Thinking about thinking

It's called "metacognition"... thinking about one's thought processes.
Then add writing.
Thinking about one's writerly thought processes.
Now add bilingual.
Thinking about one's bilingual writerly thought processes.
That's it!!!

I'm not very skilled at translating, unless it's just to communicate the gist of someone's ideas expressed in one language so that a person who doesn't understand that person's ideas gets the main idea mas o menos. I do speak Spanish as a second language fairly fluently; and given enough time and access to a dictionary (or 2) along with a book of verb conjugations, I can write in Spanish so that my ideas are understood more or less. But write an essay, short story, poem, a NOVEL in my second language? No, not me. But that is what I will ask my fourth and fifth grade Writing Project participants to do next month.

I've been doing a lot of metacognitive thinking about bilingual writing processes as I plan the mini lessons for the project. Over the past fifteen years, mas o menos, of teaching writing to bilingual students, I've developed my own system for how to write in Spanish. Mostly I use this in my written communication to the parents of my students, like newsletters or invitations to a class celebration.

1. I make a mental plan in English of the main ideas I want to get across.
2. I start writing the message in Spanish, consulting several reference books: an English/Spanish translation dictionary, a Spanish dictionary which includes definitions and example sentences, and a well-worn copy of 501 Spanish Verbs.
3. Then I write the same message in English, based on the original mental plan but NOT a translation of the Spanish version.
4. Next I compare the English version and the Spanish version looking for and adjusting critical differences in the message's meaning.

.

5. Finally I look for grammar and spelling errors in the Spanish version... and then sometimes, I send it to my niece, Leah - who is a translator by profession, to have her double check it. Or my backup plan for this double check, is an online translation site.

I've found that if I start by writing the message in English and then translate every word, the sentence construction doesn't come out sounding natural in Spanish. In other words I plan in English, then consciously switch mentally to Spanish to write the first draft. Then switch to English thinking/writing for the second draft. At the end, I open both language drawers in my brain for the final revision/edited version of the writing piece.

Maybe someday, I'll evolve into a bilingual writer who can go from first draft to final copy in Spanish (my second language), without opening my native language (English) drawer hardly at all. In fact that seems to be what we expect native Spanish speaking children to do on the first day of school the year they begin English-only instruction - use ONLY their second language drawer. Some succeed fairly well, probably making use of the native language drawer in their brain as needed without even realizing it. Others, like the students who have been invited to join the Writing Project, need some coaching on using both drawers for a while.

My hope for the Writing Project is that at some point, sooner than later, in the next few years of these fourth and fifth grade bilingual students' school careers, they will arrive at a point in which they can open either drawer and just start writing without using the long process I described above (steps 1-5). In the meantime, we are going to do a lot of thinking about one's bilingual writerly thought processes together.

Lovin' my busy writerly life

Lots happening this month.

I've been sucked into the National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo) of November. Truly thrilling to watch a novel develop before my very eyes. Just a vague outline to begin, which I've strayed from more than not. I've paused for the night at 26,660 words!

The other wonderful writing project is my Proyecto de Escritura Creativa/Creative Writing Project. Fifteen student invitations have gone out asking them to bring their parents to an information meeting. Two of those meetings happened this week. Six budding writers have signed up so far. Two more are definitely in but just need to turn in the commitment form. Hopefully at least four more will sign on and turn the form in by the week after our school pauses for Thanksgiving Break. I'm thinking 12 is the magic number.

I've sent the finalized choice of dates to the bilingual author who will let me know which date she can come to my school and conduct a workshop with the students from the Writing Project (aka WP) shortly before Summer Vacation. I was so lucky to stumble across this author's website; can't wait to have her come work with the WP kids!

 Short blog. Sweet life, which includes a good measure of writing. May the same come to you who read this... and to all a good night... zzzzzzzz!

Creative Writing Project

I've been working on putting together an after-school writing project at my school. It's becoming quite tangible now and I'm getting quite excited. So far... grant money has been approved, an author has agreed to come for a final get-together at the end of the project, dates for the parent/student information meeting have been reserved on the "important dates calendar" at school, my wonderful niece translator has edited the Spanish version of a flyer for that meeting (MUCHAS GRACIAS!!! Leah). And now, as I type this blog, I am printing the flyers.

  Take a look:

Inviting students and parents to an information meeting. "During the project, you will write in Spanish at times, in English at times, and sometimes you will write in both languages."

