I am currently armpit deep and miles wide in professional resources, on my journey to have a well rounded understanding of the new Common Core Standards. As an elementary literacy coordinator, it is part of my responsibility to know these standards well. Between the articles, books, conversations and video clips, I do believe that I am on my way.
During last and this school year, one of our district initiatives has been to review our writing curriculum and align it to the standards. We chose to adopt Lucy’s new grade level Units of Study to help us with this work. As a result, I have been reading unit after unit in all grade levels.
My main reason for doing this has been to support the classroom implementation of the lessons and philosophy. However, as I am nearing the end of The Art of Information Writing (grade 3, unit 2), I am realizing that this work is making a difference in my own ability to write clearly and write well. I suppose this makes complete sense {in retrospect}…I just never anticipated it!
My biggest ‘ah-ha’ moment in this process may be the power of the vignette. According to Wikipedia, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, idea, setting, or object. Lucy and her colleagues are masters of the vignette. As I’ve read their work, the writing standards have come to life through the short and energetic stories they spin. Their goal is to help students acknowledge the link that can be made to between everyday life and a writing life…and I think it’s working!
If you’ve read any of my older posts, you know that I too, strive to include vignettes in my writing. So, this idea is not new to me. What is new…coming to understand that my use of vignettes is my way of showing that literacy can be {and should be} an authentic experience for our students. This is true because of all the connections and comparisons one can make between real life and school related literacy work. If I had to sum up my literacy philosophy in one word, it would be AUTHENTIC. As I continue to mine my life looking for ways of how to make an authentic transfer into the classroom, I will continue to use the vignette as my strategy for doing so. {I have a funny story about comparing a professional project with birthing an elephant…be on the lookout for that one!}
In the coaching section, on page 99 of the grade 3 information Unit of Study, Lucy and Colleen write, “I’ll never forget the way that becoming a teacher transformed everything in my life, turning it all into grist for my teaching mill. Suddenly, every disaster was a metaphor to bring into my class! You’ll want to fill your minilessons with teeny tiny stories like these – and more importantly, to live your life aware that all the little moments are actually lessons to be shared.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself! As I continue to find ways to make my personal life connect to my professional life…I encourage you to do the same. Where do you find the grist for your teaching mill?
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