tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62482086114057912042024-02-08T13:34:09.216-06:00The Writing FogThis blog captures the questions and research of a teacher educator on life's journey after Ph.D.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-2949193758872564672018-02-19T14:41:00.000-06:002018-02-19T14:41:29.874-06:00The Blurring Roles of Parent, Teacher, and Teacher EducatorWe were just wrapping up our Educator Preparation Provider Unit meeting with program coordinators when the director noted the alert on her phone. On Valentine's Day, with images of hearts on our agenda and cookies to sweeten the afternoon, we fell into anxious silence as we checked the news coming from Florida. My roles as parent, teacher, and teacher educator blurred in those moments.<br />
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Later, my 16-year old looked on while I read accounts of text exchanges between parents and children, choking as I tried to read one aloud to her. "The longest twenty minutes of my life," one parent said of the time that elapsed between messages. I cannot begin to imagine. My college freshman, my high schooler, and my sixth grader pull me into three different spaces mentally and emotionally when I cannot be there physically at a moments notice on a typical school day. <br />
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Then, as a former middle and high school teacher, reading reports about the fallen educators in Florida took me back to those teaching days again. "In loco parentis" refers to a teacher or other adult responsible for children in place of a parent. In some cases, schools provide a safe, welcoming, and food-secure environment that students might not find elsewhere. In other cases, safety means protection from natural disasters and other outside forces. We huddled in hallways during storms; we grabbed our record books and marched outside for fires or, yes, bomb threats; we locked our doors and hid in darkness during lockdown drills. To parents of former students I can say I was prepared to put myself in harm's way for your children.<br />
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My job now is to prepare future teachers to take on these responsibilities above and beyond the content they teach, the strategies to teach that content, and the planning, behavior, accountability, and administrative demands. My methods candidates are fortunate to have class in a high school each week after their time observing mentor teachers, and throughout the semester, candidates try to apply pedagogical theory while presenting to peers and teaching mini-lessons in their mentor teachers' classrooms. We discuss student engagement, classroom management, and--perhaps most important--relationships with students.<br />
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On February 15, one of my secondary graduate candidates texted:<br />
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I wasn't going to observe today [because] the kids have a half day and this fog was really scary to drive in, but after what happened yesterday in FL, I wanted to see how at least one teacher handles it. I'm glad I did. She led a lengthy class discussion and students were very knowledgeable about details of what happened. She related the shooting to [their] school and the purpose of rules. Today all math classes were devoted to mental health and making student aware of resources available through the school. It was sad but fascinating to watch.</blockquote>
As teachers, we must be prepared to have difficult conversations like these. <br />
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This profession offers such fulfillment and personal growth. But teachers cannot stay for only these two reasons. During the educator preparation meeting that ended with news alerts, the director had discussed a professional development alliance she attended with superintendents and other educators. They brainstormed the causes of teacher shortages and came up with seven "Ps":<br />
<ul>
<li>Pay</li>
<li>Pension</li>
<li>Pressure</li>
<li>Parents</li>
<li>Passion</li>
<li>Perception</li>
<li>Politics</li>
</ul>
Some of these have larger or smaller roles in producing teacher stress. I had good relationships with parents and my passion for learning helped me grow professionally (though it almost caused me to burn out, too). <br />
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The next day, I sent the director some additional "Ps":<br />
<ul>
<li>Pain (in spite of passion)--it's just so heartbreaking and painful at times to be a teacher. </li>
<li>Protection (or lack thereof)--teachers do not feel protected in this current climate... Protected from top-down policies. Protected by or from legislation. Protected from shooters. Protected from media.</li>
<li>Prepared is another--teachers may be prepared in theory and know how to use best practices and build relationships in the classroom, but who is truly prepared for every other aspect of teaching? We are parents of 20-120 students during the school day. How do we prepare candidates for that kind of weight, that kind of responsibility, especially in light of what happened yesterday?</li>
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These are areas I don't think we can ignore or speak of lightly. This tragedy and so many others have brought with them this horrible reality--we will never be able to prepare ourselves or our candidates enough. I am looking for the words to say in my methods class tomorrow that might convince them to stay.<br />
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Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-28015961079912455782018-02-09T11:47:00.001-06:002018-02-09T11:47:13.133-06:00Flipping Feedback: Revising Peer ReviewFor several years in middle and secondary, along with the last year or so with freshman composition, I have held onto the belief that someone besides me needed to be the first eyes on a student's paper. <i>After all, students can read for clarity and expression, saving me the initial roughness that is the rough draft. </i> I have tried to create a writing environment that organically developed beyond what the peer review worksheets could do. Even though we would discuss feedback protocol and how to respond to each other's writing and what it looked like/sounded like, <div>
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<i><b>peer review sessions always fell flat. </b></i> </div>
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I did not realize what needed to change. But then in the midst of reflecting on the fall semester and its false starts and mediocre ends I read <b>"<a href="https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/teaching-writing-as-journey-not-destination/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Teaching Writing as Journey, Not Destination</span></a>"</b> by <a href="https://twitter.com/plthomasEdD" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Paul Thomas</span></b></a>. In this post, Thomas discusses student feedback from his composition courses. Notably, his students wanted instructor comments on essays before working with peers. Because I was in the beginning stages of planning spring's Composition II, the timing was right for rethinking draft due dates, turnaround times, peer feedback, and final papers. </div>
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And now it was time for the first essay. Instead of students bringing drafts to class for a peer review workshop, students printed their essays to turn in to me, an adjustment to my usual digital submission requirement. I had thought about how students would access my comments the following week and discuss them with partners. With the likelihood that some students would not have their laptops, I decided hand-written margin comments on hard copies would provide a tangible anchor for peer conversations. </div>
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The next class, I began with a writing prompt asking students to tell about their previous experiences with peer feedback. Predictably, they wrote about its ineffectiveness. As I walked the room, I could see comments such as "waste of time." One student wrote, "My experiences with peer review is not telling them what the teacher can tell them." </div>
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<b><i>Students only trusted the person who assigned and graded their essays.</i></b></div>
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Another student commented, "I'm not a fan of peer review because I'm not good at giving feedback when reading an essay." </div>
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<b><i>Students did not trust others <u>or</u> themselves to be effective readers and responders.</i></b></div>
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After this opening activity, we discussed what they hoped to gain from the workshop and developed a peer feedback protocol. Honesty topped the list. Students desired honest feedback, which demonstrated they really wanted to improve their writing. They also listed "praise," "offer ideas," "suggestions for revision/corrections," and "ask questions." One student suggested the acronym TAG: Tell something good, Ask questions, and Give suggestions, which is similar to the Praise-Question-Polish protocol introduced to me in the <a href="http://louisville.edu/education/centers/nystrand/lwp" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Louisville Writing Project</span></b></a> (an affiliate site of the <a href="https://www.nwp.org/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">National Writing Project</span></b></a>).</div>
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Students read my comments and then reviewed these comments with peers while using the peer feedback protocol. I heard conversations. A few students did not turn in rough drafts the previous week; however, they either helped others with feedback or did as this student who said, "Although I didn't have commentary on my paper due to me not submitting my draft, I sat and listened to the others who did receive feedback and got a lot of help from that." I learned from feedback at the end of class that, for the most part, students' experiences of peer reviews were both helpful and positive. For the most part. Yes, we still have a ways to go, but I feel confident that I made the right move for this first essay. </div>
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Thank you to the many mentors out there who constantly help me re-envision my teaching. </div>
Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-5908059401777629562018-01-29T10:30:00.001-06:002018-01-29T10:30:20.612-06:00Missing the Leap: Removing Scaffolding too QuicklyFor our first assignment in my freshman composition course, I wanted them to select an article of their interest and choosing to use for their discourse analysis. After reading and discussing <i>The Declaration of Independence</i> the previous class, last week (our fourth class meeting together) students wrote a response to "What do you think the founding fathers intended the American Creed to be?" After a brief discussion and a too brief introduction to Padlet where we could capture our ideas, I asked my students to search for an article that connects to the themes we had identified in the historic document (e.g. equality, liberty, pursuit of happiness).<br />
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And the plan collapsed.<br />
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I watched my students attempt their (figurative) leap from incomplete scaffolding to grasp a crumbling ledge. Students' hands popped up with questions in some parts of the room while elsewhere they sat gazing into their computers for answers. The supplemental instructor and I visited students one on one, working our way around the room to coax students in the directions we had begun to travel the previous class period: topics such as free trade and the collapse of agreements, equality and the current questions about equal pay or discrimination, and freedom and the discussion of immigration and DACA. <br />
