Fostering Creativity - a lecture by John Cleese

“You know, when Video Arts asked me if I'd like to talk about creativity I said "no problem!" No problem! Because telling people how to be creative is easy, it's only being it that's difficult”

So began John Cleese's 1991 lecture on creativity. (Transcript available here: News Genius: Lecture on Creativity.) I happened to stumble on this lecture late one night when I couldn't sleep. Cleese is best known for his work in Monty Python, which gives him great experience to talk about creativity because, as he states, he has been watching and working with creative people for most of his career. Cleese believes that creativity is not a talent, but rather a way of operating in the world and to foster creativity in oneself there are five factors that need to available to inspire more creative thinking: space, time, time, confidence and humor. With these factors in place, people are more open to possibilities and playful exploration which leads to creative thinking.

As I was watching the video, I immediately thought about the institution of schooling and how, in modern times, the institution of schooling has fostered the complete opposite. Which is unfortunate, because Dr Richard Florida has stated, “Creativity is the new economy.” We are no longer living in an industrial society focused on manufacturing as we have out-sourced that to countries who can do it cheaper. Although the service industry will always be a part of our society, it is not the biggest economic driving factor in the US, nor is bartering in knowledge. Instead, according to Dr. Florida, what will be important in America's future is the development of innovative ideas and support for creative thinking.

So, returning to John Cleese, what are the five factors that foster creative thinking? And, I might add, how might classrooms foster this?

1. Space – Cleese means both a physical space and a mental space free from the usual pressures of performance and interruptions. In practical terms, this means creating an environment without distractions of noise, social media, gossip, TV and other screens, and the anxiety of “doing it right.” Children used to have a creative space like this during recess – where they could choose what to do and how to do it. Unfortunately, there is less recess time and even the recess time available has been more structured. As children become older, there is even less unstructured, unpressured spaces available in middle and high school.
   
   
2. Time – Not only is an open, undisturbed space needed but adequate time dedicated to playful creativity. Cleese suggests at least 90 minutes, because in the first 30 minutes, the mind will race with all the things we think we need to do “Because, as we all know, it's easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And it's also easier to do little things we know we can do, than to start on big things that we're not so sure about.” Envision this – taking 90 minutes a week to think, ponder and imagine. Now envision providing 90 minutes a week for students to do the same thing!
   
   
3. Time – Separate from scheduling thinking time, according to Cleese, persistent time is important – time to persist with a problem or idea beyond the easy solution; to embrace the anxiety and unease of not having a solution or a decision. Too often we are driven by our To-Do Lists and feel that action is better than inaction. But, according to Cleese, the more creative ideas arise when decisions are deferred and pondering time is provided. I am lead to think about how we run writer's workshop. Although in many workshops, students are allowed to choose their own topics, but I've seen many teachers teach through genres and expect students to produce a realistic fiction story during one unit and a memoir in the next. We impose strict limits on how long a student can work on something and feel uncomfortable when they abandon a piece and start over. What if they just need to persist with an idea for longer than the unit lasts? We teach a mini-lesson and then send the students off to implement our mini-lesson expecting to see immediate results of our teaching. What if the idea of the mini-lesson isn't important to their writing right now, but it might be later?
   
   
4. Confidence – The fear of making a mistake stifles creativity. Being creative is risky as it involves being playful and exposing ourselves to criticism. Brainstorming was all the rage a few years ago and one of the “rules” of brainstorming is “Accept all ideas.” As a teacher, that was fairly easy to do – I would make sure to record all ideas on the chart. But, we also need to create an environment in which students don't spontaneously say, “Oh, that's dumb” - which is easily addressed. But, more insidious are the subtle sighs and body language of rejection. Even more important to recognize and help students recognize and take control of are the internal voices of criticism. 
   
   
5. Humor – Cleese makes a point to differentiate between seriousness and solemnity. There are serious subjects that are important and need to be earnestly considered but can be talked about in humorous ways as that opens us to consider possibilities and relaxes our thinking. Solemnity, however, closes thinking and enforces conformity and compliance. In Cleese's words, “Humor is an essential part of spontaneity, an essential part of playfulness, an essential part of the creativity that we need to solve problems, no matter how “serious” they may be.” How often do you laugh in a day? How often do your students laugh in your classroom? One of the first books I bought as a teacher was The Laughing Classroom: Everyone's Guide to Teaching with Humor and Play by Diana Loomans and Karen Kolberg. Humor in the classroom is more than telling jokes, but it is building an environment of acceptance, support for risk-taking, and play.

As I enter a new school year, I want to consider how I can provide more opportunities for my students to function in an “open mode” and have access to the time and space needed to think and create. What might you do this year to foster creativity in your classroom?

In the last part of his lecture, Cleese defines how to STOP creativity, because being creative leads to independent thinking, insubordination, and critical thinking. These things can be very dangerous to the status quo – so if you do NOT want people to be creative, make sure to do the following:

1. Squash all forms of humor – is it subversive
2. Criticize continually and undermine the confidence of people
3. Require constant action and do not provide thinking time

Hmmm....this sounds a lot like the current culture of high-stakes, standardized testing in schools. Coincidence?

Re-phrasing for Dynamic Learning

Edutopia re-posted an article today entitled 5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students because the talented  Krissy Venosdale at http://venspired.com/ designed a cool classroom poster to remind ourselves to open more doors through our questions rather than closing them through statements. (ie dynamic rather than static thinking - see #CyberPD Opening Minds Chapters 1-3 ).

Here is an image of the poster, but if you would like a good version of it, go to Krissy Venosdale's Flickr site.  She also is offering a printed versions (for only $4.00) at MagCloud. Seems totally worth it!

#CyberPD Week 3 - Chapter 5 - Know Thyself

     Supposedly, Socrates uttered these words, "Know thyself" but the roots of  wanting to understand the self probably goes back much further.  Why would I bring philosophy into a conversation about literacy?  Well, chapter five is about Wild Readers Showing Preferences for reading - genres, authors, series etc.  To be able to have a preference, one must know thyself.  What do I like/dislike?  Why?  How might this help me select books I enjoy in the future?  How do I need to challenge myself as a reader?

