Sixth Grade Teachers

 The sixth graders are still studying writer’s craft in Writer’s Workshop, and it’s been quite an interesting journey! After an intense study of Cynthia Rylant and Mem Fox, we decided to do an experiment that would allow some of our students greater academic leadership. I often joke that a few students in my class could TEACH many of my mini-lessons. We decided to climb the Bloom’s pyramid and give it a try…

On Monday, our teachers were Christopher, Maggie, Callie, Jon Farrell, and Emma K. They lead groups of seven students through Libba Moore Gray’s “My Mamma had a Dancing Heart.” I thought their reactions to assuming the role of a teacher were interesting, poignant, and even a little humorous!

“I thought today was a great experience for both the participants of each group and the leaders.  I learned what it was like to be in a teacher’s shoes and how to fulfill my opportunity of leading something that I am very passionate about.  Today, I realized that people learn differently, have different motives, different personalities, and different ways of absorbing the information they are given.  For example, some people are able to get the most out of a lesson and use it the rest of their life.  Others don’t see the value of simple day-to-day lessons.  I learned that people have different interests, and it takes a truly good leader to be able to connect to people and make decisions that will benefit the entire community—or group.”

“Just by participating in this one small event, I learned more about reaching and connecting to fellow peers.  I found that leaders cannot truly teach a lesson well unless they not only appeal to the audience as intriguing, but they also have to reach down into individuals and make sure that they are absorbing the knowledge benevolently. I definitely believe this is something that should be done again–so students can learn what it is like to lead, and so group members can learn how to take full advantage of their position.”

“I learned that it is not that hard to tell whether or not someone is listening. It is really easy to tell by the way their body is positioned. For instance, I saw that when a person is looking around the room or lying their head on the table (even if they are looking at the speaker) they are not completely listening. I really enjoyed hearing new people speak about the things they found in the writing. I really enjoyed this entire process…I wish we could do this again, but I think that it might be an interesting experiment to make the people who are very quiet be assigned to the leadership role.”

“I thought it was helpful for the students to lead because it gets everyone involved in the conversation. We got more covered in small groups.  Our group worked well on working together to contributelots of ideas.  We each had our own thing that we did best. I would definitely do this again!”

“What I learned from this unique activity was that many people have many different ideas, and it is sometimes difficult to choose one idea over another. I liked having the ability to contribute ideas more often, but I feel like sometimes too many people talk at once, or not everybody pays attention.”

A couple of group members reflected on their experience in writer’s workshop on Monday…

“Interacting with people from other classes today was a chance that I really enjoyed.  I realized that you don’t have to talk all the time to be a good group leader…my group leader didn’t talk the most by far, but he kept our group on track and on top of our game.  I never knew how different it was to work cooperatively with people who voiced and contributed their opinions in very different ways and today gave me a chance to really notice those things.  I appreciated the fact that you let us have independence and freedom to lead the discussion into the places that we wanted to lead it to.  Our conversation went off into directions that my other ones hadn’t in class.”

“I would definitely like to do this again because I like working with other people in our grade. I think it also helped to have a leader because they kept things under control. I think that my group did a really good job with coming up with things for the chart and we didn’t really step on each other’s toes.”

 

I am often amazed by our sixth graders at Trinity.

They can sit in a values circle and maturely discuss prejudice, racism, and a field trip to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. They can blog about a class novel and its effect on their thinking and actions. They can clean discovery trail in 45 minutes, ensuring with great attention to detail that all limbs are moved and all trash is cleared. They can lead a second trimester conference with two to five adults in attendance. They can use technology with ease and are willing to teach their teachers about anything from iPhones to Google SketchUp. They can stand in front of their peers in the morning and give a reflection about their veggie beliefs. They can give a teacher a smile or a hug in the hallway “just because.” They can lead at lunch, in their buddy classrooms, at carpool, in the classroom, at recess, in RWR, during assemblies, and (sometimes!) in the hallway.

They can also write. Each student can really write. Here are a few examples of students who posted their most recent work in writer’s workshop to their personal weblog. Although this writing is amazingly powerful, I am inspired by what they will be able to do in the future.

The following excerpts are from pieces that were published in conjunction with our week-long study of Cynthia Rylant’s style and craft. Forgive the length of this post…but the work of each student is noteworthy.

Eric: “And, oh, the ripples. Ripples that seemed to go on forever. On and on and on. Just like the way a cloud floats in the sky without a stopping point.”

Helen: “Brina Beads is a place of memory. When you walk in, there are beads to the left and beads to the right. There are beads behind you and beads in front of you. Beads and beads and beads.”

Emma K.:”And on Broadway how the people sing and dance and act like people who they are not, and in the bustling streets how the people briskly walk from place to place, and in the parks filled with beauty and wanders seeking serenity from the busy city. This is their life, their routine, their city. New York City.”

Wellie: “Also in the kitchen, there are walls painted chocolate brown. There are walls covered in clear tile with a green background. There are walls that are pushed outward. There are walls that are pushed inward. Many walls.”

