POETRY FRIDAY

"Allow"
by Dana Fauld

There is no controlling life.

Try corralling a lightning bolt, containing a tornado.

Dam a stream and it will create a new channel.

Resist, and the tide will sweep you off your feet.

Allow, and grace will carry you to higher ground.

Read the rest of the poem here.

Thanks to Mary Lee for hosting Poetry Friday at Year of Reading.

Picture Books for Big Kids

Today was Picture Book 10 for 10. All over kidlitosphere, people posted  their favorite picture books. Even though it's getting close to the end of the day, it's still Friday in Colorado, so I thought I would post ten of my fourth graders' favorite picture books.

Last August, I had kids that read from first grade to high school. I wanted some books that honored ALL of my readers. Mo was that guy and THERE IS A BIRD ON YOUR HEAD! was our favorite. Can't even tell you how many times I read and reread these books.

A fun fractured fairy tale!

Steve Jenkins is a Colorado author and illustrator who does fabulous collage nonfiction. JUST A SECOND is one of his newest books. There are about twenty illustrations on each page, and I introduced this book to my kids thinking I would read one or two pages, then leave it for them to read. Nothing doing! They made me read every word on every page! We also loved BONES, and DOWN, DOWN, DOWN and NEVER SMILE AT A MONKEY and…

Shane Evans uses so few words, but conveys such a powerful story! Great for talking about mood and tone!

Another short and amazingly powerful text that traces African American history in the United States. We also loved, loved, loved Kadir Nelson's HEART AND SOUL- it has beautiful illustrations but it's pretty long to be considered a picture book. 

The Titanic is always a winner with kids. My kids were especially fascinated by the digitally enhanced illustrations in this book. They also loved TITANIC SINKS by Barry Denenberg.

My kids loved Nic Bishop's glorious photography. They also loved  his author's notes- where he tells the stories of how he got different pictures.

We came across the legend of John Henry in a test prep exercise in February. My kids were fascinated by this story, so I shared Julius Lester's Caldecott winning edition of the book, then remembered that I had a great nonfiction picture book (OK, kind of a long picture book) about a historian who researched the actual character behind this legend. We  loved "looking over Nelson's shoulder" as he solved the mystery.  They also loved MAMMOTHS AND MASTODONS, which follows the work of a paleontologist.

A book that is remarkable in story and craft!

Head over to  Reflect & Refine: Building a Learning Community, and Mandy, at Enjoy and Embrace Learning to see the other lists! People were super creative this year!

SOLS- PARENTING FROM AFAR

So I've entered a new phase of life, I guess.
Parenting from afar.
So far, it seems to fall into several different categories.

#1- Providing information
One of the first days after Son #1 has left, I am sitting in a class. My phone vibrates. It's a text from son #1.

Text: What's a financial aid?
Me: It's when a college gives you money so that you can attend.
Him: I need to get it.
Me: We don't qualify.
Him: How do you qualify?
Me: It's based on how much money you make.
Him: How much money I make?
And on and on and on…

#2: Providing advice:
A recent phone coversation.
Me: I paid your tuition. Now you just need to buy books.
Him: Books?
Me (realizing that aside from a few summer reading or special project books, everything has always been provided by teachers): In college, they don't give you books, you have to buy your own.
Him: So where do I do that?
Me: (Thinking of the large sign on the large bookstore, located right in the center of campus, next to the student union, where I know he goes every day to use the wi-fi). You have to go to the campus bookstore. Take your schedule and ask a clerk to help you find the books. (And yeah, I know the campus bookstore is probably not the cheapest route, but trying to get the titles from him, locate the right edition, etc. on line, get it ordered and get it to him just seemed a little more than I could manage this semester. And I could see him sitting in class for an entire semester with the wrong book, not telling anyone!)
Him: Then how do I pay for it.
Me: Find out how much and I will transfer the money.
And on and on and on…

#3 Teaching him adult life skills
The junior college does not have dorms. My eighteen-year-old is living in an apartment. And has to pay bills every month. Last week, the electric bill was due. And it's in a totally different state. And the bill looks different from the one in my state. And I was going to pay it online, but to do that, I had to get the customer id number. Which was on the bill. Which he didn't know quite how to read. And I didn't either. Because it looked different from mine.

