Yesterday, I experienced my first time as a day group leader of Group 21 at the Oregon Writing Festival. PSU has been hosting the festival for two decades now. I went to Smith ballroom to meet up with my group. I had 10 students from all over Oregon. There were six girls and four boys with half of them 4th graders and the other half is 5th graders. There were so many kids and adults everywhere. I welcomed each student in my group. The intermediate group (grade 4 and 5) sits closer to the stage. The middle schoolers at the center of the ballroom. And the high schoolers at the back and the sides of the ballroom. First there was an introduction for everyone.
Here is a quick info: The Oregon Writing Festival serves the best writers from grades 4 to 12 from all over Oregon. I think there were about a thousand students. Each group has about 10 students (from different schools) led by a day group leader who chaperones through the day and facilitates the group sharing (where students share with each other their writing piece). There is a presentation from a guest author (different authors for each grade band), two writing workshops, group sharing and lunch time scheduled for the day. The grade bands are 4th and 5th, 6th to 8th, and 9th to 12th. By the way, the Day Group Leaders are usually actual classroom teachers but there are some who are pre-service teachers like me (in a teaching program). The workshop presenters are actually real teachers teaching some aspect of writing.
After the introduction speeches, the older students with their day group leaders left the ballroom to go to their next activities.
The fourth and fifth grade stayed put to hear from their guest author, Bart King. This author is actually from Portland, OR. He was a middle school teacher. He wrote The Big Book of Boy Stuff and The Big Book of Girl Stuff. He now writes full time. Actually, I never heard of him before yesterday. He was very funny. The kids had a laugh and some of them asked some good questions. For a 45 minute presentation, the kids were very engaged.
Next, my group and Group 22 set out for our first workshop together. A teacher from the Beaverton S.D. taught poetry to our 20 students. I even wrote a haiku as the students did theirs. The workshop is a hour long. Anyways, the kids' haikus are better than mine. I was never good with structured type kind of poems. I like free verse because I can just say what I want and create a format I like. I remember one very funny haiku about hamburgers by a fifth grade boy.
At the end of the workshop, my group and I found a place to eat our lunch. It was too chilly out to eat out at the park blocks. Most of my students grouped up to eat and chat together. Three boys were sitting along. Though one boy's friend from another group came over to eat lunch with him. They go to the same school. I had the last two boys sitting together so they can chat. I ate my lunch while I observed the kids talking. Sometimes I chat with a few of them. Though, I didn't interact as much since they are there for making new friends from different schools and enjoy the writing experiences.
We finished lunch early so we check out our room for the group sharing. There was no one inside the small conference room. We got to start our time together 10 minutes earlier. We were scheduled only 90 minutes which isn't enough. First, I did an ice breaker so the kids know a little about each other and each other's names. Next, we review the norms of group sharing and I divided the groups up. First round, there were three small groups of the same gender. I did two more rounds of group sharing. It's more personal and they will get better feedback than getting all of them to try sharing to nine other students. At least, during this session, they can focus on four or five other people's work. The writer read his or her piece and the listeners either comment or ask questions about the piece.
I monitored each small group to see how they were doing. Some groups finished earlier than others so I was there to asked some questions that the students can discuss among themselves. Sometimes I even join in their discussion. The writing pieces are different genres and they are from one to five page in lengths. At the end of the session, two students gave me a copy of their work. I finished the group sharing with reflection time. The kids first write down their thoughts with some guiding questions I posted up on the dry erase board. They sat around the table as a whole group. I introduced the popcorn method for the kids to share their thoughts about the experience. I don't think I introduced the popcorn concept right. A few days, I have to signal certain kids to share. Only a few kids got it right away and popping off their thoughts after someone was done. (Reflecting on the whole group sharing time, I know I can do better. I never done this before so I didn't really know what to expect. I only met the 10 students earlier in the morning. They are actually good kids and they were able to go with the flow.)
The next activity was going to the second writing workshop where we met up with Group 22 again. The workshop teacher actually teaches at a Portland school with fourth graders. She even recognized a former student and called on her a few times. This workshop time, the kids worked on how to hook a reader. The kids wrote an interesting beginning to a story of someone or something. I even wrote a beginning too. Though, I was not good as the kids. My writing pieces do get better during the editing and revision process. At the end, they shared to the whole group. I am amazed how gifted these kids are. Then again, they had good teachers and their own passion to continue with writing.
Oh, the day had to end. It was dismissal time. As we left Crammer Hall, there were so many group of kids seeking out their contact person or parents. Nine of my students found theirs quickly and joined their contact person. I had one girl left with me and she told me about her agree upon meeting place with her mom. I didn't know where it was. Good thing she had a cell on her so she called her mom. We ended up meeting in the first floor of Smith Hall, near the coffee place.
I had so much fun. I can't wait to do this again next year. I let the day group coordinator that I want to do it again next year. By the way, I know an elementary school teacher from my work place who is also there. I didn't see her since there were so many people around. The coordinator told me that she was leading a middle school group. This teacher I know has been part of the festival for years.
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