Category: Educational Leadership

The Last Three Years: What makes a great teaching team?

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Most teachers find themselves at a crossroads or two, as careers reach transitional points and the best teaching “home” turns up in a new place. I now find myself at such a crossroads for the second time in my career, as I prepare to leave my current placement, which I’ve held for three years, to pursue a new position in the Communications department at Port Washington High School. This fills me with excitement and zeal for discovery as I look forward to connecting with new students, advancing my career, and learning new things from colleagues with vast experience and wisdom to share. Still, while packing up my classroom this weekend, I realized how difficult it will be for me to face this final week of teaching at Sheboygan Falls High.

The experience of teaching at SFHS gave me so much that one might think it would be difficult to pinpoint just one particular thing that made three years’ worth of plans, projects, presentations, performances, professional development, and pedagogy memorable. But it’s not. All alliteration aside, when I think about the last three years, it’s the people that will keep this chapter of my career ingrained in my heart. Specifically, the people in my department. As we all move on to shift our teaching directions in big and small ways next year, I know that I need to thank the stars that I somehow landed in such an amazing team. So, I’ve decided, as my tribute to these many days spent teaching together, I’d write my thank you in the form of a list: Things that Make a Great Teaching Team. This, of course, comes with the implication that I could not have learned these things without working alongside my outstanding team, lovingly and forever known as “the superdepartment.”

superdept

Things that Make a Great Teaching Team

Laughter: Teachers who work together with positivity are able to find humor in all situations–to ease frustration, to find a way through befuddlement, to celebrate success, to delight in the work of teaching.

Expertise: A fantastic team is made up of wickedly smart teachers, who have measured expertise in specific content/pedagogical areas. The members of the team know each other’s strengths, and put each other in the position to share, develop, and actively use their specialized outstanding knowledge and abilities.

Drive: The team is comprised of people who have a strong desire to work together in order to make each day better and more successful for students. They simply don’t ever stop creating, reading, questioning, revising, experimenting, and collaborating.

Communication: Effective team members trust one another, and are clear about what they are thinking, needing, and doing. They ask questions, challenge one another when appropriate, and relate to and support each other openly. They build lessons, curriculum, and initiatives together, working in person and online as a group.

Risk-Taking: An outstanding team is not afraid of doing things that have never been done before. In fact, when convinced of positive potential, they actively pursue it. They welcome challenge, ambitious projects, and new approaches. They know that as a team, their risk-taking will result in new knowledge and breakthroughs.

Compassion: A truly cohesive team cares for one another and their students unconditionally. A warm, receptive, caring attitude towards every team member is something that can be counted on at all times.

Purpose: Team members are able to develop and define their mission(s) for the year. This mission unites the team as each teacher does what he or she can to make progress toward the team goals, with the knowledge that results will be seen. A sense of purpose pervades the cohort and inspires them to work for results.

 

Thanks for a great ride, guys. This has been three years well spent. :)

Managing Teacher Morale from the Inside

Unfortunately for me, I began my teaching career in a place and in a time that is… well… maybe not the best place and time to be a teacher. Teacher morale across the U.S. is at the lowest it’s been in 25 years.  And in case anybody’s wondering if, as just one teacher in just one school, you can tell that there are some serious morale issues in the system, trust me: you can tell. It’s an issue of politics. It’s an issue of economics. It’s an issue of the performance of our national public education system. But for teachers, it necessarily becomes personal. The first time I wrote about this was in 2011, when I shared some reflections and a mental approach for dealing with some of the uncomfortable realities of how public education has changed in my own state. I find myself needing to weigh in on the topic again, after reading this sobering teacher morale-related blog post from one of my longtime colleagues and friends, Ms. S. She expresses many of the same concerns I’ve heard about from fellow teachers from many different schools–the burden of exponentially increasing responsibilities and accountability, the financially crippling cuts and freezes in pay, the sense of powerlessness, and the fear associated with speaking up about any of it. Some of these I’ve experienced myself. Plainly said, it’s an injustice, especially to highly effective, early-career educators who are trying to establish themselves as leaders and innovators in the churning belly of a system that seems hell-bent on merely spitting them back out.  

