LitLife Blog

Visiting with Patty Vitale-Reilly provided the opportunity to see a LitLife training session in action. The session was at a school in New Jersey for teachers in grades kindergarten through fourth. The teachers were developing “minors” for their “major” class units of study. Minors are basically mini-units that fit inside a major unit; they are important topics to cover but are not substantive enough to be a major unit themselves. The first part of the meeting was spent discussing how to choose a minor for a major unit. Minors should compliment a major—an example is having a minor in note taking during a nonfiction major unit. Minors serve to unite mini-lessons so that activities not directly related to the major unit do not seem disjointed. A minor can be taught in one week or scattered throughout the major topic.

It was enlightening to see the dynamics in a professional training meeting. What I found most interesting about this meeting was the process of how the teachers attempted to integrate this new practice into their prior learning. Most of the teachers had not used the terminology “minor” before and were initially not comfortable fitting a minor effectively into a major unit. They could create the lessons with ease, but had never had to do anything like fitting a minor unit into a major one before. When Patty explained how to do this, giving examples from handouts, the teachers found contradictions with other training they had received and methods they were supposed to follow – it is the dynamic, positive resolution of these issues that is at the heart of Patty’s work. There was also some question about when to teach certain topics, like spelling conventions, and how those topics should be taught.

Questions about methods of teaching, especially for reading and writing, make professional training for teaching reading and writing more complicated than I originally thought. Before coming to LitLife, I knew about a few types of teaching, such as Montessori, but I did not know how many different methods there actually were—and these discussions are over all aspects of instruction. Knowledge of these methods and how kids and teachers respond to them seems valuable for a teacher trainer to have to effectively improve teaching quality.

We recently observed a fourth grade class. The students were choosing their favorite poems that they had written and were re-copying them and adding illustrations to make their own poetry anthologies. They had divided poetry into units, such as list poems or poems about an object. The students included poems by other authors that they had enjoyed, or used as mentor poems when crafting their own.

After having seen the sixth grade poetry celebration at a nearby school the day before, I thought that I would know what to expect. However, I was once again shocked at their high level of writing and comprehension. They could easily pick out writing tools such as similes and metaphors. When asked what was personification, one girl’s hand shot up and she quickly responded, “Personification is when you give an object human traits”. I was amazed.

The students took great pride in sharing their poems with us, and also proudly showed off their anthologies. They meticulously chose which poems they wanted to place in their collections, and also carefully chose which they wanted to read aloud. They discussed with one another which poems would fit into which category, and which poems they liked the best. Often they placed mentor poems that they had used as a model, next to their own on a page to create comparison between the two. Though our stay was brief, I learned so much and was once again impressed with the fourth graders’ grasp of the material and the joy with which they crafted their poetry anthologies.

Today, Rebecca, Liz and I returned to the first grade class for a much more interactive visit. We arrived just in time for partner reading and the children were so cooperative, I was honestly impressed. As I made my rounds throughout the room I observed partners engaging one another and reading to each other. One little boy held his book up as he read so the pictures were visible for his partner, just as the teacher does every morning during group reading time. I sat and spoke with Pam about how impressed I was with their cooperation skills and she insightfully recognized that it was a result of daily routines. By breaking the school day into routine sections like class reading time then partner reading time, writing and so on, the students can develop a sense of independence and ability to follow the routine, as they know to move from one activity to another. Once partner reading time was announced, the children each picked a partner and then, quietly with no hustle and bustle, went to the book shelf, picked a handful of books and found a spot to sit.

The teacher asked me to help take all of the artwork off of the walls so I was able to see all of the different projects and artwork that the kids did during the course of the year, which was great! As I took down the alphabet a little crowd was teeming behind me; “don’t take down J! My name starts with a J! Don’t take down R!” Cleaning the room became a fun game, who would have thought? From this I got to learn a bunch of the children’s names, which made me happy because I felt like I was connecting with them on a more personal level. When it was time for us to leave I was able to say bye to Jack and Michaela and Zion as opposed to impersonally saying bye to the whole class. During today’s class visit was the first time in my life that I really pictured myself as a teacher because I found so much joy in spending just a short amount of time with these children. As Pam pointed out to me, the way a child’s brain thinks and functions is truly fascinating and it was such a pleasure to hear their thoughts and opinions.

Today we had the opportunity to visit a high school academic intervention program—students are recommended for the program after failing several classes in eighth grade or during the first semester of ninth grade. The program separates students from the main high school for core classes (math, English, social studies and science) and teaches the students in classes of no more than sixteen, allowing for more personal attention. The program also provides a resource period at the end of the day for students to ask for help and start their homework.

The students we saw in the program seemed to be engaged, even though they were doing Regents review, final preparation before their test began the next day. When the teacher prompted them with questions about the literature, or when their fellow students started a conversation about Night or The Color Purple, the students responded with their own input and comments. The program is clearly effective in providing academic support for these students, especially given the fact that these students essentially missed a year or semester of their education by failing so many classes.

