CCIRA Literacy Conversations

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*Links to resources to be added soon! 00:00:00 Molly Rauh Hello and welcome back to this CCIRA Literacy Conversations podcast. I'm your host, Molly Rauh with my co-host... 00:00:08 Jessica Rickert ...Jessica Rickert. Today's podcast features, Whittany La Rocca, Whitney's work centers around authentic reading and writing instruction. Whitney shares, ideas for grammar instruction, blending science of reading and balanced literacy, and the Patterns of Power resource. Well, welcome Whitney. We're so excited to have you on the podcast. Why don't we start with you just telling us a little bit about your background. 00:00:35 Whitney La Rocca Okay, well, thank you. And thank you for having me on this podcast. So I'm excited to be here my background, I guess, you know, starts since since you're up in Colorado, I can say, I'm originally from Wyoming. So we're formerly neighbors. I graduated from the University of Wyoming and then moved to Texas. And that's where I'm at no. I live in the Houston area. I have over 20 years of education experience. I I've taught I've been an instructional coach, and now I'm a full-time consultant, author, staff developer, co-author of the Patterns of Power family of resources. So Patterns of Power, Patterns of Power Plus. And recently we came out with Patterns of Wonder that I got to take the lead on for emergent writing. So my passion is definitely just supporting children as they find their identities and develop their identities in this world of literacy. So I'm super excited to continue to do this work all over the place, rather than just in my little bubble outside of Houston. 00:01:43 Jessica Rickert So I'm wondering, because you talk about authentic grammar instruction, and I think teachers really struggle with authentic grammar instruction and not just putting a worksheet in front of them, but integrating it. So what are your thoughts on authentic grammar instruction? 00:02:01 Whitney La Rocca Absolutely. You know, we're told so often as teachers well just teach grammar in context and keep it authentic. And we're like, okay, sure, how do we do that? What does that really mean? Right? And so when we think about authentic grammar instruction, what we want to do is really lean on brain research and the research that goes into education and how our brains are wired to learn. And if we look at these cognitive structures in our brain, we have this, this structure of observation. And so we get to observe what writers do. And that's what we begin with. We begin with, published children's literature, the books that we love that are in our classrooms. We share some sentences from those or with the emerging writers we share an entire page from a picture book where we look at both pictures and words. And we just ask our students, what do you notice? And we get to have these authentic conversations where students get to really just talk about what they're noticing, what the brain is observing, right? And this power of talk, this power of inquiry, just drives this instruction. And through these observations, our students begin to recognize what writers do. And we get to pull in grammar into this conversation as well. When we do pick sentences or a page from a book, we're very particular about what we choose, right? And so we're going to curate a sentence or a page that really demonstrates this grammar skill that we're looking to show off. But we don't tell our students what that is, because we want them to kind of discover that on their own through inquiry. And that's how this process begins with this authentic grammar instruction. We begin with authentic literature, and we have these authentic conversations within the context of reading and writing about what authors do, why they do that, how they do that. And then we move into comparing and contrasting that to something else, like another piece of writing, right? We're leaning in on the comparative analysis structure, cognitive structure of our brain, which is our brains are wired to learn through, compare and contrast. So we move into that to really retain that information even more. And then we turn around and authentically produce a piece of writing that looks like the model. So we get to imitate that, and we can imitate that together. And then we invite our students to turn around and try it out on their own. And we celebrate this. And our celebration, again it's through this conversation, the sharing, this displaying of the authentic writing that they have tried out, and we turn around and invite them to continue to play with this skill in other parts of their day of writing. In writing workshop, in writing in the content areas - continue to produce more writing in different ways, using that skill. And then we get to end with this conversation around editing and what that really looks like. So rather than starting with the wrong and correcting, correcting, correcting, correcting and focusing on right or wrong, we invite, you know, risk taking, because we're celebrating the craft of writing rather than wasting our time correcting errors. And with that celebration, and with this authentic move looking at what writers do and the craft that they use, we are able to move towards correctness. And we have to, as teachers have this understanding too that every writer has approximations along the way even adult writers, right? So we never have perfect writing. We're always moving towards correctness, but we're starting with correct writing to teach that, rather than starting with the wrong. So, in context, within the frame of reading and writing and using authentic literature and asking our students to produce authentic literature as well, and they lean on their scaffolds when they need to. And when they're ready to move away from that, they take those risks and try it out. And then we can. We can teach into those risks that they are trying. 00:06:30 Molly Rauh So knowing that you said, you know, we, it's an inquiry process, and we should start by observing and know, you know, every teacher has some of their like favorite books, or some of their go os. Yeah. So if you were going to share some of your favorite, some of your go-to is with our listeners, what might be some of those, you know, awesome books that you would choose for our class of emerging readers. 00:06:55 Whitney La Rocca Oh, my goodness, it's so this is this is so hard for me, because you, you both can see like my background or what's behind to be right? I'm in my home office right now, and the wall is just covered with books. I am a book, a holic. So for me, just to share a couple is like ridiculous. I could go for hours of my favorites. My biggest, my biggest tip, first of all, is a mentor text is a text that you love. So I could said, I could share text all day. I could send you lists and everything, but honestly, you have to love it for your students to really love it too. And so those books that are in your classroom, if you really love them, then they're probably a really good mentor text to use. And but I also will say it that we need to be diverse in the text that we choose, right? And we need to make sure that we have a wide representation and of people in the books that we use. We want to be inclusive. We want to make sure that our readers see themselves, and they see others. And this is how we build community. And this is how we build empathy through the books that we I said. Just those little tidbits before I do share some titles with you. So few for emergent writing, I guess, some of my very favorites and "Quit Calling Me a Monster" by Jory John, one of my favorite mentor texts that really could be used for anything. There's a lot of teaching points inside of that Troy Cummings', "Can I be Your Dog" is one of my favorites. He also has "Can I be Your Cat" or along that line. I'm waiting on it. I waiting on the paper back to show up to my house next month. So but there's a second one about a cat cat, as opposed to a dog. Anything by Mo Willems hands down, right? The Pigeon books, the elephant piggy books, pretty much anything there. I also love they, these, the Yasmine books, the these ones by Saadia Faruqi. I'm not sure that I pronounced her last name, right? But it's a series, the Yasmine books I absolutely love for younger readers as mentor texts as well. For older readers, I really enjoy pretty much anything by Matt De La Pena is one of my favorite authors, for sure. And I also love Peter Brown's "The Wild Robot" is probably one of my favorite novels, as well as Katherine Applegate's "The One and Only Ivan," but even more so, "The One and Only Bob," I like that one even more than Ivan, which I didn't think I could like anything more than Ivan. But Bob is just another one as well. So those are just some off the top of my head that I absolutely love. My some of my favorite authors might go-tos. But like I said, I could pull so many books off and just keep talking. So. 00:09:58 Molly Rauh You had talked too about, you know, when they're observing, especially with our younger, I called them emerging readers before. But we're really talking about emerging writers. Like you said. 00:10:10 Whitney La Rocca Both. Readers and writers and writers are readers. We make that reading-writing connection in everything that we do. 00:10:15 Molly Rauh When you're working with, you know, some of the really and honestly, I would probably still even do it with my high school kids looking at pictures specifically. You know, I think some teachers are really skilled at analyzing images as kind of a component of writing and others, you know, maybe that's something they're still trying to build. And I'm thinking, you know, this is one of my favorite books, so you said, you talking about books that you love, there's a book called "This is Not My Hat." 00:10:53 Whitney La Rocca Yes, I have it on my wall. 00:10:53 Whitney La Rocca It's very like it's an inference sort of book, because so much of what's going on in the story isn't in the written words. It's visual. How, how do you bring together something like that when they're looking at writing when the story isn't fully in the writing? Like, what would the conversation look like for a book like that? If I want to bring in one of my favorite books to talk? 00:11:17 Whitney La Rocca Well, as you think about this visual literacy. And with graphic novels being so popular here, there's so much more in those pictures than there are in the words as well, and so much thinking that occurs with students who read graphic novels. So I'm a huge proponent of graphic novels as well. So I just think, when we take a look at that again, it's that observation. So, you know, what do you notice? In older students, if we're having conversations around grammar, they're probably going to lean more towards the words that you're sharing an entire page. And I like to think about this process, even outside of teaching grammar, right? This is an inquiry process. What do you notice? Compare it and contrast it with something else, turn around and try it out, right? So that's that's the inquiry part of it. So we can share. I was thinking, I was working with some junior high students not too long ago, and we were talking about I wanted, but we had to a lesson on flashbacks, right? So I actually just put up a page from Jerry Craft's "Class Act" and where he does, he has a flashback and around, the flashback he has like a wavy line. And so they're bell ringer when they came in was just a what do you notice the authors doing on this page? Right? That's all it was. What do you notice? And so they wrote in their notebooks. You know, a lot about, kind of the meaning of what's going on the back story of the student, what they were gathering just from that one page, which so much was in the pictures versus the words themselves. But and but it was interesting, none of them really noticed that little move around the flashback. But they did realize that he was flashing back to something different. And so just that what you know is conversation then moved us into. Well, this is called a flashback and look what Jerry did for us as readers, right? And he made this wavy line. So we actually transferred that over to text. When you did, we did a compare contrast. We moved to where we were just looking at text itself and finding the flashback. And we actually drew the squiggly line. So if you think about about that, that's, you know, that's that visual literacy of what's going on. So if we have books where we're looking at pictures as well, when we asked, what do you notice? You can say, you know, look at the words. But also look at the pictures. What do you notice is happening here in both. Now with emergent readers and writers, the writing that they're doing is mostly pictures as they're learning that there's this thing called letters. And these letters make words. And these words make sentences, right? So when we're looking at really emergent writers, they're just scribbling for their writing. They have this understanding that there's this thing called writing, but they don't have this understanding that there's these letters, you know, these symbols that make letters that tie the sounds yet. And so when we're asking them to look at pictures and what we're doing, we're still looking at the words as well. But their eyes tend to look more at the pictures, because they're not reading these words yet. So we get to lean in on what it is they're noticing, and then we get to develop their oral language through those pictures. So when they're using the pictures in their own books and say, we're working with nouns, right, it's a focus brace we might use is I tell about people, places and things in my story. And so they have these scribbles on the page. Well, as we're developing the oral language, they can be bringing in people, places and things into their language as their sharing, what's in their pictures. And that's just the, the, the foundation of grammar that were working on with our students. 