5 Inspirational Quotes for Teachers

Something for you to ponder over the weekend and inspire you to return when the break is over. :)

The greatest sign of success for a teacher . . . is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."

--Maria Montessori

The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers rather than to fill it with the accumulation of others.

--Tyron Edwards

Treat people as it they were what they might be and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.

--Goethe

It is not what is poured into a student that counts but what is planted.

--Linda Conway

Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.

--W.B. Yeats

Ask the Hard Questions

I had a conversation with a student today that made him a little uncomfortable.  I'm okay with that because it also made him think.  Hopefully, the questions I asked will make him a bit more reflective, which will in turn change his attitude and make him a better student.  We'll see--it usually takes more than one such conversation to bring about such a metamorphosis, but perhaps we are at least on the right path now.
As teachers, we often feel we are supposed to have all of the answers, that we should never have to ask tough questions because we should just be able to tell people--students, parents, other teachers (spouses!) what to do, how to do it, how it happened, how it is, etc.  However, I have found that asking questions is generally much more powerful, much more likely to get the results we want, and in the end, it goes a lot farther in building a trusting relationship with both students and adults alike.
The child I was referring to was in trouble--again--for kicking another student.  He is what we sometimes refer to in education as a "frequent flyer" i. e., he spends a lot of time in the office or in "time out".  He consistently makes the wrong choice when he is put in situations where he could potentially make a better choice. He is always seeking attention, usually the negative kind. He's smart so he knows that if he changes the subject or if he gives an alternative answer to your question you might lose focus and let him off the hook.  He was not expecting my series of questions today and it threw him for a loop and ultimately brought him to tears.  Children with these characteristics don't usually like to be introspective, they don't want to reflect.  They just want to blame other students, the teacher, their parents, anyone but themselves, feel sorry for their punishment, and then act out again.  We need to find a way to change this and I think asking the right questions might be a good starting point.

There's a balance between too stern and too friendly  and asking the right questions doesn't mean you have to act like this teacher. Image courtesy of Getty Images.

We had a good discussion. Every time he answered my question, I asked him a new one.  "What happened? Why did you kick her? What else could you have done?  How would that have been different?  What other choices could you make?  Whose fault is this?  Why is it your fault and not hers? What would have happened if. . . ." etc. until he finally had no alternative but to admit he made a poor choice and that things would have turned out differently if he would have gotten help from a teacher instead of taking matters into his own hands.  Kids want to tell us what happened, they don't necessarily want to admit they did something wrong, but they will admit it when you ask the right questions and leave them no other choice.  It turns out this kid is actually pretty sad and probably needs a mentor or someone to make him feel better about himself. Now that we've gone through the fire together, I think we'll have the kind of relationship that allows me to help him.  The last thing I said to him was, "I'm going to be tough on you because I care so much about you and I want you to be successful.  You can do better and I'll be here to help you make better choices."  I'm sure it will be two steps forward and one step back, but either way we are making progress.
When we ask students to explain what happened, what choices they made, and why they made them, we teach them about accountability and responsibility.  As a classroom teacher, I always made a point of getting a response from a student before I moved on.  There was no shruggy-shoulder or "I don't know" in my classroom. If they don't know why they did something, they are apt to do it again.  But most of the time they do know.  They just don't want to think about it or admit that they did something wrong.  We need to have these discussions with students so that we can help them to grow.
When you find yourself in a situation where a child has made a poor choice, don't just ask a string of questions and either answer them yourself or let them drift off into outer space, let the child answer you.  "Why did you do that?" (wait for an answer, demand an answer) and go from there.  You'll be surprised at how much of an impact this can really make on both behavior and the environment of your classroom.

The Cacophony of Guided Reading

Often, when I have observers, I get feedback expressing disbelief that I could possibly listen to the tin of my guided reading groups all day long, reading along in disharmony and various speeds and rhythms and walk out the door as fully sane as I walked in that morning.  And to the unpracticed ear, I can understand why people would say that.  Most reading teachers get it--they, too, can listen to multiple children read different sections of text at different paces and not be any crazier for having done so--but teachers of other subjects, some administrators, and occasionally the reading teacher with a different preference often has difficulty following along and wonders how I can do it.
I prefer to let each child read at his or her pace, aloud, so that I can hear them and correct errors, or assist as they work through unknown or difficult words. I know there are various philosophies of how best to conduct a guided reading group, but here are my thoughts as to why doing it this way yields the best results.
1. Every child is reading the entire time.  There's no "follow along" as someone else reads. Each child is responsible for decoding every single word in the text.  Therefore, they spend a longer amount of time actually reading, which, as we know, is the best way for them to grow as readers.
2. There's not as much "listen and repeat." When student are choral reading or reading as a group, they tend to echo the person next to them. If the person next to them is a faster reader, they're going to be way ahead and this gives each reader a lesser chance of echo reading.
3. Each child can read at his or her own pace.  There's no waiting around for someone who isn't as quick or trying to rush to keep up and making a ton of errors. Each student can read as quickly or as slowly as s/he needs to.
4. Students who get finished can move on. There are several ways you can handle this.  If a child gets finished, I usually have them start over and work on fluency.  However, you could let them move on to comprehension either by asking them some questions quietly or having the questions already written down and letting them answer in a journal.  Alternatively, you could just have a standard journal assignment for your guided reading groups so that they know when they are finished, they have to write about whatever the topic is that you generally assign.  Either way, they haven't wasted a lot of time waiting on someone else to get finished.
5. I can still hear everyone and work with each student.  When a child is reading in my group and they need help, they put their hand forward so that I know they need my attention. Otherwise, I am taking turns listening to each student and helping those who need help.  If I get a single that a child needs my assistance I can help them and then allow them to continue.  At first, some students need reminders as to why it is important to single for help when they are unsure of a word. Sometimes they just want to skip over the word and pretend they read it. I can usually catch this and then we talk about why they shouldn't do that. I don't expect to be able to help every student decode every word but when a child needs help, they have to feel comfortable asking me for it.
I have observed some amazing teachers who do not run their groups the same way that I do and I think that's perfectly fine.  One great teacher I know has the students read silently until she taps them and then they read aloud for a page or two while she listens.  The other students can still signal for help but it's much quieter.  I think variations on this are great and they can still be very helpful in growing our students as readers. What I think we need to reconsider are Round Robin reading groups, Choral Reading, and Popcorn Reading.  Research shows that students do not learn reading skills as quickly in these situations so if we know better, we should do better.
If you work for CISD and you would like some pointers on your guided reading groups, please invite me in. I'd love to help! If you work elsewhere, please feel free to email me any questions.  My reading groups have great results because of the strategies I've learned to employee over the years but I could not have developed them if it hadn't been for the great models, coaches, and administrators that worked with me to make the changes I needed to in order to help my students become more successful.

Guided Reading books from one of our many kits

I'm Engaged!

