of the ideas presented as more fantasy than reality. That is not the case here, however.

There was clear evidence of many in our #g2great PLN in the chat on Thursday who hold to the idea of teachers choosing to set specific goals for new learning; their own learning.  Educators engaged in a spirited discussion about the reciprocal nature of teaching and learning. And they shared specific ways in which they embrace the wisdom of “teacher as lead learner”.

You can see the chat here in its entirety. Let’s look at some #g2great questions and answers:

Teachers model the process of learning when they:

• Set goals for learning

• Articulate and make note of metacognitive strategies while learning

• Respect the iterative nature of learning

• Reflect often throughout the process

• Make adjustments when necessary

There is no magic potion for maximizing learning for all students, but when educators commit to being the lead learner there is power in that stance.

Power that transforms.

The work involved to lead the learning is not easy, but it is a certainly a worthy pursuit.

Educators as Lead Learners. (2016, January 12). Retrieved from https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/educators-as-lead-learners/