Focusing on Assessment: So What Do They Really Know?

I am going to wrap up my Focusing on Assessment series of blog posts with a review of Cris Tovani's So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning. Tovani's voice captured my interest in 2006 when my mentor gave me a copy of her I Read It, But I Don't Get It.  Needless to say, I was very excited to hear that she had another book coming out!

Once again, her voice resonated with me throughout the book. While reading, it is easy to tell that she is a master teacher who thinks reflectively about her teaching throughout the years. I appreciate that she doesn't buckle to the pressure to do certain aspects exactly the same as some of her colleagues, but rather, she takes criticism/suggestions as something to reflect about and consider what is truly the best for her students.

Tovani started out the book talking about the current context of education and views of assessment. She also provided some thought provoking scenarios to consider the question stated in the title. This was a nice way to frame the rest of the text. Then she continued on to highlight how she uses assessment in her classroom, as well as providing insights into the journey that led up to the decisions she has made about assessments. Her assessment ideas are practical and serve multiple purposes, such as building connections with students, while also considering what instruction they need next the most, reflecting her belief about the connection between assessments and the value in getting to know students. Throughout she provided many examples of her students' actual responses, while providing glimpses into her thought process related to the specific responses. Her writing provides a vivid picture of how her classroom operates.

One of my favorite statements from the book stood out because it closely aligns with how I feel, stating, "Grading. I hate it. As a teacher, it is what I wrestle with most. I know it is one of the necessary evils of the job, but I find myself constantly struggling with issues of management and equity," (p. 129). No matter the grade level, I always "wrestle" with this as well. I was excited to read this chapter toward the end of the book to see how she responds to this struggle. I think that captures well why I love Tovani's writing in general - I can connect with her so much and I look forward to the "conversation" that I will have with her through reading her books, viewing her as a valued mentor.

Happy New Year! Enjoy continuing to think about assessments in 2012!

Focusing on Assessment: Accessible Assessment for Older Grades

Earlier this week I wrote about how much I love the new resource, Accessible Assessment. I mentioned that it is recommended for grades 2-6, but that I would share ideas for using it in 6th-12th grade, as the resource still has a lot to offer for older grades.

Here are a few reasons why the resource is still relevant for older readers:

• The level of reflection that it supports is valuable for teachers at all levels to consider how they can closely examine how mindfully and intentionally they are using (or not using) assessments
• The concept that reading assessments should consider affective, global, and local assessments, rather than a more narrow view is still applicable
• The resource has flexibility to select from their provided assessments or adapt
• The resource provides an excellent framework for planning assessment throughout the year and recording data in a way that is manageable. Even if some aspects with the actual assessments need to be adapted for older grades, the helpful framework is still relevant.

While reading I could tell that some aspects were more appropriate for younger readers; yet, I thought about how that is where adaptation and/or differentiation comes in. For example, many adolescent readers that I have worked with did not need support with phonics, so I would not administer their local assessment related to this area to all students. In fact, even the authors recommend optimal grade levels to administer the assessment, rather than for all grades. Instead, it would be an aspect that I would keep in mind that may impact some of my older readers. When I notice that potential need for further support, then I would have ideas for assessments that may be appropriate. 

Another potential adaptation that I thought of as reading is that the authors provide a Reading Attitude and Identity Survey. It seemed very familiar to another survey that I was familiar with and previously used with my students, Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (Pitcher et al., 2007), which was adapted from Gambrell et. al (1996). Once I double checked the article that talked about the adolescent version, I realized that they were similar because the survey provided in Accessible Assessment was also adapted from Gambrell et. al (1996) as well. Thus, teachers of adolescents who want to use the concept of being more cognizant of affective aspects in their classrooms could use or adapt the AMRP, rather than using the survey provided in the book. However, they could still use the rationale and suggestions of how to organize the data and consider teaching implications from Accessible Assessment.

