Questions for directing discussion
General
More than just paper, pencil, & words on a page... what constitutes "writing"?
What is the value of writing?
What evidence is there that writing needs improvement?
What strategies do you use to improve writing abilities?
Do teachers need to write themselves in order to teach writing?
What conditions are needed for writers to grow? (time, choice, writing must be personal, purpose, social component of writing...)
Is it possible to "teach" or foster a lifelong love of writing?

Conferring
How to structure the ideal conference in terms of time, roles (of writer, audience) etc...
How do you teach students to give each other constructive feedback for growth in writing? (How do you help students become good at conferring)

Approaches
How do we help students "dig up" the stories that live inside them? (Very similar to Q5)
What approaches are effective for teaching writing, at what levels? (Writer's workshop, guided writing, etc.)
What are the essential components of a Writer's Workshop?
Do you use Writer's Notebook in your class? Please describe/explain
Is Writer's Notebook appropriate for upper grades (where more structured writing is required)?
Is a formulaic approach to writing appropriate for certain types of learners? (eg. Step Up to Writing - Green-Yellow-Red)
What are effective strategies to teach the art of revision?
Do partner/group collaborations work?

Catering to diverse student needs
What tech tools are available to help students who struggle in various areas of writing? (content, organization, language & mechanics)
How do you motivate reluctant writers?

Writing for an audience
How do you ensure students have opportunities for purposeful writing for an authentic audience?
Should writing for a public audience (eg. blogging) be process- or product oriented? Ok to publish work that still needs revision?

Writing across the curriculum
How much "place" should writing take up in the content areas?
What are specific strategies to teach writing in the content areas?

Over the last few years, I have been doing a lot of thinking around the idea of Digital Mentor Texts. I believe strongly in Reading and Writing Workshops to move all students forward in literacy. With the definition of literacy expanding, I believe that much of what we know of the writing process remains the same. The power of mentor texts in writing first hit me when I read Ralph Fletcher's classic book WHAT A WRITER NEEDS. He gave us great pieces to learn from as writers and new ways to work with our student writers. Another book that had a huge impact on my personal thinking about mentor texts in the writing workshop was STUDY DRIVEN by Katie Wood Ray. In this important book, Katie reminds us that inquiry has to remain at the heart of writing workshop. She says, "In an inquiry stance, teachers help children explore different alternatives for how to write something, and then let them do what writers really have to do and make decisions about how their pieces will go." (p. 27) Ralph Fletcher, Kelly Gallagher (WRITE LIKE THIS) , Aimee Buckner (NOTEBOOK KNOW-HOW), Lucy Calkins (THE ART OF TEACHING WRITING) Katie Wood Ray, Lester Laminack, Shelley Harwayne (LASTING IMPRESSIONS), Ann Marie Corgill (OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE) and others have all given me so much to think about when it comes to the role of mentor texts in writing workshop.

As I've been playing around with digital writing in the library, I realize that the decisions our writers have to make are also expanding. There are so many ways to write and create and so many decisions that writers make when creating pieces of digital writing. There are several of us who have been informally talking about the idea of Mentor Texts in the Digital Writing Workshop and we thought we'd have a more focused online conversation around the topic--to try to synthesize our thinking.

Lots of us included our thinking in our sessions at NCTE 2011 but then followed up with conversations working through what the idea of mentor texts and inquiry-driven study mean for a digital writing workshop.

In the midst of one of our conversations, an idea formulated about focusing some writing around it. So, during the week of January 8, we'll each be posting on our own blogs about the thinking we've been doing, the things we've learned from students, and our own writing. We are hoping you'll join us by thinking along with us about this idea of mentor texts in the digital writing workshop. You can join in the conversation by reading our blogs, posting your own thinking to your blog, commenting, etc. We thought this would be a fun way to have a larger conversation about ideas we are thinking about. We love the idea of pulling lots of voices together around one idea.

Participating in the series will be:

Bill Bass, Technology Integration Specialist in Missouri and author of the upcoming ISTE book on Film Festivals tentatively titled, "Authentic Learning Through a Digital Lens" will be blogging on his blog MR. BASS ONLINE.

Katie DiCesare, a primary teacher in Dublin who runs an incredible writing workshop will be blogging at her blog, CREATIVE LITERACY.

Troy Hicks, author of THE DIGITAL WRITING WORKSHOP and BECAUSE DIGITAL WRITING MATTERS. He will be blogging at his site, DIGITAL WRITING, DIGITAL TEACHING.

Kevin Hodgson, 6th grade teacher and author of TEACHING THE NEW WRITING will be blogging at his blog Kevin's Meandering Mind.

Tony Keefer, an amazing 4th grade teacher in Dublin, Ohio will be blogging at at ATYCHIPHOBIA.

And I'll be blogging here.

Each of us has committed to posting several times during the week of January 8 around the topic of Mentor Texts in the Digital Writing Workshop. I am hoping to revisit some of those staple professional books I mentioned above to reground myself in the role of mentor texts and what they mean for writers.
We hope you'll join us in thinking about this!

How's your Resilience?

How are you feeling about what's ahead for you in 2012? This has been a pretty punishing period for many people who work in western economies and the New Year promises little short term prospect of improvement. Keeping up our own and other peoples' spirits is a tough challenge. Resilience, an Excellence attribute that is often highlighted in Tom's writing and speaking, is ever more essential.

Tom recently blogged about Flourish, the latest book by Martin Seligman, founder of the Positive Psychology Movement. Their research has shown that the building of personal strengths such as courage, optimism, work ethic, honesty and perseverance all have a positive effect on peoples' mental wellbeing. The process of building a positive mindset is not trivial or easy, as evidenced by Seligman's work with the US Army. However, if it piques your interest, why not try Seligman's "Three Good Things" exercise? It sounds simple, but over time its effects can be profound.

Three Good Things Exercise
Each night before you go to sleep:

1. Think of three good things that happened today.
Anything from the most mundane to the most exalted works, as long as it seems to you like a good, positive, happy thing.

2. Write them down.

3. Reflect on why they happened.
Determining the "why" of the event is the most important part of the exercise, and can open up your mind to ways you can increase the positive experiences you have. For more information: www.authentichappiness.org

Adopting the Three Good Things habit will have personal and professional benefits. For many years, Tom has been encouraging leaders to focus on TGRs (Things Gone Right) as opposed to TGWs (Things Gone Wrong). Measure TGRs! Try discussing three TGRs at every meeting in 2012. It's a great way to discover how to make TGRs happen more often.

Learners not Knowers
Its interesting that the quote I shared with my students the other day was, "The learners shall inherit the earth, while the knowers will be beautifully equipped to live in a world which no longer exists. We must be lie-long learners, it is imperative. It can no longer be a catch phrase us teachers throw around, we do not have that luxury. Our charges must be life long learners, always learning, adapting, changing, evolving, improving.

Quote from Will Richardson
"I'm not saying that my kids don't need teachers. But I am saying my kids don't (won't) need teachers any more to get them to pass the test.

Knewton's software analyzes students' performance on practice questions and recommends tutorials based on the student's answers. Knewton optimizes learning by focusing only on the areas that students need to improve. The software determines subject areas at a granular level. it doesn't just know whether you need improvement in algebra. It knows specifically whether you're having trouble with, for example, quadratic equations.
According to COO David Liu, an afternoon of studying can give Knewton 100,000 - 150,000 data points about the student - such as how long it takes them to answer questions or what time of day they learn best.


And it's not just math, by the way. If nothing else, the new iPhone's integration of Siri is a clear indicator of how far technology has come in terms of understanding semantic cues and interactions. No tested subject area is "safe."

In case it's not obvious, this is the real danger to public education right now should we choose to continue down the path we're currently on. If it's all about test scores and "student acheivement" measured by test scores, immersing kids into Knewton-type environments is by far the easiest, cheapest, path of least resistance for the system's current definition of "learning." And it's not just Knewton; there is big business in creating and providing these types of "learning" experiences to kids. Many others are salivating at the prospect, and education policy, just like all others, is driven by those with the deepest pockets.

This is why we should all be feeling an acute urgency right now to take back the definition of what "learning" really is in a world filled with content and teachers and personalization. It's not an easy task, especially when test scores and grades take such precedence in the conversation. Don't get me wrong; there is some opportunity in the use of technology to prepare kids at a content level for the bigger learning conversations to come, the conversations that we need real teachers for, the ones which develop the dispositions of learning that are uniquely human.

Can Knewton prepare our kids to work with others around the world to solve problems? Can it show our kids how to create and share works of meaning and beauty that can change the world? Can it help them think critically about developing issues and events that impact their lives? Can it teach them to care deeply and act in ways that benefit the species?

Knewton doesn't develop learners. It develops knowers. We're in serious trouble if that's all we value.

(Thanks to George Siemens' riff on Knewton for getting me thinking…)

(Source: readwriteweb.com)"

"Redefining Our Value

Over the past few months, I've been thinking more and more that the biggest challenge we face as educators is redefining our value as schools and classrooms and teachers, not just to the taxpaying public but to ourselves as well. It's becoming more and more apparent to me that unless we are able to articulate and manifest that shift, we really do risk losing much of what is meaningful and important about the school experience for our kids.

And there is an urgency to this now that I'm not sure many are feeling. Recently, I heard a well respected author say during a presentation "We all know that kids don't learn anything that we don't teach them." And I heard another wildly successful author about school practice comment that what we need to do to improve schools is to focus more on the techniques of direct instruction, using technology sparingly and on the edges.

Here's the point: if we see direct instruction as our value, if what we care about is "higher student achievement" in the context of passing the test, we are, in a word, screwed.

The reality? Technology will soon provide a better "learning" experience to kids needing to pass the test than a classroom teacher with 30 (or 50) kids. Self-paced, formatively assessed, personalized to each student's needs. I wrote about Knewton a couple of weeks ago, and just a couple of days ago came news that they've joined forces with Pearson to create an individualized data-driven learning platform that will no doubt spawn a host of other startups in the education space. Read it, and most likely, weep:

Students in these courses use the computer during class time to work through material at their own speed. Through diagnostics taken along the way, the program creates a "personalized learning path" that targets exactly what lessons they need to work on and then delivers the appropriate material. Points, badges and other game mechanics theoretically keep students chugging through courses with more motivation. In the meantime, teachers learn which students are struggling with exactly which concepts.

If this is what we value, teachers will be reduced to folks who fill in the blanks that the software can't…yet. Or to put it another way (again), if this is what we value, we don't need teachers any more, nor do we need schools. And to be honest, it's not hard to see a whole bunch of policy makers and businessmen who are just salivating at that prospect. I know that schools aren't going away any time soon, (what would we do with our kids?) but our current concept of schools (or at least our greatest wish for schools) as places of inspiration and inquiry and joy in learning will die a quick death.

I think Peggy Orenstein captures this pretty well in her column in the Times this week which described the tension between test scores and learning at a New Hampshire middle school that was featured in the paper earlier:

In the end, I guess, I believe in the quality, competence and creativity of her teachers. And perhaps that's a type of faith worth having, one that in public education is being permanently (and sometimes understandably) eroded. Linda Rief, one of the Oyster River teachers, told Mr. Winerip that she feared "public schools where teachers are trusted to make learning fun are on the way out."

