[MOT2Chat] The book has arrived!

[Lespop4 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/22/2007 8:51:31 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
CATHERINE.SWENSEN at spps.org writes:


It  was like waiting for a birthday present in the mail. I have eagerly  been
anticipating the book's arrival. I just read the first 2  chapters.
Last week I  attended our district's Reader's Workshop  training.
Our facilitator described the week as "refining our teaching  skills."  I
came away recharged and ready to try another year of  learning with
children.
I believe our district is moving in the right  direction. However, they are
using the term "literacy work stations".   I am concerned that many will
equate this with centers. I may make a banner  of this: p. 39, "the more you
read, the better you get; the better you get,  the more you read." One could
also apply that to educators. Must be why we  are reading a book as summer
vacation is just starting!

P. 41  discusses the structure of a reader's workshop and reiterates
that"there is  a long period of time for independent reading during which
the teacher  moves among the children to confer."
I was reminded that we need to build  stamina in reading. Start off with a
manageable time and build from there.  By the end of 2nd grade we were
reading for 30-40 minutes. It wasn't  perfect but the goal was to read, read
real books, read with choice, read  for enjoyment.

As one who has suffered through 2 packaged reform models  my fundamental
beliefs about teaching and reading were confirmed.
On p.  30 "Evaluating programs over the past forty years shows that
"packaged  reforms simply do not seem to reliably improve student
achievement"  (Allington 2006, 14) .Valuable resources that could be used to
improve  school and classroom libraries, decrease class size, redesign the
school  day for productive academic work and real reading, and provide
effective  staff development to teachers are being squandered on tests and
costly  materials that too often don't make a difference for children."

I feel  that all too often administrators do not believe in their teachers.
They  prefer (or are being pressured) to put their trust in packaged
programs  that promise results.
Teachers fail to rise to the occasion believing that  companies know more
and can provide better instruction materials. It's also  easier to be handed
a curriculum than to read the experts.
I left a  Success For All program and 2 years later I abandoned an America's
Choice  program. I am now in a school that honors teachers and supports a
balanced  literacy model.
It took a long time to get to this point but after reading  the first 2
chapters I am reminded that this is a journey, full of detours  and
obstacles but, I am still growing as a teacher and a learner. This  weekend
I will catch up on the reading then head off to a G&T  conference in
Virginia.
(Embedded image moved to file:  pic15724.gif)


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Yes, balanced literacy makes sense.  Teachers College (Columbia U,  Lucy 
Calkins) provides a calendar for each grade, K-8, that outlines a unit of  study 
per month that is built on balanced lit.  It can serve as a guide for  
teachers.  But is it the be all and end all?  Should teachers be able  to "stray" from 
this outline?  Can they create their own balanced literacy  curriculum and 
not adhere to the TC calendar?  Some teachers in some  schools are made to feel 
that they MUST follow this calendar.   As  long as balanced literacy is the 
back-drop and there is a good balance of  reading and writing in various genres 
of fiction and nonfiction, why would it  matter?
 
Leslie



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