00:14:55 Jessica Rickert Well, in all of this is reader like based in readers' and writers' workshop and balanced literacy. What - something that's pushing in on education in Colorado and other places is Science of Reading. So how do you, how do you see merging those two things? Because science of reading is here to stay and whatever people think of it. But then it's, it seems like if they're trying to push out balanced literacy, and what you're talking about is these really great authentic experiences for kids. So what are your thoughts on that? 00:15:29 Whitney La Rocca Well, we definitely have this pitch for a Science of Reading everywhere. And what I will say is the science of reading is attached to Scarborough's rope, right? And so to have skilled readers, we have to weave in the phonics. But we also have to leave in what we call language comprehension. And when we look at the language comprehension side of it that is developing this language of having an understanding of syntax and structure and all all of these pieces, you know, of developing how language should sound that fluency piece when we're reading. Well, we're not going to just get that fluency peace unless we are read aloud to right? And so read aloud happens during balanced literacy. And guess what? We need that read aloud to dive into that language comprehension side of the science of reading. And there are so many components in that language comprehension compre- "muuh" (sound to indicate tongue-tied moment) , the comprehension side, where a lot of balanced literacy components come in. I do see the need for a strong phonics part of your day. We need that, right? Our students definitely need to be able to decode it. They shouldn't just be guessing, but it definitely can be weaved together. And honestly, one of my favorite, it works out there right now that I go back to almost on a daily basis, because as a consultant, I'm getting calls constantly, because I do, my consulting is around balanced literacy and reading and writing workshop. And so I get calls all the time. Well, you know, we're really being told we have to do science of reading. How can we mix and match that? And the it's called "Shifting the Balance" by Kari Yates and Jan Birkins. If you haven't heard of it yet, I highly recommend you check it out, "Shifting the Balance" Stenhouse Publishers is the publishing company? But what they do is they share the research behind the science of reading, and then they give, and then they show how that can be balanced with balanced literacy. And there's actually actually six shifts that they dive into of how you can shift your balanced literacy to also follow and dive into this research behind science of reading. And it's beautiful I, like I said, I refer to it almost on a daily basis. It's definitely one of my favorite art pieces of work out there right now as we maneuver through these reading wars. What I will say is there needs to be a balance, right? So we don't need to be at one end or the other. It really needs to come together. There are some really good things with science of reading that I do believe in, but I am also my heart is with reading and writing workshop could, because when we're talking about authentic authenticity and we're talking about engagement, that's where that happens, right? And if we really dive into emergent reading and writing this writing that they're doing through their pictures and through their oral rehearsal, that's not going to happen if we wait until they can write CBC words, right? And so we don't want to stifle them because they're not yet writing words, encoding words or decoding words, right? We want them to be able to go ahead and develop that language comprehension through Reading the pictures as well as writing through pictures. 00:19:00 Molly Rauh Oh, and this is this is more for listeners. This is not for you so much Whitney. But if you are looking for some cool science of reading strategies that you could maybe marry with what Whitney's talking about, we have another podcast with Jessica help me with the name, because it just fell out of my head. I had it a minute ago -Katie Garner. We talked to Katie Garner, and she's got these great little strategies to help kids access those sounds before they're you know, technically, I'm doing air quotes. You guys can't see me but air quotes before they're technically ready. And so, you know, that's that's a great resource. But I'm with you. I like, I'm such an inquiry, like my practice as a teacher is very inquiry-based and I, you know, I love Patterns of Power and the work that you and Jeff Anderson have done, and you know, that like, like you said, it's engaging work that can kids get excited about it. And, you know, Jeff, that I've made no secret about this. Jeff is, we'll see if you can beat him. This is your goal. You gotta beat him. 00:20:06 Whitney La Rocca I don't - I don't think I can. 00:20:06 Molly Rauh Jeff is my favorite podcast episode that I've recorded. 00:20:11 Whitney La Rocca I can't beat Jeff. He's my favorite too. I absolutely love him. He's my mentor. I have learned so much from him, and when people asked me to come present and they're like, you know, we've seen Jeff, we really want you. And I'm like, okay, but, you know, I'm not Jeff. RIght like, not even close, just so incredible. I could listen to him all day. And I just laugh constantly, right? You know, he'll just have you rolling over. I love it when we present together, because I just almost pee my pants every time, because he's so funny, but I absolutely love him. We did. We had a webinar together this afternoon, and we talked on a daily basis. We're like our we're the married couple who are the we're definitely the work husband and wife there. And so we it's a lot of fun. But yeah, I can't beat Jeff, you can't don't even put me try to like put me there, because I'm not even close. 00:21:04 Molly Rauh I won't make you do that. But I'm still enjoying this a lot so far. So, absolutely I won't make you compete with Jeff. 00:21:10 Whitney La Rocca And if you want to laugh more, you know, we have they he and Travis, who's the co-author for the Middle School patterns of winter. They host the podcast as well, called the POPCast. Which is the Patterns of Power podcas: the POPCast and they have you rolling. But the episodes are about 15 minutes long. And they're all and Patterns of Power. So they just have you you rolling. They brought me on to talk about Patterns of Wonder. They've brought Caroline on to talk about Spanish, you know, they've brought on some brain researchers that kind of bring in everybody, but it's those two and their two goofballs. So they really have a good time with this podcast. And it's a lot of fun to listen to. 00:21:52 Molly Rauh Well, I'm definitely going to have to give that a try. And I will also, this is the first time in a while. When I've had Whitney, you've given me like, you might have seen me like frantically writing things down. This will be the first time in a while where I'll have show notes with links to all kinds of resources. So thank you for sharing already, like so many names and books and resources, because I love to get to link those together for our audience so that they can access even more than we can talk about in, you know, a short podcast session. 00:22:23 Whitney La Rocca Well, there's so many people doing so many good things out there. I just I love to just share what's going on out there in classrooms and out in the professional writing world. And it's just, it's just amazing, even though this year is just incredibly difficult for teachers. And I know that I see that I just love that they're still, you know, a little bit of excitement still out there. And I just want to share and celebrate that as often as possible. 00:22:50 Jessica Rickert Well for our listeners that don't know what Patterns of Power are -is in. You've been talking about that. Can you tell us a little bit about that? 00:22:58 Whitney La Rocca Yeah. So Patterns of Power is a resource. It's a professional book, but it's really professional resource. And Jeff and I created Patterns of Power for grades, one through five first. So that was our first one that we created together. And it really came from the work that he did with everyday editing and mechanically inclined. And just the back story behind that I was an instructional coach at the time on an elementary campus. We were struggling on our campus because we were using a lot of daily edit, daily oral language, worksheets, and we just weren't seeing a transfer of skills to their writing. And we were frustrated because we were using writing workshop, and it just it was frustrating for us. And I was reading his work. And I and I told my teachers, I said, hey, there's this guy out here who's doing some pretty cool stuff, and we're using mentor texts already. And during writing workshop, you know, this approach makes sense. What do you think we give it a try? And so for? And they said, sure, of course, we're willing. So I just I created some lessons, you know, at the lower grade levels and along the lines of his work, and they started using it, loved it. He came to my district. He and I got to talking, and he invited me to write this book with him, which was really exciting just to, because, Molly, just like you, I love him, right? I go back to my notes before I knew him of just the sessions. And there's so many exclamation marks in my notes, because he just had you so excited and energized and motivated. So I couldn't wait to do this work. So we came out with that. And the reason why we called it a resource over a professional book is because the professional reading that's in this book is a very short amount. We know teachers don't have time to do all of this professional reading. So we have about 50 pages that's the professional reading, and the other 400 pages are ready-to-use lessons that you could turn around and use tomorrow. Every lesson follows the same process and we call it the Patterns of Power process. It's this inquiry process that I referred to earlier where we begin with invitation to notice, we invite our students to notice what they observe in the sentence that we choose. And through that conversation, they discover this move that writers make, which is tied to grammar. And so we introduced in that Focus Phrase for them. And we learn, you know, like, "I use nouns to show people, places, and things" that's a focus phrase. And now we have a better understanding standing of what nouns are, rather than starting our lesson with okay writers. Today we're going to learn about nouns, pull out your notebooks. Let's do a three column chart, right? People places and things, you know know, we're going to start with just this sentence, and ask, what do you notice? And through that conversation, they discover this. And then we move into the invitation to compare and contrast where we compare and contrast that mentor sentence to another example, and continue our conversation around what they notice, which also leads back to our Focus Phrase, then you have the invitation to imitate where we imitate that model together. So that's where we create our own piece of writing. Thunder cracks Oh, my goodness, sorry, we're having a thunderstorm right now. That was a really loud thunder. My dog is freaking out. We have really bad thunderstorms down here. I'm sorry. So the invitation to imitate were imitating together using that Focus phrase, keeping that Focus Phrase in mind, they turn around and imitate on their own. So then they turn around and try it out on their own. And we celebrate that. And then we move into the apply where they go ahead and try it out in other areas. And we come back at the end for this conversation around editing. And our editing is still isn't about right or wrong, but it's about meaning and effect, and really thinking about, you know, when we don't put a period here, how does that affect the meaning? Or what effect does this have on the reader? So these conversations give way to editing to where students actually really edit their work. So often, our students think they're writing is perfect. There are no mistakes in my writing, and we hand them and editing checklist. And they check yes, all the way down, right? And when we look at their writing and there's nothing, they haven't edited, anything. But when we use these Focus phrases and we use this process and ending with that conversation well, and then they have a better understanding of what they really meant to do as editors, and they take more care, and they're more intentional with the editing that they do. So all of our lessons in Patterns of Power follow that process, and we have over seventy five lessons in Patterns of Power. And then we wrote Pattern of Power Plus, which were grade level specific. And that's where, like I was, Patterns of Power was Jeff Anderson with Whitney La Rocca. So my name was real tiny. Then with Patterns of Power Plus, I became an "And" so my name was the same size. And Jeff tells everyone I graduated from a preposition to a conjunction, and that grammar really does matter, right? And then, while Jeff and Travis were working on Patterns of Power for Middle School, I got to work, take the lead and become have my name first and work on Patterns of Wonder for emergent writers. So it just continues to grow. I guess I and I'm allowed to say it. Now we have Patterns of Power, Molly, for high school coming out. Yes! Nine through twelve and is in production right now. So it's supposed to be soon coming out. I don't, I can't tell you exactly when, but I know it's soon because it's been turned over to production. So... 00:28:47 Molly Rauh And to all of you that couldn't see me like mouth, jaw dropped, hands to face, like so excited. 00:28:55 Whitney La Rocca Yes, I know. I knew you would be excited. I couldn't wait to tell you that. So, yes, we're your pre-k through 12. We will be very soon with this process. And that's what's so awesome is the process is the same at every grade level. The difference is the layers of complexity that we add into it, right? And that's what makes it so powerful as well. 00:29:17 Molly Rauh Well and you can tell, you know, I'm, I teach high school, but I still know your work, love your work. You know, it's something that I've you know, obviously I go to CCIRA, and I take a lot of of different strategies from a lot of different grade levels and adapt them. But it's so nice when somebody has also done that work for me and I can go. Oh, I can do that so much better, like you guys are brilliant in ways that I'm not. 00:29:40 Whitney La Rocca Well, when we encourage that to, we encourage you, you know, to start with the lessons we created. But once you have a sense of how this process goes, go into the books that you love and find sentences, you know that you love or invite your students to find sentences and in move, continue with the process on your own as well. So we don't believe in scripted teaching at all. And so we want this. That's why it's really a process. Yes, we have lessons to support the process. But that's the process that makes it so powerful. And I always, when I signed books, I always sign it with "The power is in the process," because that's really what it is. And you have to trust that process as well. When you think about transfer, right? I so agree with that. 00:30:26 Molly Rauh So that gets me to think thinking about 00:30:29 Molly Rauh that creative process, because you said, when you got started, you know, you had kind of looked at some of Jeff's work, and you created some lessons. And that, you know, just sort of over the years has snowballed into this fantastic, impressive, awesome career. I'm so like, I'm jealous of all you've accomplished, and that you got to graduate. 