TBCS - Craig - PLD - 4 Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing

4 Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing 

These notes are taken from the PLD conference I attended with Andrew Pudewa entitled Spicing up Your Kids' Learning.

1.  Over Correcting

Correcting is not a good word to use because it indicates wrongness.
  -  It has a negative connotation.
  -  Writing is not as black and white as Maths.
  -  It is not objective or clear.

Rather, use the word editing - to help the writer be the best version of them on paper.

• Mark to make it legal and not good.
• Say implement these changes and finish.
• Use corrections as lesson plans for teaching
• Teach to the point of need.
• A  acceptable
•  I   incomplete

2.  Withholding Help

"I might help too much"

• Students will tell you when they don't need help.
• When you withhold help, you limit learning.

"They need to sink or swim"

• You wouldn't teach swimming this way which is life or death, so why say it...
• Swimming is a skill and it is acceptable to coach.
• It is perfectly acceptable to dictate.
• If they could've they would've.
• Independence in a skill comes from spending time modelling, questioning, and practising.
• Help - Don't meddle.

3.  Unclear Assignments

• It is a form of withholding help...

4.  Over Expectations

• We often have a desire to compare children by age.
• Grade levels used to be by level achieved - it indicated a mastery level.

A book to read is "Understood Betsey" about a country one-room school "But what grade am I in?"

Music Teachers don't care:  

• When you start
• How fast you progress
• what others are doing
• Get on the path
• Are you moving forward?

Any child is expected to do their best, whatever grade.

Are we making progress - That's all that God expects of His people.

8-10 years - Whatever they do is cute.
11-12         - Not good enough.
13 +           - They will never get there.
                  - They need to do far better. 

                  - we need to solve the problem.

                  - Stop writing things that don't make sense!

It's like telling a plant to grow... you can add water and sun, you can sing to it, but you have to wait.

Kids go through phases awkward - then it clicks.

Don't compare kids on age.

Don't over expect.

Where to Next...

I need to focus on encouraging each student to do their best and to work on developing and extending their skills without expecting too much of them.
I need to be prepared to help as much as is needed to give my students confidence to achieve what they need to.
I need to develop the achieved and incomplete marking attitude and celebrate with students who attempt to go beyond the limits of the lesson. 

With students who are struggling, I will set them up beforehand to give them time to think through what is about to happen and help them orgainise their thoughts and know what they need to do to succeed.
With my students who are at level one, I will help spell words and write them on their page so they can use them with confidence, and model correct sentences and get them to copy them to train them.

• Professional Learning

Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.

Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.

Sharing PLD knowledge, relevant readings and research with colleagues.

TBCS - Craig - PLD - Nurturing Competent Communicators Andrew Pudwa

Two Things You Can Do To Build Language Patterns And Nurture Competent Communicators

These notes are taken from the PLD conference I attended with Andrew Pudewa entitled Spicing up Your Kids' Learning.

There is a false assumption that good readers make good writers...

Some get it (write and make sense) - some don't.

You can't get out (good English) what isn't in there in the first place.

Four reasons might be...

1.  T.V. / Radio etc. are not a reliable, correct, or sophisticated language to input.

2.  Peers are not a reliable, correct, or sophisticated language to input.

• Children change their vocabulary and complexity of language if with older children
• Children with the same age tend to dumb down and degress.

3.  Busy parents and adults.

4.  The way they read.

• Read lots - Read too fast and don't audibly hear complete sentences etc.                                                      - Skip unknown words                                                                                                   
• Read little - do other stuff and not get language from books.

Solutions

1.  Read to them.     

• Don't skip anything.
• Read nuance

Read to them above their own decoding level.

The number 1 predicator of good writing in Adults is being read to by your parents.

The 2nd is audiobooks.

Reading to others does the same.

As an adult...

• Read what you want to read.
• Read whole books.
• 1850 - 1900 was the golden era of writing and language.
• Read to the whole family

2.  Memorizing and Recitation

Memorization of anything is de facto good for the brain. It makes you smarter.

