Spring Break

I’m now watching Aston Villa vs. Wolverhampton on ESPN2 in HD. I must say that it is a beautiful picture, but not yet a beautiful game. Both teams need to bring the ball down and look for open spaces to pass; there are too many balls in the air. It is the first time I have turned on the TV since Sunday. I didn’t turn it on at all during the week, and I’m very pleased of that. It was a productive week without the distraction; I came home each night to read and grade, usually grading first and reading before I head to bed. I think I’m going to continue to try to temper my TV watching, limiting it to Tuesday nights of Lost and Thursday nights of Community, The Office, and 30 Rock. That would leave Monday, Wednesday, and Friday open for grading and reading and writing. I would love that.

I’m leaving on Monday to head to Washington DC to see Brandon and then go to the Spring Meeting for the NWP. I don’t think I’m going to be very helpful at all at the Spring Meeting, but I’m going. I plan to write an apology letter to Keri about what I haven’t done to help or prepare with that meeting. In most situations, and I could even argue all situations, I need to have a detailed description of goals and an understanding of how to achieve that in order for me to be successful. I don’t feel like I have a full understanding of the goal for this Spring Meeting, and thus I don’t understand how to achieve it. For that reason, I flounder, and am more of a distraction than a help. I hope that is not the case, but I do believe it is true.

Spring Break is here and the fourth quarter is upon us. It seems like this 3^rd quarter has absolutely flown by, maybe because of soccer or the OWP. It has definitely been the best quarter we’ve had so far; the students are maturing and developing and becoming more independent in their learning by taking initiative in helping and challenging one another.

As I sit in my living room, with the big blinds open and looking out at the wet pavement and glistening grass, I can’t wait for Spring and Summer weather to really get here. I hope it isn’t too wet, but the rain is necessary for growth. The big problem is that it disrupts our Soccer schedule. The temperature is currently 34 degrees with a Winter Storm Warning in effect through the weekend. That’s not very Spring-ish. I really want to get a Bar-BQ pit and build some horse shoe pits and maybe even get a fire pit, all in the back yard, so that I can have people over and we can hang out, or at least I can enjoy the wonderful weather during the Spring and Summer. I would love to cook and eat and read and relax outside during the summer knowing that I’ve got my own space. This is one of top reasons why I’m hopeful about having the house now. Maybe I am buying into the selfish aspect of not wanting to share space, but really I would be all for sharing the space with many of my friends and even neighbors, as the weather gets nice. I want to have the Life Group over, and have the OWP people over, and have school friends over, and even meet the neighbors down the street and have them over to enjoy some good food and hang out. I don’t just want the space to myself all the time; there will be times when I want it for myself, but I would welcome having people over to share the space and to enjoy the time and weather and company.

I look forward to using some podcasting tools this morning at the Tech Team meeting, and for that reason I am now off to prepare. By they way, the game has turned around. Wolves now lead 2-1, and the football is getting to be challenging and more technical. Until next time.

the ball is rolling

The writing is coming together. Last week we finished writing some expository essays. I hate putting names on things; somehow it makes it sound scarier to me. The kids wrote about something they wanted to write about and something they knew a lot about. They were the experts and they were learning the process of organizing and forming a solid essay. That was fun. It came together well and the results are pretty cool. I'm going to have several posted on the Room 146 Showcase website.

Also, I added some photos to the Room 146 Showcase website. I wish that was basically what the website was all about - showing off the awesome work that the kids do. I think I may try to have a Wiki next year. It could be the storehouse for Reading - I could put copies of our notes/strategies there, then the groups responses each week could be housed there as well. There could be a Recommendations page. I need to think this through, and I need to consider how things are going to be "policed." Unfortunately, that is one thing that is often considered, not by the teachers, but by the administrators (it's a necessary evil to allow some cool stuff to happen in the classroom; I know Julie will back me) and by the parents. If the parents aren't on my side, then I'm sure my life will suck.

Anyway, I feel like we're really beginning to see some great growth, and students are putting things together. They have improved so much in their use of the computers, and they are growing in their personality and maturity. That's the most fun about teaching young kids.

Tonite I went to a girls' indoor soccer game a Lake Country. The parents were really funny. It was a really good game - hard fought and a well-deserved win. That is a wonderful sight to see with young girls competing. I have to admit that being a witness to these things is a fun. I wish I was a bit smarter so that I could figure some amazingly complicated and groundbreaking research on the adolescent mind. That would be cool.

Until another day.

Open Letter on Behalf of the NWP

(Note: This is not my post, but rather a re-post of Zac Chase's post. Feel free to repost or send to your representative.)

THE GIST:

• The current draft of the federal budget cuts direct funding for the National Writing Project.
• The NWP has been one of the few extremely successful examples of a nationally-networked effort to improve K-12 writing for 36 years.
• We must communicate with Congress to change the budget.