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After bailing water the second half of class, I asked students to complete an exit slip with their topic of interest and the questions they had at that point. <br />
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It was obvious to me that I needed to repair the scaffolding for this new group of students, but I was so stuck in what went wrong that I had difficulty focusing beyond the stack of slips with students' topics and questions. Fortunately, chapter 7 of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/The-Innovators-Mindset-Learning-Creativity/dp/0986155497/ref=tmm_pap_title_0" target="_blank">The Innovator's Mindset</a></i> by <a href="https://georgecouros.ca/blog/" target="_blank">George Couros</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/gcouros" target="_blank">@gcouros</a>) gave substance to my work. His description of the eight things to look for in today's classroom gave me pause as I considered <i>how</i> I was creating opportunities for voice, choice, time for reflection, opportunities for innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, self-assessment, and connected learning. <br />
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I wanted these characteristics in my classroom, but having already planned the end of the semester, I was missing the incremental steps of establishing the classroom culture that warmly invited students into these conversations and periods of reflection. My intentions steamed ahead of community. I attempted choice and critical thinking without building solid foundations that would make students' voices and connected learning meaningful. Though it was mid-year for K-12 students and teachers, and a second semester continuation for my pre-service candidates, it was a new course and a fresh start for me and these freshman composition students. I needed to know where they were so I could meet them there, something at this point in the year in my previous teaching positions I have not had to do.<br />
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The exit slips indicated that students needed much more assistance with finding articles. I located ten articles that I hoped would honor students' interests while providing for rich analysis. Categorized into general themes of liberty, equality, and pursuit of happiness with topics ranging from discrimination of people with disabilities to wage gaps to DACA to opportunities for happiness, articles would provide choice but in a way that kept this first assignment manageable.<br />
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This teaching mis-experience sank my spirits and no amount of positive interactions that day changed this feeling until I worked on a solution. The bigger lesson from that day was this: In the deepest part of me I want to be a good teacher, but more importantly I need to really see and know my students in order to do so. Only then can we build a classroom in which we can solve these problems together.<br />
<br />Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-13676783668195916752018-01-19T11:21:00.001-06:002018-01-19T11:21:13.800-06:00Welcoming the Spring Semester<b><i>Welcome 2018! </i></b><br />
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This new year and new semester prompted me to consider what I want to be and do in 2018. Determined to be more and better in this year than I was in 2017, I began January 1 with reading, reflecting, and enjoying family time. Each day is an opportunity to shape who I am and want to be. My new and improved routine did not begin on January 2. Some weeks into 2018 and the first week of spring classes, I'm still figuring out how to get up in time to stretch or have coffee, wake up children, read a news blog, make lunch, get ready for the day, and leave the house to drop off the high schooler before work. After a few days of saying, "I think I need to start my day earlier," I reset my alarm. Baby steps.<br />
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Many things stay the same when you work within an academic calendar. I have ongoing projects with accreditation, research, and writing that stretch along the August-July continuum rather than the calendar year. Yet, new classes in the spring semester revitalize me with opportunities for curricular revision. And this semester, two pathways to enhance my understanding of students and partnerships have presented themselves in very different settings. One is within my freshman composition course; the other is in my secondary English methods course.<br />
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The second semester Writing Studies delves into discourse communities, and in my particular learning community cohort the focus is civic engagement. I began planning for this course in November while attending the<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="https://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/17am/home.csp" target="_blank">National Writing Project Annual Meeting</a></span>. At that time, I was introduced to the <a href="https://sites.google.com/nwp.org/writingourfuture-ac/home" target="_blank">PBS documentary <i>American Creed</i></a> and worked with instructors who had previewed the film and developed resources. It was with even more good fortune that I learned the director of freshman composition at my university had received a grant for including service learning in the Writing Studies courses. My course will analyze historical discourse, which will unfold as an exploration of today's discourse and the needs in our local communities.<br />
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My affiliation with the <a href="http://illinoiswritingproject.com/" target="_blank">Illinois Writing Project</a> and my participation with the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/nwpcollegereadywritersprogram/home" target="_blank">National Writing Project College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP)</a> placed tools in my hands that will deepen this exploration of discourses in the composition class. These argument-writing resources provide a framework for putting texts in conversation with one another and a foothold for students to engage in these conversations with each other. Being present, being open, and being responsive allowed me to make the connections necessary to plan this semester. I hope that what the freshmen experience within the class is as meaningful as planning for them has been.<br />
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In my secondary English methods course, five teacher candidates are continuing their program that began last fall. We weathered some obstacles in the fall course, including my attempt to add writing and research layers to an already packed schedule. We tried writing personal pieces with little time to develop them. We recorded teaching episodes but did not fully take advantage of the feedback feature that was available in the technology platform. After experimentation that resulted in marginal (if any) success, I should have been hesitant to try anything new this spring. However, I want to enrich the candidates' experiences in the program, and have prepared myself for the setbacks that might occur. <br />
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It has been a dream of mine to recreate my graduate research assistant experience of assisting a middle grades methods course taught in a middle school, often utilizing <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1132601" target="_blank">technology for backchannel discussions about classroom observations</a>. At the least, I hoped for my candidates to observe in a school together at the same time so that we could unpack the observations in our weekly class sessions. Though possibly more than I should have hoped for, I also wanted a classroom space within a high school. I am thrilled that our new partnership with a local high school opens doors for that dream to become a reality. We meet in our high school classroom next week. As we discuss candidates' observations and unpack the assigned readings, it will feel different from our university campus space. I want it to feel different. High school is where they have chosen to be, and it is my responsibility to prepare them. Surrounding ourselves with the high school culture is only the first step.<br />
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Baby steps.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-27025813900753128742017-02-18T17:25:00.001-06:002017-02-25T07:41:33.062-06:00Getting It Right<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a secondary English methods professor, I wish I could get it right every time. The truth is, I wish I could claim just one perfect year as a middle or high school teacher instead of a few near-perfect class periods or too many near-perfect disasters. As many educators of any level might agree, it is the striving for perfection that keeps us moving forward: researching best practices, finding better resources, attending professional conferences, and meeting new colleagues as we continually shape and reshape our philosophical stance on teaching and learning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every week, my English methods students pose tough questions about numerous topics in education that experienced teachers struggle with daily. Last week they asked, "How do we get students to actually read (or care about reading) during silent reading? What does accountability for independent reading look like? How do I manage student choice and grading?" Channeling some of my best professors' strategies, I asked them to discuss their own classroom observations and what they have learned from their mentor teachers. Most recently, however, during our discussion of Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and <a href="https://twitter.com/DeborahAppleman" target="_blank">Deborah Appleman's</a> <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Encounters-Secondary-English-Adolescents-ebook/dp/B00SZ7L8Q0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487459951&sr=8-1&keywords=appleman" target="_blank">Critical Encounters in Secondary English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents</a></i>, one student stumped me with questions about grading: How do we assess scaffolding if one student needs more resources and assistance than another student? How does the scaffolding enter into grading? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Time limited our discussion that evening, which made it immediately clear that we needed more resources to help us grapple with these issues around grading practices. Having experienced the depth of the Twitter professional network, I turned to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sbgchat?src=hash" target="_blank">#sbgchat</a> and discovered <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sblchat?src=hash" target="_blank">#sblchat</a> (Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. In just moments, I found a </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM-3PFfIfvI&feature=youtu.be" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">video</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> by </span><a href="https://twitter.com/rickwormeli2" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">Rick Wormeli</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, </span><a href="http://proficiencygrading.weebly.com/sample-rubrics-and-guides.html" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">proficiency grading guides</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, a </span><a class="" href="http://mctownsley.net/standards-based-grading/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">website</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> on all things standards based by </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mctownsley" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">Matt Townsley</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, and </span><a href="http://garnethillman.com/links/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">conversations</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> archived by </span><a href="https://twitter.com/garnet_hillman" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">Garnet Hillman</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> around grading theory and practice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yes, my students' questions give me pause, more now that I realize how much there is to learn. But k</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">nowing how to navigate these education resources moves me closer to being the professor my secondary teacher candidates need me to be. