Welcome to My Room

Setting up my classroom each year is one of my favorite things to do. Well, at least the planning is one of my favorite things - actually moving all the furniture around and unpacking the dozens of boxes isn't really that thrilling.

This is the view from my doorway. Somehow this year's setup makes the room feel really big. I also hope it feels comfortable and homey.

This is our classroom library. I've never had quite so open a space for it. I've also never put the couch and the low table together. I hope the table won't make the space too crowded, but we'll see. If kids are sitting all around it, as was quite common last year, that may be a problem.

All of our books are in baskets, facing out towards the kids. I've sorted the books but haven't labeled the baskets. One of the things we'll do in the first few weeks is explore each basket together and decide what all the books in it have in common. They might be books about animals, books by Kevin Henkes, funny books, books about families or friends, or poetry books. Then the kids will determine the exact title for the basket and create an index card we can hang on it.

In the upper grades I had my students sort all our books into baskets and label them. I know there are primary teachers who do so, but I haven't been able to make the leap yet. I'm trying to give my students as much ownership over the library as possible, within my own control issues.

We've also got magazines and Kids Post pages from the newspaper. I try to have as varied and diverse a classroom library as I possibly can.

More pictures and thoughts to come...

Today and Tomorrow

Today was the first day back for teachers. That's usually one of my favorite days of the year. Everyone is back, chatting about their summer activities, tired maybe but mostly excited about the year. Plus, I've usually already spent a few days getting my room ready so I don't feel really stressed about the year yet.

Today didn't go that way this year. For a variety of reasons today was more stressful than fun. One part was that my oldest daughter was feeling just as stressful as I was.

Today I spent a bunch of time talking to her about focusing on the positives. About how she has more control over her emotional state than she realizes. About how she can make things work or not work depending on how she goes into it.

Today I forgot all that for myself. I got caught up in all my stress, frustration, and anxiety.

Tomorrow I will remember what I told her. Tomorrow will be better.

It Takes a Village...

We've all heard the saying and I have to admit to buying into it wholeheartedly. I'm sure there are parents out there who can care for, teach, and end up with perfectly wonderful children all on their own. My husband and I are not those people.

Fortunately we have a village to end all villages. Both sets of grandparents live reasonably close (I'm actually jealous of my children because of how much time they get to spend with their grandparents.) My husband's siblings and their kids all live fairly close as well. My sister, while she lives quite a distance from us (the opposite coast in fact) is very connected to our girls including an annual trip the four of us take.

Plus we have friends who have known our girls for all or most of their lives and are wonderful to them. They read to them, truly talk with them, and are just, basically, another villager.

The full-time childcare providers they have been to over the years have been like another parent. They have loved, taught, and played with them. Plus, they've been an immense help to us as we've learned about life with little ones.

The teachers have also been fantastic. I don't even know where to start to sing their praises.

Our neighbors are wonderful. We feel so safe with our girls playing outside knowing that everyone is keeping an eye on all the kids.

We've had a handful of babysitters over the years, all of whom have gone above and beyond for our children.

I've been thinking about this for several days and my thoughts have gone in a few directions. First, how very lucky we are. Many parents don't have half this level of support and I am grateful beyond measure for all of these people. Secondly, our girls are so lucky as well. Having so many adults who love and care for them is a treasure. Finally, I wish all kids and parents had a village like this. What a difference that could make in the lives of so many families.

Peeved

I spent my day today in a training for team leaders for our cluster (our school district is so large we are broken into eight clusters). On the whole there was a lot of good information and I didn't feel like my time was wasted. To be honest, I had expected to feel that way so I was pleasantly surprised.

By the end, however, I walked away pretty peeved. Today's training included teachers from all the schools in our cluster, elementary, middle, and high schools. In many ways I think we are expected to be doing many of the same things.