Taking political action, on local, state, and national levels is one way to try to make a difference in the current climate, but that’s not useful for making a personal difference right now. As professionals with a daily, important job to do, we can’t just tune out until the next election term rolls around. So, what do we do–today–about teacher morale… as teachers?

I don’t have all the answers. But I have a couple. I am, after all, the very official self-appointed Morale Officer of the English department at my school. Yeah, it’s a made up title, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not legitimate! :)  Sometimes, to get out of a very deep, dark hole, one has to be creative. And that’s not limited to inventing honorary titles. Here are some other things you can do:

Morale Toolkit

I think the absolute best defense against low morale is building a strong support system via a professional support network. I wrote in-depth about how to do that in this post from a couple years back. Nothing is more helpful during times of struggle than relating to and seeking support from other educators.

Also, don’t let this job kill you! Stay strong, literally, by being kind to yourself in what you eat, how much mental and physical rest you afford yourself, and opportunities you give yourself to exercise and feel physically alive and well. If your devotion to your teaching (and associated responsibilities) are impinging on your ability to fulfill these things, you have taken on too much. Teachers are heroes, but they don’t need to be martyrs. You’ll be a better educator if you are healthy and whole. Jealously guard your own health and sanity. Sometimes, the grading can wait.

While I don’t think that “do it for the kids” should be a reason to pile extra expectation without compensation onto our educators, I do think that teachers should take a moment each day to look around at the difference that they are creating. Look at those kids, and what they can do, and what they love to do that they never thought they would, because of your influence. No amount of bureaucracy will ever be able to stomp out the wonder or beauty of that.

One very specific thing to try in order to stay interested in and inspired by your teaching career is incorporating your own interests and hobbies into your teaching methods. Since I can’t always find the time or money to pursue creative endeavors, I sometimes make my teaching into my creative endeavor. For example, I love to write, draw, and perform. So, I’ll make a comic strip to teach my students a new skill. Or I’ll write a piece of short fiction to demonstrate author craft. I’ll recite a rap to my class to teach them something. These things give me joy and fulfillment because they are my favorite things to do! By applying them to my teaching, I’m making my job fun, and my students also get to feed off of my engaged interest in the method/medium of the day’s lesson.

Another strategy that’s a bit harder to define is… silliness. Laughter is a necessary remedy in low-morale environments. It’s ok to be a little “out there” sometimes in one’s efforts to make colleagues smile or to create a positive vibe in the teaching day. How about a short, relevant-to-the-curriculum Play-Doh activity at the beginning of class? Maybe have your students write a parody skit to review some literature. Play very, very mild practical jokes on your colleagues, if they are up for such a challenge. Or, when all else fails, you can make a poster of your department members as superheroes like I did.

Oh, yes I did: omg_dept2

Courtesy of Marvel.com’s “Create Your Own Superhero” game.

Finally, the gold standard for beating low morale is what I like to call stupidly stubborn positivity. This means coming into work with a (stupid?) grin and calling out “good morning!” to everyone you pass. This means smiling at and personally meeting every student at the door. This means occasionally responding to the dreaded, “How’s it going?” question in the copyroom with a brave, non-sarcastic, “Pretty fantastic!” Think I’m crazy? Try it. Things are going to get better–that possibility needs to become a fact in your mind in order for you to reframe your reality into a positive one. There is such a thing as good days. Don’t let the bad things–because there will always be bad things–completely steal the spirit that got you into this career. You’re here. You are doing good things. Keep. Fighting.

I know that none of these suggestions will make the struggles evaporate, pay the bills, or protect us from forces over which we have little control. But they might help in the meantime. Please share other strategies, connect, and lift up. From our joined sense of mission and our combined intelligence as educational leaders, we can help keep the otherwise overwhelming tide of low morale at bay.