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have an advantage over my first-year teacher self of twelve years ago: supportive professional networks that constantly teach me (how else would I have discovered teachers on Twitter?). These networks include the </span><a href="http://www.ncte.org/Default.aspx" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">National Council of Teachers of English</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/ncte" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">@NCTE</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">), </span><a href="http://www.nwp.org/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">National Writing Project</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/writingproject" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">@writingproject</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">) beginning with the </span><a href="http://louisville.edu/education/centers/nystrand/lwp" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">Louisville Writing Project</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/LouisvilleWP" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">@LouisvilleWP</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">) and continuing with the </span><a href="http://illinoiswritingproject.com/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">Illinois Writing Project</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/IllinoisWP" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">@IllinoisWP</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">), the </span><a href="https://www.literacyworldwide.org/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">International Literacy Association</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/ILAToday" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">@ILAtoday</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">), the </span><a href="http://www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">Illinois Reading Council</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/ILReadCouncil" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">@ILReadCouncil</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, and the </span><a href="http://www.literacyresearchassociation.org/" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank">Literacy Research Association</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Through these professional networks, I have learned the value of mentors, lifelong research, and constant investigation. I have also learned the importance of wobbling on the edge of new challenges. Without these experiences and the support of these associations--of mentors and friends--I wouldn't be able to show my future teachers how to get it right, even if it's only some of the time.</span><br />
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Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-32145243101786278332016-10-01T11:26:00.000-05:002016-10-01T11:26:43.262-05:00Longing for Writing Space as an Early Career Researcher ProfessorI woke this morning with the longing to write, the need to carve time for creativity, to voice the thoughts swirling around in the ether. Simultaneously, university course work tugged at the coattails of a writing desire that has become more and more elusive over the past several weeks. I wobbled against its weight. The pull of grading, of announcements to students clarifying their questions, and of emails to colleagues scheduling meetings worked to stifle what I know to be true: if I do not write, I cannot teach writing, nor can I teach future teachers how to teach writing. <br />
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Attending the <a href="https://twitter.com/ILReadCouncil" target="_blank">Illinois Reading Council</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23irc2016&src=typd" target="_blank">#IRC2016</a>) reminded me of the passion I need to reignite: writing to discover new ideas and to nourish the ideas that have had little time to take root. A small group of professors with the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CIRP.IRC/" target="_blank">College Instructors of Reading Professionals</a> answered questions, and more importantly offered much-needed encouragement in my pursuit of what fills me as a professional. <a href="http://cedu.niu.edu/leed/about/faculty-and-instructors/gregory-anne.shtml" target="_blank">Anne Gregory</a> with NIU said it best when describing how early she rises each morning to workout: "I deserve this . . . and you deserve the time for your passion." Deserve. I deserve the time to write. That one word shifted my thinking profoundly.<br />
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But it did not shift my ability. <br />
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In a late afternoon session yesterday, <a href="https://twitter.com/FletcherRalph" target="_blank">Ralph Fletcher</a> showed us poetry and encouraged us to draft a few lines ourselves. I stumbled. My phrases were lackluster. The poem ended awkwardly with no connection to Fletcher proposed be our final two lines. And how I needed that punch to generate an image, an idea about a memory long past. I could then, and now, feel the rusty spigot creaking little by little with each word. No pressure except for the words pressing themselves against the narrow faucet opening.<br />
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When <a href="https://twitter.com/KellyGToGo" target="_blank">Kelly Gallagher</a> spoke in his session about voluminous writing in the classroom, I nodded agreement. How can students improve their writing and enhance idea generation, organization, and detail development without constant opportunities to experiment with craft and improve writing stamina? His strategies for engaging students in low-pressure writing without increasing the grading workload should be easy to implement in any grade level. In fact, I am eager to add his <a href="https://www.stenhouse.com/content/reading-reasons" target="_blank">Reading Reasons</a> to my collection of professional resources to become as well-referenced as so many other reading and writing experts.<br />
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But then, let's flip the voluminous writing concept back to us. <br />
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Are we creating the space--time and place--for low-pressure writing in our own professional and personal settings? In a sense, everything I have written in the past several weeks has been for a "grade." Grading students' essays and communicating with colleagues or partner schools via email are higher-pressure writings that become evaluated by the people who read them. Likewise, reports, course syllabi, and students' degree study plans cannot receive failing grades. I like having a job.<br />
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Blogging is that release for me. Writing in this space solidifies the ethereal thoughts, giving them legs to stand on . . . and hands to shake loose whatever weight might be hanging onto the tails of this new coat I am trying on. <br />
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So tell me, how do you create the space for writing? What do you recommend for early-career researchers and professors? What helps you reignite writing when other weighty obligations begin to take over?Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-11520524250371631752016-06-01T14:10:00.000-05:002016-06-01T14:10:46.447-05:00Operating on the Dissertation Behemoth for Academic PublishingWhen I first entered the doctoral program in summer of 2011, I viewed academia as a place where someone else shared knowledge with me. In that fall's doctoral seminar class, however, the professor shared bewildering information. We needed to eventually publish. Whether we co-authored with mentor faculty or were the sixth author on a research article, we would be in better academic and professional standings if we published in journals (although <a href="https://twitter.com/raulpacheco" target="_blank">Raul Pacheco-Vega</a> questions this logic in his <a href="http://www.raulpacheco.org/2016/03/what-counts-as-academic-writing-acwri/" target="_blank">recent blog post</a>). So, as a full-time middle school language arts teacher and part-time graduate student, I ignored this advice and focused on providing endless feedback on 8th grader drafts and writing my own projects, articles, reflections, or unit plans for graduate coursework.<br />
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Fortunately, a popular writing course at the university cycled the program every few years and fit my schedule. Writing for Publication brought together students from across disciplines in a joint effort to resurrect old drafts for journal submission. We dug deeply into <a href="https://twitter.com/WendyLBelcher" target="_blank">Wendy Belcher</a>'s <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Your-Journal-Twelve-Weeks/dp/141295701X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464799267&sr=8-1&keywords=wendy+belcher" target="_blank">Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success</a>. </i>I wish I had purchased the actual book rather than the digital version, but <a href="http://www.wendybelcher.com/writing-advice/workbook-forms/" target="_blank">her website</a> provides the consumable resources so books can stay "clean." The intense yet practical approach pushed me to write, revise, share drafts, and revise again while also researching possible journals and attending to specific audience needs. I finished the course successfully and submitted my manuscript, which I described in a <a href="http://thewritingfog.blogspot.com/2014/01/writing-for-publication-fears.html" target="_blank">previous blog post</a>. My waiting resulted in disappointment when it was rejected several months later. With the bustle of other projects and without the pressure of a grade, I let the manuscript and feedback collect dust.<br />
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Over two years later, several pieces of writing lurk within my computer, notebooks, and coursework folders. I have written drafts of literature reviews and reflections in preparation for my dissertation and some did, in fact, make their way into that behemoth of data and analysis. I proudly and successfully defended my dissertation (<i>Understanding through Narrative Inquiry: Storying a National Writing Project Initiative</i>) on March 28, 2016. Imagine my excitement when my committee members said they could see possibilities for six journal articles I could develop from this work. Six!<br />
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Six! Imagine my anxiety knowing I should dissect my beautiful behemoth into smaller beasts for academic journal writing. I wrote a semi-traditional five-chapter dissertation and pushed its boundaries only slightly with creative mini-narratives to describe findings in chapter four. How do I distill the essential learning found in my research problem, literature review, methodology, findings and closing discussion chapters? How do I engage in meaningful academic writing that highlights my insights about professional learning communities, teacher-leadership, planning professional development, trust, and invitation? These are real questions for which I have not yet found answers, even though I feel it is my responsibility to already know. <br />