     At the beginning of the chapter, Donalyn reflects on her own preferences, therefore I reflected on mine.  Not only do I have clear preferences, but these preferences are dependent on the role I'm playing and the context I'm in.  I listen to non-fiction business and self-help books before bed to wind-down, but I don't read them. I enjoy a good science fiction book as an escapist read when I need to turn off my own thoughts for awhile. On an airplane, I prefer a realistic fiction book because it is easier to pick up and put down during interruptions and still follow the story. For some light or vacation reading, I'm currently collecting food-themed fiction and mystery books. Every few years I will re-read Anne McCaffrey, L.M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott and Sue Bender.  In my professional life, I'm reading about language use, writing, and literacy as a cultural practice.  Resnick (1990) categorizes literacy practices into various purposes: the sacred, the informational, the pleasurable, the persuasive and the personal-familial.  Since we all read/write for different purposes, it would seem reasonable that we would have different preferences in different contexts.  I wonder if my students could create a list like this - not just what titles/authors they prefer, but when and where they prefer to read particular titles/authors/types/genres?

     But, I will admit that I haven't "pushed [myself] to read widely in order to best serve our students" (p. 167) as Donalyn recommends.  There were some young adult titles that I would read summaries and recommendations about, rather than actually read the book.  I greatly depended on the Cooperative Children's Book Center to help me recommend titles of areas I was ignorant about.  Although many children learn the habits of networking to find books they enjoy, we need to be aware of the children who use vague terms like "scary" or "funny" books to describe their preferences.  This is an indication that the child hasn't read widely enough to start defining his/her specific preferences.  Might this relate back to not just personal taste, but reading in a variety of contexts?

     As I was reading, I created what I imagined will be Hints or Guidelines for Teachers about helping students create preferences in reading:

1. As teachers, we need to help students develop a more sophisticated understandings of genres to include the sub-genres.  As Donalyn highlighted, not all sci-fi books have robots in them.  In fact, one of my favorite sci-fi books is a re-telling of Jane Eyre (Jenna Starborn by  Sharon Shinn). Not all mysteries have a murder. Not all romances are happy.
2. As teachers, we need to accommodate students' preferences while expanding their reading repertoires and challenging them to explore new styles.  This is a fine line to continue to encourage the text that students like AND introduce the unfamiliar.
3. As readers, we need to expand our own understanding and acceptance for non-traditional genres.  Styles, genres, and modes of text are changing constantly.  Remember, at one time it was thought that BOOKS would be the downfall of civilization. 
4. As teachers, we need to expose students to more non-fiction in a variety of contexts.  For many students, non-fiction has been assigned reading or report reading and they have lost the joy of reading to learn information.   We need to make reading non-fiction as commonplace as reading fiction.
5. As teachers, we need to create and use assessments/reflections that fit our goals for students and our own habits of organization. Over the years I've learned to work with my organizational style rather than against it which ensures that I actually keep records and can see the patterns of engagement of my students.

     Which, by the way, takes us to the last part of the book - the forms. There are almost 40 pages of the various forms that Donalyn and Susan Kelley have used with their students.  This includes all the forms for students' reader's notebooks, student reflection forms, the Wild Reader Survey that formed the basis of this book, plus a list of students' favorite titles and series.  An amazing resource for anyone who is using a workshop approach to teaching reading.

     Why does all this matter? And I'm not just talking about chapter 5, but why think about providing time to read in class and help students develop habits of reading on the edges, guide students to become confident self-selectors of reading materials, share their reading with others, and have reading plans?   Because as Donalyn states so eloquently "By the end of the year, our students have practiced all of the lifelong reading habits in our classrooms, they have reflected on their personal reading behaviors, and they have developed the tools and skills they need to become independent readers without our support. . . Their reading lives belong to them and they don't need us.  They are wild readers now (pp. 192-193)

    

Resnick, L. B. (1990). Literacy in school and out. Daedalus, 119(2), p. 169-185.

#CyberPD - Reading in the Wild - Chapter 3 - Reading is a Social Activity - Chapter 4 - The Badge of a Wild Reader

      As firmly as I now believe that reading is a social activity, as a young reader I firmly believed in NOT sharing my reading with others. In school, no one “got” why I read what I read, I was frequently teased for always having my nose in a book, and no one really wanted to hear what I thought about what I read. Book reports were delivered to the sounds of crickets (think cartoon silence) and construction paper leaves for a tree or cars for a train lining the classroom walls were written up to prove my progress to a class goal of reading so many books. In high school, when we were finally allowed to “discuss” books, the conversation was very teacher driven and focused on proving we read the book and understood the symbolism. I did not experience a community of readers, who eagerly read, shared and supported each other, until I became a middle school teacher. Not only did I try to foster this type of environment in my classroom (surviving without a classroom library because my school didn't believe in such things) but as I attended my first professional conferences, I connected with other middle school teachers who enthusiastically shared their reading, made significant recommendations for books for my students (and me), and embodied lives of wild readers. In the challenging days of a first year teacher, these wild readers (like Linda Rief who actually wrote me encouraging letters and sent her own students' work) inspired me to “keep calm and read a book” and I continue to advocate for reading time in school, student choice, and, as chapter three details, help my students (both young and adults) to “share books and reading with other readers” (p. 87).

     Donalyn quotes Jeff Wilhelm (who is another of my teacher idols) from a conference when he stated, “What's your bottom line? What do you really want to happen for your students? Now, how does what you do every day serve that bottom line?” (p. 89). I've been pondering this lately and I'm reminded of an activity my teacher-husband did with a group of high school students. They were reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teensby Sean Covey and for Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind, my husband asked the students to create and design bumper stickers for their own life motto or mission statement. More recently, Daniel Pink asked the question,“What's your sentence?”  So, what is your literacy teaching mission/motto/sentence?