00:30:49 Whitney La Rocca It's so exciting. It's been really fun. My mom the other day actually said, you know he's really giving you this gradual release of responsibility, and that's exactly it. That's what it was. My mom's a former teachers as well - it's the language, right? She's retired now, but she's like a you know, he just he took you under his wing, and he slowly released you a little bit more to go out and do this work. And and that's what it is. And it's the same thing with the process as well. It's a gradual release. 00:31:18 Molly Rauh Yeah. But thinking back to the beginning of your process as a learner in, in creating this, could you tell us a little bit about those first couple initial lessons, and then maybe what hasn't changed or evolved, or what you've learned, kind of as you've grown? TAnd you know, tell us about your learning process. 00:31:36 Whitney La Rocca Sure, my gosh, there's so much. So when I first created just the lessons on my own, where I was taking his work from Everyday Editing and Mechanically Inclined and just trying to think at, you know, at an elementary - lower elementary level, what this could look like, you know, we interpret things so differently. And so when I was doing the notice, I actually made three days of noticing where we were noticing three different texts all around the same skill. And and then the compare contrast, we use those, but still, you know, continue to compare contrast. And and the he came in, I remember when he came and did, you know, some PD around this work with us, and I had kind of an aha moment. And I was like, oh, my goodness, you know, my lessons I'm trying to do too much, much like this, you know, it's it doesn't need to be that much. I'm kind of overdoing that notice, you know that we need to get we need to get past that, and really into the work that the students are actually doing, because that's where the power is. And so I, that's kind of what got us started. He also talked about the focus phrase, which I, that was something new that wasn't in Everyday Editing. And so he was definitely kind of growing and doing some work around this as well. And so I took one of my first grade lessons, and I revised it after that PD. Yeah, I went back, and I revised it, and I added in a focus phrase, and I took out some of the other things and completely revised it to match more of what he shared in the PD when I had a better understanding rights. And and that's the power behind hearing the actual authors. Like you learn, you're like, oh, that's what that meant. And so I sent him the lesson, he and I had talked, you know, at the PD and everything. So he kind of knew my name at least because I was, he came to my school. So so I was kind of in charge of making sure he got lunch, right? The important things. And so I sent him a lesson and said, hey, you know, after this PD, I really have been thinking more about some of these lessons I've created. Can you take a look at this first grade lesson and give me feedback? I've added a focus phrase. I've kind of changed some things up. Let me know what you're thinking here. I'm because I really just wanted his feedback on this. You know, I'm I am I on the right track? And that lesson is actually what he emailed me back and said, I really want to talk to you, what's your number? And that's where that got into wow. You know, you and I are on the same page here. This is, you know, I can really take your lower elementary experience and mix it with mine, Upper Elementary and secondary experience. And we could do something here. So as I'm think of those early lessons in that early learning, that's for me. It was just going back and trying it again. It's that revision that we do as writers, right? And then when he and I sat down to actually work Kirk, you know, I was kind of nervous three getting honestly, I was like, oh, my gosh damn good, right lessons with him. And we sat side by side at his table. But Jeff is just so open and and wanting to learn as well. I mean, he's been doing this work for ever, but he's still open and wanting to learn more and wanting to learn from others. So he really was asking, you know, what do you think about this? And what lessons do you have? Maybe we can mix some of these together. And so I just kind of learned even more about how you just have to write. You just have to get it out. So, you know, don't don't worry about if it's right or wrong, just get it out, get it out there. And because then you can revise then that's definitely something I have learned. I will say, as that gradual release of responsibility as I took on Patterns of Wonder, really took the lead on that. I sat with a blank screen for a really long time, and I had a really hard -it was all in my brain, and the editor would call and say, "how we doing? Haven't seen anything yet." I'm like, it's all right here in my brain. It's percolating. And he's like, well, percolate that onto paper, please. And so once I got going, though, I was really able to continue that work. And as we, Jeff and I are kind of working on something else like I'm not sure if I can really say what else is coming. But there may be something else coming soon. And it's amazing how much easier it is now for me, right? I just sit on, and I just go to town on these lessons on we're working on around revision. So just a hint, and I'm able to I'm much more confident in what I'm doing now, and that gradual release of responsibility, adds confidence, right? I've had him when I've needed him. And as he let me go a little bit more, I grew with more and more confidence. And now I feel really strong about what I do. 00:36:21 Molly Rauh I love that your own process connected to, you know, again, that writing process. And I also just love that you were bold enough to like, maybe like, I just need to be braver and be like, hey, here's this cool lesson I created based off from your work. What do you think? The thing like? The mentors? Because you gained this awesome mentor because you were just brave enough to send a lesson and say, hey, I could use some feedback. 00:36:48 Whitney La Rocca But really, that's all I'm working for. I never dreamed that this would happen like I, of course, it was in my dreams. But I never, when I sent that was like thinking it what happened? Right? I really was just looking for feedback. So when he said, I need to talk to you, I was like, uh oh, I thought it was going to be terrible like he didn't want to put it in writing, right? It's. So then, when I talk to him, he's like, you know, I really think we need to do some work together. And I was like, wait, what? Hold up, what? And that's when he went into, you know, well, it's going to be Jeff Anderson with Whitney La Rocca and made a point that my name was going to be very small. And I said, I didn't care just the fact that I would get to work with him and learn more from him. I really saw this as a way for me to learn more. And I mean, I have definitely learned more, way beyond what I had expected back then. And like, I think, it was 2014 or 15 or something, when all of this started between he and I. So. 00:37:45 Molly Rauh Well, I'm thinking, even just the feedback on the lesson, forget publishing. But just like, learning from someone like Jeff or any other, you know, educational- that's a theme we have on this podcast is educational heroes. And... 00:37:58 Whitney La Rocca Yes, I encourage everyone to ask for feedback. Don't be afraid to do that, whether it's from someone in your school or someone outside of your school, and it don't be afraid to just reach out and say, Hey, can I have some feedback on this? Because that's how we grow. And, you know, we are. We're as smart as the people in the room. Umm, right? And if we're not asking for feedback, if we're not seeking other opinions and and, you know, working towards this growth, we're not helping our children. Right? So It ultimately, it's about our students. And if we seek feedback, then we're also putting that good model out there as we encourage our students to do the same, 00:38:44 Molly Rauh Absolutely. And that, you know, I guess my brain is very much into like connecting to some of our old podcasts today. One of our recent ones was with our Early Career Network, liaison or whatever. we call her role, and we were talking a lot about just those conversations and the learning we can get from collaborating with some of the newer educators, because they've had, some of those...One, they've got some new learning that maybe we've missed out on. Two, they have a lot of of those techniques are fresh in their mind, you know, things that we know, but maybe we've forgotten to do as we get, you know, into sort of the daily patterns of our work. And so it can be so refreshing to sit down and collaborate with someone who's just sort of in a different space and place in teaching, because like it improves my practice so much even, just, you know, looking over lessons of some of my newer colleagues, or I all the time. I'm like, hey, come look at this. Tell me what you think and getting feedback. And I think that goes for any level, you know, whether it's reaching out to you, or reaching out to Jeff for reaching out to the teacher, down the hall? I think sometimes we forget how much we can get from just a fresh set of eyes from our awesome colleagues who have strengths that aren't our strengths like, I don't know, I'm a very collaborative kind of person. 00:40:12 Whitney La Rocca I am too. And I just think too, you know, the you know, I've been in this for a while now. So my former students, I remember being a coach, and we were hiring my former sutdents. My like former third graders were now becoming teachers at my school, and I just reached, just learning from them. I learned from them when they were kids in my third grade class, but I also learned from them when they were my colleague. It's just all about learning from others. And I think that's important that we learn from our younger teachers. But we also take time to learn from our students that are in our class as well, because they can teach us a lot too. 00:40:45 Molly Rauh I love that I, you know, one of my favorite questions to ask my students is just "What are other teachers doing that, I could bring to my classroom to make it better. And a lot of times, they're like, "No, nothing, miss, you're great." But every once in a while, they have, they remember something cool that another teachers done it. And I'm like "score!" 00:41:04 Whitney La Rocca Yeah, I want to know more about that. 00:41:07 Molly Rauh Yeah, I was talking to one of my and I can't remember what he said. But he came to me. We did this we, co taught a lesson. So we mixed our two classes together and co-taught this lesson the last two days. And he he came to me afterwards and he said, okay, I have this really great feedback from this kid, and I wanted to tell you about it so that if I forget, you'll at least remember, oh, it was about visuals to go with. It was this big sort of geography thing. And they were learning about Imperialization and the countries that they were sort of trying to imperialize and grab. It was just like names written on note cards. And this kid would be said, it would be so cool if we had like a picture visuals to go with it. So, you know, we had a little more sense of what we were grabbing, and he's like, that was such good feedback, because he's like, of course, we could do that like that makes a lot of sense. And you know, it's little things. And, you know, that doesn't quite connect with your work of literacy. But like our kids, they have so much to share an offer. And sometimes the ideas don't come to them, and that's okay. But every once in a while, oh man, they have awesome feedback. 00:42:14 Whitney La Rocca But when we open our our classrooms to their feedback into these conversations, we're showing them that we trust them, right? And we're opening the doors. And and with that comes higher levels of engagement as well. And the best way to learn they have to be engaged first before they can really learn and retain anything. So when we have the trust of our students in that way, and they're, they feel open enough to share some of their thinking around this. We just invite more engagement. 00:42:40 Molly Rauh Absolutely. Jessica, do you have questions to get us back on track? Because I have definitely derailed us a little bit. 00:42:47 Jessica Rickert No, no questions. I think this has been great. And I just think that Patterns of Power resource is what teachers need, because I think teachers are always, have always been overwhelmed. And so it's nice for somebody else to do like the legwork of the structure. And like you said, then go off and do it. But it's nice to have something that's not a script, but it's here's where you can start, and then take off from there. So I think, and that's like, I'm excited for Molly too, because I think sometimes High School doesn't have of the resources like that. So I think that's a great resource. And I love that it's a resource, not a script, not a program, because we still want teachers to think too. And like you said, use your own books, your favorite books, because that's authentic. I mean, if you're just grabbing a book that the resource told you, it's like God, this is the worst book ever, you know, then then then it loses its authenticity. So I love that. And I love that you ground everything and what's best for students and how students learn and how we learn. I mean, that's how we read and write and learn about different things as well. 00:43:57 Whitney La Rocca Well and I do want to say, with this Patterns of Power for high school, the co-author on that is Holly Durham. So she is, she's down here in Texas as well. She is a high school coordinator, language arts coordinator at high school level. So she really knows her stuff when it comes to high school. And to be honest, I get kind of get a little intimidated talking to her, because here I have goodbye little primary world, and that she's like using these words, I don't even know what they mean. So she definitely knows her stuff. But she Travis and Jeff co-wrote that one. So it's exciting that our family also said, continues to grow as we add more resources. And when we're thinking about this resource, it is a resource, right? So it's not a program, it's not a professional books. So it really can be used with any model that you're using, whether you are using balanced literacy and reading and writing workshop, or you are using a program this really, because it's a process, it really can feed into anything, any kind of model that you're using for a teaching writing. You can replace those worksheets with this process very easily. I have a several districts that I am working with that we are, we are doing that. So it is it is doable, and the teachers are excited because it's so much more engaging than those worksheets. 