What Really Matters....

First off, we are alive. We made it to New York safely. We started our morning at 6:45am here and walked about a mile to the Teacher's College. Our first keynote was with Lucy Calkins. I know- the real Lucy Calkins! Her lecture was titled, What Really Matters. She did not disappoint. We laughed, we cried, and more importantly we walked away thankful that Springdale Schools made the right decision purchasing the Reading Units of Study. I know I can't do Lucy justice in sharing exactly what she said, but I'll give it my best shot.

We have to bring our reading lives into the classroom. We have to show our kids that normal people read and that we read for many different reasons. Reading is not just for the elite, reading is for ALL!

Sometimes we focus on the skills and the graphic organizers, and making sure they know what to do when they come to a tricky word that we forget what is at the heart of reading. You find the heart of reading when you know that your students have found their love for reading. When a student who would never pick up a book at the beginning of the year or always had an excuse of why they couldn't sit down and read independently begins to read because they want to read. Loving to read is how we get our kids to love to read. When you have a passion for something you want to do it. Most of us don't have a passion for graphic organizers, yet that is what we cling to or look to in order to see if the student understood a text. Reading is no longer reading when we try to control the student's mind. We have to allow students to show their own thinking about a text. We have to stop doing the work for them.

While some of you may be thinking, "we have to teach them something." Yes, you do. But we need to stop teaching reading and start teaching the reader! In a good reading conference, the student should leave wanting to read. Reading is the ice axe to the frozen sea of reluctant readers. But it is not reading then making graphic organizers, it is reading, reflecting on the experience, the emotions, and wanting to tell someone else about what they read. We need to stop trying to do ALL the teaching, but let the BOOKS to the teaching. We have to show our students that reading skills are life skills. We predict what will happen before we make decisions. We notice when people act out from their normal selves like we would notice a character not following their typical behaviors in a book. We visualize places, people and events when someone tells us about a recent trip or experience. I could go on, but I think you get the point. I want to make it clear the the "we" I have used in so many of the sentences above includes me! I have a lot of work to do when I go back to the classroom. But here is what I know- the work ahead will be hard work, but I am not alone. We are a community of learners! I am going to lean on you for advise, see what works or didn't work, or how you organized the classroom environment and you may need to lean on us for guidance, support, answering questions, and just general help in the coming school year.

I believe in Springdale. I believe that we want to do what is best for kids. I believe in helping every kid find their love of reading. We've all heard it said that it takes a village, and in school context, it takes teachers. It takes administrators. It takes parents. It takes an entire school community. I believe in Springdale.