The grade level reading passages included in Accessible Assessment only provide two passages each for grades 2-5, so this is another area that would need to be adapted for older readers. For the last few years I used QRI in my classroom. It provides a lot of informative information but can also be time-consuming. I had already made decisions, as suggested in the QRI text, in order to decide how I wanted to use the tool since it would be way too time-consuming to use it to its full capabilities with every single student; nonetheless, conducting QRIs still used quite a bit of class time. However, when reading Accessible Assessments, I liked some of their ideas about grade-level passages that aligned with their over-all concept of manageable assessments. Since the passages included with the resource would not be appropriate for most older readers, I would suggest trying out some of their ideas with grade-level passages from other resources. 

Overall, the underlying philosophy and beliefs behind Accessible Assessment, as well as the level of deep conversations that it inspires, transcend a wide range of age groups. This post contains a few of my thoughts on how I would utilize the resource with adolescents. While I pointed out some aspects that would need to be adapted for older students, there were many other ideas that would still be appropriate for older readers without adapting. Many aspects would nicely weave into the conferring portion of reading workshop. I am sure that other secondary teachers would also notice the value and would be able to add valuable contributions to an on-going discussion about assessment at the secondary level.

Articles cited:

Gambrell, L. B., Palmer, B. M., Codling, R. M., & Mazzoni, S. A. (1996). Assessing motivation to read. The Reading Teacher, 49, 518-533.

Pitcher, S. M., Albright, L. K., DeLaney, C. J., Walker, N. T., Seunarinesingh, K., Mogge, S. ... Dunston, P.J. (2007). Assessing adolescents' motivation to read. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(5), 378-396.

Focusing on Assessment: Accessible Assessment

I read Accessible Assessment: How 9 Sensible Techniques Can Power DATA-DRIVEN Reading Instruction in order to consider recommendation for inclusion as a required text for coursework at my university. When I first heard about the text, it captured my attention, seeming like it would be a good fit with the current context of education, including the move toward the Common Core State Standards. It also seemed to recognize the need for assessments that are meaningful and manageable. Furthermore, information I read about the book provided glimpses into the scope of the assessments, ranging from affective, global, and local, an aspect that stood out, knowing that they were not narrowly defining what counts for readers. I knew that I would want to take a close look at this resource because if it was as good as it sounded, it would have so much potential.

The back cover states, "Accessible Assessment isn't like many of today's complex, time-consuming assessment programs. It combines nine informal techniques into a manageable, calendarized framework that makes sense and drives highly targeted, differentiated instruction." Once I started reading, it was easy to see that the back cover provided a very accurate description.

Another asset of the text is the strong underlying layers of support for rich discussions. Not only did the authors outline their ideas and provide rationales for the inclusion, they provided a framework and encouraged discussions for deep reflection and dialogue. They made it clear that they were not simply "selling" their assessment ideas. For example, they stated, "Users of Accessible Assessment need to keep in mind that they can decide from among the nine assessments provided, from among those they currently use, or from research-based sources to design an assessment protocol that addresses affective, global, and local knowledge" (p. xv).

The introductory section frames the rest of the book by explaining their literacy beliefs and discussing four essential questions that they bring up while discussing each of the assessments throughout the text. They also provided a strong rationale for why they think the recommended assessments can have a positive impact on teachers and students, as well as an example of how one teacher could utilize the book, modeling the active participation involved in the assessment process, rather than approaching the resource with a receptive approach.

Following the introduction, the authors detail each of the assessments in a very user-friendly, organized fashion, divided by the three types of assessments (affective, global, and local). For each individual assessment within the three sections, the authors started with their four essential questions that not only scaffold reflective teaching but also provide a rationale for the assessment. Then they provide support materials (when applicable) and clear descriptions of the assessments, as well as suggestions for how to use the data. Each of the instructional implications sections highlighted whole-group instruction, small-group reading, independent reading, and cross-content suggestions. In addition, they provided specific examples of how to make the concepts present in the classroom. The end of each section was one of my favorites - teacher and student self-assessment, yet another layer to support continual development of capacity.