"Ms. Rief understands that packaged curriculums and standardized assessments offer schools an economy of scale that she and her kind cannot compete with," Mr. Winerip writes.

There is an urgency now to redefine our value. We cannot be about passing the test. We cannot be about content to the extent we are today because content is everywhere. We cannot be about a curriculum that's a mile wide and an inch deep. Something else can do that now, and in some ways, that's a good thing. We have to be about the thing that technology cannot and will not be able to do, and that's care deeply for our kids as humans, help them develop passions to learn, solve problems that are uniquely important to them, understand beauty and meaning in the world, help them play and create and apply knowledge in ways that add to the richness of life, and develop empathy and deep contextual understanding of the world. And more.

To me, at least, our profession is in trouble not because of the technology, but because of the current expectations we have of schools. We need to start these conversations around redefinition today, shift this thinking now, not tomorrow. We need to make the case to parents and board members and policy makers and each other that while technology may now serve as a better option for kids needing to learn discrete skills or facts to pass the test, our great value is to cultivate and help develop those uniquely human dispositions and abilities that in the end will allow our kids to use what they know in ways that can make this world a better place and hopefully, save us from ourselves. And that that is an opportunity for change that we cannot waste.

There is an urgency now, for if what we as a society continue to value is the test, we're lost."

7 Places to Get Free Supplies or Money for Your Classroom

 

As the new school year starts many of us will look around our classrooms and compile lists of things that we need or would like to have. And many of us will end up cracking into our personal bank accounts to get those things. (The fact that the IRS allows teachers to deduct up to $250 without receipts is indication enough that a lot teachers spend their own money for school supplies). Before you run off to Staples, do a little research and you just mind find that you can get some of the things you need without spending your own money. Here are some online resources you can try to get money and or supplies for your classroom this year.

 

Donors Choose is a non-profit organization with a mission of helping under-funded schools. Donors Choose uses the term "citizen philanthropy" to describe its program. Donors Choose essentially solicits funding from private citizens (and some corporations) which get to choose the projects they wish to fund. Donors can donate as much as they like to one or more projects. Donors Choose provides potential donors with information about the projects that need funding and the financial situation of the schools submitting requests. (Donations made through Donors Choose are tax deductible, but as always, check with your tax professional).

Classwish is a service through which teachers can find people willing to help purchase supplies for their classrooms. Classwish operates in a very similar manner to Donors Choose. On Classwish, teachers can create a wish list of supplies that they need for classrooms that aren't provided in their school budgets. People looking to help teachers can purchase products on a teacher's list and receive a tax deduction for their purchase.

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

Strategies: Is This Really How We Read?



I had a teacher in a workshop recently who told me she didn't think she used any strategies when she read. I explained that, for proficient readers, we don't even realize we are using strategies to help us comprehend; they are so second nature to us. Some people say that when we are proficient at comprehending, our strategies go underground. They act so fast and fluently that we are not consciously aware we are using anything at all - we just know we understood what we just read and we are fine with that. So what about all this strategy teaching?

First let me digress. Last week I finished reading State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, one of my favorite authors. It's a wonderfully written story of Marina sent to the Amazon to find out more about the death of her colleague in the pharmaceutical research lab. While in the jungle she is also meant to check on the progress of Dr. Swenson who doesn't send reports or updates on her research about the new drug she's developing. I enjoyed the book and understood every single detail of it. Did I stop periodically and ask myself a question, or think through a picture in my mind, or literally make any connections as I read? No, not that I remember. But, do I think those strategies, as well as others, played a part in my understanding? Absolutely. If I had to go back now and answer the question, "Was there a picture in my mind when the young boy Easter was being attacked by a snake?" Of course there was. And if I brought it to mind for you now, I could describe that scene in great detail. As I read on from chapter to chapter was I wondering/questioning the information about Ander's death? About the Lakashi tribe and their ability to get pregnant well into their seventies? About why no one taught the deaf boy to communicate better? I certainly did wonder those things. Could I make a connection to the Lakashi women constantly braiding Marina's hair to the days when I sat braiding my two daughters' long locks? Sure I could…now. But while I was reading, I did not make myself metacognitively aware of what I was doing because I didn't need to. I was focused on meaning and just kept reading.

So why are we all "making our strategies visible" for the children in our classrooms? Why are we thinking aloud about what we do in our heads when we comprehend? We are doing it because some struggling readers (and others who comprehend on the literal level but no deeper) need us to slow down our reading process system and make it make sense to them.

Children who struggle don't realize what is going on in the heads of their classmates who are fluent comprehenders. So when we slow it down and think aloud about our process it spells it out for those students. Then we do some shared demonstrations and guided practice so that they begin to see that those strategies can help them make sense of texts. Our goal is always to help students think like proficient readers, not just name a strategy, define a strategy, or complete a worksheet on a particular strategy. The goal is for them to take on these thinking strategies so that they too can begin to use them fast, flexibly, and not even realize they are using them.

In chapter 9 of Catching Readers Before They Fall, Katie and I talk about the strategy teaching that we see in schools and how to make it more effective particularly for struggling readers. But I wish there was more conversation about this topic. What is the difference between teaching a strategy for strategy sake and teaching a strategy so that it will actually help a student become a better reader? Shouldn't we all be wondering about this? In her last post, Katie Keier asked us to be thinkers and reflect on our teaching? Are there more teachers out there who are reflecting on the strategy teaching that is being asked of them?

The end of the school year presents us with an opportunity for reflection at Envision Schools. We take a final measure of students' progress throughout the school year, celebrate the many Envision graduates that will be heading off to college in the fall, and consider how we can incorporate those lessons into improving our own work to best enable, encourage, and ensure student learning.

And so last week, I joined our principals, vice principals, and lead teachers at our annual three-day leadership institute to take stock of the past year: We analyzed data; made plans for the new school year based on both our experience and data, and explored essential questions that had arisen during the school year. This year, we tackled the questions, what is a project? and, what makes a well-designed project? We used these two questions to confirm and reaffirm why we believe in the use of project-based learning at Envision Schools.

In order to get grounded, we looked at student work together and listened to teachers describe their projects. After each, we asked, "is this a project?" and then, if yes, "is it a well-designed project?"

One project that we interrogated was called the BP Oil Spill Project, used in twelfth-grade AP Environmental Science and AP Government (many of our projects are cross-disciplinary). Students were asked to explore the question, "Who was responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf in 2010?" In order to answer that question and demonstrate their knowledge, students studied the ecological effects of the spill and conducted labs on possible dispersants in their science course. In their government classes, they explored the policy and the bureaucracy related to the disaster.

To culminate, they prepared and conducted a simulated congressional hearing to demonstrate their knowledge of the government standards, and had to write and perform a speech (in character!) at the hearing. After investigating several projects like this project, we began to define what I call "PBL, Envision-Style."
Our Working Definition

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching approach, a mindset, and a framework for teaching skills and content. (Both our working definition and criteria are derived from our own work, as well as the work of, Adria Steinberg's 6 A's of PBL, The Buck Institute for Education, and Expeditionary Learning.)

High-quality, PBL "Envision-Style" includes:

A timeline that is short or long, ranging from a few days to several weeks, so students learn how to benchmark and manage projects of different sizes.
An engaging launch to hook students into taking on the project.
Academic rigor and alignment with standards allowing students to master content knowledge and skills, and to demonstrate or apply that knowledge.
An inquiry into a student-friendly, provocative essential question that drives the learning. This question often drives the unit or is one of the larger questions in the discipline. For example, "Who am I?"
A demonstration of key knowledge and skills in which students show evidence through the product that they have mastered the standards outlined in the course map (state standards).
Applied learning so that students think and do something new with their knowledge or skills.
An authentic audience that ensures the students take the project, learning, and results seriously and present it professionally (e.g. the class, students from another class, staff, parents, or professionals).
High-quality products or performance at the end that show the results of inquiry into a question through applied knowledge and skills (presentation, artistic representation, written and performed speeches, poster or video documentation of: simulation, Socratic, debate, defense). A non-traditional product might be an added layer to a traditional product such as an essay or test e.g., students might debate after writing a research paper.

Well-designed projects include one or more of the following:

Student choice and creativity that empowers and inspires the students to own their own learning and engage deeply in the project.
Tackle relevant issues and importance beyond the classroom.
Exemplary models by other students, teachers, or professionals, to set criteria for high-quality work and set strategies to attain them.
Incorporates hands-on work, such as: art, technology, or processes- related to the discipline.
Lasting learning of a deeper learning skill, idea, or way of thinking that is relevant to students' lives, their futures, and transforms who they are as human beings.
Mirrors real-world work of professionals in craft, process, or skill (e.g. historians, writers, mathematicians, artists).
Moves beyond classroom in purpose, audience, or contribution to community.

What do you think of our definition and our characteristics? What would you add or delete? Where have you seen these characteristics in action? Help us refine and evolve our work with your comments, suggestions, and examples.

Bob Lenz's Blog
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Hands-on learning tends to engage the student

The lessons that I teach in all of my Family & Consumer Sciences classes are almost always project-based or problem-based. There is a real push in our school and the surrounding area to use the textbook less and actually put the course material to work. Students are more engaged in the lesson and they inspire each other. Retention of the material is higher when our students can relate what they accomplished to what they heard. I think problem-based learning is one of the best ways to put knowledge to use and to grow 21st Century skills that our children desperately need for their future.
Elements I would emphasize

I agree with the characteristics you listed in your article. A project with these traits can certainly advance the learning of students and their audience. I would emphasize three elements, which I believe are essential in making the project come to life for the students:
* A compelling and relevant topic or problem for the students to address * A climate that promotes collaboration among the students in the classroom and beyond (through social networking, for instance) in addressing the topic. * The students' work product can be published and shared outside the classroom (assuming adherence to copyright and other applicable laws).

Thank you.
project-based learning complements whole child learning

Project learning can and should replace standardized forms of assessment. According to John Dewey's model of education, educators should take into account the "whole child." When educators focus on Eurocentric forms of assessment that do not take into account our country's linguistically and culturally diverse students, all students suffer. According to Donaldo Macedo, the standardized assessment debate is backed by educators and politicians who feel that standardized forms of assessment benefit the students because they are all on an equal playing field. This is simply not the case for our English language learners. These students take the tests regardless of the fact that they do not know English. The data that is measured by standardized tests is simply not indicative of the progress of English language learners. If educators employed a portfolio assessment system that focused on whole child, project-based learning all students would learn content that has real world applications.
PBL

I appreciated your comments on PBL. My school is currently going to follow the PBL framework and I am reading the reinventing project-based learning book that the Buck Institute endorses. I have created a blog to log my journey with my fellow educators. I too am concerned about the PBL model and also meeting the standards of standardized test pressures. If you would like to join me on my blog or on twitter here are my connections:
http://PBLjourney.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/bbtcarter
Lets move past.

@InternationalGAian While we're talking about hopes...