 

Great Expectations: Bringing Rigor Vita into the Classroom

One of the biggest words in education theory today is rigor. According to the Rigor/Relevance Framework established by the International Center for Leadership in Education, academic rigor refers to “learning in which students demonstrate a thorough, in-depth mastery of challenging tasks to develop cognitive skills through reflective thought, analysis, problem-solving, evaluation, or creativity.” This expectation, that teachers will demonstrate a curriculum that not only covers the basics, but also challenges each student to the utmost of his or her ability, can leave already overburdened or disenfranchised educators feeling pressured. We might find ourselves asking things like, “How am I supposed to show rigor when some of my students can’t even read up to grade level?” There’s no magical potion to turn struggling students into savants, this much is true. But I’d like to posit that boosting the rigor of our courses, rather than something to shrink from, is something that we should be applying with a vengeance.

On the curricular level, standards are set by the nation, the state, and the district. For those of us working with the Common Core State Standards, we’ve noticed the rigor ramping up. But really, when you walk into a real world classroom, it’s not the state of Wisconsin that’s setting the bar for the students’ performance. The person setting that bar is the person standing at the front of the room. We all know about The Standards, but what about our standards? I don’t know about you, but I’ve got them. Go ahead, say it with me:

“I have standards!”

This is what I tell my students when they ask me why something is so hard, or why they are expected to do something in such a particular way. It’s because I have standards–for them, for my classroom, for myself as a professional. And they are rigorous standards, because I know my students will reach toward what I expect for them. And I expect excellence! As my hideously wonderful tie-dye classroom poster proclaims, excellence is the goal. No matter where we fall, we are better when we aim for superior performance. And my daily demand for a higher standard from my students is far more immediate and powerful than the CCSS binder sitting sagely on my bookshelf. It makes them want to be better. That desire is fuel for a fire that can equate to greater achievement, even in the most unexpected places.

Concrete and Realistic Ways to Implement Greater Rigor in the High School Classroom

Communicate Effectively and Often: Students really do want to please, despite how much they may sometimes protest. And that’s a lot easier to do when they know what is expected. Create challenging, but very clear learning targets and explain them often, in different ways. As students begin work, engage the lost and distracted in an open conversation–”do you know what we’re doing right now?” Many times, the answer is “no,” but quickly becomes “ok!” after a personal connection. You can also recruit more with-it students to explain classroom processes to a nearby classmate. Take the time to verbally monitor success (it’s a great way to formatively assess on the spot). It only takes a moment to say, “This part that you wrote is really strong because…” or “What did you think of the way the author comes across in this paragraph?” The more acquainted we can be with our students’ current performance, the better we learn how to appropriately challenge and support them next.

Dare to Demand Amazing Things: Wish your students could do something like… perform a scene from Twelfth Night for a live audience? Or market and sell a unique product? Or have professional conversations with local community members? Or design a school vegetable garden? They can. If you need someone to say it, I’m saying it: They Absolutely Can. They need resources and guidance, and may have some failures along the way, but young people are unbelievably capable. Society doesn’t always view teenagers for the wonders they are. Especially if they know that an adult believes that they can do something, they will rise to the occasion. Try to implement one amazing thing per year–something that expects students to reach beyond their normal capabilities for a classroom cause.

Accept that there Is Such a Thing as “Unacceptable” Part of rigor is making a clear statement that mediocrity is not enough. Resist the fear of the irritated parent phone call and draw a bold line that defines unacceptable performance. If a student falls short of expectations, it’s ok to hand work right back to them and say, “This is not acceptable.” Paired with an understanding ear, a re-clarification of expectations, and an opportunity for another try, this is an important moment for teacher and student. Struggling students in this scenario are able to express their areas of struggle, while the lazy or line-pushing students get the message that… well… we have standards! I also try to mirror society’s expectations by defining unacceptable social actions (such as trash-talking anyone in my presence), and even unacceptable grammar mistakes (papers with instances of the wrong “there/their/they’re” get harshly downgraded or, on occasion, handed back without a grade)!

