DOCUMENT RESUME RC 021 787 ED 436 318 Benson, Chris, Ed. AUTHOR Becoming Teacher Researchers. TITLE Middlebury Coll., VT. Bread Loaf School of English INSTITUTION PUB DATE 1998-00-00 NOTE 48p. Collected Works Descriptive -- Reports Serials (022) PUB TYPE (141) Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network Magazine; Sum 1998 JOURNAL CIT MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Action Research; *Classroom Research; Electronic Libraries; DESCRIPTORS Elementary Secondary Education; English Teachers; Ethnography; Networks; *Qualitative Research; Reflective Teaching; *Rural Education; *Rural Schools; Student Research; *Teacher Researchers; Teacher Student Relationship; *Teaching Experience BreadNet; *Teacher Networks IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This serial issue contains eight articles all on the theme of "Becoming Teacher Researchers." "Becoming a Network of Teacher esearchers" (Scott Christian) discusses how portfolios of classroom work provrdedocumantation and encourage more systematic teacher research involving established research techniques. "Identifying Features of Language: Listening, Writing, Performing" (Ellen Temple) describes how fifth-graders developed language skills by studying oral genres--examining and classirylng their everyday language use. In "Teaching Standard English to African American Students: Conceptualizing the Research Project" (Renee Moore), results from teacher research indicate that teacher attitude compensates for Black students' resistance to learning standard English. "The Golden Age of Teacher Research: An Interview With Marty Rutherford" (Chris Benson) pursues questions concerning the importance of the relationship between teacher, student, and community; the characteristics of good teacher researchers; wider acceptance of ethnographic and qualitative research; and the importance of online collaboration among teacher researchers who are spread out across the country. "Watching and Listening in and outside the Classroom" (Sheri Skelton) recounts how a teacher in an Inupiaq village in northwestern Alaska incorporated aspects of Native learning and teaching styles in the classroom. "Students Teaching: In Season at Peoples Academy" (Moira Donovan) documents a Vermont high school's use of high school seniors as teaching assistants and mentors in inclusive classrooms. "Have You Graded Our Essays Yet?" (Risa Udall) discusses teacher research on how ungraded writing allowed Arizona high school students to improve their writing skills. In "Something Invisible Became Visible" (Robert Baroz), a teacher-student research team studied the value of classroom language use in reinforcing learning. (TD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. BREAD LOAF Rural Teacher Network i M n g a z e a Georgia New Mexico Arizona Alaska Vermont South Carolina Mississippi New Mexico Becoming Teacher Researchers Identifying Features of Language: Listening, Writing, Performing 6 by Ellen Temple Teaching Standard English to African American Students: Conceptualizing the Research Project 12 by Renee Moore Watching and Listening in and outside the Classroom 18 by Sheri Skelton 24 Students Teaching: In Season at Peoples Academy by Moira Donovan or EDUCATION U.S. DEPARTMENT Office of Educahonal Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION 29 "Have you graded our essays yet?" CENTER (ERIC) his document has been reproduced as by Risa Udall received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve Something Invisible Became Visible 3A by Robert Baroz Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official OE RI position or policy. Plus more stories related to teacher research and the Bread Loaf Rural Teacher l l Network . . "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATE AL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY hris A Publication of the Bread Loaf School of English Middlebury College TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Middlebury, Vermont COPYAVALEBLE INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." . _ Summer, 1998 (L. Summer 1998 Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network From the Director For the second summer, the Kentucky and Alaska Depart- ments of Education contributed funding in 1998 to support rural teachers at Bread Loaf, and representatives from the Ohio Department of Education visited Bread Loaf to ex- by James Maddox plore their own possible partnership with us. Another state, Bread Loaf School of English New Mexico, honored BLRTN this year by naming April 24 Middlebury College Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network Day in recognition of Middlebury, VT our work there since 1993. In addition to this good news, the National Endow- ment for the Humanities this past spring awarded a grant for he subject of this issue of our magazine is "becoming Bread Loaf faculty members to work on line with the class- 1 teacher researchers," the collaborative reflection upon rooms of secondary teachers. During this current