Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Flipping The Script: Coders as Novelists

Last November, I had the distinct honor and privilege of being the title character in a New Yorker Magazine- Talk of the Town piece called “Can An English Teacher Learn to Code?” It was a privilege to get to speak up and out for young coders, for the Academy for Software Engineering (AFSE) and indirectly for the CS For All initiative that was just beginning to take off here in NYC and later President Obama would push at the nationwide level.  AFSE has been at the forefront of work-- work that Computer Science teacher Sean Stern says has made CS part of the core at our school- just like Math, Science, Social Studies and English.  Our students understand that computer science is part of the four year sequence of learning and that there are opportunities to take full advantage of the experts, both inside and outside of school, that support the learning and development of all our students.

Fast forward one year.  I am teaching Seniors at AFSE for the first time since joining the school four years ago.  My section of 12th graders, many of which I taught last year in AP Language and Composition, are done with college applications, are now just waiting on replies and to get to things like Prom and Graduation in June.  Most of us remember Senioritis!  We remember how the year went, plodding on and taking what sometimes felt and interminable amount of time to get to that stage that we would walk across and finally move the tassel across the mortar board adorning our heads. I, along with John Bernor (the newest ELA teacher at AFSE- who happens to also be a classroom veteran), and I have been working to create a course that not only addressed the learning needs of a diverse population of students, but also challenged students to stretch and grow as writers and thinkers. As a result, Senior Writing Seminar was born.


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The SWS is a year long course that meets five days a week.  Bernor and I met in August to outline a month of lessons and learning that would be engaging as well as challenging and ultimately better preparing our seniors for the college and careers of their choice. November is National Novel Writing Month (@nanowrimo @nycnowrimo) where writers from around the world attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  I knew it was not impossible and had attempted on two separate occasions to complete the task (failing-only reaching 15,000 words at most). I knew it was hard.  I also knew there was a student version- the Young Writers Project (#NaNoYWP) complete with lesson plans for before, during and after as well as an online platform for students (and their teacher!) to track their progress.


Image Via NaNoWriMo Young Writers Project
It was time to flip the script and for the coders to become the novelists.  My 24 seniors have written for hours and hours to work to reach their goal of each producing 30,000 words in the month.  For those of you doing the math, it's 1000 words a day: not an unreasonable task, especially for students who will be in college soon.  Over the course of November it was exciting to see the kids develop their stories, their ideas and to watch them struggle in the same way the thousands of writers around the world do to write at length. They were given the choice of topics, fiction or non fiction.  The literary world was their oyster and boy did they write. It has perhaps been one of the most incredible classroom experiences I have witnessed since stepping into my first classroom in the fall of 2008.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I asked the class to sit in a circle and craft a one minute book pitch.  How would they sell their books?  Their ideas were exciting and provocative.  It was fascinating to hear about how they perceived their books and what their peers wanted to know more about. I was proud.  I was excited. It was a perfect example of how mutual trust, high expectations, and intellectual freedom and creativity can lead to an incredibly rich learning experience for both students and teachers. 

I did feel a sense of disappointment, not in my students, but in myself.  I had set out with them at the beginning of the month with every intension of writing along with them.  Of completing my 1000 words a day.  My life, not to make excuses, got the best of me. (Three preps/full time job, grad school, internship, and some family time thrown in for good measure.) I made it to 10,000 words this time.  New writing that I had not done before.  New stories and memories taking shape.  I had been transparent, putting my writing up on the SMART board and writing along with them.  I wanted my kids to see that I was willing to do the writing with them.  That work bought me buy-in and energy.  It created momentum.  Walking the walk- at least for the first 10 days set the tone in the room and for the work.   

Yesterday, Lindsey Christ, Education Reporter from NY 1, our local cable news channel,  came to do a piece on students participating in NaNoWriMo this year.  She spent an hour with my class.  Jose happened to hit his 30,000 word goal while she was there.  It was incredible to hear the kids talk about their work, their accomplishment, and working to complete what at times felt like an insurmountable task.  You can read the final piece here: Greenwich Village Students Participate in the National Novel Writing Month (If you are local, you may be able to see it on air.)