The end of the book includes further explanation of the assessment beliefs that drove their decision making process while creating this resource, drawing from research and experience. The following statement caught my attention, "The beliefs are an out-growth of our combined eighty years of experiences that span teaching and assessing reading in grade levels and content areas from kindergarten through college, and with both novice and veteran teachers," (p. 153).

The more I read, the more I loved it and recognized the value of the resource for a range of scenarios: higher education coursework, mentoring, teaching, summer literacy camps, etc. Though the text is marketed for grades 2-6, many of the assessments would still be relevant for older students. I will write a future post about what I would recommend for 6th-12th grade teachers. Their range of experiences (highlighted in the paragraph above) are very present in the text making it truly beneficial for educators in a variety of positions and at different stages in their careers. I will be recommending the text to the director at the school where I taught the last three years and to my department for inclusion in course(s).

Focusing on Assessment: The Hook Behind the Resources

I started this post intending to write about Accessible Assessment after talking a little bit about a common thread between it and So What Do They Really Know? Yet, I realized that my writing was going in another direction. I still had more to say about just why the types of assessments we use are so vital and as a result, why both of these texts hooked me because of their close alignment to my literacy beliefs.

The current context of education definitely has a sharp focus on data and assessment, yet I am at times worried with the type of assessments that are valued and the decisions that educators make about students based on limited data and/or without considering the full student. I know that at times teachers are not allowed to control some of the decision making process, and depending on the context, they may fall anywhere on a spectrum ranging from feeling like they are treated like a technician to feeling like a professional. Yet, I still have strong beliefs that regardless of where teachers encounter themselves, the more they understand about assessment and data the better, allowing them to carefully analyze expectations and practice in order to improve as a practitioner.

My dissertation in progress is a narrative inquiry, so I have been closely analyzing and considering my personal teaching experiences including both ends of the spectrum. My third year teaching, I was in a context where I mainly taught sixth graders with scripted reading instruction with strict expectations to follow the curriculum with fidelity, leaving little room for implementing other aspects that I highly valued.

At the time I was completing a practicum for my reading endorsement, and revisiting my practicum journal has reminded me just how conflicted I felt. The way that I taught that year clashed with my personal literacy philosophy, yet I did not necessarily feel confident that I "had all the answers". I knew what I would do if given the flexibility, but I also knew that along with that, I would need to have a supportive environment that would allow for space to build capacity over time.

During that year, placements were made primarily on measures of oral reading "fluency" (narrowly defined as speed) and in-program placement tests. I knew the needs of students in my classes were very different, and Marsha Riddle Buly influenced this thought process the summer prior when she taught a course that I attended while on exchange to Mexico. She shared articles* that she had written about findings from a study she and a colleague conducted about the varied needs of students who did not meet state assessments in Washington.

Experiences with one parent in particular stand out from that year - a parent who wanted answers, wanted to know what her child truly needed to grow as a reader. She checked in with me, as well as a couple of school leaders. I did not feel that she received the information she needed to know, a true diagnostic assessment. I was able to notice a lot about her in class, but the program and in-program assessments did not really get at the big picture, and I was told to focus on instruction. However, I knew that diagnostics and instruction were intertwined. This was an area where I would want to continually grow, and I knew that in order to truly understand my students' needs and have the flexibility to adapt instruction to tailor to those needs, I needed to look for a new position.

The few years after I had the opportunity to continually build on my base of knowledge and teach in a way that aligned with all those thoughts of how I would respond to student needs if I was not bound to a scripted program. I became familiar with a wider range of assessments and data, some more helpful than others and some easier than others to manage time-wise.

Based on my experiences, that is why as I read Accessible Assessment and So What Do They Really Know? the authors' assessment philosophies stood out so much. With those thoughts in mind, I think I will be ready to continue on with a look at each of these resources in my next posts.

*References for Riddle Buly articles.
Riddle Buly, M., & Valencia, S. W. (2002). Below the bar: Profiles of students who fail state reading assessments. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(3), 219-239.

