Dear WinkWorld Readers, 

In the previous WinkWorld, I shared Nancy Bailey’s thoughts on what happens when librarians are replaced by computers. In what follows, I will share a recent blog from Steven M. Singer, where he demonstrates that the kids are really a captive market for the testing industry. I hope you will take time to read his entire post. 

Tomorrow, the 2 weeks of testing SmarterBalance  begins in SD.  I know some of these little SD captives, who have had a fabulous school year, and now after the practice tests, they feel like failures already.  For many, the teachers’ and students’ identity becomes defined by this one test.  It is heartbreaking.  I challenge any of you to take a practice test or two and share your scores with us.  

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/assessments/practice-and-training-tests/

Yes, you can sign in as a guest; you simply have to follow the prompts.  Try to image taking this test, as an 8-year-old and working on an unfamiliar computer….

Read below what Steven M. Singer has to say about this captive market.

https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/standardized-testing-creates-captive-markets/

More of Steven’s thoughts can be found at Gadflyonthewallblog.

My previous posts are always available WinkWorld News.

Older posts eventually roll over to the WinkWorld Archive found at the bottom of my main page.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

I rarely repost another’s blog, as there is already access for all.  However, recently, there have been two blogs (one from Nancy Bailey and another from Steven Singer), which I really want to highlight for you.

First, Nancy Bailey asks/answers the question: How are students hurt by replacing school librarians and libraries with computers?  

I hope you appreciate this blog post as much as I do.  You will notice that Steve Krashen jumped right in and said, “And there’s more!!! For many students, libraries are the only source of books for recreational reading, shown again and again to be the major source of literacy development.”  Thanks for always keeping us on our toes, Steve.

Please explore Nancy’s fabulous sharing  at  Nancy Bailey’s Education Website:  Revive, Rally, and Recover Public Schools.

Steven M. Singer is on deck next.

Thank you, Nancy and Steven and Steve.

My previous posts are always available WinkWorld News.

Older posts eventually roll over to the WinkWorld Archive  found at the bottom of my main page.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

This post is for all the teachers who are slogging through testing season.  Teachers, I know you know all that I am posting below, but sometimes it just helps to be reminded of what really works when it comes to reading and learning.  As you go through the pain of testing, maybe you and the students can some moments for healing and reading.

This list was compiled while I was listening to a group of teachers talk about, What Works With Reading.

Read

Be seen reading. Read to kids. Read with kids.

Make Available for Students the Best Selection of Books Possible

Use the library; use your friends and colleagues to have engaging, compelling, and comprehensible books. Create time for students to explore and choose books.

Exit Paper

Keep blank paper on students’ desk at all times. When class is dismissed, students hand you the paper, as they exit the room. Respond and return papers to students the next day.

Enjoy

Let students see your enjoyment of reading. Create time for students to enjoy reading.

Read Alouds

Read, read, read lots of stories to kids of all ages. Make time for students to talk about the stories.

Color. Color. Color.

Read books with beautiful illustrations.

Read-in

Bring in flashlights, pillows, treats and host a read-in.

Time and Variety

Allow time for reading: partner reading, coral reading, silent reading, oral reading.

Hug a Book

Hug a book in front of the students. Give the students a little background, and then ask, “Would you like to hear more tomorrow?”

Wordless Picture Books, Comics, and Graphic Novels

Create an extensive collection.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Recently, while working on a project with CO colleagues, I came across this long-forgotten article buried deep in my computer, which was published 10 years ago.  For me, it seems relevant today also.

However, one caveat: Do NOT read this unless you read to the end of the article.  Another word of caution: The word, hate, is used in this article.  Yes, I could soften it, but honestly, these are the exact words, which the teachers (graduate students) used.  When you get to the “Mimi” story, those drawings are her family’s historical artifacts.  I was particularly honored that she shared these primary sources with us.  It was extremely painful for her to relive that part of her life.  

I remember this experience, as one of the most powerful classroom experiences I ever had.  Thank you again to those who contributed.

Those People WinkWorld 3.29.2017

Dear WinkWorld Readers, 

A colleague in Colorado invited me to work with her during an online inservice in late March. The participants are Pre-K professionals: leaders and service-providers. The Pre-K babes in their classes tend to come from homes, where other languages are used. Spanish is the target language for many, but increasingly immigrant and refugee children are in their classes.  She and I are generating some ideas, so I decided to share in WinkWorld in case anyone else needs this content or wants to share their ideas with us.

“Storytelling is not something we do. Storytelling who we are.”

~Carmine Gallo, 2016, p. xvii

Our goal: Active engagement with families and their children’s emergent literacy.

Our focus: Oral language is a path to literacy, and stories provide oral language. What matters most for developing literacy is lots and lots of good oral language found in storytelling and reading books to kids.

Word clouds, (Wordle, Cloud Sift, Tagxedo)

The following word clouds were created by Susan Henley Spreitzer. Thank you.

What are stories?

Why Stories?

Focus questions:

How do we get families through the door? Once they are through the door, what do we do?

Resource to be used for this discussion: Models of Parental Involvement, or “Do it to ’em, or do it with ’em.”

