Finding the other people is the key, and I believe that they are there, if you look hard enough. I agree with Judy that I know many teachers that wouldn't make it through this book, or MOT for that matter. But there are some surprises out there, so keep talking to other teachers.
When I was an administrator for a few years ( that's actually when I joined this group, as I was feeling very alone), we were trying to bring about change in a district. Much of the reading I did at that time dealt with how to handle teachers who did not embrace change. The research said that you can't wait for everyone to get on board. The lesson in that for me, now a reading specialist, is that I try to help those who want the help, in hopes that more teachers will be inspired to try something different. There are other people at your school who are trying to lead an intellectual life, but sometimes they are hiding fairly well. Keep looking and good luck. Cathy DE k-5 -----Original Message----- From: Beverlee Paul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Judy Mazur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; ""Special Chat List for To Understand": "New Horizons in ReadingComprehension <understand"@literacyworkshop.org>"; Sent: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 7:17 pm Subject: Re: [Understand] backing up to Chapter 1 JUDY:How do those of us who choose to read To Understand, who believe in living the 'intellectually engaged life,' arouse the interest of our colleagues? How do we help adults want to lead intellectually engaged lives? BEV: I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know the answer to another question. And that answer is that if a person is to remain in education as a lifelong career, it is essential (for survival) to lead an intellectually engaged life, and groups such as this make an enormous difference to teachers who appear to be "alone." We've always had books and their authors with which we can "converse" if we have no "significant other" intellectual on staff. But, of course, those conversations are a bit unresponsive and one-sided. The advent of these groups such as Mosaic and Understand has seemed to me to be a break-through for the teacher who is "stranded." The reason I wanted to give you that answer is that I believe we first have to sustain ourselves no matter where we are or who we are with, which doesn't seem too hard for a few years, but it's a far more formidable task for the thirty-seven I've spent. Probably not the answer you needed, but it's an important one. _________________________________________________________________ Test your Star IQ http://club.live.com/red_carpet_reveal.aspx?icid=redcarpet_HMTAGMAR _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
