Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers Into the Conventions of Language by Jeff Anderson

A chance to hear Jeff Anderson in person never gets old! My Humanities team recently spent the day with him in Hurst, Texas learning about his new book Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers Into the Conventions of Language.  I can tell you ... it is exactly what teachers have been wanting and what they need for teaching grammar, sentence structure, and more! Easy to pick up and use and complete with lessons to try in your classroom tomorrow!  Looking forward to having book studies with teachers next year. I wanted to include the notes I took this day which will give you a little peek into what we learned and what this book might do for teachers!

*Evan's Notes*

The first part of my notes are from a recent podcast where Jeff Anderson was interviewed about this new book - so those notes are also included on this document.  You've got to get his book!

On Twitter, follow Jeff Anderson - @WriteGuyJeff and also follow the hashtag #PatternsofPower to get a perspective of the many teachers who are discovering and using this new resource!

North Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (NTCTELA) - June 2018

NTCTELA: http://www.ntctela.org/

Once again I was fortunate to get to experience NTCTELA this year in Hurst, Texas. My learning from a couple experts challenged my thinking about literacy.  Just when you think you have some great skills in your back pocket, someone can encourage you to consider new ways of instilling a love of reading in our students!  Smokey, Lester, and Cornelius did just that for me this year! My new learning will be shared with some of the teachers I work with next year!

I took a few notes throughout the conference and wanted to share them with anyone who might be interested:

Evan's Notes

Great Teachers

I couldn't resist posting this graphic I found on Twitter. To show up every day and for these items to be your guide in the classroom . . . . students will excel and love their teacher!

North Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (NTCTELA) 2017

Once again, the NTCTELA conference proved to be a time of great inspiration and an opportunity to learn many new ideas to try with students in the classroom. I'm always inspired by Penny Kittle and hearing her for the third time, still learned so much from her. I follow Kelly Gallagher on Twitter and this was my first time to see him in person.  It was great learning from him and getting a peek into his world of high school ELA from Anaheim, California. A great conference, and can't wait to return again next year!

I took a few notes throughout the conference and wanted to share them with anyone who might be interested:
Evan's Notes

Strategies & Structures for Teaching Reading with Jennifer Serravallo

I was among many North Texas educators who attended Jennifer Serravallo's training about teaching Reading today in Hurst, Texas. Teachers and coaches from across Grapevine-Colleyville ISD learned about some important reading strategies to use with their students in their instruction. I tried to take notes that captured as much of the day as possible.  You can read Evan's Notes by clicking on this link to learn about our time with Jennifer Serravallo!

Toward a Scientific and Artful Balance in Reading Education: Word Study, Fluency & Comprehension

Enjoyed listening to Dr. Timothy Rasinski and learning some ideas for Reading fluency and practices to boost comprehension with students. Check out my notes to get a peek into his presentation.

Presentation Notes

Adapting Reading & Writing Workshops (Units of Study) to Support English Learners (K-5)

Thank you #TCRWP for providing a great day of learning! The following document is my collection of notes from that day with Amanda Hartman (@Amandalah):

Evan's Notes on Adapting Reading & Writing Workshops (Units of Study)

to Support English Learners (K-5)

Jeff Anderson Visits GCISD - Humanities Institute June 2016

Our district was fortunate to have Jeff Anderson spend the day speaking with the teachers in GCISD about writing.  He provided a day of practical writing ideas that are easy to infuse into our instruction.  His entertaining presentation gave everyone ideas to enhance students' writing experiences in our classrooms!

Notes from Evan Payne

Four Reasons to Start Class with a Poem Each Day

I gravitate to ideas that help teachers use and promote the love of poetry in the classroom.  In my years of teaching, I noticed poetry was intimidating to many students.  I believe that sometimes students just haven't had enough time to explore poems, play with poetry, and write their own poems.

I found this article by Brett Vogelsinger (9th grade ELA teacher in Pennsylvania) where he lists four reasons for using poetry daily that will "rock your world!"  His four reasons for why this is a good idea: 1) poems are short, 2) Poems are intense, 3) Poems Connect (to Other Reading), and 4) Poems Inspire (Writing).

He makes a reference to an inspiration he received from Penny Kittle and the idea of using "Shake the Dust" as a model for a piece of writing for students.  When I saw Penny Kittle at the NTCTELA conference in 2014, she shared this same idea and it quickly inspired me to write my own poem.  I could see students (maybe more for grades 5-12) creating their own "Shake the Dust" piece of writing/poetry based on their life.  This is a must try idea for your classroom.

To view Brett's entire article, click on this link:  http://goo.gl/vSGzDc

North Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (NTCTELA)

I attended NTCTELA with at least one teacher from every campus across Grapevine-Colleyville ISD on June 10th, 2016.  This was my third time to attend this conference and each year it proves to be highly informative with quality presentations.

The day started with Lester Laminack (author)(@lester_laminack) as the keynote speaker.  He inspired the crowd with ideas on being a better writing teacher!  I chose to learn from Nancy Motley (@nancymotleyTRTW) in her presentation titled Talk, Read, Talk, Write: A Practical Approach to Learning.  My final breakout session choice was Mark Overmeyer (@markovermeyer) - Thinking about Language in the Writing Workshop.

I captured a few notes from each presentation ... hoping to share some writing inspiration that I received!

NTCTELA Notes from Evan Payne

Journal of the American Revolution

Another great find while perusing Twitter over the summer.  This is a great resource for learning more about the American Revolution.  It is a place to easily get lost in so many stories, columns, featured articles, etc.

https://allthingsliberty.com/

Changing the Odds (October 2015)

Attending this conference was an inspiration BOOST!

