https://www.leadingwithheartnyc.com/blog daily 0.75 2021-06-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1623784472475-CCGFLVDA630AXTEM0ONL/IMG_2929.jpg Blog - “Pretty, pretty please, don’t ever feel like you’re less than perfect. You are perfect to me” Pink LOVE an intense feeling of deep affection (Soul Sisters Book Club —>) Pink has been my new person. She writes about beauty and struggle. “I don’t want to be this way forever. Keep telling myself that I’ll get better. Maybe I’m just scared to be happy.” “We could have it all.” All lyrics by Pink. How do we help all kids feel like they are perfect just as they are? That they can have it all? And that all feelings are normal, can be shared, they change, and can be managed? I have always believed that through teaching reading and writing, we can help kids feel seen, heard, cherished, connected, worthy, confident, and loved. I have been working on that since the beginning of the pandemic with my soul sister group (above). It’s the HOW?! Recently I have been thinking about the importance of balance. We are so driven for results. I have shared in earlier posts that surrender is my word. And in teaching there really is a lot of surrendering and trust. Many teachers have concerns when their school or district take on the Writing Workshop Curriculum. They say things like: Yes, things haven’t worked in the past, but how do you know this will work? Kids don’t have anything to write about. Kids don’t write on their own. This child is hardly writing anything. How do you grade this kind of writing? Teachers have to surrender and trust. Not easy, when their district is asking for high test scores. Taking on a new curriculum, one where results occur over time, is scary. Kind of like dating. I hate it. It’s so weird. Especially at my age. I met my ex-husband at work. We were sixteen. He was cute and sweet and a gentleman. I was smitten. Not easy to get smitten over Match. And then there’s the dance. Where do we go on the first date? Every guy has looked to me for that answer. And I’m a planner (and a pleaser) so I take the bait. But then I’m not surrendering, I’m controlling. And boy I want to. I want to find this special man, yesterday. Ugh! So now I am trying to find “the one” and I’m getting my heart broken. It’s good. It’s never happened before (I married at 19). And it also sucks. I “love” hard. I connect. Deeply. And the breakup sucks. How do these guys say they love you one minute, and run the next? Is that really love? I can’t have superficial relationships. The last guy I dated didn’t want to talk about the hard/emotional stuff. I put my 16 year-old cat down right before Christmas. He could not support me in that. My brother had (and is still dealing with the recovery of) esophageal cancer. It has been hard. I’ve needed quiet to process. That didn’t work well for him. He wanted fun, fun, fun! And loved our relationship when it was all fun. And so did I. We were so great at “the fun.” Life just doesn’t work like that. At some point, we all have to face the hard. You have to be vulnerable. And allow yourself and others to feel. Isn’t that love? Love, in of itself, is surrendering, isn’t it? And I want someone to do that with. Thank you, next. I surrendered. I got my heart broken. And I need to do it again. Why? Because the results are worth it. A connection. A partner. Love. He’s out there. Brene Brown talks about what comes first? vulnerability or trust? She says they are interchangeable and can help create the other. So be vulnerable…you begin to trust. Trust…will lead to vulnerability. I say, if you want to feel love, you have to give it. Even if it hurts. I think giving love though and trusting is also about how you see yourself. If you think you are worthy of love, you’ll give it freer. If you don’t, well… As educators, and parents we are constantly looking for the knowledge. How can my kids be successful? They have to know it all, do well on tests, and get into the best schools. Educators and parents are looking for schools that get the best results, academically. Being vulnerable, confident, on a journey, and able to deal with your emotions--not interested. So, let’s consider some cognitive dissonance… Brene Brown also says “Living and loving with our whole hearts is a journey with equal parts heart work and head work.” I have always believed in writing workshop… We need to surrender AND have structure. Build a writer’s confidence (heart) AND their craft (head). We need to celebrate process (journey) as well as product (results). These somewhat seemingly conflicting ideas happen beautifully in writing workshop. We can and need to do the head work and the heart work. And in doing so striving towards some balance so that we have kids who know their worth and have academic success. Below are some ways it can show up in writing workshop: Structure Happens daily 45-60 Three parts (ml, independent writing, teaching share) Structure in instruction (ML has parts, conferring, partnership work) Surrender Lessons change based on your kids needs May need to use a different unit, or grade based on kids need Sharing your writing will surprise you and your kids When conferring, you never really know where that conference will take you. It’s all up to the writer. Craft (head) Teaching and exposing different genres (narrative, information, opinion, poetry) Teaching different skills (organization, leads, endings, focus, elaboration, language, spelling, mechanics) Writers go through a process Confidence (heart) Using specific writers in your ML as a model for great work. Can do it throughout the lesson. Yesterday, I conferred with Monique