Landing softly after a whirlwind of final coursework and farewells to the students who taught me so much this year . . .
The poetry lessons were a great success! My rationale for creating an urban poetry unit was based on accessibility, applicability and integration. I find that struggling readers find poetry highly accessible because it relieves them of the burden and complexity of writing conventions while still providing rich, authentic examples of literary devices and reading strategies. It also allows them to express their thinking in an open format and not be judged by grammatical details. Poetry celebrates exceptionality. The unit also applied directly to the urban lives they lead and integrated beautifully with their humanities curriculum studying elements of livability for young people in their own city. The students' greatest accomplishment was a remarkable increase in their attitudes toward poetry after such a short, positive exposure. Several students who indicated an energetic disinterest in poetry on the pre-assessment, shared their "love" of writing poetry in the post-assessment just two weeks later and even listed themselves among America's great poets. Wonderful!
Not every lesson went perfectly but therein lay my learning experiences. I certainly overplanned and each lesson ended up taking at least two class periods but I generally let the students' understanding and enthusiasm drive the pacing. Over and over again, I learned that 'less is more'. Focusing on a few key concepts streamlines the planning process and allows students' to fully obtain the essential understandings rather then leave with a scattered grasp on many ideas. Looking forward, I see the great advantage of refining the "fire-hydrant flow" and then diving in enthusiastically and deeply.
Thank you for welcoming me, believing in me, and laying down a red carpet decorated with touches of real life and education.
I'm in charge of the media center, which means I have all the interesting technology and lots and lots of lovely books. I have curriculum, but it is fairly minimal and only K-3 have scheduled prep time with me. The key to my position is finding and co-teaching those things which involve research, or can potentially be taught better using technology, which is to say almost everything. The best learning goes on when I put my head together with the teacher or teachers involved at a grade level about a certain content standard that needs to be addressed differently. This usually results in creating a series of lessons, some of which I teach and some for the classrooms, that address things differently, either by adding technology, adding some sort of new resource, or just from the shift in paradigm that another perspective provides. That's the beat part of my job!
Okay... so now I feel SUPER stupid! I just saw on the right of my page that YOU created the fireside NING in the first place! Ooops. I guess that's how/why you know when someone new joins! (Sorry for the silly question - I'm not usually that clueless.)
Hey Connie,
Thanks for the welcome. How do people know I'm new? Do you get some kind of alert when a new person joins? I'm just starting to find my way around here, but I'm liking what I'm seeing.
As to the outdoor stuff - I love to walk and take photographs, and used to camp a lot and canoe and swim, but not so much now that I'm getting older. The school I used to work at took kids on outdoor education trips three times a year;Fall, Winter and Spring. It was always the highlight of my time at work. I used to sit in a canoe out in the middle of the lake and think how unbelievable it was that I was getting paid to be there! Then I changed schools! :-(
My son plays Ultimate Disc at a fairly competitive level, and I love watching that (outdoors) too.
Is Ann Arbor anywhere near Traverse City? (That's the only part of Michigan I know really well. My husband goes there every summer.)
Realizing my self-intro here was much too short, I added some more meat to it. Please check it out when you have a minute.
But to answer your question- I am studying the cognitive development of Japanese students and connecting it to EFL teaching here in Japan. I am using Harvard protocols for the research.
My recent MA dissertation was the pilot study for this research. I can send you some of my work if you are interested. Just let me know.
Hi Connie,
Thank you for your welcome. I've been busy organizing The Visible Thinking conference here in Miami. If anyone is near Miami, here is the information:
http://education.fiu.edu/downloads/VT%20Conference%202009.pdf
I didn't realise I could post documents on this website - mmm... see how much I have to learn about this social networking malarky! Would you tell me how to do that please? I could put a few up that might be of interest to people who are interested in improving schools and young people's learning experiences.
I have heaps to learn about social networking - and I have to learn it fast. I haven't yet been interviewed for the job of managing the network I mentioned - that happens on 7 May - but I think I have a pretty good chance because I have been immersed in this field for quite a while, with the 'bird's eye' view that an editor often has.
I see that your Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, is promoting the same idea quite strongly now - check out this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030403523.html.
It's a tough strategy for school leaders to get their heads around at first, because it requires a lot of lateral thinking about using resources creatively and working in partnership with other schools and organisations to make things happen and above all to keep them happening. But there have been lots of successes here. The full impact of the strategy still needs to be properly (and quantitatively) measured. That's a big step to come for us here in the UK. But from what I've seen so far, I think it's definitely the way for schools to go.