When I was last team leader, many years ago now, it was a pretty basic role, mostly a connection between the team and the administration. I don't think that's what it is now. I think team leaders are expected to truly lead their teams, to plan meetings, to collaborate with the administration, reading and math coaches, counselors, parent liaisons, and anyone else who might need to work with the team, and to attend other meetings. In other words I think it is a much more demanding job than it was in the past.

I don't actually think that's a bad thing. I think there is a lot of potential in that.

Middle and high school team leaders, typically called department heads, have extra time and/or money to make the job easier. Elementary team leaders do not. We are expected to do our regular full-time job just like everyone else and the team leader responsibilities on top of that. And that is why I'm peeved.

Recent Boat Trip

Every year, for six years now, my fabulous, amazing, brilliant sister* and I take my girls on a trip, just the four of us. This year my oldest daughter requested an ocean theme for our trip. We spent a couple of days in Norfolk, VA, taking a boat tour of the Naval base and exploring the Nauticus Museum. We spent one day hiking around Assateague Island and taking an astounding boat tour from Chincoteague Island. The boat tour was the major highlight.

Captain Barry runs boat tours from the island and he has a variety of options. He was booked pretty full but had a space for us one evening from 6:30-8:30. He offered to tailor the tour to my daughters rather than his traditional sunset tour.

First of all, he knows just about everything about the island. More importantly, however, he is fantastic with kids. The first big thing we did was to motor over to a shoal (I have no idea if that is the best term but I don't have a better one). It was near high tide so the shoal was quite small and completely covered with shells. He gave each girl a ziploc bag and sent them off to collect shells. Then he pulled up a trap he keeps there, filled up a shallow bucket with water, and dumped a bunch of tiny fish into it. The girls were invited to touch the fish and then to scoop them up in their hands, hold them over the edge of the boat, and say, "Jump, jump, jump!" The fish would wiggle or jump right out of their hands and back into the water. They loved it!

We made a quick stop in the grasses nearby. Captain Barry plucked up grasses and had the girls pass them on to the adults on the boat. He showed us the salt on the grasses and encouraged us to taste it. Then he pulled off some shells and told us about the snails.

Next we headed over to a new island. It's only been there for about four years. At high tide it wasn't too big but it was wonderful. We stood on one small stretch and had the waves breaking over our legs, from the bay on one side and the ocean on the other. Amazing. My girls had a blast running around in the waves, splashing and laughing.

The last major stop was a crab trap Captain Barry keeps. He let my oldest daughter hook the trap and pull it in. He dumped the four crabs into the bucket and let the girls check them out. When they had had enough he let them pick up the bucket and dump them back into the water.

I wrote this for two reasons.

1. To share the news about Captain Barry. If you happen to be near Chincoteague make some time for one of his tours, even if you don't have kids with you. I fully intend to go back next summer and take a half day tour with him.

2. This experience was so wonderful for my daughters. I wish my students had these sorts of experiences. We can take them on field trips, and we do, but that is so limited. My girls learned more from this two hours than they could in two weeks of school. That's not a knock against their teachers by any stretch, simply a limitation on what is possible in school.

*She's the only sister (and sibling) I've got so I can wax as enthusiastic as I want. Plus, she takes several days each year to take a special trip with me and my girls. How many siblings would do that?

Children are Hurting

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has recently released their 2011 Kids Count Data Book. I was shocked by some of the numbers as I began reading the results of this study.

• The poverty level for a family of four is $22,350. I can't imagine that. Double that would be tough to live on in this area.
  
• Across our country, 42% of children are living at 200% of the poverty level or below. So, that number I said would be tough to live at, almost half the kids in our country are there or even worse off.
• The differences in financial situations for white and Asian-Americans versus African-Americans and Hispanics is staggering. The differences in unemployment and home ownership alone shocked me.
• "At age four, children who live in very low income families are 18 months behind the developmental norm for their age, and by age 10, the gap is still present." I've long known the first few years of children's lives are critical but this still hurt to read.

I will give everything I've got for my students this year as will teachers across the country, but we've got to recognize the reality.