00:45:20 Molly Rauh And I just want to emphasize, you know, I think processes are so empowering to both teachers and our students. When we learn processes, you know, they give us, kind of a strategy that we can apply regularly. And when we teach our students processes, they now have a tool that they can apply to different problems, that they run into themselves. And so I love teaching processes, and I love that you guys have created some awesome resources with Patterns of power and Patterns of Wonder. And, you know, the whole collection of resources for so many people at every different level. So I hope teachers listening, you know, budget a little money aside and grab themselves a great resource. 00:46:04 Whitney La Rocca Resource. Yes, thank you. Well, I will say too with the process, they you actually go through the entire writing process in a very short, non-threatening way with this Patterns of Power process too, you know, you're immersed in this literature, you're immersed in skill. You turn around and do some brainstorming before drafting something together, you turn around and draft it again on your own. You celebrate that. And often in that celebration, there's revision that's done to that right there. You realize, oh, I want to add this, and you doing some revision that apply often goes into a lot of revision into the writing that you're doing during your writing block of time and ending with the editing conversation moves over to editing. So you're really taking it through the writing process, but it's in such a short digestible chunk that it's very non-threatening to students, again, that that allows them to feel good and confident about that work they're doing before going into these long essays, right, or whatever it is that they're writing. 00:47:06 Molly Rauh Well. And I love that you. You emphasized that it is a short process, because I think sometimes teachers go oh, writing is such a process. It's so hard to get, and it feels it feels so natural and engaging and short and sweet. And, you know, it's kind of a very snappy kind of thing to work through these these processes. And when you said earlier that you were a little intimidated by, you know, some of the high school stuff in the vocabulary, let me just tell you, like the some of the best instructional practices that I have as a teacher I learned from lower elementary presenters that I've gone to see, like, truly some of the best. And, you know, you talk again about some of those processes. Linda Hoyt is where... 00:47:55 Whitney La Rocca I love Linda Hoyt. 00:47:55 Molly Rauh Yeah, I saw her early in my career at a CCIRA conference, and she she blew my mind, because it was very much like what you talked about, where it was like, okay, let's observe this sentence. Let's mimic it a little bit. And we did so much writing. So, you know, in such a short sweet amount of time. And I was like, I can. I was teaching Middle School at the time. And I was like, I can totally take this back to my kids and man. I had such fun experiences using the strategies. And I still like it's still in my classroom today. And, you know, if you've ever looked at her Non-fiction Writing, everything is like three steps. There's nothing more than three steps. And I feel like the work that you guys have done is very similar in that it really is short and sweet. And, you know, empowering, because it's so easy to just take and use. I think that's something teachers really love and want to just be able to like, go into something and be like, okay, I can apply this like I can use this tomorrow because it's like it makes that much sense. 00:48:58 Whitney La Rocca And the students do that to. They're like, oh, I can do this one sentence. I can do that, right? I can do that. It's that confidence piece. So. 00:49:08 Molly Rauh Alright. So my final question, okay, it that I pretty much throw at everyone is about educational Heroes.So who are some of you? I know it's a hard one - who are some of yours. Maybe, you know, just a couple. People that have really impacted you in awesome ways as an educator. 00:49:29 Whitney La Rocca Okay. So of course, Jeff. You know, I've talked about him this whole time. So I'm going to start with him, but I'm not going to say a lot because I've done that this entire webinar. I will say Lucy Calkins has completely changed my view on teaching writing. And she actually came into my writing education as an early, I was an early teacher at the time. I had been only teaching a couple years when I was introduced to her work, and I actually got to go to New York for an Institute. And that Institute I walked away, saying, this is what I need to be doing. This makes sense and just she is just such an. And I know she's keynoting at your [Conference]. I'm so excited, but she just is such a learner herself to that. She's constantly revising her thinking, and she's constantly researching and constantly getting out there into classrooms and schools and trying to see what is going on right here and now, but still grounded in what's best for kids and that engagement piece and keeping it authentic. What authentic reading and writing really is. So one of my very first books, professional books that I read front to back, like cover to cover and was Art of Teaching Writing and I, it's highlighted like crazy. It's still on my shelf now. But just reading that and then listening to her. And now, even when I teach, people, will say, you sound just like Lucy. And I'm like, well, she was like, she was my person that's who - I remember being at the institute on my birthday and I she was I was in her small group session. And and she had us writing, of course, she always has us writing, and she was going around and conferring. And she came up next to me. And she said, I want to talk to you about your writing -scoot over. This is so Lucy: just scoot over. I'll share your chair with you, and I was like, so I got to like touch butts with Lucy on my birthday. I mean how cool is that.One of my favorite memory. But anyway, I just I could listen to her all day. I she's just she just has so much to say, and she's so genuine in everything that she does and everything that she says. And she's thoughtful in how she speaks, and she speaks how she writes, right? So it definitely she's one of my heroes for sure. I also, you know, I could go on and on, but I am going to I know that we're short on time. So definitely Jeff. Definitely Lucy, but also my mom, my, like I said, she is a former teacher, former coach. Her name is Amy Daley, and I actually dedicated Patterns of Wonder to her. She was, as I was growing up, she she was a preschool director, and then she moved into being a kindergarten teacher. And then eventually a coach, and I just had learned, growing - as a child I learned so much from her. She, I remember the writing that we did together just as a child in the young authors, competitions, she was there to help me, and she never told me what to do. She constantly conferred with me, right? And made me think through everything that I was doing. And then I remember when I first started teaching, I learned so much from her. Just and that way, she's actually the one that got me thinking about Lucy Caulkins. She's the one that introduced me to that whole brilliance in my life, in my world. And and and we just every time that we talk, we still talk shop constantly. We just have so many of the same philosophies and views and feed off one another, even though she's fully retired now, but she's definitely an educational hero for me as well, and that there's so many more, but I'm just going to limit it to those three for now. 00:53:16 Jessica Rickert It is so hard to limit, because we have you know, but I know that Molly and I are both envious of both of your experiences with Jeff and Lucy. That's pretty awesome. But I love that your mom has paved the way for you as well. That's pretty special. And I gotta tell you, I never thought I'd be excited about grammar instruction. And I am! 00:53:37 Whitney La Rocca Me neither. I never thought I would either and and Jeff even says he never in a million years dreamed he would write a book on grammar, you know. And then like it becomes this empire, you know, later in his life so. 00:53:50 Jessica Rickert Well, and it's so needed, because it's not something that it's kind of the leftover thing that we don't really talk about. I mean, we talked about writing instruction, but grammars always an aside, but it's so important, and it does need to be integrated. So I love what you guys have done. 00:54:06 Whitney La Rocca And when it is taught, it's so often taught in isolation and just doesn't make sense right, or it's, or it's a focus on correcting, rather than the the correctness that's already there. And so I'm glad that we have a resource that can support teachers to keep it authentic and also continued their practice of teaching writing in the genres as well. 00:54:29 Jessica Rickert Awesome. Well, we look forward to seeing you at CCIRA and Molly have something to say before we wrap up. 00:54:37 Molly Rauh No, that's okay. I, you know me, I could talk all night. 00:54:41 Jessica Rickert You got Molly jazzed too. You got a high school teacher jazzed about grammar instruction. 00:54:47 Whitney La Rocca Well, that tends to be, usually High School teachers are very jazzed about grammar instruction. 00:54:51 Molly Rauh I was actually, okay, I'm gonna say what I was going to say. I was actually thinking, like, there's so many teachers that are passionate about a lot of things writing-wise. And grammar is not one of them. They don't feel as comfortable with that space. And so you guys have really empowered them with something that allows them to feel comfortable tackling grammar. 00:55:13 Whitney La Rocca It's okay to not know everything it's that's okay. That's okay. We support you in that. So yeah, it's great. 00:55:22 Jessica Rickert Well, we're very excited. And for all of our listeners, if you haven't signed up for Whitney's session, there's still time to get in, or you can change your session to go and see Whitney, because she will have an awesome couple of sessions. And we're so excited to see you in person. 00:55:40 Whitney La Rocca Thank you. And one of my sessions is following Lucy. So if I'm not there, when you first get there attendees, it's because I'm talking to Lucy, I'll be there soon. Now I'm just teasing, I'm gonna probably have to sneak out of Lucy early to get over to my session, be ready for everyone to come in. However, I'm following her. So I feel like woo look at me. I follow Lucy. I'm honored to come to CCIRA. I have heard so many good things about this conference for years now. So the fact that I am actually get to come and present at it. I'm just incredibly honored, and I can't wait to get to Denver, even though it'll be cold. I can't wait to get there so. 00:56:18 Jessica Rickert Great. Well, thank you so much for taking time to talk to us tonight. Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. I've enjoyed it. 00:56:25 Molly Rauh Thank you Whitney. Thanks for listening to CCIRA Literacy Conversations podcast. To find out more about CCIRA, go to CCIRA.org. On CCIRA.org, you can join as a member, or find great resources like our professional development blog, which posts every Tuesday and has variety of guest writers on a awesome selection of topics. CCCIRA is a professional organization of educators and community members dedicated to the promotion and advancement of literacy. We also have a Twitter account @ColoradoReading. You can find us on Instagram at CCIRA_ColoradoReading. Or you can find us on Facebook, where we also have a members only group that we're trying to build. And our Facebook account is CCIRA Colorado Reading. We'd love to hear more from you. And again, if you're looking for new content, please send any questions or things you'd be interested in seeing from CCIRA to CCIRAVideo@gmailcom. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

Pam Minard: Exciting Features of the 2022 Conference 00:00:00 Molly Rauh Hello and welcome back to this CCIRAA Literacy Conversations podcast. I'm your host, Molly Rauh with my co-host... 00:00:08 Jessica Rickert ...Jessica Richert. Today's podcast features Pam Minard CCIRAs 2022 conference chair. We chatted a lot about the exciting opportunities, both learning and fun to get you rejuvenated. Join us on the journey to literacy and learning at the 2022 CCIRA conference, Feb 10, the 11th and 12th. All right, we have Pam Minard back on to talk about the conference. She had previously promoted the conference, but now we're moving the conference to from 2021 to 2022. So we're really excited to hear about some speakers and different things, because the conference is just around the corner. So Pam, tell us again about your thinking behind the theme of Journey. 00:00:57 Pam Minard Sure, my initial thinking was that journey that I see my students going through becoming literate in their lives, and how it's not just a quick journey. It can take a while. And then I thought about the journey in my own - journeys as a reader, as a teacher, as a bike rider. And just, you know, just takes time. When I first started mountain biking, I spent more time on the ground than I did on the seat of my bike, but I didn't give up, and that's what I want for my students. I want them to feel the challenge, but not give up. So that's kind of where my thinking was in 2019 when I chose the theme of Journey. Now, as we're moving into 2022 Journeys taken on a whole different meaning. And that is the Journey of covid and the postponement and the journey that we're all going through collectively across the world, not only in literate lives, but in our lives. So I could not, you know, I could not have picked a better conference theme that related to both education, personal lives and what's happening in the world than "journey." So we continue on like we always do. 00:02:18 Molly Rauh Well, I like the analogy that you mentioned with your biking mountain biking, and how you spent more time with your butt on the ground, then on the seat. And I feel like we're all feeling that as teachers right now, like the world has changed a little bit, and we're feeling a lot of hard days. But, you know... 00:02:37 Pam Minard Right. 