I believe in sharing my thinking with my students. I believe my best teaching comes from modeling. I know that in RWS (that's readers workshop sharing~sorry, old lingo) sharing my own reading--even if they have no clue what I'm talking about (just like Ellin's teacher who said "refrain") is something my kiddos remember. I've shared my worries about Mr. Pip's wife, my love of Chabon's map, my certaintly that Austen came to life in this century to write The Emperor's Children, and I've implored them to listen to a line I wish I'd written from Alice McDermott's newest. I know this works because I finally fessed up why I can't bring the book I'm reading (I'm afraid I'll forget to take it home and then I won't be able to sleep without reading it at bedtime) and they nod. I know this works because they ask me months later, "What was the secret about that guy's wife?" I smile when I finally realize they've remembered Mr. Pip. I have enormous faith in my third graders.
There are 5 elementary schools in my little district; each school presents something--same topic--to the School Board once a year. A few years ago, the first year we were forced to teach Houghton Mifflin's program "with fidelity," everyone was asked to describe their progress with HM. Our school was last that year, so in May our very brave former principal asked my friend and me to present our thoughts. She knew how we felt, after all, we'd cried 'foul' the loudest and continued to bemoan the loss of our beloved MOT (of course, she knew we two were still teaching comprehension strategies and that thoughtful literacy was alive and well in two rooms). We didn't plan together--in fact, we didn't even make notes. We spoke from our hearts. We were not vengeful. We tried to find something nice to say about HM (I said that the frequent testing replaced any test prep I'd previously done), yet we talked about how it is our charge to help children learn to think. When we were finished the room was silent. I thought we'd overstepped our bounds until I saw the smile the Superintendent was trying to hide. When the School Board members thanked us for coming, Mr. Engineer said, "We've heard from a lot of teachers over the years, but this is the first time we've heard from intellectuals." When I read To Understand, do I have faith in myself as an intellectual? Shaky ground. When I read To Understand, do I have faith in my colleagues as intellectuals? Shakier still. Do I believe in the tenets of To Understand? You bet. Do I believe I can learn? Absolutely! Judy _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
