Recess Workshop

Recess "workshops" are one of the many new things I'm trying out this year. I wish something like this had come my way before year 25. It's kind of brilliant.

This summer I read Purposeful Play by Kristine Mraz, Alison Porcelli, and Cheryl Tyler. They recommend setting aside time for an additional period of recess where the teacher teaches a mini-lesson, the kids go play with that lesson's focus in mind while the teacher monitors, and then the class shares afterwards. 

I'm using the book's ideas a guide... 

On day one we learned that we all have feelings that make our faces and bodies look certain ways. This chart comes directly from the book. 

On day two we learned that faces and bodies tell us how other people are feeling. We use that information to help us act differently. Again, I borrowed (and slightly modified) the chart below from the book. We sorted pictures and talked about how a person's face and body show us if that person is fine with how we're playing or if we need to stop.

There's more to come, but I wanted to share the beginnings of what we've been up to. I know it will take a lot of repetition, practice, role playing, etc. but I do believe this kind of intentional teaching will help kids not only on the playground but in life. I'm excited to see where this goes.

The First 20 Minutes

Mrs. Barker sends me the best kids in the whole school.

I loved you before you even showed up.

I'm surrounded by greatness.

Within the first 20 minutes of the first day of school my students have heard me say these significant words about them. I hope these words set the tone for the classroom I have visions about long before I've met the little people are on my roster. Calling out the greatness in the room before I've even seen the hand I'm dealt is an intentional move. 

They are words I'll repeat often, not only during the first few days of school, but right up until the very end. But in order to help my new friends remember these momentous words even on day one, I say each important statement with an intentionally chosen object in hand. I actually pull them out of a bag, because bags make everything more exciting in first grade.

 Mrs. Barker sends me the best kids in the whole school.

 I loved you before you even showed up.

 I'm surrounded by greatness.

By the end of the first day of school, my young friends can recite the meaning of each object. (I like to imagine the possible conversations at home that night. Guess what Miss McMorrow told us today?) The ease with which my students can remember my words reminds me to thoughtfully consider strategies for making my teaching stick, and an intentionally chosen object can certainly do the hard work for me. 

Words are powerful, and it's never too early in the year to say what matters most. Every teacher has a surplus of things that could be said during the first 20 minutes of school. Why not choose the most important ones first? 

To sum up, intentionally choose your message and purposefully make your words hard to forget. I'm not sure there's any better way to start the year.

Character Speaks Podcast

My teacher world sure grew when I started this blog. Even though I've never met a single one of them, I find it pretty cool that I have blogging teacher buddies from all over the country. Barbara Gruener from The Corner on Character is one of those friends. When I reminisce about how amazing it would be to have a counselor at my school, I think of Barbara. She's definitely the standard. 

She recently started a podcast called Character Speaks, and she and I spent 30 minutes chatting about some of the ways I teach to the heart, not just the head in my classroom. I'd be honored if you listened in. I know Barbara would as well.

Enjoy.

Saturday Sayings: In the Margin

School starts in exactly six days, which reflects why I've spent the last week furiously creating a comfortable and welcoming space for 23 new first graders. With that huge task crossed off my list, this morning I found myself ready to ponder lesson plans. As I opened up last year's plans to the first week of school, I was greeted with a list typed in the margin: "Things I Say." Reading through my list left me feeling not only inspired, but greatly satisfied.

I believe effective teachers are well planned. They don't show up on day one or 100 unprepared. They plan spaces, materials, activities, and lessons - all essential tools for a powerful learning environment. But what about words? I'm convinced effective teachers are intentional and strategic planners of words, which I will argue are just as important as all the other areas we plan for.

Words wield a powerful influence, and it's obvious from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that they're on the minds of teachers everywhere as they prepare themselves for a new and fresh opportunity to literally transform the lives of students. I might suggest that we find ways to document those words and hold ourselves accountable for saying them...repeatedly. 

With satisfaction, I added "Things I Say" to the margin of this year's first week of plans. I even added a few new things I intend to speak into the atmosphere. I'm bound and determined that my words will make a difference.

What's in your margin? 

