A Wish for Our Rising First Grader

Pictured from Left to Right: Me, Z with her Pépère, and me again

Our granddaughter turns six in the next week and a half. It often seems as if we were meeting her for the first time just a few months ago, not getting ready to celebrate her 6th birthday. The awareness of the passage of time is a strange thing; it does warp my sense of how much of an interval has passed and often puts me in a state of denial. Z cannot possibly be turning 6, can she?

Even more mind-blowing is that shortly following Z’s birthday, she will begin a new school year. Our granddaughter will be a first grader. That I can recall my own time in First Grade doesn’t really provide much comfort!

We love watching Z grow into her own personality and make sense of her world. Thanks to her own parents’ love of reading and to their encouragement, she is already a reader and a writer. We are frequently amazed by her sense of experimentation; using cardboard and tape, she built and tested her own water filtering system last week. And just as a scientist might do, Z recorded her experiment in a notebook. I know I may have a slight prejudice here, but I always loved having curiosity-driven learners like Z in my own classrooms.

I was thinking about Z’s next step as a rising first grader this week and recalling my own introduction to “real” school learning. Back in the day when I first went to school, Kindergarten, which I did attend, was not academic at all. Kindergarten was where we learned to sit, and work or play with others, maybe write our name and tie shoes - early childhood learning was a very different experience from the expectations placed on Kindergarten and beyond today.

My first grade classroom started in the older of two elementary schools in Huron, Ohio, a small typically mid-western town in northwestern Ohio and on the shore of Lake Erie. I had attended the “new” elementary (now demolished) as a kindergarten student and so my assignment to the Ohio Street School was an unfamiliar experience. I didn’t know many - if any - of my classmates. The two first grade classrooms were in one of the wings of the abutting Junior High, which had been the High School in an earlier time. I suppose due to baby boomer overcrowding, the First Grade had to be housed in the Junior High building.

On the first day of school, we first graders were lined up in the hallway where the two Grade One teachers called the names of each of us for our class assignment. I remember the scuttlebutt being that the other teacher, the one I was not assigned to, was the popular pick of first grade most likely based on an "older" more experienced outlook from say a second grader. That was the person everyone wanted for a teacher. I remember when my name was called for Mrs. Keefe's class, I was very apprehensive and maybe even a bit disappointed. This wasn't going to go well.

That turned out to be untrue of course. Mrs. Keefe, a kind lady who as an astute 6-year-old I guessed was "ancient", was the teacher who turned me on to world of reading. Our literacy world revolved around Dick, Jane, and Sally (and Spot) and I loved it. And as most first grade children do, I loved my teacher. I wish I had a way to go back and tell Mrs. Keefe what a positive influence she was and continues to be long after I’ve left Ohio Street.

So as our granddaughter gets ready to go back to school,  my wish for Z is that she learns to love learning, however that looks for her in this upcoming year. I may have been disappointed in my class assignment on the first day of First Grade, but my teacher, Mrs. Keefe? After that first day of jitters, I loved her and the warmth of her classroom, something I can still pull up from memory today. That’s exactly the kind of connection and experience I hope Z will have, too.

Faces of Poverty

If you look, if you don't avert your eyes, you can see the effects of poverty and trauma on a person.One of "my" parents happened to come to the classroom this week so I could confirm she was indeed the parent of one of my students. This was so that the student could be released early to her; the parent was not carrying a picture id.On first glance, she looks older than me. Her shoulders and body frame seem stooped, she shuffles somewhat. This day, however, as we chatted, I noticed her face. Her skin does not sag as mine does now, her eyes lack wrinkles; those wrinkles are reserved for worry spots - the brow, her forehead.She carries the weight of her family's problems: her husband has been in a nasty public hospital since before Christmas. Her children are her world, all four of them - she lost a fifth child a few years ago to illness. The family's new apartment, an apartment they recently found after living in a shelter, was recently the scene of a Keystone Cops-style criminal gun chase. To hear my student tell the story the police chased a suspect right through the front door and out the back with guns drawn.Honestly, I don't know how this woman holds herself together. The daily barrage of trying to survive in such a hostile environment would do more than make me look older. She must be one of the most resilient of spirits that I have ever met!And she is a face to remember. A face of poverty in our land of plenty.