• Poetry
• Music and Drama
• Choreographed Dance
• Precise Memorization

In the olden days, "I have to go to school to say my lessons."

Memorising grows the brain and database of reliable, accurate, sophisticated language and syntax etc.

Suzuki Method is one example.

When learning another language, you can often hit a wall. One way passed is memorising a book (e.g. Jack and the Bean Stalk) 

At school and even pre-school, it is good to memorise poems every week and keep reciting all of them all the time.

Where to next

2019 will see me begin to teach recorder. It will include teaching the students to read and play music with confidence but also learning songs by memory. 
I will continue to prioritise reading aloud to my students with nuance and at a level above their own decoding level.
Memorising Memory Verses will be a priority for 2019. I will also add memorising some poems to the programme.

• Professional Learning

Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.

Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.

Sharing PLD knowledge, relevant readings and research with colleagues.

• Learning-Focused Culture

TBCS - Craig - PLD - Writing Conference

Our School Goal this year is on improving writing.

Earlier in the year, my wife was contacted about a educational conference that was being offered for home-schoolers and teachers by Andrew Pudewa, the author of Writing With Excallence. The conference was entitled Spicing Up Your Kids' Learning.

I applied for leave to attend the conference and my request was granted and my course and travel costs were also covered by the school.

The Conference was held at the Bishopdale Reformed Church in Christchurch, August 10-11 2018

The following topics were covered:

- Nurturing Competent Communicators - The Power of Linguistic Patterns
- The Four Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing
- Fairy Tales and the Moral Imagination
- Paper and Pen: What the Research Says
- Mastery Learning
- The Four Language Arts
- Seven Keys Of Great Teaching
- Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day
- Lessons Learned From Three Decades Of Teaching
- + Question times

The conference helped very much and enthused me lots and gave me a lot of things to think about in regards to the way I teach and the way I could be teaching Writing.

In blogs to follow, I will share What I learned...

My wife and I also bought a couple of resources that I hope to use.


Bible Heroes Writing Lessons With Structure and Style

Teaching Writing, Structure, and Style - Seminar with practical workbook and 12 DVD's

TBCS - Craig - Reflection Day 1 PLD - July 2018

Reflection on progress

1. What learning was useful/significant for me

• Organising photos and sharing photos from ipad and making a shared Room 3 Google Photo site that gives everyone access.
• Commenting on Google Docs which will be really useful when I am helping my students in their writing.
• Lock certain docs that I share with people so they can only comment and not change. Wont work if it is in the team drive so not helpful with the class as we are only using a team drive.
• Suggestion mode and how it is different to commenting which can be really helpful if students are working together or helping each other..
• Planning template from Rod which keeps all planning in one Google sheet. Long term, Terms, Weeks etc with with links to everything else.
• Community of Learning and Member Hangout which I have just been added to and look forward to doing the courses and becoming more confident.
• How to change profile picture.
• Google sites.
• Make collage or animations from Google Photos.

1. What am I finding challenging…

• The idea that nothing is well done. There is always something you could have added or done better, or extended etc.

1. What are my and/or my class’s next steps...

• Use commenting to help my students when I am helping them with their writing.
• Do the courses in Rob's Community of Learning.
• Teach my students how to access and use photos.
• Keep imputing on the Tasman Bay Christian Resources site to make Assembly easier.
• Use and prepare the planning sheet.
• Have a play and make another Google site.

• 2  Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.
• 2  Reflection on how aspects of PLD have been enacted and the impact on ākonga learning.
• 2  Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.

TBCS - Craig - Ideas for Writing from “Lighting the Literacy Fire” Jill E. Eggleton

Notes from “Lighting the Literacy Fire” Jill E. Eggleton, Writing Pg. 85-113

Ideas for writing.

Shared writing – Teacher and students work together to construct a piece of writing. E.g. retelling a story that has been read to the class – class has been on a trip – a visitor has been in the school/class – when an investigation or experiment has been carried out.