London Bridge Is Falling Down

Who remembers this game from childhood?

London Bridge is falling down
Falling down
Falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My fair lady. 

Take the key and lock her up
Lock her up
Lock her up
Take the key and lock her up
My fair lady.

If you were the player caught in the arch formed by the two "bridge" players at the end of the rhyme, you had to pick which side of the bridge to be on by choosing between, say, oranges and apples. Was this our first contact with a multiple choice quiz that didn't include "all of the above"?

Somedays I feel like public education is a game of London Bridge, in which we have to make choices between which side of the bridge to stand behind. For example: caring about children's well-being or caring about students' performance/scores. Of course, ideally teachers, administrators, politicians, etc. care about both. But just like in the London Bridge game, sometimes folks have to choose which one to care about most. Just for the record, whenever that situation arches above me, I intend to choose children's well-being.

There are several theories regarding the origin of that school-yard song and game, which dates back to at least the seventeenth century. One is "that [it] refers to the burying, perhaps alive, of children in the foundations of the bridge ...  based around the idea that a bridge would collapse unless the body of a human sacrifice were buried in its foundations." Coincidentally, this is called the Child Sacrifice Theory!

Around the end of Volume 25

Volume 25, No. 4

About a year ago, I discovered what I'd been longing for in my teaching career: Rethinking Schools, a quarterly education journal, "for educators who want to enlist students in thinking deeply and critically about the world today". It includes inspiring articles written by a variety of educators, but of course not so inspiring if I bring it in from the mailbox and stash it on the bottom shelf of the coffee table.

What atrocious habits I have developed!

A couple of days ago, Rethinking Schools sent me a renewal notice. I see it laying unopened on the desk to the left of the computer where I am typing this blog entry. Not quite on the top of the pile, but close enough so I can see it still. The reason I haven't opened it and renewed the subscription yet is the same reason I haven't opened the latest issue of that journal... I have gotten into the habit of not having time for such things as READING during the long hectic weeks and months of the school year. Not that I don't read anything. In fact I do a lot of reading after work hours:

• teacher's guides, 
• students' essays, 
• articles required for professional development classes, 
• curriculum maps and pacing guides, 
• Colorado Department of Education standards website in search of acceptable reasons to include in grant proposals to justify my requests for money to purchase classroom books, 
• and I've spent many evenings and weekends in the company of leveled reading books from my classroom so I could stay ahead of my 7 year old students. 

A year ago, after an especially hectic and stressful school year, my very generously supportive husband suggested that we would not be suffering financially if I worked part-time. Last fall, I started the experiment to see what it would be like to work a 65% part-time position. Unfortunately I was assigned to a grade level I'd never taught, using a curriculum program I'd never used, in a language I hadn't taught in (all-English!) for more than a decade. I had a huge amount of homework that year. But it's now over and a new autumn has rolled around. I am back to a familiar teaching assignment (Bilingual Literacy Lab) and working half-time.

It seems, however, that I need a reminder from time to time that I can take a cleansing breath, relax, pick up a book or magazine and delve into reading something for pleasure, or even for inspiration. Such a reminder arrived yesterday in my mailbox... from Rethinking Schools. No, not another subscription renewal reminder, it was a donation request. Instead of sending it straight to the junk-mail trash bin, I read the following story excerpt from that letter, written by a young teacher.

"When I first entered my teacher education program...I wanted to change the world and love children. After reading [a book published by Rethinking Schools] I still wanted to change the world and love children, but I realized to do that, I needed to also be the thoughtful and conscious teacher who empowers children, advocates for their rights, and creates critical thinkers who understand that their voices count."

Words near and dear to my heart.

So, what's on my agenda today? Another cup of coffee, followed by renewing a journal subscription, then digging out its latest issue, Volume 27, No. 1 and settling into a pleasurably inspiring morning of reading on this Friday "comp-day" following the completion of a couple late evening Parent Teacher Conferences this past week.

      

Volume 27, No.1 , Fall 2012

                                                                                    Aaaaaah.
                                                                                              YES!!

Hope

Part 2 of Wondering What Would/Could Happen 
(see blog from Sept. 22, 2012)

Once you choose hope anything is possible                                                                                                ~ Christopher Reeve

I'm writing a grant proposal with high hopes...