I laughed at myself when I looked over my profile blurb - some editor !! My eyes get very tired staring at a screen, and I had them screwed up as I was typing it! When I saw all the glitches I felt red-faced so I went in and fixed some of it!
I just had a look at some of your photographs Connie - I envy your peaceful work space! Lucky you! and what a gorgeous place you live in! I live in the East End of London - it's edgy and gritty, but fun. And it has its pretty, quiet corners too. Have a look at the Regents Canal - I bike to work along it for part of my journey: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01119/nregents122_1119079c.jpg
and through Victoria Park (London's other 'lung') http://home.clara.net/johndarm/londonyork/vicpark.jpg
Sorry about the storms in your area. I enjoyed a perfect "beach day" here in Florida! Don't be too jealous, it will be hurricane season in a few months...
I browsed some of the posts and discussions on this ning and I was attracted to how diverse and timely the topics are!
That was a life time ago but being inducted into NIU's Hall of Fame was really an honor. Here is a link to an article the local paper did if you're interested. http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=51312&SectionID=7&SubSectionID=&S=1
Thanks Connie- I didn't realize there was a picture- I didn't add it. That is was at the Hall of Fame banquet at Northern Ill. U. last fall when I was inducted in. The guy in the short shorts is also me in 1975. Thanks for the nice note.
I meant to add a book for you to read...Translating Brain Research into Classroom Practice" by Pat Wolfe. She as also written "Building the Reading Brain". My 365 page dissertation involved adult students that had participated in my Professional Develpment class on the new brain research. I sent out 42 letters to individuals who were in attendance at some point during the five years that I presented the class. I had 41 responses and some great input. The teachers that implemented the strategies saw their students increase their achievement level. Just thought of something...look up www.qln.com. It is the Quantum Learning website. This is where most of the "gugrus" got their start and Bobbie Deporter is now the head of it and Super Camp. On their website they share several "freebies". I did attend the week-long teacher workshop in Carlsbad, California and was very impressed.
I will try to get more involved after my "teacher outing". Have a great week!
How will you ever keep up with all this. That that I am retired I am so busy I don't have much time to work. But my next education project, since you asked, is to teach a course in Shakespeare's history plays with the aim of doing a full production of Richard III at the end. The history is complex and I am wondering if I can get kids interested in it. And if I can make it clear and coherent and worth the effort they will most likely need to make--One thing I am thinking about is that all the main characters are related. They are all brothers or cousins or uncles, or children. Maybe family history or a family tree would be a way in. Anyway that's what I'm up to. The easy thing about it is that it is a real elective--offered at night--and the only kids that will take it will want to be there. So we'll see. Thanks for the previous comment.
Hi Connie, sorry I have been SOOO out of it this week. Here is the round-up list of titles in case you want the full titles! :-)
New and Ongoing Discussions
* "Reforming Teaching: Are We Missing the Boat?" by Linda Darling-Hammond and David Haselkorn, in edweek
* Teacher Shortage Looming? --NYTimes
* Motivating students... beyond grades
* What great finds have you had so far this year?
* THINGS I LOVE ABOUT TEACHING!?!?
* Tree-Dwelling Octopuses Prompt Media Literacy Discussion
* At Risk Students and the Michigan High School Graduation Requirements
* BECOMING A TEACHER !?!
* Do you have a twitter account?
* "Pleasure, Beauty, and Wonder: Educating for the Knowledge Age" by John M. Eger in edweek
* "It's Written All Over Your Face" in Science News
* Fireside Reading Trails: REMIX, (preliminary videos of author interview)
* Bridging Diffrences: "President Obama's Manufactured Crisis Speech" by Diane Ravitch
* Do Schools Include Enough Physical Activity and Exercise?
* Personal Learning Networks - Do you have one?
* Cyberbullying of teachers
* Impulsive Acts, Real Life Mistakes, Decisions Not Reasoned Through!
* Jonah Lehrer interviews Howard Gardner, in Scientific American
* Power in America: Wealth,Income and Power
New Blog Posts
* Reflecting on Running a Digital Storytelling Professional Development Session
* My name is Nellie (Muller) Deutsch. I have been teaching English as a foreign language for over 30 years
Connie,
Thank you for the warm welcome! Yes, 4 boys keep me busy. It is funny how they can be more exhausting than when I had classrooms with 40 students. LOL
I look forward to joining in the conversation here.
