Originally this post wasn't intended to be about the #blogamonth Feburary topic of Creating a Culture, but it turned out to be a post about creating a culture of digital learners. Enjoy! If you would have asked me last week if I was willing to give up control of my classroom to the students, I would have said of course! I am an avocate of allowing students to take the lead. But a few things have pushed my thinking since then... Am I really willing to give up control? Really? The above twitter conversation was sparked by Cat Flippen's (@Catflippen) keynote at the UGA Digital Learning Conference. As I read it, I nodded my head in agreement, asking myself, "Why is it so hard for teachers to let go of control in their classrooms and what does it take for them to change?" But I was quickly faced with the truth that I wasn't as progressive as I thought. The idea that truly challenged me was from Eric Sheninger's (@NMHS_Principal) book Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. We all know that we are teaching a new generation of digital natives. But the characteristics of these types of students wasn't as clear to me until I read the list of qualities of a digital learner that Sheninger includes early in his book. He explains the ways that digital learners want to obtain information or function vs how the traditional teacher wants to spend the lesson. Sheninger writes: Digital learners prefer parallel processing and multitasking, but many educators prefer linear processing and single tasks or limited multitasking. I am guilty of this! Just last week, we were working on essays on Google drive and when a student asked me if she could share her essay with a friend in the class, I told her "No. Not until you have finished drafting. You still have a few key parts to include." Well, granted, even though this student really did have more work to do on the essay, I am now asking myself, why not? Why couldn't she have shared it and gotten feedback even though she wasn't done writing yet?
Real writers do this! I do this as a writer - I am always seeking feedback at every stage. I consider myself a "digital learner" like them - wouldn't I want the ability to share my work when I wanted instead of having that be controlled by the teacher? So today, I took a different approach. I offered for my class to openly share their essays on Google drive with anyone else in the class for feedback. I allowed students to move around the room, not limiting who they work with specifically, which I was doing before, too. Did they gravitate toward their friends? Well yes...but were they on task? Yes...even some of the more easily distracted students. They were discussing ways to help each other revise and fervently leaving comments. Were they sharing with multiple students? Yes, which provided each student multiple perspectives of feedback. The moment I knew it was working was when I heard a shy voice speak up. There is a sweet girl in my class who is a strong student, but she is very quiet. When I conference with her about her writing, it is very hard to get her to respond even when I am praising her work. But today, her voice lept over the noise as she talked across the room to her friend, giving her friend advice on how to revise the essay. I know I had a shocked look on my face as I glanced up to see who was talking. She was embracing her role as editor and providing feedback, not just through the digitial comments, but out loud. Something had changed. Mission accomplished! In the back of my mind, I was a little irked at the noise in the room. My inner teacher wanted to tell the class to be quiet and focus on what they were doing. My inner teacher wanted to stop conversations from continuing that seemed to be off topic. When I listened closer, students were talking about the events they are writing about in their essays. My inner teacher needed to be shhhhhushed today. She needed to embrace the fact that digital learners need a different environment to thrive in. It’s my job as a teacher to create that environment and ultimately create a culture tailor-made for these digital learners. I still feel like I have a long way to go, but at least I know where I'm headed! Try This Tomorrow! Ask yourself if you are still holding onto control in some areas, and if you can continue to loosen your grip. What simple change can you make to quiet your inner teacher voice and let students function more like digital learners? My question to you is this... where is the balance between good classroom management and allowing students the freedom to learn the way they want to as digital natives? When (if ever) do you let your inner teacher come out to set boundaries and control the classroom noise, activity, etc? Also, how do you ensure that students aren’t just sharing with friends and everyone plays a part in this digital experience? Please share your thoughts below! __ Allison Petersen @alcp