00:02:37 Molly Rauh We get back on, and we keep writing. And so I really like that. I think that suits the world we're in right now, and the what you've dealt with trying to revise this conference now for, you know, first, to put it online. And then now again, to put it back in person, but I'm excited for you that we get to be in person and we get to have, you know, a real face-to-face conference with presenters. So my first question for you is, what are - I'm not, I'm not going to narrow you to 1 because that's just mean, three presenters and there's probably 50 to 100 that you're excited about, but three prisoners you're really excited to see at your conference this year. 00:03:18 Pam Minard Okay, I did a lot of thinking about this this morning. And of course, while I was inviting presenters who has been act impactful in my life as a teacher, and I have to say, above all else, Ellin Oliver Keene. I would say, if you have not had the opportunity to sit in the room and listen to her speak, it's just a session that cannot be missed. I feel like every teacher has to experience Ellin Oliver Keene. Just to tell you a little bit about her. She's a local. She's from Colorado. She has been a staff developer, nonprofit director, adjunct professor. She's been with Denver's PEBC for about 16 years, the Public Education and Business Coalition. She works with schools in the United States and abroad. She has an emphasis on long-term school-based PD and strategic planning for literacy. That is a mouthful that might sound intimidating to listen to somebody talk about this. But every time I have heard her, it's just such common sense. And she's so easy to listen to and has so many great ideas. So on top of all of that, that she's, that she does interactive life, she's also written some books. She's been a co-author. I met her through a book 20 years ago, The Mosaic of Thought. It's been rewritten, not rewritten, but added to in the past 20 years. But I had no idea that that's who she was until I met her through CCIRA and then realized, oh my gosh, you made an impact on me 20 years ago. So that is my number one advice to conference attendees, whether you're a new teacher, middle of your career, end of your career: she is absolutely should be on your list if you haven't heard her. She speaking on Friday again, only one session, and it's from 915 to 10:45, it's session 308. That's my number one recommendation. Shall I keep going? 00:05:24 Jessica Rickert Well, let me pop in, because I have to emphasize what Pam said, like, I love people that can entertain and educate me, and especially when you're at a conference and you're going from session to session to session. And just like Pam said, like Ellen, is that they she has the research to back her, but she's funny, she's engaging. And yes, it's just things that you can take directly back into your classroom the next day. Always enjoyable and such a hit. 00:05:54 Pam Minard Yeah. So she's my number one recommendation. Number 2 and 3 are both in the world of writing. And a lot of you might not know, but we do survey our attendees, our board of directors, our local councils for, who do you want to see? So these two people came up with on those lists of who would you like us to invite to the conference? And they are Whitney La Rocca and Brian Kissel. They both really speak a lot to writing. Whitney is the author of Patterns of Power. I've heard great things about her. I've never attended one of her sessions. I plan on attending this year, but she says that her book offers practical classroom, ready advice to take into teaching the conventions of writing to the next level. I know a lot of us struggle with teaching writing, and I am always happy to have some practical strategies to put into my practice with writing. Nicely, she's got two sessions. She's a Thursday presenter. In the morning, she's going to focus on first grade through fifth grade. And then in the afternoon, she's going to focus on pre-k through first grade. So I really like that really narrowed down emphasis of this is what you can do with our first graders that are just learning to write, just wrapping their heads around those ideas of being a literate writing person, to the pre-k's that you're going to be interpreting pictures, that they're drawing and having more rich conversations with them than maybe production of writing. So that's one that I'm definitely going to attend. Again, she's a Thursday speaker. And then Brian is also a Thursday speaker, and he's going to talk again. I love this that they're both really there for the primary, primary students. So Brian's got a session that's K through 2. And then another one that's three through six. So he's going to go a little bit higher, but all about writing and having these conversations that we need to be having with kids about race, gender, ability, language, poverty. So really, I'm really curious to hear both of them. They came highly recommended to me. 00:08:15 Jessica Rickert And Whitney's going to be on the podcast later in January too. Yeah. So we'll hear more from Whitney. I think Brian's going to write a blog to in January. So we'll get more information for both of them. So those are my two biggie's for writing on Thursday. And then I cannot leave out Angela Myers. I attended. I think it was the 2012 conference. When we had a huge snowstorm, one of our presenters called it snowmageddon in Denver and said, he had never seen a snowmobile riding down the middle of the highway, which was the case in Denver that weekend. But Angela came in as a pinch-hitter, and she was known at the time for a TED Talk that she gave called You Matter. And it was just so emotional. And so awesome to hear her talk about how we all need to matter. So she's been working on this mattering as a topic for several years now, and she's going to speak in a session later in the day on Thursday, called literacy, reimagined and just taking our literate lives, pre-technology into technology. And then her evening session on Thursday will be it's called Mattering is the Agenda. So please, I would encourage everybody to attend that it's from 4:30 to 6:00. You will probably walk out with wet eyes. She's just an amazing speaker, just makes you have that warm, fuzzy feeling inside when you leave her sessions. 00:09:56 Molly Rauh Well, and speaking of places, you get warm fuzzy feelings. I feel like one thing that is underutilized by new conference goers is General Sessions. Like some people just don't recognize, like that's there for everybody. You don't have to sign up for it, you just go and you enjoy the great speakers. And I feel like General Sessions, I always get, you know, they're the kinds of sessions that you're either, like laughing out loud. There have been ones where all up dancing around the room, there's probably some video from me, at a conference where I am for once being lively instead of a wallflower . There are, you know, sometimes they get you to cry. I've never teared up so much as I have at General Sessions. So who are some of our great General Session speakers that we get to look forward to? 00:10:50 Pam Minard I'm glad you brought that up, because Lucy Caulkins is going to open our conference. So that should be amazing. If you haven't had the opportunity to hear Lucy again, I would highly recommend her. She's just a phenomenal speaker again. So, real. So common sense. So, you know, evolutionary, she changes her thinking when it's appropriate to change your thinking, and she shares it with everyone. So she's going to be great on Thursday morning. And then Georgia Heard is Friday morning. She's known a lot for her writing and her poetry. So, she'll be, you know, I don't know if you remember Heart Maps, but that came from Georgia Heard. So she'll be talking about engaging students with their heart in writing. So then we have Angela as the Thursday evening speaker. And I'm drawing a blank. Oh, Julia Torres will be Friday evening speaker. She's a librarian from Denver Public Schools; brings a great lens of diversity and teaching through texts that disrupt our normal thinking. So let's stop using The Grapes of Wrath and use some more current novel studies that will talk to the experience of people in the past 15-20 years instead of 40, 50, 60 years. And let's get rid of all those off and not get rid of them. That's quality work. But a lot of that work that I studied when I was a teenager was written by 40 year old men in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I can't really make those connections to those people in my life. So disrupting our thinking about texts that we share, and then luncheon speakers, we have Gordon Korman, who is amazing. He's a gifted writer. He's on, I think he's surpassed his hundredth book, or it's in publication. 00:12:49 Molly Rauh He's about to. Yeah. So yeah, we got to interview him. So if you haven't listened to that podcast episode, jump back, hear a little about his upcoming books and his recent books. 00:13:02 Pam Minard Yeah, yeah, he will be very entertaining. 00:13:05 Molly Rauh He's an fun and interesting guy. 00:13:10 Pam Minard Mhmm. We have a decline that's been doing some staff development in the Denver area. So really speaking to literacy and getting, really working within the schools. So if you are having her as you staff developer, it would be really cool to come to her luncheon and experience her in a different venue. And then Gary Brooks is coming back our friend from the south. He's sure to be an absolute, hilarious luncheon speaker. And then on Saturday, we have Colby Sharp along with John Schu, "Mr. Schu Reads", and Rhonda Jenkins, a librarian in Illinois. So they're banding together to speak to if you build that bookshelf, they will read those books. So, access to great books for all students in your classrooms. 00:14:05 Jessica Rickert And I know that there are some people out there right now that are thinking I can't come to the CCIRA conference, because I just can't get a sub, like there's just - we understand the sub shortage. So what a great opportunity to come for three hours on Saturday, we have a one-day only option. And those people are amazing. We interviewed Colby on the podcast. I had never heard him. And he was so awesome. Just, just again, a down to earth person, you know, people have seen Mr. Schu. So I think that the combination of those three people is going to be a great boost if you just need a little bit of PD and just take 3 hours on your Saturday for yourself to come and see them. 00:14:48 Molly Rauh Yeah. And I think, you know, it's important to note that like Colby is still in the classroom. So you get somebody who's got that like day-to-day there. He's living what we're living. And John Schu bring so much energy. So if you're tired and you need, you know, kind of juiced up, and you know something to get you through the rest of the school year, man, there's no one better to kind of absorb some energy from like, last time I saw him, he's literally running around the room, handing out books. And he's like, I need to get a book, and you like, he just has great energy. And so I know we all kind of face some teacher tired. And for me, this conference is just to get energized and get excited about bringing things back to my classroom. So yeah, even if you can't get a sub go for that Saturday to get some energy from some amazingly energetic and awesome educators and librarians. And you know, just great stuff. 00:15:46 Pam Minard Yeah, I can't. And this podcast without mentioning to incredible authors. That's a good thing. You didn't hold me to one, because it's not going to happen. But Avi, who's been around forever, has won many Newberry Awards, a lot of other awards for his writing. He's a local to Colorado. He lives in Steamboat and is so excited to come and speak during two sessions and sign books. You might be familiar with this book Papi. He's got a lot of just incredible great series, and now he's taking those books and turning them into graphic novels. So he's moving over to the, to the genre that our students are showing that they're really enjoying these days. And then the other is Alan Gratz. Oh my gosh, if you have not read Refugee yet, I would highly recommend it. I was just telling the person I was driving home from work about it. I had to send her a link to get the book on Amazon. She's actually a teacher from Spain and said, oh, I want to read it, but it has to be in Spanish for me to truly understand it. And sure enough, it's been translated. So since Refugee, though, he has authored another book that came out in 2021, that he was so excited to come to the conference and share about 9/11. And then he's still written another book, and it's about it's another refugee story. I can't remember the title. It's something like out from the darkness about, you know, not hiding anymore, because you're an immigrant. So just amazing stories. Refugee takes like four vignettes, and you hear a little bit about each story. And then at the end, they start getting woven together. It was amazing. 00:17:34 Speaker 1 And it's like a middle school book, but it was incredible to read. And I gave it enough of a book talk in our 15-minute drive home that third grade teacher that I teach with just has to have it to read it. So so those two, I would highly recommend. And, you know, just everybody that's coming is such great quality. Pernille Ripp is, her sessions are filling up really fast. Yeah, that Cris Tovani another local that's coming. And Beth Skelton, if you've been in her ELL workshops. Oh my gosh. And if you haven't, and you need strategies for teaching vocabulary to your ELL students, she's the person to go to. So, yeah, I could just go on and on. 00:18:16 Speaker 1 And Beth is definitely a font of knowledge. That's another one if you're looking for a little preview. If you're a little hesitant to sign up for the conference, we have a podcast from her too. And like we get so much information from her. So just imagine, you know how much more you could get if you get to see her and like, be there for her presentation versus, you know, just a little snippets you get on our podcast. So yeah, great speakers so excited for them. And this I know this isn't as much your side of conference planning Pam. So Jess, if you want to pop in and share some things, there's lots of other opportunities at the conference as well. So there's presenters and speakers, but there's other little places to network. So, like last our last recording, we talked about the Early Career Network. So what are some other things that maybe are going on as part of the conference that people who haven't been there might need to be aware of? Or, you know, take opportunities to take advantage of? 00:19:23 Jessica Rickert I would say the exhibit hall is going to be different this year, and it's not just going to be in one big room, but it's going to be lining the hallways in the Westin. And if anybody has not been in the Westin Hotel it, it looks like a mountain lodge like it's so cool. So you feel like a little bit of a retreat anyway. And then we're also doing something different with, we're not having one big bookstore. We're going to have some smaller book stores. And so those will be throughout the exhibit hall. So, you can kind of connect with different vendors. And there's people selling like scarfs and reading programs and books and all different kinds of things. So that's kind of cool. Entertainment-wise, actually, this hotel is awesome because it's right next to a skating rink. And so if you want to do just like a team bonding event, you can go ice skating, and there's just ice skating sessions there. There's also a really nice nice restaurant and a bunch of restaurants around there. There's a Dave & Buster's. So this is more not the academic, but the fun, which I think is a I think is a big part of the conference is it's a time to go and learn, but also reconnect with either people you do work with or other people you don't work with so that social piece that it's important too. So lots of things within walking distance of the hotel, which are, which is awesome. 