and she did…I listened into Maggie and Holly and they were talking about.. Highlighting writers in a positive way during independent writing. Writers may I have your attention please. Matthew is trying out some of the work we did yesterday. So impressive. Matthew can you read just your lead and listen to see if the rest of you might figure out the lead he used Conferring: My very first writing mentor was a woman named Janie Guilbault. She gave me the most precious gift. She taught me to see the strengths of writers NOT the deficits. I am so grateful for her. I had to switch my mind intentionally to do that. Once you do and see how kids respond, you never go back. Lucy Calkins also taught me to be in AWE of what writers do. So I always approach a conference in that way… What work are you doing as a writer? LISTEN…BE IN THE MOMENT. DO NOT START CONFERRING IF YOU CAN’T BE. Then say, “May I give you a compliment? Product (results) Anything written can be seen as “the product” typically we think of it as: In one sitting, answer a prompt/question On demand assessment (in 45 min. write your best story, opinion, or information writing) Over a course of 4-6 weeks produce a published piece of your best work (went through a process) ready to share to the world (orally, displayed on a bulletin board, in a portfolio) Process (journey) K-2: Starting a new piece (books) every day (or every other day) for three weeks Select 2/3 books to practice revising and editing Publish/Celebrate (may display work with ALL of its changes included—should be able to see the revisions/edits made) 3-8: Generate lots of entries (seed ideas) in their writer’s notebook Select one to develop Develop it finding meaning and organization Draft across pages coming out of the WNB Revise the draft Edit the draft Publish I don’t what comes first the head work or heart work, but I do believe that people need both. And with both they begin to see their value and worth. LOVE an intense feeling of deep affection Christy’s definition: Having such deep affection that you have that person’s back, and their best interest in mind. Shouldn’t we all have an intense feeling of deep affection for ourselves first? If you don’t, go get some. Immediately. OR… Email me and I’ll give you some! For information on literacy services (summer retreats here) and support, contact Leading With Heart. Check out our Facebook page and YouTube page for videos, literacy content and support. With love always, Christy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1617730637922-625HODX449ER7KEJI1IF/reading+identity+books.jpg Blog Identity Understand, Deepen & Celebrate More of Who We Are Read Aloud When my marriage was starting to unravel, I turned to books. First and foremost, books about divorce. Not easy to find. I searched and read, and each book never gave me what I needed. A friend asked me if I had read The Power of Now by Eckert Tolle? She said I was “future tripping” and this book would help me to stay in the moment. I devoured it up. The same friend told me to read Brene’ Brown’s book Daring Greatly. Drank that one right up. From there I read and read and read. Here are a few books that helped me that year: Almost Everything by Anne Lamott You are a Badass by Jen Sincero The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Ronson Letting Go by David Hawkins Codependent No More by Melody Beattie Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman The Cinderalla Complex by Collette Downing The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak If you study the list closer, you will see a theme starting to immerge. Probably you can see romantic love being a theme, but hopefully you are seeing also that I am trying to find my sense of self and worth. By studying what I’m reading you learn a little about who I am, what I’m interested in, and what I’m passionate about. You get a little sense of me as a person. We can do that with kids too. You might want to read books during read aloud that will help readers see themselves and others in books. We want to read them AND we want to have conversations around books. Here’s how we might plan read aloud focusing on identity. In order to focus on identity, we are being curious and compassionate really getting to know and connect with each child in our class on a human level. And we are also helping the rest of the class to do that, too. I recently discovered a series called A Kids Book About. I cannot tell you how much I adore them. It started with one man writing about his experience around race and it turned into something much bigger. Each book has a different author. The books deal with topics such as: gratitude, belonging, death, gender, anxiety, bullying, anxiety, etc… Their Mission: We make kids’ books that matter. There are no dragons, silly bears, or cute tales about princesses. Only the challenging, empowering, and important topics that kids experience every day. Kids' lives are complicated, and our mission is to help kids and their grownups have honest conversations about things that matter. You might start with any of these books. I plan on starting with empathy. A skill near and dear to my heart since I recently was certified in Brene’ Brown’s Dare to Lead course. I also want to consider a picture book that I might teach alongside empathy. Two come to my mind immediately: Each Kindness and Those Shoes. I like the idea of reading A Kids Book About first because we learn about these important ideas that matter, and then we can see how they show up in the books we read. Here are a few planned post its: Before Reading: Skill: Vocabulary/Theme Method: T & T (turn & talk) Prompt: Hmmm…Empathy. Have you ever heard that word before? What do you think it might mean and what would you expect to find in the book? T & T On the page with the letters “Ever” BIG Skill: Critical Literacy Method: TA (teacher think aloud) Prompt: Hmmm…the letters have changed drastically on this page. I feel like I need to stop and do some thinking around them. Most important book EVER?! I’m a little skeptical. I’ve read many important books. Is empathy that big of a deal? I better pay close attention to understand why. After you read, Can you guess how I felt? Skill: Inference around feelings Method: T & T Prompt: So how do you think she felt? Think about how things were for her and now how they are…T & T After you read, hard, sad, scary Skill: Critical Literacy Method: TA Prompt: Interesting…when someone feels something HARD, SAD, or SCARY. Daron Roberts didn’t use feelings like happy or excited…he used feelings that if we think about our mood meter (Marc Brackett’s mood meter from Permission to Feel) are down feelings. And he said the word HARD. It feels like people need support when those feelings pop up. Maybe I need to pay closer attention to when people are feeling that way. After you read the pages where sympathy and empathy are compared Skill: Vocabulary/ Synthesis Method: S & J (stop & jot) Prompt: Interesting…Sympathy is to feel FOR someone. Empathy is to feel WITH someone….What does that mean to you? And what realizations are you having. I am starting to realize…think a little about that page we discuss earlier. This is the most important book EVER. After you read the 4 steps condensed on one page Skill: Critical Literacy/Theme Method: T & T Prompt: Interesting…there are four steps. Talk about those four steps and figure out with your partner how you might live differently if you try one step or all 4… T & T. After you read the last page Skill: Theme/ Critical Literacy Method: S & J Prompt: The ending is beautiful but also a little confusing for me. Why did he end it like that? What do you think he means by courageous and creative? Once you finish the book, you might have a GRAND DISCUSSION with the class about the book. I would let them start and see where it takes you. If it goes flat at all, you might have some questions you could throw out at the class to see if it helps the conversation grow something deeper. Here are a few: · The author said the book was the most important book EVER. Do you agree or disagree and WHY? · The author compared sympathy and empathy. Why do you think he did that? · He mentions HARD feelings…sadness and fear…any others and why is that important to empathize when people have these HARD feelings · Thoughts about the ending? What do those two words—courageous and creative have to do with EMPATHY? · How does this book give you power? Or make you live/think differently? Tomorrow would be a perfect opportunity to read Those Shoes or Each Kindness to see how empathy fits in. Planning and having a grand conversation for each book similar to how I highlighted above in A Kids Book About Empathy. Then connect this work to book shopping. You might have questions to guide their book shopping: · After reading about empathy, you might live differently, and you also might consider books differently. Maybe even looking for books where you think a character is going through something hard. You also can ask yourself questions like: · What are you curious about? · What genre do you prefer? Fiction or nonfiction? Mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, realistic fiction? · What topics do you want to read about? · Are you interested in human connection such as friendship, divorce, race, gender identity, loss, empathy, growing up? · Or perhaps learning about new things such as turtles, soccer, cooking? What we read and learn about each other’s reading can tell us so much about a person. Are you a mystery reader, fantasy, history, realistic fiction, nonfiction or self-help? This can reveal your interests, passions, and curiosities—helping shape who are or want to become. Paying attention to what others read can help you see the “whole” child. And help us deepen our love for each and every child in our class. For information on literacy services and support, contact Leading With Heart. Check out our Facebook page and YouTube page for videos, literacy content and support. With love~ Christy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1617047928190-1VNZG9VU6GDJ5RP59HB2/Christy%27s+identity.JPG Blog https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1617047984959-ULY0N6CNT2I0X2BNQZ61/piper+identity.jpg Blog https://www.leadingwithheartnyc.com/blog/the-start-of-the-new-year-amp-dealing-with-trauma monthly 0.5 2020-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1599042502292-ZLY58Z59J9F8NCD9JYAD/IMG_5304+2.jpg Blog - The Start of the New Year & Dealing with Trauma https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1599065416418-3WGAIEFTRT8ZV4ARP27U/IMG_7849.jpg Blog - The Start of the New Year & Dealing with Trauma https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1599064869095-ZGFNYP3Y0W2T0PTWSRYN/piper+identity.jpg Blog - The Start of the New Year & Dealing with Trauma https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1599065643284-AY9T1I0UAQUMNMF25950/IMG_7844.jpg Blog - The Start of the New Year & Dealing with Trauma https://www.leadingwithheartnyc.com/blog/6o731l4srmm33a2yselhlkg6hdctnd monthly 0.5 2021-03-17 https://www.leadingwithheartnyc.com/blog/back-to-work-for-love monthly 0.5 2020-09-02 https://www.leadingwithheartnyc.com/blog/h9cbgnmam8dqnrr39rvhv2iv0gyngx monthly 0.5 2020-09-02 