Adventures with Flat Stanley

We've read the book, we've done the project with our kids (honest truth: not one of the 25 got a single Flat back!). This week my class has been hosting my niece's Flat Stanley. And we are having a blast. Sorry, can't post pictures of kids, but trust me on this.Working on multiplication riddles? Flat Stanley can help.  Daily 5 Rotations? Stanley watches over us and keeps us on task. Assemblies, Bank presentations, whatever we are doing Flat Stanley is there to share the experience.  We've got one more week's visit with Stanley and then we'll have to say good-bye; however, in the meantime, we're enjoying sharing our school and our experiences.Thanks M for sharing your Flat with us.

A Thanksgiving Tale

It's really easy for me to get wrapped around the axel over lack of parental support in a school where poverty is pervasive. I've had 3 teacher assistant team meetings for one child so far this year. The parent never attends and never responds to the meeting invitations. This parent continually writes nasty notes about me, the school, and the classroom. My frustration over no-shows for meetings to remedy this, to conference about the student's progress, or anything else that might involve a little parental effort is only exceeded by the daily interruptions to our afternoon to change a dismissal routine (and I know routine as applied to this student is an oxymoron). This is only 1 story in this classroom.  The other 21 can be just as interesting.Or not. Yesterday offered a glimmer of hope that by inviting parents in, we can forge a working relationship to benefit students.My class has just finished writing our small moment narratives and we put each students' writing into a book which we "published". Yesterday, the half-day before Thanksgiving break, students invited a parent or loved one in to read our inaugural book, to be complimented on their contribution. Knowing some parents may not be able to leave work, I had prepared students whose parent might not be able to come that I, too, had been a working mom -- and offered to be their parent for the celebration.  Being third graders, this of course led to some hilarious moments as classmates considered themselves "brothers" or "sisters" -- if only for an hour.But, back to the topic - getting frustrated with the status quo can lead to lowered expectations. Yesterday, however, helped me to realize that maybe I am focusing on the wrong things.  I met so many parents - sometimes both parents AND a grandparent - who were able to come, to hear their child read their thoughts and writing. One parent offered to help me pass out the apple juice we were offering, another stood in to read with a friend of her own child. And our school administration - Principal, Assistant Principal, and Literacy Specialist - all graciously read with each and every child in the room.The energy, the enthusiasm was right there. It could not be missed. Something special transpired yesterday and not just for the students. On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for the administrators who support me.And I am most thankful for the parents of my students who are willing to share themselves and their child with me.

Reason #1: I touch the future... I teach

Some years ago -- probably more than 10 now that I think of it -- I was eating my lunch at a MassCUE conference when Grace Corrigan sat down with her tray. That name may or may not mean anything to some, but it was an exceptional thrill for me to sit and chat, however briefly with the mother one of my education heroes, Christa McAuliffe.Sharon Christa McAuliffe may have faded from some memories, but not from mine. When the Challenger explosion happened, I was in the midst of my career rebirth -- the M.Ed. program at University of Lowell -- and my own child was a first grader. I still think of the day Challenger burst into flames to the horror of everyone watching and I'm willing to bet that any child who happened to be watching the event on the television that day, certainly can recall it vividly.While I did not know Christa McAuliffe personally, her choice to train to be the first teacher in space, was a huge impact on me. For me, teaching is not about following what is expected. It is about learning to take chances, to try new things, to have a curiosity about life and parlaying those opportunities into moments of educational euphoria.  It is not about the safety of doing what we've gotten used to; it is being on the edge of disaster or success and not necessarily knowing how things turn out until much later. And for me, that is what Christa McAuliffe inspired in me on day she boarded a space shuttle for what should have been the adventure of a lifetime.So many years later, I try to remember this when experts tell me to be successful I need to do this, that or the other thing. Education, even in the era of unprecedented scrutiny where taking chances on what might work seems tougher and tougher to do, needs to be about trying new things even while being mindful of standards and accountability.Christa McAuliffe's mission ended in a tragedy that those of us on the sidelines can barely appreciate. The loss to her family, her friends, her colleagues, her students had to be immeasurable. But her courage, her insatiable curiosity inspires me to keep on taking chances no matter what the odds.

