I had returned home on Sunday from Thanksgiving with my family. I love my family. I adore them. But, my mom has Alzheimer's disease, and the sorrow and grief we collectively feel is overwhelming, at best. At its worst, it is paralyzing.This weekend, it felt paralyzing. My first day back from Thanksgiving break, I had scheduled my evaluative observation with my principal (insert head-banging on the wall here).
Sunday night, I sat at my computer to draft my plan for my observation, taking special care to notate common core standards and Marzano domains. I identified a "Making Thinking Visible" thinking move I wanted to implement in my writing lesson. I massaged it for my purposes. I focused in on "ZOOM" which was designed to be used with images, and I modified it so I could use it with informational text. I spent an hour writing my lesson plan, thinking carefully through my pedagogical choices...and then the computer monitor went black. I sat in stunned silence with the metallic taste of desperation rising in my throat. I tried everything. I pushed every imaginable button...nothing.
I reached for my Chrome Book and began again. I lost my document, again, 30 minutes into my rewrite.
There are moments in our teaching lives when we question our sanity, moments when we question our career choice, and moments when we sob loudly as we hold ourselves and rock back and forth in our chairs. I will let you imagine which kind of moment this was for me.
I awoke Monday morning at 5:00 a.m., on fire with determination. I drove to school in the morning darkness so I could sit in my 50 degree classroom, huddled over my computer keyboard, to type my lesson plan for my impending observation. When I was done writing, I was ready.
We're in the middle of a nonfiction writing unit so students are entrenched in writing about their expert topics. My teaching point was to explore compare and contrast text structure in a mentor text in order to explore how writers write about topics. The "ZOOM" thinking move is designed to be used with an image. The image is revealed in stages to students. As each new section of the image is revealed, students delve deeper into their understanding of what they are seeing. I took this strategy and applied it to a text on crocodiles and alligators that I found on http://www.readingatoz.com . I began my lesson with storytelling about my father and how he uses binoculars when he hunts. Each time he looks through his binoculars, he sees something new about his surroundings. He uses them to "zoom in." Then, I put my own zooming-in goggles on (see above picture) and away he went.
I began by reading the first page. I stopped at the end of that page and asked students to name and notice how the writer wrote about her topic. Initially, students noticed the hook she had included in her lead. They identified her topic sentence. I asked them to describe any ideas they were formulating about what kind of book this was going to be based on her writing thus far. They responded that it would be informational, not super funny, but not boring, either.
I put the goggles on a second time, and read further into the text on the document camera, revealing more of the author's writing. This time, I asked my students to reflect on how she organized her writing...what kind of transitions did she use? What was the purpose of this new chunk of text? They agreed that this was comparing crocodiles to alligators because it tells how they are the same. They noticed words like both, also, similar, and another similarity.
I put the goggles on one last time, and read another chunk of text. This time the text compared AND contrasted crocodiles and alligators. My final question to students was, "Think back to what you were thinking while you read the first chunk...how has your thinking changed about this writer's writing and purpose?" This third round of questioning was really difficult for them. But, it was revealing for me! This was the first time I had asked this type of question this school year. I don't think they had encountered it before. So, I took a step back, pedagogically speaking, and modeled my own response to it. I now know where I'm headed next with my questioning strategies.
The lesson went on, my principal beamed and stayed longer than usual...I think she was having a good time. After she left and my kids went out for recess, I collapsed into my chair and tried to put the weekend, and my computer meltdown into perspective. I had survived...I had done better than survival.
The end of the day finally arrived. I left my teaching partner with the kids in the classroom and ran to the bathroom before dismissal. Funny thing, stress. While taking my bathroom break, I discovered that I had worn my pants backwards the entire school day. Sigh. I will live to teach another day.
Teach on my friends,
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Check out this link for more awesome teaching sagas and ideas. It's a great resource!
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