Interactive Writing – Similar to shared writing, but each student writes down the text for themselves. Some words may have to be modelled. Best with small groups.

Writing for Students – Teacher takes control of the writing and demonstrates their own writing in front of the students, explaining each step of the process.

-         Have the learning intentions or targets on a chart alongside you and clearly visible.

-         Explain why you are writing (purpose)

-         Explain who you are writing for (audience)

-         What you are going to writing about (topic)

-         What text form you writing is going to shaped in (e.g. description, explanation…)

-         Write in front of the students, talking to them about what you are going to say next and why.

-         Select a feature of deeper features and discuss as you write.

-         Use high frequency words.

-         Reinforce punctuation.

-         Reread, talking to the students about the importance of revisiting your writing to see if anything can be added or deleted to make the message clearer.

Text Form Cards – have text form cards available for students. They have the features and structures for different text forms listed.

Independent Writing

-         Students should write every day.

-         Conferencing is very important to give feedback to the writher on strengths and needs. This could be partner conferences, Group conferences, and student/teacher conferences

Publishing – gives and purpose to the writing and is an important factor in keeping students enthusiastic about their writing.

Different Forms of Writing.

Narrative – Adventure Stories, Mysteries, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Myths and Legends, Fables, Fairy Tales, Poetry, Plays

Personal Narratives – Informational Reports, Newspaper Reports, Factual Descriptions, Journals, Interviews, Diaries, Journals, Biographies, Auto biographies.

Explanations – Informational Explanations, News Articles.

Persuasive – Persuasive Arguments, Advertisements, Brochures.

Procedural – Recipes, Directions, Manuals, Rules, Experiments.

Letters – Friendly, Formal, Emails, Faxes.

• Sharing PLD knowledge, relevant readings and research with colleagues.

TBCS - Craig - PLG

Photo taken on the way to PLG

On the 29th May, I attended my second Moutere Hills Cluster PLG.

It was a chance to talk about how things were going for each of us and to encourage each other.

we shared together about what was important for us at the moment.

We discussed various topics together including..

- Developing relationships in large teaching spaces with double classes.
- Getting 'invisible children' involved. (What interests them? Front loading - make the kids experts
Use the sticks - no hands up - after elbow buddies, Sheena Cameron - the oral language book)

- Enabling oral language skills and confidence.

- Keeping balance with all of the expectations of class and school.
- CRT time being used up with assessment.
- Literacy targets.
- Understanding children with autism. 
- Keeping up the concentration of students.
  ( Brain gym )
https://blog.cognifit.com/brain-gym-activities-keep-brain-young/ https://ilslearningcorner.com/blog/2017/01/19/2017-01-brain-gym-simple-brain-gym-exercises-to-awaken-the-brain-for-learning-readiness/)
- Catering to a range of abilities. 
and for me
- Developing better writers and ways that technology might aid that.

I was given these resources.

Brainframes

Episode 52 - Prepped and Polished (Teaching students to overcome writing difficulties.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4-2xBNukUs

/

We were all encouraged to join the Learning Support network.
Hub 1 was free...

Learning Support Network

• 3 Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
• 2 Being an active member of professional learning communities.
• 3 Appropriate and professional communication with colleagues, ākonga and whānau.
• 3 Establishing collegial relations by participating with colleagues in staff activities, and taking an interest in what others are doing through positive professional interactions.

TBCS - Craig - Kahui Ako COL Meeting,

On Monday 5th June all the staff went to a combined teachers and leaders Kahui Ako COL meeting.

It involved staff from around the region and included primary and secondary teachers.

We looked specifically at the achievement and buy in of our Maori students through creating a family atmosphere and doing the most we can with what we have. (Not waiting for anything to change outside of the class)

Notes are as follows...

Please click Here.

TBCS - Craig - Reflection - Start of Day 2 PLD

Yesterday

Yesterday went well. I got to try lots of things and feel more comfortable with the Blogg reflection process.