Reflections on the Fourth of July

It is no secret that politics in the United States are a puzzlement to me. Things I believe in - the common good, generosity and understanding in treatment of those who are not like me, a belief that freedom is a treasure that should not be eroded - these things are often not valued, if one can believe what gets reported by the fifth estate.  Can the media today be trusted to report on the facts, to dig deeper than the public relations of a situation? It is all so confusing, and often discouraging. Often I don't know what to make of things.Last night, however, I was watching a program on the History Channel about the Revolutionary War. As a matter of fact, this program was in the middle of the series and mostly what I learned was about how the United States came to have any kind of government at all.  Post 1776 was a chaotic time; a slight change would have taken this country down a different path.As you might expect, the emotional fervor with which colonists became part of the Revolutionary War turned into a "now what?" situation once the outcome of the the actual battles became apparent. By 1781, Cornwallis had surrendered to General Washington, but an actual Peace Treaty with England would not be signed until nearly a year later. The Continental Congress would form a government which little by little gained recognition of other countries - first Spain, then Denmark and then Russia. It must have been quite difficult to fly in the face of England, a world power, in support of this newly formed United States.Obviously everyone did not give this new United States much of a chance for success.  In fact, in 1783, General Washington had to persuade the remains of the Continental Army not to rebel against the newly formed government. When I consider all that happened after the battles, after the Declaration of Independence, it is a miracle that this country indeed exists as it does.So how does this history connect to the current state of affairs? For me, it is hopeful that over 200 years ago, despite all that could have gone awry, the United States came into being. It became the great and welcoming country to my ancestors, the country where differing views could be tolerated, where it wasn't a crime to think - and to say - what you believe.The United States is still a place where you can disagree and not end up in jail. And despite the discomfort with some of the politics of our time in history, I am glad to be here in the United States. If our country could endure the chaos of its beginnings, then there is hope. Hope that we will speak out when personal rights are challenged, hope that we will speak up against wrong and not just accept what is reported by those who may have an agenda. And hope that we will continue to be that welcoming place for all.Happy Fourth.

Amazing Teachers Need Not Apply

If you have been reading the postings of the Massachusetts DESE, you may have noticed their new campaign for "Amazing Teachers".  This appears to be a recruitment program to entice teachers to work in the Tier 4 Schools -- those who are being carefully scrutinized because test scores haven't moved out of the sub-basement.So, let me understand this, DESE. You are going to stick with the notion that these 37 schools are under-performing because of the teachers on staff? Parent involvement - or parent uninvolvement - has no bearing in these students' success? Presto,change-o with the change of the knowledgeable and dedicated teaching staffs, all will be well.I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Have the politicians and educational leaders in our state become such political kiss-ups that they are afraid to do anything more than make teaching faculties scapegoats? Or do they truly believe that experienced teachers working their asses off  in urban, multi-lingual, traumatized, high poverty classrooms can be quickly replaced by successful teachers from exurbia? Seriously?I get that there are teachers who should not be in a classroom -- the Bell Curve makes that a no-brainer. But there are many, many, many others who are those "amazing teachers" the DESE is looking for:

Amazing teachers...

• Are relentlessly committed to high achievement for all students. They demonstrate tenacity and persistence in pursuit of the goal of ensuring that every child develops the knowledge and skill necessary for college and career success.
• Have demonstrated success in enabling students to make significant academic progress. They have a track record of results with students and are skilled at using data to analyze and improve student performance.
• Build and value strong relationships with students, families and the community. They create a sense of community in the classroom that celebrates success, empower students with choice and responsibility and make content relevant and accessible to all.
• Thrive in diverse, multicultural settings. They respect and support families and students of all backgrounds – regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language or ability – and actively engage them in achieving rigorous academic goals.
• Work collaboratively with school leadership and their colleagues to help foster a culture of teamwork. They welcome and seek out opportunities to lead, plan, learn and collectively solve problems in pursuit of student achievement.
• Have deep content and pedagogical knowledge and skills and constantly strive to improve their practice. They have a strong understanding of content and learning standards, maintain strong classroom management skills, and differentiate instructional strategies so that all students comprehend key information.  They reflect on their teaching performance and seek feedback and new learning to improve.