00:20:53 Pam Minard Yeah. And one other opportunity for some entertainment Stan Yan will be back drawing caricatures of teachers. So free of charge, I think he does put out a tip, jar, but it's kind of fun to see what you look like in character. 00:21:10 Molly Rauh Yes. And it, yeah, if you haven't gone, he does that. He's done that the last couple conferences, right? And yeah, his, even, even if you don't go get yourself done, because you're nervous like, go watch, he's awesome. Give him a tip because he works hard and he, you know, he does that just because he's a really awesome guy. So I love that you guys mentioned some of the features of the new location. So if you didn't quite catch on to that, the Westin is a new location for us. So trying something new, but we think it's going to be exciting to kind of get out of the, you know, like, I guess I'll call it the Deep City and, you know, get to a place where there's some views where we have a little bit better access to restaurants and things so that people can really maybe make a mini vacation out of it too, you know, again, going back to that theme of we're all a little tired. And this is a great way to get rejuvenated. I think some people say, oh, my gosh, it's a professional conference, like I just don't have the energy for that. I don't want to do that right now. But oh, man, like, make a vacation of it. Go have fun with some teachers. Go learn some things, go get excited, network with some people, make some new friends, invite them to dinner with you. You know, whatever fills your bucket like it's a it's a good time to be had by a whole lot of teachers. 00:22:34 Pam Minard Another great thing about this venue is no more buses, no offsite parking. The Westin has a ton of parking right around the hotel, and then their offsite parking is within walking distance of the hotel. So depending on the weather, you might have to wear your boots, but you won't have to be waiting for a bus and dealing with the bus situation. So we're really excited to to have that. 00:23:04 Molly Rauh Yeah. So come join us for our inaugural Westin year to enjoy all our nice new perks. 00:23:11 Jessica Rickert And registration is still open. It'll still be open through January. But what a great opportunity we have a break coming up, and it doesn't take a lot of time to register. You can go to CCIRA.org to look through the sessions that are available. And we have had many people on this podcast. If you want to check them out, they give little teasers or see what they're about before you register. That would be a great way to spend some of your winter break after your relaxing. And we just hope that everybody signs up. We can, if six teachers from a school come then a principal comes for free. So we are just excited to have this in person conference and gather back together and generate some excitement within the the teaching field again. So any last words, Pam or Molly. 00:24:11 Molly Rauh Do you have the specific date for when registration closes? So people know, you know, for so are procrastinators know when they're out of luck for, you know, off site registration, pre-registration. 00:24:25 Jessica Rickert It will probably be around January 30th, 31st. So we don't have an official one, but just plan on the 31st being the close date. 00:24:35 Pam Minard Yeah. And we do offer on-site registration. It's just a little bit more expensive than pre-registration. So but we won't turn you away. 00:24:51 Molly Rauh Yeah. So for the real procrastinators, just show up. Yeah. So any last thoughts Pam. Any other things you're excited about to mention? 00:25:02 Pam Minard No, I'm just excited that it's happening. I mean it's been a journey for sure. And we are 100% having an in-person conference. The presenters and speakers, speakers and authors that I've spoken to are so excited to be in person. They don't care if they have to wear a mask. They don't. You know, they feel comfortable. They've all had their vaccinations and their boosters and they're ready to share their knowledge again in person with teachers. They have truly missed these experiences. 00:25:36 Jessica Rickert Well, we hope to see you all at the 2022 CCIRA conference. Thanks for joining us. Pam. 00:25:44 Pam Minard My pleasure. Can't wait to see you in 2022. 00:25:50 Molly Rauh Thanks for listening to CCIRA literacy conversations podcast to find out more about CCIRA go to CCIRA.org. On CCIRA.org, you can join as a member, or find great resources like our professional development blog, which posts every Tuesday and has a variety of guest writers on an awesome selection of topics CCCIRA is a professional organization of Educators and community members dedicated to the promotion and advancement of literacy. We also have a Twitter account @ColoradoReading. You can find us on Instagram @CCIRA_ColoradReading. Or you can find us on Facebook, where we also have a members only group that we're trying to build. And our Facebook account is CCIRA Colorado Reading. We'd love to hear more from you. And again, if you're looking for new content, please send any questions or things you'd be interested in seeing from CCIRA to CCIRAVideo@gmail.com [CCIRAVideo@gmail.com]. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

Krista Griffin: CCIRA's Early Career Network 00:00:00 Molly Rauh Hello and welcome back to this CCIRA Literacy Conversations, podcast. I'm your host Molly Rauh with my co-host... 00:00:08 Jessica Rickert ...Jessica Rickert. Today's podcast features, Krista Griffin, who's the co-chair of CCIRAs early career Network committee, the early career networks work centers around supporting pre-service teachers and teachers early in their career. Krista shares learning opportunities at the conference and how new teachers can add to their toolbox. Well, welcome Krista. Thank you so much for joining us. And we're excited to hear a little bit about the early career Network committee for CCIRA.. So can you just kind of dive in and start telling us about that? 00:00:46 Krista Griffin Sure, the early career network is a committee that is really focused on how we can support pre-service teachers and early career teachers as the name suggests. So we know that either there's there's a lot of support that that new teachers need pre-service and in-service. And we also know there's a void in that in that arena. So we really need to figure out, how can we? What can we do? And we're thinking about this from I'm at the university, the university standpoint, but from CCIRA, what can we do? Because we know that we've all benefited from um, the wisdom and help from others in our careers. And so we're just we just think about what can we do? How can we? How can we support students, pre-service teachers and in service in, in their desire to be stronger literacy teachers? So we have a focus on trying to help, trying to think about what can what we can do with the conference, but the CCIRA Conference. So we've done lots of different things. A lot of a lot of what we stress is networking and introducing them to principles and introducing them to other teachers and letting them hear that basically, they're not, they're not alone, they're not, you know, the some of the questions that they have and the imposter syndrome feelings that they might have, or ones that we've all felt. So that's that's something that we do at the conference level is host a luncheon, bring in people. We're trying to figure out how we can make this more than just a once-a-year conference thing and covid - we have some good plans going in and covid was like "Naw." So what we'd like to revisit our plans again and figure out what can you know, what is it, that our early career people need? And how can we? How can we support them? So we've investigated different social media platforms. You know, we thought if we had a Facebook page and we're like, no those are for old people. And then we, we're just trying to figure out what's you know, how can we? How can we keep us, how can we create this support network? Because right now it's pretty, you know, we meet, and we get a lot of momentum at the conference and we'd like to put that momentum to continue. I don't know if that answered your question, but that was a lot of information about what our goals and aspirations are. 00:03:29 Molly Rauh Well, and I'm also curious, Krista. How did you get into this role of helping to coordinate ECN? 00:03:37 Krista Griffin Yeah, you know, I ask myself that all but no, just just kidding. No, I some I have taught at the University level for for several years. And when I first got well, when I was an undergraduate, I had heard about CCIRA. And that was a, you know, quite a long time ago. And then as a master's student, I got a grant to come myself that paid for me to attend this event to buy supplies. And so I thought, wow, that you know, that's a really great thing as we pull as we pull people in. But then when I got to Metro where I currently teach the professor that with that was there was said that we could get these memberships and we could take students. And so what she did was she just gave out the memberships. And I said, wait, what if we went with them and what if we, you know, made it a thing. So at my University, I figured out how I could. My students could apply for student I'm travel grant, and we could get paid for. So, so then, for the last, I think it's been 10 years. I've just been collecting students who want to go helping them receive the grant and taking them. So it was a kind of a natural thing. So I would take them. And then friends who were running the early career Network in years past from UNC would talk to me about this. And then that's kind of, and then you know, the next thing I know I'm my name is on the thing. So anyway, it aligns with my passion, which is preparing pre-service, and also early career network teachers in it. But that's that's how it evolved was I was bringing them, and they're like, hey, you're bringing them anyway. Let's make you official. 00:05:32 Molly Rauh Well, and that, you know, makes me think. And this is actually something that I've brought up before. But teachers, if you're out there listening, and you have connections for awesome professors at different universities in Colorado or and nearby, who would do awesome work like Krrista's doing, we need you, because I think, you know what, what you do for your students would support so many new teachers in doing their best work. I didn't get started at the University level, but, you know, as a first year teacher does early career, is it the first three years that you guys support? Or just the very first year? First three? 00:06:14 Krista Griffin I think it's one two, three years. Other people have said 125. I feel like we're all inclusive. If you are considering yourself, an early career person, and we would love to support you. 00:06:24 Molly Rauh Yeah. So, like I got started my very first year, and, you know, you were talking about that networking, peace. And, you know, I had so many great connections, not just in my building, but in my district, and later on in nearby districts, because somebody pulled me in in the beginning. And, you know, I think all those people have allowed me to stay in this career, even when things get tough. So I, you know, I think that early career network is a beautiful thing to help those new teachers get started and really feel supported and be able to do this job, especially in what's become a pretty tough climate to teach in. So, you know, you talked about what you do with your students. So what are some of those fun things that you're working on that covid kind of messed up, that you would like to see happen, that maybe teachers around the state hearing this can say, hey, that's something I can do, even if they're not officially in a roll with CCIRA. But things they could do to help, kind of build, yeah, an unofficial early career network. 00:07:38 Krista Griffin Yeah, I think that some of the some of the ideas that we had talked about in, maybe the last three times that we had done these, our luncheons at CCIRA. We had talked about meeting in the summer. So having some kind of a summer get together. So and it, it doesn't have to be summer, and it doesn't have to be around a training. But whatever ideas was to bring in somebody, you know, to do some PD that's specific and, and and very, you know, just something that that early current teachers would really, really go to, because a lot of the professional development that are that we are required to go to may be necessary but it may not be our passion or what fills us and brings us joy or meets, you know, the very direct need that we have at the moment. So that's one of the things that we're thinking about is, how could we have? Because see CCIRA has so many great sessions for students to attend. It is students come away from that, and teachers just so invigorated. And so they, but they get all of it at one time, right? And? And there becomes an overload at some point. You're like, great. And so we thought, well, if we can do something at a different point, maybe, you know, maybe in a kind of a midpoint in Denver, maybe, or the other thing that we were thinking about was how we could get our councils more involved in in the early career network and maybe figure out how they can reach out, empowering council members to reach out to new teachers in their schools and districts. So maybe having some little campaign that is grass roots from schools. So that, and then once we build, you know, we don't want, I will build it, and they'll come type of thing we want, they'll come, and we'll build it because it should be based on the needs of, you know, what those teachers are feeling and needing. So those were some of the things things that are percolating that we hope to be able to to continue to support. And and to we always. This is true of students of any age teachers of any age. Everybody is motivated by different things and needs different things. And there's no one-size-fits-all in anything. So we can't assume that we know, you know what a specific groups needs are we want to know from from from all of them, what are they? But sometimes saying, what do you need is overwhelming? And we're like, "We don't know what we need besides wine and chocolate!" So coming up with some amount of choices like, you know, we know and. And and we also know that that's motivating right? Like research on motivation says, controlled choice is also motivating, and sometimes is even helpful when, when we're not sure what we need. So those are those are just things that we were considering. And the other thing that I was thinking about, when you were talking Molly, is that one thing that we know is if we can get people, especially students, or early career, we can get them to come to CCIRA once we can most likely get them to come back again. And so if it becomes a part of their professional development early, then it becomes something they can look forward to, and they can invite their friends to their, you know, at their schools. And then it becomes both both a learning and a social time of joy. So anyway, that was another thing I was thinking of when you were talking. 