Questions, problems, comments? Here is the "Fireside Council" of folks who help Connie with the administration of this site: Anna, Ian, Mike, and Or-Tal. Click on their names to visit their Profile Pages and leave comments for them with your inquiries and ideas! Meanwhile, if you have technical questions or suggestions, Laura will be glad to help.
Connie Weber's Comments
Comment Wall (334 comments)
You need to be a member of Fireside Learning: Conversations about Education to add comments!
Join this Ning Network
The poetry lessons were a great success! My rationale for creating an urban poetry unit was based on accessibility, applicability and integration. I find that struggling readers find poetry highly accessible because it relieves them of the burden and complexity of writing conventions while still providing rich, authentic examples of literary devices and reading strategies. It also allows them to express their thinking in an open format and not be judged by grammatical details. Poetry celebrates exceptionality. The unit also applied directly to the urban lives they lead and integrated beautifully with their humanities curriculum studying elements of livability for young people in their own city. The students' greatest accomplishment was a remarkable increase in their attitudes toward poetry after such a short, positive exposure. Several students who indicated an energetic disinterest in poetry on the pre-assessment, shared their "love" of writing poetry in the post-assessment just two weeks later and even listed themselves among America's great poets. Wonderful!
Not every lesson went perfectly but therein lay my learning experiences. I certainly overplanned and each lesson ended up taking at least two class periods but I generally let the students' understanding and enthusiasm drive the pacing. Over and over again, I learned that 'less is more'. Focusing on a few key concepts streamlines the planning process and allows students' to fully obtain the essential understandings rather then leave with a scattered grasp on many ideas. Looking forward, I see the great advantage of refining the "fire-hydrant flow" and then diving in enthusiastically and deeply.
Thank you for welcoming me, believing in me, and laying down a red carpet decorated with touches of real life and education.
http://firesidelearning.ning.com/profiles/blogs/fireside-roundup-tuesday-may
Thanks for the welcome. How do people know I'm new? Do you get some kind of alert when a new person joins? I'm just starting to find my way around here, but I'm liking what I'm seeing.
As to the outdoor stuff - I love to walk and take photographs, and used to camp a lot and canoe and swim, but not so much now that I'm getting older. The school I used to work at took kids on outdoor education trips three times a year;Fall, Winter and Spring. It was always the highlight of my time at work. I used to sit in a canoe out in the middle of the lake and think how unbelievable it was that I was getting paid to be there! Then I changed schools! :-(
My son plays Ultimate Disc at a fairly competitive level, and I love watching that (outdoors) too.
Is Ann Arbor anywhere near Traverse City? (That's the only part of Michigan I know really well. My husband goes there every summer.)
Realizing my self-intro here was much too short, I added some more meat to it. Please check it out when you have a minute.
But to answer your question- I am studying the cognitive development of Japanese students and connecting it to EFL teaching here in Japan. I am using Harvard protocols for the research.
My recent MA dissertation was the pilot study for this research. I can send you some of my work if you are interested. Just let me know.
Robert
Thank you for your welcome. I've been busy organizing The Visible Thinking conference here in Miami. If anyone is near Miami, here is the information:
http://education.fiu.edu/downloads/VT%20Conference%202009.pdf
Best,
Angela
I didn't realise I could post documents on this website - mmm... see how much I have to learn about this social networking malarky! Would you tell me how to do that please? I could put a few up that might be of interest to people who are interested in improving schools and young people's learning experiences.
I have heaps to learn about social networking - and I have to learn it fast. I haven't yet been interviewed for the job of managing the network I mentioned - that happens on 7 May - but I think I have a pretty good chance because I have been immersed in this field for quite a while, with the 'bird's eye' view that an editor often has.
I see that your Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, is promoting the same idea quite strongly now - check out this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030403523.html.
It's a tough strategy for school leaders to get their heads around at first, because it requires a lot of lateral thinking about using resources creatively and working in partnership with other schools and organisations to make things happen and above all to keep them happening. But there have been lots of successes here. The full impact of the strategy still needs to be properly (and quantitatively) measured. That's a big step to come for us here in the UK. But from what I've seen so far, I think it's definitely the way for schools to go.
I laughed at myself when I looked over my profile blurb - some editor !! My eyes get very tired staring at a screen, and I had them screwed up as I was typing it! When I saw all the glitches I felt red-faced so I went in and fixed some of it!
