Archive for category writing

Digitized Writing Workshop

Dec 11

Posted by John Howell in LucyCalkins, writing | 1 Comment

“Teach the writer then the writing” a phrase coined by Lucy Calkins that still holds true despite the fact that I have moved my fifth grade writing class into the computer lab. For several years I have embraced Lucy Calkins’ model of the Art of Teaching Writing.  It has been a journey that has not only given the students a framed sense of choice but has liberated my instruction as well.  I am simply standing on the shoulders of the good work that Lucy and so many others have already accomplished and I have transposed that writing model into a digital format.

Here is a brief overview of what our Digitized Writing Workshop looks like.

First

We are working on writing Personal Narratives and many of my first mini-lessons have been focused on Strategies for Generating Personal Narratives.  During the first 5-15 minutes of class I have the students huddled around the screen as I take notes on Our Wiki and model a particular strategy for the students.

Then

I will usually give the students some think time to get a few ideas on how they could use the particular strategy I have just modeled.  They will then turn to their writing partners and have a conversation.  We usually go around and give several students an opportunity to share their ideas with the whole group.

Next

I will ask the students to log on to the computers and sit next to their writing partners.  I then direct them to open up their Microsoft Word document and Our Wiki so they can have the tabs open and an example to refer to if needed.  During this time, the students are composing their personal narratives just as they would if they were using a Writer’s Notebook.

That is it for the moment ~ no blog, no digital collaboration through a wiki BUT this model is a scaffolding step in that direction.

While the students are composing their personal narratives I am circulating about the room taking a knee and having one on one conferences with students.  I can easily scan the room and see 15 computers at any one time to see if students are having any technical difficulties or struggling with the days work.  I am about 2 weeks into this model of a Digitized Writing Workshop and there are indeed pro’s and con’s.

Con’s

  • slow typing skills can get in the way of fluent writing
  • organizing Microsoft Word files
  • managing technical problems
  • sending and receiving documents through Blackboard

Pro’s

  • EVERY student loves Writing Workshop (based on the number of “yeah’s” shouted out when I mention that it’s time to go the computer lab)
  • I can track writing data with Microsoft Word
  • practice authentic computer skills daily
  • students can send and receive documents through Blackboard
  • I can insert comments into all Microsoft Word documents that can be considered and then deleted by students

The reality of this framework is such that not only am I trying to help children become better writers but they are also learning a technical skill set.  My ultimate goal is to help them improve their writing but to get there I must also help them attain a certain level of technical proficiency at the same time.  It’s messy at first but within a couple class periods the students are comfortable enough to manage a 30-40 minute writing experience with little to no technical difficulties.

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Re-Visioning the Writing Classroom

Mar 17

Posted by John Howell in literacy, writing | 3 Comments

“Show me, don’t tell me,” a line I have no doubt lifted from the famous Lucy Calkins. In all of the writing we do in our class I am constantly asking my fifth graders to do just that, show don’t tell. “If in your story you are writing about a time when you are scared then how can you show me that with your words? If the alien you are writing about is “ugly” then describe that crazy beast in a way that will create a visual and mental image in your readers mind.“

We have made incredible gains over the last couple of weeks in our writing and the students work is jumping off the page. Their word choice is strategic and well planned, they’re finding their voice, and becoming much more confident with the conventions of writing. Perhaps it’s because spring has sprung or is it something more?

So let me dig in and reflect for but a moment.

I believe the difference is the computer lab. After our planning time and the first drafts were written on paper in class I then had the students type those rough drafts using Microsoft Word at the computer lab. Their first drafts were then sent to me through the Digital Drop Box within Blackboard where I had a chance to embed comments within their work and resend it back to the student within the Digital Drop Box.

I very quickly realized that there were immediate advantages with conferencing this way and there were immediate disadvantages as well. Ultimately, I want my writing class to be a fluid time where conversations about word choice and voice are common among all but much of that writing talk disappeared and I found the Digital Drop Box became a bottle neck during class time.

So the immediate solution was to have the students print out their work so I can sit with them and write comments and suggestions all over their papers. Then they could go back to the computers and take their time with my comments and play around with their work until they found how they liked it. It really worked for me. It was fast, very business like, and gave me a chance to see immediate progress in the writer not just the writing.

Through this process however, I was able to identify an immediate gap within my class; they really don’t know how to use Microsoft Word very well. So, not only did I have mini-lessons on how to incorporate dialogue or how to use similes in their writing, but many of my mid-point lessons were about the basic skills of using Microsoft Word.

Our writing class has been at the computer lab over the last week or two and the students have discovered that Microsoft Word is a tool that can take some of the sting out of revising; they are no longer dreading having to rewrite each draft over and over by hand. Rather there has been a huge weight lifted off the shoulders of these young writers and they are free to express themselves and don’t mind the hard work or the Re-Visioning of their stories.