One part of the writing project grant that I have now officially added, includes inviting a published author, Laura Resau, who will talk with the students about her journey as a writer and about her experiences in other countries that have inspired her stories. She is bilingual (or trilingual?), willing to present in either English or Spanish, lives within a short drive from where my school is located, even has some ideas on fundraising if we need that. Her stories seem to be a reflection of many of the students' lives at my school. This is getting exciting!!

Just waiting on some information I have requested, to put in the grant, and then I'm ready to send it off to the donor organization.

I wonder what would happen

A new idea has arrived in my head. What would happen to bilingual students' writing scores if they were encouraged to write in Spanish as well as English? I'm especially thinking about the upper elementary kids who, in my school district, have been transitioned out of bilingual instruction and into all English.

I spent some time this past week looking at data. You too? (ha, ha)

I found about 10% of the 4th and 5th graders at my school, who had previously scored proficient or advanced on TCAP/CSAP state standardized writing tests in SPANISH at the end of 3rd grade, then scored in the lowest third of "Partially Proficient" or even "Unsatisfactory" on the next year's TCAP and/or writing subtest on CELA (Colorado English Language Assessment). That's got to be discouraging to those young writers who had previously been declared proficient.

So, here's my proposal. Start an after-school writing project. Plan to meet for an hour twice a week. Two months of this. The first month we work on fleshing out some "seed" ideas and getting them written into our writer's notebooks. In fact, we do a book study using A writer's notebook: unlocking the writer within you by Ralph Fletcher, form small study groups to discuss his ideas and how we can use them. Then the second month the students each develop a polished piece of writing from one of their notebook ideas. At the end of our after-school project, the students' writing is published in an anthology.         

Here's the unique part. Encourage the kids to write in either Spanish or English, some of each. They can watch their skills progress in their native language as well as in their second one. Experiment with thinking in each language. How does one language effect the other one when writing?

The writing project group lessons will still be in English as they would be during the school hours, but the students may discuss their ideas in small groups in whichever language they want. They may write in whichever language they want, and they may publish in either (or both) language.

What could happen? I hope I get to find out. I'm writing a grant proposal with high hopes of carrying out this "action research".

The Blurry Line Between Us

Let me bend your ear as I try to make out the line that divides a Literacy Specialist from a General Education Classroom Teacher... some say that the "Specialists" are experts, but I'm not sure that is true.

I am a Literacy Specialist Teacher, paid the same as a General Classroom Teacher. I believe we are peers - the 3rd grade Teacher and I, or the Kindergarten Teacher, the Art Teacher, the Computer Teacher. We are all at the same level. Or at least, that is what I believe. The difference between us is what we teach, what we focus on. I might teach Kinder(gartners) through 5th grade, but I only teach them Literacy (mostly Reading with a bit of Writing thrown in). The 3rd grade Teacher teaches Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies - only to 3rd grade students. Her "specialty" is 3rd grade. My specialty is Reading and Writing.

In a recent conversation with a Literacy coach in my district, I was told that classroom teachers are to use "Tier 1" instruction. Her description of this during small group (more or less 5 students at a time) instruction is a presentation of general/universal content and methods. She referred to a small group reading instruction format called "Right Start", as an example of this universal instruction.

Right Start is a reading lesson in which the teacher previews a book which she and each student have a copy of. This preview might include new vocabulary the students aren't familiar with, a spelling pattern (like -ough, in which the gh is pronounced as "f"), or something else intended to set the students up for a successful first read of the book. Then all students whisper read as the teacher listens to each one individually, making notes about what common errors/successes she notices. Then she may reteach something from the preview or highlight a new difficulty that arose. Finally the students are given some written assignment related to what was taught.

As a Literacy Laboratory teacher, I am to instruct using "Tier 2" instruction. This includes extensive assessment and data analysis so that I can target instruction of individual students' needs to address what  specific skill they haven't mastered that prevents them from moving forward to a higher reading level.

But here's where I see a not-so-clear line between Lit Lab instruction and small group Reading instruction in a grade level specific classroom. Last year, when I was teaching 4th grade (not as a Literacy Specialist) I did extensive analysis of lots of assessment data. Why? Because I believed that to be my job, and what I needed to do in order to help students improve their reading skills. [Pause here for a new paragraph...]

On the School District website, there is a document entitled "Tier 1 Instruction", in which the following is included as part of the description of what this general classroom level of instruction must include:

• ●  Data is collected frequently and is used to make instructional decisions.
  
