A Kid’s Eye View of an

Innovative Classroom
Adora Svitak
www.adorasvitak.com
Introduction

l BACKGROUND: I’ve been teaching

writing workshops since I
published my first book at age
seven.
l
l TV SHOWS: I’ve been featured on
Oprah, CNN’s Young People Who
Rock, NBC Nightly News, and lots
of other programs.
l
Introduction…continued

l PROGRAMS: My presentations
feature live writing
demonstrations, interactive
activities, and storytelling. My
social studies workshops teach
kids (and teachers) how to use
writing as a creative learning tool
across disciplines. I provide kids
with a tangible and exciting
example of where writing can
take them.
l Today,I use new technology, like
videoconferencing and Elluminate
webinars, to reach students in
places as diverse as Costa Rica,
Dubai, and Canada.
My Goals

l Allof my presentations center

around a common goal—to show

Fu n
kids that writing is ,

l
EMPOWERING
 ,
and Exciting!

lI can easily customize my
presentations to make them
relevant to higher grades, like high
school level students, younger kids,
from kindergarten to third grade,
and special education students.
l
l We welcome any advance info from
teachers or coordinators about
student levels or other relevant
topics.
l
l Today I’m here to give you a kid’s
eye perspective on how to
empower students with
technology. I’ll be talking to you
from the perspective of a student
—and a teacher.
l
 a r ni n g
Le
lT o te a ch , I first think
about what is
interesting to me as a
learner .
l
lWhat makes
learning special
for me?
 l

lI like being able to use

what I learn.

lFacts seem more relevant to
me when I incorporate
them into a creative
project.
The vendors gathered around the
Colosseum.
l Infind it easier to process new
information if I am reading for
inspiration, or looking for ideas to
include in stories, poems, or blog
entries.
l IfI have a creative project in mind
when I read, I have a greater sense
of purpose. Instead of reading
something because my teacher told
me to read it, I’m looking for
information that will be useful for
my purposes--details or ideas I can
incorporate into my project.
l When I am reading with intent, I
evaluate each new piece of
information more carefully. I think
about how I can incorporate it into
my story, poem, or other project.
 e arn
e t o L
Wri t s
I d ea
l

lWrite about a current event in

the first person. Write about
the same event from two
different perspectives. (This
activity works with historical
events as well.)
l

lChoose a topic you want to

become an expert in, and create
weekly blog posts about the
things you learn.
l

lWrite poems that represent new

vocabulary words and then have
your classmates guess which
word inspired the poem.
“Insolent”

She would not listen, simply

screamed
While others stared in shock;

She put her mother in the pantry

Locking every lock;

She did not do her sums at all
She made fun of her aunt

Whenever asked to do something,

Her favorite word was "can't."


She would have continued
If she hadn't packed her trunk

And set sail on a caravel

Which promptly sunk.

l
l
l Writing to learn inspires me to
l
 write more on my own.
l

l Another thing that really inspires me

is when my teachers participate in a
creative project.
l
TEACHING

When you participate, it
lets students know that you
aren’t just expecting them
to share—you’re willing to
share yourself.



Before students tackle
projects on their own,
collaborative group

writing is a good way

to demonstrate new

concepts.

After giving a basic definition
of the concept, I will
demonstrate the concept in a
write-along activity.
l There are so many new
technological tools available for
collaborative writing—Google
Documents, Microsoft Word, and,
of course, Elluminate!
l Toshow you what I mean by this, let’s
pretend that you’re students. Together,
we’re going to do a descriptive writing
activity about a tree house. I’ll ask you
some questions along the way.
Kids love gross stuff–


l
(although a few may not


admit it).


When I teach, I exploit the



gross factor to get kids

interested.

Essentially, I try to utilize things
that naturally excite kids, such as make-
believe, food, gross stuff, weird stuff,
the chance to be in control, fun visuals,
video, and technology.

