Building Each Other Up, Cheering Each Other On

• Your genuine warmth with kids translates to a digital platform. As a member of the Meet, I felt like you were talking to me. I found myself leaning in to listen and engage. 

• You were super transparent about what you were trying that was new. This models a growth mindset for kids, and as a listener, it also generates empathy for you from the group. The natural reaction to this kind of admission is we cheer you on and want you to be successful. 

• You were clear in establishing norms (e.g. the chat box is just for questions, explaining how teachers were divvy-ing up lessons but planning together so kids could go to homeroom teachers for help). It’s expected that it will take practice for kids to consistently follow the norms; clarifying them is the first step, and you’re saving yourself time in the long run by anticipating these potential issues from the get-go. 

• It is obvious that the lesson was thoughtfully planned. You began by establishing a clear context and purpose—concisely reviewing where they have been as readers and how today’s lesson would fit into that larger context. 

• You asked questions that kept the learning elevated around big thinking work that readers do, like this one: “What kind of thinking does a reader have to do to read historical fiction?” The student responses are a data point that shows they are used to talking and thinking at high levels about their reading. The first student said that he would need to understand what historical event is happening, and the second talked about needing to pay attention to what characters are feeling and how events are affecting them. (Holy moly!)

• Multiple times you grounded kids in what they already know how to do, how that would support them in this next work. (“We know how to read fiction really well,” and “We’re good at writing essays.”) Again, this establishes how today’s work is connected to previous work. Kids in your class expect learning to feel connected, to understand how it builds. 

• You were very quickly able to establish a purpose for the kind of writing kids would be doing (reading responses building up to literary essay). It made so much sense the way you laid everything out. It took organization on your end to be able to so clearly articulate this for kids. 

• You gave strong examples of the thinking and writing work you are expecting. You shared the example from “Slower than the Rest.” You also used [student] as an example (“Raise the roof for [student]!”)

• Your language was specific and consistent. Phrases like “reading wide awake,” “notice everything,” and “every detail counts.” 

• You were transparent again when you said, “So now I’m going to take a risk and share my screen. . .” This was a powerful instructional move. You had your “anchor chart” ready to go and show. You had your model responses ready in Google Classroom as well. This not only clarified expectations for kids and offered support (e.g. sentence frames, a model) in the moment, but it is also something they can reference from home as they try it themselves. 

• “I want to show you. . .” (powerful to be able to SHOW them, just like you would in the regular classroom). 

• You modeled how a reader adjusts or modifies her theory/opinion as she continues reading. “As I was reading more . . . I’m going to change my theory. . . I’m going to show you the part [of the text] that changed my mind. . . There’s something more about Dog that I’m noticing. . . Can you see how I changed my theory based on the text in the book?” You had the page from the book ready to reference (via Kindle). (Such great prep for this lesson!!) Your written response then captured that revised thinking. So powerful! 

• You offered a choice of multiple stories that kids might access and read to do this thinking/reading/writing work. They were already posted in the classroom, ready to go. 

• “Here’s what done is going to look like by tomorrow.” Again, such clear language and models. 

• You didn’t get ruffled when things didn’t go according to plan (Fox read aloud/video not being available, when you thought you were showing the screen and realized you weren’t so you went back to show, that crazy few minutes when the phone caller was disrupting things). You kept your cool, and as a result, kids settled down quickly. 

• At the end, when there were lots of questions, it was a smart move to prompt kids who were good to go to sign off. That gave you some time with a smaller group. You made sure to personally check in with each of them by name and made sure to answer their questions. It is clear that this is exactly what a couple of kids needed today. As always, you are tuned in to the relationship layer of teaching. 

Dari, again, way to go! This was a super successful writing lesson, AND it was a chance to connect with your kids. I am so appreciative of all that you are learning and the risks you are taking to engage and interact with kids. Thank you for inviting me in for the lesson—I’m so glad I got to be a part of it. 

Please know I’m here—anytime, whatever you need. We’re all in this together! 

Amy