At one point in the conversation, I said, "OK, so why don't you just stick it in an envelope and mail it to me." To which he replied, "OK. Where do you get a stamp?" At which point, I was a little appalled that my eighteen year old did not know how to mail a letter, but then thinking about it, it made perfect sense. The stamps have always been in a desk drawer at our house. And in this age of electronic communication, he didn't use stamps very often. And when he did, I would say, "Go get a stamp out of the desk drawer."

#4: Sending stuff
One of my primary functions seems to be "sending stuff." So far I have sent:
1) his car registration and insurance card (accidentally left on his nightstand when he cleaned his wallet)
2) his transcript
3) a copy of his diploma (not to be confused with "that thing that came in the red booklet thing that says I graduated" but probably closely related
4) A box of school supplies- he didn't ask for this, but when I was at the store last week, I couldn't resist. I've been buying his supplies for ten years. Also threw in a package of underwear and t-shirts (I know how good he is at laundry), a couple of tubes of toothpaste, a box of Twinkies, and a barrel of Red Vines. Don't ask me about the wisdom of paying $30 to send a box of stuff he could easily buy at a local store. I just wanted to.

#5 Acting as a personal GPS
Son #1 has never been especially good at finding his way around Denver. And now he is 900 miles away. And he doesn't have a GPS in his car. And he doesn't have a smart phone. And he doesn't have wi-fi in his apartment. That first couple of weeks, about once a day, I would get a phone call.

Him: Where is ___________
Me: Hang on and I will Mapquest it.
Me: OK, do you know where ___________ is.
Him: No.
Me: OK, remember when we went to ____________. It was on that street.
Him: Oh yeah.
Me: Go to that street and turn. Go until you get to…
Him: I know. I live here, remember?

#6: Acting as Automatic Teller Mother (not to be confused with ATM but closely related)
We are still trying to figure out the money part of this new relationship. Because Son #1 is living in an apartment, he needs money for rent, groceries, gas, etc. And during football season, he doesn't have a job. I have been giving him a certain amount every Sunday. And it has to last. Because even though I don't get financial aid, I am a teacher. And a single mom. Usually about Thursday, I look at his bank account and there is 86 cents in it.  And I think of a whole weekend.  And wonder if he will be hungry. But he seems to pretty much get that once it's gone, he needs to eat at home, hang out at the apartment pool, etc. That is hard for me, though…

#7: Acting as souding board.
Saturday night. Not quite 10:00. My phone rings.
Him: It's ___________ (uses his first name, even though it comes up on caller id and even though I would recognize his voice if it didn't).
Me: Hi Sweetie. What's going on?
Him: I need to get a one bedroom.
Me: Really? Why buddy? (So far the roommate thing has worked pretty well)
He talks for about five minutes non stop, then says, "You don't get it. I'm mad. I gotta go." And hangs up. And I am left sitting there worrying all night.
I call him the next day to see how he is doing. He seems surprised when I ask how he and his roommate are doin "We're fine. We just had a little problem. But it's ok now."

I'm still getting the hang of parenting from afar. So far I don't like it much. But I guess I will learn to live with it. Eventually.

TOUCH THE SKY

Gabby Douglas, the spunky sixteen-year-old that won the Olympic gold in gymnastics,  has received a lot of attention in the last few days, and well she should. Douglas' accomplishment is huge and definitely noteworthy. She stands on the shoulders, however, of other African American woman, including Alice Coachman, the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Ann Malaspina has captured her story in a new picture book biography  TOUCH THE SKY: ALICE COACHMAN, OLYMPIC HIGH JUMPER.

