Literacy Learning

As an elementary-age teacher, I prioritized corresponding with my students through their journals. Sometimes a student would check in with something that had happened in their life - a new baby, a new friend, a fun family activity, but sometimes there would be something more personal or a reaction to a book they had discovered. It was important to me to write in return, sometimes with a question to consider. Nothing complicated; just a connection to the power of writing and words and expression.

Now that I no longer actively teach, I have been missing those kid connections, at least I did until my granddaughter, Zoe, mentioned that she wished she got “letters” in the mail like her Mama and Daddy. Now at the time of this exchange, she was about 3, so I’m not sure what - or how much snail mail she had been exposed to, but she noticed mail was important. And she wanted some too.

And so, since that day, I’ve been writing and snail-mailing a weekly note. This has turned into one of my favorite weekly activities as it has also inspired me to create the card as well as the text. Neither the art nor the message are complicated; my watercolors are pretty basic as one might expect.

Until recent times, the writing has been one-way. But as Zoe, an early childhood learner, discovers letters and sounds and how those things work together to form words, her literate life has expanded. She is beginning to use expressive language herself.

While visiting us on a mid-winter break stay-cation, without prompting, Zoe sat down at my desk with some paper and a pen to write me the note at the top of this post. As she was quiet and focused for quite a bit of time, I wasn't sure what she was concocting, but I stayed out of her space, and I'm so grateful that I did. Zoe's note to me is something I will truly treasure as a grandmother, and as an observer of the power of children learning.

While to this point in time I’ve always been “Nana” with one “n”; I’m adopting the new spelling of my name, “Nanna”. When I asked her about it, Zoe told me she spelled it as it sounds, nan-na. I can’t argue with that.

And I can hardly wait until she writes to me again.

Discomfort of Opinion

The only way to make sense out of change 
is to plunge into it, 
move with it, 
and join the dance. 
ALAN WATTS

Alan Watts Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alan_watts_386511

This quotation has a particular resonating truth for me.

No longer able to make sense of the changes in our world politics, a place where right is wrong, care and empathy toward others is oftentimes missing, where there feels as if there is more emphasis on the outrageous, unkind, and vindictive, I’ve often felt as if it would be better for my mental health to just say “The hell with it. Leave me alone.” Even though politically left-leaning, I’ve avoided offending by writing. I’ve self-edited and silenced myself.

Avoiding changes, leaning away from one’s truth made me feel like an imposter.

Is avoidance the best response to changes, even if that response comes from one tiny voice in a great big world? By shutting down my true response to uncomfortable changes in our world, my silence may have allowed me to avoid conflict with those who disagree. Doing so, I have not joined the dance. I’ve sat on the sidelines.

Like a wallflower.

Lately, with some much overdue perspective from a professional, I’ve been challenged to deal with my discomfort with change and my reluctance to join the dance. And so, this is the first step. I am plunging into changes, moving with it, no longer hiding for fear of committing an offense. Apologies in advance, but then again, I am not sorry.

I’ve been a listener. Now I need to join the dance.

——————————————

Recently, local news media was all ablaze with the proclamation that third grade students taking MCAS tests last spring were still “underperforming” in reading and math.(see end notes) So last year’s 2023 third grade students, were second graders in 2022, first graders in 2021 and kindergarteners in 2020. What else was going on in their world in 2020 that may have been distracting them from early literacy skills in particular and language acquisition? Oh right, a global pandemic. You know the one where schools were business-as-usual on an early March Thursday and shut down the next day? Teachers and students learned through virtual education for the remainder of the school year. And many classrooms were fully virtual or hybrid for good portions of the following year as well.

My educational colleagues (I retired in 2015), were inventing how to engage children, very young children, with developing attention spans, sometimes wonky access to technology, and adapting materials on the fly. Not just for a few days, or weeks or a partial year, but for a good number of important learning months. In my view, that circumstance alone is enough reason to question expectations of children whose early literacy experience was so different from “normal”. It is incredibly naive to think there was no negative impact.

And then let’s talk about how worries about a child’s housing or food security just might have been a distraction. Yup, kids pick up on family dynamics.