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We are all created in the image of God. Even the maker of the universe himself seeks praise! And in his image, his people crave it too. Think about it. When someone praises you and tells you how well you’ve done, how do you feel? When there is a person in your life who you just can’t get that praise from, how hard do you work for it? People crave positive feedback and it transforms their attitude and actions. A simple, encouraging word can change a person’s entire outlook and perspective. This applies to any age person - from a three year old, to a middle schooler, to an adult - because it is a basic truth rooted in the way God made us. Angela Maiers makes an amazing case for the power of praise in her Ted Talk called “You Matter” which has sparked a movement and a hashtag #youmatter. If you haven't seen it yet, it is worth 20 minutes of your time! My perspective of positive feedback changed after attending a Writer's Stylus course with Kevin Washburn. (Side note: Here are 5 Reasons Why you should attend Writer's Stylus too). Before, when I worked with writers, I simply pointed out mistakes in their writing, which is what I thought was the purpose of conferencing with students. The page was covered in changes and corrections. No wonder my students felt defeated. Washburn calls his approach to providing feedback “coaching” because it truly allows the focus to be on uplifting the student writer. This style of conferring is student-centered with authentic praise as a key component. He provides a specific cycle of steps for each “coaching session” that helps to maximize the writer's strengths and provide them positive feedback and practical steps to help them improve. It helped me establish a new way of encouraging students in their writing, rather than just reinforcing their mistakes. Negative feedback can be detrimental to a learner. Yet, it is often all that students will receive from their teachers. Or all they receive is a bad grade without any notation as to the reason behind the score. After years of being told they are doing it all wrong, most students accept that they will never be good at anything. Writing is the perfect example. Every year I have students who enter my classroom and tell me “I am not a good writer.” And every year I strive to help them change their pre-established fixed mindsets. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset transformed my own resolve to help students see they had amazing potential because the reality is that they can all be good writers - but that starts with a mindset change. Positive feedback is the key to transforming a mindset because it provides a surge of energy. When a student sees that he is excelling in an area, even if it is just in a small way, he see the fruit of his labors, and - hopefully - will work harder to continue to improve. The teacher (or coach) plays a vital role in revitalizing this learner’s mindset. It takes another person holding up a mirror so that the learner can realize his capabilities and potential. The Gordon Ramsay Effect It makes me think of Gordon Ramsey - you know, the three michelin star chef who is known for yelling and cussing on his TV shows. Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and Master Chef are three of my favorite shows. Kitchen Nightmares is the best of the three. Ramsey goes into a family-owned restaurant that needs help, usually because the food is horrible, and gives them his honest opinion as to why the restaurant is failing. The man is brutal. He is blunt and often mean when he gives feedback to these families. And they rarely react well to his expert opinion, no matter how much they respect this man for his accomplishments. Throughout the show though, Ramsey builds relationships (sometimes via shouting matches) with the family and gets the root of the problem, which usually has absolutely nothing to do with the food. These relationships allow him to make an impact on these people, and when the end of the show arrives, there is honest praise leaving his mouth for the family. There are tears and hugs and smiles - and transformations. All because this man gave his honest feedback, built relationships, and showed them how to change for the better, and then gave them genuine praise. He changed their mindsets. Providing Positive Feedback While I don't suggest anyone approach feedback with Ramsay's volatile style in mind, there is a cycle and process that he follows that works when providing feedback.
