Student Ownership – Page 2

180 Days with Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle

By Fran McVeigh

What a night! Before the chat began Paul Hankins suggested that our theme song might be Petty’s “Free Falling” and as it ended Colleen Cruz talked about re-reading the stream “…to bask in the glow of @pennykittle and @KellyGToGo.” Either celebration would be so appropriate for that hour in time. Less than ten minutes was all it took for #G2Great to trend in the top “3” due to the wisdom flying through the twittersphere so I knew narrowing down a focus for this post was going to be a challenge as Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle joined the #G2Great chat table for their first time on May 17, 2018 to discuss 180 Days: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents.

I first heard about this book last November at NCTE 17 from a panel presentation consisting of Nancy Atwell, Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle. The chair for the panel was Nancy’s daughter. Her introductions were fabulous. Each one was better than a five paragraph essay – well constructed and so thought-provoking. I was mesmerized. I was entertained. I was so curious.

In that session Kelly and Penny shared the overview of their collaboration and I knew instantly that this was a book that I could not wait to get my hands on. But it wasn’t just the content of their presentation. I was completely awestruck by their behaviors. When Nancy Atwell went to the podium, Kelly and Penny (seated on stage) took out their notebooks, poised to write and then did write throughout Nancy’s presentation. I was so amazed by this that I tweeted out a picture that showed them, on stage, writing while Nancy was speaking. Then when it was time for their part of the presentation, it was no surprise that at times, they finished each other’s sentences . . . truly collaborative partners. Here’s the picture and a link to a brief description of their session.

Many may think this is a book only for secondary ELA teachers.

WRONG!

I would recommend this book to EVERY literacy coach, curriculum, and/or department chair in the district as well as every administrator.

Why?

Because the first half of the book deals totally with values and beliefs that define the decision-making process for teachers. Elementary teachers can review it from the lenses of how they prioritize their own literacy instruction, coaching, and observation because the reading and writing standards are similar PK -12. Their work would be parallel to that of the secondary students and teachers. (Not all primary teachers will believe that this book is relevant, so don’t force them to read it!)

As the lead up to this chat, I wrote a blog post on Tuesday with many of the links listed at the end of this post. I also watched Twitter comments during the week, and then Brett Whitmarsh, (@HeinemanPub), posted this podcast the morning of the chat. It was a read aloud by Kelly and Penny.

A read aloud of text that I had read twice before.

A read aloud that I have listened to twice.

The depth of my knowledge after multiple readings and listenings cannot be measured objectively, but I can tell you that the “story” behind the text and my connections to the text have increased exponentially. I will probably listen once more as I continue composing this piece. I didn’t annotate the text, I didn’t take copious notes. I really worked on “holding my ideas” across the text with some jots and post it flags as I “spied” on my own reading in hopes of finding the big ideas.

And then came the chat.

The two areas from their book title that continue to fascinate me are both “engagement” and “empowerment”. Do you know high school students? Do they routinely feel engaged? Do they routinely feel empowered? How does this play out in real life with the students that Kelly and Penny have in California and New Hampshire?

Engagement

How do students get to the “deep thinking that reflects intellectual growth”? Allowing student choice is a critical element. How much choice? This is most evident in reading where Kelly and Penny propose that 50% of student reading is independent reading where students choose their own reading text. How does the “content” fit into a plan to give students choice? This entire book is about answering: “How does it all fit in?”

When students are engaged, teachers and students will be able to dig into deeper levels of understanding. Core beliefs found in their previous books, like Book Love, by Penny and Readicide by Kelly share foundational thinking for their literacy instruction but 180 Days: Two Teachers and their Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents provides the nuts and bolts about what this really looks and sounds like in classrooms. Then you will discover their ideas on how to accomplish it. This is simultaneously overlaid with the WHYs so that you can follow the thinking that drove all of Kelly and Penny’s decisions.

If students have choice, some teachers believe it feels “loosey-goosey” and seems like “free falling” because the teacher cannot plan out the year during back to school workshop days.

Free falling.

Falling without a net.

But as a teacher plans there is a need to keep a laser-like focus on the end goal for the year while also waiting to see the eyes of the students before outlining the year. Within this plan is the flexibility to add/change to meet the interests of students. An example from this school year was a mini-unit that Kelly created, planned and ultimately shared after the Parkland shooting. (Mass Shooting Unit Link)

Tweets from Kelly and Penny that Support Engagement:

As I read back through the Wakelet, I identified three themes that I felt supported “Engagement” in our chat. We will be hearing more about engagement in two weeks when we discuss Ellin Keene’s gorgeous new book, Engaging Children: Igniting a Drive for Deeper Learning, but for now the themes of Joy, Reading and Writing Lives, and Standards and Assessments from Kelly and Penny’s tweets support increased student engagement and helped me organize my thoughts. Do note that I deliberately left in the number of retweets and likes so that you can see how the #G2Great chat members (and or other friends within the first 12 hours) responded to this wisdom.

Which tweets stand out in your mind?

Which ones would you like to continue a conversation about?