• ●  By using a variety of methods, teachers check for student understanding.
  
• ●  Assessment data is used to differentiate instruction for students.  
• ●  Multiple opportunities are provided for learning, including: whole group, small group, and 1:1 instruction, throughout the day.
• ●  Teachers are differentiating instruction for students through flexible grouping, sheltered instruction, tiered assignments and scaffolds for learning in collaboration with support staff.

This description of grade level Tier 1 instruction, sounds like targeted/differentiated instruction to me. I do realize that  the 3rd grade teachers also use whole group instruction which targets specific skills that all 3rd grade students need to know. Therefore, during that part of the day, they are using universal instruction. In the Literacy Lab, we don't use universal instruction, unless one could say that for each small group of students that have been assigned to me for 30 minutes per day I use universal/whole group instruction to address their collective common needs.

If the distinction between Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction is that close, then why would I, the Tier 2 Specialist instructor, be thought of as an expert in Literacy instruction any more than the Tier 1 General Ed teacher? especially if she has at least as much experience teaching reading (at her grade level) as I do? and if we each are differentiating instruction according to individual students' needs?

Stay tuned. Clearly I need further investigation of these distinctions. So far it is a rather blurry line that differentiates these two Tiers.

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In the beginning

In the beginning ...
Jennie sat on my lap one evening, just like every other evening since her birth, as I read aloud a bedtime story. It was probably Corduroy; she'd listened to me read it so many times, that she could catch me leaving out words, which I did sometimes in an attempt to shorten the story. By four years old she had come to the conclusion that the words in books were supposed to remain constant every time they were read. Crossing that literacy threshold, brought her to the point, on this momentous evening, of asking "where does it say 'bear'?"

I pointed out the word "bear" as she leaned closer to get a better look at it. That night I could hardly sleep. I was so excited. My pre-school age daughter understood what READING was.

In the beginning ...
I worked in the kitchen at my daughter's elementary school for a few months. One day when I went upstairs to the school office to retrieve the lunch count, I discovered that a sick child in the health office and the secretary attending to him were unsuccessfully trying to communicate: one only spoke Spanish and the other only spoke English. I offered to help since I knew both languages. Later the secretary suggested I talk to the principal about some teaching assistant job openings in a couple bilingual classrooms. Soon I found my self working part-time in kindergarten in addition to serving lunch in the cafeteria.

One thing led to another and within two years I'd renewed my old teaching certificate and was in a professional position in the field of education, as a part-time literacy teacher in kindergarten. Kindergartners are exhausting but the job was exciting. I especially loved sitting in a circle on the floor with a few 5 year olds. My favorite thing to say to the students in the fall each year was, "Today I'm going to teach you to read." Every year, in response to that announcement, they would sit up straight and lean forward to see how READING works.

Now...
As I am entering the twilight of my professional teaching career, I seem to have circled back around to the beginning. Not as a kindergarten classroom teacher. A room full of 25 kindergartners would be too exhausting. But I am excited to be gearing up to teach 4-6 five year olds at a time, as a Literacy Specialist. This past weekend I dusted off my speech so as to be ready to announce to a new batch of kindergartners: "Today I'm going to teach you to read."

We'll start on Wednesday. Of course, I'll need more preparation than just an eight word speech. I haven't worked with kindergartners for a few years, but it must be like riding a bike, right? You never forget: pull out the little magnetic letters, gather together some name cards and tracing crayons, multiple copies of early emergent books and some very short chairs.

Then here I go... back to the beginning of teaching a child to READ!

The Teacher Next-Door

It was a nice evening to go for a walk. A short distance from my driveway, a small gathering of children traded their quarters for a coconut paleta popsicle from the local vendor. I crossed the street heading toward the medical building's parking lot when I heard the giggles of four little girls behind me on their bikes.

"Hi Mrs. Morrison," they each greeted me as they headed toward the empty parking lot to wheel around in circles before turning back toward their apartment building.

My route for the evening included a couple blocks along the highway that separates my neighborhood from the school where I teach. I wasn't the only one out enjoying a cool evening hike. At the traffic light beside a nearby gas station, a young girl waved and hollered for my attention. I smiled and crossed the intersection when I recognized her from my 4th grade class last year. She and her mom and brother were returning from a trip to the stores several blocks away.

