17 Sep 2018

Managing Tim Shanahan

by | posted in: Leadership, Literacy, Principals, Reading, Teachers, Uncategorized | 0

They creep into our classrooms . . . Timothy Shanahan, Lucy Calkins, Richard Allington, Fountas and Pinnell. They provide guidance, inspiration, tools, insights, research. They offer their expertise so that we can inspire and instruct our student while armed with the very best research-based practices. But they don’t always agree with each other. They don’t always like what we’re doing.  They don’t know our kids. 

It’s on us. We need to remember that we are the professionals in our rooms. As professionals, we weave the connections between our students and the sometimes-contradictory information we get from leaders in our field. It’s our job to blend the research with our own experiences and our hearts and minds in a way that will make it real and powerful and meaningful for students. It can feel overwhelming.

How do we respond when we so carefully craft targeted guiding reading groups that meet the needs of all the learners in our classroom, and then Tim tells us, “Research shows that matching kids to books does not guarantee big learning gains.”[i]

And what do we do when we set up beautiful classroom libraries with carefully leveled books and then Fountas and Pinnell tell us that levels are only for teachers, not for kids. [ii]

Here’s what we can do….

First, we read with an open mind. We aren’t fearful of change. We aren’t protective of the way things have been. We don’t assume that our own knowledge has no value. We are open and confident and willing to challenge our own assumptions.

Then, we value the work that we’ve done and recognize that we, and the researchers, are continually engaged in a deep learning process. We ask lots of questions about the new research and about our own practices.

Finally, we reflect.

And in the end, we are careful not to throw away our tools, techniques, and understandings that have worked; but instead, we see our work as always in progress. We use the latest research to see ourselves and our work more clearly. We are open to current research, even when it seems to contradict what we know and do. We cautiously revise, tweak, adjust, and experiment so that we are continuously moving towards deeper learning for our students and greater expertise for ourselves. We value what we bring to our practice and recognize that the expert advice is a powerful source of information that bears consideration, even when it challenges us. But our personal research, our growing expertise, and our experiences are also valuable sources of information. The true professional teacher pulls from all of these sources to continuously grow in her practice. Ours is a growing field. We will never finish learning.

So what can this look like? Don’t make the mistake of tossing out everything you know based on a new nugget of powerful research. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in 10 years rolling your eyes and complaining about the pendulum swinging again. The truth is, each time that pendulum swings, it changes. We see that when we look closely. It’s not actually the same old reading groups. It’s not truly the same research project that we taught 30 years ago.  It may sound like it; but look deeper. Listen carefully. Consider, instead of rejecting new research, making small adjustments that will help you continue to grow instead of starting all over.

So when we learn that our singular focus on instructional level text might prevent students from learning how to engage with challenging text, try adding challenging material to your guided reading groups on occasion. In this instructional context, you’ll have the opportunity to give students the support they need. Don’t stop doing guided reading.

And when we learn that giving kids time to read doesn’t necessarily propel students into deep learning, try embedding some rigorous instruction into your independent reading program during mini lessons, conferring, or small groups. Don’t toss out independent reading.

Look past the alarming headlines and dig deep enough to make truly informed, reflective decisions about your craft. Partner with a trusted colleague to discuss the new learning and experiment together.

Good luck to you. Wishing you and your students a year of discovery.

______________

[i] The Problem with Guided Reading, Shanahan on Literacy

[ii] Fountas and Pinnell, “Guided Reading:  The Romance and the Reality,” 2012.

26 Sep 2016

Building Community – One Book at a Time!

by | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Cicero

This Friday, Link is kicking off the newly formed Slavic Village Parent Book Club, and I’m excited! Of all the parent programs Link offers, Book Clubs are my personal favorite. I love to read and I love to talk about books … what a great job to have!

