Reflective Reading Responses (RRRs) #1 - 5

**This post will contain my first 5 RRRs.**

RRR #5- Chapter 6 (due Oct. 6 by noon)

Summary of Chapter 6:

■      What was this chapter(s) about?

■      What did I learn from this chapter?

■      In your own words, provide a brief summary of the salient points from the chapter - at least 5 sentences.

Reflection on the Chapter 6:

■      **This should be the majority of writing for your RRR.

■      How might I use what I learned?

■      What surprised me or made me wonder?

■      What do I still need to learn about this genre, format, or topic?

■      Where will I go from here? What other resource might help me?

■      Any other feeling or response you may want to add.

_________________________________________________________________________

RRR #4 - Chapter 5 (due Sept. 29 by noon)

Summary of Chapter 5:

■      What was this chapter(s) about?

■      What did I learn from this chapter?

■      In your own words, provide a brief summary of the salient points from the chapter - at least 5 sentences.

Reflection on the Chapter 5:

■      **This should be the majority of writing for your RRR.

■      How might I use what I learned?

■      What surprised me or made me wonder?

■      What do I still need to learn about this genre, format, or topic?

■      Where will I go from here? What other resource might help me?

■      Any other feeling or response you may want to add.

________________________________________________________________________

RRR #3 - Chapter 4 (due Sept. 29 by noon)

Summary of Chapter 4:

■      What was this chapter(s) about?

■      What did I learn from this chapter?

■      In your own words, provide a brief summary of the salient points from the chapter - at least 5 sentences.

Reflection on the Chapter 4:

■      **This should be the majority of writing for your RRR.

■      How might I use what I learned?

■      What surprised me or made me wonder?

■      What do I still need to learn about this genre, format, or topic?

■      Where will I go from here? What other resource might help me?

■      Any other feeling or response you may want to add.

__________________________________________________________________________

RRR #2 - Chapter 3 (due Sept. 8 by noon)

Summary of Chapter 3:

■      What was this chapter(s) about?

■      What did I learn from this chapter?

■      In your own words, provide a brief summary of the salient points from the chapter - at least 5 sentences.

Reflection on the Chapter 3:

■      **This should be the majority of writing for your RRR.

■      How might I use what I learned?

■      What surprised me or made me wonder?

■      What do I still need to learn about this genre, format, or topic?

■      Where will I go from here? What other resource might help me?

■      Any other feeling or response you may want to add.

__________________________________________________________________________

RRR #1 - Chapters 1 and 2 (due Sept. 1 by noon)

Summary of Chapter 1 and 2:

■      What was this chapter(s) about?

■      What did I learn from this chapter?

■      In your own words, provide a brief summary of the salient points from the chapter - at least 5 sentences.

Reflection on the Chapter 1 and 2:

■      **This should be the majority of writing for your RRR.

■      How might I use what I learned?

■      What surprised me or made me wonder?

■      What do I still need to learn about this genre, format, or topic?

■      Where will I go from here? What other resource might help me?

■      Any other feeling or response you may want to add.

Book #1 -Children's Literature Collection project model

Rylant, C. (1987). Birthday presents. S. Stevenson (Illus.) New York: Orchard Books.
(Picturebook)






Summary:

We follow the birthdays of a young child from birth to right before her sixth birthday. The text is predictable - each birthday shares something special the parents did for the child's birthday. As is typical for many birthdays, each year has some kind of an issue - from the child being dreadfully ill to party guests fighting over a play phone that was a gift. At the end of each birthday retelling, the parents end by telling the child they love her. Happy birthday.

The ending of the this book actually comes before the child's sixth birthday, and the child turns the tables on her parents. For each of their birthdays, she does something special for them and tells them she loves them.


Personal response:

Even though this book is over 30 years old, I gravitate toward the simplicity of this story, and the lovely words the parents share with their child each year: "We love you." I know from classroom experience that this book makes a wonderful mentor text in the writing workshop. It has been one of my go-to books year after year when introducing writers' notebooks in writing workshop as a place to gather ideas for future writing. Most children can relate to a memory of a special birthday.

However, as much as I love this book, I now look at it with a more critical eye in this era of needing to present diverse books and diverse characters/settings to children. Not everyone has two parents that have stayed together over a six year period. The characters in this book are all white, which in 1987 was typical to see in children's picture books, but in 2017, family units now look a variety of different ways.

That being said, I would still continue to use this book in the classroom, but I would make sure to share books that represent other types of families, cultures, characters, settings, etc.

Writing Habits

A morning walk had this scene

 as a reward

I had the privilege of attending a Choice Literacy writing retreat this past week in Hocking Hills.  The theme of the retreat was "habits."  One of the books that guided our thinking together was The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.   I loved that we dug deeper into this topic because I know that good habits are the foundation of success whether I'm thinking about writing, exercising, drinking water, filing papers, doing errands... the list goes on and on.