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I do not step lightly into this task. For many months I raised and cared for each of these 213 pages. Now, like Dr. Frankenstein, I have to operate on a monster for these insights to live on. Thank you in advance, <a href="http://www.wendybelcher.com/" target="_blank">Wendy Belcher</a>, for being my assistant. And thank you, readers, for your own experiences about how you managed this task.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-58050048990838648682016-05-27T09:16:00.002-05:002016-05-27T09:16:11.520-05:00Being a Student AgainAs a recent graduate, I have pondered my journey to completion and what it actually took to get here. Even though the <a href="http://louisville.edu/education/centers/nystrand/lwp" target="_blank">Louisville Writing Project</a> Invitational Summer Institute hours applied toward my coursework, my official entrance into the doctoral program came the fall of 2011 with a seminar course. For many students, I can imagine, their initial experiences in a program can determine their trajectory for the remainder of their studies.<br />
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This seminar introduction to deciphering qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods; writing literature reviews; and developing a path for research was akin to mental Olympics. I felt pushed, pulled, and stretched in new, very demanding directions. For the first time in a very long time, my brain felt out of shape. For over seven years I had attended professional development, created innovative lessons, crunched impossible amounts of data, and learned how to be a more effective teacher, but none of these experiences trained me to run this marathon.<br />
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During that first semester, I remember wondering if I would ever learn it all. Would or could I learn enough to earn a doctorate? Fortunately, our professor named our fears and welcomed them. He encouraged us to wrangle literature and make sense of published data. My brain hurt. I felt, well, dumb, and may have said as much to my classmates (and professor). By the end of the semester, though more knowledgeable, we all had glazed eyes with expressions of "what the hell have I gotten myself into?!" plastered on our faces.<br />
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When I think about some of my attempts with data collection and analysis even closer to the end of my coursework a few years ago, I realize now the incredible patience my professors must have had. For instance, only experienced researchers should attempt to record and analyze unstructured interview conversations and try to make sense of their contextual significance or explain that significance in class. Thankfully, I learned from these experiences. With guidance and understanding (surely everyone has early researcher mistake stories), my professors modeled what I hoped to become.<br />
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Being a student influenced my teacher lens in my middle school classroom. I hope I became more sensitive to students' struggles, more flexible with my instructional approaches, clearer in my expectations. At the minimum, I hope I found ways to stretch my students' brains. For that reason, I encourage teachers to pursue higher education--a master's degree, endorsement or certification, or doctorate. Enroll in <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/111619469354411254407" target="_blank">MOOC</a>s or a study group to which you are accountable in some way. Be a student again. Yes, we have well over eighteen years under our belts as students, but (sigh) that is the same argument we hear with members of legislature. Becoming a student after being a teacher revealed insights I never would have discovered otherwise. I promise it was worth it.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-77698746080942838282016-05-18T10:14:00.000-05:002016-05-18T10:22:40.291-05:00Terminal Degree as the BeginningAs I listened to <a href="http://www.ashleydmiller.org/" target="_blank">Ashley Miller</a> speak at the doctoral hooding ceremony about her fears of not graduating, of that dreaded email requiring one more course or one more draft, I realized how real my own fears had become. The time-line of defending my dissertation at the end of March, addressing the committee's recommendations in early April, sending the revised draft to my adviser soon afterwards, submitting the final dissertation to the graduate school before April 22, and the ceremony on May 13, intensified these fears rather than relieved them. And when I was in line to step onto the stage, I held back the urge to look inside the cardboard tube with the University of Louisville seal to see if anything was inside. <br />
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The ceremony marked the transition to "Doctor" as one to be taken with great responsibility. <a href="http://www.louisvillecardinal.com/2012/11/beth-boehm-named-permanent-dean-sigs/" target="_blank">Dr. Beth Boehm</a>, vice provost for graduate affairs, assured our families that a terminal degree meant "the end"--no more coursework or dissertation drafts. Yet, this journey is just beginning. As doctoral students, we learned how to create new knowledge. Through our doctoral programs, we discovered the needs within our communities. Our new terminal degrees have positioned us as researchers, creators, and problem solvers. <br />
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Through courses in education and literacy theory, teaching writing, cognitive coaching, and qualitative research design and methods, I discovered the need for "<a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_futures/2016/05/can_small_data_improve_k-12_education.html?cmp=soc-edit-tw" target="_blank">small data</a>." I am prepared to analyze trends, identify learning gaps, and further disaggregate data as tiny lenses into education; yet, more exists to be seen and heard. My dissertation research study narrated the stories of a teacher leadership team and the liaisons across the country who developed and implemented a <a href="https://ldc.org/" target="_blank">Literacy Design Collaborative</a> professional development workshop called <a href="http://assignmentsmatter.nwp.org/" target="_blank">Assignments Matter</a>. Narratives such as these show us effective ways <i>into </i>big data. Teacher and student narratives help us see the faces behind the numbers.<br />
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Inspired by the speakers' encouraging words, my adviser <a href="http://louisville.edu/education/faculty/howell" target="_blank">Dr. Penny Howell's</a> vote of confidence, and my professor <a href="http://louisville.edu/education/faculty/norton-meier/" target="_blank">Dr. Lori Norton-Meier</a>'s special congratulations, I enter the next phase of my education. Empowered with the knowledge of <i>how </i>to create new knowledge, I attend to the literacy and professional development needs within education through organizations such the <a href="http://illinoiswritingproject.com/summer-institute/" target="_blank">Illinois Writing Project</a>. And although I hesitated to add "Ph.D." to my C.V. until it was official, I now have a signed parchment that no one can take away from me--I'd like to see them try.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-56019315181655294652016-05-02T13:08:00.000-05:002016-05-02T13:08:37.936-05:00Students' Voices at the IWP Writing Palooza<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What happens when students, teachers, parents, and grandparents come together in the same space to write and share? The <a href="http://illinoiswritingproject.com/summer-institute/" target="_blank">Illinois Writing Project</a> hosted a Writing Palooza on Saturday, April 30 to find out the answer to that question. What we discovered far surpassed our expectations.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Writing Palooza event featured <a href="https://adriennewrites.com/" target="_blank">Adrienne Gibbs</a> as the keynote speaker to jump start our day on writing. She shared lines of poetry from noted authors and some of her own writing from middle school. Everything and anything can be a story, she encouraged, and writing flourishes when writers discuss their works together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The morning and afternoon writing sessions and workshops included poetry, soapbox speeches, and memoirs for grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. In the poetry sessions I attended or facilitated, parents and teachers were encouraged to join in the writing and discussions. The primary focus, though, was empowering students' voices. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the middle grades poetry session, R.J. with the <a href="http://youngchicagoauthors.org/" target="_blank">Young Chicago Authors</a> invited introductions from everyone. These introductions were slightly different in that he asked us to rate the day on a scale of 1-10 and share one thing we often think about but do not get to talk about. How powerful it was for students (and teachers and parents) to answer this question! Students around the room identified environmental concerns, worries about their neighborhoods, world events, self-destruction, and other issues they have weighing on their minds with no outlet for conversation. A common thread wove its way across the room. Yet this space was different than their more familiar settings of school and after school activities--here, students could discuss and, better yet, write.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One girl in our afternoon poetry session rated the day a 10. I wondered what made this day shine so brightly for her. Was it her morning session on writing memoirs, perhaps? Was it the lunch led by <a href="http://cct.org/" target="_blank">The Chicago Community Trust</a> with information about leading <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnTheTable2016?src=hash" target="_blank">#onthetable2016</a> civic community conversations? Or maybe she was there with friends who had also found an outlet for their writing passions. I did not have the chance to ask her, but I did get to hear what she had to say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The IWP Writing Palooza culminated with an author share in the auditorium where Adrienne Gibbs began our day. A few of our youngest eagerly started the line, and we watched with amazement as the line perpetually grew longer and never shorter. The thirty minutes allotted for this part of the day grew into forty-five. Students shared narratives about their first roller coaster adventures and soapbox speeches about playground repairs or ugly words on bathroom stalls. And poetry. Their poetry, like what was written by the girl in the earlier session and the one by another girl, pointed out the unfairness of stereotypes and made me wish a whole community could fit into that auditorium to hear what these students had to say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am excited that the Writing Palooza might become an annual event. But what I realized even more at the end of this incredible day was that students need more than just one annual event for their voices to be heard. Where is our daily palooza joining communities of students, teachers, and parents together to write and share? </span></div>
Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-60764547676547055862016-04-27T15:20:00.001-05:002016-04-27T15:23:13.615-05:00EL Methods on Location (Part 4)Immersion versus bilingual language learning methods can be a difficult call to make for parents and administrators. The elementary I observed in this district offers bilingual up to 3rd grade. Then in 3rd grade students go to English classrooms with EL supports. According to the district coordinator, schools may approach language learning in one of two ways. In what they call their <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/curriculum_handbook/413/chapters/Bilingual_Education@_Effective_Programming_for_Language-Minority_Students.aspx" target="_blank">bilingual education program</a>, the class is taught in both the first language and the target language. Over time, the first language usage is decreased while the target language is increased. In a <a href="http://hepg.org/hel-home/issues/27_2/helarticle/dual-language-programs-on-the-rise" target="_blank">dual language program</a>, classes are taught 50/50 in the first and second language. <br />
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Unfortunately, some students may not have strong literacy at home in their first language, which means bilingual methods would not work well for them. If students do not have a strong literacy background in their first language, they will struggle learning another language, and some students may come from extremely diverse backgrounds, as <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ660665" target="_blank">Rubinstein-Ávila (2003)</a> showed in a snapshot of three EL students. <br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In the first-second combined classroom, Ms. Carmen* shared that she used whole brain teaching, a multisensory approach that involved the mind and body. Teaching grades one and two allowed her to see students for two years, which helped her determine if language learning difficulties were developmental or indicative of a learning disability. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36px;">At the beginning of the day, Ms. Carmen displayed a Spanish paragraph on the smart board and asked students to find three new words. Students then added these Spanish words with their English equivalents to their vocabulary list. The paragraph she displayed provided directions for the remainder of the morning. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36px;">Further, she pointed to a list of phrases in everyday English and asked students to practice the accompanying phrases in academic language. These included phrases about respectfully disagreeing with someone else’s point-of-view. Collier (2008) </span>listed strategies teachers could use to help ELLs access academic language. Up to grade 4, students are learning to read, but older students begin to show gaps in understanding because instruction changes to reading to learn. As Ms. Carmen demonstrated during my observation, small group instruction is important. And, as Collier emphasized, using academic language verbally is more important than worksheets or other forms of vocabulary instruction.<br />
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After leaving Ms. Carmen's room, I was able to see the many hats of Ms. Lapiz, one of the EL teachers. This day, Ms. Lapiz worked with a second grade student from China who had been in the school for only three weeks. They played a matching game. Erica counted as she laid out the cards with the color names. As each card was turned over, she read the card aloud. Ms. Lapiz reminded her to “use your words.” Erica smiled with each match she made. At the end of the game she counted the matches aloud. She had six and Ms. Lapiz had four. <a href="http://journals.library.wisc.edu/index.php/networks/issue/view/38" target="_blank">Stewart (2010)</a> stated the importance of feedback, especially the type of positive feedback Ms. Lapiz constantly gave Erica:<br />
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Positive feedback can be empowering for students who lack confidence in the subject<br />
matter. By giving them such feedback, ELL students may be motivated to put forth more effort, which will produce a higher quality of work, greater self-confidence, greater learning and then even more deserved positive feedback in a continuous loop. (p. 5)</blockquote>
I followed Ms. Lapiz to a 5th grade math classroom. They were working on perimeter of a rectangle. Ms. Lapiz circulated the room. With some hand gestures, she communicated with a student. She stopped to work with two students at a table group in the front of the room. When the teacher directed students to work with partners, I noted how Ms. Lapiz facilitated students' learning:<br />
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Ms. Lapiz continued to circulate and occasionally paused to check student work.<br />
“Use your resources,” the teacher said.<br />
Ms. Lapiz knelt by another student to guide work.<br />
A student asked the teacher a question. She responded, “Where can I start to help you?”<br />
Ms. Lapiz worked with a student.<br />
The teacher circulated the room. Students explained their answers and she asked, "Why?” They explained further. <br />
Ms. Lapiz worked with other students at a table.<br />
The teacher said, “Prove it.”<br />
Ms. Lapiz moved to another student. I heard her say, “Yes, but how?”</blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.tesol.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/ccss_convening_final-8-15-13.pdf?sfvrsn=8" target="_blank">Fenner (2013)</a> said, “ESL teachers can play a critical role in helping content teachers analyze the academic language demands of their content areas, design lessons that teach academic language and content simultaneously, and implement CCSS-based instruction for ELs” (p. 9). Ms. Lapiz and Ms. Carmen showed how they supported the youngest students in the district. What I discovered was that this level of commitment to collaborating, co-teaching, and instructing with EL students' needs at the center continued throughout the grades but presented itself in slightly different ways.</div>
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<a href="http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/10569/Creating_Intentional_Communities.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d" target="_blank">Rance-Roney, J. (2008)</a> discussed the importance of establishing a classroom community inclusive of everyone in the classroom. Such communities in EL classrooms are developed by teachers who work together. Ms. Lyons, a middle school language arts teacher, stated it best when she responded to my observation follow-up email: </div>
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I love co-teaching. It can be so much fun! It is like a good marriage. You have to work at it, and both partners have strengths and areas of growth. I like the people I am co-teaching to be equal to me. It helps to share the chalk when you are on the same page and can plan together. Everyone brings something to the table. Sometimes it takes time to develop the relationship, especially trust. It improves over time. The outcome for kids is amazing, especially when it is effective. I love teaching with [my EL teacher]. She jumps right in and is a great resource. Her enthusiasm and her focus on them as people is inspiring. She truly honors what they say and do.</blockquote>
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<i>Honoring students. </i>When honoring students is at the heart of their professional learning, instruction, collaboration, and reflection, educators wearing any hat in the school show teaching as more than just a job. </div>
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*All names are pseudonymsAmy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-13550968639469365972016-04-26T12:39:00.000-05:002016-04-26T12:48:41.392-05:00English Language Learners: Learning beyond Professional Development (Part 3)In my English Learner/Bilingual Methods independent study course I wanted to experience different types of learning experiences. An <a href="http://illinoiswritingproject.com/summer-institute/" target="_blank">Illinois Writing Project</a> in-service day offered two sessions on EL strategies for writing, one in K-5 and the other in 6-12. This was my first introduction to practical strategies to use with students in the classroom. During another Writing Project event seven weeks later, I had the opportunity to revisit EL professional learning with the same presenter. Although some of the content overlapped, the professional development presenter, Melissa*, adapted the strategies and activities to the grade levels during the in-service day and expanded the discussion of standards and assessment during the later session.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Melissa began our in-service sessions with </span><span style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Word_Memoirs" target="_blank">Six-Word Memoirs</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. As we tried to introduce ourselves with so few words, we were called upon to succinctly capture the essence of who we are and what we love. In the morning I wrote this memoir: </span>Wiser for learning words, children, faith. In the afternoon, I tried my hand at gerunds to describe me: Reading, loving, learning, sharing, teaching, creating. Other people wrote about children and outside interests, but I do not seem to be that creative. <a href="http://www.npr.org/2008/02/07/18768430/six-word-memoirs-life-stories-distilled" target="_blank"> NPR</a> has a series on Six-Word Memoirs, but teachers must be careful when sharing random selections with students because of possible adult content. Writing these memoirs shows that words have power in and of themselves without being connected to one another in sentences or paragraphs. Melissa continued by saying that this activity could be modified with photos, word cards, and sentence frames, which are all appropriate modifications for language learners.<br />
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Importantly, teachers must consider two objectives with every lesson: language and content. To meet these objectives, Melissa urges her district teachers to plan for reading, writing, speaking, and listening in every class. In our PD sessions, we considered these questions:<br />
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How do writing-to-learn and academic conversations shape learning?<br />
What compels me to read and write?<br />
How can we support EL students?</blockquote>
Finding out English language proficiency levels are of primary importance. English learner development is measured in six levels:<br />
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1. Newcomer<br />
2. Emerging—knows and understands phrases<br />
3. Developing—conversational understanding with lots of fillers<br />
4. Expanding—academic language and knowledge of idioms developing<br />
5. Bridging—students may exit the program but still need supports, especially with writing<br />
6. Reaching—fluency</blockquote>
In the morning in-service session, I was first introduced to the language assessments created by <a href="https://www.wida.us/assessment/" target="_blank">WIDA</a> that provide scores for English learners to indicate proficiency levels. In Illinois, students may be exited from the EL program if they score a composite of 5.0 in writing and 4.2 in reading and math, which are both still at the expanding and bridging levels. It is important to know what students’ current levels are in order to understand what supports they might need. The WIDA website provides detailed information including <a href="https://www.wida.us/standards/CAN_DOs/" target="_blank">Can Do Statements</a>, helpful for determining the appropriate expectations teacher should have for students at different levels of proficiency. <br />
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Melissa cited <a href="http://visiblelearningplus.com/resources" target="_blank">John Hattie's meta-analysis</a> intended to illuminate the most effective classroom strategies. The following strategies were noted to have the largest effect sizes and can be adapted to benefit English language learners:<br />