Empowerment

Empowerment is the second promise from the authors. What does empowerment mean? Again, students who feel they have choice and voice in their daily lives will feel empowered as well as able to reach a higher level of engagement. The two elements are not easily separated. The curriculum allows students to strengthen their reading and writing skills. The daily framework for instruction allows students to be more successful with less “push” and “scaffolding” by the teacher. Knowing that half of their time during the year will be spent on self-selected books is empowering. Respecting students’ lives outside of school is also empowering for students as it reduces external stress in their lives.

The clearer the learning targets, the more efficient and effective the instruction becomes. The clearer teachers are about their belief systems, the easier they can articulate the relevance to the students. And yet, truly empowering adolescents will require change in the actions and work of students as well as teacher’s roles. Students will have the power to control their learning within the class. The teacher’s role will be reduced as students take the lead in discussions and book club work. This is not work for the faint-hearted. Students will resist in the beginning.

WHY?

Because it is work!

Why does it matter?

Because the WHY should be guiding all decisions!

Tweets from Kelly and Penny that Support Empowerment:

Specific tweets from Kelly and Penny that supported “Empowerment” seemed to fall into two categories: Actions and Work of the Students and Teacher’s Roles. When students are empowered, there is no need for “fake” accountability systems. Students meeting in book groups with students across the country were interested in completing their work in order to be a part of the cross-country collaboration. Note particularly what one of Penny’s seniors said as reported in Penny’s first tweet below.

Which tweets stand out in your mind?

Which ones would you like to continue a conversation about?

The chat revealed that Kelly and Penny originally began with 20 core beliefs and they did whittle it down to 10. Their schedules provide for daily reading and writing. Kelly (from the book and a live PD session last week) has 10 minutes of reading and writing every day. Time matters in terms of how it is used each day, as well as across the year and throughout the secondary careers of our students.

Time matters:

Just as I can tell you that a thousand seconds = 16 minutes,

a million seconds = 12 days,

a billion seconds equals 31 years,

and a trillion seconds equals 31,688 years.

Seconds do matter! A sense of urgency is needed!

Being responsive to our students does not mean employing a whip and timer for every time segment in class, but it does require that we pay attention to the balance of time and not waste precious minutes that take away from student application and transfer of reading and writing. At all grade levels. With all students.

Those are non-negotiables. The videos in the book are priceless. I remain impressed with the collaborative nature of this work. The need to have another professional to discuss your ideas with, to plan together, to teach in each other’s classrooms. How can book clubs meet virtually in California and New Hampshire? What do students (used to sun and sand in California) who may have never seen snow fall from the sky have in common with students from New Hampshire who ride snowmobiles to school in the winter?

What questions remain?

How do YOU fit it all in?

What will YOU do to engage and empower yourself, your peers, and your students? How do YOU fit it all in?

Additional Resources:

Wakelet (to review all tweets from the chat)

Podcast part 1 – Read Aloud

Resourceful – Planning

Travis Crowder Review

Kelly Gallagher website

Penny Kittle website

#BowTieBoys: Exploring Instruction Through Students’ Eyes – Group Work and Collaboration

By Fran McVeigh

My post for the #BowTieBoys guest host stint at #G2Great in March seemed easy. I reread the questions, reviewed the tweets, considered formats and began writing. In fact it was so easy that I began worrying about this second post. What would be different or unique? What would be the bookends for the learning?

I am in awe of these middle school and high school students: their focus, drive, poise and incredibly articulate positions on so many issues in education. As I worried about appropriately expressing my respect for their work, I remembered that April is synonymous with poetry. So I created this acrostic “fan poem” about the #BowTieBoys before we even had the chat and had my first 19 words.

After the chat, I was still in search of my goal for this blog post – stuck with my 19 words and the title. I dreamed of a post worthy of clearly and succinctly articulating the depth of their participation as guest hosts for #G2Great on April 26, 2018. But I felt like the center fielder who had missed a line drive straight up the middle.

So I researched, reading previous Literacy Lenses posts as well as posts from the #BowTieBoys. I even DM’d Jason Augustowski about a post outlining the origin of this group. You can find those details in his biography here. I read through the Wakelet artifact, collected tweets and reread the archive again. Ideas swirled in my head. And then I reread the title: Exploring Instruction through Students’ Eyes: Group Work and Collaboration and the theme coalesced around that title. No surprise. The title became my North Star, my purpose.

This group of students, ranging from 8th graders to juniors, wrote the questions, responded to the questions, and had multiple conversations with educational folks during the #G2Great twitter chat. In essence, they collaborated with each other in the question development and then participated collaboratively in group work during the chat. They executed group work and collaboration in an online format while sitting together in the same physical space. Middle school and high school students!

Were the students doing this for participation points?

Were the students doing this for a class requirement?

Was there a rubric where the teacher was making tally marks for participating comments?

Would a student be “marked down” for “not speaking up”?

The answer to each of those questions is a resounding “NO!” And therein lies the purpose. These students are learners who understand that they learn in different ways, like to respond in different ways, have different interests, but yet they are united in their passion to provide input in order to improve their educational lives. They read professional texts by Penny Kittle, Kelly Gallagher, Laura Robb, Linda Rief, etc. and strive to improve their own knowledge on their own time and in their own ways. (Does that sound familiar, dear readers, who have found your own personalized learning on Twitter, Voxer, or in books by similar authors?)

Student perspectives on learning are necessary in order to improve educational practices AND learning. Teachers need student feedback, beyond assessment numbers, that range from classroom environment to routines/procedures to the content and instructional delivery systems.