...I hope we can stop shooting for "adequacy" and focus on making learning meaningful.
I often require students to

I often require students to incorporate a hands on activity for their project presentation. This is often challenging, but makes it more memorable for both the student and their audience.
Projects won't completely replace standardized tests

While I like the idea of unit projects, I can't say that projects will be what replaces standardized tests. It makes teachers view their students' grades as subjective and inadequate as data for scores collected from end-of-year-tests. Projects create a summative collection of the standards that are covered in the unit, and serve as a good catalyst for progressive education. I laud the administration and staffs' efforts for setting up such an interesting project. However, I hope the school is able to meet the needs of AYP and NCLB.
Director of Educational Services

Thank you, we are trying to move to a project based focus in our school. We serve special needs students primarily diagnosed with emotional disturbance and I think this will help focus our teachers in planning for project based experiences.

Franki: Pat and Katie, you've both done so much work in learning how best to support struggling readers. Can you share any new learning or thinking you have about this topic?

Pat: Sure. I'll go ahead and start with that. I guess my current thinking springboards from something that Katie and I tried to parse out in the book a little bit, and that relates to strategy teaching . We sort of got a start in our book, I think it's around chapter 8 and 9, where we tried to figure out some things about the difference between teaching strategies and teaching for strategy, so children will take them on and use them independently. And we really believe that the reading process system is so integrated and it's really hard to separate out those strategies because as kids are reading, those strategies are constantly overlapping.

So I guess my thinking is that I want to figure out more about this, especially where it pertains to struggling readers; when is the teaching of strategies getting in the way of a child's reading; and if we want that process to work quick and automatic then can we really teach one at a time? We wrote in the book that you can spotlight a strategy as opposed to doing this heavy-handed teaching where you teach it in isolation just so you can check it off that you taught it off your list or something, but I want to play with it a little bit more and think about, do we need more strategy teaching with struggling readers than with other children, and how can we figure out if the kids are really using them to deepen their comprehension? And right now I don't have a lot of answers but I have a lot of questions, and it's one of the things I'm going to investigate a little bit more.

Franki: That's interesting. Katie, how about you?

Katie: Yes. I've been focusing a lot lately on our youngest learners, doing my work in the last several years in public schools as well as being an adjunct professor at American University. I've really been exploring literacy acquisition in our youngest learners through play, and really meaningful language opportunities, and just recently really looking at how digital literacies are changing the way that our children are acquiring language. I'm realizing more than ever how critical early intervention is.

I've been teaching for 19 years, grades first through eighth, but I've never taught kindergarten. This year, as a literacy specialist, I had the opportunity to work closely in a kindergarten classroom, and I was just really intrigued with how all the children, but especially those who are just learning English, how they're gaining these foundational literacy skills that are essential for their success in school and in life. So I've really been reflecting a lot about early intervention and what we can do as classroom teachers to make sure that all of our children have the best possible foundation as early as possible. So I decided the best way to learn more about this is to get back in the classroom, so next year I'm actually going to be going and teaching kindergarten for the first time.

I'm excited. My 20th year and I'll be a first-year kindergarten teacher. I'm really looking forward to it, though. I'm looking forward to doing a lot of teacher research and looking at the area of play, literacy, the digital literacies as well. I really think that early intervention within the context of the meaningful, engaging play, and lots of literacy-rich experiences are a key component of the effective early childhood programs.

Franki: Wow, that's smart thinking, both of you. Now I have two new big things to think about. Do you see any similarities in struggling readers, or do you really see them all as very unique?

Pat: You know, I know this will sound kind of odd but actually both are true. In that overarching sense, all struggling readers, they do have something in common, and that is they're not building that reading process system to help them. They've sort of misinterpreted or misunderstood what reading is all about. It's like they think it's all about sounding out the words, or calling the words right without any of the thinking. That's sort of why, in Catching Readers Before They Fall we said that 80 percent of kids will build that reading process system, no matter how they're taught.

But those 20 percent of kids who are really struggling, they need all of us to understand more about the reading process. You can't put that process in their head. That child needs to build it. So having said that, I do believe that each and every struggling reader is also different in what he needs from us at any given time, and we really need to watch them closely. It's not enough to say what their DRA level - "She's a 14 or he's a D or a G reader." We need to find out what that child does at the point of difficulty and support him there.

And I think about when I'm reading with kids I'm always looking to see something about reading process. Is he self-monitoring? Or is there a fluency issue right here? Or is he just sounding letter by letter and not thinking about what would make sense or sound right? Does he need to learn more about how to search and gather information to solve those words? I'm observing those things so that I can support him right at that moment, because he or she needs to see that what I'm helping him with, what I'm asking him to try, could really work for him. And when he gets that feeling, that "Oh, this actually worked for me," then he's more likely to use it another time.

Now, I'm sort of referring to one-on-one conferring with kids and doing that spot teaching right in the moment, but I could also take notes on that child and then bring together a small group based on those same needs. What it really all comes down to is that I really feel that all teachers need to learn more about running record analysis and how to take really good anecdotal notes, not just saying, "Oh, he missed that word. He missed that sound," but "What am I looking for? What can I teach him in terms of the thinking that comes with reading, those in-the-head strategies that need to be going on?"

Franki: No matter what type of intervention a child gets, the classroom must also be really supportive of his or her needs. What types of things should classroom teachers think about in order to make sure that our classroom environments really support the needs of struggling readers?

Katie: Pat and I think that a balanced or a comprehensive literacy approach best meets the needs of all of our learners, but especially our most struggling. We think that children should be active participants throughout the day, that they're working on tasks collaboratively and that they're talking, lots of purposeful talk about tasks with expert others, whether it be expert teachers or other students. And that classroom teachers also need to make sure there is plenty of time for meaningful reading and writing every day, and that might be teacher-guided but as well as lots of shared experiences and, of course, independent practice.

Our struggling readers, we think, need a great deal of modeling - lots of shared demonstrations and then time for guided practice, what we know is gradual release of responsibility. And we also feel that we have to scaffold our instruction and be willing to provide lots of time working within the child's zone of proximal development, that place where the child can do a task with our help. Our struggling readers need to have lots of time working in just-right text. We can't let them waste time on activities that are too hard for them or that don't have a meaningful purpose. And it's also essential to have those small groups that are focused on individual needs, with groups based on where each student is as a reader, not just what their level is but what they're working on as they're building their reading process system.

But I think as important as that instructional piece is, you've got to have a classroom climate. You've got to have a strong, safe, supportive classroom environment that encourages risk taking, and that feeling that it's okay to make mistakes as we're learning together. I think teachers have to make sure and build a strong community early on, from the very first day, because we want our students to feel confident and secure and have that strong sense of self-efficacy, that feeling of, "Yes, I can do this." We want them to see themselves as readers and writers.

Franki: So many things to do. Okay. I love the title of your book - it's one of my favorites - and your blog, Catching Readers Before They Fall. It's brilliant. Can you talk a little bit about that title and how it connects to your beliefs of how you got to that title?

Katie: Sure. It's kind of funny. We actually wrote the entire book under a different title that we loved. We really thought we loved the old title except that we could never remember exactly how it went. So as the book was in the final editing, our fabulous editor, Phillipa Stratton, suggested that we might think of a more user-friendly title, so we started brainstorming. We had big lists going and trying to search for that perfect title. Catching Readers Before They Fall came to me one day while I was running in the woods, a place where I do most of my best thinking and reflecting.

And I was really thinking about what did we want most for teachers to get from our book, and what did we want most for the children they would be teaching? So we felt that the title captured that, because Pat and I believe strongly in early intervention and making sure that all children have the chance to be successful. We truly believe that catching readers before they're left to struggle, feel like a failure, and ultimately learn to dislike reading is the key here. So helping teachers understand reading process and be able to help their most struggling readers is why we wrote the book.

We recently read an article by Richard Allington called "What At-Risk Readers Need." It was published in Educational Leadership, the ASCD journal, in March of 2011, and he talks about how we know who is at risk of becoming a struggling reader at the very beginning of kindergarten, but schools often don't put things in place until much later. And we agree completely that more needs to be done early in order to truly catch those struggling readers before any time is wasted, and before they can fall into a system of remediation, special education, or even grade retention.

Pat: I was going to add a little bit to that, too, because I'm thinking about those older kids. We've all had fourth through eighth graders who have given up - they hate reading; they don't choose to do it on their own. Even though we believe in early intervention and believe down the line that that could help us, these kids still do exist out there. And the answer for that is they really need to be getting hooked on books. Teachers need to make that extra effort. They find texts for those kids and non-fiction articles, something that interests them so that the kids will actually do the reading.

And I know you have to keep up on children's literature, and Franki, you know this because your blog with Mary Lee is always offering us new books and good books that kids might be interested in. I was thinking about one other thing that Nancy Atwell said. Gosh, it was a long time ago, but her first book, In the Middle - I think it was her first book. Everybody loves that book. But I remember her talking at a conference once, and this is years ago, and she was thinking of all the different ways of what her title meant.

But one of the things I remember her saying was, "You have to get kids reading in school, in a really good book, something that interested them, so they land up in school in the middle of the text, and they can't wait to get home and read some more." That's what I'm just thinking. Even though we believe in early intervention, we also have to be catching those readers who are older.

Franki: What mistakes do you think we as a profession are making when it comes to supporting our most struggling readers in schools? What suggestions do you have, as a profession, for us to change that?

Pat: There are a few things, and I think we are all guilty of them at some time or other. The first one that comes to mind for us is that too many kids are in books that are too hard for them. It's such a common mistake. They need to be in books that are easy enough so they have that practice of putting their system to work. But we tend to back down. When the fourth grader really wants to read the popular book, we let him walk around with a book that's too hard for him, and we drag him through this novel unit group.

Now, I'm not saying he can't read it. If he wants to read it and be part of the discussion, fine, but we have to make adaptations. He needs to read it with a partner, or have a parent read it, or a volunteer, or listen to it on tape. But then that same child needs to be taught at his own level, too. So if he's participating in the literature circle groups where someone else is reading him the text, that's wonderful, but that's not his only reading instruction. He needs to be instructed in guided reading more on his own level.

Another thing I thought about is a mistake we make as a profession: it's the time issue, and this isn't new. Literacy folks have been saying this for years: kids are not spending enough time in school reading real books, and people always complain, "I don't have the time." But we do. The time is there. We're just choosing to spend it doing something else, so we've got to look at that. We've got build that stamina for kids reading for longer and longer periods of time in school.

I know that Regie Routman and Lucy Calkins have always talked about building stamina, and recently, in Patrick Allen's new book, that he writes, his Conferring book, he has a really nice section on how he builds stamina with his kids, for longer and longer periods of time of in-school reading. There was one other thing. The third thing I thought of, a mistake we make in relation to struggling readers, is that some of us keep hoping for that miracle cure, that kit, that box of materials, that computer game or whatever that will fix the struggling reader, or even some other teacher who is going to come along and take him out of my classroom. But those days are over and none of that stuff worked anyway.

We still have lots and lots of struggling readers. But Katie and I really believe that struggling readers belong to all of us, and that belief really permeates what we do in schools. We believe that all teachers need to take stock of the struggling readers, learn more about it, figure out how to help them, and we need to stop asking for that quick fix, and instead grow in our own knowledge and read professional books and go to conferences, talk to colleagues, and put your heads together as you focus on some struggling readers. And then all of us can learn how to teach those hardest-to-teach kids, and I think it will strengthen your faculty if that happens.

