Building Success Through Questioning

Josie invited us to join her in reimagining our work.  Thank you, Josie.  I read the beginning of Life Reimagined online.  Can I borrow your book?  I’m loving the positive outlook on this next adventure in life.  So here’s what I’m seeing for the next school year.

As I get ready for my second year of teaching reading recovery, I am looking forward to building on what was accomplished this year.

But in order to do that, I need to recognize what strengths came out of my training and also what was missing.

Strengths

·      I really enjoyed the time that I was able to spend digging deeper into each child’s reading skills.

·      The support of the other reading recovery teachers in my training class was invaluable and it to have others to problem solve the typical issues with doing something new.

·      I felt like things really worked when the child and I were both excited about the book.  The reading seemed both easier and more enjoyable at the same time.

What was missing?

·      I’m not sure that I always saw my students as readers, especially when reading was difficult for them.  I could also see that even the children themselves and their classroom teachers had trouble seeing the readers inside.  Could helping our children to build a reading life where they have reasons to read and share their ideas help themselves and others to recognize them as readers?

·      Sometimes it seemed like I was the only one building reading connections with my child and in a reading recovery lesson it was more like a teacher and a student.  Who could they build a less formal reading connection with?  Is there a more capable other outside of the classroom and tutoring relationship that could be supportive in this role?  For some that might be home support, for others that might be an older buddy within the school.  Can I help to make introductions and time to make these connections for every student?

·      The greatest challenge seemed to be in having the children build independence and confidence in their own literacy accomplishments. Can this be done through goal setting?

So I am left with these three questions to work on solving this year:

• 1.     How can I help my students build a reading life with purpose?
• 2.     Can I help my student build reading connections with a more capable buddy outside of the classroom experience?
• 3.     Can goal setting be used to build independence and confidence with reading?

            It often seems to be questions that move life’s progress forward.  When I was younger, I would bombard my dad with questions.  I learned that he was most open to my wonderings when he was doing something he loved.  In his case, it was gardening.

            One of my friends and colleagues, Mary Lee Hahn has got me gardening again.  It will be fun to see how these ideas and the garden grows this year.

I know there are more questions than answers in this post, so I invite you to frame your reimagining into three big questions that you can explore this school year.  Let’s collaborate this school year.  Josie and I will look for questions to highlight in future posts during the upcoming school year.  We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

This tree frog joins in saying, "Happy Summer!"  It's not over yet, let's keep collaborating.

Writing Life Reimagined

Several months ago Mary Kate and I were thinking about goals and celebrations.  Mary Kate asked: "How do you balance celebrating progress and setting goals in your lessons?"  Today I am celebrating that even though I haven't met my personal goals for writing, I have learned several lessons through the journey.  

Last summer we set out to review our joint blog with the goal of setting up some guidelines for ourselves.  I was feeling so inspired and so certain that this would be the year, the year that I would blog consistently.  We set up an every two-week plan.  I just reviewed our blog posts from this school year, our posts averaged about every two months.  I could feel defeated, I could be resigned, but it is early in summer break and I'm feeling hopeful.  Also I just read Life Reimagined the Science, Art and Opportunity of Midlife by Barbara Bradley Hagerty and one lesson from this book is it's better to go for your dream Plan A than to fall back on the comfortable known because the only thing worse than failing at Plan A is not trying at all!  So I've decided that rather than take the defeat and retreat path I'm going to think about the lessons I can gather from this blogging experience to help me be a new and improved writer and a renewed teacher.

Here's what I've learned so far. At the end of the school year as I reflected, I realized that I needed to write more in order to make my daily thoughts more clear to myself.  It isn't the act of blogging that's missing, it's the lack of writing, but it is not for a lack of reflection that I'm not writing.  I reflect constantly, maybe to a fault.  Ask my two grown children, now teachers themselves, they will tell you that I drive them crazy with questions and my over thinking.  So yes, I reflect.

Here's lesson #1 for me  - I can reflect in my mind but to truly shape the reflections and take action, I need to write.  Without the writing, my reflections are scattered.  It is harder to build on my personal thinking without the daily or at least weekly writing to capture and hold my thoughts.

Connections to my teaching.   

It's taken me a while to come home to writing, but I finally have the inner desire for writing to help me untangle my thinking to solidify my learning.  As a teacher I need to make this visible to young learners, help them see the importance of capturing their thinking and questioning on paper. When teaching writing I am not as worried about kids polishing one piece, as I am concerned with process and helping students use their voice and interests and attempting pieces and parts several ways.  Yet I don't apply that to my own world.  I am overly worried about blogging having a readership and that I have nothing novel to give to the readers.  This makes me more sensitive to the young writers who hesitate to share their thoughts or hesitate to even get their thinking on paper.

