I’m not wild about Interactive White Boards. My reasons are fairly simple– we don’t expect young people and teachers to identify their real learning and creative purposes often or early enough, and I question how IWBs facilitate this well. I feel it’s important to begin most learning there, and I have a hunch that when we overlook this, we increase the chances of integrating technology in ways that don’t serve any one very well. So…
Hey–there is an interesting conversation taking place over here. I jumped in because the issues raised here are particularly relevant to the work that I….and a whole lot of other people I know…..do. A theme has been emerging from my own learning over the last few years, and Bass digs into it in ways that I respect. He advocates for leading change by beginning with what is. He speaks to a reality that I understand,…
The folks over at Common Craft have gifted us with another gracefully simplistic video–this one is about augmented reality. This has everything to do with literacy. It has everything to do with learning. Imagine the possibilities. They already exist.
I spent the better portion of last week on Long Island, introducing Studio to junior and senior high school teachers and exploring writing instruction and practice with them in a variety of settings. Part of our work unfolded in workshop sessions, there were several conversations with diverse groups, and we spent extended time coaching in both buildings. I learned a great deal from this experience and will probably devote most of this week’s posts to…
Resources like this stir up all sorts of questions and inspire all kinds of ideas too. I can imagine that some of the teachers that I get to work with might appreciate tools like this for what they might contribute to learning. I can also imagine that others will worry that students will use it like they often use CliffsNotes—to completely dodge texts that confuse or disinterest them. I’m wondering how to engage students meaningfully…
Some of the middle and high school writers I’m working with this year have just begun researching what digital storytelling is and how they might begin crafting their own stories. There are so many different ways to approach this and an abundance of fantastic resources available online for those interested in doing so. Rather than presenting students with one definition of what digital storytelling is or leading them through a distinct set of steps in…
Teaching writing can be scary, difficult stuff. The word teacher implies an awful lot, after all. For some, it suggests that they should “know all” before proceeding. But that’s impossible, isn’t it? I can’t imagine knowing everything about writing or writing instruction. Or teaching. Or literacy coaching. Or anything for that matter. I don’t recall who said it online or where, but I remember nodding my head when I stumbled upon this bit of wisdom:…
Just as teachers rely upon a gradual release of responsibility model to ensure effective instruction, many coaches begin moving toward similar models once they’ve established agreed-upon learning targets for their efforts with teachers. I was first introduced to this model through my study of Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey’s work and then again when I was exposed to Jeff Wilhelm’s kid-friendly version in one of my favorite texts, Reading is Seeing. As a coach, I…
Harnessing the enthusiasm that many young writers generate during prewriting and helping them navigate the transition that turns that energy into writing they feel really good about can be tricky. Each time I’ve led a workshop or a Studio session, all of the excitement that kids have for their new project often begins to evaporate when they dive into drafting and realize how hard it can be to make their vision a reality. During Studio…
Nancie Atwell was the first person to influence my thinking about the power of writing workshop. It wasn’t until I began college myself that the whole notion of a writing territories list began to take shape inside my writer-mind. I can still remember how odd it felt to tote around my first list of budding ideas, relieved at last to have a container for the ones that would easily escape me, but uncertain about how…