00:11:23 Molly Rauh No, I agree with that, because they got me that very first year. I have only ever missed CCIRA once in my teaching career. One time. And I need it like I get to February, and I'm like, "Give it, to me!" It, you know, it gets me excited, and I'm always ready to come back and try new things. And, you know, even when I registered earlier this year, it was just like, oh, what do I need this year? What am I, you know, because switched to a new district and a new level, and there's plenty of things I'm struggling with. So it's like, you know, it's this place where I go, and I feel empowered to do the things that I need to do as a teacher. And I want every new teacher to feel that way. 00:12:03 Krista Griffin Yes. 00:12:04 Jessica Rickert Well, and I'm wondering, you know, a lot, if you're in a bigger district, you're getting a lot of professional development as a teacher. And then I know that there are different licensure requirements. So you're having that PD on top of that. So what would you say to these new teachers that are in their first couple of years? Like, why would you go to the CCIRA conference? Because you have all of this other PD that you're getting? 00:12:33 Krista Griffin Ya, I think, I think, you know, the why for anything, it's something that that's really important. I think the why is choice. At least it is for me, you know? I mean, there's professional development that we have to do that's part being a teacher, and that will never end. We will always have something that we were required to do by the district. And and sometimes that PD can be wonderful, but we don't get to choose most often. So what CCIRA provides is, is choice, and it's very tailored to what you need in the moment like, you know, this is what I need. The other thing that I was thinking about when you ask this question is professional development can be overwhelming. And I think what happens for many of us when we're in professional development is it makes us feel inadequate, right? We hear this, and somebody gets up there and talks about what an amazing thing they've done and how wonderful their classroom is. And we're thinking that is not what my classroom looks like at all, and that that can be intimidating. But but what I've experienced at CCIRA is authentic-ness and real, and and not just sharing, you know, the beautiful Pinterest version of their classrooms, but also the realness. And and I think that I think that that is really confidence, like it instills confidence and teachers, because the presenters are real. And they're also not there to sell you something, which is another thing that happens at conferences is you're like, okay, I get it, you want me to buy your book. And and so that you know it, that's a that's a thing, the tough one. And the other thing that I that I think is true for students at CCIRA, or for any teachers is that even if you're listening to something and you come away with one thing to try from this one, and it's one small thing. And often it's one small thing I can try on Monday, right? It's not this. This is how you're being evaluated, right? That's a different kind of PD, or this is you must pass to whatever. So it's so it gives us here's something to try on Monday from this session. It's low stakes, right? It's low stakes, it's it's empowered by choice. And then you also get a chance to talk about it with others. You know who maybe aren't in your District can you can be like, oh, it doesn't have to be this way. This isn't the only way to do it. You get those those opportunities that are very natural. And as, as you know, and as anyone listening, to this can tell, teachers really like to talk. And so being able to do that in response to non-threatening professional development that you have chosen either because you're really passionate about it, or because you're like, I am not good at this, or I am struggling with this concept. So you're choosing it for lots of different reasons. And there's just such a plethora of things to choose from. For me, that's why you would, you would, you know, be thrilled to attend CCIRA as an as a new educator. And you guys, the ECN has well, there's two sessions that are designated ECN. So I know that Maria and Katie Walther are hosting a session that anyone can attend, but really geared towards people in their first years. But then you guys are hosting another session. So do you guys, do you want to tell us a little bit about that? Sure, that what we're doing is we're doing we the luncheon, and I believe it's on Friday, and I believe it's number 256, -356! I was so close. I'm a literacy Professor. I have not a math person. And so so you do sign up for this. And the reason that we ask you to sign up for it is so that we can provide you with free food and prizes. If you haven't heard about our delightful presence at this, I think. But even if you're not sold by meeting principles or talking with like likewise peers or any of those things, we have free food and prizes. But one of the things that students have said that they really appreciate about our luncheon is it's casual, and it's, it's, it's we bring in different people to share their experiences like principals or teachers in their first few years, or anyone that we think, you know what, maybe have like three or four different if people, then we can break off into smaller groups, and it just gives us a chance to, to talk about what we've heard so far. That's one of the things that we do like, what have you heard that's exciting? And that that's a that's a fun thing. We get to, you know, just think through. Where do we want to head? That's another purpose for this, and to answer any questions that maybe they haven't felt comfortable asking in a bigger session, we're hoping that it's a really, you know, just a really comfortable one for kind of question and answer for anyone that's that there, that can provide that. So it's a it's informal, and it's super fun. That's that's my plug, or why you should come to get free food and prizes and knowledge. 00:18:09 Molly Rauh Do you know what the food is yet? 00:18:11 Krista Griffin We do not. But I can guarantee that you will be thrilled. I can't guarantee that. But you know, I, I believe you will be thrilled. I know you'll be thrilled with the prizes, because they are unique. 00:18:26 Molly Rauh Oooh, mystery prizes! Wondering a little bit, you know, still still trying to think about, you know, some of those other opportunities where we can get our early career teachers, you know, I see CCIRA as something to empower them. So, you know, it's not. No, we don't want you to come just because, you know, we think everybody should have this. You know, we're not trying to sell a particular method, or, you know, any one tool or strategy like, like you said, like, there's, there's choices, there's, you know, different options. And that's something you want to continue to cultivate. Now, I lost where I was going with that, because my brain ran off in five different directions. But you know, just thinking about this as a tool to empower young teachers and or pre-service teachers. What are some struggles or things that you hear about from, you know, pre-service teachers or early career teachers that you are networking with, that you think the rest of us could support, and maybe, you know, come up with some opportunities we can create for them. Besides, you know, making sure that we also maybe give them some opportunities for some food and drink. I've definitely taken a little pre-service teacher in my building out for some Starbucks. Every once in a while, she and I also do walk and talks. So we have a common plan. She's not my student teacher, but we go for a walk and just I let her vent about stuff. And, you know, we brainstorm things and talk strategies and it's a great time. And, you know, I'm also modeling for her like some like, take a break like decompress, deal with things, and then go back to work and sit down. And, you know, she really appreciates that time. And it's kind of become this awesome time when she and I go for a walk and sometimes grab a Starbucks. But what are what are ways that you see that, you know, we can cultivate the spirit of what you want to do on a daily basis in our work. 00:20:43 Krista Griffin Well, I think I was thinking two things. One thing I'm thinking of what you're doing is awesome. And how can we? How can we replicate that? How can I know yours happens probably organically, because you're like, oh, I would love to support you. And also, Starbucks is delicious and hooray for walks. And so all of those things. But what a wonderful thing that you're doing, you know, kind of informally, at first, probably to support our, our our students that need that. Or I keep saying students because, you know, I'm in in the University field. But what I really mean is all of our early career people. But if we could, if we could have more of those informal networks within schools. But what if we empowered all of our CCIRA members? What if we, what if we challenge them? Yes. What if we did a CCIRA challenge, you know, to reach out to those people that are in their schools, because it with it, they'll be student teachers. There's residents. There are field students, you know, that are in their schools. And if they could just I wonder if we even had something we can, I don't know. Anyway. Okay, now I'm going crazy. I love this idea. 00:22:02 Krista Griffin I'm with. I'm with you too. I think. I think this is this is your own official introduction, be looking for a challenge because Krista and I are going to go push people behind the scenes and see if we can come up with like a prize or something. And you guys can like post, and there'll be a hashtag and, you know, support new teachers. Yes. 00:22:21 Krista Griffin Love this. I love this challenge. 00:22:23 Molly Rauh We're gonna find a way Krista. This is is unofficial, but we're going to make this official. So be paying attention CCIRA listeners. 00:22:31 Krista Griffin I love the support challenge. The other thing that I was thinking about when you were talking is what we want to do for teachers is provide them tools in their toolbox. And that's, and I think that's even a part of our little spiel for for our early career luncheon. It's just let's give you some tools in your toolbox. And and your question was, what are you, what are you hearing that the teachers are really needing? And I think sometimes we provide a ton of tools, and we don't tell them when or how to use those tools. And so I think maybe our we can do both. But I think maybe that's something that we need to be a little bit more explicit with with my own University students. So even if we think about it like comprehension strategies, right over like hey students, here's a great thing to work to do with, and then we don't tell them when to apply it. We just have them practice it. And and so I'm thinking that that kind of applies for all of us. So that was another thing that I was thinking is, is students don't or early career teachers don't seem to be short on resources, but there. But what they're needing is, can you show me the, how can we talk about, you know, how this works with students, and with these behaviors that are coming in and with this covid thing, where everybody is a little bit behind, and you know what this looks like, it seems to me that that's what I'm hearing a ton of in the University world because of covid. Our it's haven't been in field placements. So normally they will have been in three different classrooms before they get to residency, and they haven't had those opportunities. So when they get to residency, it's like their first time with students. And I think then we're going to start seeing just about lack of experience a little bit more. And it's not that it's so detrimental to students, but they're not as confident. And so we can help build their confidence in these different things. I think, you know, that's a big call for us as well. 00:24:49 Molly Rauh I love that. And just thinking too, like, I had again, the same student teacher. So part of the reason she and I have connected is a teacher in my building really believes that like we, if we're going to get good teachers in my district, because we don't have a high retention rate, we have to really get them hooked while their student teaching. And so she was working with him a previous semester, you know, just you know, one of those I never know what they're called, because I did a different sort of program, because I'd already had my undergraduate. And so I don't ever remember the numbers, or, you know, whatever you call the different pieces, but she was basically, you know, in there a couple days a week working with this teacher, and he wanted her back. And so he actually got her a part-time job in the building. And so she's working with us part-time while she's finishing her student teaching. And while she's finishing her program, and then she'll student teach in the spring. So she won't be able to work with us. But she so she's got this little small class that she teaches, and she put together this little lesson activity, and she was gonna do like a sorting thing. And so she and I just, you