Research Your Own Practicum and Content  Students can tell when their teacher is working hard to provide quality instruction. Consider doing a bit of new reading on something you’ve taught many times before. If we want our students to respect the idea of lifelong learning, we need to model it! High standards for our teaching translate to rigor in expectations… because when our passion overflows, we want our students to understand the subject with the same intriguing complexity that we do.

Celebrate Hard Work  Through your classroom actions and outright statements, communicate the value of hard work. Help students understand that the immediate gratification of Google searches will only go so far in building true knowledge. Help them build reading stamina. Rejoice in the painfully slow but successful interpretation of a 17th century text. Share the deliciously frustrating reality of the writing and research process that makes the payoff that much sweeter. When students know that success doesn’t just descend from above onto the “A” students, they start to make a connection between industriousness and achievement.

Be a Cheerleader  Be vocal when students do well. Write proud comments on their work. Brag about them in the announcements. Post their work in the display case. Write an article about them in the school newspaper. One honest, affirming comment can inspire a student to work twice as hard. Yesterday, after my students finished reading their original poems for the class, I said, “These were so good! You guys make me want to stand up and cheer!” It was true! Every kid deserves to hear something like that once in a while. And don’t reserve praise just for overachievers–when a D average student pulls out a B- performance, it is just as much cause for affirmation and validation.

Create a Culture of Team Achievement The broken record classroom management philosophy that I’ve had since day one has been “We’re all in this together.” Friendly competition can be stimulating, but at the end of the day, students need to understand that the classroom is a community. Make them aware of the fact that their actions, words, and attitude have real power over those in their vicinity. Encourage them to encourage each other, and they’ll want to do well–not just for themselves, but for each other.

 

Writing Center Work Translates to Teaching: an interview

 

Interview at UW-Milwaukee

Earlier this year, I was happy to revisit the beautiful UW-Milwaukee Writing Center, where I worked as an undergrad, for an interview. The UWM Writing Center, which you can visit by going to The Writing Center Homepage, was one of my first steps as an educator, and has often translated into my teaching. [You can read even more about that in this post from last year.]

In the interview, which is the latest in an ongoing series of short interviews with current and alumni tutors, I was asked to describe how my work in the UWM Writing Center influenced my teaching career. Trust me when I say that these few minutes are just a fraction of what I was able to talk about! The idea of a writing center is a beautifully simple one–to provide a place where student writers can communicate with other, highly qualified student writers to receive feedback without the pressure or power dynamic of a student-instructor relationship. It’s a great idea for high schools, too. I hope that one day I’ll be able to work with my colleagues to start one at my own place of employment. If and when that happens, I’ll continue to draw from the rich supply of experience that I gained in the WC. :)

 

Top Ten

The school that I work for has the tradition of holding a formal banquet to honor the top ten students in the graduating class and a group of ten influential teachers as chosen by the students. This year, I was lucky and surprised to be chosen by Miss D., a shining young literary scholar who took my AP Literature and Composition class as well as my Theater Arts class this year. It was interesting and enjoyable to say the least to meet the parents of these fine young individuals, to get a nod from administration, to eat delicious food, and to see everyone dressed up in formal attire..

It really is special to attend a banquet that honors outstanding academic achievement as well as the role that teachers play in creating the atmosphere for that achievement to occur. The honors and accolades earned by this group of students was impressive to say the least, but what made the occasion memorable was how honestly and precisely the students were able to pinpoint, in their brief speeches, ways in which a particular teacher was able to spark something important in them, to light their path on the journey of self-discovery. Each student needs something a little different to discover his or her genius, and that made me sit and ponder the vast diversity in teaching styles, personalities, and types of expertise among teachers. As much as popular culture may at times reinforce a single image of what “the teacher” looks like or does, real teachers have extremely individualized ways of doing what they do. All teachers have an individual, unique potential to really strike a particular type of student. Skilled teachers are able to engage every kid in their classroom. But really clicking with a student to the point that he or she views you as truly influential? That’s something rare… and has much to do with the chemistry between a student’s way of seeing the world and the unique style and spirit of the teacher whom they admire.

