Hidden Gems by Katherine Bomer

7/15/2013

Over the July 4th weekend, we were invited to stay at our friend's house up at Lake Anna. What an opportunity!  There would be boats, skiing, jet skiing, ping pong, Corn Hole - so exciting. And it would have been had I not been in a non-weight bearing cast.  Boo hoo.

I didn't have a ton of fun in the water, but I was given lots of quiet time on a deck to catch up on some professional reading.  Katherine Bomer's book, Hidden Gems, was first on my list.  In the summer of 2010 I attended the summer Writing Institute of the NY Reading and Writing Project at Teacher's College.  Bomer was keynote presenter and she was inspirational - hence why I ran right to the bookstore to buy her book.  As luck would have it, HKIS brought her to our school and I was able to hear her words of wisdom again.  The real "gem" though was that she did some conferring with my students in my classroom!  LOVE! 

I must confess that while I bought her book in 2010, I never got around to reading the whole thing until this summer (yes..three years have passed. sigh.).  

Anyway - I'm going into a new job and it is time to reflect on how I want my writing lessons and conferences to go.  

Here are a few nuggets I want to remember and incorporate:

1) Teachers need to take on the role of researcher.

She quotes Lucy Calkins in saying that as a researcher, we are "looking for a window onto a child's thinking" instead of feeling exasperated by error. (page 5)

Note - Lucy Calkins is just ever present in all my reading and thinking about reading and writing.  I need to get back to Teacher's College!!

2) "Teachers should respond to all student's writing with astonished, appreciative, awestruck eyes!" 

(page 7)

This is something I have to remind myself to do. It's so so so so easy to get caught up in how a paper looks.  I'll be honest - Bad handwriting turns me off.  Massive spelling errors frustrates me to no end.  But what if I could get over that and read papers with wonder - wouldn't that be more productive in developing writers - especially reluctant writers?

3) When Conferring have a plan!  Research - Decide - Teach - but don't forget to Compliment!

Conferring is hard for me.  I don't consider myself a writer.  I make grammatical errors.  My thoughts are often rambled.  Who am I to find something to teach?  I think I have to give myself a little more credit - I can always refer to my teaching points.  But this is an area where I need to grow as a teacher.  

Compliments can be the key to building a writer's confidence.  Bomer quotes Ralph Fletcher who says "Language can deeply wound, and leave lasting scars.  On the other hand, the words we speak can be crucial missing ingredients to help a kid make a breakthrough in his writing."  (page 14)

There is such truth in this. I still remember hurtful words that teachers have spoken to you - right back to when I was in elementary school.  While they haven't scarred me - I do believe they have made me doubt myself.  What's worse than that?  

4) USE MENTOR TEXTS!!!!

"The true secret to leaning how to write is to read." (page 33)

How true! In recent years I have finally figured out that good books are examples of good writing!  Talking about read alouds helps kids see the possibilities in words.  I have even seen kids model their own writing after texts that spoke to them.  Studying mentor texts to see how genres go is something I want to continue to do and experiment with in my lessons.

Bomer writes: "After reading  text together in a mini-lesson, the kids work with partners…to look at more samples of whatever genre we're studying.  ….they list more places in the texts where they admire how a writer has arranged words, structure time, entered a character's mind or painted the scenery.  These lists of literary devise become the guidebook for kids' own writing when they begin to compose."  (page 48)

5) Conferring tools 

I need to copy the "five ways to name and teach….Voice (page 62), Organization (page 66), Word Choice (page 68), sentence structure (page 70), Details (page 72) as well as The Characteristics of Good Writing (page 74).

I should keep these copies near my conferring notes - so helpful to look at before conferring.  I think they would help keep my mind in check - I also think that they would help me when I felt "stuck" with nothing coming to mind to support a writer.

6) Good writers write EVERY SINGLE DAY!

"Good writers realize they need to write every single day, often for long stretches of time, and that they will have to revise their work dozens and dozens of times until it begins to approach the vision in their heads."  (Page 76)

The challenge in the classroom is time.  How do you make this a non-negotiable when there are plays to produce, fields trips to go on, special classes to attend?  I believe in this whole heartedly but the reality challenges my beliefs. At my new school I'm thinking this will be a challenge, especially with the number of "extras" the students have. 

7) A great quote:

"Let us look carefully and with generosity past what is missing and what is incorrect, to the extraordinary beauty, freshness, and yes, the brilliance in children's writing. Believe that a children are trying to make something. That they have intentions, purposes, and reason for writing the way they do."  Pg. 125

I love this quote because it reminds me that kids are trying all the time to express themselves. Sometimes we just have to look a little deeper into their thoughts to understand - but we should always give them the benefit of the doubt.

8)  Looking at Student Work

Check out the template pg 182.

I think using these templates would be incredibly helpful to keep track of my thoughts about the child's writing - especially from conference to conference.  I also think that the comments made on a sheet like this would be VERY helpful when writing up report card comments.

I almost wish that there was something here that students could use together on peer editing. Perhaps something could be adapted. If the templates are similar there is more understanding of what the review is all about.

9)  Writing Portfolios     

Bomer is not a fan of grading children's writing - it is very evident in the book.  However, she does suggest keeping a writing portfolio as evident of their story of their own writing journey.

She suggests that students write reflections on the their journey throughout a piece of writing - what worked, what didn't. What strengths do they see in themselves as writers. This portfolio could also be used in student led conferences to help the children show their process.  I love this idea and hope I can implement it next year.

10)  Celebrate!!!

 How awesome is it when kids have the opportunity to celebrate.  I need to remember this. Some celebrations can be big - some small - but recognizing their great achievements is a must. At HKIS we would often invite parents in to have the kids read their stories in small groups. It wasn't dramatic - but it was always a huge success for both parents and students.  

She does suggest to think GRAND for some celebrations.  Hmm…what would that look like?  Reading stories in a coffee shop.  Publishing Podcasts?  I don't think of myself as a GRAND thinker but this might be something to investigate in my new school adventures.