I'm playing with this one:

Donalyn describes many of the negative factors I experienced as a young reader – the demeaning social stereotypes of readers, the limited access to books at school and a school community that didn't support wild reading and social engagement with reading. Yet, even more importantly, Donalyn provides numerous suggestions on how to “foster school and home reading communities” (p. 91) and delineates the “benefits of reading communities” (p. 96). The main idea here is creating a sense of community – developing relationships and habits of mind both in school and at home that center around reading and writing. As I mentioned before, I had supportive reading parents and I learned to cherish the smell of bookshops and libraries and interact with readers outside of school. I wonder how much more would I have engaged in school and enjoyed it, if I didn't have to hide the reader side of my life? I wonder how many other children still feel this way?

     Besides many suggestions on how a teacher, classroom and school can create and sustain community connections, Donalyn shows how to help a new teacher embrace a wild reading life. I wept in awe reading Malorie's (a student teacher) initiation into the classroom community of readers. As Donlyn describes, “Watching Malorie talk with two of our students about the book later [The Hunger Games], I realized that Malorie had crossed over. She wasn't a classroom observer anymore. She was part of our reading community with powerful reading experiences and opinions to contribute. Our students respected Malorie's teaching role in our class, but they embraced her because she read alongside us” (p. 106). When I work with teachers, I know the importance of providing not just lip-service to these principles, but a functioning and successful model of a reading/writing workshop. For many teachers, it is the first time they have gotten to choose to read titles of their own selection and discuss something other than guided reading questions. The process of experiencing and envisioning a wild reading and writing classroom is essential in creating wild reading and writing teachers. 

 

      I love Banned Book Week because, as Donalyn states “books could be subversive contraband, worth passing back and forth among friends. Books hold secrets that you can share with other[s]” (pp. 108-109). I remember sneaking books from under my mother's bed – they were adult mysteries or horror novels and non-fiction crime stories, yet I felt I was rebelling against the cheesy teen romances that were the rage in my classroom. When Donalyn noticed a secret book her boys were reading, she read it too, but found it held little opportunity to grow as a community. Instead, as she stated, “My role changed from reading advisor to reading policeman” (p. 109). So now, when the secretive book is passed along, she takes note, but doesn't interfere. I wonder, how do other teachers handle banned or controversial books in their classrooms?

      I know conferring with readers is a constant struggle for many teachers new to the workshop approach. They ask the same question Donalyn did, “What's the point?” And, most teachers I've met tried checklists, notebooks or post-it notes to keep track of who they conferred with and who they haven't. Donalyn challenges us to think about why we want to confer with readers. In her classroom, it was to “forge relationships with each one [student]” (p. 131). To ensure this happened, Donalyn reflected on her own personal style of conferring and worked with this style, not against it, to create a process that provided consistency, growth, assessment, and evidence. After explaining her process, she also highlights her colleagues variations. The important part is that “conferring with my students is finally meaningful and manageable” (p. 134). I want to copy the last few pages of chapter three and send them to all the workshop teacher I know! It is such a comfort to realize that even master teachers struggle with this practice. 

Chapter 4 - Wild Readers Have Reading Plans

Here's my badge of a wild reader.  What does your badge look like? 

      Clearly, Donalyn is a wild reader.  I've followed her on Twitter for a while (@donalynbooks) and love her recommendations. But, beyond having stacks of books and lists of books, wild readers need to have a plan for when and how they are going to read their stacks and lists of books.  Goal setting - for time read, amount of pages read, types of books read, or amount of books read - gives wild readers a destination and a challenge to become more widely read wild readers.  

     In the past few years, I've started my own book blog to become accountable to a public audience and reconnect to my readerly life. On the blog, I tried a few book challenges, such as the Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge sponsored by the Book Vixen; Off the Shelf Book Challenge by Bookish Ardour; or The Big Book Challenge by Book by Book.  What challenge might you take up in the next few months?

#CyberPD - Reading in the Wild - Chapter 1-2 - Alleluia!

      As much as I love #CyberPD, I kind of think that by selecting this book, the choir is being preached to. Based on my experience in past years with #CyberPD, I think that most of the teachers and educators joining us will be singing, “Alleluia” as they read Donalyn Miller's Reading in the Wild as it confirms, validates, and supports many of the practices that we know are good for kids. And not in the “raise test scores” kind of good, but good in the way that helps students become life-long readers. As Donalyn states early in the Introduction, this is not a program to be implemented, but a way of thinking about how life-long readers and writers integrate reading and writing into their lives and then applying those principles to the classroom to help students develop the habits of life-long readers.

     With all the current tension surrounding the implementation of Common Core, and in many states, the newly minted Smarter Balanced Assessment System, I found it interesting that Donalyn returned to the 1996 NAEP report for this quote, “Students must no only develop the ability to comprehend what they read, but also develop an orientation to literacy that leads to life-long reading and learning.” I don't know about your own school districts, but around me it seems like we are moving further away from this ideal – to not only create students who can demonstrate the skills of reading, but inspire students to actually want to read and write outside of school and develop positive dispositions towards engaging in literacy for their own purposes. Or, as Donalyn writes, to foster "their capacity to lead literate lives.” (p. xx) Wouldn't that be an amazing part of any school's mission statement?

      Donalyn reminds us, “living a reading life requires some commitment” (p. 2) and highlights that too often, students have to wait until adulthood to create a readerly life because many literacy classrooms focus on skills and strategies, rather than the full experience of becoming a reader. I enjoyed reviewing the Classroom Non-Negotiables: 1) Provide time to read and write 2) Give choice to students 3) Provide multiple opportunities to respond to reading 4) Create a community around literacy and 5) Create structures to support students and teachers to learn more and assess their work together. Although these non-negotiables are very familiar (I was an early adopter of Atwell's workshop approach), it is good to be reminded of the essence of classrooms that foster the habits of life-long readers. These habits are so essential because those who become life-long readers are “readers who incorporate reading into their personal identities to the degree that it weaves into their lives along with everything else that interests them” (p. 3).