As with all our Book Clubs, we will start with the young adult novel Seedfolks, by Paul Fleischman. Seedfolks, if you haven’t read it, is a beautiful story full of diverse and interesting characters. It is always the first book we read in Parent Book Club, as it tells the story of disconnected neighbors coming together to build community around a garden – a garden started by a young girl. In a way, Seedfolks is an allegory for our Parent Book Clubs. Based at our children’s schools, we come together originally because of our kids. Once we get to know each other, we realize how much we enjoy each other’s company and community is born!

In addition to building community, the Parent Book Club mirrors what children experience in reading workshops in their classrooms – they share ideas and experiences, while getting to know more about themselves and each other. At our meetings, parents will have the opportunity to read and respond to literature with some of the same strategies their children are exposed to in the classroom, enabling them to dialogue with their children using the language of school. Perhaps most importantly, parents model for their children the joy to be found in reading a great book.

The Parent Book Club is just one of several programs Link offers to foster the connection between home and school. Parents are incredibly important to their children’s education; yet the worlds of home and school are often separate, and can leave parents feeling isolated from their children’s school experiences. By providing parents with the opportunity to meet together as a community and explore the home-school connection, we can bridge that gap.

Often, parents are joined by grandparents, friends, teachers, and even administrators at the book club. This opportunity to connect with each other on a social level – and not just around your child’s grades – is particularly special. Once we know each other as people, we’re more likely to understand and appreciate our respective roles as parent and educator. One teacher in a book club really connected the story behind Seedfolks to her own love of gardening. She shared that love – and the story – with her young students. Together, they planted some tomatoes, which she gave to parents at the next book club meeting.  Everyone was overjoyed to have the plants, of course; who doesn’t love fresh tomatoes? But we were moved most by the thought behind the gesture. Someone at our children’s school was thinking of us, and wanted to share her joy and her talents with us.

Link has been facilitating Parent Book Clubs in schools and districts across greater Cleveland for over ten years. And parents have told us they love it: “What a fantastic program! Not only are we as adults reminded of how to read analytically — and thereby relate more closely to our kids, but we are nurturing our souls and building a stronger community through relationships.”

In other words, why should kids have all the fun?

_____________________________

The Slavic Village Parent Book Club is funded through the Third Federal Foundation of Cleveland. It is part of the neighborhood P-16 initiative which brings people and organizations together to create strong communities so that “every child in the neighborhood experiences high quality learning that strengthens their talents, expands their resiliency and prepares to be productive citizens…”  We will meet monthly at the Boys and Girls Club at 6114 Broadway. Join us for one of our meetings; we look forward to reading with you soon!

  • Friday, September 30, 9:30 am
  • Friday, October 28, 9:30 am
  • Friday, December 2, 9:30 am
29 Aug 2016

Notes…On Text Complexity, Learning to Read and Balanced Literacy

by | posted in: Literacy, Reading, Teachers | 0

For whatever reason, we in education like to create problems where none need to exist. We debated phonics vs. whole language, student-centered learning vs. teacher-directed instruction, and now it’s complex text vs. just right books. In all of these cases, the answer is balance, not one or the other. But exploring these arguments can serve to deepen our understanding of the issues and practices.

After a review of the current research and after years of working with teachers and students, we have come up with the guidelines below. We believe that teachers, as professionals, know how to use their expert knowledge and common sense. In reading, the expertise is around understanding the learning process and the complexities of learning to read. The common sense is about realizing when to draw on which tools for particular purposes or student needs, and when to seek out more knowledge.

Guidelines for Text Selection:

1.   Students need regular exposure to all levels of text (easy, instructional, hard) across the whole day and in all content areas. Guided reading is only one of many daily instructional contexts.

2.   There are many factors to consider when choosing texts for guided reading. The level serves as an important guideline, but other things to consider are your goals for the students, content, interests, and background knowledge.

3.  Recognize that there are times when it is appropriate to use challenging texts in guided reading (for example, to support content learning, to prepare for high stakes testing, to provide high levels of support for complex text).

4.   Despite some research evidence that kids can learn to read with high levels of support and challenging texts, we can’t ignore the 70 years of research that tell us that students become better readers when they have daily opportunities to read with high levels of accuracy and comprehension. Support student learning by providing them with this opportunity.