Thinking about the fact that I clicked with one of these outstanding students, that I sparked something within her, makes me feel proud to be her teacher. It also makes me feel proud to be a teacher, since we have such an exceptional opportunity to connect to other human beings in a meaningful way by virtue of our profession. And the best thing is that each new year presents new opportunities for unique connections, as the cards are reshuffled and both students and teachers hopefully anticipate a lucky hand.

Top Ten 2012 009

Reflections on NCTE’s Centennial Convention (Chicago, 2011)

I recently was able to participate in the most major professional enrichment adventure of my career so far–the National Council of Teachers of English annual convention, held this year in Chicago, IL at the Chicago Hilton and Palmer House. It was the most gigantic gathering of English educators I’ve ever witnessed, and was a once in a lifetime experience in several ways. Since NCTE ’11 was such a rapid-fire, varied multiday experience, I’ve decided to post about it in a personal journal style, using snippets from my reflection notebook. It is my hope that I can pass on some of the useful ideas, resources, and inspiration gained from this professional adventure, and offer a glance into one teacher’s perspective on the NCTE Centennial Celebration.

DAY ONE (Thursday, 17 Nov 2011)

10:25 am: I am riding in a white behemoth of a van with two of my fellow English teacher coworkers, Ms. D and Mr. M. There is music steadily humming through the speakers and I’m offering  some backseat harmonies to the soft singing-along of my colleagues. It sounds idyllic, because it is–I have (what I know is) the unique luck of having a fantastic, supportive friendship with these two and Ms. J, who is already in the Windy City waiting to meet us! Compound the collegial love with the fact that our stellar principal allowed our voyage to be funded through school, and I feel like the luckiest teacher in the state. So thankful for this opportunity to see some of the best minds in my field do their thing.

2:30 pm: Featured Session, Talking Writer to Writer: Rediscovering the Power of Conferring (Douglas Kaufman, Penny Kittle, and Linda Rief)

This session reaffirms the idea that the most successful writing conferences are often the most natural and the most simple. Sometimes as simple as identifying “This is what I heard/learned from your piece” and “This is what I still want to know about what you’ve written.” This all ties in to a great, prescient quote from Doug–”[Teachers] have to be a part of a small revolution where we go back to our roots and focus on learning events: learning, laughing, and listening with our students, and then acting accordingly.” Indeed, neither conferences nor teaching in general should be formulaic. Sometimes the best teaching naturally flows from our hearts and brains during true, human interactions. No list of questions can ever measure up to that. Also, Penny Kittle seems like someone I’d love to have lunch with! Book to investigate: Penny Kittle’s Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing.

4:30 pm: Speaker Chris Crutcher, author of Whale Talk, and other well-known, well-loved, often censored young adult titles

Before Chris Crutcher takes the stage, there is an announcement about the launch of the National Student Poets Program. It makes me proud of our government to hear about a national step being taken to honor the creative achievements of our young people. It sends an affirming message that, yes, we need poets; they serve a vital purpose in our society that should not be overlooked. Listening to the announcement stirred in me the feeling of wanting to do more as an ambassador for the arts. It made me wonder if I am providing enough space (mentally as well as time-wise) for my students to just create rather than working to achieve the specific skill goals I set for them… In my heart I understand the power of creativity to change lives if it’s given the chance. But I also know that our world largely revolves around performance and evaluations. Art can transcend evaluation. Something to reflect upon…

