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Celebrating student voice with the Student Press Initiative

11/9/2020

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By CRISTINA ROMEO COMPTON, JEN DECERFF, and SHERRISH HOLLOMAN

​When a student writes for publication, there is a shift in the dynamic between the student and their work. Picture yourself asking a student whether or not they spent a significant amount of time on their writing, only to have them respond, “Why would I spend time on it? It’s just for you.” In contrast, consider a student, who previously considered himself anonymous, telling his teacher, “Mr. Nick, I’m famous now!” after the book he co-authored with his classmates was published. Two very different reactions to a writing experience. How do we understand these two contrasting responses from young writers?

Founded in 2002, the Student Press Initiative (SPI) was designed to develop, foster, and promote writing across the curriculum through student publication, and revolutionize education by advancing teacher leadership in reading and writing instruction. Students transition from “writing for their teacher” to writing for an audience of their choice. To date, SPI has published over 850 books representing the original writing of over 12,000 students. SPI’s core values — project-based instruction, real-world authorship, community of learners, and celebrating student voice — resonate throughout these books. The grounding of these values raise the bar for what, how, and why students write. 

Project-based instruction

We believe in using publishing for a real-world audience as a means to design and shape curriculum and expectations, as well as promote student engagement.

We employ a backwards-planning model, where a final product is used to form an infrastructure for classroom instruction and activities. Through inquiry of the specific requirements and expectations of each project, teachers and students can better articulate the behaviors, artifacts, and customs necessary for the successful completion of the project — and being that publishing a book is a shared experience, students work together to support and encourage one another in new and powerful ways. 
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Publication projects help to shape the culture, rituals, and routines that take place in the classroom. At the start of a project, a large calendar often overtakes the walls of a classroom, and teachers and students work together to identify the genre, audience, and purpose of their project, as well as establish details and deadlines. This helps establish a strong sense of community and collaboration. This is project-based learning at its best! 
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PURCHASE THIS BOOK
Who We Were, Who We Are
Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies
​Bronx, NY

ENL students at the Morris Academy of Collaborative Studies (MACS) in the South Bronx created this collection of narratives and opinion essays showcasing snippets of their complex lives and ideologies, as well as their struggles in this ever-changing world. Who We Were, Who We Are is the fifth anthology from MACS, demonstrating the school's passion and commitment to project-based learning, and providing a platform for students to go public with their learning each year. These projects have become a signature part of their ENL curricula, and each publication serves as the major assessment of student learning throughout the year. 

Real-world authorship

Real-world authorship shapes our approach to teaching and learning. Whether the audience is a class of incoming freshmen or first-year teachers in training, we work to connect young writers with actual readers. In the SPI model, classrooms become publishing houses in which teachers and students collectively shape an editorial vision. By exploring questions, issues, or concerns that exist in the world, their community, or within a specific content area, teachers and students collaborate to define a meaningful genre, theme, and audience. Writers then work to understand the expectations of their audience as they craft pieces with real readers in mind.
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No matter the content, there is always a real-world model that can demonstrate student learning with panache and voice that will engage readers. Through participation in a publication project, students develop skills and processes similar to those of professional authors. Students are supported through pre-writing and a gathering of ideas, drafting while consistently revising and editing, and finally, publishing, where they format and polish their writing to prepare for publication. Students experience “real” expectations and deadlines for publishing their book. Through these experiences, a strong sense of excitement, energy and urgency emerges. 
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PURCHASE THIS BOOK
A Time for Change: NYC Teens Speaking Up Against Human Rights Violations
Global Learning Collaborative (GLC)
New York, NY

In the midst of a global pandemic, Social Studies students at GLC explored the 30 Articles of Human Rights, many of which have been heightened and exposed as a result of COVID. Students read the articles, chose one they personally connected with, and wrote about why it resonated with them in their short, autobiographical accounts. They researched the ways in which these articles have been violated in the past, and continue to be violated today. Their published pieces are particularly relevant to current events surrounding COVID-19 and the many protests around inequitable treatment of citizens in the US. In this collection, the authors provided examples of how human rights abuse is both national and international, and reflect on how basic human rights affect them, their families, and their community at large. Through this publication, students elevated their voices and connected to the world around them.