1) Build Relationships Feedback is always better received by a student when they do not feel threatened or judged. The quickest way to win their trust is to humble yourself and show them that you are still learning too and that you don't know everything. Then, show them that you care about their ideas and opinions, even if they are not in line with what you might do yourself. Allow them to explain their thought process and listen to their concerns. 2) Provide Honest Feedback Start with authentic praise of elements the learner has done well. Positive feedback doesn't have to be contrived, fake, or untrue feedback. Instead of pointing out mistakes in a negative light, simply point out what they have done so far and praise them for their work. Then, guide them by explaining what they still have left to do. 3) Model How to Improve Often students respond to feedback with a defeated sense of “but I don’t know how to fix it.” Your job is to model the change and improvement for them. With writing for example, you can’t simply correct comma errors for a student - this helps nothing. But you can take the time to show the student three steps to determine where the comma goes in the sentence and model those steps for them during a conference. Now, when the student goes back to work, she will at least have a task to complete with steps to follow. I love how Gordon Ramsey will often step into the kitchen to cook with the families on Kitchen Nightmares and show them how to improve. He doesn’t just yell and say the food is horrible; he steps in and models for them how to make the food better. 4) Provide Support and Praise This becomes a cycle. Continue to meet with students to provide additional praise, feedback, and modeling. While we all wish that one instance of teaching or modeling is enough, it never really is. Continue to work with each student and encourage her to continue to craft until she can be truly proud of her work because it meets all the expectations. The more positive reinforcement she receives, the more she will take ownership of her work. But what if the student is completely off base? I know this is a valid question because I see it so often with students. There are two helpful tips when encouraging this type of student. 1) Focus on one key element for constructive feedback. Still start with providing genuine praise (find something! Anything!) and then give this student one element to improve upon. With each additional conference, you may be able to tackle something else. Don't overwhelm this type of student; he/she will shut down on you! 2) Ask him questions! Instead of telling him what to do, ask this student questions so he can quickly realize himself what he has done wrong or needs to work on. Allow him to reach these insights on his own, and he will be much quicker to embrace the revisions. A rubric is an ideal tool for this. Put it in front of the two of you and ask him if he has met the requirements on the rubric. (The Writer's Stylus course provides amazing rubrics for these types of conversations!) Try this tomorrow. Change your own mindset in your classroom and opt to offer genuine, positive feedback to students. When you see their faces light up, you will know you are making a difference in their lives! These are the books that have influenced my thinking on this topic. What have you read on this topic? Please share in the comments! Mindset by Carol Dweck Quite Leadership by David Rock Your Brain at Work by David Rock Choice Words by Peter H. Johnson Opening Minds by Peter H. Johnson Role Reversal by Mark Barnes ___ Allison Petersen @alcp Have students write quotes that reveal "the truth about writing."
The objective of this activity was to help students see that writing isn't easy! Even published authors who we admire admit that it is hard. I wanted my students to embrace the hard work of writing. This idea also relates to the idea of the 6 Word Memoir. You could try that approach too. 1) Author's Quotes: I started out by introducing author's quotes on writing. We discussed the authors' perspectives on writing and how tough it could be. “Writing is not complete when you’ve added everything you could, but rather, when you’ve taken away everything that is not needed.” – Ann Clark, Secret of the Andes “Writing is like a sport. To get better you must practice every day.” – Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief Series “Resign yourself to the fact that you will not write something good the first time; you're going to waste a lot of trees before you hit your stride, and you will imitate people you admire first and that's fine – everyone has to start somewhere. And most importantly persevere – keep persevering.” – J.K .Rowling, Harry Potter Series More Author Quotes Here 2) Modeling: I wrote several of my own quotes about writing in front of the class to help them before they got working on their own. It took me several quick drafts to get them right. “When writing, start with the middle or with what you know, and the opening will come to you like a gust of wind.” -Mrs. Petersen “Books sit on the shelves waiting to teach you the secrets of writing: strong characters, suspenseful plot, and how to capture a reader.” -Mrs. Petersen 3) Writing Quotes: Students wrote 2-3 of their own quotes about writing, trying to create a quote that grasped the challenge of writing in a sentence or two. The results were honestly so impressive and astounding! “Do not excuse the seemingly silly whims of your imagination. For those little whims can grow into whole new worlds, waiting to be brought to life by the imaginations of others.” – Isabel “Don’t be afraid to write something silly because later it will be phenomenal.” – Mariah “Writing is near to impossible to do on your own; never be afraid to ask for a critique, a suggestion, or inspiration. Nothing is wrong with help.” – Samara “When you finally