It was great spending time together and to encourage each other in our skills and thinking.

I was inspired to use pictures and captions to help get reluctant writers to get started using complete sentences as captions...

Knowing how to move files is really helpful.

Creating the Google form for using with the learning register was fantastic and will help us and especially Judy-Anne.

The talk and presentations around Learner Agency were helpful and it was great to be able to turn that into a blogg.

I was also helpful to know how to put a slide show onto blogger.

Where to today?

I want to know how to set up a class drive and individual drives when the letter to parents takes effect.

I want to know how to use Google Docs more effectively with my students to raise their Writing outcomes
including auto corrections etc.

Also how to know when using technology is making a true difference in my teaching.

TBCS - Craig - Reflection of Term 1 2018

This term has gone really well and there have been lots of positives. Most students have progressed really well in Reading and Math, and Bible has progressed well with the students learning Genesis well and being challenged about how the Word of God impacts their every day lives.

One area that has been a challenge has been writing. I have tried lots of different means of getting the students to write and it has had mixed results. The term goal was about sentences. That still remains a challenge.

We have started using ICT to improve writing outcomes, but this is still in the learning, messy stage. The kids are excited, but our school goal has not seen improvement yet using this media.

I have seen improvement in the students that struggle, but most of the problems are ones of attitude and head space, not so much in ability. I have worked tirelessly to point out strengths and abilities and to create empathy for others. Once they can look outside themselves, they will more quickly see the impact their actions and words.

The students wrote some great reflections of their learning which showed the progress each of them had made. It was really encouraging for me.

• 2  Reflection on how aspects of PLD have been enacted and the impact on ākonga learning.
• 3  Participating fully in school/syndicate/faculty/department meetings and be an active member of the team. Share ideas with others.
• 4  Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
• Promotion of positive and appropriate relationships with and between ākonga.

TBCS - Craig - Reflection - P.L.G

I got to go to my first P.L.G yesterday. It was held at Tasman School.

We started by introducing ourselves: where we were from, what class we taught and what we had done in the past.

We then got to go in a circle and say what was on top for us... I said it was keeping track of my students who were all working at different levels in lexia and Math Buddy. Others needed to get to know their students better individually, learn to deal with wide range of abilities, and set routines as we have not had many full weeks this term.

We then got to talk about what goal we were working on at the moment. Mine was trying to improve my students writing. Other issues that arose included Math and Science. For Math, it was in regard to games that could be used for activities. In science, most of the other teachers have it for P.L.D and have lots of requirements to meet, and there was some confusion about the big picture.

Some things that came out of the conversation that I thought would be good to remember and/or put into practice were...

• using a speaking stick and named ice cream sticks for answering questions.
• Math games: study ladder, and the bankers game (with dice) Paul Swan 
• Give instructions clearly and say what you want and not what you don't want. Rather than say, "Go out to lunch when you have finished your work", I should say Finish your work and then go out to lunch. It helps those who need routines and and lists to have instructions in order.
• Writing helps included...

1. Quick writes
2. Literacy shed https://www.literacyshed.com/
3. National Geographic short videos (David Attenborough)
4. Fishbone https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=fish+bone+planner&safe=strict&rlz=1C1GGRV_enNZ751NZ752&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyz6LomujZAhWEyLwKHe5BDfAQ_AUICigB&biw=1800&bih=700#imgrc=0JNNE8Z3R1cdoM:
5. Brain frames

Action plan

I am going to check out fish bone planning which seems easier. than the writing for fun template I tried to use these last two weeks.

I am also going to try brain frames, which seem very logical and I think may help many students.

But first, after looking at their e-asstle tests, which I did today, I am going to hammer simple sentences! Some have got it and will need to be challenged in other areas, but some still can't even use a capital letter, let alone have a complete thought in a sentence. I have my work set out for me...

• 3 Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
• 2 Being an active member of professional learning communities.
• 3 Appropriate and professional communication with colleagues, ākonga and whānau.
• 3 Establishing collegial relations by participating with colleagues in staff activities, and taking an interest in what others are doing through positive professional interactions.