So when I hear people ready to disparage all of education based on a set of test scores from a set of students whose learning was affected by extraordinary circumstances, I wonder what the real issue might be. Certainly journalists, public policy makers, and edu-crats understand that a global pandemic’s effects might have a basis in what happened in the period or years before a high-stakes test. And that the recovery may take multiple years.

How incredibly discouraging it must be to have come through all of the wild adaptations of 2020, 2021, and have a single assessment deem one “under performing”! Yes, there needs to be a deep dive into what education – including all of the stakeholders – needs to change in order to close the gaps in learning caused by losses incurred during the Covid years.

That small- and large-scale changes are needed to remediate those learning losses is crystal clear. In 30 years in the classroom, I never met one educator satisfied with the status quo, myself included. There is always a yearning to do better, to ensure that each student’s learning potential is attained, no matter what the subject area.

Instead of yapping headlines and finger pointing about incompetence, there should always be room for looking at the antecedent – the events that came before – and considering their impact.

End Notes:

“These 275 Massachusetts schools were identified as needing state assistance or intervention” (Sep 21, 2023)

“MCAS scores are still well below pre-pandemic levels” (Sep 21, 2023)

Fired for an "Inappropriate" Book?

I’m retired from teaching now, but that doesn’t mean I’ve checked out entirely. Yes, I know teaching has changed a lot since I left my day job, but there are some things going on in education that this old-timer sees as sheer nonsense.

Case in point is this article from the New York Times: An Educator Read ‘I Need A New Butt. Then He Was Fired’ (March 11, 2022). Read it and tell me you aren’t shaking your head in disbelief.

Apparently Dawn McMillan’s book I Need a New Butt was just too risque for a Zoom read-aloud in a second grade classroom by Assistant Principal Toby Price. Why? Because the story, written for 6- to 10-year-olds, referenced farting, butt sizes, and shapes. These things apparently violate the standards of conduct section of the Mississippi Educator Code of Ethics so the Superintendent of Hinds County Schools in Mississippi first put Mr. Price on administrative leave and then terminated him.

Having been a second grade teacher for half of my 30-year teaching career, I really am struggling to relate to a school superintendent who does not know butts and farting - most bodily functions really - are of prime interest to second graders. And, as a teacher, if reading a silly and nonsensical story that appeals to the humor of 7- or 8-year-old kids hooks them into reading, I would read I Need A New Butt to my students too. Sorry not sorry.

One of my students’ favorite read aloud stories was David Shannon’s No David, a Caldecott Honor Book and ALA Notable Children’s Book. In this relatable story, the main character runs down the street sans pants (Come back here David!) and at one point picks his nose (Stop that this instant!). What happened after we read that story together? After hearing about David’s antics, even my most reluctant readers would jockey for No David or others written by David Shannon. Enticing children to reading and becoming interested in literacy - isn’t that actually the point?

It certainly seems that there has been a disconnect between the District leaders in Hinds County, MS and the children in the school system. Hopefully this kind of insane second-guessing of books “appropriate” for read-alouds isn’t all that wide-spread.

Those silly, hilarious moments are, to me, what helps students connect to learning. Learning is often challenging, but there is no reason it cannot be fun. As Mr. Price, who is a parent as well as an educator says:

“We have a lot of reluctant readers,” he said. “I am a firm believer that reluctant readers need the silly, funny books to hook them in.”

Exactly.