      Managing time is one of the biggest factors in determining if one will become a life-long reader. With so many requirements, responsibilities and distractions, it is easy for reading to be pushed aside for other things. Chapter 1 focuses on how we can “practice living like readers” (p. 9) by snatching reading time on the edges (the multiple few minutes of time spent waiting that inevitable happens) and getting into the habit of always having book available for “reading emergencies” (p. 14). Lately I have gotten into the habit of downloading books to my smartphone. I have been amazed at how much more reading I've been doing just because I always have a book with me. Like many of Donalyn's students (and my own), I have been under the false assumption that I need to have long stretches of time to really be reading, but the 3 minutes here and 10 minutes there allows me to savor a book as I have time to mull over sections, rather than racing through the book. However, I do have to admit that I am a horrible binge reader and will, at times, stay up for hours reading. And again, now with having books on my smartphone, I don't have to turn on the lights and bother other people, so I sneak in a lot more midnight reading. 

 

      Self-selecting books is essential to developing life-long reading habits, and Chapter 2 reviews how readers learn to select books through multiple networks, community conversations, and read alouds. I was fortune to grow up in a household that a trip to a used bookstore was common and it was expected that each of us would leave the store with multiple books. My parents never censored my reading, though they were well aware of my choices and available to discuss things with me. Most of the books that I have learned to hate are those that I was assigned to read and dissect. I hated it when teachers told me, “Don't read ahead!” If it really was a good book, I couldn't help myself! 

 

      I have really enjoyed how Donalyn has incorporated the research behind each of her recommendations, provided teaching anecdotes to show life in a real classroom, and given us access to all her handouts and forms.  She has really opened both her classroom and her thinking to us - showing how she thinks through planning a literacy block, takes notes on students' work, and even how to spot students who are fake reading.   Although many of the ideas are not new to me, I'm learning new ways to demonstrate to other teachers how to make the transition to independent reading or reading/writing workshop less daunting. She has even illustrated how to create and maintain a solid classroom library. I wish I had this book when I started teaching!!!!!!!!

#CyberPD - Reading in the Wild - Book for Summer 2014

#CyberPD is one of the best professional development over summer!  I have had the honor of participating in the last few years and this year promises to be even better!

We will be reading and discussing Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller with Susan Kelley.

If you are interested in participating, go to Literacy Learning Zone to find out how.

#cyberPD 2014: Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks)

July 9th   Chapters 1-2 Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine

July 16th  Chapters 3-4 Hosted by Laura Komos at Ruminate and Invigorate

July 23rd  Chapter 5 & Appendices Hosted by Michelle Nero at Literacy Learning Zone

July 30th @ 7 PM (CST) Twitter Chat with the author Donalyn Miller

PowerPoint or Pointless

As a classroom teacher, I didn't use PowerPoint a lot, not because I couldn't, but because it was such a static medium.  I used the old fashioned overhead that allowed me to write, draw, and design visuals that followed the conversation we were having.  However, at times, PowerPoint was very relevant and I especially wanted to teach my students how to leverage PowerPoint to their advantage, and not stumble, like so many do, into creating slides with too much text and spending too much time reading their slides to the audience.

However, as an academic, I'm frequently speaking to large audiences in spaces that typically encourage, if not require, some sort of visual presentation.  Several years ago, I participated in a PechaKucha night and it was a revelation of what PPT could inspire.  Since then, I've had the pleasure of experiencing a few professional speakers and researchers who use PPT to strategically  illustrate points and/or reinforce the mood/tone of their speech, rather than provide the entire text of their speech.

Rebecca Schuman takes on the pointlessness of PPT in higher education with her entertaining and informative presentation PowerPointless: Digital slideshows are the scourge of higher education.  It blithely highlights the horrible habits we have all gotten into when using PPT and exposes what our students really feel about our use of text-heavy, dull, and outdated presentations. As she states, mid-way through her presentation, "A presentation, believe it or not, is the opening move of a conversation - not the entire conversation."

Although I continue to create presentations for conferences, I hope that my move toward the use of graphics and strategic selection of quoted data helps build the audience engagement in what I'm presenting.  A little later in her presentation, Schuman states, "If your audience can understand everything it needs to from your slides only . . . cut 50% of the slides and 90% of the text."  In other-words, if the slideshow can be read like a book, what's the point of me standing in front of you speaking?  You could read it on your own time!

What do you think?

Researchers as Writers - for whom and how?

Right now there is a major debate going on through multiple academic listservs.  It revolves around a recent article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times entitled "Professors, We Need You". He begins the piece with a provocative opening, "Some of the smartest thinkers on problems at home and around the world are university professors, but most of them just don’t matter in today’s great debates."  He continues to point out the "the anti-intellectualism in American life" and how, at times, professors themselves are to blame for this - as generally, they are not (or are prevented from) engaging in public debates of importance.  As researchers/professors, publication is a crucial part of tenure, but the audience and purpose is not necessarily to impact local, state or national policies or programs.  Instead, too often, academic research is written for academic researchers.  And, to be part of that great conclave, one must learn and use the academic jargon (or Academic Jibberish as Stephen Krashen calls it), required for admission.  Instead of writing for the masses, professors are writing for the select few.

HistoryImages.com: free clip art

In my own dissertation, I selected to use the "three article option" rather than the traditional five chapter format.  In addition, I deliberately selected practitioner-read journals as my target journals, rather than academic elite journals.  My research focused on researching with and learning from teachers, and it was my goal that other teachers would be interested in and enjoy learning from them too.  To bridge the worlds of the researcher and the practitioner, I took Duke and Beck's advise to write the dissertation as a series of articles in a “genre authentic to the field” (1999, p. 34).

However, Kristof is not only critiquing academic report writing, but he continues that "Professors today have a growing number of tools available to educate the public, from online courses to blogs to social media. Yet academics have been slow to cast pearls through Twitter and Facebook."  This is not surprising to me, as many academics don't receive "credit" for non-official writing such as social media or local opinion pieces.  If the process of tenure rewarded public engagement, then I'm sure more professors would involve themselves in this.  An organization that has been trying to influence this policy is Imagining America Organization and it recognizes that public scholarship needs to be supported.

Allen Berger, in his article "Writing about Reading for the Public" (The Reading Teacher, Sep. 1997), suggests that as literacy professionals, we need to learn how to write for publications that the public reads - which means understanding the style, format, length and audience for various publications.  In addition, according to Berger, we need to be reading the publications that influence public opinion and, rather than just responding to criticism, we need to be opening the doors to dialogue on issues and topics that we want to debate publicly.