TBCS - Craig - Reflection Kaea and reading groups

I noticed yesterday how Kaea struggled to concentrate, keep up, and participate while we were reading in a group situation.
I expect with her hearing loss, that while she hears me clearly enough, she struggles to hear the other students, especially in a group situation.
(The back ground is that Kaea has refused to wear her hearing aids this year and has not brought them to school at all.)
After talking to Steve we came to the conclusion that if we could get Kaea to bring her hearing aids to school, if only to use them at reading time and take them off again, it could help her be engaged and learn more than she is at the moment.

Action plan.

Speak to Judy, Wendy, and Rrbekah about contacting the family to get the hearing aids brought to school.

23/2/2018
I spoke with Judy Larkin today who has in turn e-mailed Rebecca to find out about the hearing aid situation.

Hopefully we can see some progress soon.

28/2/2018
I spoke to Judy today and we discussed the hearing aids which haven't turned up. She was going to see if she could help to to get them in class.

14/3/18
The hearing aids turned up a week ago. When we have the gear all charged properly charged, it makes a marked difference and allows Kaea to be involved with the group and allow to hear the other students clearly.
She says I am too loud, so Judy is making an audiology appointment so the aids can be set to the correct levels and I am not so loud in her ears.
I have also learned how to ensure the aids are turned off. If they are not turned off over night, they go flat over night.

31/3/18 We had an IEP meeting with Mum, Judy, Wendy, and the educational psychologist about Kaeas behaviour and her refusal to wear her hearing aids. See here.

2/7/18
After having a bad start to the term and lots of work from Judy, Wendy and myself, Kaea is wearing her hearing aids almost full time at school. The audiologist said she needed to wear them as much as possible to allow her brain to use them effectively and to set the pathways.
Success is sweet. Not only is Kaea hearing better, but her compliance in wearing them is part of an overall improvement in her behaviour.

• 2  Following an inquiry model appropriate to my setting, and using goals and/or inquiry questions that are linked to identified priorities for my ākonga and school.
• 2  Making time to have professional discussions with colleagues.
• 2  Effective communication with ākonga and whānau about ākonga achievement, learning and well-being.
• 3  Appropriate and professional communication with colleagues, ākonga and whānau.
• 3  Engaging with whānau and ākonga to discuss ākonga well-being and achievement. Engaging in regular professional communication as appropriate. 
• 4  Observations in my classroom that focus on the learning environment.
• 4  Classroom observations with a specific focus on this standard.
• 6  Using feedback from classroom observations to improve learning programmes.

TBCS - Craig - Reading - Reflection

I started the year feeling a little under prepared. I had a good understanding about the Lexia and Reading Plus programmes from last year and had them sorted and operational for the start of the term. The thing I was not sorted with was reading groups. Judy-Anne and I had meant to get together, but it had never happened. Thank the Lord for C.R.T days!
I had a C.R.T Day on Tuesday, and Judy-Anne put her class with mine so we had the morning together to sort out what I was meant to do and how to achieve it.

The groups were established from data gathered at the end of last year. Only one student had no data to work from, so we went from her level on Lexia, which as it turned out was far below her reading level. This  became a blessing because although we will have to do a running record on her, she has realised how far below her level she is working on Lexia and has determined to catch up, which is great.

One problem I ran into was that one of my groups has 6 students in it and we do not have many sets of journals with 6 or more. It became a real problem till I had an epiphany. Sunshine online has a great reading resource of journals at the levels I need and because every student in my class has a device, they can all access the same journal at the same time. The added bonus is the extra activities attached to each journal.

I have also given each student access to sunshine classics to use for homework reading if they do not have a novel they wish to read. I have set up each account with books at their individual levels.

My big teaching books were set up using the rocket reading sheets.

I will report on how things progress.

Judy-Anne and I also discussed Spelling essential lists and the Gloss test.