Alice Coachman grew up in Albany, Georgia in the 1930's. Her family, like so many others, struggled with poverty and discrimination. Alice, born a runner and jumper, was often disciplined by her father for her "unladylike behavior."  Teachers introduced Alice to track and  bought the running shoes, shorts, and bright white socks that she wore to compete in her first meet. From there, Alice went on to compete with the Tuskegee Golden Tigerettes, then win a gold medal in the high jump at the 1948 Olympics (held in London).

I especially love the format of TOUCH THE SKY, a picture book set up with poetry-like line breaks similar to a novel in verse. Every few pages, the first line is different and much larger font,  almost like a headline, signaling a new time and place for the reader. I'm thinking this format would be really helpful for students learning to write biographies. Besides the original story, the back few pages of this book are a kind of photo essay, where five photographs from key points in Coachman's life are accompanied by paragraphs of text.  Students could start by doing an illustrated timeline of key events, then write text to go with their illustrations. Perfect for a multi genre study!

TOUCH THE SKY would also be great in a unit on perseverance, or African American history, or women in sports, or the Olympics.  You know I am going to be sharing it with teachers this fall.

CYBER PD- WRAP UP

Thanks so much to everyone who posted today. I loved seeing how people applied Johnston to their own teaching situations. Lots and lots of good dialogue. Decided I would move all of people's posts for today to a new roundup post. If anyone else posts later tonight or this week, I will add them.

• Deb Frazier started the conversation. She tweeted me with her link before I was even done writing mine last night. I could soooo identify with many of her comments about classroom community and management!

• Jill Balen, another literacy coach, synthesized the book into a gorgeous "meditation" that I am going to #1, put on an index card and read every morning, and #2, try to write myself, because then maybe the book really would go deeper inside of my brain. Jill doesn't have her own blog yet (I'm hoping that changes really soon because I'd love to read more of her thinking!) so I am posting her synthesis here (When she wrote it, she put each thing on a different line, but for some reason Blogspot is not letting me do that tonight. Sorry, Jill!)

Listen.  Create space and time for dialogue.This means—slow down.No rushing in with the answer,allow uncertainty to feed wonder and discovery.Make room for confusion in conversation.Give it permission to spur dialogue,to build collaborative thinkingto create knowledge together.Remember that teaching changes worlds.How will I know?Listen to the students. What are they talking about?There is the answer. 

• Dawn has also managed to distill Johnston's thinking into a short, succinct reflection that she can carry in her head and her heart. She is practicing Johnston's language on her six-year-old daughter's reading. Dawn is assembling a bibliography of "Tools for Growing Minds." She's categorized books into three categories- building community, developing moral agency and teaching civic engagement. Don't miss that link!

• Jill has organized her takeaways into three professional goals for 2012-2013. I love her what/why/how format, and am thinking that might help me get a better grasp on my thinking. 

• Be sure to stop by Heart of a Teacher, where LitProf Suz has linked Johnston's work to that of Gail Tompkins. Suz also takes readers on a field trip to a third grade classroom, where we get to "hear" some very thoughtful third graders reflect on their learning. 

• Michelle integrated Johnston's work with comments from the #cyberpd Twitter conversation, then included some takeaways for her classroom. She hopes that our conversation will continue into this year. I do too, Michelle; I'm feeling like I still have lots to learn from our conversations!

• Laura has already started working on implementing Johnston's work by moving her classroom around to provide large spaces for dialogue and group meetings. She came across a blog post by a principal who has created "prayer cards" to summarize his professional reading. Thinking about trying to create a few of those myself. (She also reports that her seven-month-old-niece has not offered many opportunities for practice; my teenagers haven't either)!

• Cathy Mere has decided that she is going to talk to her students about "learning from one another" as opposed to "listening to one another." Cathy has created a series of bulleted points that she wants to work on, I think any one of these would be a great mini-lesson. She has also created some sentence frames that I think kids would find really helpful. And she's pulling together bibliographies of picture books she can use with kids. Wow, wow, wow!

• Amy Rudder noticed many "Parallels and Intersections" between professional development she has had as a literacy coach in her school district,  and what she's read in Opening Minds. I know her colleagues will find her connections super helpful!

