A New School Year

 My granddaughter is so excited about her new job of teaching 2^ndgrade, after high school SPED for two years.  She’s been posting pictures of her classroom and recently shared about meeting most of her students. I also have a grandson teaching in the middle school. This fall he will be teaching in-person and is looking forward to the new school year, but doesn’t know how many students will choose that option. I just worry with the continued Covid concern that it will be another very difficult year for teachers.  

 

Their anticipation reminded me how much I enjoyed my teaching career.  Having the opportunity to help shape the learning of young adults was extremely fulfilling for me. The majority of my career (32 years) was at Burnsville High School.  I was so fortunate to be part of a vibrant department, one that continually strove to improve education.  In addition, my work with the Minnesota Writing Project provided unexpected learning experiences.  I became involved with staff development for various MN schools, even traveled to Norway for work.  I also attended and presented at several National Writing Project conventions and international workshops (Bordeaux, Netherlands).  These opportunities occurred because staff development was supported by district, state, and federal funds.  Unfortunately, it seems that much of that support has dried up.  With the loss of this funding, teachers are often left to work isolated in their own classrooms. 

 

Recently Micki and I participated in a virtual writing conference that included educators from the Midwest.  One of the sessions was an opportunity for participants to share concerns about teaching writing.  The concerns expressed were the same ones that have existed since we began our careers.  By creating our earlier podcast (Breaking the Barriers of the 5 Paragraph Essay) and this blog, we hoped that we might provide helpful resources for teachers.  

 

We welcome your comments, ideas, etc. Let us know what are you struggling with this year.  Perhaps from our years of teaching and staff development, we can offer some support.

 

Writing Prompts from Our Writers Group

As we participated in the Midwest Writers Group this weekend, there were a few items that we wanted to share. The following topics and prompts are ones we've used over the past couple of years...In the coming month or two, Muriel and I will share some of the thoughts that were generated from these prompts. Perhaps others from our group will also share.

Look these over and do a few free writes as you prepare to enter back into the crazy busy world of teaching.

Enjoy!

Minnesota Retired Writers:

Writing Topics/Genres

Chosen by Members

Topics

-Daily Life

-Events/People

Events/Holidays

Nature/Gardening

Reactions to World/National Events

Loss/Challenges

Caregiving/Illness

Emotions/Personal Beliefs

Humorous Incidents

Genres

Fiction - Short Stories

Family Histories

Memoir

Poetry

__________________________________

Sample Writing Prompts

(Usually a 10-15 minute write)

Reactions to magazine

photos/photographs/visuals

(Ex.: Write a response to a picture of a

masked girl; A photo of the bridge to

nowhere)

Write about a piece of furniture

React to a quote or a section of poetry

(Ex.: Poem from Mary Oliver: “Things I

didn’t have to worry about when I was

older”)

General

Write About…

*Things in life that give you hope today

*A Solution for one world problem

*Something that has been a defining part of

whom you’ve become

*An event in your life that had a before and

after

*One profound learning experience

*“In spite of ------, we can build -------.”

*What you have missed most this summer

*What you learned from the pandemic

*The MN State Fair

*“We’ll Cross that Bridge When We Come to

it”

Family

*The first date you had with your husband

*A family tradition.

*Positive/negative aspects of retirement.

*Something that disturbs you

*How you calm yourself

*What you dream about

*An Inexpensive Item that means a lot to

you

*Favorite seasons and how you adjust

*What you are ready to say goodbye

Nature

*A wonderful moment in winter

*The most exciting thing you did this

winter

*What summer means to you

Midwest NWP Writing Conference - Minnesota Bio Links

Thanks for following up to our previous post on the Midwest NWP Writing Conference.

Many of you have asked questions about who we are - what our background is - so, this post will give you some bio information as well as ways to contact us individually.

Minnesota Retired Writers

Participant Bios

 

Bev Alsleben:  B.A. English Education, ESL licensure, Masters of Liberal Studies

Retired English Learners teacher, St. Paul Public Schools;  served on the ELL Leadership Team of the NWP, attending many national conferences and writing retreats.  

