Reflecting Back...

I begin this reflection on your reflections with a disclaimer that in the world of blogging…this is a long entry and you may want to consider multiple sittings! In the world of paper though…it does not look as long! That said, it has been my pleasure to work with each of you as you discovered and refined your own ideas and thinking about the teaching of reading, thinking and who you yourselves are as learners. I know it has been one of many ups and downs, but for “real” change to occur we must find ourselves in positions that are uncomfortable and my job was to facilitate you into the , the world of discomfort and guide you to a place of honesty and new understanding.

As I read through all of your blogs and your final reflections I too can see areas where I could have made different decisions along the way and so I thank you for what I have learned from each of you. My hope is that this course provided you with not a “new” program that will come and go, but a new way of thinking about thinking, thinking about yourselves as learners, your students as learners and thinkers, and a deeper understanding of what it truly means “to understand”.

My hat is off to each of you for your efforts and your perseverance! I respect and honor each of you for the amazing educators you are! Thank you for taking this trip with me!

In this entry I chose one line from each of your final reflections and identified your writing. Following each selection are some of my thoughts and reflections as I responded to your thinking. Again, thank you and happy reading!

"Many of you are more secure than I am, and there is no doubt in my mind that you would help me with any challenges." -Faith

I so appreciate Faith's honesty here. In his new book, Tom Newkirk refers to the idea of the "silences" in our teaching. Those insecurities and failures that we feel we need to keep from others for fear of seeming incompetent, and yet it is said that we often learn more from our failures than our successes. I firmly believe that talking openly and honestly about our successes, our questions, our insecurities and yes, even our failures allows us to grow and change in ways we never knew possible! Thank you Faith for taking the risk and putting yourself out there! It is NOT easy! You also refer to this idea of an amazing community that you work in, one where you know you can find support and guidance when needed. This is truly a gift!

“Having the opportunity to observe and consult with other teachers has been a saving grace for me. It was nice to hear other teachers share their ups and downs. It made me realize I was not in this learning mode alone.” - Sara

The other unspoken truth about teaching is that of isolation. In no other job are you virtually “alone” with children all day long, with nearly a chance to hit the head! That said, there is this sense of camaraderie that Sara speaks about here that allows us to see ourselves as part of something bigger, a community of learners ourselves, striving to create classrooms of learners. Seeing is believing, and doing is forever. If we can “do” this ourselves and have the conversations, work together as learners then we “see” how we can then do this with our students!

“Reflecting back through this class we have all learned a great deal about ourselves, our colleagues, and how to teach reading effectively.” - Nancy

Ahh Nancy, my mantra in teaching is enveloped in this statement…we learned about “ourselves”. I truly believe that if we start with ourselves and then our students we have a better sense of learning and how learning takes place. This is why I do what I do and why I love what I do. Thinking about how you learn and how you process is a window into considering how others learn and think and from there…we truly can and will move mountains!! Considering our students as individuals with unique thought processes is only the beginning of so much that they have to offer to each classroom community!

“Readers’ Workshop has forgiveness about it. I didn’t feel that way at the onset. I do feel that way now. That’s what makes it more manageable in my head. I keep learning, as do the children. I use their cues to make smarter decisions about my teaching. I allow them their thoughts, no matter how off or awkward, as they have value, and we aren’t working from my preconceived notions.” – Jackie

Jackie, I love this line about forgiveness in reference to the Workshop model. As I further pursue my reading and research, it is clear that the workshop model has been melded and morphed and changed along the way and that ultimately if we all come back to those very basic components of Time, Choice, Teaching and Response through the gradual release then it is just plain good teaching! Some have tried to package this for mass consumption, but with that packaging it loses its “forgiveness” if you will. It too becomes a “program”. You are dead on right and honestly in teaching the very young or anyone at all..having flexibility along the way to meet the needs of each and every child is critical! Hey…I may just steal that phrase from you!

“The interdependence of our thinking has changed me and changed our students and hopefully will change education from the old model of compliance to the new and improved model of engagement, inquiry and joy for our students as well as for teachers.” – Karen Verry

Karen, I love this idea of interdependence in our thinking. You say before in your reflection that you know this is something that cannot be done alone and you are right! Change takes time and support. You all have put in the time and given each other support along the way…moving away from a list of “activities” to be done and checked off the list with your students, to a new way of thinking and learning “alongside” your students…and isn’t engagement, inquiry and joy what we want for ourselves and our students? I can think of nothing better for each and every individual! I wish my own children would have such a luxury…to linger in thought, to think about things they never thought about before and to discover the true joy of learning…it does not have to be all drudgery! Thinking, afterall, is fascinating and engaging in and of itself! Ahhh…what a concept!

“These conferring interactions provided me with many AHA! moments. Taking the time to do this gave me insights into their thinking in ways I hadn’t anticipated. There are so many connections, reflections, problem-solving strategies, and depths of thought going on in those busy heads – if we (I) just let them express it.” – Karen Stone

Conferring is an art! That is what I have come to decide. It is what Terry Moher refers to as “teaching NOT knowing”. That each time you sit down with a child to confer you have NO idea what you may or may not be teaching. Conferring is about listening, really listening, processing the information and then making a decision on the spot about what would suit the needs of that individual child at that moment in time. Conferring and conversations are an integral part of the workshop model and one that we were not able to go into great depth on. I see this as a next step in terms of our process of inquiry. Karen, you could not have said it better, that there is SO much going on inside those busy heads…and giving them a voice includes each and every child in his or her own learning processes. We have made a shift from teaching the curriculum to teaching each child! This is HUGE!!