First Book/AFT Kicks Off Lowell's Books on Wheels

I'm really excited about this project!When the American Federation of Teachers-Massachusetts (AFT-MA), our local union's state affiliate, approached our local union a year ago about hosting a First Book/AFT Books on Wheels event, we were intrigued, but the timing was just not right. We may have had to put the project on a back burner, but it was never forgotten. And here we are at the start of a new school year, ready to launch for an event to take place in less than 8 weeks.  Things just got real!The premise is really simple.  First Book is a national non-profit with a mission to provide new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. Through a unique partnership with American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the national affiliate of our local United Teachers of Lowell, we are planning to bring a semi-tractor trailer of new books (ages 0-18) - that's 40,000 to 44,000 books - to distribute absolutely free to our teachers, schools, programs, and families right here in Lowell.What is needed in return are 2,000 email addresses of programs and educators working with those children and families in need. By registering an email address, the owner can then access First Book's Marketplace where brand new books are available for 50-90% off list prices. I personally used First Book's Marketplace when I was in the classroom to round out my classroom library purchases (yes, teachers do indeed buy many materials) or to create a study set of a book a group of children were reading.Our efforts toward earning the Books on Wheels Truck of 40,000+ free books kicked off last Friday with the newest faculty members at Lowell Teacher Academy orientation.  We will begin recruiting all returning staff - teachers, administrators, coaches, paraprofessionals, custodians, cafeteria workers, therapists, librarians, school clerks, and tutors - beginning on Monday morning.We know this is a unique opportunity to increase access to literature for our families. While a truck loaded with 40,000 plus new books is a.w.e.s.o.m.e. by itself, we are hoping to make this event even better.  We've also established a gofundme effort to raise $5,000 which will allow Lowell's English Language Learner expert teachers/coaches to select literature from First Book's Marketplace of Books.  Click this LINK to access our gofundme page and please, feel free to share with friends and neighbors.

8/28: (Calling out our First Book Lowell crowd funding link here: www.gofundme.com/firstbooklowell)

We will use any funds raised through gofundme to purchase books that are reflective of the cultural and language diversity in our community.  If 500 people donate just $10, we will meet our goal, and if we exceed our goal we'll be able to purchase even greater numbers of culturally appropriate books for our families and readers.Our goal is to have everything in place for a Book Distribution on Saturday, October 22 at the Rogers STEM Academy. We are appreciative of Superintendent Khelfaoui's support of this effort and especially grateful to Principal Jason McCrevan and his team at the Rogers STEM Academy for offering to host this event. More information on the Book Distribution and how you can help will be coming in a future post.It takes a village, or in Lowell's case, a city to make this endeavor a success. We are counting on everyone to help our village bring books to our children that will embrace the diversity of cultures and languages of our community.

Inferring Vocabulary

Kids can latch on to words in the most incredible ways. And second language learners really keep a teacher thinking.  As an English speaker, I give almost no thought to words and phrases we use every day that have multiple - and often unrelated connections - to meaning.  As a teacher of ELLs, however, that becomes part of the plan for each lesson. And as a teacher of a classroom made up of nearly three-quarters English Language Learners, it is a way of life.This week, as we explored inferring unfamiliar words, that last point was brought to the fore with the following exchange:

Did China people eat off special plates on the Titanic?

This question did make me stop and wonder for several seconds - what in the world was this kid referring to? We had just finished looking for text clue to help infer the meaning of demitasse found in an article we were exploring from Harvey and Goudvis' Comprehension Toolkit Source Book entitled  "Titanic's Legacy". Where was this question coming from?As it turns out, the question was not so out-of-left-field as I thought at first. One of the other illustrations found on the page we were studying was of a "China Serving Plate". Which led us to a whole tangential discussion of the word "china".Never underestimate the power of words. Or the challenge of vocabulary. 

Adventures in poetry

I'm afraid we didn't get very far in "diving deeper" into today's poetry selection. Mostly, today was a lesson in multiple meanings of words. By that, I mean, a word that meant one thing in the mid- to late-1800s (when this poem was written) and the colloquially accepted meanings that kids hear today.First of all, there was quite a bit of twitter about the fact that the poet of our first selection - Emily Dickenson - has a name that makes immature minds go into hysterics. Because, you know, her name has DICK in it. At that point, I knew this selection would be trouble. I just didn't know how much trouble I was in for.Here's the text of the poem:

AUTUMNEmily DickinsonThe morns are meeker than they were,The nuts are getting brown;The berry’s cheek is plumper,The rose is out of town.The maple wears a gayer scarf,The field a scarlet gown.Lest I should be old-fashioned,I’ll put a trinket on.

I anticipated "gayer" would cause a reaction, so I spent some time explaining that "gay" had another meaning when the poet was writing.Of course the little congregation of 9-year old boys at the back corner of the rug thought "nuts are getting brown" was hysterical. They couldn't contain their delight -- definitely wanted to share their unique perspective with all sitting within earshot.Maybe now that we have worked out all the vocabulary minefields, we can study this poem as the curriculum developers intended. Or not.

With An Apology to My Students.....