Valencia, S. W., & Riddle Buly, M. (2004). Behind test scores: What struggling readers really need. The Reading Teacher, 57(6), 520-531.

Focusing on Assessment: What Really Matters?

Last week I mentioned that I would be doing a series of posts Focusing on Assessment, including thoughts about two books I just read, Accessible Assessment and So What Do They Really Know? In the next couple of days I will talk about each of these resources separately, but first I wanted to highlight one aspect that stood out right away as I was reading each of the books. Throughout the resources the intentionality behind assessments and the recognition that not all assessments and data are equally helpful for teachers was ever-present. All of the authors advocated for helpful assessments, those assessments that can truly provide teachers with data to inform instruction. 

As an educator, when reading resources, it is essential to see that the authors have an understanding of the current context of teaching and of the demands on teachers' times. The authors of both books did so. The resources were distinct, yet they had that common thread of strong convictions about why assessment is necessary and the types of assessments that they value. Ideas did not represent a narrow definition of assessment, but rather a clear understanding of various factors that teachers must consider in order to really know their students and their needs. 

Focusing on Assessment Series

Winter break is always a chance to catch my breath and to deeply reflect. This winter break I am reading different books, but a couple of the books that I am reading focus on assessment. I thought it was a perfect time of year to have a series on my blog centering around assessment.

For the last few years winter break was a time for me to read and assess writing work samples in English and in Spanish (1 in each language for each of my students). It was always time consuming to say the least, but I always loved the process because it gave me a chance to really notice and reflect on the writing in front of me, as well as what I knew about the students and insights into them as writers and readers from classroom interactions.

This year with my position in teacher preparation, I don't have any assignments to correct over the break since the term ended. Instead, I am enjoying reading, writing, and reflecting.

In this series, I will specifically focus on the following two books:

Accessible Assessment: How 9 Sensible Techniques Can Power DATA-DRIVEN Reading Instruction

So What Do They Really Know?: Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning

Deeper Reading

From the time I read Kelly Gallagher's Readicide, I knew that he was an educator whose writing would always catch my attention. It was a pleasure to finally read another of his books, Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12, and I am excited that I have a couple more of his books waiting to be read because once again I loved Gallagher's voice.

Last year, a colleague and I talked frequently about moving students toward a deeper level of understanding. As such, I closely connected with concepts I read about in Comprehension Going Forward this summer. As the title implies, Gallagher's book is another great contribution to an on-going conversation about moving beyond surface-level comprehension.

At the start of the book, he discusses baseball as a metaphor for the way that adolescents read. Drawing from experiences with his daughters, comparing their understanding of the game to his own, as well as watching them develop their knowledge-base over time, Gallagher made connections to adolescents as readers. Referring to his daughters and baseball, he stated, "They now read the game at a fairly sophisticated level, but they were taught how to do so. They did not acquire their skill spontaneously or randomly," (p. 3). The book continued on to explore implications for teachers to scaffold the way students read.

Published in 2004, this is one of Gallagher's earlier books; however, it is still highly relevant. While reading, I frequently thought about current discussion about the CCSS emphasizing a need for deep understanding. Gallagher's book is a blend of anecdotes, rationales for needs, and strategies to address needs. He explains each of the strategies and provides specific examples of many. It is evident that his suggestions are based on close-observation of students and intentional teaching over time. I have frequent notes in the margin of how I will implement his suggestions.

It felt great to finally read a professional development book for pleasure again. This break I am looking forward to reading more of the books that I have been wanting to read for  a long time.

Teacher Educator: Who I Am

This fall I did a lot of reflecting about who I am as an educator when I am not teaching in the context of middle school reading and writing workshop. It took a lot of reflecting to consider the type of teaching that I would do. I considered how other professors taught the content, and as such their course syllabi and assignments served as mentor texts. I was considering how to shift to a new teaching context and still have my teaching and learning philosophy present in my practice.

