John Stewart Middle School Lead Teacher November 2014 [email protected] @jstewedu Charming Chaos: A Flipped Writing Workshop < THE LOVE > My students, 130 eighth graders in a small, urban community diverse in income, culture, language, and parental education levels, love to write. In the first quarter of the school year alone, each has generated--and shared--over 5,000 words of text, and that does not take into account the brave ones who craft novels in November. They write odes, zombie stories, menus for imaginary restaurants, ten-year plans for their ideal future, Shakespearian puppet shows, ribbon-bound letters to summer softball friends, abstracts for invention prototypes, raucous advertisements for businesses they hope to open, mini-dramas about Chewbacca, and soup can labels. All projects are fair game, as long as they are student-driven. My students are in love with writing. < THE HEARTBREAK > It’s hard. This is fully functioning writer’s workshop à la Atwell, à la Graves, and writing workshops take an inordinate amount of time and are difficult to manage within the confines of a single class period. The workshop model is extremely effective, but many teachers are unwilling to surrender the pedantic center of the classroom, citing Common Core and the constant pressure of content to cover. They say it won’t serve everyone: many students need more structure, more direct teaching, and more step-by-step instruction. My students still need support. < THE DELIGHTFUL MADNESS > There is a way. The solution we offer is flipping. Using the methods suggested by Bergman and Sams (2012) and implemented by Thomasson, Morris, (2013) and Musallam (2013), we move content discovery offsite. Students view and analyze video mini-lessons, engage in electronic discussions, and even assess their understanding of new ideas outside of class time. We reconvene to discuss reading, monitor progress and set goals for the work, and the rest of our time together, in the chaotic and constructive style of writing workshop, can be spent engaging in projects, conferring with peers, and simply becoming more majestic. My students get both creative freedom and structured support in my model: A Flipped Writing Workshop! The Flipped Writing Workshop: CLASS TIME: Monday through Thursday, in school, the focus is on writing, and students begin the class with a meeting, where we set the agenda, acknowledge and adjust deadlines for personal writing projects, discuss model literature, make appointments for peer and teacher conferences, and listen to mini- readings of student work. Students spend the rest of the class workshopping their writing, seated or sprawled throughout the room, in contemplative silence or with buzzing earrbuds or in lively, whispered conversations. The teacher checks in with all students everyday and confers more deeply with a few, guiding writing and adjusting understanding. On Fridays, the class’ focus switches to reading, with shared recommendations, friendly reading letters written to the teacher, and lots of flopped on floor reading time. Several times a semester, the class undertakes larger creative projects that allow for greater ranges of expression. OUT OF CLASS TIME: Monday through Friday, students read for 30 minutes per night. That is the extent of the homework, unless there is a mini-lesson to be learned. For mini-lessons, which target various skills, inquiries, and big ideas, students watch teacher-prepared 3-7 minute videos, and respond to questions embedded in the video. The students are expected to apply what they learn in the mini-lessons to their immediate work in reading and writing in the class. What the Research Suggests: For today’s students, the world is fast and connected and fickle, and as teachers, we are perfectly positioned to promote “life skills necessary for full participation in our media saturated, information rich society.” (Hobbs) The ASCD, in its treatment of Twenty-First Century Skills, cites “creativity, innovation, and flexibility” as particularly vital. The writing workshop model works because it is based on the idea that students learn to write best when they write frequently, for extended periods of time, on topics of their own choosing (Peha). The flipped classroom model works because “the cognitive strain that flipping imposes on students account for much of its success.” (Berrett) The creativity the students must learning in the flipped writing workshop leads to a lovely and invaluable chaos. Peter Elbow encourages teachers to accept the chaos and disorientation that takes place when students write and create. The result is that students will see themselves as writers, readers, critical thinkers, creators, and be stronger and more skilled by the day. How My Students Respond: A recent poll showed overwhelmingly positive responses to the flipped writing workshop model. Classroom Immediate Access to Website Video Lessons Teacher Writing in School 96.84 % positive 94.61 94.61 91.53 My students are delightfully creative, writing madly, and snarling like pirates who have taken over the ship, all because of the flipped writing workshop model. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. John Stewart • Middle School Lead Teacher • [email protected] • @jstewedu John Stewart Middle School Lead Teacher November 2014 [email protected] @jstewedu Opportunities that Promote Creative Thinking 1. Odd Reflection Questions--Students should have continuous opportunity to reflect, and to reflect in odd ways, on the work they do. Are you up or down? Are you an apple or a Cheeto? Are you a raven or a red panda? Are you a dreamer or an inventor? What was the last cool thing you made? What is the most awesome thing you ever did? What was the last best idea you had? 2. Opt Outs--For each assignment, every student should have the prerogative to opt out. He or she should be able to choose an alternate book or written piece to work on. 3. Strange Essay Prompts--Prompted writing should offer opportunities for intellectual flexibility, like “Describe soap” or “Are you better than a rock?” or “Why would the NSA be following you?” 4. Three fingers writing/best sentence--Instead of publishing entire writing projects, students could be asked to turn in the best sentence or the best three fingers of text. 5. Flash fiction/hint fiction--Students could write 25-word--or even 6-word stories, and say them aloud. 6. Peanut butter statements--Students could write thesis statements or thought questions on the sidewalk or park pavement, using water or chalk or peanut butter. 7.Poetry stickers--Students could print poetry onto address label stickers and wear their words all day. 8. Photo essays--Students could publish essays composed entirely of pictures. 9. Maps--Students could create narrative pieces using maps. 10. Gingerbread--Students could represent their thoughts in art, using mobiles or gingerbread shapes. 11. Essays out loud--Students, alone or in groups, could publish essay without putting them to paper. 12. Videography--Students could use video to capture ideas, persuasive essay, and reflections. 13. Dress-Ups--Students could dress up to represent research or interview findings, bringing ideas to life. 14. Poetry in Public--Students could deliver original poems to other classes and to the public, and publish the collected works as an e-book. 15. Puppet Shows--Students could demonstrate understanding of a subject through puppetry. 16. Cloud and Web 2.0 Media--Students should be given access to it all! They should have access to Schooltube, Xtranormal, Makebeliefscomix, Voicethread, Prezi, Vine, Tumblr, Twitter, Delicious, PollEverywhere, Blogspot, WordPress, About.Me, Edmodo, StoryBird, Dipity, “Into the book”, “What Should I Read Next”, GoAnimate, UTellStory, ToonDo, Smashwords, and 1,000s of others. When we live creatively, boredom is banished and every moment holds the promise of a fresh discovery. -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi John Stewart Middle School Lead Teacher November 2014 [email protected] @jstewedu Bibliography Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: New Understandings about Writing, Reading, and Learning. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1998. Print. Bergmann, Jonathan, and Aaron Sams. Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2012. Print. Berrett, Dan. "How 'Flipping' the Classroom Can Improve the Traditional Lecture."The Chronicle oF Higher Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://chronicle.com/article/How-Flipping-the- Classroom/130857/>. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1997). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Perennial. Elbow, Peter (1973). Writing Without Teachers. New York: Oxford University Press. Feinberg, Barbara. "The Lucy Calkins Project." Education Next. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://educationnext.org/the-lucy-calkins-project/>. Graves, Donald H. A Fresh Look at Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994. Print. Hobbs, R. (2011). Digital and media literacy. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin. Murray, Donald (1982). “Making Meaning Clear: The Logic of Revision”, in Learning by Teaching. Montclair: Boynton. Musallam, Ramsey, Ed.D. "Cycles of Learning" Cycles of Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cyclesoflearning.com/>. Peha, Steve. "Welcome to Teaching That Makes Sense!" Welcome to Writer's Workshop. Teaching That Makes Sense, 2003. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://ttms.org/>. Sternberg, Robert. (2007) “Creativity as a Habit”, in Creativity: a Handbook For Teachers. World Scientific Publication, Singapore Thomasson, Andrew, and Cheryl Morris. "Thomasson and Morris Flip the English Classroom." Thomasson and Morris Flip the English Classroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://www.morrisflipsenglish.com/thomasson--morris-instruction.html>. John Stewart • Middle School Lead Teacher • [email protected] • @jstewedu English Eight Project The Gingerbread Change: “Twenty Years of You” For this project you will remember—and imagine—two versions of yourself. FIRST ! What were you like ten years ago? Remember if you can, or ask someone. Imagine if you must to fill in the extra details.