The school has created an environment where all the students are held accountable for their academic success and doesn’t let anyone fall through the cracks, as can happen in a large, relatively loosely structured school the main high school. The principal and all the teachers know the students’ names and the students face consequences for cutting class, unlike in the main school.

However, the program raises some interesting questions about the structuring of supportive education. The program separates the students from the main school, for the most part, creating a school-within-a-school that surrounds struggling students with others who have has similar experiences. This most likely creates a supportive environment, but it may also separate students from excelling students who might provide inspiration or motivation for the struggling students to work harder, especially in high school. Instead of fully integrating, which didn’t work for the students in middle school or early high school, or fully separating them, is there a middle ground that might be the best of both situations?

The program also stresses punishment heavily. The school gives out detention liberally. Positive reinforcement, including calling parents or inviting parents in with good reports, as well as negative ones, might help these struggling students even more and help bring parents into the environment of academic success.

Despite this, the program does seem to be creating engaged students and giving previously struggling students a chance to graduate high school and go on to college. Last year, fifteen out of the program’s sixteen graduating students successfully completed their first year of college.

Today I was given the special opportunity to visit a high school and observe an 11^th grade class as they reviewed for the dreaded English regents test. When I arrived I received the most enthusiastic greeting I have yet encountered. I hadn’t even made it completely through the doorway and I was bombarded by smiles and energetic introductions. It made me even happier to be there as I saw the interest they took in my fellow interns and myself.

It was refreshing to observe a High School class and listen to mature analyses of different books, some of which I remember reading not too long ago; I was tempted to over-engage myself! One of this year’s regents requirements is that students must be able to analyze two given quotes and use the books that they have read throughout the course of this year to either support or challenge the main objective of each quote. One quote, “Books are for nothing but to inspire”, once recited by Ralph Waldo Emerson, sparked tremendously insightful responses that kept me very intrigued. It was interesting to see what each student considered to be inspirational as well as listen to the ways the students verbally formed thoughts and ideas about what they read in class. Just listening to all of the great analyses revealed truth in Emerson’s words, I felt.

As the class took an intermission the other interns and I were able to sit and talk to the teacher more intimately. She addressed the details of her position and explained that she taught under a special program within the school. The program was created for students who have endured difficulty within school and or their home life, and whose grades aren’t reflective of their true intelligence. The program allows for smaller classes where teachers can form a closer and more personal relationship with each individual student. Just as I commend the fabulous analyses that I heard from the students, I admire the teacher’s patience and compassion.

Today’s classroom visit was both rewarding and fun!

“She used personification because she gave the blanket human traits”, was astonishingly the response of a FOURTH grader when asked to identify the literary device her fellow classmate exercised in a poem. Today I spent the majority of the morning trying to keep my jaw from dropping. The poems written by these fourth grade students left me in complete awe. As I circled the room reading over shoulders, I saw everything from haikus with metaphors and similes to sophisticated father’s day poems. One boy thanked his father for “teaching him how to care for his future family.” I was moved by the students’ ability to use such touching language and write truly beautiful poems. Once I finally grasped the fact that these children were extremely talented, I then had trouble conceptualizing their pure eagerness to share their poems with the class. When I think back to myself at that age, I remember being extremely shy and lacking in the confidence department, but that was not the case today for these students. At the sound of the teacher’s voice, “who wants to share a poem?” a sea of little hands would shoot up and their faces glowed as they embraced their time to shine. Poetry is such a special aspect of writing because it can be about anything! Today I heard poems about earrings, clovers, fathers, babysitters and much more. I feel that it is important for children to understand that, when writing poetry, the world is at their feet. This fourth grade class exercised an understanding of this concept and it was a true pleasure to hear their work.

Today I attended a meeting for Kindergarten teachers in which the teachers worked on a reading and writing curriculum calendar and developed outlines for each unit. After this experience, I more fully appreciate the work it takes to teach reading and writing to young children effectively. I also see how difficult it is to be a kindergarten teacher and how much commitment it takes to teach reading and writing.

As the meeting began, the teachers looked at a monthly schedule of units they had created in October and discussed how to revise it—after having used some of the units and techniques during the year, what worked and what didn’t? Over all, the teachers seemed pleased with the way their years had gone. The teachers found most of the units of those they had tried to be effective; several noted that the poetry curriculum especially was helpful and made teaching poetry to young children easier.

The teachers then broke into two groups to continue creating “Atlas outlines” for the month-by-month writing units and I listened in on the group working on the first unit for September: “Welcome to the World of Writing.” I was amazed about how specific the teachers had to be when teaching their students. In September, these teachers have many students who have never done any reading or writing before. In this unit, the teachers included such ‘Key Concepts’ as “Students will recognize writers in their lives” and “Students will understand the routines for writing in a classroom.”