Franki: Right. So you said we're kind of all guilty of these mistakes at one point. I know I am. How do we balance choice and independence with struggling readers? Often, I know I've done this, as teachers we take a bit more control when it comes to struggling readers. We know that we want them to have the just-right book, but we also want them to own that. How do you think about giving them choice and independence while still meeting their needs as readers?

Katie: I agree. I've been guilty of doing that as well. We definitely believe that all children should have choices, and they need to be able to pursue their passions in our classrooms and beyond. When we think about what motivates us, often choosing what we want to do or what we want to read helps motivate us. I think that the freedom of choice needs to be open to all children, not just the ones for whom the reading comes easily. Our struggling readers need time reading independently, enjoying books they've chosen, and being able to live the life of a reader, not more time doing teacher-directed worksheets or activities that distract from real reading.

But at the same time we definitely support the idea that readers' workshops provide time for reading from those just-right books, but we also believe in balancing those books with free choice or just plain fun reading. I think so often students don't have the opportunity to pursue their passions and the things they're really interested in in school, and it's up to us as teachers to help them find books, articles, or websites that can help them really extend their personal interests. They need a balance - it comes down to balance. They need a balance of that explicit literacy instruction and independent reading where they can practice putting a reading process system together.

In the rooms that I work in, the book boxes the students have include a bag of just-right books that we've read together in guided reading or perhaps a one-on-one conference, and for the most part they are teacher-chosen books. I want to make sure that my struggling readers are spending a great deal of their independent time in books that are a good match for them. It allows them to practice what we're learning and to construct that working reading process system. And without that support, I know we've all seen our struggling readers simply flipping through the pages or just zoning out during this important independent reading time, so that's definitely important.

But I think, at the same time, they need to have books that they've chosen completely on their own in their book boxes. So in addition to the bag of just-right books, they have books that they've chosen. We want them to see reading as fun and enjoyable, and if that means having a bunch of books about, say, snakes or tornadoes, or maybe the newest graphic novel in their book box, even if they're not able to read it, they can still read the pictures and they can be engaged in something meaningful, interesting, and fun, that they have chosen. And we often see kids that being the motivator really helps them move forward in their reading, and it empowers kids, and it has them see that reading is something we can do to learn more about things we're interested in.

At the same time, back to that time issue, we have to make sure there's time in the day. Perhaps first thing in the morning, when they arrive, when they can just choose to read from all the books that are out in the classroom, or those books in their box. Maybe right before dismissal, or I try to save at least 10 minutes of reading workshop where they can just enjoy those free "look books," as I call them, and they can read them by themselves or with a buddy. We also make sure there are books everywhere in the classroom - in the math area, at the science station, in a basket by the bathroom in the hallway, to read while you're waiting for a friend, in addition to a well-stocked classroom library.

I kind of see the whole room to be a library of sorts, so that everywhere kids look they see books, and they can pick up one that might interest them. And I think the bottom line is we want them to get hooked and we have to leave time for choice in order for this to happen. But equally important, we also need them to be constructing a reading process system, and that's where our teacher-guided, small group, and one-on-one instruction happens, and they really go hand in hand. I think it's important that the books we choose for our struggling readers and guided reading, as well as the books they choose, that they reflect their interests and their passions, because we want them to not only learn to read but we want them to love to read.

Franki Sibberson

As a classroom teacher, sharing my own life as a reader has always been an important part of my teaching. I believe that if we are to have authentic conversations with kids about their lives as readers, they need to know that every reader is unique - and that this uniqueness is wonderful. I decided that this "lesson" of me sharing my life as a reader was an important thing for me to bring to the school in my new role as a school librarian. No matter what my role in the school, I think this is critical. For me, it has been a way to begin conversations with kids about their lives as readers and to invite kids to begin to think about their own reader identities.

Each year, I put together a new stack of books to share with students - books that tell something about me as a reader. The stack is not intended to tell everything about me as a reader. These books are mostly texts written for adults - not books that I want to read or share much in terms of plot or other information. This chat is meant to get the conversation started in a way that children might begin to do the same. I try to tell them the basics of who I am as a reader at this moment - making clear that this changes all the time as I discover new books and interests. This year's basket includes books from my childhood, current favorites, fiction and nonfiction, and more.

I want to share my childhood reading with students for a few reasons. I want them to know that there are books that I loved so much that I have kept copies for all of these years. I am including two of my favorite books that my mother used to read to me - Time for a Rhyme by Ellen Wilkie and A Present for the Princess by Janie Lowe Paschall (the price of 29 cents is still on the cover of this one!). These were books that I heard read aloud to me over and over and over again. I'll probably tell them about checking out lots of books from the library each week too.

I plan to share Betsy's Little Star by Carolyn Haywood, the Nancy Drew series and one of the mysteries in The Secret Seven series. These were the series that hooked me as readers. In upper elementary grades, these were the books that I couldn't get enough of. I read every book in the series, and the school librarian always let me know when a new book in this series had arrived. These were the books that turned me into a reader for life.

After sharing my history as a reader, I'll pull out several books in my stack that tell something different about me as a reader. Since I love fiction, I have included several titles. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (one that I share each year) is one of my favorite books, but it took me several attempts to actually finished it. I wasn't quite ready, for whatever reason, until that ninth try at reading it all the way through. I will also include The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger it reminded me that I enjoy fantasy books. I also include books by favorite authors Anna Quindlen and Ann Patchett, letting kids know that I always read the newest books by these authors because I have loved everything else they've written. I'll show them an audiobook and let them know that I often listen to audio books when I am driving long distances. I also have Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen on my fiction stack even though I have not yet read it. I will let kids know that I always have a stack of books that I am looking forward to reading. I call this stack my "next-read stack" and I am always on the look out for books I may want to read in the future.

Sharing a Variety of Nonfiction Texts

I also have a nonfiction stack that is a bit more varied. In that stack, I've included Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez because I like to learn about the way life is in other places. I've also included a book on Guatemala that I read before our trip there a few years ago. I have a book called Smart Organizing by Sandra Felton. I love books that can help me figure out better ways to keep things organized. I will also share a few cookbooks, letting kids know that I enjoy baking cookies and I am always looking for new cookie recipes. Of course, I will show them some of the professional books I've been reading, letting them know that reading about the teaching of reading is one of my passions.

Other books in the stack I'll share include Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. I share this book to make a point about difficulty. This book was one of the most difficult books I ever read. Not because of the length or because the words were too hard - this is a rather thin book with short chapters. The book was hard because it was so sad in passages. It had big lessons and lots that I had to stop and think about. So this book was hard for me because of the thinking that it required. Even though the text was easy to decode and I understand all the vocabulary in it, there are lots of ways a book can be challenging to a reader.

I'll include a few magazines to let them know that my reading life is not limited to books. I will also share a few pages from blogs that I read to let them know that internet reading counts. And I will show them a brand-new children's book because I LOVE to read as many newly published children's books as I can.

I will do all of this swiftly, in 10-15 minutes at the most. I will quickly hold each book up to make a point - not to share the actual book. I could go on and on with each of these titles and tell them more about my life as a reader. Yet I know that there will be lots of time to expand on the seeds I am planting with this conversation. I remember that my goal is to give them lots of ways to begin to think about their own lives as readers - not to know about mine.

Years ago, I invited students to each lunch in the classroom to discuss books that we were reading. I called them Lunch Bunches. They were quite popular. Many students signed up to give up their lunch and recess time to eat with a small group and talk about books. I found that more important than talk about the book, was the informal conversation I was able to have with students over lunch. It was the best way I have found to get to know students fast and to keep conversations going. This year as the school librarian, I am going to invite students to participate in "Lunch in the Library" groups. The first set of lunches will be scheduled for September and will invite students to the library to talk about their own lives as readers. It will be very informal and fun and it will give me a chance to chat with lots of students about the kinds of readers they are.

Katie DiCesare

In the first few weeks of school, I am attempting to understand a whole new class as individual readers (yikes!). I am trying to discover where, when, why, and what they like to read. Even more important, I want them to begin to think about and recognize their interests, wants, and desires as readers.

Last year, I remember approaching reader identity (how kids think and feel about themselves as readers) with a few minilessons where we talked about favorite books. Students brought in favorite books to share and keep in the classroom, and we discussed our favorite places to read and favorite times to read. All these wonderful ideas for discussion I originally discovered in Kathy Collins' book Growing Readers. Kathy's book also taught me the importance of teaching children explicitly about how and why we care for books in the classroom.

This year I want to have more conversations with students about why we read. I have the expectation as a first-grade teacher that all of my students should be reading by the end of the year (parents have this expectation as well). I have been passing this expectation of learning to read and love reading to the kids without much discussion in previous years.

This year, I am asking the kids why we read. What is so special about reading? I am also thinking about how to get the kids to talk more with their classmates about reading. I noticed last year how it took some of my students a whole year to feel comfortable saying what was on their mind. I want to get them feeling safe about sharing right from the start!

I am tackling this goal through a few minilessons linked to picture books I discovered this summer. Throughout the summer, I jotted down the titles of picture books that support conversation about who we are as a reader. Here's what I am using to explore reader identity with students at the start of the year. Each book through read-aloud and discussion helps us explore a different aspect of reader identity -- the different ways we read, how we care for books, why we read, and why we need to share our reading with others.
Reader Identity

Baby Bear's Books by Jane Yolen

I was sold on this book when I saw the author present it at a conference. I know the title seems babyish but don't worry. This book contains a little bear's reading adventures during the course of a day. It presents experiences that readers who love books have at home.

I am hoping the kids take the lead and begin connecting to how bear enjoys reading in bed, reading a book in which he already knows all the words, reading pictures, not words, and reading to big brother. I envision myself referring to little bear when we talk about what reading looks like during reading workshop because I know I will have kids picture reading, reading books they have memorized, reading with others and of course those all ready reading!

Other great things about this book include wonderful rhythm, terrific rhyme, and great illustrations by Melissa Sweet.


Caring for Books

Book! by Kristine O'Connell George

I first picked up this book because it has very little text on each page, and after a few reads aloud, the students can read on their own. I then loved how the boy in the story talks to his book (a present he receives) throughout the story. I started to think about how the boy "plays" with his book throughout the day. He takes his book around the house (like a three or four year old would) and uses it as a hat, takes it on a wagon ride, reads it in his secret place and takes it to bed. I envision the kids and I discussing how to treat books in the classroom . . . what it looks like to hold a book, share a book, and put books away. I can see students modeling this for one another.
Why Read?



Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr

After discussing why reading is important with partners and jotting down a quick list of reasons, I thought it would be interesting to compare our list of thoughts to those of author Todd Parr. We will be able to experience Todd's reasons for reading. I want kids to experience the pleasure of reading and I am hoping their thoughts as well as Todd's help to create positive feelings about reading.
Sharing Thinking

Taking a Bath With the Dog and Other Things That Make Me Happy by Scott Mechin

This story contains simple text with some repetition that supports beginning readers. I know after a few reads aloud, the kids will come to it on their own. I love how the colors and pictures are cheery and simple. This book contains many different types of punctuation including periods, question marks, exclamation marks and my favorite to discover with kids, yes . . . the ellipse.