Children deserve better than this. Children should not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. Children should feel certain that they have a place to live. Children deserve parents who can find jobs and feel secure.

It saddens me to think that our society places so little value on children that we allow this to continue.


I've barely scratched the surface of the study here. Check it out.

Google Docs Presentation

I presented early this week at a half-day institute my school district puts on each year. My topic was using google docs to ensure assessment drives instruction. I really had two main points to make about my use of google docs:

1. it allows me to quickly and easily keep track of students' progress and group them for extra support or enrichment
2. it allows me to share assessment information with co-teachers and them to share with me - we can keep anecdotal records together rather than separately
   

I presented twice and both went reasonably well. The first group was very small, but very interested and we were able to follow through on individual questions quite well. The second group was larger but, at least some of them, were pretty excited about the possibilities.

I created a page here with the basic information I presented.

He Just Doesn't Understand

Running errands with my daughters today the Diane Rehm show was on the radio. She was interviewing Steven Brill, the author of Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools. My gut impression is that Brill genuinely respects teachers. In spite of that, he drove me crazy during the interview, to the extent that I was slamming my hands on the steering wheel. My oldest daughter actually asked me, "Mommy, why don't you just turn off the radio?"

First of all, I have to admit to not having read the book. I have heard some great things about it and am adding it to my list of books to read. Also, we were making stops so my listening to the interview was briefly interrupted a few times (something that was probably for the best).

One of Brill's major arguments throughout the interview was clearly for merit pay (although I never heard him use those words). He frequently spoke about teachers being frustrated by the fact that no matter how hard they work they would make the same amount of money as anyone else who had been breathing for the same length of time. There are so many problems with that argument. One, the idea that teachers are only motivated by money or that their compensation is a competition. Two, that there is an available solution to this 'problem'. Research on merit pay has shown that it doesn't work. We have no good, meaningful way to judge teachers. Finally, "breathing for the same length of time?" Really? Those were his words.

With breaks for our errands I was surviving with only minimal damage to my steering wheel. As we arrived home Diane Rehm asked a question about why teachers are always blamed, what about the parents. (By the way, Rehm was not exempt from my frustration, her questions were often as irritating as Brill's answers.) Brill responded by saying that successful charters have proven that all kids can be taught. I nearly screamed and did slam my car door when we got out. If kids are in a charter school someone, most likely a parent, has put forth the effort to get them there. That leaves plenty of kids whose parents don't know how to do so or don't bother to. Sheesh.

10 Picture Books I Can't Live Without

Cathy got me hooked on the idea of sharing picture books I adore. I have to admit to hedging it a bit and sharing some series and authors I love. I don't follow rules well.

First, the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. I adore Mo and have for many years. When Elephant and Piggie first came out I was highly skeptical. They seemed, to me at least, to be too simple and silly. It didn't take long for me to change my mind. I love reading them and my first graders adore them, win-win! These books are wonderful for reading aloud, emergent readers to read on their own, and for inspiration for writing. You can't go wrong with any of them.

White is for Blueberry by George Shannon and illustrated by Laura Dronzek - I discovered this book when my youngest daughter randomly checked it out from the library. It's a very clever book, turning things on their side a bit. Each color is attributed to something surprising and then explained in a way that makes perfect sense. I love using this book early in the year because it pushes us all to look at things in a completely different way. It goes beautifully with our focus on kids' wonders.

Steve Jenkins' nonfiction books - Finding good nonfiction books is a challenge, in my mind. Many nonfiction books, especially for early readers, are formulaic and pretty dull. Steve Jenkins has created many amazing nonfiction books, mostly about animals. I keep some of these right by my chair throughout the year to pick up when we have a few extra minutes. My students love the books and I learn something new every time I read them.