I just had a look at some of your photographs Connie - I envy your peaceful work space! Lucky you! and what a gorgeous place you live in! I live in the East End of London - it's edgy and gritty, but fun. And it has its pretty, quiet corners too. Have a look at the Regents Canal - I bike to work along it for part of my journey: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01119/nregents122_1119079c.jpg
and through Victoria Park (London's other 'lung') http://home.clara.net/johndarm/londonyork/vicpark.jpg
I browsed some of the posts and discussions on this ning and I was attracted to how diverse and timely the topics are!
I meant to add a book for you to read...Translating Brain Research into Classroom Practice" by Pat Wolfe. She as also written "Building the Reading Brain". My 365 page dissertation involved adult students that had participated in my Professional Develpment class on the new brain research. I sent out 42 letters to individuals who were in attendance at some point during the five years that I presented the class. I had 41 responses and some great input. The teachers that implemented the strategies saw their students increase their achievement level. Just thought of something...look up www.qln.com. It is the Quantum Learning website. This is where most of the "gugrus" got their start and Bobbie Deporter is now the head of it and Super Camp. On their website they share several "freebies". I did attend the week-long teacher workshop in Carlsbad, California and was very impressed.
I will try to get more involved after my "teacher outing". Have a great week!
Thanks for inviting me to join! I am "Lola" on HaikuEducation; how do I cross-post entries?
Thanks again for opening up this forum for teachers who love what they do and want to get better at it every day-- :-)
New and Ongoing Discussions
* "Reforming Teaching: Are We Missing the Boat?" by Linda Darling-Hammond and David Haselkorn, in edweek
* Teacher Shortage Looming? --NYTimes
* Motivating students... beyond grades
* What great finds have you had so far this year?
* THINGS I LOVE ABOUT TEACHING!?!?
* Tree-Dwelling Octopuses Prompt Media Literacy Discussion
* At Risk Students and the Michigan High School Graduation Requirements
* BECOMING A TEACHER !?!
* Do you have a twitter account?
* "Pleasure, Beauty, and Wonder: Educating for the Knowledge Age" by John M. Eger in edweek
* "It's Written All Over Your Face" in Science News
* Fireside Reading Trails: REMIX, (preliminary videos of author interview)
* Bridging Diffrences: "President Obama's Manufactured Crisis Speech" by Diane Ravitch
* Do Schools Include Enough Physical Activity and Exercise?
* Personal Learning Networks - Do you have one?
* Cyberbullying of teachers
* Impulsive Acts, Real Life Mistakes, Decisions Not Reasoned Through!
* Jonah Lehrer interviews Howard Gardner, in Scientific American
* Power in America: Wealth,Income and Power
New Blog Posts
* Reflecting on Running a Digital Storytelling Professional Development Session
* My name is Nellie (Muller) Deutsch. I have been teaching English as a foreign language for over 30 years
New Members
* JoAnne Hilton-Gabeler
* Frederick Souza
* Zakeera Vidler
* Jagdeep Singh Pannu
* Heather Schrader
* Cassie Patt
* Angela Salmon
* Brenda Gillies
Thank you for the warm welcome! Yes, 4 boys keep me busy. It is funny how they can be more exhausting than when I had classrooms with 40 students. LOL
I look forward to joining in the conversation here.
Welcome to
Fireside Learning: Conversations about Education
Sign Up
or Sign In
About
Fireside Council
Roll The Dice
Roll the dice... and visit a random Fireside member production online!
(It's easy to make your own Delicious dice if you want!)
Delicious Firesidelearning
100 Ways You Should Be Using Facebook in Your Classroom | Online College Tips - Online Colleges
i speak earth. Demand action at COP15 to protect our planet.
One Young World | Global Conference February, 2010
Repositories of Primary Sources
Education Week: Motives of 21st-Century-Skills Group Questioned
Books to Read (And Give) Now | SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
KMAfrica - Knowledge Management Africa KnowledgeHub
The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines - Google Books
The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis - Google Books
Asterios Polyp - graphic novel masterpiece
CampusProgress.org | Know Your Right-Wing Ideologues
The Best Five Books To Share With Your Friends : NPR
Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting | Video on TED.com
Storytelling insights and innovations from around the planet - interactive, animation, film and more - Jawbone.tv - The Evolution of Story
PBS Video
© 2009 Created by Connie Weber on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
Badges | Report an Issue | Privacy | Terms of Service