As I mentioned in my last episode, I was able to interact with many of my edu heroes last week, including Stephanie Harvey. What a firecracker! She is not only quite intelligent and articulate, but she has a fire within the language development for all learners. Something that stayed with me was Writeacide; to die a death of writing worksheets. How do we get learners to write authentically from their hearts? It’s certainly not from worksheets. Steph shares that inquiry in literature comes from curiosity, comprehension, collaboration, and content. Isn’t that just beautiful? She continues to state that “Inquiry is not always about a final product at the end..it is living in a way that all questions matter…because the more you learn, the more you wonder…and our role is to fan the flame of curiosity.” How do we fan the flame of curiosity? We discover the commonality of the human experience within our curriculum. I’ve been fortunate to have lived through so many experiences that have shaped who I am today. Growing up in South Korea until I was school aged helped me to realize the importance of family and cultural identity. When I moved to America, my cultural identity shifted and I was no longer Korean. I was a Korean-American with an emphasis on the American part. I quickly learned the things I needed to survive in my new culture. As I grew into a young adult, I realized that all of my friends were either introverts like myself or foreign exchange students. Why was I always drawn to others who were different from the norm? In adulthood, it was no surprise that I entered into the wider world to discover myself. I went to Germany to discover my father’s culture and I’m still waiting for the chance to move to South Korea. I need to discover and celebrate my mother’s culture that I lost along the way. Why am I sharing this? All of our life events are intersected based on common story elements. You may have lived in the same country your entire life, but you have experienced identity issues, growing pains of childhood to adulthood, and coming into your own as an adult. How are we preparing our young learners for this adventure ahead? What are we putting into place to help them know about the greater world? How are we showing them that cultures are more similar than different once you go below the surface of the cultural iceberg. I’ve often felt like a third culture kid, even more so as I’ve aged. Although I live in the land of birth, I don’t feel like I belong here. I belong to the world. I have spent ⅓ of my life exploring and living in other countries and cultures. It’s a part of who I am and how I look at issues facing humanity. Many of our learners are in the same situation. They have moved throughout their lives and dont’ feel that one place is quite home. How are we feeding their need to express their ideas and experiences through our curriculum? Thinking about Steph’s advice of writeacide, I thought of some strategies that I learned while participating in the ECIS International Teacher Certificate program to help build communal identity while allowing for student voice in authentic writing. Welcome BookEvery year, we have learners who transfer into our school from another place. This is normal. For some, this move is across the city, state, or our country. The move won’t feel as foreign if they are still residing in the same region, As we cross regions, this gets more complex. I remember moving to Texas and learning so much about the kitschy culture that was influenced by Germany. It’s Southern, but uniquely Texan. What about learners who are transferring countries? With work being more fluid since the pandemic, many people are continuing to move and explore other places. How do we help these learners to adjust to their new context? Something that I really like is creating a Welcome Book that reflects the flavor and uniqueness of our school, city, and community. Inside, learners are able to see advice from their peers about best places to visit, things that are cool about their city, and how to navigate the school community. I’ve used a Welcome Book before and it helped newcomers feel like they already had a network of people that cared about them. To add the newcomer into the mix, there were areas in the book where they could describe where they came from, their experiences, and analyze the differences and similarities between both places. This allows the newcomer to feel that many of the things they enjoyed in their prior home can be found in their new home. This helps to calm fears and open to risk-taking. Farewell BookWithout fail, we begin the school year with a bang and then we lose students due to mobility, new jobs, and family changes. This happens. How do we support these learners as they begin their new adventure often in uncertain circumstances? A Farewell Book allows learners to reflect on their experiences in their present city and identify the things that make it special to them. This is a way to honor the experiences as they move on. The Farewell Book also allows fellow learners to share their favorite experiences and messages of friendship. This is important for the learner leaving the community, because they will struggle with the transition. Oftentimes, they are leaving the only community they have ever known, even if it is just across town. By providing the Farewell Book, it acts as a security blanket during the transition and allows the learner access to talking points to share with their new community. Something I really like about the Farewell Book is that it has space for the learner to connect their past experiences with their new ones. They will have the opportunity to compare and contrast elements to see the commonality of the human experience. I remember being an adult that was continuously changing their living situation every 3-4 years. There is a sense of loss and directionality when we move. Yes, it’s all new and exciting, but nothing is familiar. There is something to be said for familiarity. It lets us know that we are safe and secure of our surroundings. Speaking to leadership, I would consider making a Welcome and Farewell book for your incoming staff. I greatly appreciated the faculty binders and materials to help me navigate areas of town. What would have helped even more was a book that helped me to understand the local experience from people who had lived there awhile and understood my hesitations. A reflective journal would have helped me to better see the connections between where I am from and the new place I called home. Something to consider. Humans MatterSome of you are shaking your head and thinking, “When am I going to have time to make this?” Guess what, you don’t. Have your learners create the welcome and farewell books during the first month while developing small group station routines. This will allow them to demonstrate a wide variety of skills such as writing, collaboration, creative thinking, reflection, and generating novel ideas, to name a few.
The only thing you need to do is co-create a success criteria of what should be in the Welcome and Farewell books, so everyone is working towards the same goal. This will allow your learners to stay on track while creating something unique for their peers. Notice, we didn’t explore writing strategies to bring about more voice, because you already have access to a wide variety of resources. One person you might add to your list is Gretchen Bernabei, who has put in structures to make the writing process more scaffolded and learner driven. You can find her work at Trail of Breadcrumbs.
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