5.   Balanced literacy is about balancing the level of support teachers provide to students with the level of text complexity. We have, in a balanced literacy framework, the contexts for providing this support to all students (independent reading, guided reading, shared reading, read alouds).

_____________________

References:

Calkins, L. & Ehrenworth, M. (2016). Growing extraordinary writers: Leadership decisions to raise the level of writing across a school and a district. The Reading Teacher, 70(1), 7-18.

Fountas, I.C. (2014, Jul.). The critical role of text complexity in teaching children to read. Retrieved from http://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/supportingMaterials/ fountasAndPinnellTextComplexityWhitePaper.pdf.

Heitin, L. (2016, Jul. 6). Should teachers still be using just right’ books? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2016/07/should_ teachers_ still_be_using_just_right_books.html.

Porter-Magee, K. (2013, Feb. 8). Common core v. the false promise of leveled literacy programs. [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/common-core-watch/2013/common-core-v-the-false-promise-of-leveled-literacy-programs.html.

Shanahan, T. (2016, Jun. 27). Further explanation of teaching students with challenging text. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/further-explanation-teaching-students-challenging-text.

Shanahan, T. (2016, Jul. 5). The slow path forward: We can-and do-learn from reading research. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/slow-path-forward-we-can-and-do-learn-reading-research.

20 Feb 2015

Braving the Risks

by | posted in: Principals, Schools, Teachers, Uncategorized | 0

“I’m not doing it right.”

“I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Can you put that in writing?”

These are just a few of the phrases I hear from teachers each week when I work with them at their schools, providing support as they implement a new strategy in their classrooms. They want to try what they’re learning but there are roadblocks:  they’re not confident; they don’t feel safe; they’re getting mixed messages.

And so, many are frozen, afraid to try something new.

There are dozens of reasons why. State tests loom, ever-ready to judge and humiliate teacher and student alike. If what you’ve been doing has reaped acceptable results, why change, especially when your salary depends upon it? In addition, teacher time is increasingly limited. Evolving standards require new learning and curriculum-writing for teachers. The emphasis on assessment eats up teacher instructional time faster than you can say Data Driven Decision-Making. And numerous initiatives, often rolled out simultaneously, leave teachers wondering what to prioritize, and how to fit it all in.

I google phrases such as, “helping teachers be risk-takers” and “getting teachers to trust their instincts,” hoping for some insight and maybe even some tips I can share. Instead I get loads of information on what teachers and other adults can do for kids. We have lots of ideas for motivating kids to take risks, but few for teachers who need to model this behavior for their students.

Taking risks and trying new ideas can lead to amazing learning and growth. We’ve all heard the expression, “Nothing ventured; nothing gained.” Think of scientists, inventors, artists. Imagine if Jonas Salk had never risked the polio vaccination trials? Regardless of profession, new learning can make things better, stronger, more efficient.

I don’t know a single teacher who hasn’t encouraged his or her students to take risks in their learning. We know how to build confidence in the child who won’t attempt reading the difficult word or solving the tricky division problem. As teachers, we also know the benefit of modeling for our students. We tell our students that we don’t know the answer, that we are trying something new and it might flop. They see us try something different, something scary. They see us fumble, succeed, or even fail.  They see us reflect on the experience. And then they are more willing to try.

But the risk-taking goes beyond teachers, or course. For teachers to be willing to take risks, school and district leaders must develop a culture of safety. We can’t ask our teachers to try something new, and then criticize the way they are doing it. That’s not fair, and it leads to the types of comments I hear from teachers. This happens too often, and is why many teachers stick to the known, the status quo.

So the onus is on teachers to be brave, to try new things, to be willing to fail. But the onus is also on the administrator, to encourage risk-taking, to reward effort, to remove the fear of test scores and to help teachers identify what is most important. If we want our children to look at options, to take risks, to improve the world, we must support those who would teach them how.

John Shedd wrote, “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” Teachers, let’s untie from the docks. Administrators, please provide fenders to cushion our bumps.