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1. Clarity is intentional and purposeful. Teachers know the objectives for language and content and can articulately communicate those objectives to the students. Teachers must ask, “Do students know what they need to do?”<br />
2. Lessons include guided, collaborative, and independent tasks.<br />
3. Tasks are meaningful and engaging.<br />
4. Students can explain the purpose of the lesson and the tasks they are asked to do.<br />
5. Teachers are authentic models. In language arts and other classrooms, this means that teachers write.<br />
6. Students apply strategies explicitly taught to them.</blockquote>
Melissa also led us in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Things-Every-Writer-Needs-Know/dp/1571108106/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1461688721&sr=8-4&keywords=jeff+anderson" target="_blank">Jeff Anderson’s Power Writing</a> activity, which is a timed writing based on words or images and sets a baseline for writing fluency and endurance. Power writing is typically completed three times for a minute or two each time. What is interesting is that often the second timed writing has the largest word count. For this activity, Melissa used two unrelated pictures, but this activity could use pairs of words or phrases. When we completed two timed writings on our picture choice, I noticed that the first image related to a memory, so I was immediately able to write. This prompted me to consider that pictures could be content or academic related or culture related or family, etc depending on the purpose for the classroom writing activity. These timed writings could also be included in the writer’s notebook and used for seeds for future writing opportunities (see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Know-How-Strategies-Writers/dp/1571104135/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461689075&sr=8-2&keywords=buckner" target="_blank">Buckner, 2005</a> for more writer's notebook ideas). Capturing writing in this way would allow students opportunities to return to their ideas and expand them. One strategy would be to use short, timed writings at the beginning of a unit and then at the end of a unit to compare the quantity and/or quality of the writing or words.<br />
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But no matter how much knowledge and training teachers have, classrooms pose daily challenges and learning opportunities. In last week's PD event, Melissa shared that she and a 7th grade language arts teacher have been conducting a study to document the supports students need at different proficiency levels. For the most recent writing assignment, students were to use a folktale model and write their own "fractured" fairytale/folktale story. However, she and the language arts teacher recognized late in the unit that they had left out some essential scaffolding. The English learner students did not have a solid understanding of narrative structure, a cornerstone of successfully completing the writing assignment. For example, one student had worked diligently on his piece for two weeks, but when he shared with the class, his onomatopoeias, simple sentences, and fragments lacked the essential narrative storytelling quality. The bigger insight she shared with us that evening was that the <i>safe classroom environment</i> allowed this student to share his work without fear of judgment. This student knew his writing would be received positively, and he would gain constructive feedback from his peers. <br />
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<i>Feeling safe</i>. Some weeks ago, I attended an informational program about the <a href="http://exodusworldservice.org/plight-refugees" target="_blank">refugee experience</a>. Later I learned from Melissa that if a school has twenty or more students who speak the same language, districts must provide a devoted EL teacher resource for them. With the influx of immigrants, particularly refugees, in different areas around Chicago and the suburbs, this mandate has put a strain on several schools working to stay in compliance with the state. And for some immigrants there may not be a choice of where or when, which is what I learned during a "walk-in-a-refugee's-shoes" activity during the refugee experience program. As my semester progressed, my coursework was complicating my thinking in unexpected ways about what it meant to teach in diverse classrooms. My next step would be to visit some.<br />
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Suggested resources:<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Comprehension-Through-Conversation-Purposeful-Workshop/dp/0325007934" target="_blank">Maria Nichols (2006) <i>Comprehension through Conversation</i></a> can be a cornerstone for early to mid elementary instruction. <br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Choice-Words-Language-Childrens-Learning/dp/1571103899/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461688393&sr=1-3&keywords=peter+johnston" target="_blank">Peter Johnston (2004)</a> encourages teachers to speak to students in the language of literacy. If we call students writers then they will become writers.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reading-World-VHS-Comprehension-Linguistically/dp/1571103791/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461688516&sr=8-2&keywords=stephanie+harvey+and+anne+goudvis+reading+the+world" target="_blank">Stephanie Harvey and Ann Gouva’s <i>Reading the World</i></a> video series can be helpful for exploring culture; however, Amazon only lists the VHS version.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Academic-Conversations-Classroom-Critical-Understandings/dp/157110884X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461688645&sr=8-1&keywords=zwiers+and+crawford" target="_blank">Zwiers and Crawford (2011) <i>Academic Conversations</i>.</a><br />
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*All names are pseudonyms.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-30512594414482021342016-04-25T11:35:00.000-05:002016-04-25T12:59:21.230-05:00A Teacher's (Re)certification Journey: English Learner Standards, Common Core, and Resources (Part 2)<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The new <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/" target="_blank">Common Core State Standards for English language arts</a> (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) ushered in new perspectives on literacy in the classroom. I embraced these standards when I designed a literacy workshop that supplemented the language arts curriculum. With additional time, students <a href="http://spmsliteracyworkshop.blogspot.com/2012/04/multiple-readings-with-multiple.html" target="_blank">could experience books through small group discussions</a> and projects and essential questions around relevant middle school ideas such as the <a href="http://spmsliteracyworkshop.blogspot.com/2012/03/deeper-thinking-in-middle-school.html" target="_blank">First Amendment</a>. Yet, students needed to experience literacy throughout their school day instead of in designated writing classes. I commented on this concern in my dissertation:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Common Core State Standards Initiative (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, 2010), approved in forty-three states, addresses the implementation of literacy standards in all content areas. <a href="http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/12493/What_is_Happening_in_the_Teaching_of_Writing_Applebee_Langer.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d" target="_blank">Applebee and Langer (2009)</a> wrote extensively of the state of writing instruction and cautioned that the long avoidance of writing in the content areas pre-twentieth century would make it difficult for educators to re-incorporate writing in the curriculum. Nearly ten years later, writing accountability creates an urgency barely noticeable before, even though researchers have discussed the need for effective literacy strategy implementation for years. With the public reporting of achievement scores, schools vie in a competitive slap-down for prime spots at the top. (Vujaklija, 2016)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Expanding and increasing literacy in the content areas has become both a blessing and a curse. Students are writing and reading more types of text than ever before. Unfortunately, with so much pressure, content teachers hesitate to make modifications because CCSS standards require written text unlike many modifications for English learners that include visual supports. These problems are real for EL teachers like Ms. Castle* who works to support her students both in the content-area classrooms and her level 1 and level 2 English classes. She explained that <i>recall</i> ranks low on a <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/explore/depth-of-knowledge/" target="_blank">Depth of Knowledge chart</a>, but for an English language learner, <i>recall </i>ranks very high. DOK and EL learning do not always equate, which complicates content-area learning for English learners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Three pieces have come into play to address these challenges: <a href="https://www.wida.us/aboutUs/" target="_blank">WIDA consortium</a>, <a href="https://www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/standards/tesol-caep-standards-for-p-12-teacher-education-programs" target="_blank">TESOL Teacher Standards</a> (revised in 2009), and <a href="http://www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/standards/the-common-core-state-standards-and-english-learners" target="_blank">TESOL Common Core resources for English learners</a>. These pieces form three sides of the EL triangle to include resources for students (and for teachers to meet students' needs), expectations for the EL teacher in response to cultural differences, and the supports EL teachers need in order to meet the demands of the Common Core. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">According to <a href="https://www.wida.us/aboutUs/AcademicLanguage/" target="_blank">WIDA’s website</a>: “Everything WIDA does revolves around the significance of academic language and how to empower language learners to reach for success.” In fact, the WIDA website overwhelmed me with its resources on <a href="https://www.wida.us/standards/" target="_blank">standards and instruction</a>, <a href="https://www.wida.us/assessment/" target="_blank">assessment</a>, <a href="https://www.wida.us/ProfessionalDev/" target="_blank">professional learning</a>, and <a href="https://www.wida.us/Research/" target="_blank">research</a>. The same might very well be true for veteran teachers similarly overwhelmed with bridging new literacy standards to EL teacher standards, as well as best classroom practices for students. During a professional development session I attended recently, one second grade teacher shared that her EL teacher collaborator did not access the WIDA resources and wondered why. I would venture to say that although the resources are outstanding, when layered with the Common Core State Standards and the EL Teacher Standards, she may just be overwhelmed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The TESOL Teacher Standards identify culture as an integral component for English learners. The document states: "Teachers of English language learners (ELLs) in the United States need to have knowledge of other cultures and know how culture may affect the acculturation of immigrants or children of immigrants in the United States. They also need to know how acculturation may be in conflict with typical U.S. educational patterns” (p. 6). These teacher standards advocate for "constructivist pedagogy" (p. 10) with meaningful connections and