Teaching Today · Students As Authors: Student Press Initiative

Community of learners
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SPI challenges traditional notions of “experts” in the classroom. Inspired by the work of Lave and Wenger (1996) and what they call “communities of practice,” we aim to cultivate students’ sense of expertise as writers by engaging in processes such as thoughtful inquiry of mentor texts, peer review, and peer editing. Through such processes, teachers and students work to establish a community of writers, consisting of many experts and many resources for learning and growing as authors. 

We encourage teachers and students to engage with a variety of texts as they begin to define qualities and attributes of powerful writing. As students learn the skills needed to write successfully, they also become experts in the project’s central theme as they read mentor texts, break genres down into smaller components, and ultimately, craft pieces that represent their learning and culminate in a final publication. A project designed around an in-depth genre study and inquiry invites students into a shared experience, and allows teachers to craft a thoughtful curriculum that addresses specific content and skills.
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PURCHASE THIS BOOK
Origin Stories
Hisar School
Istanbul, Turkey

Origin Stories — the first publication from students at the Hisar School — showcases a multi-genre anthology consisting of fiction stories, personal essays, non-fiction essays, and graphic artwork. One of the central structures of this project was to match each writer to a peer editor who would read their work and offer feedback to support the writing process, as well as inform specific revision strategies. Students also played a major role in the production of the project, making decisions on the design, layout, and formatting of the publication, as well as creating the cover and interior art. This strong sense of collaboration and creativity is reflective of a true community of learners. ​

Celebrating student voice
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Every student has a unique voice. Rather than celebrate the work of select students, we aim to celebrate the work of all students, using publication and celebration as a way to leverage and encourage participation.

We believe every project should culminate in celebration — whether teachers and students decide to host a large-scale public reading at a local bookstore, smaller readings at locations such as their own school auditorium or classroom, or virtually with classmates, families, and friends. Celebrations — no matter their size or format — are powerful and rewarding experiences, and allow students to proudly share their writing with their community.
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PURCHASE THIS BOOK
Moods of New York
International High School at Lafayette
New York, NY

A powerful publication that showcases the voices of ENL students — many of whom recently immigrated to the US — as they share places in New York that help them feel at home. In this anthology, the authors explore the meaning of “home”, celebrate their unique perspectives, and make connections to a new city. Beyond creating powerful pieces of writing, these students also formed committees consisting of editors and cover designers, and engaged in peer-to-peer feedback, leveraging their strengths to publish a one-of-a-kind collection. Earlier this year, the authors gathered in their school library alongside parents, school leaders, and community members to celebrate their writing. As we witnessed them read excerpts from their publication and autograph copies of their work, we were reminded of how powerful it can be to memorialize and amplify the voices of young writers. 

Writing can serve as a tool for creating awareness, raising social consciousness, and providing students with essential life skills. Our core values change the perspective and perception of writing for students around the world. These values, deeply embedded in our publications, reflect best practices for teaching writing in the 21st century, and help prepare students to succeed in lifelong learning. 

​To learn how you can partner with the Student Press Initiative and bring your students' writing to life, please reach out to us here. 
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INNOVATIVE WRITING INSTRUCTION
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STUDENTS AS AUTHORS
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RAISE THE BAR FOR STUDENT WRITING

​TAGS: CRISTINA ROMEO COMPTON, INITIATIVES, JEN DECERFF, PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, SHERRISH HOLLOMAN, STUDENT PRESS INITIATIVE, WRITING
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Write to Learn: The power of personal writing

6/15/2020

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By COURTNEY BROWN

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“Writing to learn” is a powerful concept that has long been espoused by literacy educators. In practice, writing to learn includes low-stakes writing assignments that generate authentic responses to prompts on a variety of topics. The goal of writing to learn is simply to unpack a subject, and the primary audience is the writer him/herself. 

Some of the most powerful writing to learn practices include personal, expressive writing that allows us to reflect on how we are feeling and thinking. This may take the form of quick-writes in response to a question, journal entries, or letters to ourselves and others. 

