Welcome
“I just LOVE THE PLAYLISTS! I want a copy so when my kids start screaming at each other at home, I’ll just put this on and dance around!”
Playlist and Slideshows: The community building at Habla Institutes begins even BEFORE the programming technically starts - through carefully selected mixes of charismatic, inter-cultural music playing over a slide show of relevant, compelling images that prime the participants for rich and varied engagement with the tasks at hand as they arrive.
Zoom: We began with welcomes, introductions, and some Zoom etiquette:
- Leave your screens ON so we can see who is in our community
- Mute your screen when we are together in the big group, unmute in breakouts
- Identify yourself and which pronouns you use
And then, we launched RIGHT INTO THE WORK!
Zoom: We began with welcomes, introductions, and some Zoom etiquette:
- Leave your screens ON so we can see who is in our community
- Mute your screen when we are together in the big group, unmute in breakouts
- Identify yourself and which pronouns you use
And then, we launched RIGHT INTO THE WORK!
Entering Text
“I am tired of having my students encounter texts by immediately turning reading into an unpleasant task of looking for supporting evidence of the TEACHER’S ideas, rather than inviting students to explore a work for their own meanings, interests, and pleasures.”
Opposites for Warming Up: In order to fully enter a new text, we must engage full cognition, and in order to engage full cognition, there is increasing evidence that the body must move. Because Zoom meetings tend to be too static, it is important to warm up with some simple movement activities, such as embodying opposites:
near/far, front/back, engaged/bored, wild/calm and mindful, holding your breath/fully breathing, etc.
Visual Warm Up: Jon Baricovich introduced Visual Thinking Strategies as a way of sharpening our attention to meaning and detail. We then moved into breakout rooms and shared in small groups the details we noticed in this now famous New Yorker magazine cover image (click to see the full image):
We also shared, in breakout rooms, some of our own “pandemic secrets”:
“My kids got so used to comfy lounging pants, that now when we need to go out, they think that regular slacks are ‘too hard’ to wear.”
“I ordered lots of on-line shoes that are all sitting in their boxes because I don’t need shoes to go out in.”
”I put in a virtual background so people can’t see my desk is a mess!”
Movement and Vocabulary
One highly effective way of entering a new text is to become “friends” with phrases from the text even before we encounter these words in the body of the work we are about to read. This can be accomplished by physicalizing them- by letting our bodies invite these words into our minds. Here are some of the phrases we said hello to with our arms and legs and torsos from Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham:
- ALL OVER THE WORLD
- OUTSIDE THE SKY WAS QUIET
- INSIDE WE BAKED AND COOKED
- OUTSIDE SQUIRRELS PLAYED IN THE STREETS
- INSIDE WE READ AND PLAYED GAMES
- OUTSIDE WE REACHED EACH OTHER WITHOUT TOUCHING
- OUTSIDE THE WORLD KEPT GROWING
- SOON SPRING WOULD COME
- OUTSIDE THE SKY WAS QUIET
- INSIDE WE BAKED AND COOKED
- OUTSIDE SQUIRRELS PLAYED IN THE STREETS
- INSIDE WE READ AND PLAYED GAMES
- OUTSIDE WE REACHED EACH OTHER WITHOUT TOUCHING
- OUTSIDE THE WORLD KEPT GROWING
- SOON SPRING WOULD COME
Mindful Reading
In order to scaffold rich multi-literacies, it is essential that we invite students into a variety of rich texts. We couldn’t have done better than to select Outside, Inside as a text catalyst for the institute. Beautifully written and beautifully illustrated, its telling of how we work to remain hopeful during a pandemic was something to which we could all relate to with deep feelings.
But it doesn’t just matter what we read, but also how we read.
Yesenia Kelly took us along pathways for multiple Mindful Readings of this rich text. A Mindful Reading is a calm reading. a participatory reading, a focused reading. It consists of the three anchors of:
1. Breath. Begin with three deep breaths.
2. Sound. Hum to hear your voice.
3. Thought. Focus your thoughts on your body. How do you feel? Do a survey from your toes to your head. If there is stress in a place, breath in and out and focus on bringing good air to that part of your body.
Yesenia Kelly took us along pathways for multiple Mindful Readings of this rich text. A Mindful Reading is a calm reading. a participatory reading, a focused reading. It consists of the three anchors of:
1. Breath. Begin with three deep breaths.
2. Sound. Hum to hear your voice.
3. Thought. Focus your thoughts on your body. How do you feel? Do a survey from your toes to your head. If there is stress in a place, breath in and out and focus on bringing good air to that part of your body.
“While quietly watching the pages float across your screen, mute your microphone, and find a calm and soothing reading voice. You are the reader with me. As I turn the pages, read the book out loud - calmly and slowly and softly. Be aware of your breath in the sound of the words."
Periodically (every 7 pages) Yesenia encouraged us to stop and take several deep breaths.
We then read the book again, this time paying close attention to the illustrations, while staying muted the entire time. Again, Yesenia guided us in periodically pausing for breaths, and this time she read to us selections from the author’s heartfelt notes:
We then read the book again, this time paying close attention to the illustrations, while staying muted the entire time. Again, Yesenia guided us in periodically pausing for breaths, and this time she read to us selections from the author’s heartfelt notes:
Behind the Curtain of Mindful Reading: This approach to Mindful Reading bridges the gap between silent reading and reading aloud, and provides a special opportunity for shyer students to hear their own voice - to become conscious of themselves as readers without becoming self-conscious as performers. This approach is a secular version of the monastic practice of Mindful Reading called Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), consisting of reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating.