considerations to students' home cultures. Importantly, teachers must view students as having funds of knowledge as contributors to the classroom. Resources such as this edition of <a href="http://previous.lib.uci.edu/online/nabe/docs/2011/NABE%20News%20v.33%20no.5%20Sep-Nov%202011.pdf" target="_blank">The Magazine of the National Association for Bilingual Education</a> offer inspiration and guidance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The TESOL Common Core document stated that "ESL teachers can play a critical role in helping content teachers analyze the academic language demands of their content areas, design lessons that teach academic language and content simultaneously, and implement CCSS-based instruction for ELs” (p. 9). The rigorous new demands for essential content-area as well as college and career-ready vocabulary places the ESL teacher’s vocabulary instruction training at a particular advantage to the content-area teacher. Unfortunately, the document also included a personal reflection from one EL teacher who remarked that her co-teachers were surprised she was attending a Common Core training with them. It is unnerving that anyone would be seen as not needed in a conversation about educational standards and the implementation of best instructional practices in and outside the classroom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The TESOL recommendations were typical of most professional development descriptions--CCSS training for ESL teachers needs to be practical and integrated with what is already being done within the classroom. Without authenticity and a means for engaging teachers, professional development falls short of its intended goal to impact instructional practices. The sessions I attended seemed primed for immediate classroom impact, which is the next step in this teacher's journey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*All names are pseudonyms</span>Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-39923086924630496292016-04-24T17:39:00.000-05:002016-04-25T12:58:37.811-05:00Crossing State Lines: Correcting EL/Bilingual Methods Deficiencies for Teacher Certification (Part 1)<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we first decided to move from Kentucky to Illinois, I sought out guidelines for becoming certified to teach middle and secondary language arts. In whatever way our new adventure developed, I wanted to be prepared. Many university teacher education programs require certification in their states, further catalyzing my push for an Illinois teacher license. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.kyepsb.net/certification/certstandardroutes.asp" target="_blank">Kentucky requires tests</a> called the PRAXIS that assess teacher candidates in content areas and teaching knowledge, which I passed in 2003 before being hired as a middle school language arts teacher. However, <a href="http://www.isbe.net/licensure/html/out_of_state.htm" target="_blank">Illinois required another round of tests</a>, which I paid to take last fall and passed, and which removed some of the "deficiencies" (yes, this is what Illinois calls them), moving me toward full certification--but not completely. Throughout my teacher education graduate program and later doctoral studies, nowhere did I have coursework specifically focused on English language learning or bilingual methods. Therefore, my dissertation adviser and I worked out a plan for me to design an independent study to include different types of observation hours (professional development sessions, classroom observations, and interviews) and various readings (English learner teacher standards, research articles, proven strategies, and critical literacy texts). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the end of my dissertation journey and having been certified to teach in Kentucky for so many years, I was more than slightly annoyed at having to complete these requirements (pay for tests, pay for another graduate course) but chose to see the potential positives of this last "deficiency." The positives did, indeed, come to light as I found readings and field locations to support my English language learner/bilingual methods curriculum. Through texts such as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pose-Wobble-Flow-Culturally-Instruction-ebook/dp/B015QIY2XQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461536751&sr=1-1&keywords=pose+wobble+flow" target="_blank">O'Donnell-Allen and Garcia's (2015) <i>Pose, Wobble, Flow</i></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anxious-Language-Learner-Saudi-Womans-ebook/dp/B00UY2TDE8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461536815&sr=1-1&keywords=anxious+language+learner" target="_blank">Al-Saraj's (2015) <i>The Anxious Language Learner</i></a>, I realized there was more to an English language learner methods course than best classroom practices and time-proven strategies. I learned to shift my mindset to look at cultural and motivational components of learning English.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After gathering reading material, I volunteered to help the <a href="http://illinoiswritingproject.com/" target="_blank">Illinois Writing Project</a> with an in-service day at a nearby district. By serendipitous fortune, I met Stacie who was a director for the English Learner/Bilingual program in a northern district. She presented a professional development session on K-5 EL in the morning and 6-12 EL in the afternoon. I attended both. Her presentations and classroom strategies for meeting the various needs of English learners prompted me to request observation time in her district elementary, middle, and secondary schools. And that is where real learning began.</span>Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-44487443660143727602016-04-20T11:12:00.000-05:002016-04-20T11:12:58.063-05:00Career Crossroads with a Ph.D.When I started the Ph.D. program nearly five years ago it was because I needed to know about literacy instruction, how it affected my middle school students, and how to do it better. Fast forward four and a half years and see how the direction has shifted ever so slightly. But a few degrees on the compass changes everything.<br />
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My dissertation, successfully defended on March 28, 2016, documented a narrative inquiry study about planning professional development. Interest in literacy instruction and student motivation led to studying those topics, but this interest also led to presenting at conferences, co-facilitating institutes, and planning large-scale professional development to be implemented across the country. My friend and colleague in the National Writing Project who I worked with in the most recent planning adventure has often said that teaching her high school students fills her. That is partially true of me, too. But more so, being with other teachers as we plan, work through school demands, and become smarter together fills me.<br />
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Knowing I belong in a professional development or adult-learning career, I have applied to various universities within the metro area. I also keep my eyes open for curriculum positions. So today I come to a crossroads in my career. As I consider my family and the ages of my children, the idea of commuting to a university in downtown Chicago makes me queasy. I continue to apply for positions at these institutions of higher learning because I am passionate about teaching pre- and in-service teachers. However, commuting to satellite campuses and teaching online courses are my best family-friendly options. Unfortunately, a newly-minted Ph.D. cannot (or should not?) make demands such as these.<br />
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Nervous and scared of the unknown, I began applying to the local school districts when junior high language arts position openings started appearing. After teaching 8th grade in Kentucky for ten years, this feels safe to me. No matter what I tell myself about needing some Illinois classroom experience or getting known in a school district, it is safe. Period. My whole family would continue comfortably within my comfort zone (and theirs, too) if I return to the middle school/junior high classroom.<br />
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A few degrees on my compass has changed my direction and now I'm facing risks, a scary unknown. I realize now that I should embrace the words spoken by the director of national programs at the National Writing Project during our recent initiative:<br />
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You know it's scary but you keep having these experiences where you walk up to that scariness and then you do it and then you're on the other side of it and you realize you can do things you didn't know you could do.</blockquote>
Am I ready to walk up this new pathway? Is my family ready for the scariness of possible commutes, irregular hours, unpredictable pay?<br />
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It's time to decide. My next interview is in just a few hours and I need to prepare my answer if offered a position.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-76966247936616399652015-09-03T18:14:00.001-05:002015-09-04T07:00:21.523-05:00Leadership of Reflective Inquiry<div>
As I viewed the responses this morning for my Advanced Reading Methods course, I felt my heart getting fuller with the depth of thinking and connections I found on the discussion board. The graduate students wrote at length about classroom experiences and contexts that pushed them to dig deeper into studying what might work for their own students. They highlighted excerpts from the <i>Best Practices</i> text, as would be expected in a reading response, but also shared their struggles with rising to the expectations teachers should have for themselves when using "best practices" in their classrooms. While the posts shared elements of "still trying" and "not there yet," the writings carried with them a sense of reflecting for the purpose of inquiring forward, of unmasking weaknesses in order to find strength in the community and the texts. Peers have begun sharing resources and posing questions of each other, probing for more context so they can both understand and prompt for internally persuasive dialogue. </div>
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My friend in the National Writing Project said she has witnessed teachers all over the country get together to figure things out. Teachers in different content areas, grade levels, and departments have the capacity to think through issues and work towards solutions. We see this in groups of teachers who know individually they do not have the answers, who see the group as being smarter than any one entity.</div>
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This brings me to the role a leader has in a class, organization, or small group. A leader, whether he/she is a teacher leader, an administrator, or PD provider must understand the situation of the inquiry or problem, the interaction among the group members, and the continuity or time line for action. A leader knows how these three elements intersect to create the dynamics of reflective inquiry. If a leader is responsible for managing the moving parts, how can the leader also solve the problem? In knowing the terrain, the leader within a school setting can make clear the path for teachers to do the hard work of reflecting, inquiring, testing, and analyzing.</div>
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My role in this course was assigning a text, setting up a discussion board, and designing a calendar of assignments. Much of my syllabus is a credit to my friend and newly-graduated PhD. My adjustments made the course more accessible to online learning but did not change the content or focus. But I must pause here to acknowledge a leader's role in a course. The leader's preparation before the course begins builds the foundation for students to be participatory in the work of each class. I believe the group is smarter than the individual. I especially believe any group I teach will be smarter in many ways than I will be as its instructor.</div>
