Summer Institute was started for me as a recommendation from a friend. I was very hesitant to do it because it required a lot of time. I didn’t think of myself as a writer. I knew I needed to do it with my students, but I didn’t know how to do it myself. Therefore, I thought I’d give it a shot. I figured it couldn’t hurt.
So I was accepted into the program and began my journey. I was terrified. What if I had gotten in over my head? Demo? Oh my gosh. I can’t possibly tell these teachers something they don’t already know. I can’t write and I have nothing to contribute to the learning of these people. They are all good writers. They all sound so much better than me. Oh my, what have I done?
But then things started to change. Maybe it’s that process that Peggy keeps talking about. I still don’t think of myself as a good writer, but I am seeing improvement. I love what I write-most of the time. But I know how to edit and revise. Now that I feel more confident, I think I will be able to teach my kids how to write. I will be a good model for them. I can’t wait to have my own journal and write with them. I am loving my new found confidence.
I am a good teacher. I love what I do. I love to teach my children about life and the world and the academics that they are required to know. This love of teaching makes me an avid learner. I never want to stop learning. There are so many things in life that I need to know. I will never know them all, but if I am to teach my students, then I need to keep learning things for myself.
I am also looking forward to sharing my new information about best practices with my fellow teachers at school. Teachers are great at sharing information and I have many things that I want to share with them. I have learned things this summer that can apply to every teacher in my building.
I am ready to head back to the classroom with all my new confidence. I know how to teach children to write 3-5 sentence paragraphs, but that’s boring. Writing is exciting. The confidence and skills I have learned these few weeks of my summer vacation will guide me in being a better teacher for them. I will still have to use the textbook series that is required by my school but I will incorporate new techniques in with it.
The pieces in my portfolio are truly me. Each piece reflects my way of thinking and my way of expressing myself. The two pieces that mean the most to me are the Mentors and Scrapbooking. Scrapbooking is the deep revision piece of the Mentors piece. These are emotional pieces about people I care about deeply. I would not have been able to tell these people my feeling face to face and I think these writings should tell them how I feel. I chose to do Scrapbook because I had never attempted to do a poem. I needed a way to make my step-father an important part of my portfolio because he was an important part of my life. Mentors is an emotional piece. I cried while I was writing it and when I was revising it. I needed to tell those people how important they are to me. Scrapbook is a piece that is written, not only to honor my step-father, but as a way for my son to remember this important man that he might not remember otherwise.
The first draft of the personal writing came from a sacred writing. I read it several times and decided it was the one that I needed to devote a great deal of time to revising. I added many details about some of the people that were mentioned in the original piece and deleted one of the people in the original piece. I needed to focus it more about who is my mentor.
From that I developed the poem. I did many revisions to that poem because I wasn’t sure it was good. I wasn’t even sure it was a poem. I took the advice of my writing group and Laura Treacy Bentley. I liked having their input and the final result is due to their input and comments.
The professional piece of this portfolio, What is Teaching, is an explanation of why I teach. I teach because it’s who I am. I have always wanted to be a teacher and I could never imagine being something else. I love every aspect of my job, even the conferences when things are difficult. Teaching keeps challenging me to reach down and find what it takes to do my job the best I can. I chose to include piece in my portfolio because it is another aspect of my life that needs to be explained. You can’t know me without knowing I am a teacher.
The ethnography is an explanation of the events on July 2, 2009. I wrote it in the form of an I-Search paper, a form of research paper that I had learned about in Megan’s demo. It is a form of research that allows the student to research and learn more about a topic of their choice. I think it’s a great idea and I am looking forward to finding the book that she recommended for elementary teachers that relates to the topic. I enjoyed doing the ethnography because I got to be creative and it gives people who read my blog an inside glimpse of what happens in a typical day of Summer Institute. People will get to see how good the days are for the fellows and leaders.
My demonstration document is an explanation and a summary of some research about using technology to enhance writing. I chose this topic because I find technology very exciting. I have made it my personal crusade to get all students using some sort of technology on a regular basis. I know a great deal of teachers feel that they cannot incorporate technology because it is too hard. I want to tell everyone that it’s easy. I want students to be ready for using computers for school and not just game playing. I am glad I tackled this document. I now have the proof that things like blogs and wikis work and are useful tools in the classroom. I am ready to talk to administration and to any nay-saying teachers.
There are eight less formal writings in this e-portfolio. The first three are based on technology experiences. I was able to work on digital storytelling a little more this summer. I had done some of it a few summers ago and I had worked on a story in one of my graduate classes. It is such a fun way for everyone, students and adults, to express themselves. I know that the laptops in our school have Windows MovieMaker so I am ready to do this with my second graders. All it’s going to take is one project to make the other teachers want to do this with their students. I am glad I had a chance to review my skills with this application.
The piece about ch. 1 and 2 of the book Wikis, Blogs, and Podcasts was fun. I like the discussion that was brought about by this book. I liked the book because it addressed topics that I enjoy. The quotes I chose tell how I feel. I feel that it is time to use these and I also feel it is time to teach our students how to filter inappropriate Internet content. Our students need to be learning what is good information and how to find credible websites. Filters on our computers is counterproductive. But, that is why I enjoyed this book and doing this assignment.
Blogging is a great tool for class. I have used it with my students and I fully intend to use it with my students this year. This piece addressed the blog that we used for SI. I like this blog because it keeps me in contact with the people I have formed bonds. I worry that I will not be able to improve in my writing abilities, but knowing that blog is there will help me feel close to the ones who have supported me so far.
I chose to write about my 12th grade research paper for the demonstration piece because it was the one I related to the most. As you read it, you will figure out my feelings about old style research papers and how excited I am about the I-Search form of research papers. I remember that class vividly and I think that may be why I had the notion that I couldn’t write. I assumed all writings were to be informative, like research. I never knew that writing could be about what I think and feel. I would be excited to do research if it was about a topic I wanted to learn. I don’t want to go back to that way of thinking. I know I will have to continue to research, but now I have an enjoyable way to teach my students to research and write.
The last three pieces are ones that I chose to include because they are what I created on my own. There were no prompts. It was just me and my writing.
The first one is based on a piece of abstract art that is in the Huntington Museum of Art. I wondered around the museum and found this piece and I loved it. It’s called Green Likes Mauve-1972 by Helen Frankenthaler. I saw what seemed to be the mouth of an alligator as the animal was gliding through the water of a bayou. I loved writing from the perspective of an animal that was on the shoreline. I don’t know what kind of animal it might have been but I am sure that any animal would feel the way it did. I was able to put myself there, in the bayou, and think like an animal. I really enjoyed writing this piece.
Trapped was created on accident. I was getting back into my car after having dinner with a friend. I had opened the back door to put my things in the backseat and the moth flew in my car. At first, I was frustrated because I didn’t want to be driving with that insect flying around the inside of my car. After I let him out the other door, I wondered about how he felt. The idea to write the story from his perspective came to me so fast and the story just flowed out of me. Again, writing from the perspective of the moth was enjoyable. It made me think a little more than just telling what happened to me, the human.
The last one, The Deafening Silence of My House, was another emotional piece. I had a great deal of feelings going on because my son was gone and I had to write. I learned to write my feelings down and not to stop until they were all out. I felt so much better after writing that one.
I am a writer. Everyone is a writer, it’s all in how you approach it. If I could say that I learned one thing personally, it would have to be to just write. Don’t edit as you go, let your emotions go. It will happen. As a professional, I know that I can teach my children to write anywhere in my curriculum and that they should not be afraid to write either. I am excited about this new discovery!