I'm engaged!  Pic courtesy of luvimages.com

A few years ago the district I was teaching in at the time decided to do a staff development on Schlechty's Working on the Work.  We all got black t-shirts with the phrase, "I'm Engaged!" on the front in white.  We thought they were so cute until one of us went to pick up lunch solo and got all kinds of congratulatory remarks.  This just goes to show that, when we think about or talk about engagement, we are not all talking about the same thing and sometimes this causes us to miss the boat with our students as well.
Schlechty talks about 5 different levels of engagement.  I will discuss each one briefly and give you some samples.  The district I currently worked in has also done some work with engagement this year and I have developed a nice little guide that you can use while analyzing your students as well. (You can find this in the "pages" section of my blog or email me for the color copy.)  It is important to consider if your students are engaged, but we also need to ask why are they engaged. Schlechty helps us to answer that question.

The first level of engagement is Authentic Engagement.  Students are authentically engaged when they want to learn the material and find relevance in the lesson.  They understand that this information is going to be pertinent to them and they do not necessarily even view the assignment as work but they would do it even if there was no tangible pay-off for them--like a good grade or praise from the teacher. These are the most difficult lessons to design but it's certainly not impossible to reach this level of engagement consistently.  Much of it has to do with creating a climate where learning is valued in your classroom and then designing your lesson with your particular students in mind.  Allowing students to choose their own topics or books can often lead to Authentic Engagement.  Letting them do problem solving activities that are relevant to their lives can also create this type of engagement.  For example, let them determine what should be on the lunch menu or if they have enough marbles in the jar to have a party.  Family history projects or those that relate to a place they find interesting often lead to authentic engagement, as does the use of many technology apps or websites.
Ritual Engagement is the next level on Schlechty's list.  This is a slightly lower level than Authentic Engagement but it is still something to strive for. The student completes the assignment because they want to earn good grades or receive praise from a parent or teacher. They are not genuinely interested in the topic but they don't mind it so much either.  They would not complete the work if there was no reward but they do complete it in order to receive something in return.  Assignments that fit the bill for Ritual Engagement might include a book assigned by the teacher, finishing a certain amount of math problems in order to receive a specific grade, completing a worksheet so that they earn a star or a sticker.  The student doesn't see that the work is important or relevant but they understand that the teacher sees it as such so they do it.

The third level of engagement is Passive Compliance.  Rather than trying to earn something, the student in this situation completes an assignment to avoid something--a phone call home, detention, being sent to the office. They are not trying to get a reward, they just don't want to be punished.  Sometimes it may be something as simple as being scorned by the teacher or a parent that pushes the student to complete the assignment, the "I don't want to get in trouble" factor.  In the case of a student who was previously even less engaged, they may be hanging out here for a while because they are not yet capable of seeing the relevance in schoolwork which would eventually cause them to be more engaged. This is not a level of engagement where we want our students to spend a lot of time.  A classroom with a lot of students engaged at this level (or even less engaged) is not going to be extremely productive.
The next level of engagement is Retreatism.  This one can be tricky to spot so a teacher must be watching carefully.  In this level, a student does not complete his or her work but does not disrupt others either.  He or she sits there and either does something else or nothing at all.  It is often easy for these students to blend in until an assignment is due or to completely get by without working in the case of a group assignment.  These are the kids who consistently fail to find a partner whenever there is paired work to be done. They slink into the corners and hope that no one sees them and then they often stare into outer space while those around them cover the material.
The final level of engagement is really no engagement at all. It's called Rebellion and we have all had at least a few students over the years who fit the description completely.  Rebellion is characterized by refusal to complete assignments, yelling out in class, arguing with the teacher, disrupting others, aimlessly wandering around the classroom--all of those things that make us want to pull our hair out at the end of the day. And the most frustrating thing about having a Rebel in your class is that sometimes it doesn't even matter how engaging the rest of your students find the assignment--they are still rebelling! This may be an indicator that something else is wrong and that the student needs more than just a different lesson plan to keep him or her engaged.  In the case of the consistently rebellious student, do not hesitate to ask for help from your teammates, administrators, or specialists. It is nearly impossible to keep the rest of your class engaged when you have a rebel on the loose.
What does all of this mean for the classroom teacher?  Schlechty continues with a discussion of how to plan lessons so that students are more engaged.  In fact, he has written extensively about how to engage students at higher levels. I will discuss his suggestions for developing lessons that help students to become more authentically engaged tomorrow.  For now, take a look at the students in your classroom. How many of them would you say consistently fit into each of these categories  If they are not authentically engaged, do you know why? Is there anything you can change to make your lessons more engaging?  Are there outside forces at work in your classroom and if so is there anything you can do to alleviate or influence these sources?  There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to creating engaging classrooms.  I would really like to hear your thoughts!

"We're Going to Eat Bananas!"

Early in my career, I had the honor and privilege of working with a principal who forever changed my philosophy about education.  He is one of the most intelligent, kindest, inspiring individuals I've ever had the opportunity to meet and working with him for two years was the catalyst for me to pursue leadership positions and aspire to be more than a classroom teacher. He saw potential in me--he saw potential in everyone--and he encouraged me to follow the path to administration.  I believe I've found my true calling because of his encouragement.  He encapsulates the true meaning of the phrase "servant-leader" and I hope someday to have a tenth of the wisdom that he has.
Though this principal was certainly born with an aptitude for leadership and inspiring others, he also continuously read the literature. He was always digging into what the educational leaders were saying, analyzing texts, and trying new methods of best practice.  He would share what he was reading with all of us, sometimes by recommending books and articles but often just through the words he chose.  Many of the mantras I now have as an educator have come not from their true sources but from listening to him repeat them time and again. He was constantly reminding us that, "we own all kids."  This is something I certainly take to heart.  He would remind us that, "leadership is not a position."  We are all leaders. If we see a task that needs to be done, it is our responsibility to move forward and solve that problem.  He was always talking about rigor and building capacity.  I have a much deeper understanding of what being a servant-leader means because of the words he consistently repeated to us at staff meetings, in conferences, even while passing us in the hallway.
Many times his words were paraphrased from something he had been reading.  This next example is no different and though I've read the true source, I like his version much better because it made it real for all of us.  At the time, I was a kindergarten teacher and he was talking about preparing 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders for TAKS (our previous state assessment).  While he may not have been speaking directly to me, I understood what he was saying and I took it to heart and applied it to my class as well.  He would say,  "If our students are going to be asked to eat bananas, then we're gonna practice eating bananas. We're not going to color bananas, we're not going to draw bananas, we're not going to complete a worksheet about bananas. We're going to eat bananas!"

