NWP @ Rutgers
So I guess now I’m officially a Teacher Consultant for the National Writing Project. I presented my demo at the Midwinter Conference and am one of them now. All of my cohert from the summer was there and most of us presented. I heard good things about many of the sessions and also saw some good presentations myself. I think that we, as a group, did well.
One thing that struck me as interesting was how nervous many of the other presenters were. They were very stressed out about the whole thing, looked forward to it being all over, and were clearly relieved when it was over. Throughout the day many people asked me if I was nervous. I really wasn’t. Perhaps it’s because I’ve presented this demo twice already, or maybe because this is not the first conference at which I’ve presented, but I really was comfortable with my role as presenter. Actually, I’ll go even farther than that–I had fun presenting.
Perhaps it’s my ego–maybe I’m just arrogant–but I enjoy presenting at conferences. I like it when I am well-informed, even an expert in one area, and am allowed to share that expertise with others. I like being on stage and being smart. I like sharing what I know with a group, fielding questions, showing the hard work I’ve done. I really think it’s fun. It is nice to be done, and be able to focus on other stuff, but I really had a good time.
But I find, once again, that the best part of the conference wasn’t actually the conference itself. It wasn’t Will Richardson’s keynote. Nor was it the sessions I attended. It was the community. Meeting up with professionals that I enjoy talking to and who are doing great things with their students. Going out for a few drinks afterwards and catching up on both our personal and professional lives. These are the same things that I enjoy about NCTE. It’s not just the conference, it’s the network of great people.
Anyway, if you have the chance to go, the Midwinter Conference is really good. NCTE is still my home, and I’ll always look forward to the November conference, but this is a nice pick-me-up in the middle of winter. I look forward to continuing to be a part of NWP.
Will Richardson
I just listened to Will Richardson speak to the Rutgers NWP Midwinter conference. I’ll write more later, but it was very good to hear him. It was interesting to see and feel the reactions of people in the audience. I’m not sure many of them are keeping up with technology and he may have frightened them a little bit.
I’ll post more later, I hope.
My lousy blogging habit…
If I ever had an audience for this blog, I’m sure they’re long gone by now. I haven’t posted in such a long time. I really want to develop a blogging habit, but I just don’t ever make the time to do so. I have too many other things going on.
Anyway, I wanted to post because something neat happened today.
I’ve begun a unit on Ender’s Game with my 9th graders. It’s a fun unit, filled with good conversation about interesting concepts. One thing that is difficult is that while it’s easy to find things to talk about, it’s sometimes hard to find things to actually teach from the book. But that’s a discussion for another time.
Today, though, the kids had just read Chapters 1-3, where Ender decides to leave behind his family and go to battle school. A six-year-old boy leaves home to set out on an adventure. Card writes:
There was nothing to pack. No belongings to take. “The school provides everything you need, from uniforms to school supplies. And as for toys—there’s only one game.”
I read that bit to the class and talk about how we all carry stuff with us. Our possessions show something about ourselves. I then go into the lesson I read about one time for Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” dumping the personal belongings of my briefcase and pockets onto my desk, talking about each one and share a short bit of writing with them about it.
Of course I then have them do the same thing–make a list of what it is they carry with them and then write about how the “stuff” they carry often reveals something about the internal “stuff” they carry inside. It’s a neat lesson and I get some awfully good writing from them.
After the lesson, I wrap up class, and talk again about Ender. He’s leaving his home with no “stuff.” Nothing personal. No clothes, toys, not even a stuffed animal to cuddle when he’s scared. And I ask the students to think about the internal “stuff” he brings with him. And that’s a neat conversation.
It was a great day and a great lesson, but here’s the really neat part. As the kids are packing up to go, one of them says something like, “Mr. Van Nest how come all the things in your class always come together like that?”
I’m caught a bit by surprise by this statement and tell him that I work hard to plan lessons like that so that things come together nicely, but another adds, “Yeah, but it’s like everything just flows together, one thing to the next. Like even if you think about the whole year, everything just flows. Not all teachers do that.”
A couple other students agreed, and I’m touched that they noticed. I’m thrilled that they’re thinking on a level that they see the connections throughout the lesson and the year as a whole. What a nice day.