https://www.leadingwithheartnyc.com/services daily 0.75 2021-04-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1598576240964-4S0MPG5VXUHJB8W25DO8/christy+working+w+kids.jpeg Learning Together - Institute/Retreat Days This is a MUST for anyone NEW to Reading or Writing Workshop or anyone who needs a refresher, or just needs a little inspiration. These institute days help teachers become invested in the work because they learn the philosophy and understand “the why.” The goal is to walk away with a depth around the research in the teaching of reading and writing, along with helping to build the educator’s confidence as well as their craft. These days provide an in-depth study of the content. This initial understanding into new content is often a four or five day institute/retreat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1597162860904-TWYQ7V9171T6SHWO78VZ/9fe6d6b2-8cb4-44b4-bd97-8ee590193a16.jpg Learning Together - On-site Learning Lab Days Grade level teams (or cross grade level) study the work in the actual classroom setting. They may meet briefly prior to the classroom and then immediately after to reflect on the work modeled or practiced, and then to consider implications to their own practice as they move forward. Often these visits work well if done in a cycle of 3 days or more so that the consultant can gradually release the work to the teachers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1597162778054-TE5K335K9L9LKH84IKTX/IMG_7784.jpg Learning Together - Full-Day Workshops These are days when new content is explored. This often happens after a reading or writing workshop institute has been attended and implemented. In can be around any area of literacy. Many times it is an in-depth study of a unit such as literary essay. It may also be a study around our practice--conferring, small group work, interactive read aloud with grand conversations. These days are typically for the advanced educator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1598575823355-M7QP56NW7B8AYERV6QB0/chirsty+w+writing+conference.JPG Learning Together - Administrative/ Literacy Coaching Days This can be a half or full day devoted to any kind of support the administration is looking for. Learning walks are essential for celebrating the growth of teachers first learning the work. Principals often desire crash courses on specific needs of their building: such as, looking at student work, what to look for when studying instruction, and what to listen for when studying a curriculum of talk to name a few. Literacy coaches provide an integral support for teachers when they are learning new and difficult content. However, coaches often feel as if they are barely ahead of their teachers when they are learning the content alongside them. They want extra support so when the consultant is not there they can be continuing the work and support for the teacher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1598576079153-S8U5TFEO7TSQVSJ4AENS/christy+w+teachers.jpeg Learning Together - One-On-One Coaching Days On these days, no substitutes are required. It is a time for the consultant to work one-on-one with a teacher. Most often the teacher sets the focus for the work. She works on her practice with the consultant who coaches her while in the midst. In addition, the consultant provides support through specific feedback on all the ways the teacher has grown in her practice and possibly a few items to add to her repertoire of goals. This second piece of feedback is often discussed together with the consultant so that the teacher makes the decisions in her practice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1598903334122-PXV2G073WTN25FDR3RU4/IMG_8102.jpg Learning Together - Virtual Learning It is a difficult time. We all have come to realize that virtual learning is not the best kind of learning for kids. I have come to realize it is not the best learning for adults either. That said, even in the moments when I really thought how can I possibly connect?--it happened. I always say good teaching is good teaching—whether you teach third grade well, PreK, adults or through a computer, if you teach well, you teach well. I teach well. I connect even in this virtual life. I have definitely learned some tricks in these last five months, and continue to grow stronger every day. Look over the options above and we will make it happen! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1606767394721-O5WJTTPMRRNFJRHS0387/IMG_9486.jpg Learning Together - Parent Support (During These Difficult Times!) Kids Need Connection: Book clubs w an emphasis on conversation Writing Clubs w an emphasis on identity and conversation Combination of both https://www.leadingwithheartnyc.com/home daily 1.0 2021-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1598471979708-D45H9Z8MASK0GMDX3I4C/learning+together Home - Learning Together Leading With Heart believes that learning empowers everyone. It is a way to become our very best selves and to reimagine, reignite, reengage with the reason we went into teaching. Ongoing professional development is critical when we want to feel empowered. It says we are always learning, always growing, always striving to be our best. Leading With Heart offers many options to support your building or district on this literacy learning journey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f22055444b65e4d0c464b82/1598471282915-X60QD6XD9N5DQUPBFEON/hush-naidoo-2cdzDZ90M90-unsplash.jpg Home - Literacy Love Resources It is a thrill to learn and grow along side amazing educators. Leading With Heart is always creating new contact. 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