Catherine I wanted to add one more thought to my earlier post... I want to be sure that you don't not feel that I am diminishing the level of difficulty you are currently facing...
I can hear the frustration in your post and know that yours are the kind of concerns that drive good people out of the profession. I know the accountability issue is huge. Maryland was doing high-stakes testing way before many other states...first MSPAP and now MSA and these tests did some good and also some things that were not so good to our curriculum. I know that many of us face more and more directives in terms of curriculum and professional development. I just really believe that we can lead from the classroom and change things over time.There are too many thinkers in classrooms and once we wake up and band together---we'll find that we are strong enough to get things to change. Jennifer Palmer Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the adventure. Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge. It is thinking that makes what we read ours. -John Locke From: Palmer, Jennifer Sent: Wed 4/23/2008 10:09 AM To: Special Chat List for "To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension" Subject: Re: [Understand] Wanting to be the learner Catherine I don't think many of us are 'there' yet, I know I am not...although perhaps I shouldn't speak for all the fine folks on this list. In my own practice, I work very hard to develop a culture that supports deep thinking, but as a support person who is in many classrooms, I am only in a particular room for a short time...maybe 75 minutes tops. That can be a huge disadvantage because I can't reinforce the thinking/rituals/connections through an entire day. It does, however, give me the chance to demonstrate the kinds of expectations and pedagogy that fosters thinking to more than one teacher. I can share the struggles...I can share my trial and error period as I learn how to teach for understanding and hopefully my colleagues will learn from that. My goal is to help my colleagues start to develop the expectations that children with special needs can and should have high expectations...Ellin's definition of rigor. I want to narrow our curriculum to what is essential and then move folks toward teaching students what it means to understand. When I get impatient with myself, and think we are not moving fast enough, I find I need to remind myself, TTT---things take time! I find it interesting that you focus on the word "We". That word is important and it is the word real leaders use rather than "I". You show you understand that improving teaching and learning is collaborative. Not all school cultures value that collaboration but it has to start somewhere. Keep searching for opportunities to collaborate...and keep on thinking "we". You are right, it is key...and it has to start with us. Have hope---I know I do, every time I read another post on this listserv. There are thinkers in our profession and they know that we are missing what teaching is all about when we focus to narrowly on testing and accountability...Teachers, as professionals are starting to set our own standards for what excellence is (like the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards) and some school systems are starting to build in opportunities for us as teachers to advance professionally without leaving the classroom. If we keep pushing on this flywheel---sooner or later the momentum will take us over the hump and good sense will return. Jennifer Palmer---definitely the optimist today! :-) Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the adventure. Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge. It is thinking that makes what we read ours. -John Locke On page 60 she writes ,"That each teacher, in his or her own way, has an opportunity to create a culture, a physical environment, a schedule, and a series of rituals that increase the likelihood that all children can think fervently and come to understand deeply every day." What does this look like in other schools? Is anyone doing this? In our district, talk has been that each grade level will be on the same page from room to room to ensure that we are covering everything. I guess they believe that if the material is presented-the children have learned it. What happens to fervent learning when the goal is that we are all doing the same thing? Just covering the material is the easy part. Teaching for meaning and understanding takes planning. When Ellin wrote about the learning her family pursued one word came to mind-WE. They worked and learned together. There was a sense of urgency. They were motivated and committed. The learning mattered. I'm afraid that all too often the WE gets lost is teaching today. (Embedded image moved to file: pic29556.gif) _______________________________________________ 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