As an early career scholar, I've grown up academically with digital spaces supplementing my traditional training.  I read blogs from graduate students, international teachers, writers and professors to gain insight on the intellectual work they are doing and sharing through their "slice of life" blog entries.  I actively participate in Twitter chats as a teacher, teacher-educator, adjunct faculty, and writer.  These conversations, with other engaged and excited people continue to inspire me to question further, read more, and consider other viewpoints.  One of the best things that I've learned on the web is to follow people with opinions very different from my own and not only "like" those who share my opinions.

Getting to Know the Characteristics of Good Teachers

For most pre-service teachers, they have had 13+ years of "apprenticeship of observation" (Lortie, 1975) - that is, they  have been students in schools for thousands of hours and seem to know what teachers do everyday.  However, as any classroom teacher will tell you - there is a lot of time, thought and effort that goes on behind the scenes that students never see.  As a teacher-educator, I hope to help my pre-service teachers become more aware of how their previous experiences as students influences their understanding of teaching and learning and their own development as teachers.

 One of the first activities I ask my pre-service teachers to complete is a quick review of the "characteristics of effective teachers".  To accomplish this, I ask the students to search for and view four YouTube videos using search terms like - characteristics/qualities/traits and good/effective/excellent and teachers.  The students take notes on the author and purpose of the video and what characteristics were discussed.  Then, in small groups, the students combine their observations for a group list - which is then compared against the other groups.  It is not surprising, but the results are fairly consistent - passionate, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, fair, organized, supportive, patient, caring, friendly, respectful and creative.

I then introduce the book "Thank You, Mr. Falker" by  Patricia Polacco, which is a memoir of her struggles with dyslexia in school and the teacher who made a difference for her.  Jane Kaczmarek reads the story in this Screen Actors Guild video.  Using a Quick Write, students reflect on the teachers who have influenced them the most and share their responses with a partner.

Finally, in small groups, students draft a job description for a teacher.  This would include the objective, summary statement, qualifications, duties/responsibilities, required skills, and desired skills.  It could also include the salary range and hours. 

For many students, this was the first time they have broken down the actual job of a teacher into the smaller parts to consider the daily tasks of not just lesson planning and teaching, but communicating with staff and parents, assessment paperwork, additional duties like lunch and recess, after school activities, and assorted professional meetings.  I chuckled when one student commented, "Hmmm... I guess I should really look into actual job descriptions, considering this is what I want to do." 

Put One Word After Another Until Done

Publish or perish is the axiom for many scholars and academics, and it is true in many cases.  However, that proverb frames the practice of writing as an unwelcome dictum.  For the past few days, I've been gleaning words of inspiration, portraits of struggle, and motivation to continue to make meaning of my life, teaching and research through writing at the Living the Writerly Life session and study group at the Literacy Research Association conference 2013.  Although the genre of academic writing is a bit particular – there are a lot of useful tidbits for writers of all sorts.

One of the most bountiful sessions for inspiration and advise was sponsored by the Living the Writerly Life study group organizers and was entitled “ We All Have Something to Say: Strategies for Living the Writerly Life.”  In this alternative format sessions, well-published scholars speed-dated us in small groups and shared their collective wisdom of writing.

Julie Coiro, from the University of Rhode Island, encouraged many practices that writing teachers in schools encourage – read a lot with an eye to craft; keep a writer's notebook of ideas; write the first draft as a freewrite and craft it for specific purposes later; and find critical friends (especially classroom teachers) to get feedback.  It is important to clarify personal interests to focus a research agenda that is manageable.  As many others reiterated later – aim for a revise and resubmit (R&R), as that means a journal is interested and willing to work with you to craft the final piece.  Celebrate this!

Beth Dobler, from Emporia State University, advised to find the kernel of a topic that you really care about because you will be with it for a while.  In addition, 85% of writing time is really pre-writing – the thinking, planning, and researching of a topic.  Provide the time to do this well and the final piece will be stronger.

Lori Assaf, from Texas State University, counseled us to not just celebrate R&R, but to get them revised and resubmitted as soon as possible.  When they languish on the “to do” pile, they tend not to get done and as time passes, the piece becomes out of date.  As educational researchers, we need to be aware of the various audiences we need to interact with, therefore try to craft three different pieces on a topic or data set – one for a research journal, one for a practitioner journal, and one as an opinion piece.

Laura Pardo, from Hope College, urged us to keep a writer's notebook.  A  consistent place for writing encourages writing as a habit and practice, and should include more than just academic writing.  She has sections and tabs in her notebook for different ideas and purposes.

Doug Kauffman, from the University of Connecticut,  commented that “writing is a blue collar job rather than artistry”.  He encouraged us to get rid of the idea that writings needs to be pretty and artful.  Just get stuff on the page.  With something on the screen, there is something to revise.  If we think of revision as an act of play and experimentation, then we don't have to wait for inspiration to hit.  The artistry of writing comes through revision, not generation.

Beth Maloch, from the University of Texas at Austin, talked about balancing teaching and research.  Her best advise was to hold fast to the suggested allocation of time that many research institutions use – the 40/40/20 of teaching, research and service.  In a 40 hours work week, this means that 16 hours should be devoted to research/writing.  Just like classes and meetings, this should be on your schedule!

Taffy Raphael, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, posed a powerful question, “What do you need to move forward in your writing?”  Identify that need and work to make it happen.  For her, Taffy mentioned the need for collaboration, writing retreats, and discipline (with time and distractions).  Use what you currently do (classes, presentations) to get started on writing.  Tape your conference talks (the best version) to transcribe to a paper.

Besides this alternative session – the daily study group is truly a motivating factor for many people who return each year.  The study session helps us clarify our goals – both immediate and long-term, and provides peer accountability and deadlines for these goals

Twas the Night Before LRA

Twas the night before LRA, and all through Love Field,
The teachers and researchers were departing their flights.
The program was set, with thoughtful reviews
In hopes that all attending scholars would happily choose.