I find partner work and collaboration in the classroom really helps students share learning, love reading and take risks they would not have otherwise taken alone. This book will help kids discover the importance of conversation with others. Sweet Pea is lost until connects with others. It is after she observes and asks questions that she can understand and answer the question (What makes you happy?) for herself. This kind of thinking and knowing ourselves is hard for kids (and me sometimes). I am hoping this book will help inspire my reluctant kids to feel more brave as they share their ideas in our classroom community.

Fill your school(s) with learners. When interviewing prospective teachers, ask "Tell me about something that you have learned lately." "How did you learn it?" "What are you seeking to learn more about right now that is not related to your teaching - and how?" Find out how proficient they are at network learning.
Be a public learner. Open your faculty meetings with something that you've just learned - and how you learned it. Include in the daily announcements some piece of interesting knowledge that is obviously new. "Did you know that a California power utility has just gotten permission to sell electricity from outer space? Make frequent mention of what you've learned from your Twitter stream, RSS reader, specific bloggers you read. This should not be limited to job specific topics.
Introduce new ideas that are not necessarily related to school. Share links to thought-provoking TED talks or other mini-lectures presented by interesting and smart people. Ask for reactions during faculty meetings, in the halls, or during casual conversations with employees and parents.
Make students' outside-school-learning part of the conversation. Find out what their passions are and ask them what they've just learned about it. Suggest that they write something up about it for the school web site or annual research publication.1
Make your school a curiosity lab. Plant around the school (especially in the library) intriguing questions that might provoke curiosity in learners (How many steps does a centipede have to take to travel a foot? Who was the youngest person to sail around the world?). Reward students who answer them and video their explanations of how they found the answers for the school's web site. With the help of creative teachers, invent a mystery for your school and plant clues around the school. Require student-participants to research the clues they have discovered in order to find their way to the next clue.
Make all school stakeholders public learners. Ask members of your staff to write essays about their latest vacations or hobbies and publish them on the school web site or annual research publication. Ask teachers to devote one of their classroom bulletin boards to information about a personal passion of theirs, sharing their latest gained knowledge and achievements. Suggest that they produce TED style multimedia presentations about a topic they are especially interested in and post them on the school's web site or perform them at PTA meetings. Learn about the hobbies and travels of the parents of your students and ask them to share what they are learning and how they are learning it through essays, videos, Skyped-in conversations, etc.

Other versions of this list can be found here and here.

Using on-demand publishing services like Lulu, you can easily compile, format, and publish quite professional anthologies of student essays and research that you can add to the school library and the community can purchase online.

Peer review is more than just having students read and comment on each other's papers. The idea of peer review extends into what academics do-to the idea of disciplinarity. We research and write. Then we submit our writing to "peer reviewers" who comment on our essays in different ways, and either accept or reject our attempts at publication. I believe that for students, we should think of peer review in similar ways. Peer review can be "sold" to students for what it really is-the process through which academic writing and communication gets done.

Peer review can get the power of student-student/student-teacher reciprocal teaching and learning moving full steam ahead. Rather than having the teacher play the role of all-wise, all-knowing,systematic collaborative peer review can send a loud and clear message to students that they have much to teach as well as learn-that the processes of teaching and learning go together quite well and make each other, and everyone involved, much stronger. By conducting peer review in a systematic and collaborative way-by making it central to our curriculum-students and teachers can learn to internalize the writing strategies and moves they wish to continue using and developing (and
avoid less-desired strategies and moves) so they can externalize these writing techniques in other composing and communicative situations.

Peer Pressure, Peer Power Some Things to Consider
I think the way to approach peer review (as with most teaching) is with an experimental attitude. Start having students read and comment on each other's papers, and soon you will begin to make adjustments that suit your-and your students'-needs and desires. There is much choice involved in the art of systematic collaborative peer review.

We play a little in-class game called 7-UP. In this game students read 7 of their peers' papers. They then rank them from strongest to weakest. Then they come into class and write their #1 choice on the board. As a class we take the top 2-3 papers and, with the writers' permission, project them on a screen and discuss and critique together as a class. Sometimes we even go one step further and start with already-peer-reviewed papers. That way, students are studying and critiquing models of strong peer reviews. With this method, both the reviewers and the writers can discuss the process aloud for everyone's benefit.

How to form groups/partners
An important initial choice involves how to form groups. Experts debate on the optimal size of groups, but a good working group should be between 3-5 students. Again, you can experiment with groups of 2, 3, 5. (I usually have them work in groups of 3 and sometimes 2; groups of 5 might only be used for shorter papers.) Groups should be formed early in the term. Experiment a little with how you form groups. For example:
1) You can have students initially form their own groups. They will typically gravitate toward folks sitting close by.
2) You can form groups after, perhaps, seeing writing samples from your students.
3) Or you can do a combination of the two above: have them initially form their own groups, then mix them up from time to time depending on the task.
These group partnerships can also be utilized for other collaborative learning endeavors and projects.

Peer Pressure, Peer Power- How to give comments/feedback
You will want to explore and develop the many ways students can give each other feedback.
Do you want to have students give feedback during class or out of class? Do you want students to talk about their essays before giving written feedback or after? How much conversation should be included in peer review? (For example, having the reviewer read the essay and supply verbal suggestions while the reviewee writes commentary can work quite well.) Should commentary be hand-written or digital/typed?
I usually have students peer review papers first. Then I have them rewrite their papers. Then they submit these second drafts to me for my commentary (along with a little note describing what they've
done and what they'd like me to look out for). You can even comment on the same review as one or more of the writer's partners if you use different fonts or especially colors. This can create an on-the- page dialogue that can be very useful overall.

How to train students
Importantly, students must be provided with ongoing, iterated training in peer review. Experts encourage students to focus on higher-order concerns (HOCs) like claim, structure, and evidence
first in early drafts and later-order concerns (LOCs) like grammar and spelling in later more final drafts. It is also a good idea to encourage a mix of praise and constructive criticism. Many students feel they don't have the authority or expertise to give constructive criticism. But ALL students can be taught the value of giving substantial, detailed, and specific analytic praise to work they feel they have nothing to "criticize." After providing detailed summary and analysis of what works well in their peers' papers-repeatedly-sooner or later weaker writers will begin to incorporate some of those same moves into their own writing. Students can also be given a rubric, perhaps the same rubric you will use for assessing their writing, so everyone can be on the same page as far as expectations.

How to assess
You will need to develop methods of assessing peer review in order for students to truly take it
seriously. In my writing courses, peer review counts as 20% of their overall grade. Assessment (as all good assessment should) then becomes integral to how you are training students to tutor each other with their writing and writing processes.
1) Students should also be well-aware of the course goals and objectives, how they relate to what they are writing, and how they can work in the language of the course goals and objectives into their reviews. If you are using a rubric for peer review, make sure they closely reflect these goals and objectives.
2) A good way to get students involved in this assessment is to have them write about the process, including their own and their reviewers' performances. I have students write two formal letters to me- one closer to the midterm, one towards the final-that detail how they think the overall process is working.

Teaching while Learning
Finally, peer review is a truly reciprocal learning experience-we will learn as much if not more
than our students. We can learn to be better responders to student writing. We can learn to be better at, and perhaps conduct more frequent, one-to-one conferences. We can learn the value of multi-draft or portfolio writing instruction. And we can learn just how much students have to teach (and learn from) us and one another.

Children Who Can Read, But Don't..

Studies show what common sense tells us: the more kids read, the better they read and the more pleasure they get out of reading.

Unfortunately, the reverse also holds true: children who read very little usually have poor reading skills. Reading is a struggle for them, and they avoid it whenever possible.

Is there anything that you can do to encourage your children to read? First, it's helpful to know your child's reasons for not liking or wanting to read. These reasons can help you decide what will work best in motivating your child to discover or rediscover how much fun reading can be.
Why Some Kids Don't Like to Read

Do any of these statements have a familiar ring? They are the reasons children frequently give for not reading:

It's boring. Don't despair if your children have this response to reading that is assigned at school. You can expose them to another kind of reading at home that is related to their interests.
I don't have the time. Kids are busy. School, friends, sports, homework, television, and chores all compete for their time. Some children need your help in rearranging their schedules to make time for reading.
It's too hard. For some children, reading is a slow, difficult process. If your child is having a hard time reading, talk with his or her reading teacher. Ask about how you can find interesting books and materials written at a level that matches your child's reading ability.
It's not important. Often children don't appreciate how reading can be purposeful or relevant to their lives. Parents can take it upon themselves to find reading materials on subjects that do matter to their kids.
It's no fun. For some children, especially those who have difficulty reading, books cause anxiety. Even for children with strong reading skills, pressure from school and home that emphasize reading for performance can make reading seem like a chore. Our advice: take the pressure off reading so that your children can enjoy it.

If you or someone else in your family has had problems reading, there is a greater likelihood that your children will experience these difficulties too. Speak to a reading teacher if you have reason to suspect a learning problem. Early testing administered at your child's school can identify a learning disability and alert the school to your child's need for special teaching.
What Won't Work

Parents have told us that the following tactics only strengthen a child's resistance to reading:

Nagging. Avoid lecturing about the value of reading and hounding a child who is not reading. Your child will only resent it.
Bribing. While there's nothing wrong with rewarding your child's reading efforts, you don't want your youngster to expect a prize after finishing every book. Whenever possible, offer another book or magazine (your child's choice) along with words of praise. You can give other meaningful rewards on occasion, but offer them less and less frequently. In time, your child will experience reading as its own reward.
Judging your child's performance. Separate school performance from reading for pleasure. Helping your child enjoy reading is a worthwhile goal in itself.
Criticizing your child's choices. Reading almost anything is better than reading nothing. Although you may feel your child is choosing books that are too easy or that treat subjects too lightly, hide your disappointment. Reading at any level is valuable practice, and successful reading helps build confidence as well as reading skills. If your differences are simply a matter of personal taste, respect your child's right to his or her own preferences.
Setting unrealistic goals. Look for small signs of progress rather than dramatic changes in your child's reading habits. Don't expect a reluctant reader to finish a book overnight. Maybe over the next week, with your gentle encouragement.
Making a big deal about reading. Don't turn reading into a campaign. Under pressure, children may read only to please their parents rather than themselves, or they may turn around and refuse to read altogether.

20 Ways to Encourage Reading

We've told you why some kids don't like to read and what other parents believe will not succeed in changing their minds. Now for some ways to turn a young reader's reluctance into enthusiasm:

1. Scout for things your children might like to read. Use their interests and hobbies as starting points.

2. Leave all sorts of reading materials including books, magazines, and colorful catalogs in conspicuous places around your home.

3. Notice what attracts your children's attention, even if they only look at the pictures. Then build on that interest; read a short selection aloud, or simply bring home more information on the same subject.

4. Let your children see you reading for pleasure in your spare time.

5. Take your children to the library regularly. Explore the children's section together. Ask a librarian to suggest books and magazines your children might enjoy.

6. Present reading as an activity with a purpose-a way to gather useful information for, say, making paper airplanes, identifying a doll or stamp in your child's collection, or planning a family trip.

7. Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers and sisters. Older children enjoy showing off their skills to an admiring audience.