academic classroom practice by teachers and their students. Under the year, twelve Bread Loaf teachers have organized cohorts of guidance of Dixie Goswami, teacher research has long been two, three, four, or even more classrooms to work together a major Bread Loaf pursuit, both during the summers of on texts with college and university faculty members. (I'm study and, of course, throughout the subsequent academic happy that I will be personally involved in this project, in a years. study of Jane Eyre with several classrooms nationwide, led At the time this issue goes to press, both Bread by recent Bread Loaf graduate Rosie Roppel in Ketchikan, Loaf and its Rural Teacher Network are expanding their Alaska.) It is especially gratifying that the NEH is funding scope. Bread Loaf itself will be opening its fourth site for a this work, of the kind that has been modeled by BLRTN full six-week summer program at the University of Alaska- teachers for the past six years. Southeast in Juneau in 1999. The BLRTN, too, has ex- Although BLRTN continues to expand its scope, panded. This past summer, rural teachers from two new its deepest impact remains, of course, within individual, of- states in our network, Colorado and Georgia, attended Bread ten very isolated classrooms, with students and teachers do- Loaf; we were also joined by rural teachers from Connecti- ing work such as that described in this issue. cut, supported by funding from a Connecticut foundation. DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fellowships for Rural Middle and High School Teachers in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, and New Mexico to finance telecommunications costs, to make modest equip- The Bread Loaf School of English of Middlebury ment purchases, and to finance the implementation of a College announces the seventh year of the Bread Loaf classroom-research project in his or her school. Rural Teacher Network. The Bread Loaf School is offering The mission of the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's full-cost fellowships for rural middle and high school teach- Digest Fund is to foster fundamental improvement in the ers; preference will be given to teachers in low-income com- quality of educational and career development opportu- munities. These teachers will be eligible to reapply for fel- nities for all school-age youth, and to increase access to lowships for a second and third summer at any one of the these improved services for young people in low-income four Bread Loaf campuses, in Vermont, Lincoln College, communities. Oxford, New Mexico, and Alaska. The DeWitt Wallace- Applications must be received by March 15, 1999. Reader's Digest Fellows will spend their first summer ses- For application materials and a detailed description of the sion at the Bread Loaf campus in Vermont, taking two Bread Loaf program, write to: courses in writing, literature, or theater. Only full-time pub- lic school teachers are eligible. The DeWitt Wallace- James Maddox, Director Reader's Digest Fellowships for rural teachers will cover all Bread Loaf School of English expenses for the summer session: tuition, room, board, and Middlebury College travel. The 1999 Bread Loaf Summer session in Vermont Middlebury, VT 05753 runs from June 22 through August 7. PHONE: 802-443-5418 FAX: 802-443-2060 During the summer session, Fellows will receive EMAIL: [email protected] training in Bread Loafs telecommunications network, Or visit the Bread Loaf website: http:// BreadNet, and will participate in national and state net- www.blse.middlebury.edu worked projects. Each Fellow will receive a $1,000 stipend Middlebury College Summer 1998 Bread Loaf School of English Table of Contents Bread Loaf Becoming a Network of Teacher Researchers 3 Rural Teacher by Scott Christian Educational research has long been the domain of university researchers. Practi- Network tioner researchers, or teacher researchers, in the past have been a rare and iso- lated breed among educational researchers. Computer conferencing technology in the Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network is encouraging greater collaboration Summer-1998 among teacher researchers in isolated rural schools. Editor Identifying Features of Language: Chris Benson Listening, Writing, Performing 6 [email protected] by Ellen Temple Address correspondence to Chris Benson, Building on the belief that social interaction shapes language and thought, a fifth Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury grade teacher asks her students to record and analyze authentic discourse outside College, Middlebury, VT 05753. The the school setting. Students' ability to analyze discourse, the author suggests, Bread Loaf School of English publishes transfers to the school setting where students encounter multiple "genres" of dis- Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network the course, from directions on math tests to prose in biographical literature. twice a year. Magazine Teaching Standard English to African American Students: Director of