WHY?

Dr. Mary Howard is fond of telling us that our “WHY?” is our most important question to answer for any instruction, assessment or even planning. And she is so correct. Beyond teachers and administrators knowing the WHY, so must the students. The WHY cannot be left for students to infer. It should be obvious. It should be stated often. And it should be the driving force behind every decision made in the classroom, of the classroom and for the classroom.

Why Group Work?

These tweets really helped me collect a wide range of thoughts about Group Work.

Why these tweets? Because of the key words that popped out in this word cloud.

Several priorities for Group Work had surfaced: Allowing all students to have a voice, providing opportunities to add ideas, affording time to discuss and/or gather information, new viewpoints and ideas, and encouraging others to interact. Aren’t those all habits and behaviors that employers want? Why would we ever be surprised that students want these? The surprise might be that students have not previously felt comfortable with sharing these needs. The surprise might be that some teachers don’t collect feedback from students. The surprise might be that the feedback is perfunctory and never acted upon.

But WHY NOT?

Why not have a combination of interactions daily in the classroom that allow students to learn together? Why not provide choice in interactions? Why not ask the students (voice) when learning is working as well as when it is not working?

WHY Collaboration?

For this second big topic, I again returned to the tweets for the benefits of collaboration.

Merriam Webster defines collaborate as “to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor” so it does overlap with the previous Group Work conversation. The heart of collaboration is that new thinking or product emerges as a result of collaboration. As you can see in the tweets, the students recognize that combinations of individual and group work are needed and that there needs to be a real purpose, not “just” a principal or teacher evaluation for the collaboration. The process of collaboration should include frequent checkpoints so that both the students and the teacher have frequent feedback on the effectiveness of the collaboration. Student ratings or rubrics designed collaboratively with the teacher and negotiated with group members are often effective. Will all groups be 100% effective every day? Probably not without some specially designed instruction, tasks and productive work that builds respect, trust and a community of learners commited to deep learning.

But WHY NOT?

As shared in the tweets, collaboration is not necessary for all tasks. Students recognize fake collaboration to impress an observer or to mark it off a checklist. And perhaps the beginning of a class period is not the best time for collaboration if students have not yet settled into the learning mode. Are there some tasks that are better suited to individual work? Having real world, meaningful tasks tends to make collaboration more successful.

WHY does it matter?

The goal is mutual learning. Students collaboratively involved in the learning processes have a deeper understanding of teaching just as teachers involved in collaborative work have a deeper understnding of student learning. When this commitment to education and learning is reciprocal, magic happens. That magic was evident in our #G2Great chat with the #BowTieBoys. Students. Teachers. Learners ALL. Understanding WHY is the essential element.

ACTION To Consider: Take these remarkable questions and discuss them with your teachers and classmates.

And summarize with:

WHY is Group Work important?

Is all Group Work equal?

WHY is Collaboration important?

How do Group Work and Collaboration support student learning? Find your WHY and find your guiding principles for learning!

Please follow the #BowTieBoys on Twitter:

Kellen Pluntke @kellenpluntke

Spencer Hill @spencerrhill99

Joe O’Such @joe_osuch

Christian Sporre @CSporre

Ryan Beaver @rbeaver05

Connor Grady @ConnorGrady11

TQ Williamson @tq_williamson

Rishi Singh @RishiSingh08

Sam Fremin @thesammer88

Dawson Unger @dawsonunger

Jack Michael @jackmichael776

Tam Mandanis @TMandanis

Aaron Eichenlaub @AEichenlaub729

Nihar Kandarpa @NKandarps

Jason Augustowski @misteramistera

Additional Resources:

Storify from April 26, 2018 chat	Wakelet Link
Storify from March 8, 2018 chat	Storify Link
#BowTieBoys Blogs	thebowtieboys.blogspot.com
4 minute video from 3/9/18 after #G2Great chat	Link
#BowTieBoys YouTube Channel	Link
#BowTieBoys Biographies	Link

Previously on Literacy Lenses:

#BowTieBoys Exploring Instruction through Students’ Eyes: Creating a Positive Environment

A Reflection on #NCTE17 with the BowTieBoys – Exploring Choice from Students’ Eyes

BowTieBoys -Exploring Instruction Through Our Students’ Eyes

JV BowTieBoys – Exploring Instruction Through Our Students’ Eyes

Sam Fremin: Viewing Instruction Through a Student’s Eyes (storify)

#BowTieBoys: Exploring Instruction through Students’ Eyes – Creating a Positive Environment

By Fran McVeigh

There was an air of excitement and electricity that led up to the #G2Great chat with the #BowTieBoys on March 8th. The boys, ranging from 7th graders to 11th graders, craft their own questions, greet folks to the chat and carry on conversations as veterans. I’ve been lucky to “know” the #BowTieBoys for three years but I didn’t fully understand their depth of knowledge and commitment to improving education until #NCTE17. In St. Louis, I saw them individually and as groups multiple times across the days, as they were quite literally the first people I saw at the conference hotel and in four sessions over the course of the conference.

What is their story?

