It seems ironic to me that Josie has me thinking about what’s next as I finish my first year of reading recovery training. I feel like this has been the question in front of me every day that I look at the running records and notes from my one-to-one tutoring lessons.
If you know Josie, you understand the core of positivity
that is an essential part of her being.
I greatly admire and appreciate this part of her.
I tend to focus on what is next, without celebrating what is
happening now. What a good reminder to
balance these parts of our teaching actions.
Life is an ebb and flow of celebrating where we are and looking towards
where we are going next. Can we both encourage forward growth while celebrating
current growth all in one lesson?
I can’t help wondering if this might be found within the
students that we teach. At the National
Reading Recovery Conference in February, Pamela Grayson helped me think about
moving children from passive to active learners. She quoted Marie Clay, “There are two ways we can help a child to
learn. One of them is by attempting to
teach him; the other is by facilitating his attempt to teach himself” (Becoming
Literate, the Construction of Inner Control, p. 345).
One of the big revelations for me during this year of
Reading Recovery study and moving kids forward is that they need to become
independent learners. I can think of two
of my very first Reading Recovery students this year. Student 1 very easily became an independent
learner. He would come to lessons and
show me words that he had taught himself how to read and right. It was so easy and enjoyable to teach
him. He started our series of lessons
knowing just some basic English words and ended with a larger store of words
and the ability to teach himself.
How did this happen?
Is becoming an independent learner about believing that you can? I told this student that he was a reader and
writer, and that he could do it himself, and he didn’t need me. But I also think that he believed this about himself
on a deeper level and was challenged to show this independence in his second
language (English) as well.
Student 2 was not
independent. She constantly took her
eyes off of the book and looked directly at me.
And I couldn’t seem to help it when I gave her small hints that there
was a right or wrong answer that needed my approval. She looked for any hint from me not believing
that she could find the answer herself.
How could I have helped my second
student become more independent? What’s
next and what could we celebrate? I
think we were playing the wrong game.
Somehow we were both caught in the game of approval instead of the game
of inquiry. We forgot about
meaning.
Linda Dorn was keynote speaker at this year’s Reading
Recovery conference. She talked about
how if there is no questioning going on in our students thinking, then there is
no comprehension going on. My response
to this is that as teachers, we can help students be curious.
We can help books come alive for our students by not only
focusing on the words, but also by focusing on the meaning. Any questions about words, grammar, or format
must be considered for their impact on meaning.
We build on what we know to discover and figure out what we don’t
know. This is how we combine current and
future growth, through our literate adventures.
I was honored with a visit from a former reading team member
who helped make literature come alive for my students. Dr. Seuss was in our room sharing his love of
reading through the beloved book for trying something new, Green Eggs and Ham!
In the spirit of bringing learning alive and trying something new, I want to think about the questions that I ask my students, even the youngest in kindergarten and first grade.
What is easy?
What is hard? What did you
learn? What do you want to learn?
I think that the basic premise between a
teacher and student has to be that our activity is about learning something. Helping children to claim this power for
themselves, to see themselves as learners regardless of whether a teacher is
present, and celebrating discoveries together is the key. It was easy with my first student, because I
think that he saw himself as a learner.
I needed to help student 2 do the same.
I needed to take time to celebrate her discoveries, instead of pushing
her towards what I thought she should be discovering. I let go of the meaning by pushing towards
levels and accuracy scores.
I will be focusing on this balance of celebration and goal
setting to complete this school year. I
invite you to consider:
How do you balance celebrating
progress and setting goals in your lessons?
Please join Josie and I in collaborating
about our teaching by leaving us comments about your own thinking.
