atychiphobia

Students Revising Leads To Self-Created Mentor Texts

 

 

Note: This is the second in a series of posts this week about how I try to support learners in my room by using mentor texts for digital writing.  These posts, plus writing by Bill Bass, Katie DiCesare, Troy Hicks, Kevin Hodgson andFranki Sibberson are being collected at Mentor Texts in the Digital Writing Workshop

 

 

 

 In my previous post on this theme, I wrote about using traditional books as possible mentor texts for digital compostition.  Something else that I now frequently do to support my student learners happened due to one of those accidental AH-HA moments.  

One of the great things about using tech tools to produce work is how ridiculously easy it is to change things, especially the appearance of the work.  At one time I thought all of the messing around with background colors, fonts, placement of pictures, etc was a result of my students either a) trying to make up for the lack of writing with slick looking projects or b) a child just wasting time.  My epiphany moment about the concept of playing around with how something looks happened when at the same time my class was busy on some project, I was busy on developing a slideshow for a presentation.  If only my kids would have seen the crazy amount of time I changed background colors, fonts and placement of pictures.

One of the things we now do frequently in our digitial work is to "play" with how something looks when we are close to being done with a project.  If the students in my classroom do not know how to take a screenshot, they quickly learn.  I teach them this skill so they can more thoughtfully look at design elements near the end of a project. 

During the last few class sessions we work on a project we take screenshots, then fiddle with the look, take screenshots, fiddle some more and look at all of these screenshots to best determine what design best suits our purpose.  Often times this comparison of screenshots also includes the idea of going back to the "professional mentor texts" that may have inspired us in the first place.

 Management of this type of work can be tricky at first because just like me, most kids will want to "play" first.  They want to find the perfect look before doing the work of composing.  I negotiate this with the class by stressing not worry too much about how it looks at the beginning, because the work of fine-tuning should be near the end.  For example you are not really going to know how certain pictues will look on a certain background until the pictures are actually in the project.  Another example would be you might think that Impact looks awesome.  But will Impact really look awesome if it fills up the whole page?

In a way, I think that this revision of the look of the project, analyzing the different looks, and getting critical feedback from peers is a create-your-own-mentor-text situation.  The kids are manipulating a tool to best send their composed message.  They see what is possible happen with a few clicks, then build from this.  Another thing I think starts to happen is they begin to notice how some things just don't work no matter how badly we may want them to work (e.g. orange type on a red background).  So the next time they begin the process of digitally composing something, they already have built for themsleves some mentor texts of what can work well together. I will admit there are times that I might disagree with some of the choices from a strictly aesthetic sense, but I do honor the thinking and work that goes into the choices.  

Below are some screenshots I collected from two years ago.  This was a group project we did in science.  The goal was to design a nonfiction text related to a weather concept.  Some of the "professional mentor texts" used include Seymour Simon books, DK books, various web articles and several other weather related nonfiction books I pulled for this particular science unit.

I honestly can't remember where the group started, but what I do remember that they changed things up nearly a dozen times in one class period.  They worked until they had something that a) got good feedback from some peers not in their group and b) they all could all agree that what they produced had a look that made them feel proud.

As you look at the various versions of a page from their book, try to imagine the conversation and thinking that went into it.  Pesrsonally I really liked the third one down, but I valued the time taken to be reflective and to "play" hard to make a strong project.  The entire final project is the last in line.

 

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Later,

Tony

Invitation Not Command

I know that I am my own worst critic when it comes to writing.  Most of the time when I finish something, my first thought is, "Boy that is a lousy piece of crap,  who'd read this?"  I have grand intentions to write more, but that very loud voice in my head usually wins out.  This post for example has been in the hopper for a few weeks now.  It took a little nudge from my friend Franki to get me to say, "I'll go back, revise the beginning and send it out."  I think we all need a Franki in our lives, someone who knows just how to push the right buttons, even if she doesn't realize she is doing it.  

Over the summer I got a text from Franki that read something like this:

Why don't you write an article for Choice Literacy? #invitationnotcommand

The next thing I know we are bouncing ideas back and forth and I feel no pressure to write, but I want to write.  I feel no pressure to get anything done, but I WANT to get something done.  Fast forward a few weeks and I have posted on this site more regularly and have not one, but three articles published on Choice Literacy.  For someone like me, this stretch of writing was huge with a capital H.  It felt fantastic to write, share and get feedback.  

I have slowed down lately, but when school starts for me I put forth so much energy into cultivating rleationships with my students and families, that writing for me takes a back seat.  However this whole #invitationnotcommand thing provided some opportunities for me to think deeply about how a small phrase might mean big things for student writers.

Standing on the shoulders of mentors like Lucy Calkins, Katie Wood Ray and Carl Andersson has taught me that I do need to teach in the writing workshop.  I can't ignore the idea of pushing students to new crafting techniques, new ways to think about composition and the art of being thoughtful with revision.  However, I have always struggled with pushing my 4th graders without deflating them. I know too well how damaging one sentence can be for a writer who is trying to take a risk.  I have "crushed" a few too many students over the years even though I thought I was helping them.