the Bread Loaf Conceptualizing the Research Project 12 School of English and by Renee Moore Director of BLRTN A Mississippi high school teacher's research suggests the failure of some African James Maddox American students' to learn standard American English is an act of cultural resis- tance that can be mitigated by establishing a personal relationship with students Coordinator of BLRTN and encouraging community among students during language instruction. Dixie Goswami The Golden Age of Teacher Research: Bread Loaf Office Staff An Interview with Marty Rutherford 16 Elaine Lathrop Sandy LeGault by Chris Benson Dianne Baroz Consultant to The Spencer Foundation and Advisory Chair of its Practitioner Research Communication and Mentoring Grants program explains what it takes Faculty Coordinators to be a teacher researcher and why public school teachers of the BLRTN are JoBeth Allen poised to make classic contributions to the field. Courtney Cazden Andrea Lunsford 18 Watching and Listening in and outside the Classroom Lucy Maddox by Sheri Skelton Jacqueline Royster, Senior Consultant At the heart of learning in an Inupiaq culture are the patient skills of watching Luci Tapahonso and listening to elders in settings outside the classroom. How does a public John Warnock school teacher respond to children whose learning customs differ from those of Tilly Warnock mainstream public schools? An Alaskan teacher finds ways to incorporate children's Native learning skills into her curriculum. Director of Telecommunications BLRTN 24 Students Teaching: In Season at Peoples Academy Rocky Gooch by Moira Donovan [email protected] How do high school students charged with the authority of being classroom Technical Consultants teaching assistants change a teacher's perspective on her classroom? A Vermont teacher observes her students assuming greater responsibility for what happens in Caroline Eisner the classroom. Douglas Wood 29 Documentation Consultant "Have you graded our essays yet?" Scott Christian by Risa Udall Students in an Arizona high school are skeptical when their teacher changes her Teacher Research Consultant method of evaluating student writing from grading to commentary and Bette Ford conferencing, but dialogue between teacher and students about their writing mo- tivates them to write and revise their writing more. Grades are viewed by stu- Copyright 1998 dents primarily as punitive, while discussion is viewed as encouraging. Bread Loaf School of English No part of this publication may be repro- Plus more stories about teacher research and the Bread Loaf Rural duced without permission of the editor. Teacher Network. Middlebury, Vermont Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network Summer 1998 The Advent of Teacher Research Networks by Bette Ford William Carey College Hattiesburg, MS How do the attitudes and perform- pert mentor in the field of teacher re- further dialogues and discoveries ance of student writers change search, responded on line to teachers' among network participants. when they know that their writing will projects. Her responses affirmed the While much of this sharing not be graded? How does learning value of the inquiry and offered help- happens on line, email constitutes only subsistence-skills in an Alaskan vil- ful questions or suggestions. one medium for support and collabo- lage affect Native students' learning in The same ration among BLRTN the classroom? What happens when kind of support is teachers and student- African American parents, students, evident in the work researchers: periodic and a teacher collaborate in exploring of Renee Moore, her face-to-face confer- ences allow teachers effective ways to teach Standard En- students, and their glish? What kinds of classroom dis- parents in Cleve- and sometimes their students as wellmore course provide the best learning op- land, Mississippi. portunities in specific contexts? On one Sunday af- intimate engagement to What do all the questions ternoon during the reflect on each other's above have in common? Each repre- spring of this year, work. Fellow teachers sents the focus of a teacher research Renee opened up a also share and help one BreadNet "chat" project currently under way in the another develop strate- classroom of a member of the Bread through which some gies to write about their Loaf Rural Teacher Network. During members of the Net- research for publica- the academic year 1997-98, The Spen- work participated in BLRTN Teacher Research tion. All the pieces Consultant Bette Ford cer Foundation sponsored and sup- a roundtable discus- published in this issue ported the research of these teachers, sion she conducted of the BLRTN Maga- and that support is continuing to aid with her students and their parents on zine have grown out of intensive col- the dissemination of the findings of effective methods of teaching Stan- laboration among teachers on line as these projects for the current year. The dard English. The technology gave well as in face-to-face meetings. Net- dialogues and collaboration among