 Debra Hartley, PhD English

Taught college writing courses and worked in college writing centers; Assistant director of the Center for Writing at the University of Minnesota: redesigned and managed the MWP website and helped plan MWP activities and produce publications.  

 Mary Kirchhof  M.Ed. Special Education/Elementary, Reading Licensure, Writing and Critical Literacy Certificate 

Taught early childhood, elementary, middle high school and universitycourses; continues to write with a dynamic cohort of MWP retired educators and through Pen Pals, a Program of the City of Minnetonka Senior Services and the Minnetonka Public Schools, as well as personal books for the family; co-led MN Writing Project grant for cohort of 22 teacher leaders; helped meld MWP involvement with a two-year study of Writing and Critical Literacy through the University of Minnesota to change writing instruction in Edina Public Schools. 

 Joyce Malwitz. M.Ed. English

Taught high school English for over 30 years; served as a curriculum facilitator and as a consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education; served on the MWP Board of Directors as Outreach Director, assisted with the Summer Institute, co-facilitated various MWP workshop offerings, and led a three-year NWP/MWP action research project for youth workers. Assistant faculty coordinator for the University of Minnesota’s College in the Schools program. 

 Sandy Nesvig – B.S., M.A.,  Administrative Licensure

Taught middle school language arts ; administrator at Annunciation Catholic School. 

 Micki (Margaret) St Sauver: B.S. English/Education, M.Ed. ESL/Reading, PhD Literacy

English Teacher, 7-8; District Program Manager for Literacy 7-12; Literacy Consultant, Institute for Student Achievement, Columbia University; MWP, advisor and presenter; consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education; served on the MWP Board of Directors: Currently working with Muriel Thompson, former Director of MWP in creating a podcast, Breaking the Barriers of the Five Paragraph Essay and a blog, M&M Writing Essentials K12+. 

 Ann Thompson: M.A. Communications

Taught high school English and middle school English, speech and Theatre;. Developed business communications; MWP Continuity Director

Muriel Thompson: B.A. English M.Ed. English

Former Director for the Minnesota Writing Project ; High school Language arts teacher, Burnsville Public Schools; developed district's curriculum work and staff development programs. Micki St. Sauver and I have created a podcast: Breaking the Barriers of the Five Paragraph Essay and more recently a blog: M&M Writing Essentials K-12+. 

 _________________________________________________________________

Retired MWP Writers

Contact Information

 

 

         

         hartley@umn.edu                              (Debra Hartley)

 

         beverlyalsleben@gmail.com           (Bev Alsleben)

 

         sjnesvig@comcast.net                      (Sandy Nesvig)

 

         thomp402@umn.edu                        (Ann Thompson)

 

         mstsauver@me.com                         (Micki St Sauver)

 

         mthompson679@gmail.com           (Muriel Thompson)

 

joycemalwitz@comcast.net             (Joyce Malwitz)

Thanks for checking in with us! We look forward to hearing from you in the future.

 

 

  

2021 Midwest NWP Conference

 How is your summer going? For me...FAST! I thought it used to fly by when I was still teaching and was home for the summer with my kids, but this summer seems so crazy and we haven't even gone on a designated vacation. We are spending time with family and friends and just enjoying seeing people again.

Muriel and I have also found time to prepare for a conference coming up this Saturday:

2021 Midwest NWP Conference

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTVHWRQARWtXrkW7R1gDB3f-fusl-zvLh9CHgUHb__UCHW3Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

NWP Midwest Conference 2021 Registration This is a registration form for the 2021 NWP Midwest Conference on Saturday, July 31st, which will be an online conference taking place from 10am-4pm. The keynote speaker is Cornelius Minor, and there will be over 20 sessions to choose from, led by National Writing Project teacher leaders. The cost of attending is $75, but Cornelius Minor's talk is free, thanks to a grant from North Dakota Humanities. docs.google.com

 Muriel and I and five other former MWP members will be presenting information about starting and maintaining writing groups. Hope you can join us!

More Resources

Now that we are coming to the end of the school year, are you looking for ideas for closure? 