Tomorrow we celebrate.  December 1st, 2016.  Coders have become novelists, mirroring my journey a year ago, working to to learn SCRATCH and some basic coding. 

Today, at the end of class after Jabari had reached his 30,000 words he asked, "Ms. Towne, can I keep writing? Even though I hit my 30,000 words." 

#TeacherWin 





Wednesday, November 9, 2016

The Morning After- How I Had Tough Conversations With My Students

The workshop yesterday at AFSE on Restorative Justice with Erin Dunlevy was well timed.  As we participated in the morning training, I honestly didn't think I would need to be using some of the tools I learned to soon.  But last night, I along with all of you, watching the election results and America broke my heart (though not unexpectedly- as we all like a bad boy, right?)

I finally fell asleep around 2, wondering what I would say to my students in the morning.  My first period class on Wednesday is my AP Lang class.  We just spent a month thinking about language and rhetoric in politics as well as reading Thank You For Arguing. The 11th graders have begun to think critically of language and word choice and how a writer or speaker can use language to achieve a goal.  I knew that combining a content circle and keeping the discussion grounded in the content I would be able to get through a 60 minute class with out crying.

Before class started, I asked a few of the kids who arrive early to create the circle in the space, moving the desks out of the way.  I was grateful that they were willing and able.  Erin had been right- kids understand the unspoken rules of circles.   I posted the discussion norms on the board:


  1. Only talk when holding the Talking Piece
  2. Respect for all perspectives
  3. You can pass.
  4. If you aren’t sure, pose a question to the group.
  5. It you want to save it for later, write put it in the parking lot.


We then did two rounds.  Round one, I asked each student to share one word that described how they were feeling in the moment.  Each student passed a small button around the circle, sharing their words with the group:
Confused. Scared. Frightened. Angry. Confounded. Lost. Why? Frustrated. Powerless.
It was clear that this had been the right move.  The tone of the room was somber, but these are kids I have built a relationship with over the last few years and they knew the room was a safe place (even for our one vocal Republican). 

In the second round I asked kids to write one question they had.  That it may not be answered, but something they wanted to pose to the group and the universe. 
Here are some of their questions: 
  • How did Trump successfully get the majority of the votes?
  • What did Hillary do differently than Trump?
  • Why did 31% of hispanics, 38% of asians and 8% of blacks vote for Trump?
  • What do you think Trump's first move as president will be?
  • Why do you think the number of women that voted [for] Trump was so high?
  • Do you think Hillary would have won if the people who voted for Bernie voted for Hillary?
  • Are you ready to be drafted for the war?
  • Will he do anything to change our educational system?
  • How do you think having Trump as president and the Senate and House being Republican will affect new and past laws? 
  • How did you react to all the red on the map?
  • Does this mean we are living in a mostly racist world?
We can tell from looking at the list of questions where their heads are.  They are grappling with the same confusion that I watched the news commentators and analysts sort through late into the night.  They are at a loss, as are many of us.

We then came back to the language.  I had heard a commentator on the news talking about the effectiveness of "Make America Great Again" and what it did for the campaign.  I posted the following slide on the board, asking them to examine the language itself and what it did for each campaign: 

The shares were again thoughtful and insightful.  My one Trump supporter was asked to begin the share- as the first thing he said as he had stormed into my room earlier in the period was, yes, you guessed it, "Make America Great Again!"  The nice thing about the protocol is that it is not about debate, it's about sharing and being heard.  The space was safe, nonjudgmental and all voices and perspectives were able to be heard.

At the end of the hour, we had all participated in a thoughtful and reflective conversation that helped us to think about one narrow aspect of why? and to challenge our thinking and push our own understanding of the complexities of our country and it's citizens. I made it through the class with out crying.

