Skip to main content

"You mean, we don't get to read today?"

"You mean, we don't get to read today?"
Wow! I wasn't expecting that response!

Every year, I set four major goals for my work with students that guide everything I do in the classroom. These goals are: (1) that my students love to read. (2) That they love to write. (3) That they develop a mathematician's mindset. And, (4) that they be curious about the world. If I can accomplish any of all of these to some degree, I feel I will have been successful.

"You mean, we don't get to read today?"

Most years I have a range of kids in my classroom. Some do school very well. These are the kids who watch me carefully, almost surreptitiously, so they can determine how I want things done in the classroom. But, they get thrown off when they realize that I'm more likely to let then figure things out for themselves than to tell them what to do.

Then, there those kids who've had negative experiences with reading, writing, and/or math. It takes them almost all year to let go of those negative experiences so they can learn about themselves as readers, writers, mathematicians, thinkers and inquirers. So they can value what they know and can do.

"You mean, we don't get to read today?" was spoken out loud by one of my most (previously) reluctant readers. I had just announced that I was going to demonstrate a strategy to keep a conversation going. This strategy is from The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo. In this lesson, students respond to a conversation partner by saying, "I heard you say...This makes me think..." 

That was when my student blurted out, "You mean, we don't get to read today?"  I chuckled and explained that we would do just that very shortly.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected this student to request independent reading time - a protected daily time in our class - much less to complain about not having enough time to read! 

 The truth is that there is now a festive feeling in our classroom when we read, write, talk, do math and wonder. 

 Some of my students may not score at the top end of the F & P assessments in June. 
They may not get high scores on the MAP test. 
They may not look like what someone thinks they're supposed to look like in all of these areas at the end of their 5th grade year, but I know. 

 I know where they started out. 
I know how they've engaged in productive struggle. 
I know how their smiles light up their faces when they get to the end of a book.
I know their reactions when they realize that's it. The book is over. There's no more to read. 
I know which books have made the rounds in our classroom. 
I remember how they'd glare at me at the beginning of the year when I would suggest a book they might like. Not comprehending what I was after. I could almost hear them say, "Who is this teacher?" 
I know how much English some of my ELL's have gained since school started in August. 

 I know.

 This is what counts. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Partner Reading and Content, Too Routine (PRC2)

I'm a hoarder. There, I've said it. I try to deny that I'm a hoarder but it comes back to haunt me every time I move houses, or pack up my classroom at the end of the school year. I have old articles, lesson plans, handouts, folders brimming with teaching ideas, past issues of profesional journals. I hardly throw anything out though I've learned to be more selective over the years. My one rule of thumb, and I really try to stick to this, is that if I haven't used or referred to something in a year, then it's time to toss it into the recycle bin. One exception to this rule (you knew this was coming, didn't you?) is past issues of journals from professional organizations. However, with the ability to locate articles online through my professional memberships, even this exception is becoming less and less useful, which brings me to the topic of this blog post. I am currently reading a copy of The Reading Teacher from 2010. I've clipped a cou...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Reading Strategies Book - Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension

The strategy lessons highlighted in Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension, in The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo are critical to students’ engagement and comprehension, as well as their ability to write literary essays, or even book reviews, summaries and reflective pieces about books. If students aren’t able to talk about books in a way that is invigorating and joyful, they will be less likely to develop an interest in growing ideas for writing about books. In her introduction to this chapter, Jennifer Serravallo, reminds us that when conversations go well, children are inspired by what they read and are motivated to keep reading. However, when conversations fall flat, then kids get bored and tune out. How do we avoid this situation and teach kids to  have  focused conversations about books?  The answer is easy: teach kids  strategies to help them develop effective conversa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are we listening?

A child sits alone with a ripped worksheet packet on his desk. He appears to be singing or subvocalizing something though no one hears him. Or, perhaps they're ignoring him. The teacher stands at the front of the room teaching on the SmartBoard. The children follow along in their worksheets. Except the child sitting alone. He is in his own world. No one engages him and he engages no one. My heart aches for this child. He is physically and emotionally removed from the class. I ask him why his paper is ripped. (It's not an accidental rip.) He says he did that on a different day. When he had been frustrated about the work. He tells me that he sometimes sits by himself because the work is too hard for him. He later tells me that he sits by himself because the teacher thinks he talks too much during the lesson.  He says he does that because he wants to find out about the "lives of the other children". My first impulse is to rescue him from the wrongheade...
10 comments
Read more