Thanks again to everyone who participated! (If you still want to add something, come on over-- it's not too late!) I'm hoping we will continue some of these conversations this year!

#CYBERPD WRAPUP

"When children grow up they are not only going to be wage earners. They are going to be citizens, parents, spouses, teachers, politicians, artists, managers, and so forth. Do we want them to be come successful in these endeavors—citizens who actively work toward a democracy, effective parents and spouses, lifelong learners, effective teachers, creative and collaborative workmates. I think we do. Should we assume these goals will take care of themselves if we just attend to academics? The evidence suggests otherwise"  (113)  

Thanks for coming by today. I don't know about the rest of you, but summer in Colorado is almost over. And while I love teaching, I don't always love the frantic, hamster wheel pace. I don't love that I don't do as much professional reading, or reflection, as I do during the summer. I think OPENING MINDS is a really important book. And I'm not done thinking about the book yet. I really want it to impact my teaching. And I know how easy it is to let the learning kind of slip away, and to never think about it again once I get back into the craziness of school. I wanted to revisit the book one more time. I wanted one more chance to process my thinking before I jumped back into the craziness of school. I hoped I would be ready to present a coherent thoughtful plan of how I was going to use Johnston's work at my school this year. Unfortunately that hasn't happened yet.


I do have a few goals for myself as a teacher and a parent. First, I know that I really want to work toward what Johnston describes as "instruction that directs students (and teachers, because I'm a coach) toward a dynamic- learning frame, agency,  accurate social imagination, and social problem-solving (79).

1) Toward that end, I really want to look at the people I work with (both adults and children), and my own sons, and maybe even myself, through the lens of a dynamic learning framework. I was struck, as most of you probably were, by how children's view of themselves as learners affects not only their current and future academic development, but also their social, emotional and mental development. I think of my own two boys, neither of whom has been particularly successful in school and I wonder how different their experience might have been if more teachers one had  looked at them through the lens of "yet."


2) I want to work really hard this year at promoting great dialogue when I facilitate professional development and when I work with kids.

• I want people talk to each other without raising their hands.
• I want people learn to really listen and respond to each other, not just wait for their own turns to talk. 
• I want to people learn to articulate and defend their opinions. 

3) I want to think about how OPENING MINDS can inform the work that people are doing around Common Core Standards. As I said a couple of weeks ago, I think there are lots of connections between rich dialogue and comprehending deeply. If I really work at promoting that rich dialogue, and helping kids learn to support and defend their opinions, then I believe comprehension will happen. 
*******************

Right now, I have notes throughout the book. And I have fourteen pages of typed notes. And I have two different lists going.  One list is quotes that I want to remember, things I want to keep thinking about. Here are some I especially want to remember:

• Children seldom misquote you. They usually repeat, word for word,  what you shouldn’t have said. Unknown, as quoted in Johnston (1)
• As teachers, we choose our words, and in the process, construct the classroom worlds for our students and ourselves. (1)
• In classrooms, events happen, but their meaning only becomes apparent through the filter of the language in which we immerse them. (2)
• Errors usually happen at the edge of what we can do, when we are stretching into new territory- when we are learning.
• This set of interactions might not mean much by itself, but the threads it contains, repeated over and over in different. forms, moment to moment, day to day, week to week, month to month, start to amount to something. Their power is strengthened as they echo and reverberate in children’s talk  (4).
• Teaching is planned opportunism. We have an idea of what we want to teach children, and we plan ways to make that learning possible (4).
• Teaching requires constant improvisation. It is jazz (4).
• The language we use in our teaching changes the worlds children inhabit now and those they will build in the future (7).
• When children are being successful, it doesn’t matter which theory they hold. When children are failing, their theories matter big time.
• Asking children “How did you do that?” gives them a reason to retrace their steps in accomplishing something, such as solving a math problem, writing a poem or cleaning up after an art project. This narrative makes what might have been a series of unplanned and unconscious steps into a packaged strategy linked to a goal – a strategic action that can later be invoked for planning and refining (34).
• How we give children feedback is probably the most difficult for us to change, but it is probably the point of most leverage (34).
• When we make personal judgments of children, whether through praise or criticism, we teach them to do the same. They learn to judge themselves and others. They develop a contingent sense of self-worth—that they are only able, good, and worthy when they are successful.  39
• Feedback that helps children think that their performance reveals some permanent quality, intelligence, or goodness at drawing (or anything else) has some serious side effects. These side effects include enjoying the activities less, being less resilient in the face of difficulty, being less likely to choose the activity the next time, being more likely to judge themselves and others, and generating unproductive narratives to explain their experience. 40
• The more process talk becomes part of the classroom conversations, the more strategy instruction will be occurring, incidentally, without the teacher having to do it  (40).
• The purpose of feedback is to improve conceptual understanding or increase strategic options while developing stamina, resilience, and motivation—expanding the vision of what is possible and how to get there. Perhaps we should call it feedforward, rather than feedback. 
• A dialogic classroom is one in which there are lots of open questions and extended exchanges among students (52).
• Martin Nystrand et al. -Students in dialogic classrooms recalled their readings better, understood them in more depth, and responded more fully to aesthetic elements of literature than did students in more typical monologically organized classrooms. 53
• Judith Lindfors- Dialogue is a little bit like a game in which keeping the ball in play is the goal rather than winning.
• It is the perception of uncertainty that enables dialogue. If there is certainty, or only one view, there is nothing to discuss and nothing to learn. Uncertainty is the foundation of inquiry and research  (59).
• The root of the word school is the Greek schola meaning leisure. SLOW DOWN!!!!
• For intellectual development, the most powerful lever comes when children disagree and take each other seriously (65).
• Vygotsky- Cognitive growth is more likely when one is required to explain, elaborate, or defend one’s position to others as well as to one’s self, striving for an explanation often makes a learner integrate and elaborate knowledge in new ways (65).
• When people expect to disagree and to explain their position, have a reasonable tolerance for and expectation of uncertainty, understand the value of listening to others, particularly those who think differently, and work to produce symmetrical power relationships, they are well prepared for a strong democracy (66).
• Whether we like it or not, children are acquiring the “character” and dispositions toward civic engagement (or not) as we teach them about history, literacy, math, and science. Their moral development doesn’t just stop because we choose not to think about it (81).
• In the long history of human kind (and animal kind too) those who have learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. Charles Darwin, as quoted in Johnston (92).
• Our main advantage as human beings lies in our ability to think together (92).
• We conveniently forget that children’s ability to use language as a tool for thinking on their own has its origins in thinking together. We also forget that most problems of any significance require the application of more than one mind. The question is, can children learn to use, say, three minds together to accomplish things that the three minds separately could not accomplish (97).
• Mary Cowhey- The real test of a dialogic classroom is to have the least empowered children, the least articulate, take a leading role in that dialog while the more articulate children thoughtfully listen and consider things from their classmates perspectives before they comment or question  (100).
• If the “American dream has a lot to do with the pursuit of happiness,” neglecting broader aspects of children’s development will lead neither to happiness nor to economic security. Happiness matters, even if you focus on economics. Happy teenagers ultimately have much higher incomes than those who are less happy, even after accounting for family income and grades. But happiness, it turns out, is made up of three parts: “the pleasant life” (pleasure), “the engaged life,” and the meaning ful life, and pursuit of the latter two, meaning and engagement, are the best predictors of life satisfaction (114).
• Our main advantage as human beings lies in our ability to think together. Our main threat has become our failure to think and act together on larger scales and to act on the understanding that the sheer existence of our species depends on how we think together—how we experience and treat each other (114).
• A better concept of a fair education would be to have every child develop as fully as possible. Of course we have no way of knowing what is possible for each child. All we can do is arrange for children to be fully engaged in ways that we know lead to expanded development… When children are fully engaged in an activity, they press into service all of their resources and stretch themselves as necessary (118).