One of my writing spots (pic courtesy of Karen Szymusiak)

One of the habits I will begin in my writer's notebook and also here in my blog thinking place is to begin to develop my "writing territories."  I heard this term mentioned by Carl Anderson and Penny Kittle at the All Write conference this summer, and it really stuck with me.  Then recently, while perusing Ruth Ayres' blog, I noticed that she had defined some of her writing territories and why they are important to her.  I will need to muse on this a bit, but I know right away that two of my writing territories would be my family and my teaching.  I think if I can define these writing territories and identify a few more, I won't always be fumbling around looking for the next topic.

Another habit that I've already begun to work on is when a topic comes to me, writing it down as close to that moment as possible, and capturing as many details as I can before they elude me, and then find myself asking, "What did I want to say here?"  After I got home from the retreat, I realized I had a Nerdy Book Club post due in one week.  I had decided on the topic, but I hadn't really fleshed it out a lot.  But then Saturday night, right before bed, I was inundated with all of these ideas that might work in the post, so I quickly filled up two notebook pages with that thinking.  When I sat down to actually write the post on Sunday, things flowed fairly smoothly because I had captured that thinking in the moment of inspiration.

We also talked about the importance of brain breaks while writing.  Writers need to go with the ideas and the flow while they can, but when we reach a point that requires a break, we need to take a true break.  NOT one that requires more screen time; it was pointed out that's not a true brain break.  We need to literally walk away from the computer and do something else.  That could be having lunch or a snack, taking a walk, engaging in any form of exercise, or visiting with a friend, to name a few.

So, during the retreat and the past few days since I've been home, I've tried to gauge when I need those brain breaks and plan accordingly.  Yesterday, I had two projects that needed my attention - my Nerdy Book Club post and editing a presentation.  I got up at 6:30 AM to begin, and had the stamina to work until  8:30.  After two hours was a perfect time to stop, have breakfast, and read a book that was getting really good.  I was away from my writing tasks for about a half hour, and when I came back, I was rejuvenated, and the words started flowing again.  I worked for another two hours, and then I stopped for the day, and gave myself the reward of a walk in our nearby Metro Park.  For those of you at the Central Ohio retreat, I also thank Stella for this concept of work and reward!

One of my 3 affirmations to guide me as a writer.

One final habit I want to instill is the habit of meeting regularly with fellow writers for collaboration and feedback.  We set goals at the end of the retreat, and mine was to begin a writing response group that lives with us back at home; not just in the lovely setting of Hocking Hills.  I am so grateful to all who were there for supporting me in this.  We had 100% of the group sign up to continue writing/responding together.  We actually have set dates for the next calendar year, and we have our first location for meeting (thanks Julie!).  I am really looking forward to establishing this habit of writing response group.

As I write this post, there is another group of Choice Literacy writers gathered in Indiana, sifting through the powerful mini-lessons our incredibly smart leader, Brenda Power, provides for us, and then applying those ideas to their own writing.  I bet they are also beginning to think about habits of a writer as well.  I'm really looking forward to hearing about the take-aways from their writing retreat, sifting through their thinking  for both commonalities as well as differences.

#postwriting - Slice of Life

I just read Katherine's post about her #prewriting avoidance skills and boy can I relate to what she was saying.  I have 2 presentations this summer -- one in Chicago and the other in Alabama.  The Chicago one is next week, and I just couldn't get motivated to sit down (BIC as Ruth would say), and begin that presentation.  I had to chuckle when I read Katherine's slice today.  I had many #prewriting moments before I finally put my Butt In Chair (BIC).

But once I began laying out my ideas, I got great flow.  Better yet, I had the perfect environment for creativity -- quiet house, no one home.

Over the last 4 mornings, I have sat down by 8:30 AM each day and have worked nonstop until after noon.  The topic, word study, is something I've been wrestling with, and these long blocks of time gave me a lot of time to reflect, revise, and refine my thinking about it.  The presentation was finished yesterday, and I was a proud mama.

Today, the revising began -- I went in and cut out parts, added others, and moved entire sections.  I am happy with the final product.  And now is when the crazy lady comes out to play -- I literally have to walk myself through the entire presentation multiple times which means I'm the lady alone in her house, talking to an imaginary audience.  Thank heavens the humidity is so high all the windows are closed tight and nobody can hear me!!

As I shared in a comment on Katherine's post, now I'm on to #postwriting.  I'm headed to the frig to see what celebratory food might be lurking in there!! After that snack of goodies, I'm going to do last minute errands since it's my husband's birthday today, and I still have a few things to do.  And then I'm headed to #NeRdcampBC tomorrow to gather with some of my favorite #nerdybookclub friends and meet even more new ones - yippee!!

Other slices today can be found at Two Writing Teachers, Ruth and Stacey's blog, the blog that inspires us all to be here.  Thanks so much to both of these wonderful women for providing us yet one more format in which to write!  I hope they enjoy their July vacation!!

