Dialogue Winter 2009

8/7/2019 Dialogue Winter 2009

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Inside...The Artof Surfing 5Scott Leonard

SDAWPFellows 2009 7

YoungWriters'Camp 8-9

Justin ChungDylana GuthEileen HuangJeffrey HuangCiara O'SheaSamantha PryorMichela Rodriguez

Boomersfrom Mars,Millennialsfrom Venus 10Ed Gillet

GuerillaTeachers 12Victoria Mossa-Mariani

A MissionStatementon Ownership 13

Kendra Madden

Also included:

Muse Box 4SDAWP Notes 4PublishingOppor tunities 15DialogueCall For Manuscripts 15Calendar of Events 16

Choices in the Classroom

A Publication of the San Diego Area Writing Project Winter 2010DialogueChanging the Paradigm:

The Importance o Authentic Student Writing

When Annie turned in her essay on Oscar Wildes play The Importance of Being EarnestI knew I had messed up. I also knew that preventing the same mistakes I had made romhappening again would mean rethinking the entire premise undergirding the writing in-struction that I do in my classroom.

Throughout The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde satirizes many o the social and moralcustoms o Victorian England, but one o the most humorous aspects o the play is Wildesreversal o the traditional morality tale that touts the importance o honesty in order to sug-gest that there is no real importance o being earnest ater all. Now, Ive taught Annie orseveral years, and so I know her quite well. Through our conversations, her writing, and

my observations o her interactions with others, I know her to be an honest person as wellas a devoted Christian. In short, she is probably airly likely to disagree with Wildes ip-pant dismissal o honesty; however, as a result o the way in which I structured the classswriting curriculum, she never had the opportunity to voice those belies and, instead, shehanded in an essay in which she eloquently and eectively proved that lying is acceptablei it protects ones reputationa belie she most certainly did not personally support.

I used to believe that being an eective writer was largely about a students ability to makesome kind o original claim and then support that claim using well-developed evidenceand examples. Ater all, isnt this the very skill that the SAT, AP, ACT, and STAR tests seemto hold so dear? Well, yes. But i theres one thing that Annie and I did learn rom OscarWilde, its that those who set the standard or societys expectations are oten grossly outo touch with reality. I were asking students to disregard their own real belies in avor othe easiest provable belie, as I unwittingly asked Annie to do, we are doing our students

a great disservice. We are sending them the message that writing is at odds with realitywhich just couldnt be urther rom the truth. Writing should not be taught as an activitydisconnected rom students actual belies and ideas, but as a means to express those be-lies and ideas. One eective way to oster the kind o classroom environment that presentswriting as a means to this end is to use essential questions in conjunction with an inquiryapproach.

Essential Questions in an Inquiry Approach

The central component o the backward design approach to curricular planning is, frstdetermining the goals you want students to achieve, and then fguring out which activi-ties and assignments will help students to reach those established goals (Moore, Back-ward Design). In an inquiry approach, however, teachers engage in curricular planningas an on-going process throughout the year, based on what students want or need in the

Authenticating the Writing Process:Using an Inquiry Approach

to Teach Feature Writing at the Secondary LevelShannon FalknerSDAWP 2008


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DialogueWinter 2010

Issue No. 23

Choices in the Classroom:

The Everyday

Judgments of Teachers

Editors: Stacey GoldblattJennifer Moore

Page Design: Janis JonesWriting Angel: Susan Minnicks

Published by the

San Diego AreaWriting Project at UCSD

Director:Kim Douillard

UC San DiegoSDAWP9500 Gilman DriveLa Jolla, CA 92093-0036(858) 534-2576http://create.ucsd.edu/sdawp/

Dialogue, Winter 2010

lie on earth? Are people inherentlygood, evil, or something else?

In order or this approach to be suc-cessul teachers must pose questionsthat are, in essence, the very samequestions that plague philosophers,economists, CEOs, environmental-ists, humanitarians, judges, worldleaders, and every other proession-

al scholar and thinker that pondersour world. The examples that I listedabove will do the trick, but there aremany other equally eective ques-tions lurking in every teachers ownbrain.

Because it is imperative, in a liter-ature-based curriculum, that thecourse reading be an explorationo the essential questions, we mustconsciously tie the two componentstogether. While it would be ideal orstudents to crat the essential ques-

tions or their course and have theteacher select appropriate literature,this situation is not always possible.In my case, or example, my depart-ment requires that students readcertain texts in each course, so thequestions students come up withmay not necessarily work well withthe content o the required texts.Because, in the beginning o theyear, I am the only one in the class who has previously read the textsstudents will be required to read, Ichoose several essential questions

that I know will apply to or addressthe ideas, themes, or issues raised inthe particular set o texts required. Itry to allow the questions to remainas open-ended and as general aspossible to allow students to pursuethe sub-issues within each o thesequestions that most interest them.

Benefts o Blending

Essential Questions

and an Inquiry Approach

Blending essential questions and an

inquiry approach provides an an-swer to the inevitable question thateach student asks (aloud or not)about every assignment, activity, orassessment, which is: "what or?"The premise o my approach is thatteachers present the course as aninquiry into the essential questions,so that everything that students do inthe course becomes purposeul. Whyare we reading? Why are we writ-

ing?We are seeking answers to realquestions.

way o instruction; goals are not pre-determined (Ray, Exploring Inquiryas a Teaching Stance in the Writing Workshop 239). While these ap-proaches may, at frst, seem to be atodds with one another, these seem-ingly oppositional theories can ac-tually work in tandem to maximizestudent engagement and achieve-ment.

A key component in the backwarddesign teaching model is the useo essential questions in the class-room. Essential questions are ques-tions about larger issues that weace in the world. They are thought-provoking, open ended, and theyhave no single right answer. Theycan only be answered individually,through introspective reection onour own values and belies. Exam-ples o questions that have workedwell or me in the past (and apply to

almost any text) are the ollowing:What causes people to bond and/orconict? What is truth? Do peoplecontrol their circumstances or arethey victims o circumstance? Howdoes trauma (or power, or memory)impact people? Are people basicallyalone, or are they integral memberso a society? What is the purpose o

Additionally, through this approach,writing becomes a starting point asopposed to an endpoint, as currentresearch suggests it should. Samwaynotes that it is a mistake to assumethat writing is simply a mechanismor expressing already-conceiveddeveloped thoughts[T]hrough writing we discover what we thinkand know (Samway 7). In using

an inquiry approach with essentialquestions, students (and teachers)begin to see writing as a means toexplore thinking instead o only away to express their thinking. In thestate a claim and prove it methodto writing instruction, were leav-ing out a critical piece o the writingprocess: the thinking.

The benefts o this approach areapparent when we consider AnniesOscar Wilde essay. Instead o ask-ing Annie to answer the questionWhat does Oscar Wilde think abouttruth? I should have been askingher Based on what you know abouwhat Oscar Wilde thinks about truthwhat do you think about truth now?The dierence may seem subtle, butthe implications are huge. We are

changing our approach rom teach-ing students to ocus on what otherpeople think (whether it is what wethink, what authors think, or whatother scholars think) to acilitatingtheir own explorations o what theythink.