Chris Crutcher: Chris is an amazing human being, particularly when it comes to thinking, and expressing those thoughts through story. Just listening to him makes my soul reach out like an open hand–it is clear that the man was born a storyteller. I was grateful for his outspoken support for English teachers–our “experts on stories” and those who help resist “creativity being institutionally squelched.” But I was even more grateful for his persistent championing of young adults: in particular, their right to read books that reflect the truth. Chris talked about how those who attempt to keep his books (which often deal with mature or troubling topics) out of schools, calling them “those who want to put philosophy ahead of humanity and think for people they’ve never met before.” He pointed out something that I’ve always believed and fallen back on in the event of a challenge to a controversial text–”When we ban stories where a kid is abused, where a kid is hurting, where a kid strays from the path, we not only ban those stories, but we ban those kids.” A rosy world is not always a realistic world, and believing that ignorance keeps us safe removes a thousand opportunities for growth. When educators acknowledge that through books we offer and ways we teach, we say “You belong here, too” to all students.

8:00 pm: Ms. J, Mr. M, and I found a table in the hotel lobby where we could compare, debate, and clarify our selections for the next day. Despite only being able to find the “wrong” brand of cola (in my opinion), it was a cheery, cooperative, and academic way to end the day, ready for sessions first thing in the morning!

DAY TWO (Friday, 18 Nov 2011)

The second day was an absolute blur, filled with many tidbits of inspiration. Here are the short responses to each of the five sessions I attended…

9:30 am: Session A- Art and Film: Reading Visual Literacy Models (Connie Booth, Jennifer Collison, Nick Kremer)

This presentation was broken into three separate sections, one per presenter, and each was especially eye-catching to me, since my PDP and personal interests tend toward visual literacy. There were some excellent practical ideas offered here–from using classical art of corresponding historical periods along with the teaching of literature to having students use documentary/storyboarding as a vehicle for creative non-fiction writing to teaching students about some of the theory behind comics (a la Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, a fantastic resource for anyone interested in visual literacy) so that they can more consciously use comics as a medium for storytelling, poetry analysis, or any kind of composition! This session rejuvenated my goal to incorporate opportunities for visual interpretation and authorship in my classroom, and provided me with some new outlets to do so.

11:00 am: Session B-  Literary Criticism: Tackling Texts from Multiple Angles (Daniella Bonanno, Tim Gillespie, Lisa Mitchell, Jason Parris)

Literary criticism is something I wasn’t even aware of until college, but as soon as I was introduced, I was hooked. For me, it was a sign of meaning within fictional pages, a justification for reading the written word with the passion and voracity that I was compelled by. Reading didn’t just have to be preparing for a quiz. Rather, it was a participation in important metaphysical conversations about power relationships, identity, history, justice, religion, war, and all manner of human concerns. Attending this session provided me with resources and a reminder that the literary lens approach to teaching texts helps to elicit student responses that may never have occured otherwise. It gives students a focus and a point of view that is specific to a task, and it can yield sophisticated, varying interpretations. I’m going to use the handout from this session and revisit some titles from my professional library to brush up: Literary Criticism by Charles Bressler and Critical Encounters in High School English by Deborah Appleman. Maybe the most important thing about literary lenses? Using them gives students authentic preparation for the reading experiences they are likely to encounter in college.

12:30 pm: Session C- Art, World Literature, and Human Rights: A Humanities Journey (Karen Cunningham, Kerry Galson, Nicholas Timmer)

This was my favorite session. It was one that truly spoke to things that I feel are important. The presenters were the creators of an English class where students study English/Humanitites through a reflective, demanding curriculum that highlights human rights issues, activism, creativity, and world cultures along the way. I was so grateful to receive a thick packet that outlines the course syllabus, bibliography (including articles, short films, poems, and short stories in addition to books), and handouts for major projects. I found nearly everything about this presentation fascinating and unique. Major things I was intrigued by: *A response sketchbook in which students keep annotations, notes, and writing (but also sketches, collages, and visual experiments).   *A project that asks students to truly research, comment upon, and shape their own educational experiences.   *Literature circle discussions surrounding social justice including action components related to the reading.  *A fantastic set of guiding questions for the entire year to prompt student thinking.  *Manifold opportunities for students to express and create in a focused but unconfined way. I expect to be blogging more about these ideas as I try them out in my own classroom.