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As a leader in the sense that I instruct classes, I need to acknowledge that it's okay to be the leader and not in charge of the learning. <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sheridan Blau</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">, </span>a keynote speaker for a National Writing Project <a href="http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2367" target="_blank">annual meeting</a> spoke of research surrounding the proficiency of professionals in different fields. What I need to remember is that research says having questions and feeling inadequate signals proficiency or at least the desire to get there. If we think we are proficient, we probably aren't. It makes me chuckle to think about my friend in the Writing Project who says she hopes feeling dumb is actually a sign of how smart she is--I laugh at this because she really is one of the smartest people I know.</div>
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My dissertation research into reflective inquiry has me questioning how group members work together with and as leaders to plan professional development. I want to know what fosters or hinders reflective inquiry in our professional development planning. At first, I thought the backtalk of authoritative discourse and internally persuasive discourse would be the static I would need to tune into. Then I realized the backtalk of these discourses pushes thinking but does not necessarily hinder or foster inquiry. I paused then to consider the leadership roles within our group and discovered the growth of reflective inquiry when clear leadership is present. A leader who defines the context, poses questions, and trusts the members with the thinking process encourages and fosters reflective inquiry. What happens sometimes, though, is people may enter the discussion without having hold of all the necessary intersecting elements in reflective inquiry.</div>
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To engage in reflective inquiry, one must look backward to dissect favorable and unfavorable events and experiences so that some may be repeated and others may (hopefully) never be seen again. At the same time, a reflective inquirer must see enough value in the present work to want to see its positive effects in a different, future context. If a future value cannot be determined or cannot be seen, whether personally, professionally, in part, or in whole, the inquiry can die before taking root. A reflective inquirer recognizes adaptability in the problem, solution, and him/herself. Reflective inquiry is about seeking answers to future questions while solving present problems.</div>
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I do not know all the answers. I ask questions, think deeply, ponder inadequacies, and learn constantly. Am I a reflective inquirer? I hope so. My future in teaching will be bleak if I cannot re-envision past lessons and learn from all my previous experiences. But once I know all the answers, I think I can retire from teaching and leading.</div>
Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-59525176211069006532014-01-29T20:26:00.002-06:002014-01-29T20:29:59.386-06:00Countdown to CompsMy advisers told me that I can't take any more classes after I finish these in May. Certainly I need to know more. A huge body of knowledge waits for further investigation and exploration. But I have to complete comprehensive exams sometime, and June looks like the time. <br />
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Has anyone else suffered more nervousness in the last semester of coursework than in the beginning? I have only begun the process of walking through the exam requirements and I don't feel ready. Have I really gleaned all I could from every class experience and every teacher who has taught them? <br />
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I think I have seen some signs that perhaps I am ready or nearly there. Usually my classmates and I latch onto the theories or methodologies presented in the current class or fall in love with particular research topics. That has been true for me until very recently. During the summer and fall, we learned about various qualitative research traditions. During the fall, I noticed a change in some of us. Instead of oooing and ahhing over each one, we each showed distinct passions for different traditions. We expressed our own opinions and even wrinkled our noses at some different methodologies chosen by our colleagues. <br />
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Recently, a friend of mine sent me an article link that showed the artistic side of State of the Union Address, clearly an arts based researcher's dream. But I have trouble understanding that tradition. I love stories. Narrative inquiry and discourse analysis intrigue me. <br />
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Teacher agency and voice. This is the story I want to learn and want to tell. What helps the teacher find a confident voice? Will confident voices inspire teacher agency and advocacy? These are questions I have today. They may change slightly tomorrow, but I will still search for the story. And I will be ready.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-63539779561443485272014-01-14T21:32:00.001-06:002014-01-14T21:42:37.716-06:00Story as a Fossil and the NCTE Proposal TitleAs I struggle with the right conference proposal title, I think about the aha moment I had just an hour ago while reading Stephen King's <i>On Writing</i>. I bought this book some years ago and enjoyed reading it then as I am enjoying a reread of it now. But the section about fossils and symbolism made me pause: "If you can go along with the concept of the story as a pre-existing thing, a fossil in the ground, then symbolism must also be pre-existing, right? Just another bone (or set of them) in your new discovery" (p. 198). Stories, he said, are fully formed and need the proper excavation tools. And maybe symbols and deeper meanings are much the same.<br />
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What this comes to is my narrative stance in research. I want to study, to write about, <i>inquire </i>into the idea of transformation experiences in teacher development. Why do certain professional development experiences transform some teachers and not others? How might narrative inquiry help us know the entire story that answers that question? It seems that there is a fossil that must be discovered, unearthed, and polished for us to understand why some teachers respond with renewed vigor for the profession and others decide that one more hoop just won't do it for them. I suspect transformation has to do with the validation teachers finally feel as professionals when they attend learning opportunities that honor their capacity as leaders.<br />
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Recently, I learned about another kind of transformation. By listening to interviews, reading transcripts, and focusing on the story being told, I found a thread running through many conversations between one teacher and myself. I created a narrative research/literature review that uncovered an interesting element that could lead to the teacher's exploration of new classroom strategies. Seeing the story of our work, the teacher realized our conversations, more than class reflections, were intelligent talk that moved learning and discovery forward. That story is still developing. But it may be key to figuring out the transformation piece. Perhaps the transformed teachers discovered a fossil--their mission, teaching story, or leadership ability, perhaps--and were able to polish it with renewed strength and insight with the right excavation [PD] tools. That, too, remains to be seen.<br />
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There may be no easy formula to determine the best professional learning opportunity. It most likely is dependent on the disposition of the attendee and his or her context. If that is true, even the well-designed PD may fall short of delivering (or deliverance). This inquiry goes deeper than examining professional development feedback databases or administering surveys. The story begins at the fossil, in the classroom before the professional development experience. Either polishing happens or it doesn't, but we have to know the fossil from the beginning.<br />
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So I am still stuck with no title for my NCTE proposal and am only a little clearer on my narrative stance in research. <br />
<br />Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6248208611405791204.post-5446555841414447732014-01-09T22:05:00.000-06:002014-01-09T22:05:36.425-06:00Writing for Publication FearsIt is finally here--the last semester of coursework before I conquer comprehensive exams, submit a proposal, conduct research, write a dissertation, defend the dissertation, and finish. So perhaps the end is not really in sight at all. The strange thing is I am more worried about successfully completing one of my classes this semester than I have been about coursework since my first few weeks in the literacy program. As a qualitative researcher, I would have thought statistics might rank as the biggest scare, but it so far has not come close to what I fear in "Writing for Publication."<br />
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In this class, we are expected to submit a polished manuscript to a journal (in addition to reading, responding, discussing, etc.). Why is this task so frightening? In previous semesters, I have gathered data, coded, used data software, written memos, and summarized findings. I have written literature reviews, compiled digital portfolios with extensive hyperlinks, and mindmapped my heart out. I have submitted conference proposals (and presented), redesigned a course syllabus, and planned workshops. The journey to this point has been rich with incredible learning experiences. So what makes this class different? The audience just got tougher. <br />
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First of all, I have no idea what my topic might be. My inclination is to pick up a narrative I worked on last semester about co-teaching with a friend of mine. Yet, even though it has embedded research, it is still a narrative which may not find a journal home. Another thought is to flesh out the experiences of last summer's institute attendees as we begin planning for next summer. This appeals to me right now in ways it didn't before I had to think about what to write for this class.<br />
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Next, I am not sure which journal I should woo. Most familiar are <i>Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy</i>, <i>English Journal</i>, <i>Voices in the Middle</i>, and <i>Language Arts</i>. Others are probably more appropriate for what I will write, though. I am not really interested in writing about strategies at this point but about experiences in particular learning conditions--especially the adult learners (teachers) during professional development.<br />
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All these obstacles will be overcome with time. Fortunately, I know the professor pretty well. She, along with the others in the class, will do what we always do in this PhD program--support and push. I have already made progress in pushing away the fears of writing by, yes, writing. My phantom audience has allowed me to voice my concern, list my strengths, and discuss some action items (thank you). I feel the familiar release that writing gives me. And for now the fog clears.Amy Vujaklijahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11750459590365967223noreply@blogger.com0