Addressing the Skeptics

The example questions I posed ear-lier may seem, at frst, to be beyondthe scope o a high school English

Essentialquestions are

questions aboutlarger issues thatwe face in the

world. They arethought-provoking,

open ended,and they have

no single

right answer.


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3Dialogue, Winter 2010

class. Some skeptics would argue thatsuch sophisticated concepts shouldbe reserved or the college class-room because some low-perormingstudents are not ready to take on thechallenges acing advanced scholars.However, this is simply not the case.

Lisa Delpit argues that educatorsneed to rethink the general belie

that critical and creative thinking,the ability to analyze, and the abilityto make comparisons and judgmentsare higher order thinking skills orall students. She claims that [i]t isoten the case that or children whoare rom poor communities, criti-cal thinking skills are basic. Thoseare the skills they come to us with.They are accustomed to being moreindependent. Oten they are amiliar with real-lie problems and how tosolve them. Consequently, Delpitencourages teachers to appreci-

ate and make use o the higher or-der knowledge that [students] bringrom home and fll in the blanksin some o the more traditionallyaccepted basic skills areas (i.e.spelling, grammar, etc.) as the needarises (Delpit 228). In light o theseideas, I truly do believe that all o ourstudents, including those who mayseem defcient in basic skills, are ca-pable o fnding success using essen-tial questions because the questionsare so challenging. But, in order orthis approach to be successul, we,

as teachers, must believe that ourstudents want to address authentic,challenging questions, and we mustbelieve that they are capable o fnd-ing their own answers.

Other skeptics may suggest that ex-ploring these questions is pointless,as they dont have answers. It is im-perative that teachers recognize thatthe purpose o asking these ques-tions is not to fnd the answer, butto fnd an answer (or, better, severalanswers). The emphasis should be

on individual exploration as opposedto consensus answers. Finding ananswer is, really, secondary to recog-nizing and articulating the complex-ity o the issues.

Using Essential Questions

to Write Feature Articles

A eature article that explores an is-

sue related to one o the essentialquestions is an ideal outcome thatstudents should achieve as a result otheir on-going inquiry into essentialquestions. Although we usually thinko news writing as a specialty suitedto elective courses, there are tremen-dous benefts to using news writingin the English language arts class-room. Moett believes that [jour-nalism] ought to be mainstreamed[because] reportage and researchrepresent an important bridge be-tween personal writing and [ana-

lytical] writing (Moett 70), and Iwholeheartedly agree. News writingallows students to write about issuesthat interest them, and they requirethe kinds o elements that teachersvalue in good writing. I believe thateature articles are one route to en-gaging students in an authentic writ-ing process.

Feature articles are pieces that gomuch deeper than the headlines we read on the ront page and aremuch narrower in scope, addressing

a particular sub-category within alarger issue. Feature articles requireresearch and interviews in orderto achieve this in-depth coverage.Sometimes, a eature article also in-cludes the writers opinions.

I eel that the eature article is anideal fnal project in large part be-cause o its uid place on the spec-trum o subjectivity. I you picturea spectrum with one side markedsubjective writing and the otherside marked objective writing,

editorial writing would be locatedon the outermost point o the sub-jective writing side o the spectrum,and straight news writing would beon the ar reaches o objective writ-ing. The eature article, however,could all anywhere in the middleo those two poles. In my own read-ing o eature articles, Ive noticedthat some eature articles are justshort o editorial with regard to theirovertly persuasive purposes, whileother eature articles attempt only to

educate readers on a particular issueor event. Most eature articles, how-ever, all somewhere in the middle.

The variety inherent within thegenre o eature articles allows stu-dents to write the type o article thabest suits their own purposes andneeds. I they have developed strongeelings on a particular essentia

question, the article may includemore opinions; however, i they arestill exploring their understanding othe questions, they can inorm theirreaders about the complexity o theissue, and they need not eel com-pelled to use an opinion as the driv-ing orce behind the article. In myopinion, it is much more valuableor students to recognize the inherent contradictions, implications, andcomplications within an issue thanto necessarily ormulate a steadasopinion on it.

Another beneft o eature articlesas a fnal project is that they otencombine multiple modes o writinginto an authentic genre (Ray, Un-derstanding the Dierence BetweenMode and Genre 99). Almost everyset o state content standards in Eng-lish Language Arts requires studentsto write in a variety o modes, withexposition, persuasion, narration

and description probably being themost common. Feature articles uti-lize all o these modes; an article mayhave a narrative opening, but it wilinevitably need to include expositoryinormation as well as descriptionin order to ully take the reader intothe depths o the issue. As previouslydiscussed, the degree to which thearticle is persuasive is let largely upto the writer. This kind o combination writing inherent in the eaturearticle genre mirrors the writing

I feel that thefeature article

is an idealnal projectin large part

because of its uidplace on the

spectrum ofsubjectivity.

Other skepticsmay suggest thatexploring these

questions is

pointless,as they donthave answers.


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that real people do in their real lives,which makes this assignment mean-ingul in a way that single modewriting assignments just arent. Ka-tie Wood Ray, a writer o proession-al books or teachers, notes that ina single text, writers usually moveamong dierent modes in order toaccomplish their purposes (Ray102), so arent we pigeon-holing stu-

dents by assigning persuasive writ-ing or narrative writing?

Final Thoughts:

Why This Approach Works

In setting the expectation, early inthe course, that students will be writ-ing a eature article ocused on someaspect o an essential question, weare encouraging students to collecta plethora o knowledge and inor-

mation and then use that knowledgeand inormation to ormulate andexpress their ideas. This approachis almost the exact opposite o thetraditional state a claim and proveit method, in which we ask stu-dents to scrape the bottom o theirbrains in a desperate attempt to lo-cate knowledgethat may not evenbe thereto prove their ideas. In theessential question-inquiry approach, we are encouraging them to beginrom a place o plenty as opposedto a place o scarcity (Moett 72).

James Moett eloquently conveysthe importance o this distinction:

The deductive approach is to workrom the top down, rom the higherlevel abstractions to the lower. I youare given a topicthen you start at ahigher generalization and go down-ward, looking or something to sup-port or illustrate the generalization.That is what I call a wrong strategy, working rom scarcity. What we

...so arent wepigeon-holingstudents byassigning

persuasivewriting or

narrativewriting?

c MUSE BOXJenny Moore, SDAWP 19992010: New Moon Intentions

Ive never been a fan of New Years resolutions, those guilt-

inducing albatrosses so easily abandoned before any meaning-ful self-improvement transpires But years ago a friend of minesuggested creating 12 intentions The idea is to implementthem one month at a time so that they (hopefully!) become habit,one by one I was drawn to the idea back then, as well as tothe noun intention, which allows for human frailty, forgetful-ness, and our tendency to abandon our ideals from time to timeAs educators, we tend to measure our years in academic terms:August or September to June A calendar year, though, begin-ning in January and ending in December, encapsulates the sec-ond half of a school year for most, a summer of renewal, andthe beginning of a new academic year Compose an intentionfor each month of 2010 with your whole person in mind: howwill you view the remainder of this school year? What do youintend to accomplish or afford yourself during the recess? Whatnew directions will guide you next school year? How will youbalance work and life?