2:30 pm: Session D- The Multigenre Approach to Research and Composition (Tanya Sepela and Kate Shanklin)

Mr. M and I are planning to do a multigenre approach to teaching Shakespeare this semester. How perfect, then, that we stumbled into this session after being turned away from the filled-to-capacity “Zapping Apathy” session! We walked away with some practical examples of implementing multigenre projects as a way to assess reading comprehension, extraction and application of theme, writing in different modes, research skills, and critical thinking in a way that’s fun for all. The secret ingredient seems to be choice amidst variety–students get to self-direct, leading to higher motivation and achievement. Meanwhile, teachers get to guide writing instruction at a variety of levels in a way that’s tailored to each student. Especially interesting was the implementation of endnotes and annotated bilbliography to a multigenre project. This keeps things academic and rigorous, even when students are having fun imagining journal entries, eulogies, or recipes related to their topic.

4:00 pm: Session E- The Neglected Rhetoric: Discovering and Developing Humor in Writing (Kaye and Terry Hagler)

Let’s face it: the classical literature that so many of us immerse our students in is… well… depressing, sometimes. These presenters reminded us that humor is a crucial and perhaps underutilized aspect of rhetoric that deserves to be privileged right along with tragedy. There wasn’t much new information here, but it still prompted an idea pathway regarding text selection and the goal of making reading and writing enjoyable through humor when possible and appropriate. (Personally, I feel that humor is one of the best natural things that happens during teaching when one is doing it well. A classroom without laughter won’t bond or achieve in the way that a classroom with laughter will. That’s something that remains despite new standards and new expectations.)

All in all, the convention experience was wonderful and eye-opening. Just the experience of being in the city along with so many likeminded souls was rejuvenating. My mind is baffled and my heart is humbled when I think about number of smart English teachers across the country that will be, just like me, unlocking their classroom doors tomorrow morning. There are so many of us, and so many who aspire to be great educators, who look forward to the possibilities of each day. Teachers are always becoming and building. That’s what makes this career exciting. I can’t wait to start incorporating some of the new ideas sparked by NCTE 2011. Some of that work was already starting as we busily chatted our way back northward in the big white van!

P.s. With this being my first convention on the national level, I do have to say that the annual state convention here in Wisconsin stands up very well in comparison. I highly recommend that Wisconsinite teachers check out the WCTE convention next year. I’ve gone twice, and I have learned many very eye-opening things here in our very own cheese state. :)

The Writing and Teaching Collaborative: A bite-size variation on the National Writing Project theme

I am thankful–so thankful–for the giant compliation of amazing professional opportunities I’ve had which have allowed me to grow as an educator. One of those experiences, though, as I’ve written before, stands out among the others. That experience was my participation in the 2010 Invitational Summer Institute with the UW-Milwaukee site of the National Writing Project. It was such a powerful experience for so many reasons. Some of the notable ones: It forced me to accomplish work of a greater quantity and better quality than one would have thought possible. It inspired me to look at my classroom in new ways. It required professionalism and leadership. It was the elusive, the fantastic–meaningful professional development. I’ve stayed involved in Writing Project activities since that summer as much as possible, and I even peer pressured my colleague Ms. J into participating in the summer of 2011. As my place of employment gained its second Writing Project alum, we started (loudly) spreading the word about our experience. Our superintendent, whom we are lucky to share the same building with, caught on. She asked us if it would be possible to do “something like that” in our district. We looked at each other, looked back at her at said, “Yes.”

