Monday, August 1, 2011

Fired Up and It's only Aug. 1

During the summer, I have time to reflect I am thankful for this time but do you ever read or listen to an article and get all "fired up?"  How can we as educators be all rested enjoying our summer and all of a sudden you feel like it is January 12, and you are right back in the trenches of school year.  Well this happened to me when I listened to a podcast with Kelly Gallagher on Choice Literacy. If you don't get the Big Fresh (which is Choice Literacy's weekly newsletter-you should subscribe and it's free)  I printed off the transcript before I listened to the podcast interview to highlight and take notes.

Before I go any further, I absolutely agree 110% with his perspective on Readicide in our schools.  I wish I taught right next to him so I could be a part of his school and listen to his conversations about his classroom. However, since I am not high school qualified, and he is in CA and I am in OH I will continue my professional learning through reading blogs, having conversations with colleagues, and follow twitter.  Here are some of his BIG ideas that I need to remember as I prepare to go back to school in about three weeks.

*Our goal is Life Long Readers and to instill the desire to read in our students.

*it is important to put books in our students' hands and provide a rich print environment in our classrooms-it's all about access

*Model reading as the teacher as well as a reader, model what readers do when they are confused, build prior knowledge and understanding of the world with all text.

Bringing me back to January 12:

*...teachers are being held to these tests, that the idea of recreational reading has been not put on the back burner but completely taken off the stove."

*"I think the kids who read the most will score well on the tests."


Recently my daughter asked me how I was preparing my lessons for the new school year, my answer surprised me. I told her that I haven't prepared one lesson and haven't looked at one CORE standard. I have spent my summer thinking about how to build inquiry into every lesson, how to raise the level of thinking in my classroom, how to allow my students to be problem solvers as well as collaborators with each other.  If all of these things happen, I believe we will have a successful start to our school year. 










4 comments:

  1. If you said all that at a conference, I would be standing up and cheering for you. But since I am alone in my living room, my brain is screaming, "Yes!" Well said! I teach first grade in California but we struggle with the same issues. Keep up the good work and hang tough - our kids all deserve the best (and the best is NOT being taught how to score well on a multiple choice test).
    Camille
    An Open Door

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  2. When I gave a copy of Kelly's article to my principal, he said, "It's just one author's opinion." Then, he asked "Where's the data?"
    I have to remember what Patrick said about data (the big D word). Our time conferring with kids and reading with kids, and listening to their thinking is the best kind of data.

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  3. Thanks for the comments and Camille I can hear you cheering! I agree with you Jean about the data-we all need to stay strong as we start our new year!

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  4. Maria,
    I'm finding myself thinking more and more about the learning opportunities I am providing for the students in my classroom. Even in first grade it is easy to get caught in the fast running stream of thinking about test scores. Unfortunately, that type of thinking narrows our focus to small bits of information and before we know it we're not playing the whole game.

    I love the way you summed up all you have learned this summer:
    "I have spent my summer thinking about how to build inquiry into every lesson, how to raise the level of thinking in my classroom, how to allow my students to be problem solvers as well as collaborators with each other." (Glad to have been learning right beside you!)

    Now to march into our classrooms with all with these things in mind and fire-up our learners.

    Cathy

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