The #BowTieBoys are some very gifted literate secondary students who have literally banded together to study how education could be improved. Their future plans and interests are as varied as they are. Meeting their parents at some of the sessions added another dimension to my understanding. What if students were encouraged to study the work of some of the best and brightest? And who would that be? They were on panels and in pictures with Lester Laminack, Linda Rief, Dr. Mary Howard, Penny Kittle, Kelly Gallagher, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst. They read and study professional education texts. Who wouldn’t grow and learn from those #Edu-heroes?

What are the Keys to Creating a Positive Environment?

1. Relationships and Respect

Relationships and respect are so intertwined that it is difficult to have one without the other. As a teacher, it’s important to build relationships from day one in the classroom. That might be the conversations in the hall about the school event the night before, at the door about individual scores and expertise, or in the classroom pulling in specific student interests to engage the students in the learning. Respect is not about assuming it will be bestowed on teachers as a point of privilege. True respect is about caring for students and being able to be human when students do need a bit of extra care, or being able to laugh and joke as teachers and students learn from each other. Respect is a two-way street and students will earn teacher respect and trust as they also work on developing relationships and treating others kindly. Students have strengths that they can use to teach others in the class, perhaps in the area of digital tools but also in those areas of personal interest where they spend time every day.

As Sam Fremin said,

“EVERYONE in the learning community is a learner AND a teacher.”

Transparency

Transparency is often found in communication that builds on the relationships formed under mutual respect. Secondary students also prefer to have their voices heard as well as to have choices in their daily work. Teachers that can admit mistakes and move on not only exemplify transparency but they also model how to continue to grow and persevere in the face of difficulties. Transparency is necessary for a growth mindset for students and teachers.

Other areas of transparency include: setting time frames for assignments together, having high expectations for all students and developing the assessment/evaluation criteria together. In a transparent environment, everyone is a learner and everyone makes positive growth. Above all, transparency assumes an openness and an atmosphere of honesty from both teachers and students that builds upon the respect previously mentioned and often includes asking for feedback from students and then acting on that feedback.

Strategies to Engage ALL Learners

Several strategies were mentioned during the chat including: time, transparency, and trust. Time included allocating enough time so students can work with their peers. Time to explore topics that students are interested in. Time to work on projects for creation or even problem solving. In addition to transparency qualities previously mentioned, allowing choice of assignments and opportunities to pursue tasks that allow quiet participation for students who prefer to work alone is important. Variations in groupings for work will And with trust, strategies that allow a voice in how the task will be evaluated, perhaps the co-creation of rubrics or the negotiation of due dates, are preferred. Trust can also be built as a part of those teacher-student relationships when teachers attend the co-curricular activities of their students.

Low Student Stress Levels

In the classroom, stress can be reduced by ensuring that time is allocated so that students always begin projects or homework in class, ask questions, and clarify that they know what the learner outcomes are. Students appreciate teachers who chunk projects into smaller shorter deadlines that enable students to have frequent check in points. Feedback along the way in bigger projects or tasks also allows students to know what they can do to improve learning. Simple conversations with students in terms of whether time frames seem reasonable, how can stress be reduced and how does this fit with other course requirements. Similarly teachers who communicate with others can be aware in advance of due dates and not have three or four major projects all due on the same date. Stress is a real issue. Learning does not occur and students cannot thrive when a learner is under stress. That also means that tasks and projects should be valuable to students and teachers and not perceived as busy work.

Reasonable Grading Timelines

What are reasonable timelines for grading? If a task is assigned to be done in one day in one class period, how much time should the teacher have to grade that task? A typical “It depends” answer may prevail because if this is during class periods 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and the teacher’s prep period was period 2, the grades will probably not be posted that day. But is it fair for students if two or three days pass and those grades are still not posted? Grades are an interesting school phenomenon. Grades are after the fact and they close the door to learning. Yes, it would be nice if more focus was on learning and less on grading, but timeliness of grades is an issue that perhaps again relates back to transparency, relationships, and respect.

Cell Phone Usage

Should cellphones be used in classrooms? Again the answer might be, “it depends.” If students in the building have 1:1 devices, the need for cell phones may be reduced. Sometimes cell phones might be more efficient uses of technology and/or feedback for students and teachers. The learning needs should drive cell phone usage rather than the need to have a fun, cute activity. This again, could be a source of both transparency and trust if students approach a teacher outside of class time with a new app or extension that would really make learning simpler in that classroom. Showing, explaining, and providing a rationale in a separate setting would also be respectful of student, teacher and class time. It is important for teachers to be consistent in their messages about how, when, and where cell phones can be used. But if that is not a skill taught at school, where will it be taught? How and when will students learn to manage the distractible portions of cell phone usage?

Student Involvement in Assessment and

Grading

Another feature of a positive classroom environment is student involvement in assessment and grading. This varies from classroom to classroom much to the dismay of students who may see this inconsistency as a lack of transparency. One way to involve students is to have student conferences. Recording the conferences on Flipgrid and sharing with parents would also be an increase in transparency. Students who help develop the rubrics that are used for assessments would also see this as a characteristic of a positive classroom environment. Teachers who routinely complete the “tests” themselves to check for accuracy and necessity are also respectful of their students and their precious learning time.