Lesson #2

Goal Setting.  Mary Kate and I reflected and set goals we even talked about holding one another accountable to these goals.  We were very gentle with our reminders to one another.  We respectfully took turns nudging and we respectfully took turns moving on without meeting our guidelines.  

Connection to my teaching.

We have talked a lot about goal setting in our building.  This just reinforces that for a goals have to have meaning to students and ownership.  Students need to know how to accomplish the goal and what it will take to make it happen.  The teacher and the student have to know their role for the goal.  There has to be some type of self-monitoring along the way.  While Mary Kate and I knew our goal well and we knew we weren't making our goal, we didn't stop and re-evaluate our purpose and our progress.

Lesson #3

The most successful posts were the ones that we discussed and collaborated on from idea stage to early draft.  There are few things that I treasure more than the reading or writing conference with students.  The conference for me is the gem in the workshop that truly lets me into the thinking, planning, and experiences of young readers and writers.  Conferences, both peer and teacher, allow students to talk and then take action.  The talk and the feedback during the conference is often the spark that renews and builds energy for the reader and writer.  The same must be true for me with writing.  Rather than being so extremely private with my blogging ideas, I need to conference more with my blog partner, Mary Kate, who I thank for staying positive and encouraging.  Talking through ideas really does help spark my writing.

As I mentioned, I just finished reading Life Reimagined by Barbara Bradley Hagerty.  Just a few highlights - Midlife is not too late to try something new.  She spoke to the writer in me as the author was a NPR journalist, she lived on deadlines and thrived on them to accomplish her writing.  But it was the telling of the story that she loved and what she wanted to focus on in the next phase of her career.  What a perfect book for me at the perfect time as I reimagine my own writing life.

Join us by sharing what you are reimagining in your teaching as you regroup over the summer break?  

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.

What's Next?

Mary Kate asked "What is your current problem and how are you learning as you work your way through the struggles and difficulties?"





I have been thinking a lot about who I am as a teacher and asking if I only see the positive? I feel that most teachers believe that it is our responsibility to realize the gift in each student, to find what a student can do. But my self-questioning has been, “Am I too positive?” “Is my positivity hindering my teaching and coaching?” My questioning was fueled by several events. Recently a classroom teacher sent a student update to me as the child's reading support teacher. The update encompassed what this teacher had focused on with the student and then followed with teacher's concerns. Everything said was true and accurate and yet the comments about inconsistency and struggle with comprehension left a pit in my stomach. When I mentioned that pit to the teacher she said, "I knew you'd be upset...” Ah, she knows me all too well. But I had to ask myself, if the comments were true and accurate then why was I feeling this level of discomfort? Why did I only want to discuss the progress?



The next event was with my principal as we reviewed my teacher evaluation. He observed me coaching in a first grade writing workshop. He commented that he had no idea if the writing I was conferring about was good or bad because they all sounded great from what he heard. I laughed and took it for the compliment he intended and I replied that it was my job to find the gems and strengths in each writer's piece. But later I had to ask myself if he heard any teaching? Did he hear suggestions for what is next for the writer or any goal setting? So once again there was that little voice in my head asking if my glasses are indeed too rosy? This is a question that has followed me in my teaching and my coaching.



I am not writing this to tell the world that I am a glass half full kind of lady. Rather, I am writing to reflect on a real struggle in a world that is full of words like rigor, goals, grade level, reading level, on track/not on track, etc. My struggle is to recognize and accept that it is okay to see the good, the best in kids. But I have to remember there is more and I need to ask "what's next for this student?" The first part, yes, find the gems, the strengths, the gifts that each student brings, but I can't forget about the what's next?



What is next?

In years of Reading Recovery I learned about getting those quick shifts in reading, what is next for a reader. I learned that if I didn't get a shift quickly then I wasn't approaching it the way the reader needed me to. I am learning to apply this to more of my teaching.



In continually studying about conferring, I am reminded that there is a teaching point to move the reader or writer, to help the student become more skilled for not only that current piece of writing or reading but also in future pieces and future books.



I am realizing that I don't need to apologize for finding little sparks of greatness in all that our students do! I know that the greatness is the fuel to helping find what is next. If we know as learners that we are doing some meaningful and successful thinking and work, then it is a lot easier to tackle the what is next and new learning. One without the other doesn't move us as quickly as learners.



This reflection will help me to listen more carefully when a colleague expresses concerns for a student and it challenges me to try to do the "what is next" thoughtfully and in collaboration with a student or a teacher. It will also help me to not forget the what's next and to celebrate that the first part is easy for me, bringing me joy to see the uniqueness and successes of each child.