******************

The other list consists of language that I really want to use in my work with teachers and kids. Right now this list is way too long. I still need to distill it down. I want it to fit on one page. I want the font to be big enough that I can see it without having to use a magnifying glass. But that distilled, condensed, easy to read list has not happened. Here is my language list as it currently stands. 

Language that promotes a dynamic learning framework

• Let’s see how much you know already.
• I’m not good at _______________ yet
• You have changed so much this week
• You have learned so much since ________________ (September).
• Would you have used that strategy back in _______ (March?)
• You haven’t learned about that yet, but you will.
• When kids say they have heard a book before: Are you exactly the same person as you were in ___________________.  So when you hear these words this time, you might think differently about this book. 
• Your brain is changing and so is the way you experience ideas. Expect to think differently.

Questions that encourage children to rehearse agentive narratives

• How did you do that?
• How did you know that?
• What are you thinking?
• Thanks for teaching us that.
• Ask your partner how he did that.
• Are you ready to get started? Do you have a plan? You don’t need to tell me your plan. I might be able to figure out your plan from your behavior.
• Say more about that. 
• You found a good way to do it, can you think of any other ways that might also work? (this invites children to imagine alternative strategies and develop flexibility)
• Not “I like the way you,” rather “Look at how you…”

Mistake Making

• Do you think when Barack Obama was in kindergarten, he ever made mistakes?

• We all make mistakes, even teachers and presidents, and it doesn’t make us bad people. It makes us people who are trying- taking on challenges In order to change. This is the central anchor that allows children to handle difficulty and change.

• He made a decision for his own benefit and didn’t consider other people.
• Do you want to attend to the book (or group activity), or do you want to read by yourself?

Language to promote strong dialogue

• Say more about that…
• I think (POSITION) because (REASON)
• In the story it says (EVIDENCE)
• If (ACTION) then (BAD CONSEQUENCE)
• What if (SCENARIO)…
• (CLASSMATE SAID)_________ but I think                          because …
• Let (CLASSMATE) talk.
• What do you think, (CLASSMATE)?

**********

OK, that's enough random rambling from me. Johnston also said, "And of course the teacher’s excellent command of language is shown in her consummate ability to keep her mouth shut while the children engage each other’s views" (80). Or as Tony said so eloquently one day, "I'm going to work at shutting my piehole." Now it's time for me to shut my pinhole and hear what you are thinking. Leave your comments below and I will round them up periodically throughout the day.

*********
6:30 a.m.

Excited that people are already starting to post.

• Deb Frazier started the conversation. She tweeted me with her link before I was even done writing mine last night. I could soooo identify with many of her comments about classroom community and management!

• Jill Balen, another literacy coach, synthesized the book into a gorgeous "meditation" that I am going to #1, put on an index card and read every morning, and #2, try to write myself, because then maybe the book really would go deeper inside of my brain. Jill doesn't have her own blog yet (I'm hoping that changes really soon because I'd love to read more of her thinking!) so be sure to read her comments here.

• Dawn has also managed to distill Johnston's thinking into a short, succinct reflection that she can carry in her head and her heart. She is practicing Johnston's language on her six-year-old daughter's reading. Dawn is assembling a bibliography of "Tools for Growing Minds." She's categorized books into three categories- building community, developing moral agency and teaching civic engagement. Don't miss that link!

• Jill has organized her takeaways into three professional goals for 2012-2013. I love her what/why/how format, and am thinking that might help me get a better grasp on my thinking. 

• Be sure to stop by Heart of a Teacher, where LitProf Suz has linked Johnston's work to that of Gail Tompkins. Suz also takes readers on a field trip to a third grade classroom, where we get to "hear" some very thoughtful third graders reflect on their learning. 

• Michelle integrated Johnston's work with comments from the #cyberpd Twitter conversation, then included some takeaways for her classroom. She hopes that our conversation will continue into this year. I do too, Michelle; I'm feeling like I still have lots to learn from our conversations!