Some of my take aways from the conference were the following:

1. Daniel Pink talked about an Innovation Day - one Friday every other month where students do whatever they want and then present on that (sort of like a genius hour).  He said, "You're allowed to do whatever you want as long as it's not boring."
2. Make connections - the power of finding similarities between multiple items!
3. Share your story - StoryCorps - incredible stories of everyday people being real.  Great podcast!
4. Be the deliverer of the unexpected.
5. Be the global game changer.
6. Kevin Carroll:  Circumstances do not have to dictate someone's destiny.  Inspire others!
7. Kevin Carroll's "Rules of the Red Rubber Ball" - "Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express, not to impress. Don't strive to make you presence noticed, just make your absence felt."
8. Kevin Carroll: Our ideas and actions matter!
9. Kevin Carroll: Look up every once in a while, shift your gaze ... tap into the wonder around you.
10. Kevin Carroll:  We all need a CEO - Chief Encouraging Officer!  Are you somebody's CEO?
11. Glennon Melton: "Don't judge your success on immediate results - remain faithful to your calling.  Just show up!
12.  Sir Ken Robinson: "When you encourage people in the things they love, you'll never know where that will end up."

Instructional Methods: Learner-Centered

I saw this on Twitter yesterday posted from @Marzano Research and thought it was a great graphic.  In a time of creating learner-centered classrooms, this could bring some clarity for teachers with ideas on how to make this work!

Lucy Calkins and Teachers College Reading & Writing Project

Lucy Calkins

I had the privilege of attending the 3-5 Units of Study for Reading training with Lucy Calkins to learn more about reading and writing in the classroom.  It was a great day of inspiration and learning.  It was one of those trainings where you didn't want it to end.  I need another opportunity to learn from her and hope to do that again someday.

I captured notes from the day on some of what we were learning.  You can access my notes:
Lucy Calkins and TCRWP

February 8th, 2016 - Houston, Texas

Follow #TCRWP for some great ideas on implementing reading and writing workshop!

10 Best Phrases to Teach Resilience to Your Kids

Another great find on Twitter recently!  I liked the positivity of these comments to help teachers encourage their students.

How the American Smithsonians Started in America

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a passion for American History and sharing that experience with others!  One of the highlights of my year is taking fifth-grade students and some parents on an educational trip to Jamestown, Virginia, Williamsburg, Virginia, and Washington, DC.  This past July was my 15th summer doing this.  The experience expands our knowledge of American History and it always provides everyone with a memory that they will carry with them forever!

Most of our time is spent in Washington, DC.  We try to include as many of the Smithsonian Institutes into our itinerary, but timing can sometime get the best of us.  There are so many to see!  We make sure that we spend quality time at the American History Smithsonian (my personal favorite!), and in some years find time to visit the Natural History and Air & Space Smithsonians.  The only problem is that when you are taking 10 and 11-year-olds to a museum - their time of engagement differs from that of adults.  We don't always get to spend as much time as we would like in these incredible museums.

The history behind how our nation started the Smithsonian Institutes is such a great story!  Below is a picture of James Smithson - the man who made this experience possible for us today!  Read about this fascinating story by visiting this link --> America's Smithsonian Institutes

Portrait of James Smithson

21 Ways to be a Great Teammate

The beginning of August is the time that many teachers start REALLY thinking about what specific things we will do differently to make this coming year even better than the one before!  We think about new instructional strategies and procedures we will use, new classroom layout, better ways to organize our classroom library, incorporating more technology with our students such as blogging about the books they are reading, and the list goes on!  The success of the a school year is affected by so many things.  The relationships we make with our teammates will play a vital role in making it a great year too!  We need the help of those we work with to ensure that we all reach the successes needed for our students.  John Gordon gives us 21 ways to help us be a great teammate.  Hope these ideas provide you with some inspiration! 

What Good Readers Do!

Good Readers Show Evidence

Twitter is a great place to get ideas from other teachers . . . had to snag this image when I found it!  This could be a great bulletin board idea that students could use as a resource throughout the whole year.  Encouraging readers to find evidence and providing them with ideas on how to do that will help them further develop this critical reading skill!

Click here to get the posters for free on TPT:  https://goo.gl/krkMjL

Five Tips for Helping a Student Find The Right Book

As we gear up for the start of a new year, there is a great deal of excitement across Grapevine-Colleyville ISD with a more consistent SpringBoard focus (in grades 6-12), Reading and Writing Workshop, the GCISD 25 Book Challenge, etc.  Teachers are already making plans on how to deepen the experience for our students in reading and writing.  From looking at increasing daily time to have students practice reading and writing, to conferring with students helping them to grow as readers and writers, we have some dedicated teachers who are looking for ways to do their job better!  In GCISD, this coming year promises an even better literacy experience for our students.  It's a great time to be in our district!

I like the following graphic I found on Twitter.  As teachers, we are constantly working with students to help them find just the right book. Hopefully, this graphic will provide some directions for teachers as they help their students discover a love for reading this year.

North Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (NTCTELA)

Attended the NTCTELA Conference on 6/12/2015 with many GCISD teachers from across the district.  The day started with Ralph Fletcher as the keynote speaker.  The overall theme of the conference appeared to be more on writing.

The first breakout session I chose Ralph Fletcher's message on "Creating Boy-Friendlier Writing Classrooms."  The second session I chose Jeff Anderson's "Revision Decisions: Talking Through Sentences, Grammar, and Beyond. "

What a great day of learning . . . Ralph and Jeff were very inspiring!

NTCTELA Conference Notes

(click on Conference Notes to view document)