Sometimes the struggle of just accepting who we are allows us to push beyond and grow professionally.





What’s next for you Mary Kate and readers?

Pushing Our Learning: What Really Matters?

In the last post, Josie once again reminded me about listening.  But she went one step further.  She reminded me to honor each learner’s individuality and uniqueness.  She asked about what was pushing our thinking and learning.

I had to laugh and wonder why we keep coming up with these deep questions?  Maybe because we are both deep thinkers and that’s what draws us together.

But sometimes I really feel stuck.  My thinking has been driven by my curiosity about one single question.  Why can we be successful in one context and not in another?

Fueling my enduring question is the absolute belief that success and happiness are available for everyone and my deep desire to help others achieve this through my teaching practice.

This year I am participating in another embedded professional development program through my first year of training as a Reading Recovery teacher.  As I continue to think about my daily interactions with students, I am reminded that we need to have a reason to want to learn how to read. Does reading matter to me or to them?  Why read?

Marie Clay challenges us to “be tentative, flexible and immediately responsive to the best opportunity for a particular learner to have at this moment.”  

So, just as Josie keeps returning to the idea of listening, I am brought back to listening to my students and helping them to connect reading to their own lives.  Sometimes this seems so far away from the legislative demands of political institutions.  In Ohio, we start worrying about reading success starting in kindergarten.  We are required to send notices to parents predicting progress or lack of progress on a third grade test that fulfills legal requirements of what the State Department of Education has named the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. 

The challenge for me is to try to do things with love and patience, with ease and energy ------

         so that I can listen to my students and what reading means to them.  To do this, I have to remember what reading means to me, not just as a research based curriculum or standardized test, but as a real part of my living.

I wonder if the children experience reading as something similar or different in other contexts, for example, in their classroom or at their home.

I hope that these question matter. I keep asking myself if what I’m doing and thinking about is important enough to do and think about.  We only have a certain amount of time and energy, so our efforts need to matter, need to make a difference and bring some sort of joy and happiness through learning.

And I’m reminded how struggles are a way to learn.  So I will keep on joyfully struggling to define and enjoy reading for my students and myself. 

What is your current problem and how are you learning as you work your way through the struggles and difficulties?

I am finally getting back into reading for pleasure and not just graduate classes!  I am loving my kindle app on my phone.  Here is my current reading candy:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

I am using the annotation feature to capture and share my thinking with a fifth-grade-reading-buddy.  I can’t wait to share this tool with her!

What do I Want to Learn?

In Mary Kate's last post she asked, "What do you want to learn, Josie?"  What a great reflective question, to think deeply about what it is you truly want to learn, it forces me to focus and key in on what will push me the most as a learner, to focus my reading, reflecting, collaborating time.  No wonder when we allow students to determine what they want to learn about, it becomes so powerful - this process is a good reminder for me!

I noticed as I started to reflect on what I wanted to learn, my mind always went to the HOW I love to learn.   I wonder, do I offer enough choices with my students on HOW to learn?   The how for me is the easier piece - I love to learn with people, especially with students.  For me that equates to conferring.  So if I were to choose one thing to focus my learning on it would be the conference piece of workshop.

The conference time could possibly be my favorite part of both workshops. The time that you truly get to see passion in a writer's and reader's plans, passion when the reader or writer reads to you. This is the time you get to share in the excitement for what has been written and what has been read.  This is the time that you get to hear strings of truth that allow you into that reader's/writer's life and bring you closer to understanding choices made in that reader's/writer's learning. 

The same is true during conferences with colleagues as we plan together or reflect on student progress and next steps.  I want to learn how to learn more in all conferences - writing and reading conferences with students, pre-conferences and reflection conferences with colleagues.  I want to learn to listen with more intensity.  Learning to rephrase what is said and then ask for clarification before moving on to a goal or to a next-step plan.


Mary Kate shared her thinking about scaffolding.  This is where conferring and scaffolding come together. Here is one of my favorite new professional books: 

The Construction Zone: Building Scaffolds for Readers and Writers 

By Terry Thompson

Terry Thompson helps us to learn about the feedback loop.  How we observe, reflect and respond.  "Effective scaffolds exist and expand in a responsive feedback loop that continually moves learners toward greater degrees of mastery." pg. 105

With the help of reading material like this and colleagues and students to think about conferencing with, I feel more focused and ready to challenge myself to push deeper and more focused when conferring.  

Reflecting on what I want to learn and how I want to learn has been a true reminder for me to honor both the what and the how with the learners I encounter each day.  What is pushing your learning, thinking, reflecting?