It is not like I never taught other content areas. I had taught ESL, Spanish, a 6th grade self-contained classroom, social studies, and a couple of adjunct teacher preparation courses... It was just that for the last year I had been so absorbed in workshop teaching, that it took me a while to zoom back out and closely consider who I would be as a teacher educator. I knew what I loved about teaching middle schoolers, especially with reading and writing. I knew from a course that I taught last spring that there were certain components that I loved with my middle schoolers that were present with adults, such as interacting/discussing content. I knew that one main role as a teacher educator was to frequently model various teaching practices, and to allow pre-service teachers space to construct their own understandings of who they want to be as teachers.

Thus, though I knew certain aspects at the onset, I still was not quite sure about others. I worried about aspects that I would miss. Nonetheless, over the course of this fall term, I realized that there are more aspects that transfer over to my current position than I had originally anticipated. Here were some of my realizations:

• Pre-service teachers can still use support with writing. There is a place for writer's workshop. Winter term I am excited to scaffold a couple of research paper assignments by utilizing workshop philosophy. Inspired by Penny Kittle, I will guide students through examining mentors of product, and I will write with my students as a mentor of process. 
• Along the same lines, students need support in other areas, such as content area reading. At the start of the course, I was thinking that reading books from my favorite education publishers focusing on k-12 education would be more of a special treat, an avenue to support k-12 teachers or to consider how I could have improved what I did as a teacher. However, I did not think they would be as highly relevant to my position in higher education. I thought I would really miss that excitement of reading and seeing ideas that would immediately apply to my practice. Yet, once again, to my delight I realized that many of the ideas did still apply. As I am finally getting a chance to read more professional development books for pleasure again, I am realizing that the texts serve to inform my practice, as well as providing ideas to share with students to supplement course texts. 
• Just because my students are adults now, and not middle schoolers, doesn't mean that they have everything all figured out. Some still need support in balancing various aspects of life and to have effective time management. Others need support in dealing with stress. Teacher-student connections are still highly important. There is a need to get to know students and to understand their strengths and areas for growth.

As I look at my list of realizations, I think, Of course that would be the case. I am not sure why I did not think of these aspects from the onset. Nonetheless, I have been glad to notice there are more constants in education of different age levels than I had initially realized. I started the year excited for a new opportunity to stretch myself as an educators, to learn and to grow. Yet, I was also worried that I might miss my regular teaching position too much.

The initial disconnect that I felt between who I was and who I was becoming as an educator was evident in the lack of blogging throughout the fall. I thought about how for so long my blog had narrowed in on workshop teaching, that I was not sure if my new experiences were relevant to this specific blog. As I have noticed more connections, I am realizing that indeed they are. 

I look forward to reading more professional development books, as well as blogging more regularly about my current experiences.

Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards

When I saw that NCTE had a new series of books focusing on implementation of the Common Core State Standards at different grade levels, I could not wait to read the middle school edition. Tonya Perry with Rebecca Manery wrote Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards: English Language Arts Grade 6-8. I appreciated that the authors emphasized the language in the standards highlighting the intent for the CCSS to provide guidance in what to teach while educators can still determine how to teach it. In contrast to other resources that appear to be disseminating their ideas as the way to implement the standards, this book provided a range of scenarios and contexts.

In the introduction, series editor Anne Ruggles Gere stated, "Regardless of teacher responses, the CCSS are now part of the educational landscape. But these standards do not replace the principles that guide good teaching. Some things remain constant regardless of new mandates. [...] This book is designed to support you in meeting the challenges posed by the CCSS. It stands on the principle that standards do not mean standardization or a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching," (pp. 2-3). These thoughts encompass well what we cannot forget as CCSS implementation rolls out. We should all play a role in considering whether implementations closely examine individual contexts or whether they simply try to seek the answer in how to implement the standards.

Before highlighting implementation scenarios, the book starts with a chapter titled "Demystifying the Common Core State Standards." Last week I was sharing the book in one of my literacy classes because I read it as part of my final project. A colleague stated that a diagram provided was the best she had seen in order to illustrate the set-up of the ELA standards. The question/answer format of the chapter also appealed to her.

