Jeff Anderson Visits GCISD - Humanities Institute June 2016

Our district was fortunate to have Jeff Anderson spend the day speaking with the teachers in GCISD about writing.  He provided a day of practical writing ideas that are easy to infuse into our instruction.  His entertaining presentation gave everyone ideas to enhance students' writing experiences in our classrooms!

Notes from Evan Payne

Four Reasons to Start Class with a Poem Each Day

I gravitate to ideas that help teachers use and promote the love of poetry in the classroom.  In my years of teaching, I noticed poetry was intimidating to many students.  I believe that sometimes students just haven't had enough time to explore poems, play with poetry, and write their own poems.

I found this article by Brett Vogelsinger (9th grade ELA teacher in Pennsylvania) where he lists four reasons for using poetry daily that will "rock your world!"  His four reasons for why this is a good idea: 1) poems are short, 2) Poems are intense, 3) Poems Connect (to Other Reading), and 4) Poems Inspire (Writing).

He makes a reference to an inspiration he received from Penny Kittle and the idea of using "Shake the Dust" as a model for a piece of writing for students.  When I saw Penny Kittle at the NTCTELA conference in 2014, she shared this same idea and it quickly inspired me to write my own poem.  I could see students (maybe more for grades 5-12) creating their own "Shake the Dust" piece of writing/poetry based on their life.  This is a must try idea for your classroom.

To view Brett's entire article, click on this link:  http://goo.gl/vSGzDc

North Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (NTCTELA)

I attended NTCTELA with at least one teacher from every campus across Grapevine-Colleyville ISD on June 10th, 2016.  This was my third time to attend this conference and each year it proves to be highly informative with quality presentations.

The day started with Lester Laminack (author)(@lester_laminack) as the keynote speaker.  He inspired the crowd with ideas on being a better writing teacher!  I chose to learn from Nancy Motley (@nancymotleyTRTW) in her presentation titled Talk, Read, Talk, Write: A Practical Approach to Learning.  My final breakout session choice was Mark Overmeyer (@markovermeyer) - Thinking about Language in the Writing Workshop.

I captured a few notes from each presentation ... hoping to share some writing inspiration that I received!

NTCTELA Notes from Evan Payne

Journal of the American Revolution

Another great find while perusing Twitter over the summer.  This is a great resource for learning more about the American Revolution.  It is a place to easily get lost in so many stories, columns, featured articles, etc.

https://allthingsliberty.com/

Changing the Odds (October 2015)

Attending this conference was an inspiration BOOST!

Some of my take aways from the conference were the following:

1. Daniel Pink talked about an Innovation Day - one Friday every other month where students do whatever they want and then present on that (sort of like a genius hour).  He said, "You're allowed to do whatever you want as long as it's not boring."
2. Make connections - the power of finding similarities between multiple items!
3. Share your story - StoryCorps - incredible stories of everyday people being real.  Great podcast!
4. Be the deliverer of the unexpected.
5. Be the global game changer.
6. Kevin Carroll:  Circumstances do not have to dictate someone's destiny.  Inspire others!
7. Kevin Carroll's "Rules of the Red Rubber Ball" - "Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express, not to impress. Don't strive to make you presence noticed, just make your absence felt."
8. Kevin Carroll: Our ideas and actions matter!
9. Kevin Carroll: Look up every once in a while, shift your gaze ... tap into the wonder around you.
10. Kevin Carroll:  We all need a CEO - Chief Encouraging Officer!  Are you somebody's CEO?
11. Glennon Melton: "Don't judge your success on immediate results - remain faithful to your calling.  Just show up!
12.  Sir Ken Robinson: "When you encourage people in the things they love, you'll never know where that will end up."

Instructional Methods: Learner-Centered

I saw this on Twitter yesterday posted from @Marzano Research and thought it was a great graphic.  In a time of creating learner-centered classrooms, this could bring some clarity for teachers with ideas on how to make this work!

Lucy Calkins and Teachers College Reading & Writing Project

Lucy Calkins

I had the privilege of attending the 3-5 Units of Study for Reading training with Lucy Calkins to learn more about reading and writing in the classroom.  It was a great day of inspiration and learning.  It was one of those trainings where you didn't want it to end.  I need another opportunity to learn from her and hope to do that again someday.

I captured notes from the day on some of what we were learning.  You can access my notes:
Lucy Calkins and TCRWP

February 8th, 2016 - Houston, Texas

Follow #TCRWP for some great ideas on implementing reading and writing workshop!