Renee and her student co-researchers a working works for teacher research in teachers and students participating in familiar and enthusiastic audience for a variety of ways. this network result in new knowledge this phase in their continuing inquiry. Ultimately, networks of about teaching and learningknowl- Many teacher researchers in the Net- teacher researchers can bring together edge that extends far beyond their work, including Renee Moore and the questions, descriptions, and analy- own classrooms. Karen Mitchell, are investigating lan- ses of what happens in remote class- rooms across the nationfrom an Such networking provides a guage development of students and nurturing environment for classroom have opened up opportunities for stu- Alaskan village to the Mississippi Deltapresenting a new kind of au- inquiry in which students and teacher- dent dialogues on line, further diversi- researchers can learn from each other fying and sharing data sources. thentic scholarship on learning in the in questioning, describing, analyzing, Sometimes the online activity classroom. Whether the participants and refining their work. For example, takes other forms, such as discussion collaborate on a central question, ex- each of the projects cited above, as of publications and theories related to amine prominent theories, or exchange well as others described in this publi- our inquiries. Such was the case last personal writing in the process of their cation, has been developed and re- winter, after BLRTN Editor Chris inquiry, networking among teacher ported via BreadNet, the online com- Benson, called network participants' researchers helps create conditions attention to Nancy Martin's chapter in munication system of the Bread Loaf under which schools and their wider School of English. This system has Reclaiming the Classroom (Goswami communities can flourish. supported ongoing conversations re- and Stillman, eds., Boynton/Cook, 1987). Chris's comments on line about lated to the inquiries in particular classrooms. In addition, Bread Loaf Martin's chapter, titled "On the Move: faculty member JoBeth Allen, an ex- Teacher-Researchers," encouraged 5 Middlebury College 2 Summer 1998 Bread Loaf School of English Becoming a Network of Teacher Researchers by Scott Christian University of Alaska-Southeast Juneau, AK important to acknowledge that with all of the demands on teachers' time, A Fellow of BLRTN since 1993 and an early member of the Alaska Teacher Re- from planning, teaching and assess- search Network, Scott Christian currently coordinates the documentation initia- tive for the BLRTN. He has conducted teacher research projects on a variety of ment to the countless committees and other assignments that are a part of topics including students writing about writing, student decision-making, student His book, Exchanging Lives: teachers' professional lives, it is very poetry writing processes, and online discourse. Middle School Writers Online was published in 1997 by NCTE. A middle school difficult for teachers to integrate sus- teacher in rural Alaska for twelve years, Scott is now the Director of the Profes- tained, systematic inquiries into their classrooms. The problem, as it is with sional Education Center at the University of Alaska-Southeast and the coordina- people learning to fish, is that you tor of the Bread Loaf School of English program in Juneau. He is also a research associate for the Harvard Research and Evaluation Team for the Annenberg Ru- can't fully anticipate or appreciate the epiphany about learningor teach- ral Challenge. inguntil you have been tangled in the bushes, trees, and rocks, survived the challenge, and found the reward of caught it or it caught me. I had caught a powerful new insight about the art When I lived in Missoula, Mon- tana, several good friends were many fish in my life, but never on a itself. Reading teacher narratives, fly and never in a cold, swift Montana qualitative research about learning, avid fly fishermen. From March and professional articles is very differ- through late October, every gathering river. I held the fish up by the gills and admired it, basking in the sun and ent from embarking on your own jour- featured at least one eloquent narrative of man, fish, and fly. Inspired by these glory. It was at that moment that I be- ney. Unfortunately, the kinds of school systems where teachers work tales, I found a cheap rod and reel at a came a fly fisherman. yard sale, hiked to the head waters of The pursuit of learning do not often allow, let alone encour- through teacher research is much like age, the intellectual climate and sup- the Rock River, and spent a weekend portive structures where this difficult untangling my line from bushes, trees, the pursuit of trout through fly fishing. You can learn a great deal from listen- work can thrive. There is much talk rocks and occasionally my waders. Several weeks passed before I could ing and watching others. In fact, col- about teacher research in professional keep the fly on the surface of the fast