Banana anyone? Pic courtesy of etipsfree.com

On the surface, it may be difficult to understand exactly what he was saying but with some thought and reflection (and some explanation!) it made a lot of sense.  What is it that we expect our students to be able to do?  Think at a higher level and be able to answer higher-level thinking questions on STAAR (our current state assessments) and in life.  How are we going to prepare them to do this? By teaching them how to read and analyze texts, story problems, scientific reasoning problems, etc. at the same level they will need to be able to in order to be successful on STAAR and beyond.  He wasn't saying let's passage them to death--quite the opposite, he was saying we have to replicate the demand of the assessment through authentic work (as in Schlechty's Working on the Work, which is not the same as busy work) that prepares our students for assessments and for the real world.  Furthermore, the vast majority of worksheets, fluff, and other lower-level activities are not going to prepare our students for the rigors of assessments or life. Just as coloring a banana is not the same as eating a banana, doing a worksheet that helps us find words that have prefixes and suffixes is not akin to understanding the meaning of those words in the context of a book or a difficult reading passage.  Being able to dissect a word on a worksheet does not necessarily lend itself to a student being able to use context clues to figure out the meaning of a word in text.  We must consistently give our students the opportunity to practice eating bananas if we want them to be able to eat bananas on the "Big Day".
How do you determine if an assignment is actually helping prepare your students or if it's just filling time? You can start by asking yourself the following questions:
1) What do I expect my students to accomplish by completing this assignment?
2) Will this assignment prove to me that my students understand the SE (student expectation) at a higher-level?
3) Will my students ever be in a situation in life or on an assessment where they will have to replicate the exact skills or knowledge they are practicing with this assignment?
Answering these questions should give you a clear indication as to whether or not the assignment is a good one or if it's not going to help your students eat bananas.  If you are having trouble finding an assignment that does fit the criteria of all three of these questions, you may be making things more complicated than you need to. Many of the SE's in reading can be taught through great literature, which makes it much more simple for teachers and students alike.  There is no law that says your students have to complete worksheets. In fact, in the last four years that I was in the classroom, I may have used a total of ten worksheets--and that's probably stretching it.  I know that math teachers often have a different purpose for using worksheets and I understand that purpose though I also encourage math teachers to make learning as authentic as possible as well.  Story problems go a long way toward stretching the students' thinking and they are a lot more fun when they're not on a worksheet. Math and science journals are great alternatives to worksheets. For reading, one of the simplest and best ways to get students to truly think is by asking them to record their thoughts in a reading journal.
Think of the great teachers and administrators you have had the opportunity to work with.  What was it about them that made them great?  How can you replicate those qualities in yourself and in your students?  How can that transform your classroom? I'd love to hear your ideas for making work authentic for your students.  Please leave a comment if you have a great idea you would like to share with other educators.

First Giveaway! $15 Target Gift Card!

I want to help my fellow educators out and I would like to get my one lonely follower some company, so I'm hosting my first GIVEAWAY! on my Reading is Elementary blog!
To enter, all you have to do is sign-up to follow this blog.  My loyal follower, Heather R. will automatically be entered because she is already following.   If you already have a gmail account, it's pretty simple to sign up to follow. If not, it's easy to get a gmail account and then sign-up.
If you refer others to this blog and they follow, you can earn an extra entry for each referral.  Just make sure they leave a comment or send me a message so I know you sent them.
The winner will receive a $15 gift card to Target.  I chose Target because you could spend it on school supplies or anything you want to! You DO NOT have to be an educator to enter, you just have to sign up to follow.  I am more than happy to mail the gift card to the winner so you do not have to live nearby or teach at my school.  How awesome is that?
Contest runs through Friday March 8th at 3:45 ('cause that's when I start Spring Break!) so spread the word and be sure to sign-up so you'll have a chance to win! Otherwise, you're just handing Heather $15!

Wanna win? Follow my blog!

Do Your Report Cards Reflect Your Classroom?

We are at the end of a grading period at my school district and it got me thinking about how the structure of our classrooms has changed dramatically but the way we assess isn't always different. Again, I'm speaking in general terms, not specifically about teachers at my wonderful school district or other districts I have taught in.  If we are allowing more group projects, paired thinking, collaboration, and project based learning activities, how is that reflected on our report cards? Are we grading our students as individuals or are some of their grades reflective of projects they may or may not have actually have been able to complete on their own?  Does project based learning create a false representation of a student's knowledge on the report card and, if not, how are we preventing it from doing so?
For the most part, our report cards are based on classwork and observations.  Of course assessments play a key roll as well but things like daily work, homework, and guided group work are all considerations we need to factor in when trying to determine what to put on a report card.  For the most part, report cards ask us to determine whether or not a student is able to master specific student expectations and to what degree. Whether it is a rubric score or a percentile, we have to be able to make a decision based on quantitative data. If we are doing primarily project based learning assignments in our classroom, how can we tell what each student has contributed? Are we giving group grades or individual grades, or both?
Sometimes allowing students to use a self-assessment rubric can help with this. Let them grade their own participation and that of their teammates.  Consider the dynamics of the group when looking at how students grade each other.  Use observational notes and conversations that you have with the students.  Is the student able to answer questions about the project? Is he or she able to explain why the group made certain design choices? If a third party entered your classroom and spoke to the student, would he or she be able to discuss the materials the class is responsible for knowing in a way that leads the observer to believe the student has mastered the student expectations?
With our students that need constant assistance in order to complete assignments, do the grades we are giving them reflect this scaffolded approach or does it appear as if the student is independently able to complete the work because they are turning in work with correct answers--some of which we provided?  When we use a rubric, it is easier to show that a student is able to complete the work with help, however this becomes more tricky when we only have a percentile to go off of. How do we work this scaffolding into our percentiles? Shouldn't the overall grade reflect that the student's understanding is not as complete as those students who are able to do the work without as much help?
As we begin to morph our schools out of the Industrial/Agrarian age and into the Age of Technology, we have to be careful not to over-look some of the areas where old habits die-hard.  We've changed so many things in order to adapt to our 21st Century Learners now we need to start looking at how we are reporting their progress.  Maybe we need to take a closer look at what a report card, by definition, was really meant to do and stop looking at it as some sort of finality to our learning.  If we look at it solely as a form of communication between the school and parents or higher institutes of learning, then we may need to take a different approach to how we are grading.  Just some thoughts to ponder as we near the end our 4th 6 week grading period--or 3rd 9 weeks--or 3rd quarter, or whatever you'd like to call it.

How do you determine your students' grades?

What are your thoughts?

Questions Every Reading Teacher Needs to Answer Part 3

Originally, I asked the questions I am using in this series of posts in part of a guided reading training I have been presenting (with modifications!) for about 8 years. However, I've decided to modify this question  a little bit.  Rather than asking the original, fairly specific question of, "How are you checking for comprehension after a guided reading lesson," let's just ask the more general, "How will you know how well your students are comprehending?"  This can be applied to any lesson, any subject, any grade-level.  If our students are not comprehending what we are teaching, then we aren't teaching--we're just talking.
(For those of you not familiar with Texas State Mandated testing,  2011-12 was the first year that the STAAR test was introduced to replace the previous state mandated test, TAKS.)Before STAAR came along to make all of our lives brighter, I often heard teachers talking about why the TAKS test was too difficult and that the level of questioning was beyond many of our average students' capabilities. With STAAR, the comprehension level went up even further and we began to realize it wasn't enough to just ask questions at a more difficult level--we had to make our classrooms more like learning labs where students were constantly having to problem solve, analyze, take things apart and put them back together--in every subject. If we are not creating an environment where students are constantly introduced to these types of challenges, not only are we limiting their preparation for the state mandated testing, we're not fully preparing them for the working environment they are going to have to function in as adults.

What are your students getting out of your lessons?