Emma Kate by Patricia Polacco - Most of Patricia Polacco's books are a bit too challenging for first graders. They are also quite long which often means I don't use them. But, Emma Kate is awesome. It is a story of a girl and an elephant - one is an imaginary friend. One assumes it is the girl with an imaginary elephant friend. However, when you read more closely it is not certain. A friend and I have debated this and changed each others' minds more than once. It's fascinating.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds - I love all of this man's books, but I'm singling out The Dot because it's the first one I read each year. September 15th is Dot Day so I have to get started on it quickly each year. Reynolds' message is always about believing in oneself and taking risks - messages kids should hear again and again.

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt - Watt's book are hilarious. I read these more for me than for the kids. I think they are pretty sophisticated and a lot of it goes right over the kids' heads. But I love them. Scaredy Squirrel is a brilliant character and Watt plays around with the structure of a narrative and the structure of a book. For those reasons these books would be great fun with older kids.

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, illustrated by Jon Muth - I was trying to avoid multiple books by the same author but I couldn't leave this one of the list. When it first came out I was thrilled. I love both this author and illustrator and couldn't wait to see what they did together. Then I read it and was disappointed. It just seemed a bit boring. Then, I read it to kids. That changed everything. I loved it. It's beautiful - both in text and pictures. Plus, it offers a wonderful way to talk about friendships, grief, and seasons.

South by Patrick McDonnell - I start the year off with wordless picture books. It gives us the chance to explore reading the illustrations which opens up many, many books (even with text) to my students. This year I also want to use these books with writing. South is a wonderful example. Many wordless pictures are actually very complex and sophisticated. This makes them challenging for first graders. South has a lot going on but is accessible to first graders.

When Mama Comes Home Tonight by Eileen Spinelli - Eileen Spinelli is another of my favorite authors. Her books are simply beautiful. This book speaks to me as a working mother. It talks about a child and working mother and how they spend their evening. Her prose flows and makes me smile.

Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch - Munsch amuses me greatly. He writes for kids in a way that few others do. He is most famous for Love You Forever but it is my least favorite of his books. Stephanie's Ponytail is one of my favorites because it has a clear pattern, in the way that his books typically do, but it also has a really strong ending. Munsch sometimes struggles with endings (which I think are really hard). I also like Stephanie's Ponytail because the main character is a strong girl who does what she wants.

Brief Reflections on the March

It's been nearly a week now since the Save Our Schools March in Washington, D.C. I've been thinking a lot about it since then, but for a variety of reasons, haven't managed to write anything. I don't think I've sorted out my thoughts clearly enough yet.

That said, fortunately, others have done a fabulous job writing about the march. So, as I continue to mull my thoughts, here are a few others:

Jose Vilson is a math teacher in New York City and one of the speakers and organizers of the march. In fact his poem at the march was one of the highlights for me.

A few other attendees have managed to get their thoughts organized, quite well thankfully. Tom Hoffman and his wife came down from Providence, Rhode Island and I had the lucky opportunity to meet them briefly early in the day. Tom does an astounding job of synthesizing the day and looking toward the future. Apparently he and Michael Doyle spent most of the march together. Michael writes, and writes exceptionally well, about the idea that it's time to turn things over to the younger folks. Reading his post made me realize that the most inspiring speeches to me were not from the folks I had been excited to see but from the youngsters: Jose, John Kuhn, a superintendent from Texas best known for his letter to state politicians, and Matt Damon. Another blogger and friend in attendance on Saturday was Gary Stager. He has managed to post quite a bit about the march. He wrote about his frustration that so few teachers were there (a frustration I share to some extent), he posted Pedro Noguera's speech, quite a good one, and Diane Ravitch's remarks.

Tim pinpoints some valid concerns about the march and what happens next.

Teacher Tom analyzes some of Matt Damon's remarks and takes a look at the big picture, with resulting fear for our future. He is, as always, thoughtful and passionate.

Ira Socol very clearly explores the concerns many have with our current president's attitudes and actions towards education.