8. Play games that are reading-related. Check your closet for spelling games played with letter tiles or dice, or board games that require players to read spaces, cards, and directions.

9. Perhaps over dinner, while you're running errands, or in another informal setting, share your reactions to things you read, and encourage your children to do likewise.

10. Set aside a regular time for reading in your family, independent of schoolwork-the 20 minutes before lights out, just after dinner, or whatever fits into your household schedule. As little as 10 minutes of free reading a day can help improve your child's skills and habits.

11. Read aloud to your child, especially a child who is discouraged by his or her own poor reading skills. The pleasure of listening to you read, rather than struggling alone, may restore your child's initial enthusiasm for books and reading.

12. Encourage your child to read aloud to you an exciting passage in a book, an interesting tidbit in the newspaper, or a joke in a joke book. When children read aloud, don't feel they have to get every word right. Even good readers skip or mispronounce words now and then.

13. On gift-giving occasions, give books and magazines based on your child's current interests.

14. Set aside a special place for children to keep their own books.

15. Introduce the bookmark. Remind your youngster that you don't have to finish a book in one sitting; you can stop after a few pages, or a chapter, and pick up where you left off at another time. Don't try to persuade your child to finish a book he or she doesn't like. Recommend putting the book aside and trying another.

16. Treat your children to an evening of laughter and entertainment featuring books! Many children (parents, too) regard reading as a serious activity. A joke book, a story told in riddles, or a funny passage read aloud can reveal another side of reading.

17. Extend your child's positive reading experiences. For example, if your youngster enjoyed a book about dinosaurs, follow up with a visit to a natural history museum.

18. Offer other special incentives to encourage your child's reading. Allow your youngster to stay up an extra 15 minutes to finish a chapter; promise to take your child to see a movie after he or she has finished the book on which it was based; relieve your child of a regular chore to free up time for reading.

19. Limit your children's television viewing in an effort to make time for other activities, such as reading. But never use TV as a reward for reading, or a punishment for not reading.

20. Not all reading takes place between the covers of a book. What about menus, road signs, food labels, and sheet music? Take advantage of countless spur-of-the-moment opportunities for reading during the course of your family's busy day.

Source: RIF Parent Guide Brochure.

http://www.choiceliteracy.com

A Strategy Lesson for "Drive-Thru" Readers
Aimee Buckner

Early in the year, like many teachers across the country, I work diligently to teach and reteach my students how to choose a just-right book. We review the parts of the book that give us information about it. We look at how to preview a book and how to tell if it's too difficult. We practice identifying authors we enjoy and the genres of books we like best. We spend this precious class time on these procedures, because as teachers who are readers, we know that unless you have a good book in your hands, you're not going to read it.

Yet, despite my best efforts, I have those drive-thru readers who pick and abandon books faster than you can order a McDonald's hamburger. When I ask students why they have quit their book, they often respond that it's boring. It's boring because they can read it but they don't understand it. Cris Tovani in I Read It, but I Don't Get It addresses reasons why upper grade students may get stuck and end up abandoning books:

* They lose track of the characters as they come up again in the story.

* They get confused by the format or structure of the text.

* They fail to recognize when the setting or narrator has changed.

Each of these reasons is a starting point for a minilesson or guided reading group topics. It's going to take me time to teach students about this. But it's already driving me crazy now during the first week of school seeing kids read a title out for status of the class on Monday and a different title Tuesday and a different one Wednesday. Instead of developing the habit of reading complete books, they're developing a habit of abandoning 'boring' books.

The Drive-Thru Reader in the Mirror

During the first week of school, I sat down with a student who had a reputation of abandoning books. A reputation, I might add, that she was proud to have. On Meet the Teacher Day, she introduced herself and told me, "I've made it through third grade without finishing a book. I bet I won't read one in fourth either." If that's not a challenge, I don't know what is. It was like she was daring me to try and make her read. I simply said, "I didn't read an entire book until I was 21. I know all the tricks of the trade. And I think it's the saddest part of my life having missed out on books for so long. I hope that doesn't happen to you."

It wasn't quite how I had envisioned a first encounter with a student on Meet the Teacher Day, and somehow I don't think my response was what Denise had wanted. But it's true; it was 21 years before I found the joy of reading that the rest of my family had experienced for so long. I was a master at reading deception when 'finishing' books, and no one seemed to know what to do about it. Although, I knew Denise had met her match with me, I also knew it would take me time to teach her the skills to carry a text through to its conclusion. I needed to enlist the help of the other students who knew finishing a book was cool.

Gathered around me, my students had their books and notebooks in hand. "Boys and girls, I notice that most of you are reading the same book as yesterday."

"Well, it takes awhile to read a good book, Ms. B.," replied Darren.

"Absolutely. I'm glad none of you have abandoned or stopped reading your books yet," I replied.

"Good, because mine is over 300 pages. I'm reading the first Harry Potter book and it's going to take awhile," said Dwayne.

"I want all of you to take as much time as you need to finish books you start. I'm impressed that you're not abandoning books. I'm wondering what keeps you reading the book you're reading?"

There are times that fourth graders don't want to be rude, but their facial expressions led me to believe they were thinking I'm a bit simpleminded. Patiently they started to explain:

"Ms. B. I have read all of the Magic Tree House Series. If she comes out with more, I'll read those too," volunteered Charlene.

"I like books with short chapters. If the chapters are too long, I lose track of what's going on," said Rena.

"Rena has a point. James Patterson, who writes for adults, has figured out the same thing. He writes short chapters and I like that," I affirmed.

"In some books, I forget where I am and think I'm there. That keeps me reading when things get dull," said Chloe.

"I can relate to that. One of my favorite novels, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards, is boring at the beginning. But, after the first 50 pages, it's so good I can't put it down," I said.

"I usually give a book 80 pages before I decide to abandon a book. Sometimes an author needs to warm up," Tremaine added.

"Okay, it seems like we're all thinking about how and why we keep reading a book until it's finished. Take a moment to jot down your ideas in your reading notebook." And with that, they are off to write:

What keeps me reading are snake books. I like them because I can learn more about them. I like them because when I went to the Atlanta Zoo, I saw the big anaconda, that's how I started loving them. Shayne

I'm not sure what keeps me reading. It might be the excitement and the problems. It might just be that I have to read for 20 minutes every night. It might be that the fact of watching tv and playing too much video games scares me into reading boring books. Or it could be the main idea, and it could be the back of the book, because I always read the backs or flaps about books. I'm not really sure what keeps me reading. It could be I just love to read or it could be all of the above . . . Anna

What keeps me reading usually is the story, because I always read the back. Sometimes I read a book's first couple of pages and see if I like it so far. If I know the author, I'll keep reading because I trust him. Sometimes if someone recommends the book, I might read it. I abandon a book if it is really boring after the first 80 pages or so. If I really like a setting or the characters, I will read the book. (Jared, age 9)

What keeps me reading . . . I read the table of contents to see if there might be any interesting chapters I might want to read. If 5 or more chapters are interesting, I will choose that book to read. Another way is how many pages. Why? Well, because if it is a good book, I don't want it to be too long like seven-hundred pages long. I would like it to be one-hundred to two hundred. What keeps me reading is what type of book it is. If it is a mystery, adventure, scary or action book, I'll like it. Sal

What keeps me reading is when in the middle something happens and I want to keep going to see what happens. If the first few pages are good, I keep reading. If the middle starts to get boring, then I sometimes keep reading to see if it gets better. If the beginning is good, I keep reading. If the middle is boring and good, I read a little bit more and then decide. If it's good, then I definitely keep reading. If the book has really short chapters, I keep reading. If I like the characters, I keep reading. If someone recommends it to me, then I'll read it. If I like the author, I keep reading. Jeremy

What Keeps Me Reading by Chloe

* when someone recommends a book

* the history of the book

* word choices

* the way the words are written

* long chapters

* no chapters

* trust the author

* read the back

* characters that interest me

Just from this kind of entry, I've learned a lot about what my students already know. They know to pick books about things they love. They know to read books by authors they like. They know that sometimes a book may seem boring, but they read on because it usually gets better. They choose books that seem manageable. They know the characters matter.

It's the beginning of the year and they're talking about choosing the right book. Using this same kind of strategy to revisit what keeps them reading later in the year, the responses are likely to evolve to connect more to the reading strategies they're learning to use.


Strategy Lesson: What Keeps You Reading?

Purpose: To identify personal reasons why a student reads and what motivates them to finish a book.

How: Recognize students for taking more than a day to read a book. Talk about how a book might last several days or even a week as you read a little each night. Ask the students what keeps them reading a book instead of abandoning it. Keep track of initial ideas on chart paper before sending students off to write.

Extensions: Revisit this mid-year and toward the end of the year to see how students evolve in their approach to finishing books. Read about why authors read - many authors have websites with that information. Students can find out why their favorite author reads, and what keeps them motivated during a long book.





© 2006-2011 ChoiceLiteracy.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.

What lessons can collaborative teams learn from obstetrics?

Here are four:

1. Our choices about children need to be based on something more than the general impressions of classroom teachers.

2. Our efforts to quantify what we know about our kids don't need to be overly complex or sophisticated.

3. As best practices are identified, they must be replicated.
When we ignore evidence of successful practices in favor of personal preferences, we are failing as professionals.

4. The most successful practices are practices that can be implemented by every practitioner.

I think I remember you telling me that you have a class based around video production, but it is only a semester long. If such a class exists, I would love to sit in on one of your lectures. Also, keep up the good work!

Others will come around eventually, and when they do, you will be admired and rewarded for your astonishing ability to think into the future rather than think about the future... Each day, you pushed the bounds of my mind to question the impossible, dispute the certain, and reach for the unreachable.

You will always be remembered, revered, and respecting in the minds of the young men and women that you teach. Our success is your success. Our achievements are your achievements. Thank you for all that you have done, are doing, and will do."


I do friend former students on Facebook. I got permission from a former student who is now at Full Sail University to share today's Facebook message to me. He is from my "early years." We were doing cool things but he was around when I was just beginning this Cool Cat Teacher thing.

His email brought joy to my heart. Such messages also bring meaning to my life.

I particularly wanted to re-share this:

"Our success is your success. Our achievements are your achievements."

Oh, it would be nice to take credit but we know deep down that we cannot.

If we can find that kernel of greatness inside every child and water it with love, nurturing and practical knowledge we can be a gardener.

Great teachers are really just great gardeners.

Don't let the dirt under your nails hold you back

The tough thing about teaching is that I think most of us (me included) see where we fail. I fall short of the ideal "Carpe Diem" Robin Williams style teacher who just has it all together. My students see me at my worst: when I'm tired, cranky, and have a million people pulling on me. Even reading his letter, I still doubt myself.

I have a folder in Evernote and my filing cabinet where I file these called "At a Girl." Someone told me early in my career to keep any letters and positive reinforcement and I have them going back to 1991 when I was a senior in college. They help me. They give me "validation" as I was mentioning in yesterday's post.

Remember that you will never have all of the students love you. You will sometimes make mistakes that still make you cringe and you know that those kids (and their parents) may talk about you one day as something NOT to do in teaching.

The Iron Law of the Universe
But the iron law of the universe is that you do reap what you sow! (Parents need to remember that too!)