Hours later, as I sat with my 9 advisees- all young women, all minorities, and I finally cried.  I cried because in hearing their fears, I became even more aware of my own privilege and what it allows me.  I cried because I had wanted so badly for Clinton to shatter the glass ceiling and for these 17 and 18 year old young women to see the first female president.  I cried because I want them to not fear the rest of the country, but in reality- red= danger in many of their minds. And I cried because for many of them their instinct is to protect others, to advocate and stand up for injustice, because they are all amazing young women. 

In another hour I will be sitting with my cohort of 14 peers, all aspiring school leaders who are passionate about our kids and urban education.  As educators, we are the front line- Blue state or Red.  It is our job to educate.  It is our job to teach empathy and tolerance. It is our job to continue to help in the raising of kids who will always fight injustice and not be afraid to speak up.

I know that the future is in good hands.  I hope the next generation of young people will be the change they want to see in the world.  In the mean time, I show up. I listen. I make the circle and I pass the button and ask the tough questions.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

An Open Letter to Incredible Women on: Words, Gender and Unintentional Consequences


Dear Incredible Women: 

This post has been coming for a long time.

On Friday, I along with another amazing female teacher Angela, sat in a large circle with our two advisory groups combined for what is becoming a weekly tradition of young women, talk, and challenging of thinking and ideas.  I have deliberately brought topics to the circle that are things that I am grappling with and genuinely want to hear what they have to think and say on a topic.

This week, I brought to them the questions: 

  • When do we as females transition from being girls to women? 
  • When do we begin to self identify as women and even in some cases- like I have- reject the label of girl, because I have earned my status as women in my family, community, and society? 


I listened to them dance around the question for 30 minutes, touching on everything from their relationships and learning from their own mothers, aunties, and older sisters to what they feel they need to accomplish in life and how that is tied to womanhood. 

At the end of class, I reminded them of my original question and they finally flushed out an answer for me: post college, financial independence, established in a career.  No one mentioned relationships, intimacy, or the cliche "coming of age" ideas that I had grown up with.  I shared with them the thinking I had learned in my Adolescent Psych class at NYU 10 years ago that there is a period in developed, western nations (think United States, Canada, UK, etc.) called "Emerging Adulthood".  It is the period after high school, but through college and then after as one transitions from college to high school.  The thinking is tied to biological research around brain development and that the brain is not fully developed until the middle 20's (some say later!) This theory of Emerging Adulthood corresponds with when my group of Junior and Senior girls said they would feel like they could call themselves: woman.  (Here is a pretty good article about Emerging Adulthood.)

The bell rang. The desks were moved back to the original formation.  The girls moved on to last period.  As an educator, I never know if the time and space to think about theses big ideas has an impact?  I don't remember anyone in high school talking with me like this. Challenging me to think about what was important to me and what my timeline might look like.  And what it means to be a women.

I don't want to be referred to as a girl. I am almost 40. I am not a girl.  I have been teased in my grad program about my feelings when it comes to referring to adults as: girls or boys.  But, here is my bigger concern: that young women, women who have status in the media and are seen as role models to girls like my students, continue to refer to themselves as girl.  I have seen the hashtag #girlboss even used by the incredible Tiffany Pham who was named by Forbes as a Top 30 under 30.  Would you EVER see the hashtag #boyboss?  I mean really?   Women, own it.  Be: #THEBOSS or even simply #BOSS.  

When I listened to our students sit and talk about when they thought they would feel comfortable calling themselves woman it was tied to experience, knowledge, independence, and achievement. This is an amazing shift from generations past when being a woman was tied to menstruation, having sex for the first time or getting married. Our female students are incredible but setting the example of continuing to tie achievements to gender- and especially childhood, does a disservice to these strides.  