SDAWP NOTES

Congratulations to the ollowing Fellows on their retirements:Karen Wroblewski, SDAWP 1989, SDUSD; Sara Watts, SDAWP 1995,

SDUSD; Margo Andara, SDAWP 1996, SDUSD.

Kudos to Patricia "PJ" Jeery, SDAWP 2008. PJ was honored in Sept2009 by local radio station Smooth Jazz 98.1 and received their "Teach

ers Are Heroes" award. PJ teaches at Hickman Elementary in San Di-

ego Unifed School District and is a hero because "she always goes

above and beyond to send the message to our students, aculty and

parents that we need to be conscious o our environment by recycling

reducing and reusing." PJ was also cited or her innovative ideas and

progressive programs. As the nomination letter said, "Her expectationsare extremely high and she makes all o us, particularly her students

stretch and be all that they can be! She is a very special and unique

individual and is not all about creating a great student but abou t build-

ing a better pe rsonone tha t is productive, a self-thinke r a nd on e w ho

wa nts to live up to their poten tial."

Thank you to those who participated in The National Day on Writ-ing. To view SDAWP's gallery, "Fall in Love with Writing," please visit:

http://galleryowriting.org/writing/957930(Falkner, continued on p. 14)


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Dialogue, Winter 2010 5

I teach my frst grade students thatthey have to frst understand thateven the experts were once novices.Children need to begin thinking likeauthors. Once my frst graders real-ize that Mark Twain, Dr. Seuss, andPatricia Polacco were once childrenjust like them, they are ready to taketheir frst step or catch their frst wave. When they understand thesetexts, sentences, poems, and songs

and use them as models, using theirown thoughts and emotions, a newrevival takes place. They can repli-cate what another author is doingbut put in their own ideas and vo-cabulary, making it their own. They

begin building their own unique writing toolbox. By trying this witha variety o dierent books and au-thors, children develop their own

style. Everyone is an individual withdierent thoughts, ideas and ex-periences and these need to be developed to create innovative, uentwriters. By practicing this requent-ly, young writers are now developingtheir own voice. They are becomingmore empowered as they augmenttheir toolboxes and continue devel-oping their writing as they think likeauthors. I would have never thoughtthat six and seven year olds couldreach such a proound place. I went

through a paradigm shit in my writ-ing instruction that advanced mystudents to a higher level in bilin-gual writing than I ever would havethought possible in a frst gradeclassroom.

Seven years into my proession asa teacher, I decided that I reallyneeded to become a strong writ-

ing teacher. I walked in on a new writing cohort that my district waoering as an ongoing proessionaldevelopment consisting o teachersrom around our school district. Ithought that I was invited but wastold that I was not on the list. I could have walked out heartbroken withthree more days o summer to planor the school year or reuel; insteadI decided to try to crash this cohortI turned around and headed out andI mentioned to the group that I hada decent writing program. Maybe

it was out o pity, maybe it was thatthey wanted a token male in their allemale cohort, but they asked me tostay. I was unaware o the impacthat this would have on me and mystudents. Over this three-day pro-essional development introductionto teaching the crat o writing, Iexperienced yet another paradigmshit as an educator.It is difcult or me to describe theparadigm shit. Ill start by describ-ing the environment in which I

teach. I am a frst grade teacher ina 90:10 Spanish Dual Immersion K-6elementary school. Hal o the children in my class are English speak-ers and hal are Spanish speakersIn the frst grade and kindergar-ten, 90% percent o the school dayis instructed in Spanish and 10%is instructed in English. The ratiochanges each grade level, as Span-ish loses 10% and English gainsanother 10%. This continues untithe fth grade when 50% o the dayis instructed in English and 50%

o the day is instructed in SpanishThe program has goals that childrenbecome bilingual, biliterate, andreceive a multicultural educationThis is all accomplished throughan additive approach to bilingualteaching where children developadvanced cognitive skills via bilin-gualism and biliteracy. The reasonthat our program model instructs90% o the day in Spanish in kinder-garten and frst grade is to immerseEnglish speakers while supporting

I was tired, jetlagged, and slightlyscared o sharks. There had beena ew attacks one month earlier. Iclimbed on the slippery rock sheland timed the waves beore jump-ing into the ocean. I was about to gosurfng arther away rom my homethan I had ever been beore. I caughtmy frst wave and it was a beauti-ul, long ride that brought me rightback to my comort zone. As an avid

surer, I have discovered that everybit o practice pays o. It is easy orme to paddle out and sur in a dis-tant ocean or two reasons. I havespent hours, days, weeks, and yearshoning my surfng skills. I also havetaken these skills outside o their el-ement. I have questioned, reected,and anticipated the next time that I would be surfng. My passion wasa constant that never ceased, eventhough I was not always in the ocean.I reected on how to reach the nextlevel in surfng in the car on the way

home, at dinner, even as I slept someo these skills were developed in mydreams. Osmosis did exist, but onlybecause I had the reedom to expressmysel and positive role models whohelped me to grow as a surer.

Hard work, dedication, studying theexperts, and the eternal enthusiasmo a six year old have helped mebecome a better surer. I observedand studied how the experts madeturns on waves. I tried my best toreplicate these maneuvers with my

own style. I built a toolbox o ma-neuvers that I could use in a varietyo dierent ocean conditions. This helped me develop my own style,a very important aspect in the arto surfng. I have now taken all othis experience into the classroom where I teach children to becomebetter writers. I have used many omy lie experiences to help childrenbecome powerul writers and lie-long learners.

TheArt

ofSurfng

I have used many

of my life

experiences

to help children

become

powerful writers

and lifelong learners.

Scott LeonardSDAWP 2009


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Spanish speakers. This is due to re-search that states that minority cul-tures should be supported in theirnative language to become bilingualand the majority culture should beimmersed in their target languageto become bilingual. Spanish alsomakes phonetic sense, which inmany regards makes beginning lit-eracy easier in Spanish. Many op-

portunities and even more challeng-es come with teaching in a bilingualprogram and the oremost challengeis second language development.Cooperative learning is essentialas students develop language romone another. I use this cooperative learning model as the cornerstoneor my instruction and to develop avery powerul community within theclassroom. I was constantly search-ing or ways to incorporate this co-operative learning experience withmy writing program.

To improve my writing program,I had to frst accept that I had tostep out o my comort zone and trysomething completely dierent. I had to be willing to be disturbed.This was difcult, as I saw a greatresponsibility leading not only theiracademic instruction, but their bilingual development. I consideredmysel a creative teacher who taught lessons with passion and enthusi-asm. Looking back I see that mosto my lessons were directed by me.

