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| Author: Lori Johnson Petal Upper Elementary |
One thing that has remained the same to start the day is our Writing into the Day that Robin creates. Today was a different day; it was filled with music and no need for prompts. We read the lyrics as we listened to Kate Campbell sing “Look Away.” As the song came to an end, we all added comments to the lyrics that spoke to us. Sadness was found in lines with the realization that not all children that grew up in the south spent their days gazing at the magnolia blossoms and their nights catching lightning bugs. The poem brought out the shared emotions we have all been experiencing...a realization that this is not a time to look away.
Voice Muted. Video Muted. 5 Minute Break.
When the videos were turned back on, I led the the discussion from Bad Ideas About Writing that was edited by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe. Reading and Writing are not Connected by Ellen C. Carillo and Reading is Not Essential to Writing Instruction by Julie Myatt Barger were the chapters read outside of our meeting to maximize our time together on Zoom. The protocol used for our time of discussion was a modified Triangle Square Circle that is normally used as an exit slip in classrooms. We started by independently selecting and pasting “3 points” from the chapters by a triangle image. We then wrote about how these points “squared” with our beliefs next to a square image. Next, we went in groups of two into breakout Zoom rooms where each person discussed each point with their thinking partner and how it squared with their beliefs. We all came back to the whole group where one person in each group shared
the takeaways from the conversations had in the breakout groups, and then we wrote out of the session with what was still “circling” around in our minds by a circle image. We talked about the disconnect that we are still seeing between reading and writing. There are still too many schools teaching reading and writing in separate classes; the explicit instruction for reading and writing has to occur, but we must also explicitly teach the connections between the two. At the conclusion of the protocol, we went into our Canvas accounts to reflect on the protocol like we had each day before to better understand how to build community while online.
Voice Muted. Video Muted. 5 Minute Break.
When the videos were turned back on again, Dylan Williams led us into a discussion from Bad Ideas About Writing that was edited by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe. The Five-Paragraph Essay is Rhetorically Sound by Quentin Vieregge and The Five-Paragraph Essay Transmits Knowledge by Susan Naomi Bernstein and Elizabeth Lowry were chapters that were also read outside of our Zoom meeting time. With ease, Dylan led us through the chapters using a modified Block Party protocol. We started in a Google Document where we wrote about our initial thoughts on digital cards that were created with preselected quotes from the passages. We were then divided into groups of four in breakout Zoom rooms to read our quote, share our thoughts, and then have a time of discussion with each Block Party card. During this time, we realized the ties that this discussion had with yesterday’s when talking about formulas and templates that can enhance or hinder writing depending on how they are used. When we returned back to the whole group, an open discussion was held with takeaways from the small group breakouts. With this protocol, we still had the opportunity to listen to different perspectives. When the time came to an end, we again went into our Canvas accounts to reflect on the protocol.
Robin ended the day in a time of oral reflection. Can you establish a community in online spaces? We realized that even if we did not know each other at the beginning, that at this point some sort of community had been formed. We have found that our time as a whole group has kept us calibrated and that our time in the small breakout groups has allowed a different type of connectedness to happen since it is a place where natural dialogue from being unmuted can occur.
The fifty-three pound puppy is barking in the background and at times escaping to make Zoom appearances, my children do not always remember that a meeting is in session as they run into the room tagging me as their base in a game of hide and seek, and there have been unexpected knocks on the door from friends and family wanting to sit on the front porch to talk about life. The third space that Robin has always talked about has been hard to find at home, but even with all of the distractions, I still have found community amongst my fellow TCs.
See y’all tomorrow! Leave Meeting.
Lori Johnson currently teaches sixth grade ELA and Social Studies at Petal Upper Elementary and serves as a teacher consultant for the South Mississippi Writing Project.
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