laboration and support are critical in organizations and universities, but in reality there are very few practitioners the process. But, like teaching itself, water for a few moments. Then, after talking with several of the experts, I learning to become a researcher in who are actually doing research in their classrooms and writing about it. discovered that the flies you select your classroom is sometimes an iso- must match the hatch of insects for a lated act. You have to find yourself in But despite the challenges and com- specific section of the river at a certain the classroom on a cold November plexity, we foresee a close examina- tion of student and teacher work will time of the season. Even a few days day, with five phone messages from parents, assorted debris from six can mean the difference between be at the very center of our discus- sions and writing about learning and many fish and no fish. After fishing classes of students on the desks, tables for nearly a month without so much as and carpet, a dozen unread email mes- teaching in the BLRTN. sages on the monitor, a stack of un- As we huddled during the a ripple near my fly, I was absent- mindedly making my way downriver, graded papers in your bag, while your summer of 1997 at Bread Loaf and teaching journal annoyingly beckons imagined ways to begin the documen- on a drowsy Montana morning, my tation initiative for the network, we mind far from the river, when a ten- to you, before you realize that only inch rainbow surfaced with my fly in decided we wanted a plan that would you can do this research. All the meet- its jaw, flipped in the air, and dove ings, articles, and wonderful inspiring build on the classroom inquiry that conversations over the summer aren't was already taking place. We hoped to deep between the rocks. I was so encourage teachers to continue the startled that I dropped my rod and had going to carry you through the diffi- to retrieve it from the current. When I cult business of analyzing teaching process over a period of time, perhaps finally made it to the bank, the fish and learning. was miraculously still on the end of When we talk about becom- the line. To this day, I wonder if I ing teacher researchers, I think it's (continued on next page) Middlebury, Vermont 3 Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network Summer 1998 Becoming a Network . . . its capacity as a network of collaborat- of his teaching life and his experiences at Bread Loaf; interviews and surveys ing teacher researchers. (continued from previous page) How does portfolio documen- of his students; reflections written pe- tation build research capacity among riodically during the school year about years. We adapted a portfolio guide teachers in our network? Many of the his membership in the BLRTN; and developed by Harvard research spe- elements of the portfolios are standard, transcripts of online exchanges. It is a cialist Evangeline Stefanakis, and we tried-and-true classroom research ac- beautiful, compelling view of teaching expected the guide to help teachers to tivities, including surveying, inter- and learning in a classroom that is "tell stories" about their classrooms viewing, observing, writing and others connected on line to a network of through a systematic process of in- (see "Documenting the Classroom," thriving classrooms. Classroom docu- quiry. Our worst fear was that we next page). There isn't a single teacher mentation like Gary's helps a reader to would invite teachers to document who is engaged is all of these activi- understand the interconnectedness of their work, but it wouldn't happen. ties, but a variety of research activities the learning experiences of students, Even with our highly motivated and has been represented in the work thus teachers, and principals. Students can skilled network of teachers, we were learn by examining their own work far. concerned that we would end the What happens when teachers and the work of others and writing school year with nothing to show for engage in these activities? First, their about it; teachers can learn by looking our efforts. at this writing, by closely ob- gal So far, we have been serving their students, and by pleasantly surprised by the adding their own layer of number of teachers participat- analysis and reflection. Princi- ing and the wide diversity of pals can also participate in the approaches to the work. The classroom research by sup- portfolios that have been sub- porting and encouraging mitted fall into three emerging teachers and students in the categories. One category in- activities. Finally, the webbed cludes teachers' compilations structure of the network en- of everything that happened ables all these participants during the school year that students, teachers, and princi- was associated with the pals to share critical ques- BLRTN: online communica- tions and findings with each tion, letters, student writing, other across geographical, cul- photos, videos, and more. A tural, and institutional bound- second category shows an ef- aries. fort to