The writing cohort taught me to trysomething new, giving my studentsmore opportunities to discover theirvoice rom within. I knew that I was

taking a risk, to give so much re-

sponsibility to frst graders as theyhad to develop a bilingual voice rom within. This initiated the paradigmshit in the classroom. I used mypassion and enthusiasm to inspire,becoming a model o learning as I,too, was trying something new as ateacher and a learner.

I initiated and prioritized bookmak-ing into my daily schedule. Studentscreated the size, color, title, illus-trations, and how many pages their

books were. They were given com-plete reedom to write. I allowedstudents to write about whateverthey desired. They were allowed to write anywhere in our classroom.They could work individually or with others, but they had to write.My classroom was as loose as it hadever been, but the results were suc-cessul because o the environment,

attitude, and continual learning that were created. Bookmaking timebecame the highlight o the day orevery student in my class. For thefrst time in my teaching career, allstudents in my classroom admitted

that they loved to write. I realizedthat it was the dedication o time andreedom that they were given, whichcreated this community o writers.Everyone believed in themselves aswriters, because that is what they dideveryday. Girls wrote about Han-nah Montana and puppies, and boysstarted to develop Indiana Jonescomics. The passions o these young writers were so great that Iwas not concerned with the subjectso the books. I was especially im-

pressed by how they were collaborat-ing on their ideas with one another.My role as the teacher completelychanged.

They were beginning to believe

in themselves and what they were writing. The most important ingre-dient was consistent writing time tobecome uent writers. My lessonsstarted out long, but ater time I eltthat I was holding them back by notgiving them enough time to write.They became more successul as Ishortened my direct instruction tomini-lessons that ocused mainly on voice and organization o thoughts.My main role evolved rom motivat-ing them to temporarily accomplish

a task, to inspiring them to perma-nently write with passion and mean-ing. I was the muse, the editor, andthe publisher. I praised and encouraged and sought out what each stu-dent did well, never commenting ongrammar or spelling errors. I wasthe positive voice that encouragedthem to keep writing. Ater gradually building trust and rapport, I asked

them questions that would urtherguide their writing, always withthe inquiry method. I elt that they would improve as writers as thethemselves discovered what madethem the writers that they were.

Going to the library and read-aloudbooks took on whole new meaningsI consistently studied mentor textswith them so that they could start to learn rom many dierent authorsBooks were more than just goodstories to read or listen to or enjoy-ment. They were a medium o language and illustrations that helpedmy students develop their own crato writing. They became more andmore empowered as they viewedthemselves as authors, just like pub-

lished authors.

I, too, was learning somethingcompletely new almost everyday. Ishared my realization with my col-leagues, parents, and cohort and be-came even more enthusiastic aboutmy new development in my writingprogram. This enthusiasm was on-going and reciprocal, transorminga frst grade classroom into an envi-ronment o six and seven year old au-thors in my classroom. My frst graders now knew much more than how

to fnd the beach and wax their sur-boards. They were on their own inthe water riding waves. They gainedso much responsibilty or their owndevelopment as I guided them withmini-lessons, mentor texts, and en-couraged cooperative learning andreection. My role was continuallychanging as I gave them reedomto create and illustrate their ownbooks everyday. They developed apassion or writing books that I canonly relate to my love o the ocean

I used my passion and enthusiasm

to inspire, becoming a model of learning

as I too was trying something new...

Hard work, dedication, studying the experts,

and the eternal enthusiasm of a six-year-old

have helped me become a better surfer.


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Whenever they had ree time, they were work-ing on their books. Many parents inormed meo bookmaking that took place at home. Learn-ing and writing became a natural pastime thatreached well beyond the 8:00-2:20 school day.The passion was continual and never stopped,just like I never stopped thinking about surfng.

Every child comes rom a dierent backgroundand has a dierent combination o learning

styles than his or her peers. I ound that givingkids reedom and encouraging discovery o selwas the secret to their success. As an elemen-tary school teacher, I believe that it is a writersnotebook and bookmaking that helps childrenfnd themselves as writers. I want my frst grad-ers to discover what kind o books they like tomake and write and illustrate them to the besto their abilities. I eel that it is important ormy students to think about the dierent genreso books that are being created by their peersand or them to discuss their writing with eachother. Cooperative learning is a vital compo-nent and valuing each others skills will only

help them to grow as authors.

I still add to my toolbox as a lielong surer. Imight be out o my physical prime and not havethe energy that I had as a young boy on thebeach, but I continue to grow as a surer. I havemore knowledge o the ocean and o surboarddesign. I continue to travel and sur many di-erent kinds o waves. I also continue to makeriendships with others who enjoy the art o rid-ing waves. We have discussions and grow aswe collaborate about our experiences and pas-

sion or surfng. We also still have the enthusi-asm o frst graders. My surfng toolbox keepsgrowing and will never cease to grow. I haveeven transerred this passion o surfng to otheracets o my lie, such as skiing, running, rais-ing a amily, and teaching. This is the best partabout developing a passion. There are so manytranserable skills. We must give children theopportunity to be individuals and discover theirpassions as they learn to express themselvesthrough the crat o writing.

Rob Meza-EhlertKearny High

San Diego Unified

VictoriaMossa-Mariani

Garrison Elementary

Oceanside Unified

Marti PeruskiRancho Buena Vista High

Vista Unified

Laura PribylFuerte Elementary

Cajon Valley Union

John RallSan Diego Mesa College

San Diego Community College

Becky RudeenEscondido High

Escondido Union

Sarah 'Sally' RussellCapri Elementary

Encinitas Union

Melinda 'Mindy'Shacklett

Education Center (Math Dept)

San Diego Unified

Elka AdamsUniverisity City High

San Diego Unified

Valentyna BannerNubia Leadership Academy

San Diego Unified

Aja BookerNubia Leadership Academy

San Diego Unified

Wendy CraigEl Camino Creek Elementary

Encinitas Union

Robert GalloSan Diego HighScience and Tech

San Diego Unified

Edward GilletEastlake High

Sweetwater Union High

Scott LeonardCapri Elementary

Encinitas Union

Lei LiBarnard Elementary

San Diego Unified

CongratulationsSDAWP FellowsSummer 2009

We must give children the

opportunity to be

individuals and discover

their passions as they

learn to express

themselves through thecraft of writing.


8/16

8 Dialogue, Winter 2010

Where Im From

I am from the old white house

sitting tall and grand

I am from the beach,

and the waves lapping the shore

I am from an amusement park,

sitting on a pier in the ocean

I am from those endless summer

nights, catching freies in the dark

I am from tall skyscrapers

looking out to Lake Michigan

I am from the excitement of seeing

the ice cream truck

I am from the glistening snow

during the winter

I am from Chicago.

Jeffrey Huang

oung

riters

amp

S

U

M

M

E

R

2

0

0

9

Y

WC

OdetotheStarsHewaitsuntilthesunHassunkenbeneath

Hismidnightcoat,black.Andthenthestarslightup,Dancinginthelightofthemoon.