You've probably got your own routine, but if not, here's some ideas:

Use these lesson plans to keep students engaged through the end of the year!

• Plan an end-of-the-year party
• Create your own superhero
• Celebrate local heroes
• Interview an animal
• Create a commemorative ceremony

You may also like these favorites from the 2020-2021 school year.

• Visual poetry
• Infographics
• Create a creature

Here's to powerful learning adventures! These ideas are fully expanded upon at CreativeEducator@TechforLearning.com

Creative Educator can also be followed on Instagram...

Do you have ideas of your own? Help out your colleagues and share them here! Hoping your year ends well...

WRITING TO LEARN

“Writing is a tool that enables people in every discipline to wrestle with facts and ideas.  It’s a physical activity, unlike reading. Writing requires us to operate some kind of mechanism – pencil, pen, typewriter, word processor – for getting our thoughts on paper.  . . . It forces us to keep asking, ‘Am I saying what I want to say?’ . . . It’s by writing about a subject we’re trying to learn that we reason our way to what it means.”

                                                                        William Zinsser in Learning to Write

 

Although my area of teaching was language arts, writing is not just for language arts!  I have interacted with educators from all disciplines. Through our discussions and sharing, we discovered ways that writing could definitely benefit students in all subject areas.  Using writing as a tool for learning helps to organize, channel and give extra leverage to thinking.  

 

This kind of writing works best when it is 

•       Frequent

•       Short

•       Spontaneous

•       Exploratory

•       Informal

•       Personal

•       Unedited

•       Ungraded

 

Ask yourself:

·     How do you use writing to introduce a subject and to find out what students already know?

·     How do you use writing to help students gain control of the subject material?

·     How do you use writing to help students clarify their understanding of what they are learning?

·     How do you use writing to help students know themselves and to help you to know them?

 

During my work with the Minnesota Writing Project, I was fortunate to gain several helpful ideas from a master St. Paul educator.  Here are a few of them to try in your classroom.

 

·     Admit slips – Have students turn in short pieces of writing on pre-assigned topic upon entering the classroom.

·     Start-up write – Have students write for the first five minutes of class time on the topic of the upcoming lesson.

·     K-W-L – When a topic is being introduced, have students make a list of all they already Know about the subject, Want to investigate.  After completing the lesson, have them make a list of what they’ve Learned.

·     Clustering – Put a key term, concept or name in a circle in the center of the page and then write all associations with that term in whatever pattern “seems right.” Often clustering reveals unrecognized connections/relationships.

·     Stop and write – Pause the video, discussion, etc. and ask students to write and reflect.

·     Double entry – Divide a page and on one side have students put quotations, problems, etc. On the other side, have them write reaction, explanation, question, etc.

·     Visualize – Have students draw a picture, diagram, or model to demonstrate what they know.

·     Exit slips – Have students do a short piece of writing (summary, question) before exiting the class.  (These can be a helpful in learning what students understand and where they have confusion.)

 

Our next posts will share even more ways to use writing to learn.  Why not share some of the ways that you use writing to learn in your classroom?  

Book Recommendation - Revision

 Just when I thought we were through talking about revision, I came across one of my favorite books on the subject by Janet Angelillo. Her book, Making Revision Matter, is a practical, easy-to-implement book on revision that incorporates studying mentor authors, revisiting published pieces, and applying additional revision strategies to student writing.

Early on, Angelillo helps teachers with gauging students' abilities to use the revision process by giving the reader the qualities of a stage one reviser through those of a stage four reviser. For example, a stage one reviser "looks [the] piece over without purpose," while a stage four reviser, "is able to change sequence and reorganize chunks of writing." She says that a stage one reviser basically, "resists revision completely," while a stage four, "internalizes revision repertoire and chooses techniques from it purposefully."

As you can see the range is wide. The chart gives many more specifics, but I am intrigued by the stages and how they correlate with the characteristics of quality writing. In order to teach revision, Angelillo implements the essence of good writing into engaging lessons that use mentor texts as well as student texts. From beginning to end, tips given and lessons provided are useful to writers of every stage and can be used by all teachers who want to see their students grow as writers. Check it out.