Extra! Extra! If You Cracked an Egg On My Face It Would Surely Become Fried! I'm Cooked, Too

Yesterday, I did the third part of yearlong professional development in West Haven Public Schools and highlighted the ways that students can inform and explain via the newspaper genre. It seemed rather timely that CWP-Fairfield did the Literacy4Life event, as the leftover newspapers were perfect models to first get 5th graders comparing and contrasting for information (a state wide assessment for them this year), but also for modeling real-world writing and finding their voice of an article that they'd want to write should they create a 5th grade chronicle.

I did the workshop twice, and each time I said to teachers, "Man, this is like a Sunday morning Starbucks in here!" Everyone was totally engaged with the Stagazine. 

The young people worked on creating original headlines from a free-write we did, and sold me stories about their worlds from their creative catch-phrases.

After, I had the fortune of working with 60 fifth and sixth grade teachers on additional ways to expand the ways the students write to inform and explain. We did an Op-Ed activity - one that was similar to the one I did with teachers in the summer invitational (that resulted in the CT Mirror publications: Special Report: Education, Diversity and Change in Fairfield County).

I had to laugh, though. As teachers flocked into the auditorium, they did as middle school kids do. They found seats as far away from the presenter as they could, scattering themselves everywhere out of shouting distance. They say that teachers are the worst students, and I always laugh when they do this (knowing that my colleagues and I also did the same - who wants more PD, especially at the end of a day?).

I was thankful, though, that an administrator pulled authority and everyone moved front and center - sort of - so I didn't need to use a microphone.

Teachers today have so much on their plate and I don't blame them one bit. Whenever I do the Op-Ed activity (with political cartoons on education) the emotions grow strong. It is interesting to connect such emotions (and humor) with the horrific killings of illustrators in France, too - murdered because they express themselves in whimsical ways. It fascinates me that such memes can communicate so much (and challenge viewers culturally, politically, and historically).

I guess I can say that those that work in American schools right now are lying under a pile of rocks. I imagine I'd be frustrated, too, if some University fellow came into my school to ask, "Have you thought about this? What if you had students do things this way? Why not have them write for reasons beyond state assessments?"

That's the Catch-22. Teachers are under the assessment guns. Even so, I think the day turned around and was successful for these individuals. If I inspired 2 or 3 to think about their practice in a couple of new ways, then I can say that yesterday was a good day.