“So this year, I learned side by side with my students. Sharing every success, failure (yes, there were several), and the joy of learning. I really loved it!” - Heather

“Side by side”, this one statement Heather demonstrates and enormous “shift” in your teaching. We are moving away from the traditional model of teaching and learning as we know it. This is where the teacher is in the front of the room behind a big desk as the almighty holder of knowledge and each student is placed individually in rows facing front for complete isolation. It is the idea of “playing school” as we mimic our own educations and so on down the line back to the little one room schoolhouses. As a workshop teacher you are out there among the students, sitting beside them, working with them, guiding them as they need it. As teachers we are more engaged with every student. And if we are modeling engagement, then our students will follow suit.

“We’ve been allowed to construct our own knowledge as our students do the same.” - Kerrie

Ahhh Kerrie! Thank you for these words! Mission accomplished! I know I have driven some of you crazy with my lack of complete and implicit instruction, but Kerrie has summed it all up with this one sentence. As an active constructivist, I truly believe that when we are given the time, place, space and support to construct our own meaning individually as well as socially that it becomes something that we own for life. I could spout out facts and research and so on…but until you internalize it and make it your own it will be gone after the first “test” if you will. For true learning to take place, we must own it!

“Change has never been easy but complacency would be worse. We as teachers like to have an instructional climate that incorporates clarity of vision; efficiency of instruction; and student understanding within the parameters of our self-created comfort zone.” – Angela

Angela, it is funny how language impacts so much of what we believe in. Words like “efficiency” in the world of teaching almost seem to be an oxymoron because in my eyes, learning is messy. In our efforts to “streamline” our work like that in a factory we have lost all sense of purpose. Does efficiency really work together with your other two phrases of “student understanding” and “clarity of vision”? I have no answers here…only questions! It makes me wonder where this new and improved language has come from. Efficiency, accountability, research-based, and so on...all sound like words from the world of business. But is learning truly a business of a lifelong endeavor? The idea of “comfort zones” is an interesting one as well as I have seen you and many others struggle with leaving that zone…only to discover a new level of comfort. I always said, the day I became completely comfortable in my teaching, was the day I needed to do something else!

“I adore Reader’s Workshop and I am sure that most of you know this, but I will profess it anyway. I love that my students are vested in their reading! I love that when it is Reader’s Workshop time every student comes to rug enthused and waiting to see what skill he or she will try out that day! One day we missed it because of an assembly and boy were they bummed. I love that I see the carry over into DEAR time. Every student silently reads a book for 30 solid minutes…that can be a hard task for a first grader but they want to take the challenge. I even have children asking each other about books recommendations, characters, and authors without my prompting. It is AMAZING dialog to listen to. They use strategies across the curriculum and know they are using the same language as fifth graders! How exciting for a first grader. This was only January!” ~ Sheila

Sheila, I wish I could bottle your enthusiasm! I also know that for you this all makes sense because of the growth and thinking you are observing with your students every single day! I love that you talk about your kids missing workshop if you don’t do it and that they are eager and willing to come to find out what they are going to be doing today. You have created a classroom community that is brimming with engaged readers and in the end I truly believe that getting them hooked is a very big part of the process for our young readers! If they never experience the joy of reading in a safe community of learners then we have not and will not hook them into becoming lifelong readers! And while this seems amazing to you I myself am never surprised anymore at the depth of thinking that 6 year olds, and 9 year olds and 12 year olds can do if we only provide them with the opportunities! In fact, I am often more amazed if the thinking is not there!

“The students know that their thoughts and ideas are valued, accepted and celebrated, they have choice in their reading and the knowledge base to practice the skills we discuss during our mini lessons…and as we work through reader’s workshop I let their discussions, questions and misunderstandings lead to future instruction. It is truly a climate where we are all learning together…and I often find myself saying to them “huh I never thought of it quite like that”. ~Amy

Imagine if every student in every school across the nation thought and truly believed that ‘their thoughts and ideas were valued’. I do believe this would change the face of education in America. More and more there is dissatisfaction amongst parents, students and communities that the schools are not meeting the needs of our students. And the more the schools try (through big business and the selling of programs that will “solve” all of your teaching needs) the further away from our students and “real” human teaching with honest interactions we get. Amy, I love how you can model the idea of not knowing with your students and then work with them to consider another way of thinking! Imagine being that child that has an idea that makes their teacher say, “huh I never thought of it quite like that.”

