kidwatching

Co-Planning: Reading & Writing Mini-Unit Focused on Expert Studies [PART 4]

Written by Julie Wright & Barry Hoonan

HOW WE GOT INTO PROFESSIONAL CAHOOTS WITH ONE ANOTHER

We’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with one another for the past seven years.  We met at a school in Harlem, Julie as an Instructional Coach and Barry as a Model Classroom Teacher and Instructional Coach. Our work continued well past that experience.  With Barry out west and Julie on the east coast, we’ve spent the majority of our years working across 3000 miles.  Highlights include Sunday morning co-planning sessions and co-authoring What Are You Grouping For?, Grades 3-8: How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers -- Not the Book.  We’ve always enjoyed being THINKING PARTNERS and we believe educators need someone to think beside now, more than ever.

A DISCLAIMER OF SORTS

As we navigate and co-plan learning during the weeks ahead, here are a few shared agreements:

  1. We are not going to edit these videos which means it might be clunky at times.  You might get a barking dog, tech glitches, or family interruptions.  We know you’ll be able to relate and hope you’ll be understanding.

  2. The ideas we share are NOT “the way” or “the right way” -- they are just one way to approach things.  And, we are figuring it out as we go along too. We hope you’ll take the big ideas we are discussing and — adopt, adapt or improve upon them — making them fit your settings, interests and needs. 

  3. We suggest focusing on process -- our work will continue to unfold between video segments.  That’s why if you pop back into our shared document links, you’ll notice changes because we’ll be adding ideas.  That’s because responsive plans evolve across the days and weeks.

HERE’S WHAT WE ARE UP TO

  • Kids have been learning from home for several weeks now.  Barry and Julie have a co-planning routine and they “meet” about 1-2 times each week.  Sometimes we switch on the video, other times we don’t.

  • Barry’s students have settled into a learning from home routine, sort of.  Each week brings about new celebrations and new challenges.  

  • Kiddos are knee-deep in an Expert Studies mini-unit. They are taking a 3-day pause from the unit to experience “camp”. During this time, they would typically spend 3 days out in the woods to experience outdoor exploration and learning as a community. Due to the pandemic, camp will take a different form this year.

THINGS WE ARE THINKING ABOUT NOW

  • How can kiddos use their “camp” experience to fuel the end of the Expert Studies mini-unit?

  • What if kiddos do a 2 minute presentation to a small group focused on their expert study and use that as a dress rehearsal for the end demonstration? If we used this as a mid-process reflection, maybe they could figure out what they need next.

VIDEO

If you are interested in watching a coach and teacher co-plan — working as THINKING PARTNERS in response to the unique times we are currently experiencing — check out this video.

OTHER LINKS & RESOURCES

Our DRAFTY, dynamic, in-motion, evolving plans: Co-Planning: Julie & Barry

Planning Templates: Co-planning Templates

Small Group Plans: Small Group Reading & Writing Lesson Plans to Adopt, Adapt or Improve [During Remote/Distance Learning]

Interested in post-it note planning, check out one of these resources: Chapter 8 & 9 Resources from What Are You Grouping For?, Grades 3-8: How to Guide Small Groups Based on Readers -- Not the Book.

BARRY’S REFLECTIONS

  • We’ve got small groups meeting. Do we need to switch them up or would it be beneficial to keep them the same?

  • How, when, where can I use some co-created texts from last year [Barbie study] to inspire the work in this mini-study?

  • I need to collect artifacts from last year’s students and use them as models for anyone who needs them.

JULIE’S REFLECTIONS

  • How can we use the ideas in this Expert Study mini-unit to ignite summer reading, writing, and talking about things that you find interesting?

  • What will kiddos do this summer in lieu of some typical summer activities? Are there new ways to host “meet ups” or “check ins” for kiddos who want and/or need it?

WANT TO SUBMIT A QUESTION or CONNECT WITH US?

If something we’ve shared inspires new ideas or ignites some questions, reach out to us using THIS FORM and we’ll do our best to get back to you!

From Ed Consultant to Teacher Mom: Reflection #4

Three weeks ago I would have said that I know my kids deeply.

I think I was wrong.

Of course, like all parents, I know my kids. I know their patterns, their likes and dislikes, what makes them laugh and what scares them. I know what they like to read and their favorite spots to write and complete homework. I know the at-home and on-the-weekend and in-the summertime kids. .

I think I assumed I knew my kids as students. However, I’m realizing that I don’t know them, really know them, as students, like I am getting to know them now. How could I? They’ve spent the majority of their learning-selves at school. And, now, their learning-selves are at home. The difference at this point, is their learning-selves at home excludes one of the most important aspects of learning which is the social capital they receive from learning with and from peers.

Creating Learning-at-Home Rituals

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been working to co-create rituals and routines with my kids so that they have things they can count on each day. We created shared agreements about when we would:

  • Get up and get moving [9:30 a.m.]

  • Join together at the breakfast table & get organized for the day [9:45 a.m.]

  • Work through assignments posted online for each of their school classes [10:00-2:00 with lunch thrown in there somewhere]

  • Unstructured refuel yourself time filled with choice activities such as art, backyard play time, trail walks, puzzles, gaming, etc. [2:00-3:00]

  • “Mom School”, as my boys call it, where we spend time reading, writing and thinking together [3:00-4:30]

Kidwatching My Own Kids at Home

This pandemic has given me opportunities to study my own kids in new ways. I’m learning more about them each day as readers, writers, mathematicians, citizens, scientists, artists, siblings, chefs, gamers, backyard explorers, family members, comedians, and as dog-lovers. Through kidwatching, I’ve learned that one or more of my kiddos:

  • has interest, stamina, and finds pleasure in paint-by-numbers

  • uses cooking / dessert making at the 5:30 p.m. hour as celebration for completing all online assignments from school

  • actually talks more during the dinner hour since the pace of our lives has slowed down a bit

  • has learned to do a backflip on the trampoline and has taught the dog to jump on the trampoline too

  • finds joy in beating his mom at a friendly game of trampoline COVID-19 basketball [formerly called HORSE]

  • felt “cheated” out of book club time when we had a day where our schedule was a little clunky

  • thinks our digital COVID-19 writing buddies experience might be kind of fun

When we first started learning at home together, I thought it was short term. I went into the what should we do to get through the next week or two mindset. Now that we have a clearer view that we’ll be going from short to longer-term, I decided to get my boys’ perspectives about who they think they are as learners — at school and at home. I gave my boys this Who Are You as a Learner note catcher.

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To be honest, they weren’t sure what to do with it at first. I think it felt very school-like to them. I told them I wanted them to self-reflect about their interests, passions, curiosities, successes, habits, etc. so that I could think about them as learners in both environments. I’m not going to share their responses because they are for our work at home together, but one important point to mention is that we added ideas across several days. Like most kiddos, my boys started out reluctant about adding ideas. Maybe they felt vulnerable? Maybe they didn’t quite understand the purpose at first? Regardless, they needed more than one go at it before they started adding ideas that uncovered the deeper side of who they are as learners at school versus who they are as learners at home. Hint: Giving kiddos two post-it notes —one for ideas related to school and one for home — works great too!

Whether you are a parent at home who is educating your own kids OR an educator at home educating your students in their homes, I highly recommend giving kiddos an opportunity to reflect about who they are as learners — both at school and at home. Their responses just might shape your next moves as you provide the love and support they need as people and as learners during this time.

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