Christopher: “Suddenly, my grandmother’s call rings out. A stone shattering the calmness of a lake. Reality is tearing me from my dreams in the tree. I slide down the tree. I should not be disappointed. For, of course, I will climb again. Yes, I will climb again.”

Linzy: “And why do all of these people come here? Why the food of course, and the company. The food, succulent and tasty, is always plentiful. The cooking goes on and on and seems to stop…    …until it starts up again to produce more hearty meals.”

Anne Torrey: “For me, the soccer field is so much more than just a place, it is a home. It is a home filled with welcoming people, wide open fields with green, green grass and soccer balls.”

Grant W.: “Memories are special, they never disappear but remain in life for forever. They are comforting like a kitten and soft like pillows. They are exuberant like little kids. And they all live in a far away home.”

Phoebe: “I spend most of my day on the porch, reading, sleeping, thinking. The porch is like a dog. It waits for me. Waits, waits, waits. Greets me when I get there. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. Says good-bye when I must leave. Good-bye, Good-bye, Good-bye.”

Isabelle: “I have a corner. A little corner all to myself. Mo one has ever been there or sat there or read there or slept there or hidden there but me. It’s my corner.”

Emma R: “And at the end of the day, as I snuggle up into my bunk bed I think. I think and think and think. I think about my day. I think about tomorrow. I think about my life. Oh, how great my life is. How I wish could stay at camp for the rest of my life. Camp is where I am most happy. Camp is where I am free. Camp is my home.”

Margaret: “In the afternoon, the air is filled with the sweet, melodious song of larks. Bumblebees play tag, zigging and zagging, while their black and yellow stripes seem to zoom every which way. Butterflies flutter gracefully around, clad in every color of the rainbow, settling delicately on tiny flowers, allowing anyone who happens to pass by to admire their beautiful attire.”

Matthew: “Hills of rock rise over the whole river. Climbing rock hills. I can clamber up these hills, eager to get to the top. Once I do, I begin climbing others. I could climb these forever. Endless hills.”

Austin M.: “These all bring the small children joy. This is the room…  … The room for everyone.”

Jon Farrell: “And, oh, the pool. It taunts me with its cool, crisp water. It knows that I am very hot under the scorching Florida sun. It beckons me to dive into the refreshing water, and finally rid myself of the heat.”

Ta’Neal: “And, oh, the stars at night. How they twinkle in the bluish-black colored sky. There are old memories, of course. The best one being when Angel first came there, sniffing and running and barking, then immediately starting to play.”

Our sixth graders have finished their personal essays and Stephen Kennedy’s post, “Reflections on Reflections,” honors their diligent work. In writer’s workshop, we have (finally!) moved on to our study of writer’s craft – one of the sixth grade teachers’ favorite units!

After a study of Cynthia Rylant’s works, Dog Heaven and Long Night Moon, sixth graders are crafting personal pieces about a specific place and posting those pieces to their blog. Armed with new knowledge about “triple action,” “powerful punctuation,” “filtered fragments,” and “word art,” the sixth graders in Ms. Howard’s class will have their pieces published tonight! I can’t wait to link to some of Trinity’s published authors…

Do you want to learn more about Cynthia Rylant?

• A Short Biography by Inez Ramsey and Herb Wilburn
• Cynthia Rylant’s Letter to Children
• Interview with Cynthia Rylant

Since the sixth graders began their journey into the Blogosphere, I have enjoyed reading their posts and getting a glimpse through their blogs of their world outside of school.� I have kept up with reading the students’ blogs, but did not realize how many teachers and faculty members are blogging on a regular basis as well.

Today in class when Ms. Howard suggested checking out a faculty or staff member’s blog, I realized that I had not done this yet, and quickly went to the Writer’s Exchange to check out some of the most recent posts.� As I scrolled through the posts, one of the titles caught my eye. Ms. Pile, our ELD coordinator, recently wrote a post called The Rose Bead. The title caught my eye because it was not about blogs or wikis or an academic subject, and seemingly was not really related to school at all. I clicked on this post and read it, and felt the need to share it with you.

I will not recount the story for you, since I would not be able to tell it nearly as well as the original post did, but I encourage you to take a moment to read it.� Ms. Pile writes with such eloquence and thoughtfulness.� She weaves her tale in such a way that in the beginning, I thought her post was just going to be about Halloween here at school, but in fact it is much deeper than that.
The connection Ms. Pile made between the rose-colored bead and children was so insightful.� It made me stop and think about times when I’ve been too intent on the “right way” or the “right answer” and may have been unable to see something from a student’s point of view.� Ms. Pile’s post caused me to reflect on how I interact with people, and reminded me that just because someone’s ideas are different does not mean that they are wrong. � Perhaps listening to these ideas and considering them makes us more open to new and different ways of thinking.

It also reminded me that all people are different, and that’s what makes this world such a special place.� Instead of looking at differences as deficiencies, we should celebrate them.� I will definitely visit Ms. Pile’s blog again to read about her insights and ideas.� Thanks, Ms. Pile, for making me think and reflect!