THE WHOLE STORY:

Dear Rep. Fattah, Sen. Casey and Sen. Specter:

I write to you on behalf of the National Writing Project. More precisely, I write to you on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of students and teachers the program has transformed over its 36 years.

Under the budget proposed by President Obama, national funding for the NWP would be cut. In a Feb. 1 press release from the U.S. Department of Education, the NWP was lumped in with 5 other projects losing funding because the DOE claims they “duplicate local or state programs or have not had a significant measurable impact.”

As the NWP is unique as a networked writing instruction program with 200+ local sites serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, I am left to believe Sec. Duncan is claiming the NWP falls under the category of not having a “significant measurable impact.”

This too is untrue.

A 1987 longitudinal study on the effects of the NWP by Kathy Krendl and Julie Dodd found participating third through twelfth graders showed an increase “in interest in learning about writing, in their level of confidence, and in their association of self-esteen with good writing.

Not only that, the study also found a decrease “in students’ feelings of discomfort about completing writing assignments and in their feelings that they do not write well and that writing is difficult.”

In a 2007 study of the NWP’s Local Site Research Initiative, across nine localities students showed significant or non-significant favorable results in all seven categories.

This should not have been surprising considering the DOE’s own data listed the NWP as exceeding its performance targets in 2001. Indeed participants’ ratings across all categories ranged from 95-88 percent reporting positive impact at their follow-up assessment of the program. This went well above the program’s target of 75 percent in each category.

Were this simply an impassioned plea, I would have hesitated to write. The data speaks for itself, the National Writing Project has offered a significant return on investment in its 36 year history. Federal funding for the NWP must be maintained if we are to continue striving to meet the Project’s goal of “a future where every person is an accomplished writer, engaged learner, and active participant in a digital, interconnected world.”

I thank your for your time and attention to this matter. Please, let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Zachary Chase

English Teacher

Science Leadership Academy

Philadelphia, PA

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I've been doing tons of thinking lately, but very little meaningful writing. It's a bit maddening because I haven't found a way to capture my thoughts. My best thinking takes place during my planning period at school, in the car, in the shower, or when I'm laying in bed. For two reasons I lose out: immediate needs (food, something on the agenda) take precedence, or my short term memory doesn't hang on long enough (everything is lost by the time I sit down at the computer). I feel like I'm missing out on opportunities.

1. At soccer practice this week, I overheard two girls talking about what they call Macaroni and Cheese. One said, "I like saying Mac and Cheese, but my dad doesn't like it. He says it's not proper." The other responded, "Yeah, Mac and Cheese, like to those big trucks." All as they continued to pass the ball around. This made me think: The adolescent mind is absolutely amazing. These are the things kids need to do; they need to be allowed to talk and share and navigate the predicaments of life, and when necessary, adults can jump in to help and support where necessary. But really, let them go and learn through the experience. It makes life as an onlooker so much fun.

2. More and more I'm having to explain the Ozarks Writing Project to people, and I don't always feel like I do a very good job. It is difficult for me to explain because it's hard to put a name on it. The experience (there's that word again) is so important for understanding, that words always fail me.

3. Those that I follow on Twitter and Google Reader have been wonderful to me lately. I've been learning so much and been exposed to so many ideas and concepts that I otherwise would not have, that I feel like I am thinking more and changing as I think because of these two services which make it easy for me to learn. I think about how I can use these things in my classroom. I think about the responsibility and safety issues I would have to address. I think about how I would cover my butt when parents came asking why. I think about why people would ask why in the first place, but mostly I think I know that answer. I think that I need to be more brave and more resolute and decide that the time has come to take the steps that will change the learning experience in my classroom, while also having a clearly defined purpose and goal in mind that we can each work toward. I want to set up class accounts for Twitter next year, and I want to find a program that will allow my students to blog, and follow RSS feeds on their own, and create opportunities for their own learning and composing. I don't know if it is possible with 120 students, but I guess I want to try.

4. I'm going to begin using Flickr instead of Picassa, and I want to make more videos to put up on Youtube. I want to be creative. I want to produce rather than consume. I'm resuming my 365 project tomorrow. I needed some time off. I know that makes no sense, but I couldn't approach it as a job. It needed to be fun for me. So I'm going to try to go in and organize things there, and then utilize it to a greater potential than I am right now. Consistency is what I'm shooting for. I hope I stick with it.

5. Right now, I'm slowly reading a few books: Drive by Daniel Pink (just the appendices), The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak (it's been on my nightstand for months), Adolescent Literary by Kylene Beers (just here and there), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (at school with my kids), and looking back through Faster by James Gleick. Brain overload. This summer, I want to read one book at a time, and read and read and write and write.