This is a tumultuous time to be a teacher - many, many new mandates are arriving this year making for a lot of teacher discomfort as we try to make sense of things.My own personality is that I am an early adopter - not always a good thing I'm sure, but I do tend to try new methods and materials out fairly readily. We have been struggling with Interactive Read Alouds (IRA) and Writing About Reading (with the unfortunate code name WAR in this district - just saying).  The changeover to a more strategically envisioned IRA lesson seemed like a natural extension of the Making Meaning  program we've used in our district for about 10 years.Writing About Reading (sorry, can't say WAR - I grew up in the 60s) also feels like what our students need. But the message we're getting, whether intended or not, is that we need to have our students up and proficient for their grade level expectations nearly immediately.In the rush to get our students performing at higher levels, it is far too easy to forget that the students may not be prepared to be successful. So sometimes they are not. Even with pressure on educators, whether perceived or real, can make for a tricky mix - we want our students to do well, we want them prepared for the new and increased demands on them, and we feel like it should happen NOW.Last week, I needed to submit an independently produced written response so my grade level could practice applying the district rubric with consistency. So I did and the writing was AWFUL. I had been explicit with students about how to plan for the writing and then set them loose. Bad!What I didn't do was about as devastating as what I did do. I didn't gradually release the responsibility for writing to my students who had not had this writing experience before.So I did what most teachers do - I backed up, apologized that I hadn't shown them or given them what they needed and started over.  We took a short text from Gouvdis and Harvey about animal adaptations, posed the essential question ("How do different animals adapt to hear in their environments?"), and went to work with a shared modeling. We talked - this is a 75% ELL classroom so we talk first - we made notes together on our planners, we shared our ideas for a topic sentence and a closing sentence, we found the (required) 3 pieces of evidence supporting the topic and then we turned our notes into sentences and paragraphs.The take-away from this is that asking kids to do something for which they are unprepared is wrong. I now realize that I had been asking my students to do something they didn't yet know how to do; something we needed to work on so that gradually the responsibility could be released to them.Sorry kids. I promise to do a better job of teaching you from now on!

Teacher as Learner

I have long gotten past being the "sage on the stage". If educational gurus hadn't already convinced me that students learn best from peers and self-exploration - constructing the meaning of something themselves from experience - anecdotal evidence from the classroom would have.This week I arranged with our school's Literacy specialist/coach, Pat Sweeney, to have her model peer writing conferences.  Knowing how much language we need to build into any speech-based activity with English Language Learners, help in supporting my students is always welcome.Pat started by engaging my students in thinking about why an author may want to ask a peer  for advice. First Pat laid down the ground rules for the author (read your work and listen to peer input), the peer group (listen and then offer 1 compliment and 1 suggestion).  The rule of compliments (always start the sentence with "you or your") and suggestions ("I think.....") was next.Then kids then looked over and clarified a list of compliments and suggestions that Pat had placed on anchor charts. Having previewed some independently written narratives my students were working on, Pat selected two students to be the first to try out peer conferences in a whole group.I was pleasantly surprised at the level of constructive criticism my students had. They offered compliments and useful suggestions about the plot of a story, the beginnings, the endings, descriptive languages. Pat wrote down up to 3 suggestions for each author - fitting them on a 3x3 stick-on note - and then instructed the author to keep the note with their original work so when they later conference with me, we can both see which suggestions were incorporated into their pieces. Self accountability - brilliant!Several days later, when Pat led our peer conferences a second time, she gradually released the conversation to the students. And the students were much more willing to sit in the author's chair or offer suggestions and compliments. As we continue this process, my hope is that students will move eventually to arranging with a smaller peer group of 2-3 students or even with a critical friend.As for me, I've learned that I have a habit of offering a compliment but linking to the suggestion with the conjunction "but" - which negates the power of the compliment. I'm also going to need to do some work to remember beginning compliments with "you" and not "I think". I also was delighted to see the authors who had been through the peer conference check in with me ("Do you think I should rewrite this or just write this part on my draft?") -- how many times have teachers given students a writing suggestion and then notice it never makes its way in to the final copy?Having a valuable critical friend for my own teaching is not a luxury, it is a necessity. We learn from each other - just as the students do.