select work that is rep- One of the most in- resentative of classroom work teresting sections of Gary's and networked learning, in- I portfolio is his students' cluding some reflection and analysis of the transcript of an analysis of the learning by online exchange with Steve Bread BLRTN documentation coordinator Scott Christian and students and teachers. The Schadler's class in Rio Rico, Loaf faculty member Andrea Lunsford at the Penn Cen ter, St. third category contains portfo- Arizona. For years, Dixie Helena Island, SC. lios that are even more selec- Goswami has been urging tive and representative, often Bread Loaf teachers to docu- containing transcripts from only one self-perceptions change as they begin ment learning processes by examining online project, a description of the to see themselves as teacher research- transcripts of online exchanges and by classroom context, student and teacher ers, with their documentation inform- looking at patterns of discourse, con- reflection and some other analytic/ ing not only their own work but their tent, and the types of rhetorical strate- reflective writing relating to the net- students' learning and that of other gies that students use in their writing. work experience. These portfolios are teachers and students throughout the Gary's portfolio is one example in useful snapshots of successful "fishing network. As the work is shared and which this has actually happened. For trips" and serve as a means to begin discussed, there will be a growing example, when Gary surveyed his stu- discussion and interpretation of our awareness of how research can be an dents, he found that when they wrote work as a network of teachers. The integral, vital aspect of teaching. on line to peers, they were more con- portfolio documentation is a stepping- Gary Montailo's exemplary scious of choosing rhetorical strate- stone to more systematic teacher re- portfolio is a case in point. It contains gies. Twenty-four of twenty-five stu- search and a way to help the Bread photos of his family, students and dents felt that their writing was differ- Loaf Rural Teacher Network develop classroom; a rich and lively narrative ent on line, for a wide variety of rea- 7 Middlebury College 4 Summer 1998 Bread Loaf School of English teachers to plan and conduct indi- sons. They mentioned their desire to tense discussions that unexpect- vidual research projects in their class- impress their audience, to avoid em- edly took place [on line]. rooms. We won't direct teachers to do barrassment. They talked about how The survey of Gary's students specific studies, but all of us in the the need for clarity influenced their provides valuable insight into how network can offer suggestions related writing. Twenty of twenty-five stu- learning that incorporates computer to others' specific research questions dents indicated they felt their approach conferencing technology, for example, and begin to share our findings in a to literature was different during an is different from other kinds of learn- variety of formats: articles, online exchange. Many claimed they did ing activities in the classroom. The conferences, face-to-face meetings on closer readings of the literature and credibility of teacher research rests on campuses, as well as state meetings developed different perspectives the assumption that students' observa- and professional conferences. Through through writing on line to other stu- tions and speculations about their this process teachers will naturally see dents. Gary's impressions of this de- learning and their experiences in common areas of concern and interest velopment confirm his students' school are critical factors in the analy- to pursue in the future. The documen- views: sis. tation effort of the BLRTN so far has I've noticed that when my stu- As we continue documenting vigorously reinforced the view that dents write essays about the classroom research of teachers in BLRTN teachers take a "learning Shakespeare, for example, they the BLRTN, we need to ask ourselves, stance" in the classroom and in their are better able to make connec- "Are we systematic in the ways we participation in the network. We need tions between the history and the gather and record information? Are we to shape, guide, nurture and sustain literature. . .. My sophomores making written records?" The majority this driving force as we find ways to were able to connect the personal of documentation consists of collect- make it more intentional and system- life of Shakespeare to his writing ing. There is some selection, some atic. of Sonnet 18. On more than one consideration about representation, occasion I've had to rewrite les- and we are steadily moving toward son plans to account for the in- systematic documentation that enables Documenting the Classroom: Some Key Activities of Teacher Research hopes to gain. Students can be valuable resources in de- Collecting: In the rapid pace of teaching, it is to easy signing and implementing a survey. find oneself at the end of the year with nothing but