In order to get the ball rolling, we had to approach our principal, as well as middle school and grade school principals and curriculum director about the possiblity of using some of the district common planning time once a month to host a professional learning community. Lucky for us, administation was wonderfully supportive. We sent out an invitation to all district teachers via email. The text of that invitation, with specific names/details removed, was as follows. This, in so many words, will describe what we’re trying to do. Also, I’m hoping that it will provide a model to those who may want to do something similar:

OPEN INVITATION TO TEACHERS, from any content area or grade level, who are interested in investigating effective practices in the teaching of writing!

Dear colleagues,

We are forming a professional learning community that will allow teachers from many different disciplines and experiences to come together once a month in order to work toward the goal of
improving our teaching of writing district-wide. The innovative,
teacher-centered, research-oriented approach used by the National Writing Project serves as our model for this new district team—the SF Writing and Teaching Collaborative (SFWTC).

WHO: Meetings will be facilitated by SFHS teachers [Ms. H]
and [Ms. J], both recent participants in National Writing
Project summer institutes. SFTWC participants will be
teachers from our district who are interested in the teaching of writing within their discipline/grade level.

WHEN/WHERE: Administration in each building has approved the use of Wednesday collaboration time during the second Wednesday of each month for SFWTC meetings, as our initiative is closely aligned with our district professional development goals. We hope to meet at an outside location, such as the Community Room at Community Bank, as long as participants are in agreement. Otherwise, a rotating building schedule may determine our location.

HOW: Each participant and facilitator will select an
inquiry question regarding an aspect of writing instruction. We’ll spend our time reading, sharing ideas, gathering information, doing action research in our classrooms, and even doing some writing of our own. The goal is to research, develop, and eventually present our new findings about practical
classroom applications that support student success in writing.

WHY:  We believe it is important to create our own local opportunity to encourage not only our students’ progress in writing, but also our own professional knowledge and
leadership potential. This is a place for discovery and positivity surrounding our roles as professional educators.

Interested in participating this year? Please reply to this e-mail by October 15th with a brief message indicating your interest, and we’ll promptly send you more details. Once we gather some names of those who are interested, we can move forward in time for our first meeting in November! We are looking forward to starting this new journey with you.

We sent out our invitation with a shrug and a smile. To our delight, we got a fair amount of interest, from several subject areas and grade levels. Once we had our group tentatively established, we sent out a welcome and “more information” message in preparation for the first meeting:

SFWTC Colleagues:

Thank you so much for showing interest in joining the SF Writing and Teaching Collaborative! For us, the experience of the Writing Project was a positive, transformative one, and we are excited to begin a new journey of reflecting, writing, and researching together with all of you in the same spirit! The purpose of this email is to let you know a little more about what to expect, as well as to define some particulars about our first collaboration.

At our first meeting (on [date, time, place] ), we will begin to get to know one another as well as work together to define our
goals for this experience. Here’s how you can prepare for the meeting:

*Bring your writing gear! Whatever that means to you is great; it may be in the form of a laptop or in the form of a notebook and pen or pencil. At times, we will be using writing as a means to discover and communicate.

*Sometime before the meeting, please reflect on the following ideas.

(1) What does writing instruction currently look like for your students? (This may be overall, or in specific scenarios.)

(2) If you could change or develop how writing looks for your students, how would it be and why? At the first meeting, we’ll use these initial thoughts to develop individual inquiry questions. These questions will become the core of our research, as we seek to find answers to our own individual
teaching goals.

Meeting agenda:

-Welcome/Introductory writing

-Brief overview of research model

-Discussion/development of inquiry questions

-Discuss goals for final product, plan for next meeting

Again, thanks so much for joining us. We know this is going to be a supportive and inspiring professional community. Please feel free to contact us via email with any follow up questions you may have. Otherwise, see you then!

Our first meeting set an excellent precedent for the year to come. We started many important conversations and, if all goes to plan, we’ll be having pertinent, powerful discussions with a powerhouse group of teacher leaders in our district. This will enable us to improve writing instruction, teacher collaboration, and curriculum continuity throughout our students’ years in school. We’re looking forward with optimism to the possiblities ahead!