The obvious answer to my question is on assessments. If students are comprehending what you are teaching, they should do well on pencil-paper exams.  However, that is still not necessarily a good indicator as to the level of understanding they have. If you are giving assessments written before STAAR, those written at a lower-level as far as Bloom's Taxonomy is concerned, or possibly something that comes from a curriculum or textbook that is not aligned with the state student expectations or exam, you could well be asking assessment questions that are much easier than the standard set by the STAAR test.  While they may be demonstrating a level of understanding, it might be far below the level they are going to need to be at in order to do well on the state assessment.  Therefore, we cannot use a students' performance on assessments as the sole indicator of how well he or she comprehends the materials we are covering.  We also must take into consideration that some students just don't perform well on written assessments.  There can be a variety of reasons for this but ultimately we need to understand that extremely intelligent children often show up as average or below average in testing situations because of test anxiety, dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, autism, and many other factors we should consider.
Therefore, we must collect other forms of data in order to truly determine the level of understanding our students have of the materials we have covered.  The best way to do this, in my opinion, is to create a project that allows the students to work at the highest levels of Bloom's and then we can use the product they create to determine whether or not the student is able to comprehend at those high-levels.  We need to include components of collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, research, and analysis in those projects.  We also need to allow for student choice, particularly when it comes to choosing methods of research, assignments of particular portions of the workload, products, and sometimes even the topic.  There are a lot of topics that often relate to the same unit or lesson we are teaching so if you can find a way to let students choose a component that they are particularly interested in, why not? In my experience, they always perform better when they are engaged with a project they have had some choice in designing. This also allows you insight into their comprehension levels because the greater their understanding, the more likely they are to design a complex, well-thought out project.
We can learn a lot about the level of understanding our students have by listening to the conversations they have with other students. Ask them to explain a concept to a neighbor.  Better yet, ask then to teach a lesson about one of the topics you are discussing to the class.  You'll find out very quickly how deeply they understand the materials.  The student presenting will also retain the information at a deeper level for a longer period of time.  This is all part of project based-learning and it is definitely coming our way so we need to start preparing for it, whether we like it or not.  We say that, in teaching, every thing is cyclical. I think project based learning is going to become a part of our school culture--like lunch and recess more so than some of the flash-in-the-pan buzz words we've been known to use and then discard.  The reason for this is, project based learning works!  Our students get a lot out of it. It's easier on teachers and it more closely replicates an actual work environment than the typical classroom.  Oh, and also, it's a lot of fun!
When it comes to reaching those upper levels of Bloom's, the level that the students' answer at is going to depend on the level of questioning the teacher is using.  If we ask lower-level questions, we'll get lower-level answers.  Examine the types of questions you are asking.  How many of them fall at the knowledge or remembering level?  How many of them climb up to application or analysis?  You may be surprised.  The best way to ensure you are hitting those higher levels is by planning to do so.  Write those types of questions when you write your lesson plan and then keep them with you when you're teaching so that you make sure to ask them.  If you have access to an instructional specialist or coach, ask him or her to come into your classroom during a lesson and keep track of the levels of your questions. This is a great way to get feedback from a non-threatening  professional who will be there to guide you through the steps of improving your questions, if necessary, and there will be no judgement on his or her part either, assuming the specialist or coach is a pro.  Take advantage of the resources you have and invite these people into your classroom to help with specific areas where you feel you can improve.  They want to help and there's nothing wrong with anyone asking for help in improving areas where we feel we are struggling.

Instructional coaches are excellent resources so don't be afraid to use them!

It can be exhausting standing up in front of a room of students all day long, discussing all of the material, saying all of the thins you are supposed to say, and knowing they aren't understanding a thing you are telling them.  This is where the art of teaching must come in to play and replace the misconception that covering a topic by talking about it necessarily results in students learning it.  Again, talking isn't teaching.  Teaching occurs when information is transferred from one person to another.  If they don't get it, then you didn't truly teach it to them.  Sometimes we have to teach the same topic in several different ways in order to teach it to everyone, and that's okay.  The more our students are engaged, the more they have the opportunity to discuss, collaborate, and dig into the subject themselves, the better their learning will be and the higher their levels of comprehension.  And when we create this type of learning environment, there's no question that the vast majority of our students will naturally do well on the state assessments because they are constantly being challenged at this higher level and it's nothing new to them.
What other ideas do you have for challenging your students to reach new intellectual heights?

10 Reasons Why I LOVE Teaching

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, a day where teachers receive tons of little boxes of chocolates, single roses, stickers, and the occasional used lipstick out of mom's purse (true story!), I give you the Top 10 Reasons Why I LOVE Teaching.  And, no, none of them are, "June, July, and August."
10. I love to learn new things.  When you're a teacher, you are constantly being taught--by other teachers, district personnel, administrators--and by your students. There aren't a lot of other professions who have the same amount of training built into schedules the way teaching does and staff development is a great way to learn about best practices in teaching.  I also learn a lot from talking to students and hearing their perspectives.  They are the ones who can really make us stop and think!
9.  We have lots of technology!  I would not have been exposed to many of the programs, apps, and devices I am able to use in my classroom if I were working in a different field.  I have never heard my husband or anyone else come home from working in an office and say things like, "I learned about several really cool websites today where you can make cartoons!"  Sure, other people know about these things and use them but we are constantly trying to find new ways to engage our students and sharing these ideas with each other. I also probably wouldn't have an iPad and 3 iPods at my disposal if I wasn't a teacher. I have an arsenal of technology!
8. I love to read!   One of my very favorite activities is reading and I especially love to do read-alouds with elementary children. I like to do character voices and use a ton of expression. They love it and you can see the excitement and pure joy on their faces.  I also love to read more difficult texts and discuss them with older children because they always have a different view than I do and it's really neat to hear how they interpret different books. If you ever have the opportunity to do a book study with the novel Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, take advantage of that opportunity--and invite me!  I recommend it for 5th grade and above, but read it yourself first. I did an Inquiry Circle Project with my very high 5th graders last year using that novel.  Best. Book. Study. EVER.
7) I love numbers! When I was in school I felt like I was not very good at math. I always got A's in class and did well on tests, etc. but I didn't feel like I knew why I was doing what I was doing.  Now that I have taught math at a few different grade-levels, I understand it more and I feel more confident.  I hope to pass this on to my students.  It isn't enough to teach them to do an algorithm or to follow a pattern, we have to teach them the why and the reasoning behind it.  That's the only way they are ever going to be confident with numbers.  Now, one of the best parts of teaching is having a student explain to me why they did what they did with a math problem.
6)School supplies are awesome!  There's still nothing quite like coloring with a new box of crayons.  The smell, the sharpness, the vibrant color--it's beautiful! I love everything about school supplies.  Bury me in a pile of post-its!  I love to organize school supplies, I love to buy them, I love to see what's new.  Who else gets to sort through 50 packs of highlighters at least once a year?  Just teachers.
5) I love passing out ketchup!  Okay--not really.  But I do like lunch duty.  I know, it sounds crazy, doesn't it?  After years of  being splattered with milk, sauce, and various other liquids, you'd think I hate it but I love the freedom that lunch brings. (Freedom with parameters, mind you!) I love to talk to the kids about non-academic topics and hearing them talk to each other in their own common language.  I always learn new thing at lunch--what's cool, what isn't, what kids think about different things. Even though I have been called the Lunch Room Nazi more than once and I spend a great amount of time enforcing rules, I still like to hear what the kids have to say when they can say (almost) anything they want to.
4) Hugs are the greatest! I work in an elementary school and if you've spent any time in an elementary school at all, you know that you'll be hugged--for sure--at least 10 times every hour.  And that's awesome.  Knowing a kid cares enough about you to jump out of line, run across the hallway, risk getting yelled at by their teacher, means a lot.
3) I love it when a plan comes together.  Sorry--child of the '80's.  But I do love it when I've poured over a lesson plan, put everything I've got into it, presented it to the class, and it's a hit.  When the kids actually get what you wanted them to get out of a lesson, that's am amazing feeling!
2) I'm changing lives.  Some of the students that I have had the opportunity to work with feel as if no one, or very few people care about them. I'm here to show them they are important, that they are loved and that they mean something to me. I'm also teaching them skills that they will need for the rest of their lives.  There are some subjects or materials that students may not always retain, but when you're teaching someone how to read, that is going to stick with them forever.
1) I'm touching the future.  Regardless of what happens with our economy, what kinds of jobs our students will have, all of them are always going to need to know how to read.  But that's not all I'm teaching them. I'm also teaching them responsibility, respect, kindness, thoughtfulness, teamwork, dependability--traits that everyone has to have in order to be a productive member of society.  I have worked in other professions where I knew what I was doing was not that important but as a teacher, everything I go is important.  Whether I make a good decision and help a child or I make a mistake and do something I need to correct, a child is impacted and that can change a future.  Being a teacher is powerful! We remember the great ones and the terrible ones, but not the mediocre ones so much.  I want to be remembered and I want it to be for the right reasons because if they remember that I taught them something important, then they'll be better people.  That's the true beauty of our profession.
What do you love about teaching?

