We want to extend a special congratulations to Noah on the birth of his baby boy. What wonderful news to begin the day with!
To open up Thursday, our 4th day of LALLI, Dr.
Howell had the group get into a large circle where we took turns giving an
interesting fact about ourselves that someone else in the room might share with
us. This was a community building activity where we learned new things about
each other and what some of us might have in common. Many individuals
participating in the program have been to foreign countries, while several
others we found out were fans of many different teams and sports.
Today, Michael Slider presented “The Usual”, which is a
strategy used to help students annotate text and analyze readings. Annotation
is taught explicitly to students as a method to have a conversation with a text
and decode difficult passages. After students complete their analysis, they
should be given time to share in small groups before moving to large group
discussion. Once again this keeps learning student-centered rather than teacher
directed. This allows a check for understanding while building classroom
community.
After Michael’s presentation, Deb led a group driven
activity that we will refer to as the “Must Haves” for Literacy Content in our
individual schools. As LALLI Committee members, we will be viewed as “Literacy
Leaders” within our schools, and therefore must drive the instructional practice
for content based literacy. A few common threads between all schools were:
solidifying vocabulary instruction, implementing Accountable Talk across all
disciplines and grade levels, and stressing to eliminate the phrase, “I’m not a
literacy teacher.” 
After our break we were given approximately an hour to read
through the books and documents we have received thus far at LALLI. Not only
was this mentally stimulating, but it was a brilliant idea, because far too
often we attend PD sessions where we receive hefty amounts of material, but do
not receive any time to dive into it and hash through the details we find
imperative to our instructional practices. This reading time also gave us more
fundamental preparation to collaborate with our fellow committee members as we
progress through the next six days.
Finally, Marsha presented the Signature RealeLibrary and the
RealeWriter. Marsha demonstrated this instructional tool that students to
create original text documents using technology, a variety of reading sources/materials,
and provides opportunity for publication and presentation. We were then given
time to begin our own RealeWriter, allowing us to utilize this technology based
educational tool. After we were given ample time to become acclimated with the
system, we shared what we had created for use in our classrooms with partners.
To conclude the day, Ryan had us complete an “exit slip”
with post its. One was labeled “Gift” the other “Challenge”. We were to write
one thing we believe we can implement well in our classroom and will confident
doing so. The second was something we feel will be a challenge in our
instruction that does not involve time constraints or testing.
Created By: Emily, Robin, and Melissa
I thought that the gift and challenge exit slip was a great idea and plan to use it in my class. It is a safe way for students to ask questions and also express what they learned. Students then can also answer other questions the next day which allows for accountable talk again.
ReplyDelete