“I realize I'm on a journey and fairly surprised that I am enjoying it. I've done things in this class (singing!?!) that I never believed I would do. I hope to continue to stretch and grow. I am in awe of the quality of the educators that make up this class. The energy and enthusiasm that they bring to their work is amazing. It's been a privilege to learn with you and from you.”~ Arlene

Arlene, I love your surprise at yourself that you are actually enjoying it and I can bet that if you are enjoying it then your students are also enjoying it! I am SO thrilled to see you going into classrooms and sharing this language and learning with students in all of the schools you are in. This crossing of boundaries allows learning to be seen as more connected and meaningful to our students. I am also thrilled to see the drudgery of a report turn into a lesson in inquiry and conversations about what is important information and why! Who would have ever thought that research could and would be fun!

“Going on the visitation to Portsmouth also helped. I loved how the teachers organized their classrooms, gave students designated reading spots, and kept a check list of conferences. I took these tools back to my class and talked to my students about how we would improve our readers’ workshop.” ~ Kathie

Kathie, you speak here about the importance of modeling for us as well as for our students. I know that for many these visits were pivotal for the eventual changes that occurred in your classrooms because truly seeing is believing…or at least seeing provides us with a “whole” picture that can be transferred directly into our own classrooms. I hope you will continue to work together and observe each other and make a point to get out and continue to “see” the work of others. With the new LTT class, and the formation of “lab schools” within the district you will have opportunities to see teachers as they work their way together along the way each at different points within the process. And remember how important for you to see this modeled and that the one most powerful teaching tool we have is modeling!

“The one major part of this whole thing that I really like is that you are telling kids what a good reader or thinker looks like. I have been doing choice and reading with kids forever but I don't think I really ever got deep into their thinking. Yes they could decode, work on fluency and expression and answer my questions but never much deeper. This part I LOVE!!! Teaching the different strategies allows the student to dig deeper into their own thinking.” ~Kellie

Kellie, what a perfect way for me to end this reflection on reflections! You have captured exactly what makes so much sense about this kind of teaching. It is the piece that is addictive as you can see the churning of those small minds as they work to make sense of their reading, their thinking and the world! For in the end this is not just about reading…it is about thinking! Raising a generation of deep thinkers is exactly what this world needs!! Thank you all!!

Reflections...

This will be your last and final blog entry! I can hear your sighs of relief from here!! Ahhh....

What I would like you to do is to reread each of the posts and every one's responses, paying particular attention the the journey you have been on. I have done this with some of you and if you actually print them out you can see how your thinking has changed over time. It is really quite a remarkable record of you and your growth and the processes you have gone through along the way. For each of you it is individual and unique.

As this is our last blog I am really asking that you take the next few weeks before our last class to write a reflective entry that "shows" us your individual journey and how talking, reading with and observing your colleagues has impacted the changes you have made and also to set yourself a goal for where you plan to go next. This entry will be your longest entry of the year and it should take you the next few weeks to complete. I would also suggest that you write it on word and then copy and paste it so that you don't lose it!

Here are some quotes that you might consider in thinking about your journey...you do not have to respond to them, I just thought they might inspire you along the way!

"The language of education, if it is to be an invitation to reflection and culture creating, cannot be the so-called uncontaminated language of fact and 'objectivity'. It must express stance and must invite counter-stance, and in the process leave place for reflection, for meta-cognition. It is this that permits one to reach higher ground, this process of objectifying in language or image what one has thought and then turning around and re-considering it"Jerome Bruner

"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us."- Marcel Proust

"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change." Carl Rogers

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn - and change” Carl Rogers

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." Confucius

Observations...

Please post your observation here...feel free to respond to one another.

Change...

Please read and respond to the following....

"In reality 'learning' and 'change' are synonymous. Change is not an issue if it makes sense to and is 'owned' by those involved. An appreciation that change is a continual process, involving confusion and difficulty, is vital for future learners. 'It is not change that kills it is the transitions'."

Conversations and conferring....

As we continue to work to think this through...I am wondering what you have tried with your students in terms of strategy instruction and conferring. What kinds of conversations or teachable moments have you discovered through this way of teaching? Think about a conversation you have had with a child or a small group of children and write about what you discovered that you did not know before. "Show" us that conversation in words here on this blog. Celebrate these moments by remembering each detail of what was said, the expression on the child's face and the interaction between the two of you. This does not have to be an interaction of great proportions or success, just an interaction you can recount, remember and really reflect upon.
Does this interaction demonstrate a "shift" in your thinking and or teaching?

Inferring

In the process of inferring we have to take the time to really slow down our thinking and retrace the path we went through in our minds automatically that allowed us to infer. Identifying this process and the schema involved can be a challenging one. As one person stated in class after our work with the wordless picture books, it is almost like we can infer and then have to think back to what the schema was that led us to this inference.
How does this fit in with your thinking about emerging readers? What about all of the other strategies and processes you engaged in with a wordless picture book where there were no words to decode or pronounce? How much of reading is deeper level thinking versus the surface work of decoding etc.? What does this make you think about in terms of our instruction?

Not answers so much as thinking.....

Wow! There are so many questions lingering out there! This is good news. It means we are all in a place where we are trying to figure out what works best for ourselves and our students. This week I am going to ask you to go through the wonderings (from last week's post) of your classmates and choose one of their questions to do a quick write in thinking about the quesiton that you choose!! Be sure to post the question you will be writing to and who that question came from!!