Rambling Autobiography--A Writing Strategy

We all start the year with community building activities, but getting some diagnostic information on our students is always key.  This year, I started with the Rambling Autobiography writing strategy that I stole from a fellow teacher.

1--Start with a read aloud.  Most good days do, and you'll find that even big bad high schoolers love being read to, even though they don't always want to admit it.  I started my lesson with Incredible Me! by Kathi Applet.  It tied in perfectly to what I was trying to lead my student to think about.

2--Use a mentor text.  In this case, the strategy came with a writing sample from Linda Rief.  I put the sample on the smart board, read it out loud, and asked them what they noticed.  We talked about why it is labeled as a rambling autobiography and what they notice about the writer's structure.

3--Give them time to write and write with them.  It is so important for students to see their teachers as writers.  I gave students 4 minutes on the desktop timer (which I downloaded this morning after a simple Google search), and then I sat down with my writer's notebook.  We all wrote, using Rief's piece as a model.

4--Give them time to share.  This was structured two different ways in my two very different classes.  Honors students will typically share out loud, while other students may be self-conscious about what they wrote.  For those students, they simply traded papers after their first draft.  I, of course, willingly shared my own writing.  It is always good to let yourself be judged.

5--Revisit and rewrite.  Students went back through their first drafts to look for recurring themes or sentences that they felt were strong or interesting.  After underlining one or more sentences, students chose one of those to be their starting point for their next burst of writing, which lasted for six minutes.

6--Give feedback.  After writing two times, students traded papers with a neighbor.  Neighbors read through the second burst and gave one plus and one wish for the piece.  Students traded again, repeated the process, and then returned the paper back to the original owner.

As a class, we will take these short autobiographies and turn them into final drafts.  We will talk about final draft expectations and develop a rubric together.  Students will have time to write and I will have a solid writing sample to start the year with!

A New Year, A New Me!

Since the new school year is here, I'm starting with some simple resolutions to be a better person, both professionally and personally.  It is the start of my 13th year and I am determined to make this one the best yet! 

Here is my hodge podge of new school year resolutions:
1) Blog more.  This has the potential to be a great resource, if I can carve out time to use it.  And since it is professional writing, then what better time to blog than during my coaching time? 

2) More classroom observations.  One of the most powerful tools an instructional coach has is constructive feedback.  But that involves getting in to classrooms as often as possible.  Getting in classrooms will help me build a rapport with both teachers and students, that which is so very important in giving appropriate feedback.

3) Less soda, more water.  This one is personal, but feeling good is going to help me professionally.  Notice I didn't say no soda, just less.  By improving my diet, I'll be able to push hard for the entire day, instead of falling short of where I need to be.

4)  Be more organized.  I have gotten off to a great start by being ready for my students before they walked through the door today.  It took three hours on a Saturday, but I will reap the rewards all year long by getting the year off to a good start.

So I'm well on track to meet my goals for the new school year.  I love starting fresh and starting over--we all need new chances.