Gretchen has a question:
I’ve also found my teaching to be totally transformed from this PLC and learning from Ben & Tina. I do have a question, although I’m not sure about the best place to ask it.
I have a some what unusual situation in that I taught the first 6 weeks of the school year in a relatively affluent school in our district and then switched to a high-poverty school. I have found the Invisibles and other NT CI to be really effective in both places and am very pleased with my students’ level of comprehension and the classroom community.
However, I find myself at a loss when it comes to writing. My students at the high-poverty school are writing, after 12 weeks of instruction, at a much lower level than my students at the affluent school did after just 6 weeks. We did some story-retell modeling today and I gave them a couple of key words and sentence starters before the free write and saw a little bit of improvement but, beyond that, I’m not sure how I can help their high level of aural comprehension result in the better writing. I know, also, that my colleagues are going to be looking for the students to be able to speak (at least somewhat) at the end of the year and, although, I have not started asking students for oral output yet, I’m already stressed and unsure about how that will go and if it will be similarly challenging as when I ask for written output.
Does anyone have any ideas, thoughts or advice? I’m very grateful for whatever insight people might have.