The students back home were all snug with a substitute,
Or eagerly anticipating a day of peaceful solitude.
As academics with PPTs prepared to show off their learning,
We settled our brains for four days of discerning!

In the lobby of the Omni Hotel there arose such a clatter,
“I haven't seen you since last year – let's have a a quick chatter!”
Good friends and the colleagues we meet only here,
Enjoy the warmer climate of Dallas this year.

Dallas, a site of both cultural icons and historical meaning,
Provides a good space for our personal gleaning,
Transformative Literacy: Theory, Research, and Reform,
Our mission – that powerful, critical literacy becomes the norm.

With R. Beach and T. Rodgers we will soon understand
Digital Texts Through Social Practices, will be absolutely grand.
They soon will be joined by K. Chandler-Olcott, and A. F. Ball,
F. Boyd and T. McCarty – in Plenaries for all.

Besides large group sessions, there's papers for all:
Besides broad categories of quant and qual
We'll dive into case study, mixed methods, and more.
The possibilities are endless, it's so hard store!

As people engage in dynamic sessions,
The Twitter feed #LRA13 will ask many questions.
But don't forget to feed both your stomach and mind,
To be social and meet everyone, especially newbies, is kind.

An then in a twinkling, the conference will come to an end.
With new contacts and friendships, and papers to pen.
We will return to our schools and our colleges fresh,
Recognizing that our LRA community is truly blessed.

Dedicated people and volunteers galore
Provide yearly meetings that refresh us to the core.
Thank you all officers, elected and served,
Our gratitude is endless, and all is deserved.

Let's meet again next year, some place in the East,
While our daily work with powerful literacy will never cease.
And never forget Frederick Douglass's plea
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

Misunderstood Minds – An Introduction to Children Who Learn Differently

I recently discovered a wonderful resource to help teachers and parents better understand learning issues. Learning differences and difficulties are notoriously tough to understand and recognize. In the past, students who learned differently were often segregated to separate schools or classrooms and were denied a quality education. In the 1970s, with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), more attention was given to supporting students who learn differently in the regular classroom – however, it was still often seen as the Special Education department's job to identify and support students. Unfortunately, too often students needed to have significant achievement gaps, behavioral issues, or failures before support was provided. 

More recently, with the implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI), classroom teachers have the responsibility to identify students who need more individualized support in a proactive manner. The model in Wisconsin centers on culturally responsive practices, using collaboration, balanced assessment, and high quality instruction within a multilevel system of support to help students achieve academic standards.

This has the potential to significantly decrease the referrals to special education for all students. It also challenges the traditional model of education that assumes all students learn the same and if not, the problem is with the student. Instead, RTI recognizes that students learn differently and some may need more individualized instruction based on their strengths (not just deficits) to achieve.

An excellent resource to introduce teachers to the complexities of learning differences and difficulties is the PBS video "Misunderstood Minds." It follows three years in the lives of five families whose children struggle to learn. In addition, there is an excellent companion website that provides definitions, explanations, and resources for learning difficulties in reading, writing, math and attention. One of the most unique aspects of the website are the “Experience Firsthand” activities that simulate what it would look and feel like to have a particular learning difficulty. The video is about 90 minutes long but provides an excellent personal portrait of each of the children, the struggles of their families, and the complexities of understanding learning difficulties. I will provide a brief summary of the video.

The first student introduced was Nathan VanHoy, who struggled to read. His struggles were masked by his strong verbal skills and ability to memorize, but he knew he wasn't reading like his classmates. After intensive testing, he was diagnosed with a phonemic awareness problem -- an inability to innately distinguish between the different letter sounds that form words. With great trepidation, his mother made the decision to have Nathan have lessons in the school's resource room which provided intensive training in phonemic awareness. He made progress, but also had plateaus. 

The next student profiled was Lauren Smith, who was creative, dramatic and social, but had difficulties with focus, attention, and organization. In addition to academic problems, Lauren had difficulty making and keeping friends. These issues helped her doctors diagnose an attention difficulty, that most likely resulted from an imbalance of dopamine in her brain. Hesitant to use medication for Lauren, her parents decided to try sending Lauren to a different school, which at first seemed to help. But, when the newness wore off, Lauren continued to have academic and social difficulties. Her parents agreed to try medication for Lauren in addition to other strategies, such as coaching in academic and social interactions, organization tools, and time management. With a multi-tiered approach, Lauren found more success. 

Next the video introduced Sarah Lee. She was very popular, highly social and interactive until about fourth grade. At that time, she began to struggle to articulate her ideas in class and stopped participating. After some testing, the speech and language specialist recognized that Sarah Lee had expressive language deficiency and recommended a full and ongoing language immersion program - almost like second language instruction. With constant practice and feedback, Sarah Lee made significant improvement. 

The next segment profiled Adam, who struggled with reading throughout elementary school, but when tested was determined to be "average" so his learning difficulties were not identified until high school.  At that point, he hated school and skipped it, turning to the streets to find acceptance.  Unfortunately, this led to using alcohol and drugs to numb his frustration and disappointment and stealing.  When caught, he was jailed, but being sober and attending classes, he began to make progress.  Unfortunately, when he returned to high school, he did not receive support and was eventually expelled. Without a diploma, his options are limited.  

The last story focused on another Nathan, who showed frustration and aggression in kindergarten.  An early diagnosis indicated ADD, but medication didn't seem to work. He stopped taking it and his mother decided to home school.  He continued to struggle and began to exhibit depression and suicidal thoughts.  At this point, he met with Dr. Levine, who found Nathan was highly intelligent and had strong visual skills, but struggled with graphomotor (writing) skills - in other words, he knew what he wanted to write, but struggled to form the words.  Dr. Levine showed him how to use his strengths to support his writing.  In addition, Nathan's parents decided that more structure and discipline would help Nathan and they enrolled him at a military school.  At the end of the first year, Nathan had regained some confidence and found more success in his academics.