Thepartyhasstarted,Constellationsareleapingthroughthesky,Orionisrunningfromhisscorpion,Themoonashesaglitteringsmile,Asthenightwearson.

Whentherstickersofdawnarise,Thepartyisover

Untilnexttime!SamanthaPryor

Journey Throughthe Mind

I was thinking

What to write?

Wandering the path of ideas

When I approached

A fork in the road

Poem?

Or story?

I chose poem

Took a left turn

And found myself lost

A dark forest of lines

A storm of words

Losing control of thought

Lost in the depths

Of my mind

Michela Rodriguez


9/16


Dreams:betweenthecourseoftwodifferenthoursOurmindsmaygotosleep

Butourthoughtsare

morealivethaneverDylanaGuth

Ready, Set, Write

Pencils running

super speed

Mind racing,

full of ideasPaper bouncing

with words

Losing control

and going fast

Hand aching

and head hurting

Writing is a

Contest for your mind

Ciara O'Shea

LovetoLearn

FoundwordsfromFrankBarone

Smileatpurplesurprises

Tocontinueyourloveoflearning

Jump,feetrst,intosummer.

Doacannonball

intoapoolofwords.

Orsquishwordsonthesandybeach

andsmellsaltymetaphors.

Wordsthatrustleandsigh,

Andthatdanceinthewind,

Instarbrightskies.

Smileatpurplesurprises

Tocontinueyourloveoflearning.

JustinChung

Rainbow o Metaphors

Red is a violet strawberry waiting to be picked.

Orange is a pumpkin waiting to scare someone.

Yellow is a sour lemon getting squeezed or lemonade.

Green is the stem o a rose growing rom the brown ground.

Blue is a sweet and sot berry getting eaten.

Purple is the violet sky flled with stars and twilight.

Eileen Huang


10/16

BoomersfromMars,MillennialsfromVenus

Ed GilletSDAWP 2009


A representative rom theEducational Foundation took thestage and noted that every one othe students who nominated thehonoree mentioned something thatteacher said every day as the class was iling out o the room: Youreall special people, and dont ever letthe world tell you dierent. Most othe students in the audience inishedthe quote along with the presenter,and the crowd broke into a hearteltcheer or our ortunate TWC.

I was happy or my colleague whowon the awardhe deserved itbutI was less sanguine about his dailymaxim. Two books by San DiegoState University psychology proes-sor Jean Twenge, Generation Me(2006) and The Narcissism Epidemic(2009), helped me connect my di-iculties teaching academic writingto my seniors to the rising sel-obsession o the millennials, the

generation o students born ater1990. Now, I suppose there is noth-ing wrong with the irst part o our

TWCs observation that his studentsare all special peoplei we dontmind dressing up some quintes-sential American egalitarianism ina new-age, psycho-babble leisuresuit, but the second hal o the state-ment is disturbing: and dont letthe world tell you dierent.

In The Narcissism Epidemic (2009),Twenge and Campbell cite stud-ies that compared the conidencelevels o Korean and American stu-

dents regarding their math skills While 39% o American studentexpressed high conidence that theyperormed well on a math test, only6% o the Korean students believedthey had scored highly on the sametest. But when the actual test scores were compared, the Korean students actual perormance arexceeded that o the overly coni-dent Americans (47).

In Generation Me, Twenge andCampbell note that while only18% o American college reshmendescribed themselves as A studentsin 1968, a whopping 48% o enter-ing reshmen in 2004 claimed tohave an A average. Furthermorethis grade inlation occurred dur-ing the decades when SAT scoreseither declined or remained lat(47). Statistics, studies and anecdot-al data led Twenge and Campbellto conclude that American studentsbelieve that they are more compe-tent than they actually are despitethe act that the world certainly istelling them something dierentand the authors attribute the dispar-ity between perception and reality

to the American students inlatedsense o sel-esteem.

So heres the rub. The world, justlyor not, will place a value on onesaccomplishments and contribu-tions, and rather ruthlessly. But, iTwenge and Campbell are correct,the worlds judgments dont matterto GenMe. When reality and an-tasy conlict, reality can only drag you down. John Donne has beensupercededwe really are islandsnow. Weve spawned a genera-tion o solipsistic navel-gazers whocare only or how many riends

Youre all special people, and dontlet the world tell you different.EHS Teacher Who Cares

award winner

Compared to earlier graduatingclasses Id known, Eastlakes classo 2009 seemed dispirited, anxious,and reluctant. And who could blamethemor months theyd been sub-jected to a steady diet o apocalypticdoom and gloom. Jobs disappear-ing, tight credit-shrinking student

loans, and dwindling state undingturning their sae-haven communitycolleges into expensive, competitiveinstitutions.

Fortunately, our graduation ceremo-ny dispelled the malaise that had per-meated the campus or weeks. Thebuzzing conusion o mortar-board-ed, medaled, tassled, and gownedstudents nervously queuing up, thespontaneous joyous roar rising romthe kids when they heard the irstbars o Pomp and Circumstance,and the raucous cheering rom theirriends and amilies that illed theSouthwestern College stadium tocapacity banished all those depress-ing thoughts.

I listened to the roll call o gradu-ates, meditating on where my or-mer students lie might lead him

or her whenever a amiliar namerang out. Ater the valedictorian andsalutatorian speechesthere wereive this yearone honor remainedto be meted out: an Eastlake teacher would be designated the TeacherWho Cares as determined by votesrom the graduating senior class.We teachers glanced at one anotherthe plaque would be a nice addi-tion to a classroom wall, but thethousand-dollar award would be asweeter airmation.

I was happy for my colleague who wonthe awardhe deserved itbut I was less

sanguine about his daily maxim.

So heres the rub. The world, justly or not,

will place a value on ones

accomplishments and contributions,

and rather ruthlessly.


11/16


they can attract to their Facebookpages. The cogito or the age o web 2.0 might run: People addme, thereore I am. In a culturewhere everyone gets a ribbon sim-ply or participating, o course ourstudents expect a B or simplyturning in their assignments. Likethe children o Lake Wobegone,everyone is above averageor at

least they believe themselves to be.The worlds judgment is irrelevantto them because they know theyregreateveryone airms their spe-cial qualities, so they must be real.Twenge, hersel a millennial, hasruthlessly pinned her generationto the wall or urther study, andI highly recommend her books toteachers. What I want to do inthe rest o this essay is to explorethe generation-based miscommu-nication between Boomers, i.e., mygeneration, and millennials. To thatend, Id like to introduce you to mydog, Lucy.

Lucy is about a year old, but mywie and I only recently adopted herrom the San Diego Humane Society,and beore we took her home, Lucylived in shelters or the irst eightmonths o her lie. The trainerswarned us that Lucy was impulsiveand might be diicult to controluntil we established our authoritythrough positive reinorcement andconsistent discipline. So we took acrash course in puppy training to tryto deal with Lucys endearing wild-ness. As I tried to establish some

control over the dog, it struck methat she was training me every bitas much as I was training her. She

trained me not to leave my shoes inthe garage; she trained me to takeher or at least two long walks everyday; she trained me to stop regu-larly to let her sni things. Ater aew weeks, Lucy and I reached abehavioral equilibrium that keepsus both reasonably happy at leastI dont have to chase the dog or myshoes quite as oten.