So to all the amazing young women, who still feel they are emerging or have not yet become the women you hope to be: that is ok, but I encourage you to think about the messages you are sending to the next generations through social media and your digital platforms.  Word choice is important.  Leadership is essential.  If we, as women, want things like being POTUS to no longer be novel, then we need to pursue them as people, humans and not diminish the power of achievement by equating it with childhood. 


Monday, August 29, 2016

Summer Reading: Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande

Image via Amazon.com
I am heading into the second year of my grad program in school leadership (read: Administration). We were asked to read Atul Gawande's Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance. After everything I have been through over the last 3 years including weight loss surgery and the ensuing massive weight loss, thyroid cancer, vocal cord paralysis and surgery to help the paralysis, and surprise gall stones that led to numerous medical challenges between Thanksgiving and the end of the school year- and lots of trips to the ER and yet one more surgery...it was a difficult book for me to read. However, it left me with lots of ideas and thinking about systems, methods, and how to do things better.

There were so many moments that stood out: 
“We want doctors to push and find a way...We also want doctors to fight even in the most mundane of situations.” (160) and “At some point you have to admit that you are up against a problem you are not going to solve and that, by pushing further and harder, you might well do more harm than good.  Sometimes there is nothing you can do.” (163)
but the following is the reflection I wrote to submit for my class, reflecting on some of the more poignant ideas for me, as educator and not surgeon. 

Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande took me a long time to read. Not because it was a challenging read, but because it was triggering for me on many levels.  I know “triggers” is a word that is thrown around these days, but it was a good reminder for me that many things we read bring things up for the reader, triggering emotions, memories, and thoughts about things that have happened in their lives.  The lens with which he examines practice and performance is medicine and my overabundance of medical procedures over the last three years as left me in a somewhat delicate place.  Despite all the triggers, I found many pieces of thinking and insight he offered applied to my own work and evolution as educator and leader.

To start, Gawande writes,“...diligence stands as one of the most difficult challenges facing any group of people who take on tasks of risk and consequence.” (29) There have been countless times that I stepped in front of a group-- students or adults,  and felt as if I was taking a huge risk.  The stakes are often high: trying a new teaching method or activity, presenting a way of thinking to a group to try in their own classrooms, discovering along with students instead of going in with all the answers, and in an age of high stakes testing, exams that must be passed to graduate.  Diligence is defined as, “careful and persistent work or effort” this is exactly what is needed in order to create and define a school community.  This act of diligence couples with the risk is as the forefront of what is needed for leading and running a school. Inquiry should drive understanding and thinking at multiple levels of education.  “Sometimes, however, we will be wrong...We each should then be prepared to accept the consequences.   Above all, we have to be prepared to recognize when using our abilities skilfully comes into conflict with using them rightly.” (153) and “...the hardest part of being a doctor...is to know what you have power over and what you don’t.” (154) Substitute doctor for ANYTHING.  It is true.  Knowing what we have power to control and what we don’t is a lifelong quest to understand.  As educators we often work to control all the pieces.  This is why lesson plans are often overly structured- school leaders want teachers to anticipate all the possible variables, especially early in their careers, that could happen in their classes.  I have found so much power in not knowing all the answers and being able to say to students, I am reading this with you for the first time.  Let’s see where it takes us.  There will absolutely be failures and times when we are wrong.  But, as school leaders, turning to teachers and teachers leaders to set the same example can be essential.  

Even in trying new things, working to be somewhat transparent, developing systems, asking teachers to take risks and go on the journey with you, and hoping failure isn’t inevitable, the following still holds true:
...the natural pull of conversational gravity is toward the litany of woes all around us. But resist it. It’s boring, it doesn’t solve anything, and it will get you down.  You don’t have to be sunny about everything.  Just be prepared with something else to discuss: an idea you read about, an interesting problem you came across… (253)
This is perhaps some of the best advice, especially for teacher leaders who are working with younger teachers or teacher teams. School communities can quickly become toxic, an us vs. them, or a sinking ship that sometimes schools can begin to resemble. Having the ability to steer the conversation towards a new idea, a problem of practice, or even a positive exchange with a student can make all the difference in the development of community within schools.