This video illustrated the long and difficult process that many families go through to support their children who learn differently than others in school. The children who struggle to learn also struggle with negative emotions such as teasing from classmates, disappointment of the adults around them, and the constant labels of lazy, stupid or obstinate. Learning difficulties are not easy to assess and diagnose, and children often learn survival strategies that mask the real problem. Once a learning difficulty is diagnosed, there are many difficult decisions that need to be made. The video also showed the struggle of the parents - to readjust their understanding of their children, to make life-changing decisions, and to work within and outside of schools' special education perimeters. It also illustrates the importance of social, cultural and economic capital - as the parents needed to negotiate multiple systems of support and expectations.

Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, had learning difficulties in school. He was quoted with saying, "I was, on the whole, considerably discouraged by my school days. It was not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the beginning of the race." It is essential that,

as teachers, we identify student early who struggle and provide support, rather than make assumptions about home life, work ethic and attitude. As one of my pre-service teachers reminded us in discussion, “You know what happens when you assume?” . . . . I'll let you finish the phrase.

Getting to Know You: Using Children's Literature to Introduce Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

“There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book.” ― Philip Pullman

I was pondering how to introduce strategies and techniques for working with culturally and linguistically diverse students to my pre-service teachers. But beyond looking at English language learners as a group I wanted my students to personally identify with children who may be very different from themselves. I wanted them to be thinking about questions such as: What does it feel like to be an English Language Learner in a classroom? What are some of the hopes and fears of students who struggle to speak English in our classrooms? How do English language learners navigate in a society that is mostly monolingual?

Children's literature has the unique characteristic of making a complex topics very personal and visual. I selected several illustrated children's books and asked groups of pre-service teachers to read the book together and summarize the storyline, list what they learned about English language learners, bilingual and/or immigrant students from the story, and how could they use the book in their own classrooms. This provided the students a repertoire of books to use with their students but also new perspectives of what it's like to be English language learner in American schools.

Class Mom – Written by Margaret Mc Namara; Illustrated by Mike Gordon

Summary: Nia's class is having a party and Nia volunteers her mom to be in charge, even though she believes her Mama will not want to be in charge because she doesn't speak much English. Throughout the weekend Nia did not tell her mom about party. After much agony, and pretending that she was sick the morning of the party, Nia finally tells her mom about the party. However Mama pulls through and throws a great party.

What the Students Learned: We learned that parents of English language learners may have a hard time volunteering in the classroom if they speak another language. What we, as teachers, may perceive as a lack of involvement does not mean disinterest. We also learned that it is important for students to connect their languages and cultures to the work in the classroom.

Using the Book: We could use this book to show students how everyone's family is different and how parents may speak many languages.

In English, Of Course – Written by Josephine Nobisso; Illustrated by Dasha Ziborova

Summary: Josephine just moved to the Bronx from Italy. Her teacher asked all the students to introduce themselves. The students were from all over the world and each began to introduce themselves, but Josephine was confused by what they said and how they said it. When Josephine tried to explain where she was from Naples Italy, the students and teacher did not understand her. Through patience, gestures and pictures the teacher helped Josephine tell her story and learn new words in English.

What the Students Learned: We learned that the misconception of language can scare some students. English language learners may have a hard time coming up with sentences and the correct words to use, but they have a lot of ideas in their head. As teachers we need to provide patients and resources to students to help them build their language skills and confidence

Using the Book: By using this book with our students in the classroom, they may also recognize that students who may not speak English very well may still have a lot to say and teach us.

The Rainbow Tulip - Written by Pat Mora; Illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles

Summary: This book is about a young girl named Stella. She and her family are from Mexico. Her mother and father do not speak any English. Stella and her younger brothers are bilingual. Stella feels like she and her family are different at the Mayday Parade. Her costume is multicolored, and everyone else's costume is a single color. Her parents about hard time interacting with the other parent, making it hard for Stella to feel accepted. Stella performs well during the Mayday dance, but is frustrated that her parents cannot talk to the teacher. At home Stella admit that she likes being the only rainbow tulip but it was hard too. Her mother answers that it is hard to be different that it is both sweet and sour like sherbet.

What the Students Learned: We learned that at times English language learners may feel that it is difficult to become accepted in the classroom. Because they might feel that they are very different from their classmates, they may feel frustrated, scared, or shy. As teachers, we need to help create an environment that accepts that differences and celebrate what makes us unique.

Using the Book: We can use this book to help students express some of their feelings about what it is like to feel different. In addition it may help our students be more courageous when they need to do difficult things.

My Name is Yoon – Written my HelenRecorvits; Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska

Summary:: The story is about a Korean girl and her transition to American schools. At first she did not like moving to America and how everything was different. When she wrote her name in Korean it was beautiful and meant Shining Wisdom. In English her name was Yoon, which she found ugly. For many days in school she learned new words and tried out new identities such as cat, bird and cupcake. When she began to make friends and feel like her teacher like her she was then able to write her English name Yoon.

What the Students Learned: we learned that it can be hard to adapt to new school and language at first. Taking on an English name may make it easier for them in school but it might not feel right to the student. English language learners may need to create new identities for themselves. In addition English language learners may be confused by teachers instructions and do things very differently.

Using the Book: Although the book shows an English language learner struggling, we can use the book to show that everybody struggles with somethings. In addition, this book may encourage students to be more sympathetic when other students struggle in school and show the importance of friendship.

Yoko Writes Her Name – Written and Illustrated by Rosemary Wells

Summary: Yoko is an English language learner she is picked on for not knowing how to write her name in English because she only knows how to write in Japanese. She is frustrated by this fact until a classmate helps her learn the English alphabet. This same friend thinks it is really neat that Yoko knows a secret language, Japanese. When the other classmates see Yoko and her friend writing in Japanese the rest want to learn it also and they decide to make Japanese their second class language. When two classmates don't learn how to write their names in Japanese Yoko teaches them how.

What the Students Learned: we learned that can be difficult to adapt to a new learning environment. It takes time and patience but everyone can benefit from the differences.

Using the Book: We can use the book as a resource that shows how to value the richness of different cultures in our classroom. We can use it to show students that it is okay to branch out and get to know something you are unfamiliar with.