I incorporate these elements into my
teaching in order to make the
connection between excitement and
learning.

lI also ask kids lots of questions in my
presentations to get them thinking
about the topic that we’re focusing on.
For instance, in a slide about child
labor, I would ask students whether
they considered themselves child
laborers.
l
l In a slide about conflict and obstacle, I
might ask the kids about some
conflicts and obstacles they have
faced.
 l o g y
h n o
Te c
 


If it weren’t for technology,
I would not be here
teaching today.
 Technology sparked
my love for writing.
l

l When I was six, my mom bought me a

used laptop, and suddenly a whole
world opened up to me. Instead of
laboring over a few lines, I could
write pages and pages each day.

Spell-check allowed me to learn
spelling independently; the synonyms
option allowed me to expand my
vocabulary independently; being able
to write with ease got me excited
about writing and propelled my desire
to achieve—which also meant spending
time perfecting my ability to write by
hand.
lTechnology allows me to
reach a wider audience.
 Elluminate allows
me to reach out to
you.
l To show you how technology
actually helps me make my
lessons, here are sample pages
from some of my presentations.
The first is on personal narrative
writing, and the second is on child
labor.

We face conflicts and obstacles
every day.



For example: deciding what to wear,
arguing with a friend, running to
catch a bus, taking a test, learning
how to cook, trying to concentrate,
trying to make a basket, overcoming a
fear
Are you a child laborer?
• Most of us have to do chores at
home. Do you do chores at home?
Tell us what some of those chores
are.
•
• Do you consider yourself a child
laborer or not?
l As you might notice, there were lots
of interesting visuals, like clip art,
in the slides that I showed you. I
love to use relevant art to get kids
excited about my presentations.
l I also use a variety of other fun
tools, like action buttons, color
coding, and AutoShapes to spice
up my presentations.
 You can use fun Elluminate
tools, like writing on the
board, clip art, and pointer
icons in your presentations.
lI have a reciprocal
relationship with
technology—it gives me
the opportunity to learn
and then share what I
learn with other people.
lOnly when we pay
attention to how we
learn can we really
know how to teach.
Frequently Asked
Questions
With Adora Svitak
www.adorasvitak.com
 Q: How would you help
students combat a fear of
writing?

52
l When students first start out, I try
not to focus on rules quite as
much. A lot of kids worry that
what they are writing is not
correct.
l
l Inthe beginning, I focus on fun
writing topics.

l For each new topic, I ask a lot of
questions to help students come
up with things to write about. (For
example: What did it look like?
How big was it?)
l I try to praise students for each new
achievement without pointing out
too many flaws.

l Once kids get excited about writing,
they will be more receptive to
learning rules of writing.
l
lA kid who identifies as a soccer
player will want to get better at
soccer. Kids who identify as
writers are the same way.


l
lA lot of students have trouble with
really open ended assignments—
so I still give them guidelines.
l
l The trick is to be specific, but not to
be alarmed if students write
something a little off topic.

Q: How do you help students
make their writing
interesting?
l It’simportant to help them
understand that writing is
relevant. When students can
publish their work and receive
feedback, they begin to see
writing as a path toward
recognition.



lI use paths like blogging to give
writing a greater sense of
relevance. Students who publish
their writing get a greater sense
of accomplishment--instead of
just disappearing after it is
written, their writing is on display
and it’s something they can be
proud of.

l If blogging doesn’t work for a
classroom, I check out Web sites
that allow students to publish
their examples online.
l Allowingstudents to write about
gross topics or funny topics is
another good way to get students
excited about writing. I could ask
them to describe a disgusting
meal or ask them to imagine what
would happen if the classroom pet
suddenly grew to 100 times its
normal size.
lI also take a cross-disciplinary
approach and have students write
creatively about a topic they are
studying in history or science.
l If students are studying the Civil
War, I could have them write from
the point of view of a Civil War
spy. Writing creatively and
incorporating new facts into their
writing will help them come to a
deeper understanding of the
subject, and gain a sense of
ownership over the subject and
writing itself.
l It will also help them remember
facts. Writing seems more
relevant if it ties into their
learning and helps them do better
in other subject areas.



 To Learn More…
About the author:
Visit www.adorasvitak.com

About the programs:

Visit www.cilc.org

(search “Adora”)

Or contact us.