finish your masterpiece, and when you reread your writing, none of your original work that you started with is in your finished piece.” – Bradley More Student Quotes Here 4) Publishing & Sharing: I posted these quotes on my wall along with the quotes from the authors. The student's quotes went alongside the author quotes and it felt authentic. Students loved reading each other's quotes! Try This Tomorrow! Use it as an introduction to the school year or a tough writing unit. Get them on board with the challenge so they can't throw back at you all year "This is too HARD." Well, they still might, but at least you can remind them of what they learned in class during this activity. --- Allison Petersen @alcp This memoir essay idea was inspired by @kdwashburn's Writer's Stylus course. This course and Kevin Washburn's other course Architecture of Learning have informed many of my teaching methods. During the Writer's Stylus course, teachers write a This I Believe essay. This writing was key in developing my voice as a writer in so many ways. So now, I have students use it as a platform for sharing. The idea originally comes from NPR's This I Believe radio broadcasts, which you may be familiar with. The website has hundreds of This I Believe essays on it to pull from. So here's how I structure this unit. I teach seventh graders, but it is easily adaptable to any age level. Standards:
1) Mentor Texts: We read and listen to multiple examples of This I Believe essays from the website. Some of them have recording included. Kevin Washburn calls this "Acquaintance and Analysis" where students have an open discussion about what they like about the writing style. This gets students thinking about HOW this type of essay is written. Great Mentor Text: I Believe in the Beatles by Macklin Levine 2) Qualities of a This I Believe Essay: In small groups, students make a list of qualities that define this style of writing (memoir/narrative). We combine these small group lists into one class list to refer to as students write. This helps students to define the style of writing that the essay requires. Looking for Qualities of TIB essay Assignment 3) Pick a Memory: This is often the hardest part of this essay, yet the most crucial. Students need to pick a very vivid memory th base their essay on. This memory drives the belief by having students explain what they learned from this unique event in their lives. It is very hard to write this essay by starting with the "I Believe" statement because that statement should come from the story itself. So, I have students brainstorm several story choices and then narrow their idea down to a very specific part of that story that they remember clearly. 4) Structure of the Essay: I explain to students the basic structure of the essay to give them a framework. This still allows them a lot of freedom with paragraphing and style choices.
6) Modeling: I have my own This I Believe essay that I am crafting along with them. I model for them how I structure my essay (using short paragraphs) and how I incorporate “Show Don’t Tell." I find a place in my own essay to expand sensory imagery and show them my thinking process by writing in front of them. 7) Coaching: Feedback is a vital part of the writing process. This is where I am sure to meet with each student to conference and coach them on how well their essays match the structure framework and push them to think about each element. I limit this essay to no more than 700 words to force a concise approach to the story. I often coach them on how to cut irrelevant details or how to make their I Believe statements symbolic. We also discuss areas of the essay to add Show Don't Tell. 8) Audio Recording: Since the original This I Believe essays are broadcast on the radio, I wanted to add an audio element to this essay. We have a classroom set of Chromebooks, and I needed a web based tool where students could record the essays, so I found Audioboo! I contacted them on twitter, and once I let them know I was an educator, they extended the audio length to 30 minutes instead of three minutes. Bingo! Bonus: Students can also do this on their cell phones using the Audioboo app. I had students record the essays, and then use the embed code to paste the recording into their blog posts. Just like the examples we read for the mentor texts. This year's blog posts with the audio included 9) Publishing & Reflection: Students published the This I Believe essays to their blogs - check them out here. This allows for students to comment on and read each other's blog posts and share their work. It becomes a great time for reflection to see how each student approached the challenge of explaining their belief in a different way. Try This Tomorrow! This could be a great way for you to incorporate Memoir/Narrative writing into your class this year. Please let me know if I can provide more details for you. Check out the resources below! Resources This I Believe Essay Dropbox Folder: Includes mentor texts, assignment sheet, power point, revision checklists, etc.
Essays with audio included Looking for Qualities of TIB essay Assignment More 7th Grade Student Samples: From our blog last year. Please feel free to share with your students as mentor texts. A Dog's Life: This is my This I Believe Essay written during Writer's Stylus about Aspen, my bulldog. There is no "I Believe" statement because I decided to remove it at late stages of editing. ___ Allison Petersen @alcp NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month where writers try to tackle the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. 30 days 50,000 words, impossible right? Impossible for your students? Not as impossible as you might think. It equals out to be about 1,667 words a day. This may be too much for an average student, but for those who love to write it could be just enough to get the juices flowing.