I thought a lot about classroom dis-cipline while I worked with my dog.

As every teacher knows, class man-agement is also a symbiotic process whereby a teacher reaches somesort o mutually agreeable com-promises between themselves andtheir students. In eect, studentstrain teachers to employ disciplinemethods and instructional strate-gies that work to keep the classrooma harmonious and productive place.

When instructional and disciplinarymethods are dysunctional, teacherstry new approaches until they indsomething that works.

I believe at least part o the explana-tion or the prevalence o personalexpressive writing in the K-12 cur-riculum must lie with the act thatstudents have trained their teachersto assign increasing amounts o per-sonal expressive writing. Studentsin classes that indulge this styleo writing probably derive a greatdeal o satisaction rom it, and theyreinorce the teachers expressivis-tic approach through their positivebehavior. And whos to say that stu-dents who write journals and per-sonal responses to literature are notdeveloping as writers or experienc-ing proound personal growth.

A problem arises when studentstrain their teachers to mostly assignexpressivistic writing. Our narcis-

sistic students love to write aboutthemselves, and judging by theirpropensity or conessional bloggingas evidenced by their unabasheduse o Facebook and Myspace theyare rather proliic and enthusiasticpractitioners o the personal essay.By indulging our students preer-ence or the personal, teachers seehappier students, and so teach-ers experience less stress. Studentresistance to the boring and hardgenre o argumentative academic

writing, on the other hand, createconlict and acts as a disincentive towriting expository essays.

But there is more to the story thanstudent likes and dislikes. Accordingto a 2002 report prepared by theIntersegmental Committee o theAcademic Senates o the CaliorniaCommunity Colleges, the Caliornia

State University, and the Universityo Caliornia, only 1/3 o enter-ing college students are suicientlyprepared or the two most requent-ly assigned [college] writing tasksanalyzing inormation or argumentsand synthesizing inormation romseveral sources, according to ac-ulty respondents. Obviously thereis a misalignment between readingand writing in the K-12 curriculumand the sort o reading and writingstudents are expected to do in col-lege. Now I dont think teachers areto blame or this. They are doing what is expected o them in thclassroom: creating opportunitiesor students to write.

Consider the ollowing quickwriteprompt, taken almost at randomrom a Holt 9th grade ELA textand note how many times the wordyou is used:

Imagine that your family is leavinghome because youre all in grea

danger. You must leave now, andtheres no chance of returning. You

can only take one special belonging

with you. What will it be? List yourtop three choices. Then, quickwrite

about what youll miss most abouyour home.

This prompt clearly asks students toexplore their own intuitions, but think we can ind a missed opportu-nity to engage students with a largersocio-political context. For examplewhy not crat an opportunity or writ-ing that asks students to commenon two scenarios: one the amiliarto Caliornians at leastscene in which hectic American suburbanites cram photographs, computersand pet cages into their overloaded

When instructional and disciplinemethods are dysfunctional, teachers

try new approaches until they find

something that works.

The worlds judgment is irrelevant to

them because they know theyre great

everyone affirms their special qualities,

so they must be real.


12/16

car trunks. A second scenario mightconsist o a leeing Pakistani amilytrundling down a dirt road, drivingtheir arm animals ahead o themand pushing the amilys weatheredmatriarch in a crudely built wheel-barrow piled high with their pitiulbelongings. Not all quickwrites areequal when it comes to promotingcritical thinking.

In their useul little book, TheySay, I Say (2006), Gerald Gra andCathy Birkenstein divide academicargument between explaining anauthors position and responding tohis or her arguments. Their book ispremised on the reasonable expec-tation that a writer must irst showhe or she understands an argumentbeore they are qualiied to oertheir own opinions. But the essenceo GenMes problems with academicwriting is that while GenMe writersare adept at expressing their opin-ions, they struggle with the summa-rizing and analyzing, the they sayportion o an academic essay. Someo this is attributable to our studentsdiiculties reading arguments inexpository texts, but whatever theroot cause o the problem, by almostevery measure our GenMe studentsare alling short o the expectationscolleges have set or them.

So, what is to be done? First, we needto teach students how to read rhe-torically. Many teachers have made

signiicant strides in this directionby using mentor texts and showingstudents how to read like writers,but we need to make our teachingo rhetorical concepts more explicit.Next, we should add more exposi-tory and argumentative texts to ourELA curriculum, and we must teachstudents how to read and respondto academic argument. Finally, weshould never orget that most o aca-demia, at least temperamentally inot chronologically, is o a dierentgeneration rom the millenials.

In 1992, psychologist John Graypublished Men Are From Mars,Women Are From Venus in whichhe popularized the idea that dier-ences in communication styles layat the root o gender conlict. Thethrust o Grays Mars and Venusmetaphor is that disputes betweenmen and women are more thansimple disagreements over acts or values. Gender-based miscommu-nication resembles deeper, culturalconlicts in which seemingly incon-


Guerilla TeachersVictoria Mossa-MarianiSDAWP 2009

Are you willing to be disturbed?To get perturbed? To write your verbs?

To think critically and act politically?You may eel uncomortable and its understandable

but change is tangible and whats imaginable is super duper,a brighter uture or all the boys and all the girls

in our schools, in the yardsplaying hard even when the rules are airsometimes the game is not just a thought,

so keep it real and keep it trueeducation in the heart o the red, white and blue

every child let cared or will do,we dont need rhetoric to tell us who

highly educated, motivated to cultivate and captivate our youthto search or truth, respect each othersame or other, white, black or brown

in the country or downtown, everywhere in betweenon paper or on a screen

we say and do what we meanread and write, quote whats tightkeep in sight our students rights

social justice will protect uson this journey o lie and learning,were yearning to see improvements

shit happens and it moves us orward, never boring,we teach the stories o hope, o growth, o change

the comings o age tales that ll the hallsand sing, Let reedom ring!

