Balancing Goals and Celebrations

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.