know, as we're looking at it, we had this conversation about, man there's a lot of stuff for them to sort. How could we build it slowly over time? And like, scaffold it? Because in our building, our kids have they have a low threshold for what they're what they think they're capable of doing. And so you really have to build up their confidence before. You can ask hard things of them, they can do them, but they I believe they can do them. So it's she. And I talked about how to do that. And she goes, oh, thank you for you know, she didn't even necessarily. She wasn't truly asking for those tips, but she was showing me what she was doing. And I said, hey, something to think about. And she was like awesome. But then the other thing that we do because and I think every teacher should do this. So, teachers, this is my advice to you don't have to listen to me, but you should. But I ask her for advice all the time. I'll be like, hey, I'm doing this because fresh eyes and, and you know, some of those tools and strategies and things that you know, I maybe haven't heard of in over a decade, are fresh in her mind. And so, you know, I ask her, and I ask another student teacher in our building all the time. Hey, you know, how would, how would you go about this? What are you thinking? And you know? They have great little tips and ideas. And, you know, it also just builds up again their confidence in what they can do. And so I think, you know, that's my advice to teachers like have those conversations, ask for their advice. Look at what they're doing. I had a student teacher two years ago now. And my greatest frustration working with him was that he didn't have things to show me so that we could have those conversations and could troubleshoot things. And that was really hard for me. And so also just knowing, you know, that's my advice, early career people do like, know who you're working with and what they need from you, because certainly, I now know to ask anybody who would like to work with me. Hey, just a heads up like you have to be somebody who's not planning your stuff in the middle of the night the night before, because it will drive me crazy. And then I will drive you crazy, because I struggle with that. And so, like knowing, knowing too just like being willing to ask, because I think any teacher you're working with, they're there, they know how they function, and they'll be willing to tell you how they function. And so just making sure that you're kind of reciprocating so that you can both support each other. Student teachers support us, but we're there to support you. And so you got to find that working relationship. 00:28:47 Krista Griffin And finding your collaborators. I mean, there's nothing more exciting than collaborating with, with teachers. Like that, and it doesn't. It doesn't always naturally happen. Just because you're on the same team does not mean that you're, you know, that you're going to be natural collaborators, but hopefully you can find the people that, that you, that you connect with, and that, you know, you mentioned, don't you know if you're planning at 3 am the night before, that's not going to fit my, you know, how I do that. So finding the people whose timelines are similar and and who challenge you right who are like, okay, but why are you doing that the same way it's one of the most beautiful things about teaching is the collaboration and the fact that we are just glorified thieves where we just steal everybody's great ideas. And and then you get to make them your own and talk about them. And, you know, sharing those, you know, those experiences with early career people. And because we talked a lot about what isn't great sometimes about teaching? Right now, it's a hard time to be a teacher. But there's there's also still such pockets and moments of pure 00:30:08 Krista Griffin joy in in that collaboration. And and in your example, just one small thing, like, how could get the let's stop to scaffold for a minute? And then that changes everything, and, and that somebody could say something to your like, oh, that, yeah, it's now I know where I'm going. We don't like operating, you know, as little islands, and we don't have to. And, and hopefully, that's part of early current network is that we're breaking up these little islands, and we're creating one big happy Island where we apparently you don't come up with are our best tips for each other and and and help problem solve any collaborative nature. 00:30:52 Molly Rauh Absolutely. And your person doesn't have to be like, obviously whoever you're working with. You got to work with them, right? That doesn't have to be your person in the building. Like I had a student teacher. She was phenomenal. I loved her, but I wasn't her person. It was the English teacher down the hall, like they clicked in a way she and I were never going to click, and she's probably my all-time favorite student teacher that I've ever had like she was just that good. But I wasn't her people. We could talk about great things. But you know, when she needed somebody to talk to, she had somebody else. And so really knowing that too, because I think sometimes and it works for some people like, but if it's not working, don't feel stuck just with that person, your student teaching with. Make some of those other connections have some other people to support you like when I was student teaching, and it was a long time ago, but there's still pieces of it that are very fresh in my mind. I loved the guy that I student taught with. He had he was a licensed special ed teacher. So he got to bring that into the secondary content that I teach. And so I learned amazing things from him. But when I needed to go decompress, I went and hung out with the, what are they, consumers, family consumer science teachers in the lounge like that we had like, you know, it was a high school. So, you know, there was like this little lounge. There were different ones all over the building. But the one I hung out with was with the family, consumer science teachers. And I think there were a couple other teachers in there, but, you know, completely different people, than I taught with, and it was really nice to just go get to be somewhere else. So it's okay. And I think, you know, you learn things, and you hear strategies and ideas from talking to people who aren't in your department or your content, or, you know, your grade level, or whatever it might be. And so seeking out a diverse collection of people to network in whatever building you're in. I highly highly recommend that to anyone. And I still do that, even in the building that I'm in. So, again, new in my building, new in my district. I have become buddies with the French teacher. I definitely don't even speak French. I have some math teacher friends, some language arts teacher friends. And so, you know, I go some different places to get my support. And, you know, I have my shiny, actually, all all my all, my close friends that take me for walks. We laugh about that. They say, I need to be walked a couple times a day -they're all early career teachers. And so those are those are kind of my people in the building. So I have a she's a second-year social studies teacher that I plan with a ton. And then this pre-service teacher that we go, and we brainstorm things and, you know, look over plans. So you know, find your people and get excited because I get excited, just talking to people about what we're doing and, you know, letting them help me troubleshoot my, and me, helping them troubleshoot like great things come out of it. I like to network. 00:33:57 Jessica Rickert And I think you guys have highlighted something where I think it's crucial for everybody to know when you're entering the teaching profession. Nobody expects you to be the expert. And I think teachers honor you more and respect you more, if you say, oh, I don't know where I'm willing to learn. I want to learn here's my idea, but the best teachers I've ever worked with are always learning and wanting to get better. They were never the I know everything. I'm right. And this is how I've always done it. So I think it's that. Collaboration piece, but it willing to learn and know that you don't know everything. 00:34:36 Molly Rauh Ya, I think, I think actually, one of the most exciting things about being a teacher is it's never going to get stagnant. It's never. And you know, like, I don't know what might be a stagnant, but something like accounting seems to me like it. You know it would you just, it's always the same. Here is the great news. And you know, so the frustrating news about teaching is it's never the same. So so it is I couldn't, but my job was to continuously learn. And I still can't believe that like my job is to read and write and learn about teaching like that is so amazing. And, and in some ways, early career, you know, it's okay. You know, there's kind of a it's okay, because you're still learning to ask all these questions, but it is also inspiring for people who have been in education for lots of years to remember it's okay, to ask questions, right? And so, so the early career people bring in this this whole new fresh set of eyes on what we've always done, or, you know, whatever that might look like. And I think that that is just another piece that that just makes the profession so fun. Is it's, it's it's always going to be different. And what works so great. Yesterday is not going to work so great today. And what was a disaster today could be the best thing I've ever done tomorrow. And you never know. And that's why all of the tools that we need, you know, having so many different tools to pull out is so key in our profession. And so we can help start building that toolbox early through early career and through CCIRA, and in our, in our University classrooms and in our, in our schools. Then we're empowering our friends who who need all the need, all those tools, because, and we all need them all. But if we've been doing it awhile or tool boxes are a little, we have more to choose from. So we're just trying to help build that up. 00:36:46 Molly Rauh So, thinking I love that you're trying to help build that up. And yeah, CCIRA is definitely place to do it. So thinking about those two people who are kind of my support system this year and who are helping, keep me inspired and excited to do the work being people who could be part of the ECN. Who in your career inspires you or is a hero for you. Maybe in the work that you're doing, 00:37:24 Krista Griffin I both love and despise this question. I bet everyone else, I just find it because I feel like all teachers are heroes. But and, and, and, you know, we even named a conference about that. And I even I don't know if you go. This is I was thinking, this was a video. I have a giant chicken behind me, and he has a cape on, and he is a superhero. He's our superhero chicken that was in my classroom, but so I do believe that that that I'm inspired by people who are everyday going into the classroom and giving their best for students. So that is a blanket, kind of a really vague statement that didn't answer your question. But but it is too. I can't stress enough how impressed I am with teachers who are willing to just keep going and give it their best, even in hard circumstances like we've seen. So blanket statement, everybody. More to the point of your question, who inspires has me the most I think, I had thought of somebody earlier and then I switched it. And now I just feel like I need to go with my blanket statement. I think I'm going to go old school and a little basic. But the person that inspired me to be a teacher, and I don't mean to tell you how old I am. But, you know, this was a good 45 years ago, when I was in kindergarten, so you all do the math, and I'm just not even embarrassed anymore. But this I had this teacher. I had that the delight of having her in kindergarten. And in second grade. So I had her twice, which, and she just embodied everything that I think is important about teaching. She she cared for us so much so deeply, but she challenged us like I remember, I learned to read, in preschool. It was it was easy for me. And so I thought, oh, sweet, you know, all these clowns are learning how to read I'm going to go jack around over here, and but probably I didn't use that language because, you know, I was five, but she, she was like, did not just allow that to happen. She she was like, oh, you're reading at this level, you know, five-year-old. Let's challenge you more, and because she cared about my learning just as much as she cared about the, you know, the the learning of people in the class who were eating crayons and paste and didn't know one letter from another, like she cared equally about pushing us all. And that's not to say, I didn't eat crayons and paste, let's be honest, but she was someone who just cared so much. And and anyway, that's I could go on for a hundred years. What I can tell you is that she was at a wedding, and I grew up in California, and I'd flown back from this wedding, when right after I had graduated from college, and I was able to tell her, hey, you inspired me. And this is why. And she got little tears in her eyes. And I was able to tell her she was my hero. So anyway, but that's that's to you, Mrs. unintelligible. 00:41:08 Jessica Rickert That's awesome. I love that story. And I'm sure she loved that moment to well, thank you so much. Krista for joining us. And we're looking forward to all these new opportunities that the ECN is providing and make sure listeners. If you are in your early career to sign up for session 356 and get some free delicious lunch. 00:41:33 Krista Griffin Yes and prizes. And and you can have this, you can help forge what this is going to look like. So so your voice is important as well as you know, just we want to hear from you. We want to support you the end. 00:41:52 Molly Rauh Thanks for listening to CCIRA Literacy Conversations podcast to find out more about CCIRA go to CCIRA.org. On CCIRA.org you can join as a member, or find great resources like our professional development blog, which posts every Tuesday and has a variety of guest writers on an awesome selection of topics. CCIRA is a professional organization of educators and community members dedicated to the promotion and advancement of literacy. We also have a Twitter account @ColoradoReading. You can find us on Instagram at CCIRA_ColoradoReading. Or you can find us on Facebook, where we also have a members only group that we're trying to build. And our Facebook account is CCIRA Colorado Reading. We'd love to hear more from you. And again, if you're looking for new content, please send any questions or things you'd be interested in seeing from CCIRA to CCIRAVideo@gmailcom. Thanks for listening and have a great week.