James Cummins’s Model of Literacy Engagement

For more resources on this topic for use in CO, visit Joan’s Schedule, March 28, 2017.

http://www.joanwink.com/joans-schedule/

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

IJFLT (International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching), a fav journal, just published two recent (November 2016) videos from Steve Krashen.  

Did I mention that IJFLT is, not only hot, but also free!  Yes, it is for foreign language folks, but it has lots of short and compelling articles for mainstream classroom teachers and all varieties of  language educators.  Check it out!

IJFLT

www.ijflt.org

Enjoy.

ACTFL, 2016.  Remember, flow?  Still matters.

 More ACTFL, 2016, Steve musing on grammar, 10 minutes

Thanks, Karen Rowan and colleagues at IJFLT.

Dear WinkWorld Readers, 

Valentine’s Day provides an opportunity for me to share one of my favorite radio shows, “On Being” with Krista Tippett, which is available every Sunday a.m. on NPR.  She always interviews a guest, who is often new to me, but I always benefit from new ideas and new people.   Last week, Krista did an interview with Alain de Botton, who spoke about love. Very interesting.

I usually listen to the “On Being” podcast, but you can also listen on the “On Being”  website or on iTunes.

Happy Valentines’ Day to All.

Alain de Botton — The True Hard Work of Love and Relationships

Thank you, Katie Knox, for your drawing.

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

How are our schools doing when we compare them with schools from other countries? Fine. Just fine. It is a myth to think that our schools aren’t doing well.  This myth has been propagated by those who would like you to believe our schools are bad, so that they can take over the schools.  Our new educational lead person in DC wants you to believe this.  Just ask the people of MI, where she was, what happened to their schools when corporate education took control of local public schools.  Or just Google the data and read.

Mostly, in the US, we all love our local public school, but we are not so sure about yours.

In the US, we believe in welcoming all kids to our local school.  Many countries do not.  Our schools are very heterogeneous. The kids in our schools often come from high poverty communities, and it is hard to learn when you are hungry, or there just are no books at home. We have lots of kids who bring other languages and are still acquiring English.  We have kids with learning disabilities, physical handicaps, emotional damage, etc.  We are not a homogeneous group, but we all treasure democracy and believe in education for all.  

Below, I am posting some of the information which verifies that US schools are doing just fine.  And, yes, we can do better. You really do not have to read all that I have here, but I so hope that you will stop thinking that US schools are bad.  Just not so.  Stand up and be proud of our kids and schools. Get to your local school and offer to help. Together we can all make our schools even better.

I conclude with a story about blueberries.

“Please, please, please, don’t throw me in the briar patch.”

Thank you, David Berliner and Schools Matter.

Thank you, Steve Krashen and what we can do to protect kids from poverty.

Thank you, The Nation and Diane Ravitch. The data are nuanced, and we must address the needs of kids of poverty.

Thanks, again, Diane Ravitch: Standardized test rank kids by family income.

Thank you, Steven M. Singer.

https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/u-s-public-schools-are-not-failing-theyre-among-the-best-in-the-world/

And, a special thank you to Jaime Robert Volmer for telling us a story about blueberries, er I mean a story about what makes US schools unique.  Yes, you do have to read this one. 

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

Just a fast post to share a great example of how to jazz up Cornell Notes, have fun, and learn more deeply.  This video takes about 10 minutes: 5 minutes of ideas for ‘how-to,’ and 5 more minutes of an example from the creator of Verbal to Visual.  First, he has chosen a topic and a book, which is compelling for him.  Next, he demonstrates how to make it comprehensible.

A big shout out to Verbal to Visual, which I found on YouTube.  Teachers, students, librarians, readers, and writers:  Have fun!

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

I hate it that the Oxford Dictionary now even has a definition for ‘post-truth,’ which they have chosen as the 2016-word-of-the-year. They say that post-truth is “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”  Or, we could just say not true. It is not only misinformation, it is disinformation, as it is purposely designed to mislead. The same can be said for “fake news,” and I am horrified at the people, who read it and believe it.  Fake news is everywhere, but particularly on social media; I see it daily.  

This all makes me think about teachers and students: Post-truth and fake news will affect literacy development, literacy instruction, and students’ meaning making. Try to imagine the cynicism of young people, as they grapple with this.  I shudder. 

It takes a critical reader to know fake news, when you see it. 

As Paulo Freire taught us, literacy is reading the word, but critical literacy is reading the word and the world.  Teachers today, more than ever, have to focus on critical literacy.  So far, it appears that students have great difficulty discerning news and fake news, click here, but then think of the adults who do not recognize fake news.

This makes me think of elephants.  If you tell people NOT to think of an elephant, they are helpless to do anything else, as cognitive scientist George Lakoff teaches us in his book, “Don’t Think of an Elephant.”   The point is that some think that facts matter and that facts can persuade, but others know that it is a story laden with emotion which can change minds.

“The human brain favors stories or the narrative form as a primary means of organizing and relating human experience. Stories contain information even when the storyteller forgets or invents new details”  Leslie Marmon Silko, The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir

If you want to read more about this, you might go to:

Click here to read what Diane Ravitch tells what she is learning from George Lakoff.  Both of these scholars are easy to follow – just Google them.

“Stories are memory aids, instruction manuals and moral compasses.” – Aleks Krotoski, The Guardian