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Real Reading

8/17/2017

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How do we develop strong readers who truly enjoy reading? We teach them what real readers do.
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Of course we model and explicitly teach skills and strategies during lessons but most importantly, we show them what it’s like to live a real reader’s life. We give them lots of time and lots of choices.

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Real readers…
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  • Read what they like
For me, reading for pleasure should be fun, fast, and easy. I need to enjoy the story and characters, the plot needs to move at brisk pace and I need to understand what’s going on. I don’t worry about what others might think of my reading diet...I tend to dislike most non-fiction (unless it’s about urban ed)  and I’m not that into rich classical literature. It is MY reading life. I pick what I like! I love fast-paced spy thrillers, murder mysteries, and family sagas. I love listening to audio books, especially memoirs narrated by the author. I read food and wine magazines, recipe books, blogs, and news.

Students should be given the opportunity to read what they like. Allow them to choose their books. Encourage them to try different genres to figure out their likes and dislikes. Schedule regular “choice reading” days for students to read books off-level. They could read magazines, comics, e-books, or listen to audio books. Our students spend plenty of time being forced to read things they don’t understand and can’t relate to. Teach them what it’s like to really enjoy reading.

  • Abandon books
I didn’t allow myself to abandon a book until i was in my 20s. It took me so long to realize that there was no reason to read a book i wasn’t enjoying. It’s important to guide students through this process. We want them to understand their preferences as readers so they will know when a book isn’t a good fit.

  • Read everyday
Real readers read a lot! Students need time in school everyday to read a book (on their level) that they have selected. They need time to practice all the skills and strategies we’ve taught them!

  • Have fun!
As a kid my favorite thing to do was to ride my bike to the woods, climb up a tree, and read. When on vacation, I read on the beach or in a tent. Real readers find comfy places to read! As a 4th grade teacher, I had monthly themed reading days. Students brought in themed items and we read for 1-2 hours in the afternoon.
Here a few of my students favs:
  • Cozy up & Read Day - bring in a pillow/blanket to lay on the floor
  • Campfire Reading - bring in sleeping bags and read with flashlight
  • Hide-out Reading - sit under your desk
  • Nature Reading - bring a book outside and sit on the grass or under a tree
  • Beach Reading - bring a beach towel and read while soft sounds of ocean waves play in the background
 
  • Talk with friends
Real readers share opinions about books, ask questions, consider other points of view. And we join book clubs! Work in some speaking & listening skills by creating book clubs in your class. This works especially well in grades 3-5 when students can sustain a longer chapter book. Consider a theme like social issues or group research projects. Learning is social and kids need to talk. Give them a framework for rich discussions.

  • Write about reading
Real readers dog ear pages and write notes in the margins. Teach students to monitor their thinking by jotting on a post-it.

  • Keep a log
As someone who LOVES making lists, this is one of my fav aspects of my reading life. Keep a simple list of books read (and books abandoned) with the date. Students can easily keep a reading log in the back of their reading notebook. No need for page numbers, or parent signatures. Just a list of all the things they read. They could also create a list of Books To Read Next. Yay lists!

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Slice of Life: Blog Meeting

8/8/2017

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To some the thought of going to a “meeting” about your blog might dredge up images of offices with people in stuffy clothes and judgemental attitudes and deadlines and stress. Our blog meetings are quite the opposite.

We prefer to meet outside
Sitting on the patio
Cool breeze
Lawnmowers and light traffic as soothing white noise
Helicopter seeds fall on our heads as we giggle and sip more champagne, relieved that it’s not bird poop
Angela’s chickens cluck and scamper around the yard
It takes a special kind of friendship to work on a project together
To share writing and ask for real feedback
So rewarding to share a creative experience with a friend
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Classroom Management: Versions of you

8/1/2017

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It’s important to know who you are. This is important for life and true in any profession but i’ll argue that it’s crucial in education. Your teaching persona is the foundation of your classroom management style and the basis for how you will create a classroom community.

We all have different versions of ourselves...the shades of difference in how you speak and behave based on the people around you at any given time. Most of us act one way when we’re with old friends at happy hour, a different way when we’re at home, differently again when we’re visiting grandma or meeting a potential employer. What version of you will make the best teacher for your students? Consider your true self...what are some common denominators among all the versions of you? What kind of teacher do you want to be? Does that vision align with your personality? Can you make small adjustments to enhance or exaggerate some traits and diminish or modify others?
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My core personality traits:
I am direct, considerate, loving, dependable, occasionally short-tempered, and I have a tendency to curse a lot. Some of these work very well in a classroom. Others do not. I obviously do not swear around or to students. Though I have been known to close the door at the end of the day and blow off some steam with a colleague ;) Early on in my career I knew that I would need to make some adjustments. I knew that my students needed someone consistent, firm, and loving. They did not need a reactionary hot-head. So I smoothed the edges to create this teaching persona. I stayed true to myself by finding this version of me that could be successful in the classroom.

