Daily Archives: October 15, 2009

October 15, 2009 · 10:03 am

Thanks for the feedback! It is worth continuing my blog…

Every now and again I get an email from someone who visits my blog. Today is one of those days. When you write a blog you have no idea who your readers are. I know what countries they come from, I know what was searched to find my blog and I know how many people have visited. Sometimes a reader will leave a comment, but mostly not. I started my blog in the beginning as part of my professional development. I need to understand and use Web 2.0. , but I’ve gained so much more…

Sue from Victoria sent me an email thanking me for sharing. She has followed my blog religiously and incorporated the ideas within her own Prep – One – Two classroom. She reports that her children’s writing has improved dramatically, that their engagement has sky rocketed and the improvement in their reading and comprehension has been amazing. She also said that incorporating ‘student led’ group activities into her classroom has resulted in better behavior. Her students are taking responsibility for their learning and loving it. Now her colleagues are asking her to share what she is doing and she is  sharing. She asked me if that’s ‘ok’. Well hell yeah! That is wonderful…

The fact that my blog is helping teachers and more importantly improving student learning is fantastic. I write this blog, which is a huge committment and this feedback motivates me to continue. Ownership means nothing to me, this is not about intellectual property. So cut and paste, use ideas and share with others. The other question was where do I get  ideas from. I’ve worked with some amazing people, I read for professional development, I am a trained Early Years Literacy & Numeracy Coordinator, I’ve completed Peer Coaching, I have a great professional network and have been teaching forever or so it feels.  I also started this blog at a time when I was looking for something new. I love what I do, but I need to be challenged. I would never say I was bored, but I certainly felt I had more to offer to others, but no forum to do it.

Thanks Sue from Victoria for the email. It’s just what I needed to keep me going! Cheers Nina

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October 15, 2009 · 8:03 am

Using an Editing Checklist! Our Journals… We are authors!

I’m spending alot of time talking about editing. Today I spoke to my preps about the writing process that authors go through. Authors write notes or a plan with lots of jottings or ideas. They then think about what they’re going to write and complete a first draft. This draft may stay a draft or it may become a piece of writing to be read by an audience. If it’s goinng to be read by an audience it has to be correct. I told them that authors correct their writing and then… they sometimes give it to a Wordsmith. Wordsmiths are people who correct the edited writing by an author. My preps understood this and it highlighted the process that writers go through.

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They are starting to understand that writing is a process. Today my children wrote a first draft about a topic of personal interest. When we were talking about Wordsmiths, one child put up their hand and said they wanted to be an engineer. This led to other children sharing what they wanted to be when they grew up. It’s a lovely converstaion to have with young children and some children decided to write about this.

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When they had finished their first draft I asked them to complete their writing checklist. See previous post – 5 Year Olds Can Develop Criteria for Editing. Hand Over the Responsibility. The class constructed  writing checklist will be completed by the children everytime they write. It is a powerful strategy which I believe inproves student writing.

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Cheers Nina

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