Add caption

The Do's and Don'ts of a Picture Walk

Most of us were taught to do a picture walk at the beginning of a guided reading lesson.  What is the purpose of this mini-lesson? How are you using the picture walk?  What are you teaching during the picture walk?  How will you know if your students have learned anything from the picture walk?
I have seen picture walks utilized in a way that made getting to read the book seem like the best prize ever and I've seen picture walks so boring and pointless that students were nearly asleep--or in tears--by the time the torture, I mean walk, was over. So, let's talk about what you can do to make a picture walk lots of fun and purposeful, and let's talk about some things to avoid!

Do:  Make the picture walk a conversation.  This is an opportunity to encourage your students to talk to you and to each other. We want an environment of collaboration in our classroom and this is a perfect way to teach children how to speak appropriately and intelligently to each other.
Don't: Dominate the entire conversation.  The learning will be more relevant and meaningful if the students have a chance to discuss and reflect with each other so allow them to talk as well.
Do: Use the picture walk to build vocabulary.  Introduce key words that students must understand in order to comprehend the text.  Check to see what their previous experience with that word is and clarify any misconceptions.
Don't: Elaborate on every topic or on irrelevant tangents.  I once heard a teacher interrupt a guided reading lesson to talk about her dog for about five minutes.  If you only have a group for 15-20 minutes and you use a third of that time to talk about something that is only minimally related to the topic of discussion, you are not using your time wisely.  Your students will attempt to get you off topic--usually not on purpose--by telling you about every time they've gone to the zoo, seen a boat, or picked a flower.  My standard reply, "Oh, that's great. Can you tell me more about that at recess?" You need to honor their ideas and connections, value what they would like to talk about, but don't let it distract from your lesson.
Do: Use the questions they ask for later book subjects, inquiry circle projects, or writing assignments.  Again, let them know their interests are valuable and don't disregard the questions they ask, no matter how far off topic they may be.  You don't always have to have every answer and sometimes the questions they ask during guided reading  are perfect for research assignments.  Jot them down and don't forget about them.
Don't: Stop your lesson to find the answer to every question.  Just because their questions are important doesn't mean they are more important than the lesson you are teaching.
Do: Plant the seeds to help them be successful in their reading. If there are words they are going to struggle with, mention them, say them a few times. If there is difficult phrasing, point that out, too.  If the picture is helpful to the reading, look at it carefully.  Say things like, "When I looked at this picture, I thought, oh, that's a dog.  But the book is calling it a puppy.  See, right here?  This words starts with a /p/.  This word is puppy. So, when you are reading, be careful to look at how that word starts and not just the picture."
Don't: Spend a lot of time on your picture walk.  Your picture walk shouldn't be the major part of your lesson. It should be like a mini-lesson--concise, pointed, and helpful.  If you are reading a longer text over several days, break your picture walk up as well.
Do:  Talk about text structure, features of different genres, parts of a book, whatever is relevant.
Don't: Go "fishing" during a picture walk. If no one knows the word "caption" even though you just told them yesterday, tell them again.
Think of the picture walk as a preview, a way to set your students up to be successful.  It's not an opportunity for a teacher to give a monologue about why this book is interesting (or not interesting) or how he or she can personally relate to the text.  It's about the students being able to make predictions, prepare mentally for the text, learn key vocabulary, and feel more successful when they get to more difficult words.
What  types of activities or strategies do you use during your picture walks?
I have heard that some of you are having difficulty leaving comments and signing up to follow.  I have changed a few settings so please email me if you still can't leave a comment or follow. My email address is vanhorna@communityisd.org

The Ballad of "Sound-It-Out"

This post is in remembrance of a phrase I would like to bury so deeply in the ground that we never see or hear from it again. The phrase is, "sound it out," and if education needs someone to step forward and bravely pull the trigger, well, then, I'm your huckleberry.
I am quite certain that this post will annoy, upset, possibly infuriate more than one of my fellow teachers. I know this because every time I bring up the subject while I am presenting, at least one teacher gets really fired up and questions my logic.  And I'm okay with that!  The point of this blog is to start discussions so if you read this and you think I'm wrong, please go right on ahead and tell me so.  But, if you think I'm right, please, for the love of all things holy, grab a shovel and let's start digging!
If you are a reading teacher at any level, there's a good chance you have, at some point in your career given the order for a student to, "sound it out."  Parents, I'm certain you have probably said it as well. In fact, I hear students telling other students to "sound it out" almost daily.  Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you are saying that?  What is it that you really want them to do?  Do they even know what that phrase means?  I'm going to answer those questions for you but first, let's explore the two most common scenarios where a teacher (or possibly a parent) might use the dreaded phrase.
The first situation where this phrase is commonly used is in a guided group where a teacher and students are working on phonics. They aren't reading a text, they are simply manipulating phonemes to blend, segment, and/or form words.  Most of the time teachers refer to this as "word work."  In this particular setting, a student might be working on a word family, possibly substituting an initial or final sound, or even a medial vowel.  The student gets hung up on a tricky manipulation and the teacher wants to give the child some clues to help him or her be successful.  So, let's take it one step further.  We're in a kindergarten classroom. The teacher has four students in her small group and they are working on the --am family.  They are trading out the initial letter to form new words.  Ham to jam to Sam, etc.  The student is having trouble with the /r/ sound. He isn't sure what sound that letter makes.  So, when his teacher asks him to remove the "S" and put the "r" in it's place, he's stuck.  He knows the last part is /am/ but he doesn't know what to say at the beginning.  His teacher tells him to "sound it out."  Uhm, ya, he's trying to sound it out.  Problem is, he doesn't know what sound "r" makes, so he can't sound it out.  He's still stuck, and she's still insisting he does something he doesn't know how to do. Now, tell me, who is this benefiting?