bul- letin boards and grade books to mull over. A notebook Writing Narratives: Teacher "stories" are a vital and of student written work, photos, artwork, correspon- critical element in a teacher network; the writing of them dence, videos, and conference transcripts can be a pow- provides background information, processes the se- erful tool for learning. quence of events, and also creates a discussion forum with others. Selecting: Anticipating that others (fellow teachers, students, administrators, parents) will read the portfolio Describing Learning Cultures: Teachers must be self- should help teachers make choices about what is repre- consciously mindful of such issues as gender, family cul- sentative of their work, what is interesting, what merits ture, and race as they contribute to the culture of the further consideration and discussion. classroom. Reflecting: Written reflection helps teachers under- Discussing: Engaging in sustained conversations about stand and document substantive causes of feelings Uf student work can be a compelling and fruitful way for success and frustration in the classroom. teachers to learn from each other. Interviewing: Focus groups and interviews of teachers, Analyzing Online Transcripts: Online computer con- students, parents and administrators allow multiple ferences, which can be easily downloaded, are rich voices to be heard in the research. sources of student writingor datathat provide de- tailed records of writing as a process of learning. Surveying: Nothing is more difficult than creating a good, focused survey that actually yields the data one Middlebury, Vermont 5 Summer 1998 Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network Identifying Features of Language: Listening, Writing, Performing by Ellen Temple tribute to such a discussion might go Camels Hump Middle School like this: "I don't think . well . . I . . . ... Uh, I don't know." it's like Richmond, VT My students' varied ability with language skills presents chal- lenges to me as a teacher because I can't ignore that some have more Ellen Temple is a BLRTN Fellow and 1997 graduate of Bread Loaf. She is a vet- skills than others. The challenge of eran Special Education teacher and has taught middle school for eight years. teaching to such a variety of abilities eventually got me interested in learn- ing more about how middle school children acquire language skills. Fol- lowing this interest, I designed an ongoing research project focused on my students' language competency, including speaking, listening, writing and reading. My goal was to study For the past two years, my Others make up the growing my students' competency with lan- fifth and sixth grade middle Chittenden County professional upper- guage, those skills they already used school students and I participated in a middle class. Others are Vermont effectively in their homes and com- study of what I have begun to call working class families, making ends munities. I hoped to help them be- "oral genres" of everyday language. I meet with two or three low-paying define an oral genre as speech that has jobs. Because of a particular form deriving from fea- this diversity, tures such as purpose, the number of my students speakers, grammar, vocabulary, syn- enter fifth grade tax, speed of delivery, intonation, ac- with wildly dif- cent, overall length, audience, back- ferent abilities ground sounds, place and time. A few to negotiate of the many examples of unique oral school lan- genres my students identified are base- guage. For ex- ball play-by-play, sickbed talk, school ample, here is bus talk, mother-daughter and mother- Annie, from a son talk after school (yes, we identi- tape made in fied gender differences), mall talk, January, 1998, casual phone talk, teacher talk, TV discussing an- other student's sitcom dialogue, sales clerk and cus- tomer dialogue, top ten radio DJ talk, piece of writ- country music DJ talk, hockey play- ing: "I think the by-play. The lists we generated and focus of Tom's hung around the classroom were long writing is to tell and endlessly fascinating to my stu- about an occur- dents. Their fascination with the rence that hap- subtleties of language surprised me pened and you'll usually and continued to feed the study. The students I work with at find that kind of Camels Hump Middle School in Rich- thing in a news- mond, Vermont, are a diverse group. paper or maga- Many of their families are tied to the zine." Another land as farmers, farm laborers, maple student's at- syrup producers, and homesteaders. tempts to con- Ellen Temple Middlebury College 6 Summer 1998 Bread Loaf School of English signed to be within the students' "zone flective Practice (Hillocks, 1995). I come conscious about what they of proximal development," as defined was intrigued by how these texts are knew, in other words, to help them by Vygotsky, and designed to help interrelated. become metalinguistic. This process move them to new ways of thinking. In Ways with Words, Heath of becoming aware of the language In addition, he defines