Safe and Comfortable Classrooms

How do your classrooms look? Are they inviting? Are they comfortable? Some considerations include furniture that matches the needs of the students and the various instructional groupings: space and tables to collaborate in teams, quiet spaces for reading or writing, as well as space for partner work. That might determine the need for tables instead of desks, couches instead of chairs, and a nook or two where students can seek solitude. Flexibility that responds to the needs of the students is important.

As you have read, you noticed the eight components the #BowTieBoys identified for a positive classroom environment were: Relationships and Respect, Transparency, Strategies to Engage ALL Learners, Low Student Stress Levels, Reasonable Grading Timelines, Cell Phone Usage, Student Involvement in Assessment and Grading, and Safe and Comfortable Classrooms. Others exist but these eight could generate great conversations.

Have you checked in with your students lately about your classroom environments?

What would your students say are the keys to creating a positive classroom environment?

Additional Resources:

Storify from March 8, 2018 chat: https://storify.com/DrMaryHoward/g2great-3-8-18

#BowTieBoys Blogs: thebowtieboys.blogspot.com

4 minute video from 3/9/18 after #G2Great chat: Link

#BowTieBoys YouTube Channel: Link

Previously on Literacy Lenses:

A Reflection on #NCTE17 with the BowTieBoys – Exploring Choice from Students’ Eyes

BowTieBoys -Exploring Instruction Through Our Students’ Eyes

JV BowTieBoys – Exploring Instruction Through Our Students’ Eyes

Sam Fremin: Viewing Instruction Through a Student’s Eyes (storify)

EMPOWER: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning

by Mary Howard

On 11/2/17, we were honored to open our #G2Great door to guest hosts John Spencer and AJ Juliani. Although John was working in China at chat time, we were inspired by his presence through AJ’s reflections on their wonderful collaboration, EMPOWER: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning (IMPress, 2017)

Everything about this amazing book, from the cover title to the words and visuals across the pages, represents a passionate reminder that educators have been afforded the opportunity and responsibility to empower students. John and AJ move us closer to understanding what it means to empower students at the beginning of their book:

“We need to shift our mindset from compliance (students must follow our rules and engagement (getting kids excited about our chosen content, curriculum, and activities) to empowerment. (xxix)

The dictionary lists several synonyms for empower including authorize, entitle, permit, allow and enable but John and AJ add a powerful and unique meaning in the book:

After looking back over the chat tweets, I knew that I’d found my guiding question for this post: “How can we EMPOWER students to create their own school game as a means to maximize learning?” With this question in mind, it didn’t take long to notice that our #G2great questions offered an organizational structure for me to reflect on my question. Looking at our questions and inspired tweets from AJ and our passionate #G2Great family led me to contemplate eight EMPOWER points:

EMPOWER 1: Expend precious available minutes in responsible ways

John and AJ open their book by reminding us that time is a precious commodity. Through their calculations, we realize that we are all given the same 400 minutes in each day. But that’s where the similarities end since how we choose to expend those minutes varies widely from teacher to teacher. I love AJ’s point that we may not be able to control all of our minutes due to the inevitable and ever-present school requirements, but we can and must choose to spend limited remaining time in the most responsive ways. Eugene eloquently emphasizes that when time is finite, it is even more important that our choices reflect what we value. How we spend time is a choice so we lose right to complain about time when we choose to spend it in ways that do not positively impact students.

EMPOWER 2: Inspire students to engage in creativity and innovation

I suspect that most teachers would be hard-pressed to suggest that creating classroom experiences that are creative and innovative is not a crucial instructional goal. Yet what we acknowledge pales in comparison to how we demonstrate those beliefs through our day-to-day actions. AJ’s words that creativity must be “unleashed” rather than “found” illustrates that this isn’t about merely identifying obligatory sporadic moments in the schedule but taking specific actions that will inspire creativity and innovation in ways that in turn inspire students and teachers to want even more creativity and innovation. Matt reminds us that we do this by ensuring students play a role in our instructional planning conversations as we make student voice and choice a priority.

EMPOWER 3: Take a stance to make student choice a daily priority

This idea that student voice and choice is an essential component of each learning day is a perfect segue to zoom in on choice as a primary factor of empowerment. AJ emphasizes that choice leads to ownership and thus empowerment and deep learning. This means that our willingness to offer choice in the learning process can have a positive or negative impact on student learning. Fran made the point that for many children, this has not been part of their ‘school game’ reality. This inspires us to begin to craft a new reality as we incorporate choice into each learning day and do so in the most authentic possible ways.

EMPOWER 4: Embrace technology as a window to the world

Any time the discussion turns to empowerment, technology will inherently become part of that conversation. Technology reflects the world that our students reside in and so it makes sense to invite that world into our classrooms. AJ reminds us that technology is not a curriculum add-on but a powerful tool that can be seamlessly integrated into every learning day. I love AJ’s description of technology as an “on-demand experience.” This motivates us to shift our perspective from an activity we schedule to what we can bring to the learning table any time of day. Roman also reminds us that breaking down our school walls to willingly incorporate technology opens this world to students and expands their horizons and our view of what is possible.