My Most Prized Teacher Possession

Twelve years ago one of my students gifted me with a blank, black leather-bound journal. As a teacher of writing, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit journaling has never been a daily practice of mine, so I had no special plan for its pages. And little did I know it would turn into my most prized teacher possession. Today I filled up the final page of that journal with my neat, tiny typewriter-like font. Now I feel the urge to celebrate - to say that I've done this cool but rare thing.

I might own the fastidious font, but the words in this journal belong to some of my favorite mentors: Regie Routman, Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, Donalyn Miller, Ralph Fletcher, Dave Burgess, and so many more. I have such a poor memory, but I rarely wonder what these gurus have said or where to find their words even months after I've read their books. It's all in one place - my quote journal. The additional time spent writing my favorite quotes in my journal after a professional read is well worth it. Instead of collecting dust on a shelf, their thoughts are within my reach, which means they're more likely to impact my practice. I have instant access to their best thoughts. 

In anticipation of this day, blank journal number two is waiting in the wings, and maybe, just maybe, there's a journal waiting for your font, neat or not, as well.

Saturday Sayings: Flummoxed by Choice

If you've been around my blog very long, sat through my writing PD, or read my book, Gatekeepers, you know how I feel about writing prompts. Simply put, I'm not a huge fan. So it's no surprise that when I teach teachers about writing, the topic of choice will come up. 

This week I had the opportunity to present my writing PD at a conference in Twin Falls, Idaho. When I shared the fact that my beliefs prevent me from buying a year's worth of writing prompts from TPT, a junior high ELA teacher expressed a valid concern. Her students don't know how to handle choice in writing when she attempts to offer it. I responded by saying that it's very possible her students don't know how to write without prompts, because from their elementary days on, they haven't been in a culture where that is the expectation. In other words, it's not their fault. 

In light of that conversation, I find it interesting that this morning I came across the following expert in 180 Days: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle. 

I think it's fair to say, Twin Falls is not the only place where students in the secondary classroom are "flummoxed by choice." Fortunately, skilled secondary writing teachers can turn this problem around, but I bet they'd jump for joy if we elementary teachers sent them writers who already knew how to handle choice with both ease and enthusiasm. 

I realize my views about prompts understandably make some writing teachers uncomfortable, especially if prompts were the norm throughout their education and continue to be so in the culture where they teach. I'm not here to bully anyone into abandoning all forms of writing prompts, but I would like to at least inspire teachers to ask, "Why?" and to consider what choice might do for their writers today and in the future. Will they be flummoxed or empowered?




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Miss McMorrow's Summer Book Club

I truly believe that preventing the summer slide starts on day one of school. If we wait until April, May, or June to attack this issue, we've waited too long. That's not to say there aren't some worthwhile strategies that teachers can implement as they launch students into the summer months. 

Of course, book access is key. In a perfect world, I'd send all students home with enough books to keep them engaged for the whole summer. (Did you know that Todd Nesloney's school actually made this happen? Read about it here. The whole idea makes me salivate!) I don't have the resources to pull off this kind of miracle, but I do have access to a local library and I have time to spare. 

For a few years now, I've donated an hour of my time nearly each week of the summer to meet with my students at our local library. I call it Miss McMorrow's Summer Book Club.

Logistics:
Since I don't want to be locked into a schedule, I simply choose a day and time on a weekly basis that works for me, so parents just have to flexible. One week we might meet on a Friday morning. The next week might be a Wednesday afternoon. I simply send an email and text to parents the day before. I invite them to drop off their child at a certain time and pick them up an hour later. I arrive at the library early enough to choose some good read-alouds, as well as some books I think students would be able to read with independence. 

Our hour together starts with time for everyone to share their summer stories. Then I read to them. That's followed by some partner reading using the books I picked out. Finally, they get to explore the library for books they want to read. 

Obviously, my book club won't meet during the week I'm away at church camp, and a few years ago, I abandoned the idea of book clubs altogether. Honestly, it was one of those years x 10, and I needed a break. Otherwise, giving up an hour per week of my summer really feels like no sacrifice at all. 

Not everyone has the luxury of time during the summer like I do, but minus incentives and myriad other "strategies" that when analyzed really don't work or align with our beliefs, how will we creatively increase the odds that our readers are readers even when they're not at our fingertips? It's a question worth asking.