Regie Routman Part 4

I promise this the the last post from Mrs. Lowe for a while. I'm sure you're missing reading about the happenings in Room 8.

Thursday was our last morning with Regie. She spent a lot of time answering questions and reviewing what she had taught earlier in the week.

One question that came up was regarding handwriting/printing. Teachers were curious if and how this should be taught in a play-based setting. Regie made it clear that she believes this is a huge issue in schools. She believes that, students are not taught how to form their letters correctly and they are not required to print/handwrite neatly. This causes huge issues later in school and life as it slows students down and makes their writing difficult to read.

Again, she emphasized the importance of giving our students the skills to become independent. They need tools and strategies to access so that they are not relying on the teacher to be able to read and write. 

"What am I doing today to help my students become independent readers and writers?"

I believe this is an area of my teaching where I can improve. I think I have been too easy on my students.  I have not set the bar high enough and I've made it too easy for them to rely on me to sound out their words, write for them and let them copy or tell them where they can find the words in the classroom.

These are things my students should be doing for themselves and I need to put the responsibility back on them.

Source

On Thursday afternoon Deidre came back and we continued on with our writing from the previous day.

Step 1. Re-read the shared writing piece from the day before. We practiced it as a class and had students come up and point to each of the words.

Step 2. Begin word work. We pointed out the words /we/ and /play/. We had students come up and circle these words in our writing, sound them out, spell them orally, and add them to our word wall.

Step 3. Word work on whiteboards. We gave each student a whiteboard, covered up the words and had them test themselves to see if they remembered how to spell /we/ and /play/. After they all showed their writing, we uncovered the words and had them check to see how they did. Most students were very happy to see that they were able to spell both words correctly.

Deidre and I then held public conferences with three students. We had them read their writing to the class and we celebrated all of the good things they had done. Again, the students were beaming with pride. The goal is that these students will be proud of what they've done so far and ready to continue on. We also hope that other students can learn from these conferences and inspired to incorporate what they learn into their own writing.

Finally, we sent the class to finish their stories so that they could be published. Many students who Deidre and I thought were finished asked to write more. In fact, almost all students wrote more than they had the day before. Many students went to the word wall or included the words from the word work in their writing. In only 2 sessions, Deidre and I were already noticing the students becoming more independent.

Because we really wanted the students to feel the pride of having their work published we may have rushed the writing process on this project. However, we both felt that it was important to maintain a sense of urgency and completion so that students would be excited and inspired to begin a new piece of writing. We wanted to avoid anyone getting frustrated or bored. As the students become more independent in this process the writing will go faster and I will again be able to raise my expectations.

In the end, the students each created their own published book. They will be sharing them with each other on Monday. They are really looking forward to adding illustrations and sharing them with their reading buddies and families in the next few weeks.

Deidre's Reflection:

It was a privilege to be back in Room 8 today.  Again, it was an amazing afternoon.  As we continued the Optimal Learning Model, and gradually released responsibility to the kids in their writing, they blew us away.  I actually got chills as the children read their writing during our celebration conferences.  The proud looks on their precious faces made it all worth it.

I really want to thank Deidre for her willingness to take the time to work with us and stretch her own understanding of the writing process. The professional conversations and learning we had together this week were among the best I've experienced.  I feel very lucky to work in a division with such great people and opportunities for professional development.