EMPOWER 5: Understand the distinction between fail-URE and fail-ING

I found myself reading and rereading chapter 9 (page 147 to 156) as I was intrigued by these distinctive terms. I was clearly not alone in my fascination since many others took notice of this notion as well. AJ helps us understand these terms by considering one as an end point (Fail-URE) as often reflected by grades or test scores while the other is viewed as learning that can change over time (Fail-ING) through experiences that will support new or growing learning. I loved Rebekah’s description of Fail-ING as a process of ‘evolution, forward movement, and growth.’ This view celebrates the messy process of learning that occurs when we are willing to give students time and support to view that mess as a learning opportunity.

EMPOWER 6: Amplify the potential of your professional impact

AJ highlighted a key goal that can help us dramatically accelerate our impact potential. Empowerment is not simply what we do during the learning day but what students are able to do after the learning day is over when they leave our care. Our children will live in the world of the future and so we create learning opportunities that will prepare them for that world because we believe that they could make a difference by making that world a better place than it would have been without them. Vicki reinforces this point by referring to the ripple effect that can move learning from our personal instructional space out into the world that exists beyond that space.

EMPOWER 7: Broaden assessment to include your learner voices

I smiled when I read the title for chapter 8: “Assessment should be fun. No, really we’re serious.” (page 125) It’s hard to envision that spirit given the current testing and grading climate. Yet AJ asks us to acknowledge that effective assessment (the “fun” kind) is about much more than a grade. Authentic assessment invites students to become an integral part of those assessments. Amanda reminds us that this is not about a grade or score that focuses on a product but the process students engage in as they are immersed in that learning experience. Once we are willing to adjust our emphasis on the process, we make room for students to ssume a central assessment position.

EMPOWER 8: Create a flexible instructional student-centered design

In our final chat question, AJ acknowledges that empowerment is not about giving students free rein but widening our perspective as we incorporate a more flexible view. He reminds us that this is not an either-or proposition since we can offer students a supportive structure while still making room for empowerment through student choice in content. Christina reinforced this point by emphasizing that we must relinquish our control as ‘keeper” of every learning experience in order to open the door to discovery. When we create an environment that feeds student-inspired curiosity, then discovery and empowerment are likely to follow.

When I wrote our #G2Great chat questions as I read Empower, little did I know that John and AJ would not only inspire those questions but also inspire this post. Through their book and our #G2Great chat we are given an opportunity to initiate an exploratory venture that addresses my initial question: “How can we EMPOWER students to create their own school game as a means to maximize learning?” As I look back on our chat, I think this begins by giving ourselves permission to invite students to OWN learning and thus craft their own game. I can’t imagine a more relevant goal to work toward. We are so grateful to John and AJ for moving us ever-closer to empowering student learning and we know that we are about to launch on a worthy and exciting journey side-by-side with our student.

Perhaps the first step in this new game plan is illustrated in a tweet from Trevor Bryan.

See what else our amazing #G2Great friends said

AJ website http://ajjuliani.com

Joh blog http://www.spencerauthor.com

John Spencer You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/oursocialvoice

Follow their book on Twitter at #empowerbook

Read Talk Write: 35 Lessons That Teach Students to Analyze Fiction and Nonfiction by Laura Robb

by Mary Howard

I was personally elated on August 31, 2017 when we opened our #G2Great doors to welcome guest host Laura Robb. Laura has long been a professional inspiration to many educators, but her presence was an added blessing for me since she is also a treasured friend. On this night, we gathered enthusiastically around the Twitter screen to soak in Laura’s immense wisdom and celebrate her newest book, Read Talk Write: 35 Lessons That Teach Students to Analyze Fiction and Nonfiction (Corwin, 2017).

In his opening foreword, Harvey “Smokey” Daniels eloquently describes why we need Laura’s remarkable book:

For decades, we have understood in principle that kids need to talk about their reading. But in practice, we have been slower to develop a broad repertoire of classroom structures that stimulate, facilitate, guide, and assess that kind of abundant intelligent talk. Laura Robb to the rescue once more. (xiii)

Laura Robb to the rescue indeed. In 249 pages of brilliance, she offers a treasure chest of powerful practices that are sure to promote the abundant intelligent talk that will lift student voices into the learning air in celebratory harmony. Laura’s book beautifully organizes 35 powerhouse lessons into six thoughtful categories of student centered dialogue:

Turn-and-Talk
Whole Class Discussions
Partner Talk
Small-Group Discussions
In-the-Head Conversations
Teacher-Student Discussions

Our #G2Great conversation with Laura reflected a clear shared commitment for engaging students in meaningful reading and writing talk. But Laura lives and breathes this commitment in her own work in classrooms and through her writing. After the chat, Laura shared four key ideas with me via email that she hopes our #G2Great family will take away from this experience And so as I reflect on her email message and her #G2Great chat tweets, I’d like to depart from my traditional chat overview by merging Laura’s messages and tweets into four Conversation Inspirations. These will offer a professional guide as you generate the abundant intelligent Laura-inspired talk our children deserve:

Conversation Inspiration 1: Create a Culture that Celebrates Student Talk

I’m hoping teachers re-evaluated the importance of talk. Talk is an oral text, and students do a great deal of thinking, considering, and refining to craft a response others can understand. I see talk as a prelude to meaningful writing. (Laura Robb’s email message)

My reflection: Our first step is to take professional responsibility for this process. We cannot create an instructional setting where student-centered talk is valued by students until we are willing to hold this process in the highest esteem. Before we can create an environment where the high quality talk we desire for students becomes a habit of mind, we must acknowledge our role in this process. When talk is viewed as a professional must then it will become the WHY that drives us each step along the way to this rich collaborative dialogue. Laura reminds us that this is not an occasional event to be scheduled at key intervals in the day, but a non-negotiable daily priority that permeates the very air that we breathe across every learning day.

