Action Plan

My plan of action in the fall is to give my students many more writing and and sharing experiences than I have done in the past. In the past I have been almost apologetic to my students when I ask them to write another thing yet again. Being in this institute has really brought home to me how much pleasure and learning there is in writing constantly--even if I did have the skinniest portfolio to ever be turned in. Here's what I think: If I can do it, then I really believe I can be instrumental in encouraging and motivating and inspiring my students this fall to become WRITERS! It's like the old-time traveling doctor/quack who suddenly discovers the elixirs and potions aren't placebos anymore--they really work.

What that means for me as a writer is that I plan to continue the habit developed these three weeks of writing on a daily basis. Being around people who do that has been an incredible eye-opener for me. It is what makes a writer a writer. You can't just pick up a pen and splat there it is. It is a skill that has to be developed all the time. It's exciting to think that I can do that and that I can share that with my students.

Every demonstration that I saw was of such high caliber. I can use some/all of each one in my 8th grade Reading and Writing classes. Just as a beginning of what I plan to use this fall:

• Poetry: I plan to use Poetry 180 every day in my classroom. I will not "save" poetry until the end of the year or just before MAP testing. I will add Laura's Sentence Poetry and Jason's music into poetry/short story ideas throughout the year. They are great strategies for students to use to respond to literature. I loved Haley's demo, too, because I can see how powerful it is in getting kids to develop emotional depth in their poetry.
• Research: Susan and Julie gave me great ideas to help develop a sense of excitement and discovery about research in the classroom. I can use ideas from their demos at the beginning of novel units or for non-fiction reading.
• Art: Yet another thing I sort of save for the end of the year. No way. Shelly's demo showed how I can use art to connect to literature and get the kids to use analysis and evaluation through art. I'm also thinking about how I would like the kids to be able to create artifacts around their reading. Shelly and I plan to talk:-)
• Developing voice: I can see how the divergent demos from Ashlie, Michael, Joann, Larry, Thomas, and Caroline have strategies that I can use to give my kids info and skills to become great writers. IKNOWIKEEPSAYINGGREAT,BUTICAN'THELPIT! This has been an amazing professional development time for me and will change my classroom.
• The text: This is a topic dear to my heart as a teacher of reading. Zak, Liz, Thomas, Julia's demos are full of amazing strategies to use to help people relate/connect/become passionate about what they read. I am so grateful.
• Blogging: I already knew I wanted to set up a Blog for my classes. Barb's demo is so user friendly that I think I can, I think. . .
• Cultural Literacy: I really got to thinking about how I can help my kids not feel clueless in this area. I'm so sorry to have missed this demo!