Blowing Up the Chat
We then invited everyone to “blow up the chat,” reflecting with each other on how each of us
had experienced the activity. One of the ADVANTAGES of teaching on Zoom is that we can have EVERYONE respond at the same time by sharing their thoughts in the CHAT, without having to call on students one by one. Very democratic! This invites shyer students to contribute more, and helps keep our more gregarious young people from monopolizing classroom discourse.
Color Symbol Image
Kurt Wootton presented on how Habla has benefited greatly from the use of “Thinking Routines” developed at Harvard Project Zero. These are easy-to-use structures that support learners in reflecting upon their own thinking processes, and in sharing those reflections with others. These tools are documented in the book “Making Thinking Visible.” One of Habla’s favorite Thinking Routines is “Color-Symbol-Image.”
Marimar Patron Vazquez invited us to read the English version and/or the Spanish version of the Outside, Inside text, and to select a phrase or idea from the text that we would like to represent with a color, a symbol, and an image. We discussed the difference between a symbol, which is an abstraction representing an idea, and an image, which is a realistic representation of an abstract idea in action.
Marimar Patron Vazquez invited us to read the English version and/or the Spanish version of the Outside, Inside text, and to select a phrase or idea from the text that we would like to represent with a color, a symbol, and an image. We discussed the difference between a symbol, which is an abstraction representing an idea, and an image, which is a realistic representation of an abstract idea in action.
Story Lists: Outside/Inside Text Diptych
What has brought joy and beauty to your life, inside and outside?
What are stories you could tell about . . .
- traditions or celebrations that have changed
- adventures or escapes you’ve experienced
- objects/spaces have have brought you beauty or joy
- connections with people new or old
What are stories you could tell about . . .
- traditions or celebrations that have changed
- adventures or escapes you’ve experienced
- objects/spaces have have brought you beauty or joy
- connections with people new or old
We then shared stories in breakout rooms in 1 minute or less per person (beginning with the person with the brightest shirt!) and then blew up the chat, including shout outs to each others’ stories.
Behind the Curtain: Note that we did not need to write out these stories in full in order to activate them in our imaginations and memories. Listing stories “I could tell” opens up meaningful options that learners are already invested in, and assumes the existence of eager audiences for the work. This is especially valuable for learners who have trouble getting started and/or are not confident that others will care about what they have to say.
Behind the Curtain: Note that we did not need to write out these stories in full in order to activate them in our imaginations and memories. Listing stories “I could tell” opens up meaningful options that learners are already invested in, and assumes the existence of eager audiences for the work. This is especially valuable for learners who have trouble getting started and/or are not confident that others will care about what they have to say.
Our Bodies as “Pre-Photography”
As a way to begin transmediation from print text to visual imagery, we “acted out” these various photography terms with our bodies within the frames of our Zoom windows.
Photography Shot List
Cynthia Weiss guided in taking photos from inside and outside our homes that represented for each of us one or more of our stories. She shared with us some examples of how other photographers have captured their experience of the INSIDE/OUTSIDE world we are now all living within and across.
Priya Kambli, Abelardo Morell, and Alberto Aguilar
She also showed us some examples of different types of shots we could take, and then we took photos considering the following options:
Aperture
A view seen through a window or doorway. Set the object in someone’s hand or lap.
A view seen through a window or doorway. Set the object in someone’s hand or lap.
Filter - Quality of Light
Photography an object (or space) that is backlit, or lit by light and shadows. Photograph something transparent or reflective.
Photography an object (or space) that is backlit, or lit by light and shadows. Photograph something transparent or reflective.
Rule of Thirds
Take a photo with an image is divided evenly into thirds and the subject is at the intersection of the dividing lines, or along one of the lines itself. Work with a color palette using a limited colors.
Take a photo with an image is divided evenly into thirds and the subject is at the intersection of the dividing lines, or along one of the lines itself. Work with a color palette using a limited colors.
Zoom - Point of View
Bird’s-eye view (from above looking down). Ant’s-eye view (from the ground looking up). Fill the frame with a close up shot.
Bird’s-eye view (from above looking down). Ant’s-eye view (from the ground looking up). Fill the frame with a close up shot.
Each educator will have to determine the most efficient way for getting photographs taken by their students with their families to their teachers. This might involve email, a Google drop-box, or text messages. For younger students, the involvement of parents and/or other family members and caretakers in the taking and sharing of these photos along with their young ones is only an added benefit.
Behind the Curtain: By working through a series of compelling steps of engagement, and by translating between representational media from step to step, we scaffold learners in building up the layers of their own complex self- representation, and without their sense of connection to others getting lost. We do this by moving from building community (by engaging our senses together), to entering a text, to responding to a text with our own stories, to representing our stories in multiple media, and to sharing our representations back with our community, beginning the cycle again. This approach to literacy stands at the opposite pole from approaches to reading and writing that are, at their core, simply telling students what to do or to not do to get or to not get a grade (without acknowledging that learners have their own motivations for learning). We are advocating here for teaching to be learner centered rather than mandate centered.
Photo Diptychs
A photo diptych brings two different photographic images into a single frame. This photo format is perfect for representing the Outside/Inside world we currently inhabit. Cynthia showed us some striking examples of photo diptychs.
Tommaso Iskra De Silvestri then guided us in using the Google Draw Tool to create collages of the photos we had taken, organized as two composite images contained within a single frame to represent both our inside and outside selves.
In creating these works, we drew upon our thoughts about color, symbol, and image that we had explored while creating our text diptychs. Every activity was building upon our earlier explorations. We shared our completed diptychs with each other, and reflected on the day.
What's Next?
We were amazed at how much material we had covered in a day, were delighted by what a powerful community we had created together so quickly on-line, and were moved and inspired by the themes in our central text.
We concluded with a look at the three strands of the Institute that we would be participating in NEXT!!!!
We concluded with a look at the three strands of the Institute that we would be participating in NEXT!!!!