Conversation Inspiration 2: Celebrate the Talk Journey with the Gift of Time

It’s important to know that it takes time and practice for student-led discussions to run smoothly and achieve depth of thinking! The gift of time, practice, and debriefings are crucial. (Laura Robb’s email message)

My reflection: In order to create the powerful discourse we deem worthy of our students, we must first build a strong bridge between teacher supported and student engaged talk. We begin by creating a safe and supportive environment that will nurture the kind of engaging talk we want for students. Within this safe environment we can then offer the instructional models to demonstrate each step of the talk process. These scaffolded supports allow us to show our students what rich dialogue looks like, sounds like and feels like so that we can begin to relinquish responsibility to them for accountable talk. With productive and meaningful talk always in our sights, we heed Laura’s wise reminder that we cannot rush this supportive phase.
Conversation Inspiration 3: Hand over the Reins of Student Ownership

When students lead discussions, they have multiple opportunities to observe peers reasoning process as well as valuing multiple interpretations supported by the text. (Laura Robb’s email message)

My reflection: This release of responsibility allows us to create a forum that will support the kind of real life conversations we want students to have with their peers. These authentic conversations are grounded in ‘passionate and intense’ talk that we want students to continue to have with others long after they leave our classrooms – the very kind of conversations we have in our own lives. Once we have set the talk stage with support, we then begin to step back and allow students to craft the structure of these conversations so that they can assume control of the decision-making process. We trust our students to make these important decisions based on the foundation we have put into place as our role shifts from a supportive one to that of facilitator as we use these experiences to fine-tune and extend learning.
Conversation Inspiration 4: Value the Talk Process Through Your Actions

Don’t grade talk. Talk is thinking out loud and writing is thinking on paper. Talk should always precede writing. Teachers can model various journal responses that can be assessed and have students write a paragraph that explains their position or defends a point of view. I don’t grade readers’ notebooks as I view those as exploratory thinking that students can refine, adjust, and change. Out of notebook writing can come assessment projects. (Laura Robb’s email message)

My reflection: I opened this overview by emphasizing that we must begin by valuing the talk process as we make it integral to every instructional day. We maximize our framework by stretching talk across all content areas but this is only the beginning. We are cognizant that all we choose to say and do will send a message to students about how we view these experiences as we allow these conversations to grow with students. In other words, our day-to-day actions and how we treat the talk experience with the respect it deserves will impact students most. Making time and space for student-centered talk is important but we must also show in every aspect of our practices that we value an organic process for meaningful dialogue. We do this by choosing not to apply a grade to this process-based practice, by creating experiences worth talking about and by celebrating that students assume increasing control. We acknowledge that student-centered talk cannot be relegated to a list of narrow questions that revolve around trivial conversations. Above all we trust students to reach ever higher as their conversations begin to take on a life of their own and we honor this transformational student-driven process each step of the way.

Read, Talk, Write reflects Laura’s commitment to the role student talk plays in the learning process. We are grateful for her deep belief in the power of literary conversations and her support in helping us to envision this process through her very wise eyes. In the closing words of her wonderful book, Laura extends each of us an invitation to join her on this journey so that we too can breathe life into abundant intelligent talk. Laura’s vision of daily student engagement in literary conversations is sure to inspire dedicated educators everywhere to thoughtfully craft rich student-led dialogue across the learning day:

You are the key to developing highly literate students. And when you make learning meaningful for students with literary conversations and writing about reading, you keep students at the center of instruction, inspiring them to read, think, talk, and write– and continually improve their reading and writing expertise. (page 236)

We accept your invitation Laura and we will carry each of your conversation inspirations in our back pockets as we put your words into action where it matters most – in high impact talk infused classrooms across the country!

More inspired tweets from our amazing #G2Great family

Links to Connect to Laura Robb

Read Talk Write by Laura Robb (Corwin)

https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/read-talk-write/book249342#resources

Evan Robb & Laura Robb: http://therobbreviewblog.com

Laura Robb Website: www.lrobb.com

Laura Robb and Eva Robb Website www.robbcommunications.com

Podcast with Laura and Evan Robb https://therobbreviewpodcast.podbean.com

When Writers Drive the Workshop: Honoring Young Voices and Bold Choice

by Mary Howard

I was thrilled when Brian Kissel took our #G2Great seat of honor on 8/10/17 as we settled in to engage in a Twitter style celebration of his incredible new book, When Writers Drive the Workshop: Honoring Young Voices and Bold Choices (Stenhouse, 2017). Judging from the response, I’m obviously not the only educator inspired by his celebration of writers between two covers.