Most of the people I teach with have these very qualifications; they are amazing teachers. We cajole, inspire, and open our students' eyes to the possibilities that effort and a great education can bring.We celebrate our students milestones and achievements no matter how great or how small -- our students are progressing. We would give our right arms for a partnership with parents. Sometimes that's possible, sometimes it is not - but we still try no matter how many times our outreach is rejected because maybe the next time, we will not be turned away.We are challenged by a multicultural society, and despite those challenges, we love teaching in a diverse classroom because more often than not, we learn as much from the children as they learn from us.We work collaboratively; we know our content; and we keep growing.So DESE, look no further. Those amazing teachers you are looking for? We are right here, right under your nose. What we need is a little respect, a lot of support, and less of the blame game.

Thirds

Teaching third grade is just about as good as it gets in my humble opinion.  Over the span of my teaching career I've taught every level from pre-school through 12th grade. There are inherent challenges at each level - and rewards as well.Last Friday, my students begged and begged and we finally convinced my husband Adrien, who had been their community reader, to visit us. Friday was a special occasion in Room 207; our school has a large Southeast Asian population and we celebrate Cambodian/Lao/Viet Namese New Year every April with a Whole School Meeting. Students bring in tons of delicious homecooked Southeast Asian foods to share and we have a troupe of dancers who perform a traditional dance. Adrien was invited to taste some of the food my students brought to share.This week was a big one for Adrien as he was one of several artists from Western Avenue Studios interviewed for Chronicle. I shared this with the kids and about half of them actually watched the broadcast!  It was not assigned as homework - honest! Without prompting on my part, some of them mentioned the art they had seen and talked about seeing "their" Mr. Bisson on television. Rock Star status was conferred.One of the best things about teaching third graders is their unabashed enthusiasm for everything. Some days I even get a "thank you" when I give them a test. And usually there's quite a bit of cheering when we change things up and go "off  task". So when the office called the room to tell us Adrien was coming to visit, the excitement was electric. Students were practically airborne when he entered the door -- and quite a few ran up to him with paper and pencil for his autograph.  I have to tell you I've never seen THAT before.So when you're feeling under-appreciated, here's my prescription: Get yourself to your local elementary school and find a group of third graders.  You'll feel much better in no time.

Taking chances

Last night, WCVB TV in Boston, featured three artists' communities in Massachusetts. The one that I am most familiar with is Western Avenue Studios where my husband Adrien has studio space.  Western Avenue Studios is a unique and wonderfully diverse collection of over 250 artists who work in almost any medium you can imagine.  So much talent! And even more impressive, so much collegiality. It is truly a unique community.The video, features several of the talented artisans, including Adrien, and it was broadcast last night, April 14th on the locally produced show, Chronicle. Here is the video segment featuring Western Avenue from that broadcast.As Adrien and I watched the video for the first time last night so many things ran through my mind. First of all, when Adrien first started to talk seriously about working as a photographer, I wondered about his sanity in quitting his software job -- partially two years ago and completely last August.  When he purchased his first pro equipment, I actually thought he was in the middle of a mid-life crisis -- how wrong I was! Over the next months, with determination and purpose, he updated his skills as a photographer, invested in the time to explore what kinds of subjects he found fascinating, and worked at refining a portfolio of work that today blows my mind. As he says in his interview, he tries to capture the subject through the eyes -- and oftentimes it is as if he has looked deep into a person's soul and captured the person's very essence.Taking a chance on leaving a sure money-maker that allowed us to live quite comfortably over 25 years was a giant leap of faith. Building a service business is not easy and doing so in the wake of one of the worst economic crises in our recent history is even more difficult.But I don't think either of us would have traded one minute of uncertainty for the reward of following your heart into an art that you not only enjoy but you love. Last night's Chronicle segment completed and affirmed this transformation.To do what you love and to do it well is awesome. The eloquence of the talented artists at Western Avenue and on this broadcast simply takes one's breath away.