So, why don't you start a NaNoWriMo Creative Writing Club tomorrow? It is as simple as the Field of Dreams mantra "if you build it, they will come." NaNoWriMo starts in on November 1 and you can have them ready to take on the challenge in 5 Easy Steps: 1) Log onto the Young Writer's Program NaNoWriMo site ywp.nanowrimo.org: Do a little research. About 5 minutes on this site is all you need to see how easy this will be. Since it is geared specifically for young writers and educators, it has everything you need to prepare the students. Create a classroom for your club and get things up and running. Check out the workbooks for students and educator resources. I also used our already established kidblog site to create a private NaNoWriMo blog just for these students to have a safe place to share their ideas and writing. I posted the word count poster from the starter kit (order for free from the site) on my wall and had students keep track of their word counts throughout the month. Students who were not even in my English class would pop in to write down word counts or see how others were doing. 2) Get The Word Out: Make flyers (borrow mine by clicking here or use the ones online here) and post them in the hallways and on your door. Tell the kids! Tell them what it is and how crazy the idea is; they will latch onto your enthusiasm. Tell them it is a club so it is completely optional, but that it will be great if they like to write. Use any other avenues you have available to share the idea with parents, such as principle's newsletter or emails home. 3) Hold Your First Meeting: Find the best time that works for you and the students. Even if it is only 30 minutes, it will work. Use a computer lab or if you are 1-1 have the students bring their computers. Tell them about the premise of NaNoWriMo and get them signed up on ywp.nanowrimo.org; you can add them to your class by getting their usernames. I printed for them some specific pages (not all 115 pages) of the YWP Workbooks so they can get started planning out characters and plot. 4) Kick-Off Party: Get the whole group together on November 1 for the first day of writing. Meet in the morning or after school, have snacks or order pizza (get a parent to help), and have everybody typing for a goal of 1667 words. First one to the word count gets a prize. Make it fun and get them writing. It's all about energy and momentum. Print the contracts and writing coupons from the website and hand them out at the party. Make them feel like it is a real commitment. 5) Be Their Biggest Fan: Your job after November 1 is simply to support them. Be there when they need help with a character or a plot idea. See them in the halls and ask them how they are doing. Encourage them after week one when it starts to become daunting and overwhelming. Write them notes of encouragement and unlock the computer lab before school. Support these young creative minds as they need it. Each week I give them a short mini-lesson about a writing technique, such as dialogue or how to create sub-plots (all using ywp website). If you have time, which you probably feel like you don't, read Chris Baty's book No Plot, No Problem: A Low Stress, High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days where he tells the story of NaNoWriMo. He makes this sound manageable and somehow logical. And he gives great tips and techniques. I also splurged for $9.99 and signed up for Writer's Digest's digital magazine subscription. This has given me some fantastic ideas to share with students. I am doing the NaNoWriMo club this year because I knew I had about 5 girls who wanted to write and would love this project. I have over 20 kids who have shown interest in the club and at least 12 at our club meeting each week. You just don't know who will want to try this out. Try it yourself and see what comes of it! Encourage creative writing in your students. --- Allison Petersen @alcp |
About AllisonAllison is an K-12 Instructional Coach. Her goal is to empower educators to grow continually. Recent Posts#5Tips4LMS Series
Cast a Vision Create Momentum A Problem and a Solution HIGHLIGHTED POSTS Re-Center on Vision Letting Go of Control The Power of Positive Feedback Inspiring a Love of Reading Turning Ideas into Habits The Truth About Writing This I Believe Essay Quiet Leadership Qualities Thinking About New Ideas Goals Provide Focus The Power of Twitter Use Storify to Organize Tweets Build a PLN Categories
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