I decided early on this year that I would use the phrase, "This is an invitation, not a command" when I wanted to nudge students toward big important thinking in their work.  We had mini-lessons on this language.  The point of these lessons was for them to know that 1) these invitations would make them think deeper about their writing and 2) it still kept them in control of their writing.  I didn't want the kids to think that if an invitation was given there was an expectation to follow through.  My students even know who Franki is and how successful she is with her "invitations, not commands."  In fact I think she has a nearly 100% track record.  

Due to the class discussions and my purposeful use of the phrase, my students have started using it with each other during peer conferencing in both writing and reading.  It has been a rather interesting experiment.  I am seeing students gently push each other to new places in both writing an reading.  Not all invitations are accepted, but nearly every time one is accepted, the writer or reader ends up being happy he took the invitation and ran with it.

Our class will continue to explore the concept of invtations for the rest of the year.  I am cautiously optimistic that it will be as HUGE for them as it has been for me.  The initial stages seem positive.  When you see 4th graders revising entire poems or adding complete scenes in personal narratives due to invitations from each other, it is hard to think that it won't be really big.

Later,

Tony

By the way, Franki has extended her invitation not command thinking to her library.  G0 read her thinking now.  #invitationnotcommand

image credit to Tomas Hellberg

 

Watching the "Car Wreck" on the Median in my Classroom

My class took a math test recently. This is not a huge thing for a 4th grade classroom, but it was enlightening to watch my class as they took the test. Usually I am reading the test to a sudent based on the rules of an intervention plan, or I am trying to do other things so I don't have to watch my kiddoes take a test. On this test day though, I decided to sit back and carefully observe.

I noticed 2 distict groups of test takers. About 70% of my class fell into the "I need to work though this test group". This was interesting to me. Some of these students do well in math and some struggle. However, what really impressed me was the stick-to-itiveness of this group. As I watched the class the kids in this group had determination smeared across their face. They looked engaged (I was partially proud and partially sick to my stomach. Is brute determination on the end of unit 4th grade math test a good thing?), I even witnessed more than one student, get to the last page of the test and then go back to check over work. The first student who fell into this group finished in 25 minutes and the last one was done in 48 minutes.

The other 30% or so of my class fell into the "I know what I am doing, so I don't have to really work on this test group". This group leaped right into he test and the average time spent on taking the test was 15 minutes. With the first one racing up to turn in the test in 11 minutes.

I really want all of my students to be successful in math, but I struggle with what successful is. In my district, we have an arbitrary benchmark of 85% accuracy for "achieving the standard". On this particular test the total points were 25, so if you miss 3 points you have met the achieving mark. If you miss 4 or more you are not considered successful on meeting the standards taught. Which means in my work that the character trait of perseverance doesn't always seem important to the grade. I may be overgeneralizing this a little, but I do think there is something to be said for being ready for following through on a task. Even a task like a test.

Here comes part one of the car wreck I mentioned in the title.

Of the 8 students who were in the "I know what I am doing group" 2 missed the achieving benchmark with score of 21/25 and the highest score was 24/25. These are not poor scores by any measure, but every single "lost point" had little to do with mathematical understanding. The errors were all a result of not carefully navigating what the individual problem was asking to do. For example, in one scenario, a student lost 2 points on a problem that was designed to check understanding of factors. The factors of 45 were embedded in a word problem. Instead of explaining an answer "like the class could create a display with 3 rows of 15 or 9 rows of 5", the student wrote, "the class could have 4 rows of 10 and 1 row of 5". He completely misread the context clue of "a display with rows of equal amounts."

All 8 of the students in this group had similar errors. All 8 of these students have very strong number sense and 4 are identified as being gifted in mathematics. The "car wreck" for me with this group, is that I have been unable to help them understand that speed doesn't necessarily equate with quality work. I, at this point in time, am completely at a loss for how to help them. This concerns me because I think if these students don't learn the concept of being thoughtful in situations like these, then unfortunately doors that could potentially open for them, like AP math or the IB program available at our district high schools, may be closed. Maybe I am over thinking this issue, but I have always been a long-view educator. Yes, I want my students to be successful this year in my class. But what I really want is for them to be successful 5, 10 and 15 years down the road.

Part 2 of the car wreck is a little different.

Of the larger group, who seems to be already working on the trait of wanting to produce quality work, the test scores varied considerably. The two students I have who struggle with math earned a 76%. Not great, not close to the 85% benchmark, but on the other hand, they were successful. Both showed evidence of catching mistakes when they were working and both did better than their last assessments. There were also three students who scored 100% on this assessment (and none of them are identified as gifted in math). The car wreck for me with this group is more about helping to reinforce the idea of working through a task is a valuable cause when they don't earn an "A". I had 7 student who felt they worked hard on this assessment, but were somewhat deflated to see a "B" or a "C" at the top of their paper. My concern for this group also relates to the long-view. For how long will these students be intrinsically motivated to work "hard" on test or projects or whatever if the result of their work does not yield "A's"?

This is a tough balancing act for me. How do I shift thinking in a student who spends 12 minutes on a test and earns an A-, while he sits next to a student who spends 35 minutes and earns B+. And at the same time make sure the student who earned the B+, doesn't get down on himself when the friend sitting next to him earned a higher grade and "ripped" through the test.

If you are reading this and have any tips let me know. I could use them.

Later,
Tony

 

image credit David B. Williams via Flickr