Although personal, expressive writing is not necessarily a measurable outcome of learning, it is possibly some of the most important writing that we can ask students to do. Personal writing not only helps students develop their voice, but offers them precious space to reflect and process their feelings and thoughts, in order to feel emotionally strong and balanced. James Britton adds that expressive writing helps students academically, to “discover, shape meaning, and reach understanding.” As we plan instruction, whether remote or in-person, creating space for expressive writing is crucial, especially during times of crisis or change.

During the remote learning period that has surfaced due to the COVID-19 crisis, teachers and schools across the world have worked overtime to reach and engage their students. Yet, even in cases where students appeared to have adequate access to digital devices, attendance was often lower than usual, particularly in middle and high schools in low-income neighborhoods.

Prioritizing mental health

When Principal Dr. Charles Gallo and his team at the New York City Charter High School for Computer Engineering, and Innovation in the Bronx — where I partner as an instructional and curricular coach — questioned students and their families about their low attendance, students reported feeling isolated, unmotivated, and in some cases, depressed, despairing, or scared. Dr. Gallo realized that his students’ social-emotional health and well-being needed to be tended to first. His students weren’t learning if they were not engaged, and they couldn’t engage if they were scared, depressed, or lonely. 

Swiftly responding, Dr. Gallo encouraged teachers to use their professional judgement to deviate from their planned units and lessons to prioritize students’ mental health and engagement by offering students opportunities to reflect and process their emotions and experiences around the pandemic. 

Encouraged by their principal, AECI faculty incorporated journal writing into their classes, which eventually evolved into plans for a schoolwide interdisciplinary project, grounded in personal, reflective writing. Students would craft responses to relevant essential questions, such as: How has the COVID-19 crisis had an impact on your personal life? How has it had an impact on society? What do you propose to solve or address the crisis?

Digital opportunities

In a digital world, where distance may make it challenging to interface with each student and check in about how s/he is doing, online options — such as Google Docs and Padlet — offer valuable asynchronous opportunities to read and respond to student writing with advice or supportive words.

While sharing personal writing online demands trust and confidentiality, some students have shared that the experience of writing into a Google Doc (as opposed to a notebook) makes them feel braver. For students who don't have access to devices, journaling in a notebook or on paper is a terrific low-tech option for reflection.

Incorporating these practices into your lessons can be as simple and informal as asking students to respond to a prompt that connects with the day’s topic. If you want to dig in further, consider some of these ideas: 

  • Writing for full presence: Open-ended, private writing for three minutes at the beginning of a lesson that can help eliminate distractions
  • Letter writing: To someone real or imagined, or even to past or future selves, which can help unlock feelings that are further from the surface
  • Kelly Gallagher’s personal writing prompts, which are centered around the topic of crisis, but can serve as inspiration for writing about other situations as well
  • 100+ writing prompts from Birmingham City Schools, which are grouped by options that are appropriate for younger, older, or all students
  • Ralph Fletcher’s Writer’s Notebook, which discusses the importance of documenting student lives through writing, how to encourage writing in the classroom, and more

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An entrypoint to abstract thinking

Dr. Gallo and his faculty first incorporated journaling into their instruction as a way to help students process and express their complex and troubling feelings. Expressing oneself through writing (whether on paper, by typing a note on a phone, or working within a Google Doc) allows us to identify and understand our thoughts, which in turn, helps us become more confident, calmer, and balanced. When we reflect on and process our thinking, we can also start to make crucial connections to comprehend more abstract concepts and ideas. This is how learning begins to happen. 

At AECI, students’ responses to how has the COVID-19 crisis had an impact on your personal life? became an entrypoint into an exploration of the more abstract second part of the essential question — how has the COVID-19 crisis had an impact on society? In Math and Science classes, students used their writing as a springboard for interpreting data that showed how COVID-19 affected their communities. In History classes, students connected the current pandemic to the Black Plague and the 1918 Spanish Flu, using resources such as historical journals, information from the New York Times, and the Smithsonian.

A call to action

Following their investigation of the connections between personal experience and the societal impact felt by COVID-19, AECI students began to address the final essential question: What are your recommendations for addressing or solving the COVID-19 crisis? In keeping with the stages of Karen’s Hesse’s Depth of Knowledge framework and CPET’s Rigormeter, students moved from exploring their concrete realities to analyzing data and evidence, developing their own theories, and, finally, proposing a call to action. 