Art Appreciation

My husband, Adrien, is a photographer. He actually has been a photographer for most of his life, having started out in high school, but was sidetracked by a career in music and in software.  A couple of years ago, he started renting studio space in a revitalized textile mill building in Lowell, MA, Western Avenue Studios, and has been building his photography business ever since.If you've never had a career in the arts, it is quite different from the 9 to 5 corporate world. First of all, as I am always fond of pointing out, unlike my career, you can use the bathroom whenever you want :-) Just kidding, Adrien!What really takes some perseverance is staying focused throughout the cyclical nature of getting commissions and jobs. For example, from the week before Christmas through some time in  late January, not many corporations are interested in scheduling corporate head shot appointments. This creates some down time, which allows Adrien to think about self assignments: photography projects that he works on to develop as a photographer and as an artist.In addition to working on a portfolio for an upcoming show at the Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell next November, Adrien has been working with a friend of his, Melissa, to create a video of what happens during a professional photo shoot. Here is a link to the stop-action video he created called 396 Square Feet. I think you'll find it amazing.

The Power of our Words

Each year I've required students to write at least weekly about something they have been reading.  At first the students' letters go something like this:

Dear Mrs. Bisson,I read Arthur's Teacher Trouble. It was really funny.Your friend,

No matter how pushed I am for time I generally manage to write back and so our written conversations sometimes morph into writings that are less about reading and more about what is going on in a student's life.  However, as the school year progresses, I do get the students to write a bit more insightfully -- or at least to offer some support to their reading opinions.  When the changeover happens, it is a proud moment for me: my students are arriving as readers and writers.Last week one of my students wrote an outstanding critique of a book she had been reading and she wrote reasons for the character's behavioral changes throughout the book. In my reply, I happened to mention how proud I was of the student's response -- and wrote those exact words to her. It was purely serendipitous that I expressed this idea; the student is quite bright and surely must have heard accolades previously.The student's reply to me today points to the power of our words -- the student circled the words "I am so proud of your thinking" and then highlighted those words with exclamation marks. In her reply, my student revealed that no one had ever told her this before.  She revealed that the words made her feel good about herself.I have no way of knowing how this tiny moment in my student's academic life may influence her, but I am hopeful that she will continue to build her self esteem and positive learning attitude well beyond the 180 days she spends with me in our classroom community.Once again, I am struck by how powerful and influential a teacher's words can be on students.  This time the comments were by chance; in the future I hope to make such powerful words  more intentional.

Why Do You Teach?

This afternoon's email brought a solicitation from the AFT: Why do you teach and what do you and your colleagues need to do the best job for your students?  It is the why of something I have been so passionate about for more than 22 years that is difficult to put into words.Why do I teach? At first I went into teaching because my grandmother, for whom I had been named, had been a teacher in the early 1900s. Having never known my grandmother, who died when my Dad was 9, I was of course fascinated albeit enamored by the thought of her. So, from the age of 8 -- I remember it distinctly -- I have wanted to be a teacher.I, in fact, left teaching for a while to pursue other more lucrative jobs in business. One layoff too many, and I found myself rethinking my career choice again. This time with a lot more maturity, I bucked the trend of going from education into corporate jobs, studied and obtained my M.Ed.  I became an elementary school teacher.I taught back then and I continue to teach now because in the end, it is a profession that challenges me each and every day. That's the selfishness in me speaking -- I thrive on the challenge of change. In 22 years, I don't believe I've had any two years alike enough to recycle lesson plans with any regularity. Each year is a new invention.  Just as each student I've encountered over the span of my teaching career is different, so must the delivery of instruction be redesigned.  It is the pursuit of making a positive difference in the learning life of a child, the ability to turn a child on to loving reading -- and mathematics -- that moment when my students "get it", that exhilarating high of seeing students grow and approach their own potential that cannot be replicated in any other profession. It doesn't hurt that every once in a while a student calls me "mom" -- most times I take that as a high compliment.I truly believe that it is our societal responsibility to provide all students with an education -- not just a select few, not those who pass an entrance exam.  This is why I choose to teach in urban public education.  It's hard. It's frustrating. It's not often appreciated. And oftentimes what happens is unbelievable. I don't always mean that in a good way.If you've ever read any of Jonathan Kozol's writing, you know and understand that we -- that's the gigantic and collective "we" -- owe our most vulnerable citizens the best education possible.  We owe them the possibility of a better life.  I teach because I wish to be part of that solution, even if it's for just one child.Teaching is something of a religious experience for me. I believe that I am impacting -- positively most of the time -- my students' lives. I am passionate about doing the best I possibly can. That means keeping up research, talking to other educators when I can't figure out how to reach a student, reaching out to parents who may not want to reach back, covering my behind and filling out paperwork. But most of all, it means putting the possibilities of learning out there for students to see, to feel, to experience and to value for themselves.It's more than I ever imagined.

