This post continues a conversation that I started last week about visible learning, documentation, and the use of Grounded Theory methodologies. My thinking and work has evolved over time, in response to the learning I’m fortunate enough to do at the WNY Young Writer’s Studio and inside of various western New York school districts. Studio teachers use these approaches to fuel independent action research as they strive to uncover instructional practices that truly meet the…
“We imagine a school in which students and teachers joyfully stretch themselves to their limits in search of projects built on their own visions, not one that merely succeeds in making apathetic students satisfy minimal standards. We imagine a school from which every student will come with vision.” -Seymour Papert and Gaston Caperton It was Piaget who first suggested that children think differently than adults, and while skeptics continue to treat his observations and the…
Earlier this month, I began sharing the four ways I notice making enriching writing in the workshops that I facilitate and coach in. In my work, that’s what I’m constantly watching for and trying to inspire–making that enriches writing and moves writers forward rather than tempting them to evade the process entirely. This is why I love fire starters: Creative constraints that I bundle together and light at the start of each session. Each fire…
“What’s a break it box?” Kevin asked, calling my attention to an overflowing black bin on the bottom shelf of our mobile makerspace. This five tier structure on wheels serves as a catch-all for recyclables, loose parts, and whatever craft supplies we currently have on hand. “It’s a box full of stuff you can rip apart and repurpose,” I told him. “People donate the things inside. I think there’s an old toaster and a broken…
“What’s a break it box?” Kevin asked, calling my attention to an overflowing black bin on the bottom shelf of our mobile makerspace. This five tier structure on wheels serves as a catch-all for recyclables, loose parts, and whatever craft supplies we currently have on hand. “It’s a box full of stuff you can rip apart and repurpose,” I told him. “People donate the things inside. I think there’s an old toaster and a broken…
Love is blind, and far too often, our relationships with quantitative data remain unhealthy. Despite evidence to the contrary, too many of us still believe that grades provide insight and that standardized test scores suggest solutions. Going gradeless isn’t easy, though. Numbers are far more efficient to work with. They seem to create quick and false certainty during trying times, too. Using data in healthy ways is difficult work. It keeps us on the move, and it reminds us, over and…
Pedagogical documentation enables us to capture learning made visible and assess our students’ strengths and needs without disrupting the learning process. One potential anecdote to the testing mess, documentation inspires us to create rich narratives that deepen our understanding of learners and their experiences. This is a beautiful thing. Experience is teaching me that pedagogical documentation is also incredibly complex work that is not without its challenges. For instance, helping teachers and students choose the…
During conversations with teachers last week, one mentioned how overwhelming it is to move writers through the revision process and how, all too often, what comes from the effort is more a reflection of the teacher’s thinking and work rather than the writer’s. “If I don’t do the work for them, their revisions are never deep enough. Their final drafts are still pretty weak,” she said. Truer words are rarely spoken, and this is why…
It’s important for young writers to share their work with audiences who are truly interested in receiving it, yet time for exhibition is often tight, and when it comes time to let something go, it’s this phase of the process that often falls by the wayside. During my conversations with middle school teachers this spring, someone asked if I could recommend a quick but fabulous approach for organizing a writing celebration. I can, and I’m…
I’m not sure if this is possible, but I’m starting to think it could be. I’ve been incredibly inspired by quite a few teachers who have been playing around with some very uncommon assessment approaches based upon the professional learning we’re doing together. Take Michele, for example. She’s a teacher in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda school district, and she provides reading support to special education students. I’ve written about her before, and I remain compelled…