Guerilla teachers, this is your rhyme, your paradigm,your moment to shine

your time, your words, your acts give back, so dont stopor let the ball drop because your lessons all on precious ears

through the years and ripple like waves in the world,in this space, through time and in and out o place.

your desire, a re, a spark, a fameInspiration is the name, education is the gameand were all players not pawns, not morons,

we rock on in our rooms, in the street, in the bleachers,cheering on our kids, Guerilla Teachers

(Gillet, continued on p. 14)


13/16

13Dialogue, Winter 2010

in the classrooms as their cratwalked in to ind mom had disman-tled everything. Only Mom wasthe administration who this timedid not oer any logical, soothingresponses to our uniorm tantrum.Like Mom, they completely ailed torealize the oensive depths o theiractions. Like Mom, they robbedus o our ownership and implied

that we have no ability in our ieldUnlike Mom, not even an attemptwas made to apologize or explain.It started with the PowerPoint onNon-Negotiables. Truly mimick-ing the role o parent and childsome touched soul had decided thatthe best way to approach individu-als who are experts in their ields was to publicly present sweepinstatements and unwarranted deci-sions without any consultation orconversation beore or ater, and totell these proessionals that there would be no cooperating to insomething that might be a betterit. Our Non-Negotiables includ-ed: mandating that teachers submitall lesson plans or the ollowingweek on the Friday prior, as i ournew parents were going to read ourwork over the weekend and provideeedback beore we launched intothe lessons on Monday; creatinga chart (checklist) o the assign-ments students should completeduring the school year; reassigningrooms on campus so that teach-ers might be situated in the samearea as other department members,but said reassignment would becompletely arbitrary and randommoving an entire three quarters oa department that is already posi-tioned together to the other side ocampus; cutting back one ull weeko instruction in order to have thestudents work the aorementionedmove

The Non-Negotiables continued with every new requirement reek

ing o disapproval, disrespect, anddistrust or all the teachers seatedbeore them. We were even provid-ed with parables o the horrendousteaching that had been observed inour classrooms, although neitherI nor my colleagues had receiveda visit since earlier irst semester.Most ridiculous, though, was theresponse given by the admin to ateachers question, And what willYOU be doing to hold YOURSELVESaccountable? Answered with

So, ater our sta meeting onMonday, May 4th, 2009, I remem-bered a particular childhood trau-ma long orgotten.

I was about seven and my parents were having a large dinner party.Id been practicing my table-settingtechniques over many amily meals(Im an only child; were talkingabout three place settings,) tryingout some new ideas (utensils placedperpendicular to plate above setting;napkin in square old on plate) andinally elt ready to practice my artin ront o a larger audiencenotthree, but ten people, all adults.I worked or hours making it per-ect. Alone in the dining room, Iarranged and rearranged until myingers bled. Candles, candlesticks;lowers, vases; salad orks; oysterorks; all manner and species othe amily china lay spread like anintricate and aesthetically pleasing yard sale across the dining roomtable. I my parents had been host-ing a seven-hour, six-course ban-quet, this table would have beenperect or the occasion.

But they werentand it wasnt.And Id missed my nap. And I wasover-excited. So, when I walkedback into the dining room later toind my mom undoing all my hard work, stripping away the art to

leave only rudimentary, haphazardunction, I threw a remarkable tan-trum.

Honey, Im sorry, but were justbarbequing we dont need allthis I dont want to have to put itall away ater dinner my momsreasonable, pleading commentsdrited down to the carpet whereI maniacally twisted mysel andtested the loorboards resistance toists, elbows, knees, and toes, and

even a little orehead. I wasnt hav-ing any o it.She was trying to handle it sweet-ly enough, but her actions weretoo devastating. It wasnt that mycrat wasnt appreciated, it was thatmy ability wasnt recognized. Whyhadnt she just told me it was wrongand asked me to ix it? Why hadntshe worked with me to improve it?Why was she, ater so many amilydinners, now the only one consid-ered capable o doing the job right?I was good enough or the chore,but not the actual event? Why hadI even bothered? My goodness, the woman wasnt even as talented atit as I.

She didnt understand the oensivedepths o her action. I did eventu-ally resume my crat again, but notor a very long time. Not until Idbeen able to reclaim ownership oit.On that recent Monday aternoon,teachers who viewed their work

A MissionStatement on

OwnershipKendra MaddenSDAWP2007

Candles, candlesticks;

flowers, vases; saladforks; oyster forks; all

manner and species of

the family china lay

spread like an

intricate and

aesthetically pleasing

yard sale across the

dining room table.


14/16

Well be doing what were doingnow, but it will be better because itwill be easier next year when thesethings are in place.

The meeting ended the same wayit started: with the declarationthat there would be no discussion.Everyone was to leave the audito-rium and wait three days beore

approaching members o the adminteam with concernsthree days tocontemplate the situation and getour hysteria under controlthreedays or the admin team membersto get themselves saely o cam-pus and registered in a conerence.Quite literally.It must be human nature. When oureort and growth has not been rec-ognized, let alone celebrated, we losethe drive to continue working. As achild, this meant it would be a longtime beore I again took an interestin the thing at which Id been toldI was not good enough. That disin-terest aected only my mother andme. But here, among multiple stamembers, the apathy spread like anair-borne pathogen. Our studentsprovide most o the impetus we needto move orward, but when thosewho regulate how the system works(the administration) choose to startregulating how you work instead, ittakes away all teacher ownership.And when they take away that own-ership while belittling your crat at

the same time, it makes you wantto cross your arms tightly over yourchest, pout, and demand, I youknow so much, why dont you just doit yoursel, then? We all know howthat would turn out.Im going to be teaching at a newschool now. The new principal askedto meet with me beore summerstarted. It turned out, she wantedto give me a task: design the writingbenchmarks or grades 9 through12. She provided me with a couple

o books, but only as guidesshesaid she thought I would have somegreat ideas and that this was some-thing the sta had been strugglingwith. No mandates, no dictates, onlya request, like being asked to set thetable or a big dinner. Only, I get theimpression that this time, whateveradjustments might need to be made,theyll be made with me, not or me.That is ownership.


should work rom is plenty, romtoo much material, so much that you have to waste it, throw someo it away, edit it, winnow it outin short, compose, select, abstract(Moett 72).

Using an inquiry approach to es-sential questions to write eature

articles provides students with thematerial that they need to write au-thentically. The writing work that we do in the classroom must begrounded in the belie that it is bet-ter to work rom plenty than romscarcity because this belie is ouronly hope o authenticating the writ-ing and thinking processes our stu-dents do in school beore they decidethat school has little to teach themabout lie, at which point weve all lost. Our students will engage withthe curriculum only so long as it re-

mains meaningul to them, and to bemeaningul, it must begin and endwith that which is important in their lives. Lets give ourselves over tothem, or once, and trust that, withthe right guidance, they can be theexperts on their own thinking andproduce writing that proves it.

Reerences:

Delpit, Lisa. Lessons rom Teach-ers. Journal of Teacher Education.57.3 (2006): 220-231.

Moett, James. Bridges: From Per-sonal Writing to Formal Essay. SanDiego Area Writing Project SummerInstitute Readings. 2008.

Moore, Jenny. Backward Design.Sta Development Workshop. Coro-nado High School, Coronado, CA.2007.

Ray, K.W. Exploring Inquiry asa Teaching Stance in the WritingWorkshop. Language Arts. 83.3(2006): 238-247.

Ray, K.W. Understanding the Di-erence Between Mode and Genre.Study Driven. Portsmouth: Hein-mann, 2006.