Photo courtesy of trcb,com

What are some more appropriate things the teacher could say in this situation?  Well, what is our purpose in the lesson?  We want the student to understand the relationships between phonemes and words, how different sounds join together to make different words and how closely related some of these words are. We also want to make sure our students have a firm grasp of the most common sounds these letters make. If we understand that our little friend here isn't confident in the sound "r" makes, then we cannot move forward with the other skills that we want him to know.  We have to put that first brick down--the sound the letter makes--before we can build upon it with blending, segmenting, etc.  Now, we can teach these concepts simultaneous as long as we are willing to go back and plug some holes, like this little boy's missing information when it comes to the sound for "r".  In order to do that, let's start with the most basic question.  "What letter is this?"  If he knows it's "r" that's great. Tell him so!  If he doesn't, that's okay, too, we are going to teach him.  "This is the letter 'r.'  Do you see it up there in the alphabet? On the word wall?  Can you see the picture next to the letter?  What is it?  A rabbit.  That's right! And rabbit starts with /r/.  So the letter 'r' says /r/ like in rabbit!" If he knows the name of the letter but not the sound, simply skip that part about identifying the letter.  "That's right! It is the letter 'r.'  Do you remember what sound 'r' makes?  No?  Look over there at the alphabet (or word wall).  Do you see the picture next to 'r' . . . ."  You get it from here.  Our goal is not to interrogate the information out of our wee little friends. Our goal is to help them learn, remember, build schema, find something to hang this information on. Once they have that hook, they'll be much more likely to remember the next time.
Let's take this scenario one step further. Let's say our friend does know "r" says /r/ but the trouble comes with blending the sounds together. He just can't seem to get those gaps out of /r/ /a/ /m/.  Is asking him to "sound it out" going to help here?  No, he IS sounding it out. He's just not sounding it in--err-together.  So telling him to "sound it out" again, is not helpful. Tell him to squeeze those sounds together.  Show him a rubber-band around your fingers, how you can stretch it out and squeeze it together. Let him try.  Model it.  Model it again. Model it a third time.  Keep modeling it until he gets it or until you can't stand the sight of any animal with horns.  Or, on the other hand, stop modeling it because he's not ready--and that's okay, too.  We'll try again later.
Bottom line, I cannot think of a single time when a teacher is working on word work with a group of students when he or she would ever need to tell a student to "sound it out". If you can, please let me know!
The other situation when I hear, "sound it out" demanded repeatedly is when a student is reading aloud to a teacher and they become "stuck" on a word. It could be in a guided reading group, reading aloud to the class, basically any situation where the teacher is listening and the student is reading. It doesn't matter what grade-level or subject, chances are there is something better for you to say than, "sound it out."
And why is that?  Well, two reasons. First of all, chances are the student is familiar with the phrase "sound it out."  In most cases, that is the first and sometimes only strategy a student is going to use to try to decode a word.  It is not, however, the best strategy the majority of the time, for the second reason--the majority of the words in the English language are unsounderoutable.  Yes, that is my own invented word. I love it and I'm going to continue to use it.  Think about it, how many words in English are actually spelled phonetically?  Not very many. And once we get into vowel digraphs, diphthongs, special endings, "sneaky" e's, and several vowels walking together, well, it's your best guess as to what sound any letter is really going to make at any given time, depending upon the price of consonants in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Needless to say, giving your students some other strategies may go a lot further than imploring him or her to "sound it out."
So, what other strategies should you be giving them?  I'm so glad you asked!  Let's look at the merit of a few other questions we could ask (and the word question here is key--"sound it out" is not a question.  We want to ask our students to do things not demand it. Asking makes them think, demanding let's us think for them.)
1) How does that word start? (or) end?
2) Do you see a smaller word inside of the bigger word?
3) What makes sense in this sentence?
4) Do you know part of that word?
5) Do you remember the rule for ____ (ai, ay, ou, ow, etc.)?
6) Do you have a guess as to what that word might be?
7) What is the book talking about?
8) Is there a prefix or suffix you can take off?
9) Do you have a clue in your picture?
10) Have you seen that word anywhere else before?
11) Do you have a friend that you think can help you?
I would argue that all of these questions are better than "sound it out." All of them make the student stop and consider the situation.  All of them assist the student in finding clues to solve the mystery of what is that word.  We want our students to ask themselves these types of questions when they get stuck because these are the types of strategies good readers naturally do when they are trying to decode a difficult word. I mean, when was the last time you tried to "sound" out a multi-syllabic word without at least breaking it apart and considering the smaller pieces? It just seems like we are doing our children a disservice by insisting that they sound out words that we know good and well are unsounderoutable.  So why do we continue to insist that they do so?
I actually do want to answer that question, my theory anyway, about why we continue to use this phrase.  It's because that's what we were told to do.  And not just by our teachers and parents from way back when we were in school either.  The teachers that taught us how to be teachers--they are saying it.  Our mentors--they're saying it. Our coaches, our specialists, the teaches we are going to observe--some of them are still saying it.  So, we don't think, "Why are we saying this?" we just keep saying it.  But now we know why we shouldn't be saying--because there are better things to say--so let's just put it out of it's misery!

I bet this teacher even asked her students to "sound it out."

Please don't think I am under the impression that all other teachers are still saying this phrase. I know many of you are not. Please don't take this to mean I think that, if you are using this phrase you are not a good teacher or you are doing a disservice to your children--again, I don't.  Your students are not going to stop developing as readers because you used or continue to use this phrase.  But this blog isn't about what we used to do, it's about what we are going to do so that we are better teachers, with smarter, more successful students.  And I truly think taking this one phrase out of our vernacular will go a long way to helping our students become better thinkers, problem solvers, and ultimately better readers.
I know some of my self-conscious friends out there are probably panicking now, thinking, "OMG, I think I said that the last time Amy was in my classroom!  SHE'S TALKING ABOUT ME!" Let me assure you, I'm talking about the collective us--myself included--we can all stand to begin removing this phrase from our teaching regiment.  I'm not going to throw an eraser at the next teacher who says it, I probably won't say anything at all. But I want you to start being conscious of what you are saying and why you are saying it. Again, if it's justified, please say it. Otherwise, say something better.

Everyone is sooo happy!

