Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Slice of Life: Continued Learning


It’s Tuesday and time to share about a little Slice about my  Life.  I’m so thankful for opportunities to continue having professional conversations and questioning my practices.  On Saturday, I attended the Dublin Literacy Conference.  From listening to  Kylene Beers and Bob Probst as they opened the day with their keynote.  I was over the top with new learning. Questions were posed to the audience and my head just continued to nod up and down with agreement.  My brain was overpowered with all the concepts.

As important to me, actually more important to me are the friendships that I have developed through Slicing, Celebrating and blogging.  Saturday was about friendship and conversations.  In all the sessions, leaning over and saying “What a smart idea!” as Kristin Ziemke talked about integrating technology with her first graders.  Big take away moments included:
  • Using text like "Thank You Mam" by Langston Hughes several times with several purposes
  • Nonfiction strategies:  The Three Questions from Beers and Probst new book
  • importance of talk (what type of questions are we asking?) I need to really work on this
  • teach students to "work around" an issue - there's more than one path to an answer both in text and having questions.
  • modeling that teachers don't have all the answers
  • importance of feedback from peers and how to model it  (fishbowl) 
  • justification vs. explanation
As I read all of these take away moments, my thoughts are everywhere.  I have learned over the years attending several conferences to choose one and start small.  I chose the Nonfiction strategies - the three questions.  I went home, rewrote my lesson plans, researched on line and jumped into the new learning together yesterday.  It's so much fun when you attend a conference and you're automatically drawn in and ready to implement something new.  Thanks to all the Slicers I always enjoy sharing a moment of my life and reading about a moment of yours.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Maria. Thank you so much for sharing your takeaways. I would love to hear how you might use some of Beers's and Probst's ideas with your 1st graders. You are such a learner. I treasure teachers who are able to translate ideas meant for students outside of their teaching range. That is a gift. Not everyone possesses it. I think the key is being open to learn. What do you think?

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    1. Oh I'm sorry I teach fifth grade and that is where I'm trying the three questions with our NF reading. On a side note, I sat with my K-1 friends and they are in discussions about what it looks like for them. I will let you know what I learn. Open is the key and for me it was finding my support through my writing & blogging. It's a gift when I get to meet my blogging friends. Thanks for your comment.

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  2. The Dublin conference always sounds so terrific! I loved reading everyone's tweets and Facebook posts and now their Slices. I wonder what the "three questions" are.

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    1. From Reading Nonfiction (Notice and Note)
      a. What surprised me?
      b. What did the author think I already knew?
      c. What challenged, changed or confirmed what I know?

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    2. Thanks so much! I really am going to buy the nonfiction book really soon!

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  3. I've seen others on FB share much good from that conference, and am glad you jumped right it. There's no better time than NOW. Inspiration at a conference was vital to my teaching all through the years. Happy you had such a good time, Maria.

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    1. Thanks Linda - I used to jump in all the way. Over the years, I learned to jump a little more slowly. It works better for me. Thanks for supporting my slice. Have a great week :)

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  4. Such fun to see you again, and spend time with you, Maria. I am sold on the magic of Dublin!

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    1. The highlight was our time together!! Our conversations are still floating around in my thinking as well as how I can begin to make simple shifts.

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  5. This conference sounds amazing. I was following the Tweets all weekend.

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    1. I sent so many tweets I forgot to take notes.....glad you enjoyed learning along with us.

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  6. The conference was amazing, and I love your take-aways. I am still processing three days later; not sure when I'll be ready to share. As Kristin Z would say, "tell me more about that..." :)

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    1. What fun to get home and see your comment. Thanks for a great night of support for writing. Can't wait to read about what you're thinking about from the conference.

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