The project at AECI will culminate in a schoolwide portfolio of student writing and artwork, as well as letters to politicians that will incorporate supporting evidence from each discipline and propose solutions to elements of the COVID-19 crisis. Although AECI is focusing specifically on COVID-19, this type of interdisciplinary project can work for any relevant topic that’s applicable to your community. 

​For many of us educators, the demands of content, testing, or curriculum can leave us feeling as though we don't have time to incorporate personal writing into our lessons. However, when we recognize the benefits that come from creating space for students to make sense of their thoughts and feelings, we can see how this work is essential to student engagement, and how it can support the introduction of new content. When students feel emotionally balanced, personally engaged, and connected to a topic, real learning can happen — during times of crisis and every day.


TAGS: COURTNEY BROWN, LITERACY, RESOURCES, WRITING
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Students as published authors: reimagining the writing process

7/25/2019

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By CRISTINA ROMEO COMPTON

Student writing is often read by one person (a teacher), and for one reason (a grade). But what if it could be different? 

Through our Student Press Initiative, we seek to engage students in writing projects that culminate in print-based publications. These publications are designed for specific audiences, shaped around specific genres, and become widely accessible to their school community and the general public. This process not only helps students to establish their voices as writers, but helps revolutionize education by advancing teacher leadership in reading and writing instruction. 

Raising the bar for student writing

Though each publication is a unique reflection of its student authors, the five phases of our publication process remain constant:

  • Laying the groundwork: Crucial for identifying the genre, audience, and purpose for a publication. The decision around audience is an important one, as it informs the style, tone, and language of a publication, as well as the level of detail students will need to use to best communicate with their readers. Equipping students with the tools they need to write for an authentic audience allows students to gain skills and perspectives that will serve them beyond the classroom. As James Moffet states, “…One of the indications of maturity is the ability of a speaker to predict what different receivers will need to have made explicit for them and what they will understand without elaboration.” (Moffett, Detecting Growth in Language, 1992, p 21). 
 
  • Project planning: Focused on scaffolding, planning, and studying mentor texts that will inform the trajectory of your project, and getting acquainted with a critical component of publication projects: the production calendar.
 
  • Supporting the writing process: An exploration of the importance of backwards planning, and how it can inform your curriculum and instruction. Together, we examine promising practices for supporting your students with the main phases of the writing process, including: pre-writing, drafting, and revision.
 
  • Production: Once students have created a piece of writing, it’s important to help them begin the production process, both individually and collaboratively. In this phase, we support students and teachers in preparing polished writing for a larger audience, and explore best practices for providing feedback to students.
 
  • Going public: How can students prepare to share their work? In this final phase, we explore options for participating in public readings and hosting book release celebrations.

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Publication in action: personal narratives from the Bronx

This spring, we supported 9th and 10th grade Special Education students at the Bronx High School for Business (BHSB) through this process. Their teacher was eager to introduce a project that would provide her students the opportunity to share a meaningful experience through the writing of a personal narrative or poem.

With this in mind, our coaches worked alongside the teacher and her students to facilitate a conversation about the audience for their project. We asked questions such as:

  • Who would enjoy reading these narratives and poems?
  • What do we want the readers to gain?
  • What do we want the readers to know or learn?

After careful consideration and deliberation, these young authors felt strongly that they wanted to write to younger members of the Bronx Business community — primarily incoming students and siblings — in an effort to offer meaningful advice. Over the course of the project, students at BHSB were able to hone and refine their writing, particularly as it relates to communicating with their chosen audience. They were able to revise their writing to include more colloquial language and tone, which they recognized would be most effective for communicating with their young and familiar audience. 

As a result, they published The Barriers We Faced, The Bridges We Built. This collection highlights the obstacles many BHSB students have encountered — moving to a new country, struggling in school, and disagreeing with family and friends. Though many of these obstacles seemed insurmountable, these young authors were able to meet them head-on with persistence and resilience, building the bridges necessary to overcome their personal barriers. 


​TAGS: CRISTINA ROMEO COMPTON, PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, STUDENT PRESS INITIATIVE, WRITING
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Understanding your audience: who are you writing for?