The breakdown of the unit was incredibly specific—right down to teaching students how to follow the routines and expectations of the classroom setting. Details like this (that students know how to follow instructions) I would have glossed over, but the teachers knew these small things are important to teach and reinforce early in the year. I listened to the methods the Kindergarten teachers used to teach different skills, such as bringing students on a tour of the school to show them what it means to “write for someone else” by reading different signs. The creativity of teaching methods such as this was the most interesting and fascinating part of this experience for me.

From this experience, I have gained a new respect for the work it takes to develop a curriculum that can be taught to kindergarteners without confusing them. Things I have always taken for granted, such recapping markers after using them and putting spaces between words in a sentence (and how to form a sentence), have to be taught. Imagining how to teach such seemingly innate tasks to small children seems like an impossible task and one that requires such creative teaching strategies.

Today, June 12, I had the opportunity to see two classes—a first grade and a fourth grade. In the first grade class we saw a woman from a children’s hospital talk to the kids about nutrition and healthy snacks. It was an interesting experience to see a visitor teach a lesson to these kids and then compare it to the brief interaction we saw between the classroom teacher and the students.

During the nutrition presentation, the students were becoming restless and calling out more than when the classroom teacher read to them briefly from a poetry book. From what I have seen up to this point, kids generally tend to be on better behavior when someone new is in the room and their regular teacher is watching them. However, this seemed to be the opposite—but as soon as the classroom teacher would ask the kids to be quiet or ask them to do something, they would do it immediately. It was clear that the students, however young, had a lot of respect for their teacher and enjoyed the way she ran the classroom. They approached her planned activities—singing the “Good Morning Song” and choosing poetry books to read with their partners, for example—eagerly. It is clear that this teacher, and the other teachers I have observed thus far during my internship, have developed admirable relationships of trust and respect in their classrooms.

After the first grade class, we were able to sit in with a fourth grade class and listen to some of the students read their poems aloud. I was impressed by how enthusiastic the students were in their volunteering—they were all extremely willing to read their work, some of which was personal, aloud to the class. Although the personalities of the students in the class are undoubtedly important in this, I think this has a lot to do with the environment created by the teacher in the class early on in the year. The teacher had created an environment that encouraged sharing as a means to learning and improving work. As a shy child myself, I can appreciate a teacher who creates an environment in which all kids feel comfortable, and even beyond comfort, volunteer, reading their work aloud.

Spending a second day with the same first graders, I was able to observe the power of routines in an elementary school class. After being told the first task to complete (sing the “Good Morning” Song, for example), the kids can move on to the next two or three tasks without being told. They were able to decide who led each task and completed it without yelling at each other—the small fights or squabbles that might be expected in a first-grade class were not seen during the time I observed. The class ran smoothly, even though it was somewhat decentralized. There wasn’t much time in the hour and a half that the teacher was at the head of the class teaching a lesson or reading to the students.

I wonder how a teacher establishes these simple routines that do not seem constraining but manage to keep a class under control. The students I saw today were able to be independent when it mattered—they could choose their own books and partners for partner reading—but were also under control and followed instructions, when given. Teaching seems like a delicate balance between freedom and routines and control—in the classes I have seen thus far, many teachers allow students to have independence, learning responsibility, as well as academic content.

From what I have observed so far, it seems that the best teachers don’t do as much frontal “teaching” as one might think. Especially with younger children, the best teachers appear to create an environment that, while structured, allows students to be independent. Students can, for example, choose the books to read that most interest them. If this trend continued into older grades, the way middle school and high school were taught would be very different. For example, while reading the same books as the rest of the class allows for discussion, more emphasis on independent reading would give students a chance to explore books that interest them and might encourage some hesitant readers to be more enthusiastic about reading. While difficult, it doesn’t seem impossible, and definitely would be beneficial, to transform a typical high school, or even college class, into one like the first-grade class I visited.

A few days ago, I had the chance to sit in on a poetry celebration in a fifth grade classroom. Having earlier sat in on another class that had also been working on poetry, I thought that I would know what to expect. However, I was blown away by the level of writing skill, comprehension, and eagerness with which the students stood in front of a classroom of their peers and parents to share their own work. One of the students served as emcee for the event, and called each of his classmates to the front of the classroom to share one poem from their anthologies.

I also really enjoyed how several of the parents who were in attendance also stood in front of the class to share poems they had written, or a poem that they had enjoyed or felt inspired by. One mother read “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Another mother then shared a poem she had written for her husband twenty years ago. After the emotional reading of her beautifully written love poem, the entire classroom was entranced. The influence of her words left the audience thoroughly entranced. In sharing these poems that had touched them, these parents set an incredibly important example for their children. They modeled that an appreciation for poetry and the power of poetic prose can constitute a life-long passion. The integration of poetry sharing with parents, students and teacher allowed for multifarious perspectives and voices. The poems selected to be read each displayed a new, refreshing facet of the larger world of poetry, and provided everyone in attendance with a new and greater appreciation.