Finally Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Matt Damon's mother, wrote a concise letter to the Boston Globe that clearly states the same frustrations I have felt about media coverage of the event.

Shifted Learning Podcast is Up

Last Friday I was lucky enough to be the guest on John Pederson and Julia Fallon's Shifted Learning. The podcast is now up. If you've got a free hour, enjoy! (I haven't actually had the chance to listen to it yet. Fingers crossed.)

Coming to a Close

Tomorrow will be the final day of the Northern Virginia Writing Project (NVWP) Summer Institute. Before these few weeks I had only a passing knowledge of the National Writing Project and NVWP. Thanks to Bud the Teacher I was at least familiar with it and interested in learning more.

In these four weeks I have learned much about myself as a writer, myself as a teacher, and just myself in general. The only one of those I had anticipated was the teacher one. I expected to do a lot of writing throughout this institute but I had no idea how much that would mean to me as a writer (or that I would even ever say 'me as a writer'). I have written poetry, narratives and essays this summer. That doesn't sound like a huge range but one of those narratives was from the perspective of a camera. I have tried new things as a writer - something I haven't really ever done independently and of my own initiative.

We are a small group this summer, something I actually think is pretty positive. We have been able to get to know one another well in this relatively short time. I have learned from every other person involved in this institute and I hope to continue to do so. Discussing big ideas in writing, literacy, and education in general with elementary, middle, high, and higher ed teachers has been amazing. They have broadened my thinking simply by sharing their perspectives.

If you are unfamiliar with the National Writing Project, check it out. Chances are good there is a writing project in your area.

More on the March

With less than a week until the Save Our Schools March I'm excited by how much I'm seeing about it on twitter and in my reader. The energy around it is wonderful and exhilarating. It will be absurdly hot next Saturday but I hope folks will turn out, at least for a bit, to show how important this issue is to so many of us.

Deborah Meier, one of my intellectual heroes, will be there. She has been fighting this fight for decades now both in schools and in the public sphere.

In a recent blog post (on her own blog, not Bridging Differences), she writes about the political and financial situation in our country now. She seems to have had hopes, at one point, that she and Tea Partiers might have been able to see eye to eye on some, few things.

But even when the overlap is there, it’s true ONLY about the immediate future of schooling in America. Have to remind myself that schooling is only one part of the jigsaw puzzle—and I got into it sort of by accident and the fight going on today involves all the other agendas that matter to me. Poverty, after all, is best alleviated with money, jobs, power.

She goes on to write quite a bit about the challenges we are facing because of an 'ideological divide' between the few at the top and the rest of us. At the end she voices concern about what our schools and our society are becoming, how much we are expecting students and fellow citizens to comply in many ways.

We need to counter this trend every place we can; we need to praise ornery, feisty resistance—which will sometimes be wrongheaded. We need to arouse anger when its alternative is passivity and withdrawal. We need to look for hope, for alternative paradigms, and for allies—even when it seems utopian to do so.

She gives me hope. If you haven't yet, go and read her words. And, if you can, join us in Washington, D.C. on Saturday!

Why I Am Marching

We say we want students to be life-long learners but our actions often contradict that. I could do a much better job of allowing and supporting my students in following their interests, curiosities, and passions. Especially since, as a first grade teacher, I am not directly preparing them for any test.

I wrote the above paragraph more than two weeks ago on the second day of the Northern Virginia Writing Project Summer Institute. It was in response to discussions amongst us all about testing and how that has impacted our teaching. Many people find themselves teaching in ways that are very rigidly structured in order to prepare kids to pass a standardized test.

The next day I wrote the following: Balance - that seems to be the key to this conversation. We have to prepare kids for the realities of their future.* We also need to actually teach kids to write - not just to complete a writing task.

If students are going to truly be writers and learners as they grow and move on from formal schooling we have to prepare them for that. We are at a point at which we are only teaching our students what they need to move on from us, not what they need to move on in life.

I know the response is often that students have to pass these tests, both for their sake and for ours. I don't care.