In the section sharing how different schools have started to discuss and integrate the standards into their classrooms, the examples are coupled with questions/exercises to prompt other educators/schools to interpret the CCSS and consider their own contexts.

An excerpt from the final section of the book, Building, illustrates once again the emphasis of the text, "[...] building with the CCSS in mind does not mean checking boxes for individual standards; it means integrating a careful examination of the CCSS with the contexts and practices of our classrooms, always putting students at the center," (p. 68).

I thoroughly enjoyed the voice and tone of this book and would be excited to read the others in the series.

Adolescent Literacy at Risk?

I originally checked Rebecca Bowers Sipe's Adolescent Literacy at Risk? The Impact of Standards out from the library, in an attempt to not spend as much money on books; however, I quickly realized that I would want my own copy. I already have others in the NCTE Principles in Practice Adolescent Literacy series, and similar to those I already had, this book was thought-provoking and an important voice to add to the discussion on the current context of adolescent literacy.

When one of my professors saw the title, he was worried that the book might be too skewed against standards, rather than a balanced view. I explained to him that it actually was not. Far from it, Sipe provided a knowledgeable voice sharing her rich experiences with and historical information about the standards movement. While she discusses a range of standards, one large focus in the book outlined her experiences co-authoring Michigan's English standards and then seeing implementation into classrooms.

While reading the book, I thought about how standards in and of themselves are not necessarily good or bad, but rather the process involved with implementation is vital. This will be key to keep in mind with the Common Core State Standards. As educators we need to advocate for dialogues about how to implement the standards into our contexts with a close eye on our students needs, rather than seeking one-size-fits-all solutions.

Here are some quotes that stood out to me from the text:

"As standards came to represent high expectations, it became increasingly clear that for higher standards to succeed, we could never entertain notions of standardization in our interpretation or delivery of them," (p. 11).

"The movement to more finite descriptions was intended to offer teachers of definition of what should be considered across a program of study, not a prescription for what had to happen in a particular unit of instruction. This is an important distinction, and one we felt strongly about. Standards, not standardization, drove our work," (p. 32).

"To our frustration, the message that was so central to our work--local development of curriculum based in these inclusive standards--has gotten somewhat lost along the way," (p. 33).

"Standards provide a definition of what is possible, but standards are not curriculum documents," (p. 41).

"If standards are to achieve even a portion of their early promise--and I still believe this is possible--educators everywhere must consider carefully the role of standards in curricular planning, and collectively we must avoid being bogged down in an assembly line approach to covering expectations that fails to fully account for organic and fluid instruction that good teaching represents," (p. 43).

These are just a handful of excerpts that caught my attention while reading that are even more powerful when read in context of the whole book. Throughout the text Sipe emphasized the need for dialogue.

We can all ask ourselves:

What am I doing to influence the way in which Common Core State Standards are implemented at my school/in my community?

Thinking About Standards

Standards have been on my mind a lot lately, as I am sure they have been a topic of consideration for many educators. I started my teaching career shortly after NCLB was enacted, so my whole career has been during the context of standards-based reform. When I first saw the CCSS document for English Language Arts, I was not that concerned because of the emphasis of the standards providing what to teach, without dictating how to teach it. I could see how they could still align with the workshop philosophy, as well as appreciating the shift toward an emphasis on higher levels of critical thinking. I could also recognize advantages of collaboration among states.

Yet, I started to hear diverse perspectives on the Common Core and questions of whether or not it was really a step in the right direction. I also heard criticisms of professional organizations such as NCTE for accepting the standards too quickly without putting up a fight against them. One person in particular was a   name that I have known since my undergraduate ESL/bilingual education courses, someone who was regarded as one of the "big names" and who I highly respect, so it gave me even more pause and careful consideration.