the two most describes several classroom projects in skills they do possess, I hypothesized, common modes of teaching: the "pre- which teachers engaged their students would help them to learn new ways of sentational" model, which assumes in an ethnographic study of their own using language and to become compe- knowledge can be given to the stu- oral language for three purposes: tent users of the language of the dents from the teacher, and the "natu- (1) to provide a foundation of fa- school, i.e. academic language. ral process" model, which assumes miliar knowledge to serve as con- students can create knowledge natu- text for classroom information; rally given time and experience. A (2) to engage students in collect- Language As a Lens for Learning: third mode, the "environmental" ing and analyzing familiar ways Theoretical Considerations model, shares some features with the of knowing and translating these other two but is essentially different into scientific or school-accepted At the outset, my students since it is "teaching that creates envi- labels, concepts and generaliza- examined the forms of their everyday ronments to induce and support active tions; and (3) to provide students language use, naming the genres, clas- learning of complex strategies that with meaningful opportunities to sifying, generalizing and elaborating students are not capable of using on learn ways of talking about using the features of these forms. As James their own" (55). By definition, the en- language to organize and express Moffett writes: vironmental model and the natural information. (340) All that can be abstracted from model insist on student engagement I am convinced that my project's suc- something is form. The basic idea because "without it no amount of sup- cess depended on my incorporating of informing is to put into form, port will enable reluctant students to these purposes into my teaching. and that's exactly what happens in work beyond their current independent From both the Kutz and Hill- matching experience with levels" (57). Knowing that the every- ock texts, I began to understand Rus- thought. Form is not a something day oral language of my students was sian psychologist Lev Vygotsky's idea but a relationsuccession in within their "zone," I wanted to ob- that learning develops fundamentally time, direction and position in serve the effect of having them engage in a social context. Kutz et al. identify space, conjunction of circum- in sustained discussions related to two ways educators commonly think stances or conditions. Relations their language use outside of school. about the relationship between lan- are intangible, like mind itself. So Here, I'll outline what we guage and learning: either language thought can consist only of relat- did in class this year, using as data shapes thought or thought shapes lan- ing. Concepts result from sorting student writing, oral transcripts, and guage. But things into classes, and sorting is my own observations. I will also use a research on children's thinking relating different things according record of my own thinking, planning, and language suggests that the to common traits like spottedness. and reflection that comes from an on- developmental process, at least, is (12) going online conversation I had with not one of language giving rise to By naming and classifying a genre Lauren Sittnick, a teacher on the La- thinking, but rather of actions and like "giving directions to a place," for guna Indian Reservation in New engagement with others giving example, I believed my students Mexico who was attempting a similar rise to both thought and language. would be better able to understand the project with her seventh and eighth (Kutz et al. 77) language of instructions on a test or a grade students. We each participated Therefore, I wanted to create a dis- math worksheet and use that under- in a small network of teachers funded course community in which discus- standing to their advantage. This was by The Spencer Foundation and re- sions about language and concepts the hypothesis I set out to examine. ceived a small stipend to conduct re- were commonplace in both large and The specific ideas for this search during the 97-98 academic small groups. Our oral genre study study developed out of a class"Eth- year. started off the school year with such nography, Language and Learning"I discussions and became the norm for took with Shirley Brice Heath at the year, whether we were talking Bread Loaf in the summer of 1996. about oral genres, written genres, text During this class, I made connections books, math tests, science concepts, or between language and cognitive and worksheet directions. We were paying social development. Dr. Heath intro- attention to language no matter what duced me to three remarkable texts, (continued on next page) content was under discussion. Ways With Words (Heath, 1983), The Hillock gives several ex- Discovery of Competence (Kutz et al., amples of classroom tasks both de- 1993), and Teaching Writing as Re- 10 Middlebury, Vermont 7