My department has a fantastic opportunity to spend tomorrow (and a day in January) working with and learning from Kate Roberts! As a department, we read A Novel Approach and took part in a Twitter chat offered by an area school district during the summer. All of us are coming together tomorrow, and I am so excited for this experience! I have many questions and thoughts that developed after school started this year as a result of this book study.
Here are some links to Kate Robert's literacy sites in case you're interested or want an overview of the book:
Kate and Maggie Literacy Consultant Blog
Kate's Twitter
Kate Roberts Tour of A Novel Approach
Stay tuned for the follow-up of this professional development learning experience!
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
After taking the weekend to reflect on Friday's opportunity, I can safely say: it was better than even I hoped for! The day started off quietly as I took some time to myself to think about my goals for the day (and find the Wifi password in the facility), but once the day got going I started learning and kept learning, which is a great feeling to have!
Kate Roberts' experience, insight, and clear rationale for her decision-making regarding reader's workshop were honest and most importantly useful! Who admits "I am biased about reader's workshop" then makes it a point to support her counterclaim? Who says "I have an answer. I don't know if it's the answer." Kate Roberts does, and that authenticity is something I value.
Sharing her experience as an educator and literacy specialist with an audience well versed in her work, A Novel Approach, allowed this PD opportunity to extend beyond the surface. Questions were asked time and time again that many (perhaps all?) of us in the room had at that exact moment! Roberts' classic, funny teacher style balanced well with the challenges of scheduling whole class novels, book clubs, and free choice reads. Centered around a skills/craft focus in literacy, anchor charts abound, but so does the freedom to create what you need, borrow what you can, and share what you do.
Crafting rapid 15-day units and sharing those with partners granted me permission to fit this into an already busy planning lifestyle. Is time always available when it's needed most? No. So, I'll use the bits of time I have and make the most of it!
What else am/was I struggling with as I shifted away from the whole class novel approach? Here are a few:
- Nervous about conferencing with students about their reading in "the right way"? Rehearse the jargon with a peer.
- Worried about being lost in a sea of post-its? There are organizational options for that.
- Concerned about grades? There are performance lists to help along the way.
- Stressed about the loss of whole class novels? It's ok. I can build our reading community with intention, and the results are likely to be the same, or even better than my previous experience.
- Trying to figure out how to create lessons for small groups while crafting lessons for the whole class? Don't use it as an excuse not to try. The ebb and flow of this dynamic are normal and even fun.
In the end, this learning experience expanded my professional community, granted me permission to be uncomfortable as my teaching grows and changes, but more than that reminded me why I teach. It matters.
Where do I go from here? I am taking qualities from Roberts' A Novel Approach and Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher's 180 Days and merging these complementary texts into my current teaching. Every day, my sophomores read by choice, write with me, and create their own pieces. It may not be perfect or even pretty...yet. But it is pretty great!
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