4/30/2019

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By BRAD CAMPION

Do you change the style, tone, and format of your writing depending on who the writing is for? Of course you do. Do you teach your students to do the same?

Whatever your answer, it’s important for student writers to truly analyze, discuss, and contemplate their audience. Thinking about the audience they are writing for can inject a different form of energy into students and subsequently, their writing. In addition, getting students to adjust their language and writing style based on the audience they’re interacting with is a transferable, life-long skill that will benefit them down the road.

I recently introduced a Student Press Initiative project in an 11-12th grade class at one of our long-time partner schools, the Bronx’s Morris Academy of Collaborative Studies (MACS). This class, which is labeled as a Peer Group Connection (PGC) class, consists of 25 junior and senior students that act as peer mentors for incoming freshmen. These 25 PGC students participate in weekly outreaches with freshmen to help support their transition to the academic and social challenges of high school. Peer mentors and mentees that participate in PGC express an increase in their academic achievements, developed social/relationship skills, and are more motivated to graduate high school.

Given the impact of this program, the staff and students at MACS wanted every high school in the Bronx to include a peer-mentorship program in their curriculum, and decided the book we would create would promote the PGC program to other principals in the Bronx. And thus, we had our audience.

Who is our audience?

Throughout this project, the students’ writing has been powerful, raw, and passionate. At times, the energy in their writing was so strong that it was challenging to harness and refocus that energy to address our specific audience. To help students keep their audience in mind when writing, we used a few strategies.

First, we (myself and the PGC teaching staff) organized the students into three writing groups: pathos, logos, and ethos. We created these writing groups to design an environment in which students could constantly engage with and think about their audience. In addition, these rhetorical devices helped influence students to produce persuasive writing from day one, which added another layer of excitement into the writing process.

Second, I designed a graphic organizer called “Who is our Audience?” for students to reference. This tool allowed students to explore their audience (Bronx principals) in multiple ways — what are their interests, their responsibilities, their goals? This activity proved to be influential for students, as it tested their interview skills, allowed them to receive direct feedback from their intended audience, and become more informed writers.
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Lastly, we designed a Feedback Rubric that we could use with students while revising their writing. This rubric provides a checklist that writers can reference at any point throughout the writing process, and requires evaluators to reference specific examples from the text. See below for an example of the rubric and how you might complete each section.
Category
Task complete?
Explanation
Audience
Does the writing speak to Bronx principals?


Yes
In paragraph 2 and 3, you specifically address how PGC can be beneficial to building a tighter, inclusive community at other high schools.
Genre
Does the writing include a convincing story or an emotional plea?


Yes! Very powerful!
In paragraph 1, you tell the readers about your experiences/challenges as a freshman and how your PGC leaders made you feel more welcomed at school. I think this will be a good hook for our readers.
Persuasive writing
As a reader, are you convinced PGC is needed?


Almost there
I think the beginning and middle of your piece are outstanding. I do want you to take a closer look at your last two paragraphs. Perhaps expand on your experience as a senior/peer leader to contrast your opening story as a freshman. How have you grown? What effect did PGC have on you?
Grammar
Are there any significant grammatical issues?

Nothing major
Check my comments and edits on your piece.

Other thoughts



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Look back at your graphic organizer or our mentor text if you are getting stuck.



Feel free to adjust our graphic organizer and rubric to your own needs, or use them as a starting point for your own project! If you’re interested in seeing the product of our collaboration with the PGC group at MACS, check back on our new releases page — we’ll be releasing our publication with MACS on May 31st. I wouldn’t be surprised if the writing included in this publication convinces you to introduce a peer-mentorship program at your school!
TAGS: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, STUDENT PRESS INITIATIVE, WRITING
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The Center for the Professional Education of Teachers (CPET) at Teachers College, Columbia University is devoted to advancing global capacities in teacher education, research, and whole school reform. CPET advocates for excellence and equity in education through direct service to youth and educators, innovative school projects, international research that examines and advocates the highest quality instructional and assessment practices today, and sustainable school partnerships that leverage current policy and mandates to raise literacy levels and embed collaborative communities of learning. Uniting theory and practice, CPET promotes rigorous and relevant scholarship and is committed to making excellent education accessible worldwide.
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