It has been as much a learning experience for me as it has been for the students, and as Brian Crosby would say, “it’s messy.” The look and feel of my writing class has changed. If at any time you walk into my classroom/computer lab you will see kids conferencing with one another, other students helping out with basic tech skills, other students might be fixing a printer issue, or other students discussing some other crafty cool gadget that they discovered Microsoft Word could do. These kids are talking about changing their opening paragraphs or starting with the last paragraph and moving text around and playing with words in a way that I have never really experienced before.

It is an amazingly productive time and I am so proud of how hard these kids are working.

I will post a link to their blogs so those interested can read their final copies.

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Living Like a Writer

Apr 30

Posted by John Howell in LucyCalkins, blogging, digitalphotography, writing | 1 Comment

If anything, I think that blogging has forced me to “Live Like a Writer,” a line I am sure I pulled out of one of Lucy Calkins’ books. Before contributing to this web log I never took the time to reflect so deeply on my day, whether inside the classroom or in my own home. Life and all of its relentless pressures are certainly traveling at light speed, and taking time to pause and reflect gives my mind that opportunity to be steady and make connections where connections would normally not be made.


I think I have always been an eclectic romantic at heart but now I am certain of it. Today, while in Writers Workshop with my Fantabulous Fifth Graders I was introducing our lesson and I had a moment of clarity. The students were fantastic, I had peaked their interest when I mentioned, “Today you will be using digital cameras.”

With my captive audience I began to illustrate how to take a picture of something ordinary and think about it in extraordinary ways. So with my digital camera I leaned over, slowly lowered to one knee, and took a picture of my infamous coffee cup. How could I begin to think about this image in an extraordinary way? If I am to live like a writer what deep personal connections could I make with a simple picture of a coffee cup?

The ideas began to pour out of my students more easily than my first cup of morning coffee.

I had discovered in the middle of the mini-lesson that it’s about the time around the Silver Bullet, the incredibly large coffee pot that so graciously holds the morning’s life liquid that is found in our staff lounge. The time standing, waiting patiently for my turn to fill my cup, where conversations ensue with other teachers who are anxious for their mornin’ cup-o-joe.

I get to find out about someone’s new grandchild, get an update on someone’s ill mother, find out that a son has been accepted to college, another son in boot camp, or simply get to say “Good Morning” to those I don’t normally see throughout a busy day.

Living like a writer has forced me to think about the ordinary things in my life and find deep personal connections, silly I know, but oh so powerful. It helps me to find value in the mundane and allows me to treasure the small things in life and for this I am grateful.

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Quenched by the Echo in My Head

Apr 23

Posted by John Howell in poetry, writing | No Comments

Searching for the rhythm of words
desperately trying to be heard
Relentlessly yearning
Life long learning
Quenched by the echo in my head

Cup half full or is it empty?
Forever wondering about eternity
eagerly listening
sun glow glistening
Quenched by the echo in my head

Today is the day that could be the first
Living life with a hunger and thirst
never second guessing
thankful for the blessing
Quenched by the echo in my head

Glorious divinity human spirit
Lean forward so you can hear it
gently glowing
truly knowing
Quenched by the echo in my head

John Adams

Apr 21

Posted by John Howell in DavidMcCullough, JohnAdams, writing | 2 Comments

I have been fascinated with the historical perspective of John Adams, an HBO mini-series, based on the book by David McCullough and would like to share a line from the seventh episode that grabbed my attention.

Allow me to bring some context to this particular scene – John Adams at 90, is walking on his farm with his son Thomas while reflecting, as he does, on his life now that his beloved wife Abigail has passed.

I have some scruples of conscious enough whether I ought to be preserved or whether it would be charity of me to stumble. Still, still I am not weary of life. Strangely. I have hope. You take away hope and what remains? What pleasures? Do you follow me Thomas?

“It’s getting late father, let’s go inside,” Thomas said.

Come here, come here. I have seen a queen of France with 18 million livres of diamonds on her person, but I declare that all the charms of her face and figure added to all the glitter of her jewels did not impress me as much as that little shrub right there. Now your mother always said that I never delighted enough in the mundane, but now I find that if I look at even the smallest thing my imagination begins to roam the milk way.

Rejoice evermore.
Rejoice evermore.

Oh, I wish that it was always in my heart and in my tongue.

This to me is like poetry that strums the heart strings, and really the entire series is smothered in writing that brings such life to our American story. Watching this show has provided me the opportunity to consider the challenges of life in the late 1700’s and surely reminds me that there is much to be thankful for.

Rejoice evermore and strive to delight in the mundane…

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The Conversations Had Begun

Feb 11

Posted by John Howell in Journey to Mei, blogging, elementary, learning, teaching, writing | 1 Comment

How amazing is it when students not only have the opportunity to read great books, but then have the chance to have conversations with the authors of those books? This evening, I was reading through our class blog and approving comments when I found myself literally jumping out of the chair after realizing Freddie Remza, author of Journey to Mei, had commented on one of my students blog posts. This is incredibly exciting news!

Literacy instruction is the major focus of what we do at the elementary level. Tomorrow morning, after my students discover that a “real live author” has left a comment on one of our student’s blog…well let’s just say that the excitement level will go higher than I will be able to manage. This is really good news at so many levels.

More to come soon…