Temoca Dixon- My World and Demo Idea

[Temoca Dixon]

I am a 7/8 Language Arts teacher at Dilworth Middle School. My classroom is our own colorful little world where my kids get comfortable and help to make it their own. I think I do a good job at creating a safe learning environment for my kids and that allows them the opportunity to take risks in their writing and reading. They share, ask questions, and are open to new learning ideas. We create a tight-knit learning community and we grow together. I work hard at earning my students trust and respect so that they may stretch, take risks, and be successful.

My students do not typically like to read or write. I think we need to start from the beginning and create powerful "hooks" to pull them and their readers into their writing. When I have read pieces to them I have been able to create interest with a great opening, but my kids have a hard time creating their own powerful beginnings. My focus traits are ideas and/or voice. I haven't narrowed that down yet. I'm thinking about focusing on narrative writing as my genre.

I have a couple of pictures of my class and kiddos. See you all soon!

[Wendy Ritter]

Hello Temoca,

I feel a connection with you and your class because I work at Drake and many of my students head over to Dilworth. I know they appreciate the safe learning environment you have created which helps them try new things in their writing and reading. I also work with students who are not big readers and writers and know the struggles of helping them realize their potential.

I am interested in your demonstration idea regarding powerful hooks with a focus on ideas or voice. I am also planning to demonstrate a lesson on writing powerful hooks and look forward to seeing new ways of approaching this skill.
I have have also found that even if students feel safe and comfortable and are able to write a creative story, writing an interesting lead sentence is so difficult. My understanding of how difficult this task was came to me when I was working with a small group of students trying to write new leads. They didn't have an idea of where to start, even though we had just had a lesson showing different ways to begin their story. The more students can hear a variety of new leads and talk about ways to experiement with words, the better able they were to try a new lead. However, many students still struggled with starting their stories differently. So, I am looking forward to seeing your demonstration.

I would also be interested in any resources you have found helpful on this topic.

Wendy Ritter

[Ray Hirschman]

Hey Temoca,

I have to say that after experiencing your iPod presentation on "The Bucket List" lesson, I can easily see how you have set up your room focusing on allowing comfortable risk-taking. Your examples were genuine and I remember being very engaged and motivated to reach inside myself and ask what I wanted to do before I died. And, I agree that teaching and effective hook is challenging. I have found that my students want to dive right into the meat of their writing without and engaging build up. I look forward to your lesson.

Thanks,
Eddie

[Jacob Charlebois]

Hi, Temoca. Your focus on your students' hooks will generate better writing throughout their pieces. I genuinely believe (and have observed) that when students get that awesome introduction worked out, they care more about making the rest of their piece mirror that segment's chutzpah. When they can see the extent of their own creativity, they get that self-affirming nudge that tells them their writing and voice matter.

[Lisa Larson]

Hey Chica!

Thanks for posting pictures of your classroom - I love seeing the student work hanging everywhere and your quotes on the wall are great! You have really worked hard to create a classroom that is warm, welcoming and safe for your students.

I am really excited about your presentation! Like I mentioned to Wendy Ritter (who is also doing leads), we need as many tools and techniques as we can get to help our students write that first sentence. So many students think it's okay to start with, "Hi, my name is ___ and I'm going to tell you about the time I ___" that I just want to bang my head against the wall - Where do they learn this?!

With the movement towards expository writing on the state writing exams, this first sentence is going to be an important skill because it will impossible for them to start an essay using these bad habits.

Thank you for listening to me and my ideas so far; I appreciate your feedback and your knowledge and incite are always inspirational! See you in a few days!

Lisa

[Temoca Dixon]

Hi Wendy,

It sounds like the piece in Breakthroughs about Powerlines would be a good start to our dilemma too. If we expose our students to a variety of powerful hooks they can start modeling their writing after their favorite opening lines. Once they feel confident in that the students can branch out and start writing their own powerful hooks. I try to point these hooks out to students as we read books so they know what to look for and we have had great discussions on this.

I look forward to your presentation too. It will be nice to get more ideas on this writing skill/technique.

See you soon,

Temoca

Wendy Ritter said:

Hello Temoca,

I feel a connection with you and your class because I work at Drake and many of my students head over to Dilworth. I know they appreciate the safe learning environment you have created which helps them try new things in their writing and reading. I also work with students who are not big readers and writers and know the struggles of helping them realize their potential.

I am interested in your demonstration idea regarding powerful hooks with a focus on ideas or voice. I am also planning to demonstrate a lesson on writing powerful hooks and look forward to seeing new ways of approaching this skill.
I have have also found that even if students feel safe and comfortable and are able to write a creative story, writing an interesting lead sentence is so difficult. My understanding of how difficult this task was came to me when I was working with a small group of students trying to write new leads. They didn't have an idea of where to start, even though we had just had a lesson showing different ways to begin their story. The more students can hear a variety of new leads and talk about ways to experiement with words, the better able they were to try a new lead. However, many students still struggled with starting their stories differently. So, I am looking forward to seeing your demonstration.

I would also be interested in any resources you have found helpful on this topic.

Wendy Ritter