Finally, “...discover the unexpected.” (252) Learning is about discovery.  When we already think we know all the answers, the space for cultivating new thinking and perspectives can and will be lost.  Being open to possibility should be at the core of all that we do.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Leadership: Thinking About Support

As teachers, we often ask questions that we already know the answers to.  It is part of the planning process to anticipate what might be confusing and how we will navigate said confusion with questions to help students navigate through and ultimately come out the other side with a new sense of what they think, believe or even feel about a topic.

Next month, I begin the second year of the CLASS program at Hunter College facilitated by New Visions for Public Schools. I am studying to earn my SBL license.  As a result, I often find myself thinking about leadership and management.  Last night, I was sitting around with family.  Both my parents are now retired.  Some how we got onto the topic of: what makes a good manager.  I already knew the answer to the question I was going to ask, but I asked it any way.  What do you need from a manager in order to do your best work?

The first part of the answer I got was what I expected, because it is what I always want. It's about autonomy.  As employees, we want to be trusted to do the work we were hired to do because as managers or supervisors, we believe that you hired us because we are the best at what we do and that is why we are there to do it.  You would have hired someone else if that was not the case.  Micro-management undermines the relationship and leads to distrust and frustration, on both parts.  Employees, just like kids, need to have success and failure in order to grow and develop.  We need to be trusted to learn from our experience, reflect and evolve.



The second part of the response was a good reminder.  When I have a question, because there is something I may not know, or need clarification about, be available--as a manager, with an answer and a good one at that.  Even if the manager does not know how to do every job of every person working for them. (I am a big fan of collaboration and brining in people who are experts in their field to do the things that I can't.  This is how I learn and get better and as a teacher, how my kids learn!  This is why the arts has Professional Teaching Artists).  Being available and being a part of solving what ever the problem is ends up being good for the employee and even better for the company.

As I go into year two of thinking and learning about leadership and management, I will work to remember these two things because I already knew they were they answer, it's simply up to me to act on it.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

I Did It - CSNYC CS Pedagogy Meetup!


I was asked this year to present a workshop at the CSNYC CS Pedagogy Meetup, a monthly meeting of educators and others to hear about and discuss the things that are afoot in the CS teaching world.  Now you may be thinking to yourself, why is Meredith there?  Doesn't she teacher theatre and English?  Its true, I do but I have been working on creating interdisciplinary learning experiences for my 9th graders that use the tools they are learning in their CS class (Scratch) to explore the content we are covering in theatre.  While I knew I was not going to be the big draw of the morning, I had a great group of about 10 educators who stayed to hear about my work, try and few things out and talk about how they can bring collaboration and innovation to their own teaching and learning communities.  I also got some great ideas about how to use some of the things I am doing to teach sequencing when we are exploring narrative.

Overall, a very positive morning.  Thanks to Maor, Sean and CSNYC.



Saturday, April 30, 2016

Day 30: What #Aprilblogaday Challenge Gave Me

Take Aways: New thinking about yourself and/or your craft after completing the April Blog A Day Challenge

Image via HERE

This is my second year doing the April Blog A Day Challenge.  Last year, it came just a few weeks after I had undergone major surgery to remove the cancer from my body.  It was a scary time and having the space to write and reflect, to focus on my work and think about the hows and whys of my craft were a welcome distraction.  I didn't think that this year I would be facilitating this journey for others.  I wish I has been able to get more people involved.  I pitched to the staff of 50+ teachers at my school and while in theory teachers want to do this kind of work, making time to write and reflect in this way is a big ask of oneself when already feeling overwhelmed with the work to be done.

Ultimately, I am glad I took this on.  I wish I had pushed harder, dig deeper.  I also valued the insight that the small group of bloggers brought to the conversations.  As always the thinking of teachers challenges me to look more closely about how and why I do things. This exercise is invaluable and makes me a better teacher and educator.

