During the shift to online remote learning at the height of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, a gr... more During the shift to online remote learning at the height of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, a group of researchers administered a qualitative survey with a desire to hear teacher voices. Responses were received from many areas of the world from educators at all levels of teaching. In this paper, we analyzed qualitative survey responses from 314 literacy educators in the United States. These educators were K-12 teachers, instructional coaches, and instructors from teacher education. We sought to learn how a sampling of U.S. literacy educators was impacted by COVID-19 in their teaching and in their profession. Teachers experienced stress and uncertainty as their roles and responsibilities shifted. The story told about teaching and learning was rewritten. Data revealed implications for the future of teaching and the teaching profession.
Handbook of Research on Teacher Practices for Diverse Writing Instruction
Writing instruction in today's literacy classroom is often structured with assigned topics, s... more Writing instruction in today's literacy classroom is often structured with assigned topics, structure, and assessment rubrics. This type of writing instruction has its place, as it prepares students for testing and future writing assignments. The authors of this chapter advocate for balancing this type of formal writing with an unstructured approach where students have choice and freedom in the writing classroom. They explain how including unstructured writing in the classroom begins with developing an identity as a writer for both the teacher and the students. This writing identity strengthens writing teacher instruction and improves motivation and confidence in students. In the chapter, the authors define unstructured writing and explain the benefits of providing such an element in the writing classroom. Finally, the authors present practical suggestions for incorporating unstructured writing in the classroom and provide teachers as both writers and writing instructors with pr...
This article is an auto-ethnographic study of my own deeply held metaphors about teaching and how... more This article is an auto-ethnographic study of my own deeply held metaphors about teaching and how I carry them into my university classroom work with preservice teachers. It is a continuation of a previously shelved dissertation. Ignited by a simple question during an encounter with a former student and research participant, this article looks at the dissertation work carried out previously through a new lens. The dissertation focused on my participants who were students and student teachers and their metaphors about teaching. Years later I was challenged to revisit this work and identify my own teaching metaphors. By holding a metaphor of teaching as a romance I was challenged to consider how that metaphor carried itself into my teaching and into my relationships with students. Through honest reflection and selfexamination, I learned that my metaphors must be recognized and challenged. They do carry into my work with students and can change how I see them as future teachers.
The purpose of this manuscript is to tell the story of two literacy methods professors' teaching ... more The purpose of this manuscript is to tell the story of two literacy methods professors' teaching experiences in Fall of 2020. We found ourselves in a unique situation in that one of us was teaching fully online and the other using a hybrid model of both in person and online instruction. Together, we knew that there was something to discover in regard to higher education, specifically preservice service teacher methods courses, that needed to be explored. Therefore, we asked ourselves five reflective questions at the end of each month in the fall semester. Collectively, we decided on these questions as they related most to what we had experienced in Spring of 2020 and what we wanted to further learn from in the Fall. We answered these questions individually and then came together in a zoom meeting to discuss our reflection and anything else that we wanted/needed to share. While we found this process of reflecting and sharing to be cathartic to our own experiences, it was also uncomfortable to bump against our own beliefs about teaching and education in general. As a result, we share our collective conversation based on our reflections. This framework allowed us to move from "teacher lounge" talk and into action because our conversations were more structured and purposeful. We were able to understand ourselves as educators better and provide a framework for reflection for the field of education
During the shift to online remote learning at the height of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, a gr... more During the shift to online remote learning at the height of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, a group of researchers administered a qualitative survey with a desire to hear teacher voices. Responses were received from many areas of the world from educators at all levels of teaching. In this paper, we analyzed qualitative survey responses from 314 literacy educators in the United States. These educators were K-12 teachers, instructional coaches, and instructors from teacher education. We sought to learn how a sampling of U.S. literacy educators was impacted by COVID-19 in their teaching and in their profession. Teachers experienced stress and uncertainty as their roles and responsibilities shifted. The story told about teaching and learning was rewritten. Data revealed implications for the future of teaching and the teaching profession.
Handbook of Research on Teacher Practices for Diverse Writing Instruction
Writing instruction in today's literacy classroom is often structured with assigned topics, s... more Writing instruction in today's literacy classroom is often structured with assigned topics, structure, and assessment rubrics. This type of writing instruction has its place, as it prepares students for testing and future writing assignments. The authors of this chapter advocate for balancing this type of formal writing with an unstructured approach where students have choice and freedom in the writing classroom. They explain how including unstructured writing in the classroom begins with developing an identity as a writer for both the teacher and the students. This writing identity strengthens writing teacher instruction and improves motivation and confidence in students. In the chapter, the authors define unstructured writing and explain the benefits of providing such an element in the writing classroom. Finally, the authors present practical suggestions for incorporating unstructured writing in the classroom and provide teachers as both writers and writing instructors with pr...
This article is an auto-ethnographic study of my own deeply held metaphors about teaching and how... more This article is an auto-ethnographic study of my own deeply held metaphors about teaching and how I carry them into my university classroom work with preservice teachers. It is a continuation of a previously shelved dissertation. Ignited by a simple question during an encounter with a former student and research participant, this article looks at the dissertation work carried out previously through a new lens. The dissertation focused on my participants who were students and student teachers and their metaphors about teaching. Years later I was challenged to revisit this work and identify my own teaching metaphors. By holding a metaphor of teaching as a romance I was challenged to consider how that metaphor carried itself into my teaching and into my relationships with students. Through honest reflection and selfexamination, I learned that my metaphors must be recognized and challenged. They do carry into my work with students and can change how I see them as future teachers.
The purpose of this manuscript is to tell the story of two literacy methods professors' teaching ... more The purpose of this manuscript is to tell the story of two literacy methods professors' teaching experiences in Fall of 2020. We found ourselves in a unique situation in that one of us was teaching fully online and the other using a hybrid model of both in person and online instruction. Together, we knew that there was something to discover in regard to higher education, specifically preservice service teacher methods courses, that needed to be explored. Therefore, we asked ourselves five reflective questions at the end of each month in the fall semester. Collectively, we decided on these questions as they related most to what we had experienced in Spring of 2020 and what we wanted to further learn from in the Fall. We answered these questions individually and then came together in a zoom meeting to discuss our reflection and anything else that we wanted/needed to share. While we found this process of reflecting and sharing to be cathartic to our own experiences, it was also uncomfortable to bump against our own beliefs about teaching and education in general. As a result, we share our collective conversation based on our reflections. This framework allowed us to move from "teacher lounge" talk and into action because our conversations were more structured and purposeful. We were able to understand ourselves as educators better and provide a framework for reflection for the field of education
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