If you sow kindness, thought provoking assignments, meaningful discussions, challenging projects, and real learning experience into your classroom, you will get letters like this. I get more of these the longer I teach. Maybe it is because I've been teaching now for 10 years at the high school level. Or maybe (I hope) it is because I'm becoming a better teacher.

So, take the time to do this:

Make an "at a girl" or "at a boy" folder in Evernote and your filing cabinet. Put things in there that you receive.
Look at those letters when you have a tough day and...

Know Your Customer
Every day think about what you can do today that will cause kids to thank you in six or seven years. That person is your customer. Right now, they'd rather you let them sleep or go makeout behind the outfield fence but that is not what you're there. You're not there to be popular, you're there to be a great teacher.

Be a great teacher. And know that you never know who is going to send you the "at a girl" that you least expect.

Thank you, my student, for this message. You have no idea what it means to me.Thanks for the validation.

Remember your noble calling teacher (and parents)...find those kernels of greatness and get to watering!

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

Albert Einstein


As my son Jamin starts high school, he has new privileges and expectations. While he no longer has a parent-enforced bedtime, he is required to make dinner twice a week. His first meal was going to be simple: burgers, fries and a salad.

"Just ask if you want any help," I offered. Then I did my best not to rescue as the dinner preparations unfolded. Without my knowledge, he defrosted the salmon burgers. He knew that one defrosts burgers, so why wouldn't salmon burgers be the same?

Once the falling apart salmon burgers were grilled, he toasted the buns. "Oh," he said, "these fries take 25 minutes in the oven. I guess I should've had those baking."

Over an hour later we sat down to mangled salmon burgers on cold toasted buns with slightly underdone fries and a salad with big chunks of veggies. I could tell Jamin was surprised and a bit disappointed how it had all turned out.

"How could you have known to grill the burgers frozen or to start the fries first because they take the longest? You learn those things by doing, by putting it all together. And look...no one got hurt and we're all eating," I reassured him.

Jamin's experience got me thinking about being introduced to the word approximating in Brian Cambourne's Conditions of Learning. While it is used to describe optimum conditions for children's early literacy learning, I use it as a verb to describe a mandatory stage in any learner's process. We must approximate. We bring our early knowledge to a new situation and apply it. We make mistakes and correct them the next time. It's often an uncomfortable stage, but nonetheless necessary in our lives as learners. When we are approximating, we are risking and trying new things. But it also takes a willingness to at times have something we're responsible for be soggy, half-done, not perfectly timed. What are you willing to "approximate" this fall?

This week we're focused on word work and study at all grade levels. Plus more as always - enjoy!


Heather Rader
Senior Editor, Choice Literacy

Brainology



SCHOOL MATTERS


Brainology


Transforming Students' Motivation to Learn
Carol S. Dweck
Winter 2008
This is an exciting time for our brains. More and more research is showing that our brains change constantly with learning and experience and that this takes place throughout our lives.

Does this have implications for students' motivation and learning? It certainly does. In my research in collaboration with my graduate students, we have shown that what students believe about their brains - whether they see their intelligence as something that's fixed or something that can grow and change - has profound effects on their motivation, learning, and school achievement (Dweck, 2006). These different beliefs, or mindsets, create different psychological worlds: one in which students are afraid of challenges and devastated by setbacks, and one in which students relish challenges and are resilient in the face of setbacks.

How do these mindsets work? How are the mindsets communicated to students? And, most important, can they be changed? As we answer these questions, you will understand why so many students do not achieve to their potential, why so many bright students stop working when school becomes challenging, and why stereotypes have such profound effects on students' achievement. You will also learn how praise can have a negative effect on students' mindsets, harming their motivation to learn.

Mindsets and Achievement
Many students believe that intelligence is fixed, that each person has a certain amount and that's that. We call this a fixed mindset, and, as you will see, students with this mindset worry about how much of this fixed intelligence they possess. A fixed mindset makes challenges threatening for students (because they believe that their fixed ability may not be up to the task) and it makes mistakes and failures demoralizing (because they believe that such setbacks reflect badly on their level of fixed intelligence).

It is the belief that intelligence can be developed that opens students to a love of learning, a belief in the power of effort and constructive, determined reactions to setbacks.
Other students believe that intelligence is something that can be cultivated through effort and education. They don't necessarily believe that everyone has the same abilities or that anyone can be as smart as Einstein, but they do believe that everyone can improve their abilities. And they understand that even Einstein wasn't Einstein until he put in years of focused hard work. In short, students with this growth mindset believe that intelligence is a potential that can be realized through learning. As a result, confronting challenges, profiting from mistakes, and persevering in the face of setbacks become ways of getting smarter.

To understand the different worlds these mindsets create, we followed several hundred students across a difficult school transition - the transition to seventh grade. This is when the academic work often gets much harder, the grading gets stricter, and the school environment gets less personalized with students moving from class to class. As the students entered seventh grade, we measured their mindsets (along with a number of other things) and then we monitored their grades over the next two years.

The first thing we found was that students with different mindsets cared about different things in school. Those with a growth mindset were much more interested in learning than in just looking smart in school. This was not the case for students with a fixed mindset. In fact, in many of our studies with students from preschool age to college age, we find that students with a fixed mindset care so much about how smart they will appear that they often reject learning opportunities - even ones that are critical to their success (Cimpian, et al., 2007; Hong, et al., 1999; Nussbaum and Dweck, 2008; Mangels, et al., 2006).

Next, we found that students with the two mindsets had radically different beliefs about effort. Those with a growth mindset had a very straightforward (and correct) idea of effort - the idea that the harder you work, the more your ability will grow and that even geniuses have had to work hard for their accomplishments. In contrast, the students with the fixed mindset believed that if you worked hard it meant that you didn't have ability, and that things would just come naturally to you if you did. This means that every time something is hard for them and requires effort, it's both a threat and a bind. If they work hard at it that means that they aren't good at it, but if they don't work hard they won't do well. Clearly, since just about every worthwhile pursuit involves effort over a long period of time, this is a potentially crippling belief, not only in school but also in life.

Students with different mindsets also had very different reactions to setbacks. Those with growth mindsets reported that, after a setback in school, they would simply study more or study differently the next time. But those with fixed mindsets were more likely to say that they would feel dumb, study less the next time, and seriously consider cheating. If you feel dumb - permanently dumb - in an academic area, there is no good way to bounce back and be successful in the future. In a growth mindset, however, you can make a plan of positive action that can remedy a deficiency. (Hong. et al., 1999; Nussbaum and Dweck, 2008; Heyman, et al., 1992)

Finally, when we looked at the math grades they went on to earn, we found that the students with a growth mindset had pulled ahead. Although both groups had started seventh grade with equivalent achievement test scores, a growth mindset quickly propelled students ahead of their fixed-mindset peers, and this gap only increased over the two years of the study.

In short, the belief that intelligence is fixed dampened students' motivation to learn, made them afraid of effort, and made them want to quit after a setback. This is why so many bright students stop working when school becomes hard. Many bright students find grade school easy and coast to success early on. But later on, when they are challenged, they struggle. They don't want to make mistakes and feel dumb - and, most of all, they don't want to work hard and feel dumb. So they simply retire.

It is the belief that intelligence can be developed that opens students to a love of learning, a belief in the power of effort and constructive, determined reactions to setbacks.

How Do Students Learn These Mindsets?
In the 1990s, parents and schools decided that the most important thing for kids to have was self-esteem. If children felt good about themselves, people believed, they would be set for life. In some quarters, self-esteem in math seemed to become more important than knowing math, and self-esteem in English seemed to become more important than reading and writing. But the biggest mistake was the belief that you could simply hand children self-esteem by telling them how smart and talented they are. Even though this is such an intuitively appealing idea, and even though it was exceedingly well-intentioned, I believe it has had disastrous effects.

In the 1990s, we took a poll among parents and found that almost 85 percent endorsed the notion that it was necessary to praise their children's abilities to give them confidence and help them achieve. Their children are now in the workforce and we are told that young workers cannot last through the day without being propped up by praise, rewards, and recognition. Coaches are asking me where all the coachable athletes have gone. Parents ask me why their children won't work hard in school.

Could all of this come from well-meant praise? Well, we were suspicious of the praise movement at the time. We had already seen in our research that it was the most vulnerable children who were already obsessed with their intelligence and chronically worried about how smart they were. What if praising intelligence made all children concerned about their intelligence? This kind of praise might tell them that having high intelligence and talent is the most important thing and is what makes you valuable. It might tell them that intelligence is just something you have and not something you develop. It might deny the role of effort and dedication in achievement. In short, it might promote a fixed mindset with all of its vulnerabilities.

The wonderful thing about research is that you can put questions like this to the test - and we did (Kamins and Dweck, 1999; Mueller and Dweck, 1998). We gave two groups of children problems from an IQ test, and we praised them. We praised the children in one group for their intelligence, telling them, "Wow, that's a really good score. You must be smart at this." We praised the children in another group for their effort: "Wow, that's a really good score. You must have worked really hard." That's all we did, but the results were dramatic. We did studies like this with children of different ages and ethnicities from around the country, and the results were the same.

Here is what happened with fifth graders. The children praised for their intelligence did not want to learn. When we offered them a challenging task that they could learn from, the majority opted for an easier one, one on which they could avoid making mistakes. The children praised for their effort wanted the task they could learn from.

We praised the children in one group for their intelligence, telling them, "Wow, that's a really good score. You must be smart at this." We praised the children in the other group for their effort: "Wow, that's a really good score. You must have worked really hard." That's all we did, but the results were dramatic.
The children praised for their intelligence lost their confidence as soon as the problems got more difficult. Now, as a group, they thought they weren't smart. They also lost their enjoyment, and, as a result, their performance plummeted. On the other hand, those praised for effort maintained their confidence, their motivation, and their performance. Actually, their performance improved over time such that, by the end, they were performing substantially better than the intelligence-praised children on this IQ test.

Finally, the children who were praised for their intelligence lied about their scores more often than the children who were praised for their effort. We asked children to write something (anonymously) about their experience to a child in another school and we left a little space for them to report their scores. Almost 40 percent of the intelligence-praised children elevated their scores, whereas only 12 or 13 percent of children in the other group did so. To me this suggests that, after students are praised for their intelligence, it's too humiliating for them to admit mistakes.

The results were so striking that we repeated the study five times just to be sure, and each time roughly the same things happened. Intelligence praise, compared to effort (or "process") praise, put children into a fixed mindset. Instead of giving them confidence, it made them fragile, so much so that a brush with difficulty erased their confidence, their enjoyment, and their good performance, and made them ashamed of their work. This can hardly be the self-esteem that parents and educators have been aiming for.

Often, when children stop working in school, parents deal with this by reassuring their children how smart they are. We can now see that this simply fans the flames. It confirms the fixed mindset and makes kids all the more certain that they don't want to try something difficult - something that could lose them their parents' high regard.

How should we praise our students? How should we reassure them? By focusing them on the process they engaged in - their effort, their strategies, their concentration, their perseverance, or their improvement.

"You really stuck to that until you got it. That's wonderful!"

"It was a hard project, but you did it one step at a time and it turned out great!"