Things I want to take back to the staff and administration as part of the larger conversations to be had.

Reflection must happen intrinsically. 

At the end of each lesson plan and unit plan we write at my school there is a space for reflection.  I seldom complete this step. It's not because I don't want to. It's because time keeps ticking and there is always something new to be done. It's difficult for teachers to slow down and really reflect on what is happening in their classrooms.  


Teachers don't learn how to "reflect" and as a result don't learn how to look at student work and data. 

I remember, that the beginning, the talk was data, data, data.  I got frustrated because I was expected to just know how to look at what students were doing and 1. Generate "data" for administration to assess and 2. Use the "data" to inform instruction.  While the phrase "checks for understanding" has become mainstay in teacher talk, truly understanding what the checks tell us is something learned over time and with experience.  

Two weeks ago I facilitated a protocol for examining student work to inform instruction.  I asked two co-teachers to examine the work from one class.  Using a common system of evaluation, they graded, then divided the work up into 4 quartile.  We then moved through a process of examining the 2 lower quartiles.  The process took about an hour and in the end I was able to support teachers in developing a deeper understanding of where their students are, the next steps teachers need to take for strategic interventions (to address misunderstanding of methods or content). 

In their reflection on the protocol teachers wrote:

Image via HERE
"I also liked reviewing the work with my co-teacher because it gave us step-by-step instructions and we were able to do some great analysis of student work and see where students did well and where we need to re-teach or re-focus."

"I really liked the SLIP protocol because it allows me to see which of my students are struggling in common areas. It might have been nice to have access to both higher and lower level students in the comparison to see if there is a common hole in knowledge/skill throughout the whole class which would point to a flaw in instruction."

I am glad my team was able to go through this process.  We had to carve out the time to make it happen.  If administration wants to get the most out of teachers there must be time to do this kind of work.  It needs to be supported and facilitated by more experienced teachers who can help guide the process until teacher teams can take it over on their own and self direct.

Friday, April 29, 2016

Day 29: Teacher Appreciation Week! #AprilBlogADay


-->Prompt: Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up. (May 2-6)- 
How do you celebrate your work and the work of your colleagues? 


Image via Ms. Lombardo
One of my favorite people, Kathleen, who also happens to be an amazing 8th grade teacher, posted a photo of herself on Facebook yesterday sitting in a GIANT beach chair. (Does spring break really have to end?!)  In the comments I wrote, "Edith Ann!" realizing after the fact that she may have no idea who I was talking about.  I had not thought about Edith Ann in years and then this morning as I was doing a little research for this blog post I came across this quote:

 "I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework."  
~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

 This is so, so true.  As we head into teacher appreciation week it is important to thank teachers for their work and commitment to thinking. My favorite and best teachers challenged my thinking about what I was learning.  For me, every day I step into my own classrooms, I hope that I have created learning experiences that not only push the thinking of my students, but challenge my own thinking on a topic. 

This year, I would like to thank the teachers who so publicly document their journey.  Your journey through education provides insight for all of us and teaches us how to be better teachers.  I would like to thank my AP Lang Facebook group, an amazing collection of teachers who are innovating and challenging, creating exciting learning experiences for students.  I often read their posts and feel so, so inferior but then I am reminded that I am at the beginning (this is only my second year teaching AP Lang) and that I have so much to learn.  Their willingness to share and teach their colleagues is inspiring.  While we don't all agree with everything that is being done, in the end, it is about the kids.  This group epitomizes that ideal. 

I hope this week you all find time and space to thank your own teachers, your children's teachers and your colleagues.  I know for me, I don't need gifts.  Thank yous are enough.  There is nothing better than a note of thanks.  Take the time, write someone who has inspired you and thank them for their service to education and to learning. 

Article: What Do Teachers Really Want For Teacher Appreciation Week? (HuffPost)

NEA Website: 


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