A few minutes farther on down the street, I encountered another family group laden with shopping bags. "Hola, Maestra," one of the women greeted me in the respectful way families from Latin American countries say "Hello" to a teacher. By this time my lovely evening walk had turned into a heartwarming mingle with my neighbors. I love living in the midst of this community where I teach... which certainly must dispel the myth held by many primary grade children that their teacher lives at school.

A Great Read

I've been reading this book for the past few weeks; and loving it. Not that it should take such a long time to read, it's just that it takes me a while to digest it. I'm sure I'll need to go back and start from the beginning once I finish it because I'm at an age when my head is so crammed full of stuff from years of collecting thoughts that it's hard to find a spot to keep anything new for more than a few days.

Writing About Reading: From Book Talk to Literary Essays, Grades 3-8
by Janet Angelillo

Clearly what I need to do is write about what I've been reading! That way I can come back here to this blog to find my notes and maybe I won't have to re-read the whole book again every time I want to find some part of it. 

Yesterday's reading introduced me to the idea of a "landmark text" which is a book:

"that remains in someone's mind long after the last page is read... a defining book in a reader's life. After reading [it], the reader is a different person, that is, a person is changed by the experience of reading the book. It often stands out because of theme, plot, or characters, and it can help a reader define who he is, what he believes, and what he thinks about the world."

As with other landmarks, like say... the Front Range Mountains, it tells me where I am and even who I am. When I am away from this mountain range, I have a hard time knowing where WEST is. Sometimes I can figure it out if I imagine where the mountains would be if they were there where I am. They help me find my direction. They are my connection to the points on a compass.

 We each have our own list of landmark books, because we each make our own personal connections to individual books. The author mentioned some common books that are often example-landmarks, but I haven't read most of them. One that she listed, though, I can say has had an impact on me is To Kill a Mockingbird. The first contact I remember with this story was watching the movie version on TV with my dad when I was a young teenager, then when my daughter read it in high school I read it again. (I think it was then; is that right Jennie?)  For me the lesson about what is important in life was the integrity of a couple of the characters. One of them is the father of the character "Scout". Thus it was also a lesson about parenting, as I look back on it now. It has been a landmark for me for many years, not like I read it a lot. I don't even remember most of the character's names. Maybe I should revisit that great book. But for this blog entry the point is to give an example of what a landmark book is.

I want to bring this idea to my Literacy teaching this year. I am having trouble coming up with some common "landmark book" examples for primary grade students, and elementary grade landmark books in Spanish. Can you help me? What are some books from your childhood (or as a parent/grandparent/teacher reading to a child) that you could say helped define who you are? or that you often connect back to as you read other books? Do you think of any that are picture books with few words?

I'm not looking for a list of good books to read to my students, but instead a list of a few books that I could use as examples to demonstrate what a landmark book is... along with YOUR reason that this book is one of your landmarks. What is a connection you have made between that book from your childhood and your life or between that book and another book (even an adult book)?

Thanks for your help!!

Writerly Thoughts

writ·er·ly   [rahy-ter-lee] — adj

of or characteristic of a writer; literary Embracing the title writer is a bit like claiming to be bilingual. One day you just see that this is indeed what you have become. There is no formal test. There is just a life of writing (or of being bilingual). Well, of course there are writing tests in the realm of education, of school accountability. They are necessary for assigning grades to students' writing work, and to the work done by those students' teachers, their schools and their school districts. But writing tests and writerly thoughts are two very different things. The funny thing is that by starting a blog entitled "Writerly Thoughts About Teaching Children", I feel someone might read it. And that feels a bit like turning in a writing assignment. Reread.  Revise?  Does this introductory blog say what I'm thinking? Check the spelling and grammar. Ready to publish? Hit the Publish button. No, wait! Don't misunderstand me, I do hope someone reads this. If that someone is you, I hope you will write feedback. Not test grader feedback: A+, A, A-, B+... D, D-, F(lunk). No, none of those short one-letter comments are necessary. Or, at least I don't think so. But if my writing touches a vein of recognition in your life, I'd love for you to tell me. After all, that's part of my writerly life - making a connection with a reader. You won't have to be a schoolteacher to see that our lives correlate. Maybe you'll see yourself in the students I have known, or in the life-lessons I have encountered while teaching, or in some other piece of a writerly morsel from my career.  I do hope you will come back here, often. But more than that, I hope I will come back here often!