• 2  Making time to have professional discussions with colleagues.
• 2  Observing and learning from experienced teachers.
• 3  Understanding and using existing models of effective practice (e.g., Te Kotahitanga and Ka Hikitia)
• 4  Discussing my practice with colleagues and being open to new ideas.
• 4  Observing other teachers practices and approaches in the establishment of an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
• 5  Structuring learning tasks so that all ākonga experience a degree of success, but also ensuring that they are required to stretch themselves to fully succeed.
• 6  Observing other teachers’ use of resources and teaching strategies.
• 6  Seeking advice and feedback from colleagues on planning units, useful resources, and strategies to enhance ākonga interest and engagement.

TBCS - Craig - Reflection - Troubleshooting - February 18

What did I learn today?

• I still have lots to learn!
• Google tasks can make to do things accessible to calendar
• Google Keep can scan and type printed info and with labels it can help help to organise.
• Google keep is more personal while Blogger is the place if you want to share.
• How to formulate a reflection.

So what?

• The more tools I have, the more choice I have to accomplish a task and the more time it should save in the long run.
• This should make my students more excited about their learning.

Next steps:

• Practice google tasks, Keep, and calendar.
• Sort out how to save photos to google photo.
• Make sure room ipad is linked to student account. (room3@ tas...)
• See Geoff to sort out the offline problem extention.

• 2  Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.
• 2  Engaging with school-wide inquiry approaches as expected.
• 2  Ongoing active involvement in a school/community of schools or other professional learning communities (PLC).
• 2  Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.
• 3  Participation in professional development (PLD), both in school and through outside agencies. Working with colleagues to enact the new learning. 

TBCS - Craig - Reflection - Day 1 - January 18

What is standing out?

• How many tools there are!
• What a lot I have to learn.
• How much time could be taken trying to learn each one.

Where to from here?

• Get e-mail links to parents sorted.
• Understand how to use see saw
• become more confident with what we have covered today.
• find some practical things I can start with my students.

• 2  Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.
• 2  Engaging with school-wide inquiry approaches as expected.
• 2  Ongoing active involvement in a school/community of schools or other professional learning communities (PLC).
• 2  Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.
• 3  Participation in professional development (PLD), both in school and through outside agencies. Working with colleagues to enact the new learning. 

TBCS - Craig - Reflection on Learner Agency

Although I do not understand the word, agency as it is used in Learner agency, I expect from discussions that it refers to you being in control of what and how you learn.

What might the teacher do to develop it?

• Foster a desire to learn and grow, develop excitement about all things new.
• Show where each subject is relevant for now or the future.
• Goal setting.
• choice of themes or activities.
• Wait time.
• Questions that encourage self reflection, How did you go? What went well? what didn't work so well? How can you improve?... etc.
• Success criteria.
• Develop high expectations.
• Foster an environment that encourages risk taking and allows for failure.
• Model different ways to learn.

What might the teacher not do in order to develop it?

• Allow the students to have no imput into what they get to learn.
• Do things the same every time without reflection and and feedback to shape where to go next or next time.
• Teach without giving the 'why' so students don't get the big picture and can't see the value of learning what ever it is.
• Teach to get it taught and over with, with no passion or enthusiasm.
• Get upset when students get it wrong.
• Give no time to think or process.
• Don't allow the students to reflect on what they have learned.
• etc...

• 2  Undertaking PLD and further professional reading.
• 2  Engaging with school-wide inquiry approaches as expected.
• 2  Ongoing active involvement in a school/community of schools or other professional learning communities (PLC).
• 2  Reflection on how aspects of PLD have been enacted and the impact on ākonga learning.
• 2  Attending and contributing to PLD opportunities within and beyond my school.
• 3  Participating fully in school/syndicate/faculty/department meetings and be an active member of the team. Share ideas with others.
• 3  Participation in professional development (PLD), both in school and through outside agencies. Working with colleagues to enact the new learning. 
• 4  Involvement in appropriate PLD.