With any luck, this dead horse has now been beaten to death and we can all get back to our classrooms now and start insisting that students say, "May I go to the restroom," instead of "Can I use it?"
Tomorrow, I'm going to take you on a fishing excursion. Oh, yes, it will be fun and, no it's not that kind of fishing. ;)

Questions Every Reading Teacher Needs to Answer

This is the first in a series of reflective questions every reading teacher needs to take the time to answer.  This is not something I recommend you do as a team, as a grade-level, as a campus, rather something each classroom teacher needs to do by his or herself.  When we pause to truly reflect upon our own teaching practices, we begin to make discoveries about what we are doing really well and we realize there are some places where we can do better.  Posing these questions in a non-threatening, open-format and asking teachers to answer them behind close doors on their own should provide everyone with enough security to be completely honest about their answers.
My first question is perhaps the most important one of all.  How many minutes each day are your students spending authentically engaged in literature?  In other words, how much time do they get to read? I don't mean listening to you read, listening to their classmates read, following along in a text while it's being read aloud, or choral reading.  I mean one student reading, either alone, in a pair, or to you. This could be independent reading, guided reading, or paired reading as long as the child is actually reading the text for his or herself with minimal support from someone else.  The subject of the text doesn't matter--science, math, social studies, all of those count, so long as the child is actually reading the text.
If you teach in a self-contained classroom and you can honestly say that your students are reading at least 30 minutes per day, then you are on the right track, especially if those 30 minutes are consecutive.  This is the recommendation that Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) suggests as a minimum and they have a lot of research to back them up. Keep in mind, this does not include things like Round Robin Reading or reading in groups, as the skills students use for these types of practices are not the same as the ones they use for independent reading or reading aloud to a teacher or peer.
California state curriculum actually states students should read for 50-60 minutes per day and while this may seem like a lot, it makes sense.  Study after study shows that the number one way for students to increase fluency, comprehension, and to some extent accuracy, is through reading.  (For more information, please visit the AASL here.  This is just one example of the research) READING--not listening to other students read, not listening to the teacher read, not watching a video about reading, not completing a worksheet about reading--but READING! So, if reading makes students better readers, why not let them read?
Many of you are probably thinking you do not have the time for your students to read for 30 minutes each day, let alone 50-60 so I will challenge that with a few sub-questions if you will.
1) How do your students warm-up in the morning when they enter your classroom? Is it a worksheet?  Is it important? Could it be reading?  Could you put some leveled readers on their desks in the morning--their own book bag or a basket from your collection and just let them read?
2) Do you take whole group bathroom breaks? What are the other 15 kids doing while 6 or 7 are in the restroom?  Could they be reading?
3) Do your students wait in line to get in your classroom, to go home at night, to get their food in the cafeteria, to go out for recess, switch classes, go to specials?  Could any of these times be used for reading? Would it be simple  Maybe not.  It will take some management and some investment on your part up-front.  Would it be worth it?  Can you imagine your entire class standing in line in the cafeteria reading instead of talking, pushing, arguing?  Yes, please!  Maybe you already have a great class that doesn't do any of those things. Awesome--it will be extremely simple to get them to read in line then.  And if you're worried that the cafeteria workers will be annoyed with them because they aren't paying attention, don't worry, the lunch ladies won't mind. They like quiet, patient children, too!
4) When your students finish with an assignment, what do they do? Could it be read a book?
5) If you are handing out a stack of worksheets each day, think about making your assignments more authentic by assigning texts for your students to read and then write a response in a journal.  This is so simple and so much more meaningful for them.

Kids love to read about a variety of topics.

Allowing your students to read texts that are on their level will increase fluency and comprehension but you will still have to do some work with the accuracy, especially for your students that aren't reading on-grade level.  I know lots of really great teachers who spend hours upon hours preparing centers and stations for students to use while they are pulling other students in small guided groups.  There is absolutely a lot of merit in allowing students to complete these type of activities and I am not an advocate for completely removing them from the classroom. That being said, with the popularity of the Daily Five by Gail Boushey an Joan Moser, teachers began to realize we did not have to be so elaborate or creative in our production of centers and stations.  I'd challenge you to take it one step farther and say students can spend the majority of the time they are now spending in centers reading and reflecting.  Things like word work and listening to reading are great and students absolutely benefit from these activities.  But if we know the best way to increase students' reading ability is by letting them read, why not make the bulk of the time we have students in centers be all about reading?  Read, discuss, reflect, possibly work on a project. Wonderful, simple, self-directed! This allows the teacher lots of time to pull those other students and work on accuracy and decoding;.  Then, they will go back and read as well.
Let me tell you how to prevent this from working in your classroom!  If you do not set this up from the beginning the way you set-up your stations or Daily 5, it will not work.  You must invest time in the beginning showing students what it is supposed to look like and what it cannot look like.  You must require them to sign some sort of agreement, preferably one they create themselves.  You must have procedures in place for how and why to interrupt you (my standard was if no one is bleeding, barfing, or crying, I don't need to know) and you must give your students some trust.  They can put down their book to go to the bathroom.  They can't put their book down to grab another book out of someone else's hands.  You will cover all of this from the beginning and create a Classroom Utopia.
There are, however, other ways you can inadvertently sabotage your perfect reading classroom.  For example, if you give students limited availability to texts.  They must have a plethora of books, magazines, articles, etc. to read.  They should have books on any and every topic that interests them.  Sports, games, magic, trucks, dolls, etc.  Give them chapter books, paper books, board books, library books, their own books, your own books.  Any book you can get your hands on.  Research says students need anywhere from 500-1500 books available in an elementary classroom to be able to consistently find a text they want to read. That may seem like a lot of books, and it is, but you can do it!  I started building my library right from the beginning and by the time I had been teaching for three years, I was at 1500.  I begged, borrowed, stole (okay, not really) and bought my way there.  I would hear other teachers say things like, "Oh, that's not a good quality book so I'm not putting that in my classroom."  I figured some child will disagree with you and want to read that--may I have it please?  I went to any teacher that was retiring, book sales, 75% off books, Half-priced Books, yard sales, Scholastic outlets, my little sister's pile of out-grown books, my student's books from home that they no longer wanted--if it involved books, I was there.  And the only books I wouldn't take were books that were inappropriate.  I never turned down a book because of condition or topic (as in "this book is about Transformers, not in my classroom!" I turned down books about in appropriate topics, like romance novels!) or because I thought it was too hard or too easy.  Someone might be able to read that! Start gathering up your books, you're gonna need them! Even with ebooks, I still recommend getting as many tangible books as you can because you never know when we might have a power outage and all of your little friends will be sitting there with dead batteries, looking around them at a world they never noticed before!