I have two daughters. If I had to choose between them passing a state standardized test (or all of the state standardized tests, for that matter) and them being curious about the world and having the skills to continue learning and searching out the answers to their own questions, I pick the latter without any hesitation.

I firmly believe a person can pass a standardized test without much in the way of knowledge or skills. I don't believe they can truly succeed in growing as a learner and make a meaningful difference in the world without curiosity and the drive to seek out answers. I want my daughters and my students to be curious and driven. Standardized tests don't help with that.

When I began writing this my basic thoughts seemed organized to me. I was reflecting on thoughts from the past couple of weeks at the writing institute.

However, as I hit the end, I feel as though I've inadvertently stated pretty clearly why I'm marching next Saturday. Educators, parents, students, citizens are joining together in Washington, D.C. next Saturday, July 30th, for the Save Our Schools March. This event was initiated and organized by teachers. Some amazing and inspirational individuals will be speaking: Diane Ravitch, Jonathon Kozol, Jose Vilson, and Deborah Meier are ones I can't wait to hear. If you are in the D.C. area, please come out and join us! Send me an email and let me know you'll be there - I'd love to meet folks. If you aren't in the D.C. area, there are events happening to support this march across the country. Those of us in the schools everyday must speak up as we are the true experts. This is a fabulous opportunity to do so!

*I was thinking of future standardized testing such as the SAT or GRE in addition to the K-12 tests.

Shifted Learning Podcast

So I'll be on my first podcast tomorrow afternoon (or morning if you are west of me). I'll be chatting with Julia Fallon and John Pederson on Shifted Learning about elementary education stuff. That's vague I know. But I think that's the basic gist.

If you haven't listened to any Shifted Learning podcasts before I highly recommend checking out a few of them. Jon Becker talks about higher ed, technology, and ed policy. Chris Lehmann and Diana Laufenberg talked about The Great America Teach In (a bit dated, but phenomenal). Bud Hunt is just generally brilliant. There are many others worth listening to. I am honored to join this list and chat with these two educators I greatly admire.

10 People Who Inspire Me

There is so much flying around in my head from the Northern Virginia Writing Project Summer Institute. However, until it is over next week, I probably won't manage to get it all out and organized in any meaningful way.

Yesterday we talked about changemakers. Again, there is a lot of amazing thoughts around this, but I'm just going to share one piece of what we did. We made a list of ten people who inspire us. The lists were wonderful - parents, teachers, heroes. I found that my list was all people I actually know (although I haven't met one of them). I didn't have Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr or Mother Teresa or Jaime Escalante such on my list. It's not that those people don't inspire me because they do, it's that they didn't come to mind immediately.

Here's my list in the order in which I wrote it:

• Mary Ann Ryan (the principal who originally hired me and an amazing educator)
• Our School Librarian (a good friend, fabulous classroom teacher, and library goddess)
• Organized Chaos
• My Husband
• Science Teacher
• d/y dan
• Chris Lehmann
• A student from my class last year
• Unlimited
• Glennon Doyle
  

Most of the above are educators, apparently I can't get away from that. They are all brilliant and push me in a variety of ways - all of which I appreciate.

Hitting Pause

As a parent I'm pretty good, but far from perfect, at pausing with my daughters. By this I mean waiting rather than gut responding to them, be it to their questions, comments, or actions. This allows me to quickly reflect on my response options and the effects of them. If one girl is bugging the other, I try to step back and fully assess the situation and weigh the possible responses. When one makes a comment that sounds rude to me, I attempt to take their perspective to determine if the comment is rude given their knowledge and experiences. Then I can better address the issue.

I'm not very good at this as a teacher. Is it because I don't trust my students as much as I trust my daughters? Is it because I feel the push of time in the classroom more than I do as a parent?

Many of the mistakes I believe I make in the classroom stem from this problem. If I were better able to pause with my students I would be able to respond to them in ways that would be respectful and would encourage the behaviors I want to see.