Samway, K. A Brie History o Writ-ing Research. When English Lan-

guage Learners Write. Portsmouth:Heinmann, 2006.

sistent worldviews are at stake.More reputable psychologists, suchas Deborah Tannen, You Just DontUnderstand (1990), also madethe same point, but the Martian/Venusian dichotomy is a pithy con-cept that still resonates. Id like topush this planetary metaphor a biturther and identiy the academic

tradition with the Martian conver-sational style and the narcissisticmillennials with the Venusian. Iwe rame the ailure o our studentsto assimilate to academic cultureas a mismatch between the lan-guage o academic argument andthe intensely personal GenMe styleo communication, we may be ableto ind a way to translate the lan-guages o the inhabitants o thesetwo planets to reach some kind omutual respect and understanding.

Or maybe not. A eminist critic(Tannen comes to mind) o the cur-rent push to incorporate rhetoricand argument into the K-12 curric-ulum might express some antipathyor the agonistic, patriarchal tradi-tion that underlies the academyspenchant or argument. But that,as they say, is another story. Anduntil the Venusians wrest controlo the academy rom the Martians,the argumentative communicationstyle will no doubt prevail. So, iwe expect our students to succeedin college, we need to equip themwith the proper rhetorical tools.

References:

Bean, J., et al.Reading Rhetorically.New York: Pearson, 2007.

Gra, G. and Birkenstein, C. TheySay, I Say. New York: W.W. Norton,2006.

Gray, J.Men Are From Mars, WomenAre From Venus. New York: Harper.1992.

Tannen, D. You Just Don'tUnderstand: Women and Men in

Conversation.New York: Ballantine,1990.

Twenge, J. Generation Me. NewYork: Free Press, 2006.

Twenge, J. and Campbell, W. The Narcissism Epidemic. New York:Free Press, 2009.

(Gillet, continued from p. 12)(Falkner, continued from p. 4)


15/16

uture or new possibilities. In thisfnal issue, we reect on seminal literacy practices o yesterday andseek new and evolving ways o help-ing our diverse students becomestrong and independent learners.

What are the seminal literacy prac-tices advocated by NCTE that ev-ery teacher o young adolescentsshould embrace? In looking orward to the uture, what new andevolving practices should we takealong? Lets get on the road again(Willie Nelson) and take one fnaljourney together.

For submission guidelines visit:http://www.ncte.org/journals/vm/write


DIALOGUE

Call forManuscripts

Summer 2010 Issue

Submission Deadline:April 1, 2010

Diversityand

Democracy:Teaching for Equityand Social Justice

I am leaving this legacy to allof you...to bring peace, justice,

equality, love and a fulfillment

of what our lives should be.

Without vision, the people will

perish, and without courage

and inspiration, dreams will

diethe dream of freedom and

peace.

Rosa Parks

What do you do to inspire yourstudents and how do you inspire

them when the system in which wework relects disparity o resourcesrom school to school? How do yourespond to this disparity? What arethe ways you help students createtheir own vision within the estab-lished culture o your school? In what ways do you strive to meetthe needs o your students andaddress issues related to languageand ethnicity in your classroom orschool?

Dialoguewould like to receive your

work or the work o your students.Submit a story o student success,a strategy or implementation, ora personal essay on your teachingexperience.

Email all manuscript submissions,suggestions, letters to the editorand Project Notes to:

[email protected] [email protected]

PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES

Green EnglishSubmission Deadline:

May 15, 2010

Humans relationship with naturehas long been a major theme inliterature. Since the recent dawn othe Green Movement, global envi-ronmental concerns have taken onrenewed importance, and we areed a constant stream o inorma-tionoten conlictingregardingthe right way to protect, conserve,and sustain natural resources.

What should English language artsstudents learn about humans rolein nature and conservation? Whatdoes it mean to be environmentallyliterate in the 21st century? Howhave you helped students betterunderstand, appreciate, and pro-tect the natural environment, whileacknowledging the eect o humanactions on natural surroundings? What scholarly, pedagogical, orinormational resources have youound useul or these goals? Whatnew and classic literary works

about nature and conservation doyou teach?

For more inormation and submis-sion guidelines visit: http://www.ncte.org/journals/ej/calls

English JournalNCTE

July 2011:Inquiries and InsightsSubmission Deadline:

March 15, 2010

In this unthemed issue, our lastas editors o Language Arts, weeature your current questions andtransormations as educators, com-munity members, students, andresearchers.

Many directions are possible in thisissue. What tensions do you seein literacy education today? Whatdo readers oLanguage Arts needto notice and think about? Whatinquiry work have you done thatcan stretch the ield o literacy andlanguage arts? Describe your pro-cess o learning about literature,literacy, culture, social justice, and

language. What new literacy prac-tices do you see in communities,ater-school programs, and class-rooms? What supports these prac-tices? What is getting in the wayo change? What connections areadults and children making as theyengage in the art o language?

Join us in creating a collection oinquiries and insights. For submis-sion guidelines go to: http://www.ncte.org/journals/la/write

Language ArtsNCTE

Voices from theMiddle

Looking Backand Moving Forward

Submission Deadline:May 1, 2010

NCTE and Voices have traveled to-gether toward new understandingsabout young adolescents literacyand learning. As NCTE celebrates its100th anniversary, we are taking ourfnal steps as VMs editorial team. We invite you to get on board andjoin us as we reminisce about wherewe have been and as we look to the


16/16

Non-Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDSan Diego, CA

Permit No 1909

San Diego Area Writing ProjectUniversity of California, San Diego9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0036La Jolla, CA 92093-0036

SDAWP's3rd Annual

SpringConference

Saturday, March 6, 20108:00 am - 12:00 pm

UCSD

ReadingLike a Writer

K-12June 28 - July 2, 20108:00 am - 3:00 pm

UCSD

Improving

Students'AcademicWriting

July 12 - July 16, 20108:00 am - 3:00 pm

UCSD

Calendar of Events

2010Invitational

SummerInstitute

June 29 - July 23, 20108:30 am - 3:30 pm

UCSD

Pre-Institute DaySaturday, April 10, 20108:30 am - 12:30 pm

UCSD

PromisingPractices

Conferencewith featured speaker

Stacey GoldblattApril 17, 2010

Marina Village, San DiegoFor information, please visit

ljhssandinet/faculty/clecren/gsdcte/

San Diego AreaWriting Project

DirectorKim Douillard

teachr0602@aolcom

Co-DirectorChristine Kan

kealoha2006@yahoocom

Young WritersPrograms Coordinators

Divona Roymrsroy@hotmailcom

Janis Jonesaboriginals@coxnet

NWP TechnologyLiaisons

Kendra Maddenkmadden1@sandinet

Christine Kankealoha2006@yahoocom

Senior ProgramAssociateCarol Schrammel

To contactthe SDAWP office,call (858) 534-2576

or email sdawp@ucsdedu

Visit our website athttp://createucsdedu/sdawp/

For registration materialsor additional inormation regarding these programs,

please contact the SDAWP ofceat 858-534-2576 or [email protected]

Dialogue Winter 2009

Documents

Transcript of Dialogue Winter 2009