The Other Side: How Kids Live in a California Latino Neighborhood – Written by Kathleen Krull; Photographs by David Hautzig

Summary: This nonfiction book the the story of how two Mexican-American families left Mexico and moved to California for better opportunities. It shows, through photographs, what daily life is like for many immigrant families including some of the struggles they have in school, trying to preserve their culture and heritage, having children translate for their parents, and the importance of family, both in California and back home. It also highlights some of the unique celebrations and holidays that are celebrated by many Latino families

What the Students Learned: We learned that it is important to include and celebrate children's cultures in the classroom beyond the traditional mainstream culture. We also learned about how it can sometimes be frustrating and isolating to be an English language learner and immigrant to the United States.

Using the Book: If we have English language learners in our classroom. This book might help other students feel more connected with their peers. The reader will also understand why some immigrants wish to come to America and the importance of preserving home language and culture.

Class Discussion

Many of the books dealt with issues of identity. English language learners are past with so much more than just learning English. They also have to negotiate the borderlands of their home culture and school culture and define themselves with in this borderland. The choice of language and language use is an obvious identification mark, yet students may not completely identify with the culture of the language.

Many students also recognized that the parents of English language learners may often be misrepresented. Just because the parents are not at parent conferences, volunteering for class parties, or helping students with homework, it does not mean the parents are uninterested in their students education. There may be many factors that might limit parent involvement in school including different cultural expectations, language barriers, and demands on time through family and work.

As teachers, we need to build on the strengths that students bring to the classroom, culturally and linguistically. To do this we need to get to know our students and not make assumptions of who they are or what they can do.

As a teacher educator, I am thrilled that my pre-service teachers came to recognize these very important issues when working with culturally and linguistically diverse students. It may have been more efficient to provide a lecture with PowerPoint, but I believe through the words and illustrations in these children's books the lessons the students learned will be better integrated into their understanding.

Life Lessons in Children's Literature

Sometimes a book finds you – rather than you finding a book, and The Three Questions (based on a story by Leo Tolstoy) by Jon J. Muth is a book that found me. In the midst of looking for other topics, my eye was drawn to the muted water color and the fact that there is a children's book based on Tolstoy - not an easy author to understand. I settled down on the floor to enjoy the story.

Nikolai wants to be a good person and sets out to find the answers to three questions: When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? 

Like most quest stories, Nikolai consulted several creatures: Sonya, the heron; Gogol, the monkey, and Pushkin, the dog. Each gave answers according to their own perspectives and experiences and their answers did not satisfy Nikolai. Figuring Leo, the wise turtle, might have better answers, Nikolai went to him. Leo was digging and Nikolai offered to help. In the midst of digging, Nikolia heard a cry for help and rescued an injured panda and her cub and cared for them. Through these experiences, Leo observed that Nikolia had the answers to his own questions, “Remember then that there is only one important time, and that time is now. The most important one is always the one you are with. And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side.”

From: https://twitter.com/TeachYOUMatter

Just recently a teacher mentioned how discouraged she was with teaching - the Common Core mandates, a district imposed literacy curriculum, and general disrespect of the teaching profession. She said, “There are days that I wonder if it matters. What are we doing?” I reminded her of the tale of the boy walking down the beach and finding an old man throwing the stranded starfish back into the water. There were hundreds of the starfish on the beach and the boy exclaimed, “Why are you doing this? There is no way you can save them all!” The old man turned to the boy, while picking up another, and said, “It matters to this one.”

The teachers I know matter. Each and every day they focus on doing the best they can for each child in their classroom – the ones standing by their side – even in the midst of overwhelming mandates, testing and general discourtesy. It matters – to each child – each day – every day.

First Day Fears and Hopes

Another school year has begun, and this year, I'm teaching undergrad and graduate courses. But, it is still a new school year, and whether I'm teaching at a new school or just being introduced to a new group of students, I still have the first day jitters. And, I believe, if I ever lose this trait, it is time to hang up my teaching hat. I think the jitters are important to remind myself to constantly be learning about myself, my students, and my content and pedagogy.

Like the actor's nightmare (showing up on stage and not knowing what play is being performed) I think there are teachers' nightmares. On my first day with my new practicum students, I shared my first day jitters and my yearly nightmare of not knowing what classes I'm teaching or having students standing on desks and throwing paper airplanes at me. I hear some teachers have the nightmare of showing up naked to class, though I've never had that one. As my practicum students move into their first classroom experiences, I wanted them to know that anxiety of new experiences is okay, but it shouldn't be paralyzing. I found a great illustrated children's book that really exemplifies this point.

Mr. Ouchy's First Day by Barbara G. Hennessy is about a new fourth-grade teacher on his first day. Like many children, he prepares for the first day by buying new shoes, getting a haircut, has trouble sleeping thinking about the first day, and gets up early to make sure he is on time. At first, the children tease him about his unusual name, but as he begins to engage them in figuring out time, the children begin to discuss how a minute can be interpreted differently under various circumstances. And suddenly, it is recess time! The book then jumps to the end of the day and Mr. Ouchy and the children set goals for learning for the year. The children want to learn how to whistle, swing on a trapeze, train a cat, or make doughnuts. When Mr. Ouchy returns home, he is tired but anticipating the great learning for the year and begins to read up on the children's interests and dreams of his students accomplishing their goals.

After sharing the book, I asked my practicum students to write down a fear, a hope, a question, and something they hope to learn through the year on post it notes. On the white board, I drew a chart with each sectioned labels. As the students thought of something, they could post it, and other students could read various responses. The ideas ranged from very practical (What school will I be at?) to very broad (How do I engage children of all abilities and ages?). Many were concerned about managing a classroom and they wanted to be the best teacher possible. Others wrote about their fear of failure and wanting to be an inspiring teacher.

Although the hopes and fears don't change much from year to year – whether you are a student or a teacher, I think it is important to acknowledge that the first day of school is a day of both excitement and anxiety. Really, this is true for the first day of any new experience. During the roller-coaster of emotions, it is good to know that you are not alone and that these feelings are completely normal. I saw a poster once that said, “The only difference between fear and excitement is your attitude about it. - Unknown.” In the fear and excitement of the first day, I hope to encourage my students to focus on the excitement and let the engagement in lessons alleviate the fear.