"I like how you chose the tough problems to solve. You're really going to stretch yourself and learn new things."

"I know that school used to be a snap for you. What a waste that was. Now you really have an opportunity to develop your abilities."

Brainology
Can a growth mindset be taught directly to kids? If it can be taught, will it enhance their motivation and grades? We set out to answer this question by creating a growth mindset workshop (Blackwell, et al., 2007). We took seventh graders and divided them into two groups. Both groups got an eight-session workshop full of great study skills, but the "growth mindset group" also got lessons in the growth mindset - what it was and how to apply it to their schoolwork. Those lessons began with an article called "You Can Grow Your Intelligence: New Research Shows the Brain Can Be Developed Like a Muscle." Students were mesmerized by this article and its message. They loved the idea that the growth of their brains was in their hands.

This article and the lessons that followed changed the terms of engagement for students. Many students had seen school as a place where they performed and were judged, but now they understood that they had an active role to play in the development of their minds. They got to work, and by the end of the semester the growth-mindset group showed a significant increase in their math grades. The control group - the group that had gotten eight sessions of study skills - showed no improvement and continued to decline. Even though they had learned many useful study skills, they did not have the motivation to put them into practice.

The teachers, who didn't even know there were two different groups, singled out students in the growth-mindset group as showing clear changes in their motivation. They reported that these students were now far more engaged with their schoolwork and were putting considerably more effort into their classroom learning, homework, and studying.

Joshua Aronson, Catherine Good, and their colleagues had similar findings (Aronson, Fried, and Good, 2002; Good, Aronson, and Inzlicht, 2003). Their studies and ours also found that negatively stereotyped students (such as girls in math, or African-American and Hispanic students in math and verbal areas) showed substantial benefits from being in a growth-mindset workshop. Stereotypes are typically fixed-mindset labels. They imply that the trait or ability in question is fixed and that some groups have it and others don't. Much of the harm that stereotypes do comes from the fixed-mindset message they send. The growth mindset, while not denying that performance differences might exist, portrays abilities as acquirable and sends a particularly encouraging message to students who have been negatively stereotyped - one that they respond to with renewed motivation and engagement.

Inspired by these positive findings, we started to think about how we could make a growth mindset workshop more widely available. To do this, we have begun to develop a computer-based program called "Brainology." In six computer modules, students learn about the brain and how to make it work better. They follow two hip teens through their school day, learn how to confront and solve schoolwork problems, and create study plans. They visit a state-of-the-art virtual brain lab, do brain experiments, and find out such things as how the brain changes with learning - how it grows new connections every time students learn something new. They also learn how to use this idea in their schoolwork by putting their study skills to work to make themselves smarter.

We pilot-tested Brainology in 20 New York City schools. Virtually all of the students loved it and reported (anonymously) the ways in which they changed their ideas about learning and changed their learning and study habits. Here are some things they said in response to the question, "Did you change your mind about anything?"

I did change my mind about how the brain works…I will try harder because I know that the more you try, the more your brain works.

Yes... I imagine neurons making connections in my brain and I feel like I am learning something.

My favorite thing from Brainology is the neurons part where when u learn something, there are connections and they keep growing. I always picture them when I'm in school.
Teachers also reported changes in their students, saying that they had become more active and eager learners: "They offer to practice, study, take notes, or pay attention to ensure that connections will be made."

What Do We Value?
In our society, we seem to worship talent - and we often portray it as a gift. Now we can see that this is not motivating to our students. Those who think they have this gift expect to sit there with it and be successful. When they aren't successful, they get defensive and demoralized, and often opt out. Those who don't think they have the gift also become defensive and demoralized, and often opt out as well.

We need to correct the harmful idea that people simply have gifts that transport them to success, and to teach our students that no matter how smart or talented someone is - be it Einstein, Mozart, or Michael Jordan - no one succeeds in a big way without enormous amounts of dedication and effort. It is through effort that people build their abilities and realize their potential. More and more research is showing there is one thing that sets the great successes apart from their equally talented peers - how hard they've worked (Ericsson, et al., 2006).

Next time you're tempted to praise your students' intelligence or talent, restrain yourself. Instead, teach them how much fun a challenging task is, how interesting and informative errors are, and how great it is to struggle with something and make progress. Most of all, teach them that by taking on challenges, making mistakes, and putting forth effort, they are making themselves smarter.

Carol S. Dweck is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Random House, 2006).

References

Aronson, J., Fried, C., & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 113-125.
Binet, A. (1909/1973). Les idées modernes sur les enfants [Modern ideas on children]. Paris: Flamarion.

Blackwell, L., Trzesniewski, K., & Dweck, C.S. (2007). Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. Child Development, 78, 246-263.

Cimpian, A., Arce, H., Markman, E.M., & Dweck, C.S. (2007). Subtle linguistic cues impact children's motivation. Psychological Science, 18, 314-316.

Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset. New York: Random House.

Ericsson, K.A., Charness, N., Feltovich, P.J., & Hoffman, R.R. (Eds.) (2006). The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Good, C. Aronson, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2003). Improving adolescents' standardized test performance: An Intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 645-662.

Hong, Y.Y., Chiu, C., Dweck, C.S., Lin, D., & Wan, W. (1999) Implicit theories, attributions, and coping: A meaning system approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 588-599.

Kamins, M., & Dweck, C.S. (1999). Person vs. process praise and criticism: Implications for contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental Psychology, 35, 835-847.

Mangels, J. A., Butterfield, B., Lamb, J., Good, C.D., & Dweck, C.S. (2006). Why do beliefs about intelligence influence learning success? A social-cognitive-neuroscience model. Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, 1, 75-86.

Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Intelligence praise can undermine motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33-52.

Nussbaum, A.D., & Dweck, C.S. (2007, in press). Defensiveness vs. Remediation: Self-Theories and Modes of Self-Esteem Maintenance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

The 6 Best Online Writing Resources for Teachers

Teaching writing can be a fun and creative experience, but it can also be difficult to keep up with 30 different students who are each working on their own reports. Having enough time to teach concepts, answer individual student questions and conference with students one-on-one can be very challenging.

Luckily, these six websites can help. Some of these sites are more beneficial for teachers to plan out their lessons and teach composition concepts, and others are better for students to use as resources during their writing process. Regardless, all of these websites can benefit any class that requires clear, intelligent writing.

1. DailyWritingTips.com
DailyWritingTips.com is a great source for everything writing-related. It's a series of tips in blog form that offer guidance on all aspects of the written word. You can subscribe to the blog and have tips emailed directly to you on a daily basis, or you can search for guidelines on the writing minutia. The site includes information not just for student reports, but on all types of writing - book reviews, business writing, fiction, freelance, grammar 101 and much, much more.

2. WritingFix.com
WritingFix.com is a website where teachers can post their own strategies and other resources that they have found beneficial in teaching composition. Other educators then have access to this pool of concepts, lessons and sources to use in their own classrooms. WritingFix.com is essentially a conversation between many teachers about the different ways to approach writing instruction. Similar to DailyWritingTips.com, you can have a lesson from WritingFix.com emailed to you every month, and freely browse and use material from their database. WritingFix.com also offers a daily writing prompt generator, information on six-trait writing, lyric and poetry tutorials and even chapter book-inspired lessons.

3. Duplichecker.com
Duplichecker.com is free online plagiarism checker. The tool is simple to use and does not require users to download anything. You can go to the site, insert a few sentences, a section or even the entirety of a paper, and then simultaneously scour search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN to see if any instances of plagiarism come up. Talk about a timesaver!

4. The Purdue Online Writing Lab
The Purdue Online Writing Lab, also known as the Purdue OWL, helps users learn how to research and cite sources in AP, MLA and Chicago style. The website also includes information on subject-specific writing and a huge section dedicated to helping instructors plan writing-related curriculum and day-to-day lesson plans.

5. EBSCO Host
EBSCO Host is one of the most thorough and reliable academic search engines. Type anything into the search engine and then narrow the results by journal, database and even library to find trust-worthy and often times even peer-reviewed articles and books to use while teaching or to cite in a research paper. It's great for teachers and students alike! EBSCO Host also offers an iPhone application, text-to-speech downloads and text translation into 30 different languages.

6. The National Writing Project
The National Writing Project is a set of websites that serves teachers throughout all disciplines and levels of teaching, from kindergarten to college. The National Writing Project provides resources and their own original research to improve writing instruction at schools across the country. The website also features advice on educational development for writing instructors, including reviews of many professional and curriculum-based guide books.

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I remember being surprised when I first read the results of a survey on extra credit published some years ago in Teaching of Psychology. Almost 20% of the 145 faculty (across disciplines) reported that they never offered extra credit and another 50% said they offered it only under exceptional circumstances. The two most common reasons for not giving extra credit were that it encouraged lax, irresponsible student attitudes and it was unfair to offer it to select students (say those doing poorly). I also think it is avoided because it means more work for faculty and most of us already have more of that than we can handle.
The question of giving students an extra chance is, like most pedagogical issues, less cut and dried than it might first seem. If the second chance is designed so that it represents a robust learning opportunity, if its completion means that a student who hasn't mastered the material finally does and if learning is our ultimate goal, then complete opposition to second chances or extra credit seems less defensible.
We also should be called to take a second look by some of the creatively designed strategies teachers use to give students a second chance. They are far removed from the ubiquitous worksheet that can be dashed off with little cerebral effort. For example, I was re-reading an article I haven't read for sometime and had forgotten that it contained what the author calls a "second chance exam."
Here's how it works. The instructor attaches a blank piece of paper to the back of every exam. Students may write on that sheet any exam questions they couldn't answer or weren't sure they answered correctly. Students then take this piece of paper with them and look up the correct answers. They can use any resource at their disposal short of asking the instructor. At the start of the next class session, they turn in their set of corrected answers which the instructor re-attaches to their original exam. Both sets of answers are graded. If students missed the question on the exam but answered it correctly on the attached sheet, half the credit lost for the wrong answer is recovered.
The benefits of this strategy? Students reported that they thought they learned more having to look up answers rather than just being told the answers during the debrief. They also reported that the strategy reduced exam-related stress. The teacher felt the strategy put students at a higher cognitive level. They had to think about the question, determine an answer and then decide whether or not they had answered the question correctly.
Does a strategy like this contribute to lax student attitudes? They still suffer consequences if they don't know something. They have a fairly short timeframe to track down the correct answers. And it isn't a strategy offered to some students and not to others.
There is no question that students are hungry for extra credit. Often they seem more motivated to do the extra credit than the original assignment. Is that because they think extra credit is easier? Or, does the motivation derive from not having done as well as they expected on an assignment? It could be the latter. A few years back, someone wrote an article for The Teaching Professor which described a kind of insurance policy extra credit assignment. Completing sets of extra homework problems was optional, but if students turned them in on the designated date, points awarded for the problem sets could be applied to a subsequent exam. Surprisingly, only a few students took advantage of this "insurance" option.
I'm kind of left thinking that student attitudes about extra credit (which we probably have to admit derive from previous extra credit experiences) are not the best, and I'm not sure we help them learn when we succumb to what they want. But I also believe there are some viable ways to offer students a second change and some legitimate reasons for doing so.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/revisiting-extra-credit-policies/