A Teacher's Ruminations

I am currently reading Donalyn Miller's book, Reading in the Wild  as part of this summer's #cyberPD book study co-hosted over at the  Literacy Zone blog . The idea is to read two chapters at a time and write a blog post that is then linked back to one of the participating blogs for this book study. Source: http://donalynmiller.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/reading-in-the-wild.jpg?w=226&h=300 Source: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519lHx-UOzL.jpg Reading in the Wild  is a follow-up to Donalyn's first book,  The Book Whisperer ,  which promoted "free voluntary reading" in the classroom as a way to develop a love of reading in students. In this second book, Donalyn takes these ideas a step further by describing the kind of attitudes and behaviours commonly exhibited by "wild readers", or readers who love to read so much they always have a book in their hand, no matter where they go. The attitudes and behaviours of wild readers, as i...

A heads up -  Go here for information about this wonderful new book on retrospective miscue analysis.  The Essential RMA: A Window into Readers' Thinking by Yetta M. Goodman, Prisca Martens and Alan D. Flurkey will be available for $7.00 until Friday, July 11th. After that date the price will double. Get yours now! And, a teaser -  I will be posting a review here, soon.

Last week I attended the awards ceremony at my son's school. Although I was pretty sure he wouldn't get an award since I hadn't received an email to that effect - the school notifies parents if their child is to receive an award without telling them what the award is - I was disappointed. I wasn't disappointed in my son. He is a wonderful, creative, amazing kid who never ceases to surprise me with his wit and insightful observations and comments. He also had an excellent year with a teacher whom he loved and who in turn taught him to love math, which had previously been a dreaded subject for him. No, I was disappointed in myself. After all, I don't believe in awards ceremonies. They are happy occasions for those getting an award and a sad time for the child who doesn't get anything. And, of course, the vast majority receives nothing. And, it’s often the same kids getting an award. Award ceremonies reinforce a system where some are acknowledged and others are...

A recent post by Pernille Ripp sounded eerily familiar and resonated with my own experiences as a teacher. It reminded me of my own trials and tribulations "fitting in" and "feeling appreciated" for what I bring to the table. I have always been an independent thinker, which has inadvertently created jealousies or bad feelings with other teachers and even administrators. I am not a "follower" and I have often gotten into hot water without realizing what was happening until it was too late. Yes, negative professional relationships abound no matter what field we are talking about. However, the situation that Pernille describes sounds all too familiar to many teachers and is ironic given school rhetoric around teacher collaboration and community.     Pernille's experience is, of course, unique to her situation, time and place. However, I know I am not alone when I say that many of us have experienced rejection and weathered poor relationship...