It's the vocabulary, stupid!

It never ceases to amaze me.I'll be reading a story and out of the blue will come a question that knocks me back a step or two. "Why did the Pilgrims come from Hollywood, Mrs. Bisson?"  Now you and I know the Pilgrims never set foot in Hollywood -- that word that was lost in translation was Holland.The importance of common academic vocabulary, and sometimes just basic social vocabulary, is a challenge for urban education.  It is easy to slip into complacency once English Language Learning students are able to verbalize responses on the most basic of levels. They are nodding their heads -- wouldn't you if you didn't want to be called on -- and, with one or two word responses able to keep up the appearance of knowing more language than they actually do.However, insisting on the use of nouns in place of demonstrative pronouns and the shortfalls in vocabulary become glaringly apparent.  "This hurts", "What hurts?", "This..." "What is that?" "This" (more insistently).Our Coordinator of Reading, Dr. Phyllis Schlicter, recently shared some statistics with us in a vocabulary and semantics workshop.  Students from different linguistic backgrounds, present challenges but so do Native-speaking children from  backgrounds of little exposure to vocabulary. At the Kindergarten level, a vocabulary gap can easily be in the thousands of words.This citation from , by Scott K. Baker, Deborah C. Simmons, and Edward J. Kameenui of the University of Oregon, points to the urgency of teaching vocabulary to our students:

The enduring effects of the vocabulary limitations of students with diverse learning needs is becoming increasingly apparent. Nothing less that learning itself depends on language. Certainly, as Adams (1990) suggests, most of our formal education is acquired through language. Learning something new does not occur in a vacuum. Rather, new learning always builds on what the learner already knows. Adams suggests that new learning is the process of forming novel combinations of familiar concepts. Learning, as a language-based activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on vocabulary knowledge. Learners must have access to the meaning of words teachers, or their surrogates (e.g., other adults, books, films, etc.), use to guide them into contemplating known concepts in novel ways (i.e., to learn something new). With inadequate vocabulary knowledge, learners are being asked to develop novel combinations of known concepts with insufficient tools.

The implications to my students is profound.

3 Down, 177 To Go.....

I have a love-hate relationship with the first week of school.I love it because it is a time for a fresh start, a do-over; everything about the start of the year is new and exciting.  And to be honest, after 10 weeks away from teaching, I miss it.... even the most annoying of personalities has made the changeover to endearing in my most human of memory banks.  Honestly, what other profession allows one to have a "new year" in September (and then another in January)?Meeting students for the first time and building that community of learners out of so many differing personalities is challenging and fun.  As a Responsive Classroom, we often start our year with a Human Treasure Hunt (see page 2 of this link).  We learn much about our sameness, and our differences and begin to build a tolerant classroom together.  Will we falter? Most likely, but then we will regroup, rethink and begin again.This year I have finally taken my principal's advice to move slowly and not give in to the pressure to get the show on the road.  We have spent 3 days learning and practicing routines that will become part of my students' mental "muscle memory".  We practiced the quiet chime signal until students can stop and listen without reminders, we have learned important emergency routines and other essentials. And, using ideas from The Daily Five, students learn what is expected during Independent Reading -- this is the routine I am most excited about.  By slowing building my students' "stamina" for reading independently, I hope for once and for all (well, it's a hope), that my students will be able to work independently thoughout the 60-minute Reading Workshop Block so that my focus can be more on instructing and conferencing -- and not so much on behavior managements.  We are well behind diving into academics this year.  I am trusting that the time and effort spent in setting routines and expectations will pay off in the long term.So, what don't I love? Well, for one thing I don't love the paperwork that comes with the start of school. Yes, I realize it is part of the territory, but starting, updating, and creating lists in cumulative folders, record cards, gradebooks, and so on is tedious.  Did everyone change phone numbers this past summer -- I'm beginning to think they did! And, it does not seem to matter how much I've anticipated returning to my school hours and routines, I am one disorganized mess during that first week.  I'm still not sure if we have food in the house.However, this weekend I am determined to enjoy the beautiful end-of-summer weather with which we've been gifted.  And next week we'll begin again to build our community of learners.