My growing friendship with Brian was an unexpected gift that began when I was perusing new books at Stenhouse and happened upon his book by a stroke of pure luck. The title literally reached out from the screen and grabbed me by the heartstrings so I excitedly opened the preview and began reading the first page of his introduction:

“Today I’m worried. I’m worried because I know too many classrooms where mini-lessons begin with “seed” stories that germinate from laminated watermelons, predetermined conferences that always start with a compliment and end with a next step, and, if it’s included at all, an author’s chair or sharing time entirely driven by the teacher to reinforce a point he or she made during the mini-lesson. Rarely do children reflect on their own writing. And if they do, it’s often to fulfill a teaching agenda rather than a learner’s agenda. When did packaged programs and Pinterest replace children as the driving force of instruction? When did everything start to look the same? (Brian Kissel, page 5)

Brian’s powerful words and two questions made it clear that I had just found a kindred spirit. In typical enthusiastic Mary style, I immediately sent an email with a #G2Great invitation at the forefront of my mind. And so began our first exchange illustrating our shared concern:

Mary: I just found out about your new book, When Writers Drive the Workshop and I must say I’m very excited by your message. I’ve become increasingly frustrated that the heart and soul of writer’s workshop has been confiscated and steadily replaced in far too many schools with instructional boxes that are turning teachers into compliant disseminators. Your book was a breath of fresh air.

Brian: For the past several years I’ve been bothered by the workshop being overtaken by these packaged programs, scripted lessons, Pinterest, etc. Our writers should be the curriculum! So, I really wanted to write a book that puts the focus back on writers and gives teachers permission to trust that their writers can lead the way. I hope that message comes across in the book.

Oh yes, my wonderful new friend… that message came across loud and clear! Early in our #G2Great chat with Brian, our first conversation resurfaced in a Twitter exchange:

Brian’s words should strengthen our resolve to reclaim writer’s workshop in honor of our writers. As I write celebratory words of an unexpected friendship, I reflect on our #G2Great chat and find six Brian-inspired Driving Lessons to gently nudge us to return writers to a rightful place of honor in a writer’s workshop model envisioned by great minds so many years ago:

Driving Lesson 1: Keep the Writer in Your View

If we hope to reclaim a writer’s workshop in the spirit of these great minds, we must begin by relinquishing a death grip on lessons created by those who do not know our writers. A quick google search of the words “writer’s workshop” puts an unlimited array of resources at your fingertips. But do we ever pause to consider if this plethora of questionable grab and go ideas and tools are worthy of our writers? Lesson scripts are plentiful in this day and age, but Donald Grave’s vision that we must teach the writer should highlight our obligation to reach higher by being responsive to the writer in front of us.

Driving Lesson 2: Be Present in Writer Moments

Brian reminds us that one of the most important ways to be responsive to the writer in front of us is to truly listen to the thinking we readily and willingly invite in the course of writing. We can only glean from the wisdom each writer brings to the writing table by paying close attention to little voices that rise joyfully above our own. When we are willing to step into precious learning moments that occur within the writer’s workshop experience, we acknowledge that our silence can make room for in-the-head writerly wisdom – wisdom that can lead us in unexpected directions we may never have considered before.

Driving Lesson 3: Respect Writer Perceptions

The first question we should be asking is, “Who is the writer in front of me?” The value of reflection, both from the writer’s and teacher’s perspective, was a recurring theme across the chat. Reflection allows us to see the writer from all sides using both a cognitive and emotional lens. How our children perceive of themselves as writers will play an essential role in the instructional process. In the course of listening we begin to understand the writer through their writing, their words and their actions during the writing workshop experience as well as across the entire learning day. The writing is the vehicle but the writer is our inspiration and instructional motivation that moves us into action.

Driving Lesson 4: Embrace Writer Instincts

Why is it that goal setting is often viewed as something we do for the writer rather than using the writing experience as an opportunity to turn thinking inward. When we use their writing as a source of goal-setting inspiration, we can help children notice new possibilities as they emerge so that they can take ownership of this process. We support this thinking by acknowledging in the moment understandings that can move children from where they are to where they could be. When we actively engage writers in learning from the mindset of a writer in action, we can co-collaborate a journey of unique student-inspired step by step moves that will allow us to merge both their needs and interests.

Driving Lesson 5: Celebrate Writer Journeys

The word ‘choice’ came up repeatedly in each chat discussion. Brian reminded us that we not only need to ensure that choice is seen as an integral part of the writer’s workshop model in general but that we broaden our view of choice. When we explore choice from a broader scope, we can begin to consider how to offer our writers choice in not just what they write but also where, how, and with whom they write. Choice is a critical ingredient as it actively engages the writer in a writer-centered view of writing where joy ignite new thinking. But this will only occur if we welcome our writers to the decision making table.

Driving Lesson 6: Release Writer Potential

Our final lesson begins with another important question, “Why do we write? First and foremost we write for written expression within a safe environment where we can explore who we are and what we think and feel. But an inspired exchange with Courtney Kinney illustrates that we also write to share our ideas with others in ways that could actually change the world we live in. When we beckon a wider audience, we increase the potential for social change within and beyond our school walls. These shared experiences can give our writers the confidence and desire to use their words in powerful and purposeful ways.

As I write the closing words of this post, I can’t help but smile as I reflect back on my passionate exploration that led me to Brain and his amazing book. What began as a shared concern about the current state of writer’s workshop has since become a collective commitment to at long last put the writer back into writer’s workshop. We are inspired by Brian’s wisdom and his devotion to children. This devotion is evident with his book dedication to Tameka, a child he describes as his most important teacher who “taught me that writers must drive the workshop.”