This will be one of my goals for this coming school year. I'm not yet sure how to go about it, but this seems like step one.

I Believe

I believe we underestimate children. By we I mean teachers, parents, and our society.

I believe there are two main things we can do to change this. One, we can say yes to children. For the majority of adults the quick, gut response to any request from a child is no. If we would take just a brief moment to consider why we are saying no we might, quite frequently, realize there is no good reason not to say yes. The second thing we can do is to give kids control. The normal relationship between a child and an adult is one of power (at least that is a piece of the relationship). The adult has all of it. Giving the child some control goes against the standard and is, therefore, difficult. It's worth it.

I believe saying yes and giving kids control benefits all of us. Imagine a job at which your every request is turned down and you have no power over how your time or energies are spent. Would you put forth a lot of effort? Would you try your best? I doubt it. Now, imagine the opposite, your ideas and suggestions are respected and encouraged, you are trusted to try new things and spend your time well. That is an environment that encourages people to give it their all.

I believe that these small steps encourage students to be responsible and creative, and fosters leadership skills. Students with these qualities can succeed beyond our wildest expectations and grow into adults who will fly.

Be Back Soon

I've got so much flying around in my head these days (thanks to the Northern Virginia Writing Project Summer Institute, various readings, and tweets from Constructing Modern Knowledge) but no ability to get any of it out coherently.

Our fridge stopped working a couple of days ago and my back problems have come back with a vengeance in the past few days. So, I hope to have both those things under control soon and be able to refocus.

Initial Reflections on the Northern Virginia Writing Project

I’m participating in the Northern Virginia Writing Project Summer Institute at the moment. It runs for four weeks, full days four days a week. So far I’ve been through three days and I’m exhausted. It is a good exhaustion.

Our days are pretty structured. We begin each morning with 30 minutes of ‘morning pages,’ writing time. Everyone just writes. I’ve never dedicated that kind of time in my daily life for writing before.

After that we have two presentations. Every participant does a presentation on something about teaching writing. We chose our topics, which allowed us to focus on things about which we are passionate. The presentations are scheduled to last just over an hour. They involve a lot of writing, participation and discussion. We’ve had five so far and they’ve all been fairly different. Wonderfully so.

After that we take an hour break for lunch. I’ve noticed, after just three days, that it isn’t really an hour. First of all, we’ve often run over from the morning presentations. Secondly, we all tend to talk to one another and discuss our thinking from the morning before remembering we need to eat.

Twice a week, after lunch, we meet in reading and writing groups. These are groups of five people who all bring their own writing to share and discuss. We spend time reading each others’ work and discussing it. We might share how we felt as readers during it, lines or phrases that really struck us, or ways to improve the writing. This is about two and a half hours of our time. So far we’ve only done it twice and it was powerful.

In my reading and writing group I’ve taken some poetry. I don’t tend to write a lot of poetry and I certainly don’t share it often, but I started a project years ago that I’d like to work on and hopefully finish. So far my group has not only significantly helped me begin revising two poems but they’ve helped me look at my poetry differently and I’ve begun revising others.

Other afternoons, when we aren’t meeting with our groups, we have outside presenters or group discussion time. We’re a small group this year, there are only about twelve of us. That’s about half the size of the group in past years. I’m grateful for this. I’m looking forward to really getting to know everyone in this institute and being a smaller group makes that easier.

There are teachers here from all levels. I think, as a first grade teacher, that I teach the youngest students. There are third and fifth grade teachers, middle school and high school teachers, and a couple of teachers from our local community college. It is so amazing to have all of those perspectives. I believe it is easy for teachers to do a lot of learning while staying within their comfort zone. I could read and talk only with elementary educators and not even begin to exhaust the resources available to me. However, I would be missing some important ideas and perspectives if I limit myself in that way. So it is a goal of mine to spend a lot of time talking to those teachers not working in elementary schools.