Work Avoidance

I slotted this morning as a "work" morning -- everyone is out of the house, and I knew the weather wouldn't be great, so I have the perfect setting for my thinking and planning for a PD presentation.

What have I done instead --

• engaged in a long string of text messages with a group of friends doing some planning, but also doing some silly stuff
• caught up on some of my Slice of Life commenting
• read and commented on some of the #cyberPD thinking about Who Owns the Learning by Alan November
• called a friend
• read 3 chapters in a new adult suspense book
• and since I first wrote this a half hour ago, I am now adding missed blogs to my Feedly feed

While I'm as happy as a clam, I do realize I've blown a wonderful opportunity to get some important (and much needed) work done.

Oh what the heck?!!  It's July 4th, Independence Day - I declare my independence to utilize my alone time to spend in the activities I choose.  Isn't that what the signers of the Declaration of Independence meant? :)

Working on PD presentations

I love the reflecting that goes into the planning for either a PD presentation or a professional article.  Off and on, for the past 3 days, I have begun the gathering process -- quotes, pictures, ideas, etc. for a presentation on word study I'm doing in a few weeks.  This morning, I took all the information and artifacts I've collected and started my idea board.  I totally borrowed the concept of the idea board -- I read Presentation Zen two summers ago, and I love the fact that even though the author is very techie and visual with his presentations, he always starts with a poster board and post-it notes when laying out the ideas and the flow.

So, it may not look like much, but after several days of gathering and several hours this morning of organizing, I have a first draft of my presentation.

As I was going through this process, I realized it is one I want to share with my students.  With the emphasis on research in the common core standards, this would be a great tool to share so that they might put it in their writing toolbox if it works for them.

Come to think of it, I see some professional writing coming out of this...

Not shiny and new

I feel like I need to reflect and settle into some habits before tackling a longer, more focused piece or composition so more thoughts and tidbits today.

Yesterday, as I was browsing through a small segment of the Teachers Write posts, I found one that really spoke to me.  Kristin reflected on what notebooks she should use for her writing.  The office store advertisements were really calling her name, but she decided to just continue to use the notebooks she already had.  In Kristin's words when talking about one of her notebooks, "It is not shiny.  It is not new.  But neither am I.  And that's OK."  And I loved how she shared that each of her notebooks contained parts of her.

This post guided me to think about all the notebooks that are stacked in my living room.  I just spent a luxurious three hours reading through two of those notebooks, looking for language or stories or ideas that would help me generate more writing. 

Right after I read through the 2 notebooks, I happened upon Cindy's blog post written in the middle of last night when she couldn't sleep.  One of her lines resonated so clearly with me, so I need to hold on to it:
"What I do know is that writing breeds the need for more writing and imagination, once sparked, continues to fuel itself."
I would call that serendipity -- two blog posts I read within the last 12 hour period that are compelling me to look back so I can move forward.

One of the wonderful items I discovered was 28 pages of dawn-to-dusk journal entries about my trip to visit our oldest daughter when she studied abroad in Spain.  Within that entry, I unearthed topics that appeared time and time again in my telling of events:

• how much Kate had grown into being an independent young woman, 
• my love of scarves began on this trip when all the Spanish women were wearing them, 
• how different life is in Europe - they know so much more about the world and traveling than the average American, 
• a guardian angel that took Kate and me under her wing as we traveled from Spain to Italy,
• a lead to play with at some point: "It can be quite humbling to be an American traveling in a foreign country",
• a phrase I wrote that I'd like to use/modify: "Seeing Tuscany is more than visual; it's a sensory ambience thing -- clothes flapping in the breeze on the line, birds chirping, the smell of food cooking wafting through the air along with a fresh country smell."  I really want to play with this phrase,
• stairs were prominent in almost every entry, both in Spain and Italy

Then I noticed some great language (other people):

• "If I've read a lot of good things about a book, I expect it to sparkle, glow, dance around the floor, and make me dinner." -- Liz Burns
• "Anyone can now learn anything from anyone at any time." -- Bud Hunt from #NCTE09 (Philadelphia)
• "You always need to focus on the 'why' first." - Ann Marie Corgill (multiple times from her writing and a Dublin Literacy presentation / love this idea!)

I loved a format I used several times in one of my writer's notebooks -- I only wrote/took notes on the right page of the notebook.  On the left, I left it blank, and though I don't remember doing this, I actually wrote on the left side, expanding and reflecting on the original thinking.  I think that format will be a great way to continue when I use my writer's notebooks.
 My plan for this summer was to write, but specifically I was thinking about blog posts and professional writing.  After perusing these 2 writer's notebooks (and I still have many more to go), maybe I might spend a few days looking at entries and listing some more of the ideas and then expanding on them.  Whatever I do, I just need to continue being a writer, looking and noticing and reflecting about all that is around me.