Book Baskets go a long way to organizing texts for students

Another way to sabotage your self is by not allowing students to read what they want to, or requiring them to read something they don't want to read for no particular reason. If you have a curriculum that determines they must read a certain text, then by all means, get them all hyped up about it and let them read it. If you don't, give them some choice in what they read.  You can talk about the major portions of a book from just about any book.  As far as I know, there has yet to be a book written with no characters or setting and while some of them may be a little short on plot, it's probably still there if you look hard enough! Choice goes a long way when trying to get students excited about reading!
Probably the most important advice I can give you is to allow your students to work on their own level.  If you give Johnny Harry Potter  and the Sorcerer's Stone and tell him he must read it, but Johnny is only reading on a first-grade reading level, I guarantee you Johnny will not be a better reader when he's done turning the pages of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (all 309 of them!) because that's all he'll be doing--turning the pages.  There is, as we all know, a huge difference between reading a book and just looking at the words, just as there is a huge difference between reading and word-calling, but we'll save that discussion for another day! Bottom line, let the children read on their own level so that they can increase their reading skills. Why do the struggling students always suddenly have to pee when we are reading the text book out loud?  Because they can't read it! It's a phenomenon I have deemed the 3 F's--fight, funny, flee.  They'll either get themselves in trouble to avoid reading, try to be funny and get everyone laughing, or find an excuse to leave the classroom.  They aren't doing it because they don't want to read, they're doing it because they can't read.  So, don't put yourself in the same situation when it comes to independent reading. Even if you have to disguise a lower-level text, give them something they can read.  It'll pay off when they master that level and move on.  You're going to be pulling them in small group EVERYDAY (did you get that, everyday, every stinkin' day) so eventually they will catch up. What you will be doing with them when you pull them I will be happy to discuss later as well, but my point is they don't need as many books because a significant amount of this time they will be spending with you.  They will, however, need to be reading while you are working with other groups so give them something they can read.
I am an elementary teacher so most of this post, I realize, has been pointed at the Pre-K-5 crowd.  Let's talk about how this could look in an older grade-level classroom.  If you don't know much about Project Based Learning, I'm going to suggest you look into it. It's your new best friend.  PBL is the classroom of our future. It goes hand-in-hand with technology.  It's not the peanut butter and jelly analogy, it's the peanut and butter analogy. Yes, it's that conjoined. If you only have your kids for 50 minutes a day, no you cannot let them read for 30 of those minutes.  But I think you can let them read for 15.  And if you are tightly horizontally aligned, you can make sure they are getting the rest of their minutes elsewhere. Our high school (Community High School, Home of the Braves!) is introducing PBL next year in blocks and I think it's going to be absolutely AWESOME.  Remember, if your students are researching, they are authentically reading and that's going to count as part of their time.  Likewise, if you are running lit circles where the students are reading, discussing and collaborating, that's also going to count.  That's so much more powerful than read this and answer that or fill in the blanks or create a Venn diagram about why these characters are the same and or different than those characters.  And that's what we want--authentic, meaningful, student selected, student driven--work.

Aren't they all sooo happy with their books?

Let's tie this back in to the original question.  How many minutes each day are your students spending authentically reading   I asked you to reflect on this in a quiet, zen place. However, if you'd like to answer that question here, please do so!  I am not the be-all-and-end-all of reading and I would love to hear your thoughts. Some of you may be angry or perturbed.  Some of you may think I'm insane.  Hopefully, some of you are thinking, "Yes, I can do that. 30 minutes.  Totally doable!" or even better, "Why am I doing so many worksheets? Why aren't my kids reading outside of the bathroom?"  You are my new favorite people! Please leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.  I know I don't officially have any followers yet but I have about 60 people visiting each day--which is awesome--so you're not just talking to me, you're talking to fellow educators who want to know what you think!
Until next time. . . .

Half-Flip? Un-Flip? Pre-Flip? Lot's of Options for Flipping Your Classroom

At TCEA13 there have been a ton of sessions discussing the Flipped classroom.  Generally speaking, "flipping" refers to assigning the major portion of the new assignment as homework in the form of a video or other on-line front-loaded work the student does outside of classroom and then using the time a teacher would normally be introducing the new concept for students to collaborate or for the teacher to clarify misconceptions, work with students who are struggling, or guide students through a more elaborate project.  However, through our discussions this week, the CISD staff has actually come up with some pretty interesting variations on flipping that may be more appropriate for teachers new to the concept, lower grade-levels, or classrooms without as much technology as we would like.
Our first idea was discussed in an early blog post.  It involves flipping a lesson for a smaller amount of students, our gifted and talented (GT) class of first and second graders.  If you have not read that post, please feel free to read it here.  This is a great way to allow our advanced students ample time to work on a project in a collaborative environment with little to no direct teach from an instructor during class time.
A second idea involves grouping students into Skill Builders and allowing the top three echelons of these students to work on a Project Based Learning lesson while the others are in remediation sessions.  We are discussing doing this with our first grade students.  Essentially, any student in first grade would be able to work on this PBL lesson with the consent of his or her teacher.  We have a schedule that lends itself very nicely to this sort of grouping because we have a 45 minute period built in 4 times a week for tutoring--isn't that amazing?  Simply put, one or two first grade teachers and myself (the Reading Specialist) and possibly the computer or library teacher would direct these students in a PBL or Inquiry Circle Project during that 45 minute block,.  The rest of the students would be grouped by skill gap and pulled by the rest of the first grade team or they would stay in rotation--PE, music, etc.  This would allow extra time for these students to collaborate and complete their end products.  How would this be fllipping?  I'm glad you asked!  We would front-load the information the students would need to know to research their topics and complete their projects either through videos they would need to watch at home or during their regular reading/social studies/science lesson time in class.  Many of these students finish their assignments quickly and they would have plenty of time to work on this while they are at school.
Yet another sort-of-flipping idea involves creating a lesson for students to watch at home or for students without the technology to watch during the beginning of the class period.  If our students have already watched the lesson, they can immediately begin working on the assignment while those who need to gather together to watch the lesson in one grade-level teacher's classroom.  This would also foster a learning environment of collaboration among the grade-level students.  It would no longer be necessary to look at students as belonging to a specific teacher per se, as we take the premise of "we own all students" one step further.
These are just a few of the great ideas we have had while collaborating at TCEA. Isn't it amazing how some great presentations and time to discuss can get brilliant minds creating?  We are thinking well beyond the walls of our classrooms, looking at the needs of all students, and creating an environment more suitable for the 21st Century Learner!

What ideas have you and your professional learning team come up with recently?  We would love to hear!

Let's Talk About Reading!

If you are able to read this blog, you probably had at least one outstanding teacher who invested a lot of time and energy into helping you develop your ability to understand the basic principals of reading.  If you are able to understand this blog, you probably had at least one teacher who taught you the fundamentals of comprehension. If you are really enjoying reading this blog, you certainly had an amazing team of teachers who instilled in you the value of acquiring knowledge via the written word. This blog will be a platform for me to share all of the wonderful teaching methods and strategies I learn through my role as Reading Specialist at an elementary school in suburban Dallas, Texas.  I am so lucky to have been mentored, trained, and given feedback by dozens of amazing teachers over the last 12 years and I've also been blessed to serve in this coaching capacity for the last 6 years, which has allowed me to visit the classrooms of outstanding educators and to participate in critical conversation about what works and what doesn't work.  I will be discussing phonics, decoding strategies, guided reading, comprehension techniques, project based-learning, technology and apps,  best practices in teaching and a number of other topics designed to help educators and parents assist the children they love in improving their reading skills and become life-long lovers of literature.
I will also be inviting you to join in the discussion!  Through your comments, questions, and even guest posts, you will become the architect of this blog and a valued contributor.  I love the saying, "What seems obvious to you is amazing to everyone else!"  You are an expert in many things and your contributions will always be valued here so please feel free to join the conversation.
Follow me on twitter, if you'd like at AmyVanHornCISD and be involved in the amazing conversations the teachers at CISD are having as we create the 21st Century Learner.  Education is growing more and more exciting each day and we all need to do our part to keep the momentum moving forward!
Tomorrow, I will be posting about the TCEA conference I am currently attending in Austin, TX.  Today's sessions were full of amazing apps, websites, tips, and strategies that can help our students not only learn at a faster rate but have fun while they are doing it!  I am very excited about the prospects this blog will provide and I hope you will follow along and join in!