Dear Fluency Project...

This is the latest in a series of blogs from the teacher cohort. 
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By Kristen Fischer & Wendy Steiner

We bring you Dear Fluency Project in the spirit of Dear Data, by Giorgi Lupi and Stefanie Posavec. See more here.
 
Dear Kristen,

I have been thinking about data. I know, I know, I am an English teacher and what English teacher thinks about data? Ever since we started our #thefluencyproject journey together, I have been thinking about data in a new way. I was thinking it would be fun for us to send each other notes with data about ourselves and pertaining to our  students. Here is my first attempt:
            16-Number of Years I have been teaching
            14-Number of Years I have been teaching in the Carlynton School District
            1992- the year I graduated from the Carlynton School District
            93- the total number of students on my rosters this year
            10- days we spent at CMU together
            600-minutes we spent in the car traveling there and back and discussing how to use Fluency
            10-the approximate number of sleepless hours spent enthusiastically thinking about Fluency
            78-the number of student surveys completed and submitted by my students for review

Wendy
 
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Dear Wendy,

I love it! Here are some of my numbers:
           11 - Number of years I have been teaching
           5 - Number of years I have been teaching in the Carlynton School District
          9 - the minimum number of different houses or apartments I’ve lived in since graduating from Richland High School in Johnstown in ‘02
            83 - the total number of students on my rosters this year
            70 – the number of emails filed under “Fluency Project” in my email
            4 – revisions of the assignment sheet for my first big fluency-inspired inquiry-driven assignment
            3 – number of times I’ve broken my bedtime rule (no school-related thinking after 8PM!) because I’ve been thinking about Fluency

Kristen
 
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Dear Kristen,
            63-Number of text messages between the two of us concerning Fluency
            2-Number of units I have added Fluency Lessons to so far this year
            6-Stations for my STEAM activity on the Middle Ages that you helped me with
            2-Cathedrals that my students viewed using the THETA and Virtual Reality Headset
            1-more month until our next Fluency meeting at CMU!

Wendy
 
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Dear Wendy,
            18 – Fluency-related tweets (hey, this is a lot for me)
            6 – Fluency-related post-its around my desk right now
            2 - Number of units I have added Fluency Lessons to so far this year (AP Language: analyzing USA today “Snapshots” and imagining the different narratives that data can prompt if left unexplained; & in Academic English: analyzing and mapping modern-day witch hunts, especially those fostered by social media)
            17 – Bullet-pointed ideas for how I can use Fluency-inspired concepts in other ways
These numbers do show some measurement of energy and thinking, but as I reflect on our “hall meeting” this morning, I am reminded that they don’t tell the whole story. My notes, devoid of numbers but overflowing with words like “metacognition” and “interdisciplinary,” once again showcase how my mind frames the world more linguistically than numerically, but also recognize how much we can’t capture in numbers. 

Kristen