My teaching persona: The Straight-Shooter
This version of me is clear, consistent, calm, matter-of-fact, loving, and welcoming. My students know that I mean what I say and say what I mean. Everytime. Everyday. Consistency is crucial. They know I am fair and honest. If I make a mistake, I apologize. Being consistent and using direct explicit language in the classroom helps students understand expectations and helps me keep my frustration level at bay which in turn reduces my desire to curse like a sailor. It’s win-win. I tell kids when I’m feeling frustrated. Modeling self-regulation and how to appropriately express emotions and feelings teaches kids strategies to monitor themselves and self-regulate their own behavior. It also helps me. Again, win-win. I make real connections with every kid. I make an effort to get to know them and their families. And I allow them to get to know me. I share pictures and stories during Morning Meeting and Writer’s Workshop. Building real relationships with students helps them establish a sense of belonging, significance, and fun. They feel safe enough to take academic risks and then true learning can occur.

I am fortunate that my core personality and the needs of my students closely align. It was easy to find my teaching persona because it was a true version of me. I have known many educators who were excellent instructors and had a true passion for teaching children but didn’t have the right teaching persona. I’ve had colleagues whose personalities didn’t match with what our students needed. Its very hard for a soft-spoken, sing-song-y, needs-to-be-loved-by-kids person to succeed in the inner-city classroom. Even if they are super knowledgeable and great at teaching content. It’s hard for these folks to find a teaching persona that’s a true version of themselves AND also meets the needs of the kids. Some of these colleagues realized that this isn’t the right job for them. And that’s ok. They were miserable and their students were miserable. Life is too short to hate your job.

Whether you are a new teacher or a veteran looking for a teaching style make-over, it’s important to consider whether or not your teaching persona and management style are working for you. I encourage you to find the persona that allows you to keep true to yourself AND will help you meet the needs of your students. Once you’ve found that persona, clearly define your management style to yourself. Consider ways to build the classroom community with your students. Create responsibilities (not rules) with the kids, clearly explain and model your expectations, and give them time to practice. All while maintaining the new version of you...the rock-star teacher.

Check out these resources:
To get to know yourself - http://schoolreforminitiative.org/doc/compass_points.pdf

The best classroom culture program/research - Responsive classroom is the foundation of my classroom management and culture - https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/

Read this book! And anything else written by Paula Denton.
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What good readers do - elementary

5/24/2017

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I know what good readers do. I’m a good reader. But how do I teach my students the specific skills they need to become good readers too? First, we know that good readers do a lot of things simultaneously. It is our job to untangle the multitude of skills and break them down into explicit strategies for students to practice. Their brains need time to practice each skill separately until they are strong enough to do them all together. (If you teach Guided Reading or Small Group Strategy lessons you know what I’m talking about.)
 
To untangle this mess, consider the difference between goals, skills, and strategies. Jennifer Serravallo does an amazing job of explaining the relationship between each of these distinct categories in The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers.
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“Within each goal, there may be one or more skills that a reader would need to work on. For example, if a student is working on a goal of understanding character, that may involve inferring (reading between the lines to name traits/feelings) but also synthesis (putting together information across a book to determine how a character changes). Once you’ve identified the skills, you can find specific strategies to accomplish those skills.” p.5
 
So how do we figure out what goal, skills, and strategies students need? Collect some data! Use your favorite diagnostic/formative assessment tool (IRA, DRA, QRI, running record, etc.) to determine your students’ strengths and weaknesses.
​Then use Serravallo’s 
Heirarchy of Possible Goals (p. 3) to prioritize. 
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Use the remaining chapters of the book to find specific strategies to teach during Guided Reading or Small Group Strategy lessons. Each strategy has tips for teaching and colorful visuals for students to use as reminders, post-its, bookmarks, charts, etc. 
 
Stay tuned for a top 10 list of my favorite strategies and how to get students to use them independently!
 
Resources:
Reading Strategies Book:
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Strategies-Book-Everything-Developing/dp/032507433X
http://www.jenniferserravallo.com/
 
Teacher’s College Reading & Writing Project Running Records:
http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/running-records
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    AuthorS

    Kate Jaworski
    Your go-to gal for Elementary topics. Literacy Coach & former 4th grade teacher. Loves the workshop model & Responsive Classroom.

    Angela Smith
    ​
    Your go-to gal for High School topics. Former principal & 9-12 English teacher. Loves incorporating reading and writing skills into all content area classrooms.

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