Summer Reading, Part 2

About a week ago, I finally finished reading Ellin Keene's new book, To Understand.  Originally intending to blog about the book as soon as it was finished was in reality impossible to do.  Things that Ellin has to say about teaching, about thinking, about maintaining a balance in education have been turning around and around in my mind for the past week.  One of the hardest ideas for me is to let go of the idea that, full-throttle teaching to the exclusion of any other interests is neither helpful or healthful. It is one of many themes emerging from reading this book.The frenzy that has been in my classroom for the last two years needs to change.  One of the most powerful ideas that Ellin Keene proposes is developing a culture of calm and quiet.  Giving students the opportunity to practice thinking -- the wait time, the expectation that students will take time to form their ideas before sharing them -- seems like an idea that my students (and I) need to develop.  So often the pace of the classroom, the frenzy, the multi-tasking, the divided attention, detracts from all of us providing thoughtful commentary. And in listening to others' commentary and questioning, growth.Using the Making Meaning materials mandated in this district, our students have begun to learn how manage appropriate discussion behaviors.  Stopping at set points in a text, students learn to share ideas with a partner and report out to a large group.  It has been helpful in guiding students who have little confidence in their discussion abilities nor practice in socially acceptable discussion norms. However, this program has unfortunately taken the choice or what to discuss, the teachable moment away from the professional.  How frequently we teachers find this happening -- instead of allowing a teacher to exercise professional judgment, the scripted materials box us into a set of skills that our students may or may not be ready for.  In the climate of high stakes testing and accountability, teachers and administrators often dare not deviate from the prescription for "success" lest their students not meet the predetermined benchmark.Why I relay this anecdote is to illustrate the overarching theme I believe runs through To Understand.  While we know we must be accountable for certain achievements, skills, standards of education, we need to trust our professional compass. We need to stop at points in a text that will engage our students thinking and that point may or may not coincide with the prescribed prepackaged curriculum.  We need to have the courage to trust what we know about teaching and learning, about curriculum, and about our students to teach with rigor. We need to teach our students to develop their Renaissance thinking.

Summer Reading #1: To Understand

To Understand is author and teacher, Ellin Oliver Keene's new book; and it has been on my list to read for several months.  I began reading this book earlier in the school year and adapted Ellin's idea for Literacy Studio (crafting, composing, individual activities and reflection time) to encompass the teaching day. Defining each of these according to student and teacher/leader responsibilities worked across the curriculum in my class last year. I am anxious to use this model again next school year.When school demands became overwhelming, I had to put aside reading To Understand and have only recently picked it up to read again.  Keene asserts that we, as educators, need to advocate for what is essential to our curriculum and teach that in depth.  There is so much pressure today to try to "cover" topics that this is hard to imagine.  I find myself easily lured into teaching to a checklist of what someone else has deemed third grade curriculum which leaves little time for developing the fun stuff -- topics that the students want to explore, discovery through student inquiry, developing thinking.  It worries me that I am contributing to a culture of fact regurgitation -- my students need to develop thinking and discernment skills.  Will my students be part of a "can-do" or "can't-do" culture?So as I've picked up Ellin Keene's book again, I'm particularly struck by her words in the chapter about creating "renaissance learners". We have long been exposing our students to a catechism of learning: ideas and facts that must be committed to memory and then tested and retested to ensure "quality control" of our "product".  There is no need for creative thinking here -- we need to turn out students who can pass standardized tests.  Sadly, not many of the students who are learning under such contraints become "passionately interested" in topics .  To quote Keene:

But in schools, are we set up to create Renaissance kids? I worry that with schedules driven by different subject areas, curriculum created around tests, and a society that demands perfect completion of everything kids attempt, we are unwittingly contributing to the demise of the Renaissance person -- creating our own medieval age.

Frightening? Indeed it is.  And Keene continues:

If we live in a society that values Renaissance thinking, but in schools that work against it, is it possible to help young children sustain and older kids rediscover the Renaissance person in themselves? Do all young children come to us with those qualities? Is it possible to devote time to the pursuit of pressing questions on a wide range of topics? Can we encourage kids to wonder, to pursue new ideas through their own discovery and research? And, if we decide that it is important to promote the notion of Renaissance learners, where do we begin, given the constraints of our professional and personal lives?

Many questions, much to think about.

For summer consideration

I find that the longer I am a teacher, the more I am blown away by the intelligence and thoughtfulness of colleagues across the US.  Here is a blog I recently came upon Two Writing Teachers.  Even though the two bloggers teach grade levels higher than my current teaching assignment, the process and their craft as literacy teachers is thoughtful and practical.  Check out the section on mentor texts -- I was amazed to find some of the very same texts I use with my third graders mentioned as exemplars for narratives and other genre of writing.Also within the same blog is an interview with Stenhouse author Mark Overmyer.  Check out Mark's response to a question about assessment.  God help me if Two Writing Teachers move these links!Lots to think about and catch up on and summer has just started!

The Insanity Of It All

This is the time of year when you really need to have "chops" as a teacher. Once the weather becomes fairly reasonable here in New England and the spring sports begin, my students seem to think they are done for the year. Unfortunately, the academic year has six more weeks to go.Each week has a new set of challenges: starting next week, our challenge is the MCAS Math tests. I get that given the educational climate we live in, testing is here to stay. What I don't get is why my students need to be tested on the entire third grade curriculum when there's about one-sixth of the year left (or in the case of the English Language MCAS about one-quarter). What is the point of testing students' accomplishments when the total curriculum hasn't been offered. That seems to set the kids -- and the schools -- up for failure. Or is that the point in the first place?This is also the time of year when what we fondly refer to as culminating activities seem to take on a life of their own. If it isn't a field trip, there's a special event (art fairs, family nights, awards....). The rush to the finish line can be quite chaotic. The students are getting tired of us - time to cut the umbilical cord. End-of-year data collections, placements for next year, retentions - maybe?, special education re-evals, testing, documenting, record-keeping.... oh my!So to my colleagues, who are testing, writing, evaluating, recommending, and trying to hold down the fort for the next six weeks - cheers!And happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

A sidebar.... from the shameless commerce division

I love the picture that is the banner for this website.  Somehow, this image symbolizes how it often feels  when learning or trying something new -- like blogging.  Clearly there is a pathway that can/should be followed, but often that pathway is partially obscured.  The way is not always clear; there can be expected and unexpected barriers.  And sometimes one of those barriers just happens to be a thing of brilliant beauty -- like a red maple leaf that serendipitously attaches to a windshield.Now in the interest of full disclosure, I must add that I am quite familiar with the photographer and his work -- my husband, Adrien Bisson.  Although Adrien's main focus at Adrien Bisson Photography is portraits and headshot photography, he is, as you can guess, a very talented landscape photographer.  He captured this shot on an autumn visit to Vermont.  And here's the shameless plug from his proud spouse:  If you are interested in seeing more of his work, he is represented by the Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell, MA along with many, many other fine artists.  And, each 1st  Saturday, artists in his studio complex, Western Avenue Studios, open their doors to visitors.  If you're in the Lowell area, you should visit this amazing collection of artisans.