Day 5 - Final Day of TCRWP

Last day already! What a wonderful week.

Today began with our small group.  We discussed charts and word walls.  Things to think about - keep up the writing process chart all year and be sure to refer to it for each style of writing (narrative, informational, opinion, poetry, fiction, etc.).  For word walls, things to remember - start the year off with the students’ names, be sure to teach those words to students before putting them up, and less is more.

We ended our small group with a celebration of our writing. We talked about, how by writing, we got a feel for how our students may feel when writing - maybe they are stumped, maybe they do not want to share, maybe ……  I learned I need to write more and write often.

Monique also shared with us, as our parting gift, a read aloud of Exclamation Mark.  Great book!  Great class!  Great leader! Great teachers!  Great experience!  Thank you Monique Knight and teachers and coaches who were in our small group.

We moved to Milbank Chapel to learn from Amanda.We discussed partnerships, opinion writing, English language learners, and celebrations. Things to remember:

Partnerships - work with partnerships, help them become better writers, listeners, and teachers so that they can learn from each other.  Be there to help facilitate and coach them as they work.  Remember, always have a tool they can access and use that tool right then and there with you.

Opinion Writing - think about using student examples found in the unit of writing books and Writing Pathways book by placing them on chart paper and having students name the qualities of good writing they see when reading the piece.  This can be done for all styles of writing.

ELLs - for those students who do not speak nor write yet, acknowledge the storytelling they do through pictures.  Help them name those pictures and model how to tell an oral story of what they drew.  They have stories to tell.

Celebrations - celebrate their work - do not have them rewrite - it does not help them learn any more and it takes up too much time - we want to be sure to celebrate, their revisions and edits - mess and all.

Sarah Weeks was our keynote and author of many books!  A couple she mentioned were Honey and Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth and So B It.  She was so much fun to listen to!  Humorous!  Things I will be sure to remember: “Sometimes when you least expect it, an idea comes to you,” and “ Follow your passions and share them with others.”

Lucy wrapped up our day after we were given an opportunity to listen to writers share their stories (fabulous stories!).  Lucy talked about complimenting not only students but our colleagues - We need to learn together because your students are my students and my students are your students = Our Students.

Wonderful week!  I am so very fortunate to be here and to learn from and with other teachers.  THANK YOU Monique Knight and Amanda Hartman and to Teachers College!