However, over time I have realized that I tend to agree with NCTE's rebuttal that they recognize the standards are not going away completely and that as an organization one of their roles is to support teachers with the transition. I appreciate that they are prompting dialogue and considering how teachers can participate in the process of thinking about implementation. I also recognize that they have played a role in voicing concerns, both through the process to provide feedback and through their recent Resolution on Challenging Current Education Policy and Affirming Literacy Educators' Expertise.

Recently, I read two NCTE books related to standards, Adolescent Literacy at Risk?: The Impact of Standards and Supporting Students in a Time of Common Core Standards: English Language Arts Grades 6-8. I will post about both of them separately soon, but one of the main aspects that stood out about them was the dedication to treating teachers as professionals, just as the resolution mentioned above also highlights.

Fall Update

This fall I have been finding my bearings in a new context - a one year sabbatical replacement position teaching undergraduate teacher education courses. I have many of the same students in the three courses that I am teaching because of the cohort model at our university. I really enjoy the close-knit community of learners since for the past three years I have been in an educational context that valued the sense of collaboration and community in a k-8 setting.

I co-presented at my first national conference along with two of my colleagues, sharing research on recruiting and retaining teachers in rural areas with implications for administrators and teacher preparation programs. A nice bonus was that the conference was held on the coast of South Carolina, being able to intermix conference sessions with walking along the beach reflecting (and experiencing the wonder and joy of learning about something new - horseshoe crabs).

I have also been attending classes for my doctoral degree - one on large scale literacy assessments and another on quantitative research, along with working on the preliminary stages of my dissertation. Considering the Common Core and the implications it has for teaching has also been on my mind a lot lately as well.

Needless to say, I have been thinking and reflecting a lot this fall. I have missed blogging, but I am also working through what to blog about. For so long I have been blogging about teaching reading and writing, areas that I am still passionate about, but this fall my work has had a different focus. I am looking forward to winter term when I will be teaching some literacy courses, such as Children's Lit and Emergent Literacy.

As educators, it is interesting to consider how our identities are shaped over time by our contexts and experiences. I hope to blog on more consistently once again in the upcoming months.

Stenhouse E-Books

I have been seeing so many new Stenhouse books that I can't wait to read. I have held off from purchasing for a while because my reading for pleasure has been really limited with my new teaching position and doctoral studies; yet, I couldn't resist any longer. Today I ordered five Stenhouse books - mostly new, but a couple of older books. Whenever time permits, I can't wait to read them. It's hard to decide which to read first!

When ordering, I decided to try out the new E-book option that Stenhouse offers. Once purchasing, it was a quick process to click on the link to download to my computer as a PDF and then transfer them onto my Kindle. The only drawback that I have noticed is that on my Kindle the font is really small, showing a page at a time on the smaller sized Kindle screen. It does have the option to enlarge the text, but it is not like regular Kindle books, instead it zooms in on a part of the page and you have to scroll around to view the rest of the page, rather than just being able to click from page to page. I'm not sure if I will be able to actually read them on my Kindle or if I will end up reading them right on my computer. It will all depend on whether I can handle the small font because I know for sure that I will not be scrolling back and forth! I am thinking that it might work better with an iPad though because of the larger screen.

Either way, I am really excited about the books I ordered. I bought three of the books because they are by authors that I absolutely love: Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This, Cris Tovani's So What Do They Really Know?, and Jennifer Allen's Becoming a Literacy Leader. Later this fall, I will definitely be getting Jeff Anderson's 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know when it is available.

Then I bought a couple of other books that captured my attention - Kassia Omohundro Wedekind's Math Exchanges and Mentoring Beginning Teachers by Jean Boreen, Mary K. Johnson, Donna Niday, and Joe Potts.

So much to look forward to...

What professional books would you like to read?

Celebrating Educators Update

When I started the Celebrating Educators series, I had hoped to have regular posts for a while; however, many educators are already stretched thin with various commitments and responsibilities, making it hard to write guest posts.

Nonetheless, I have been seeing examples of "Celebrating Educators" throughout various blogs, the NCTE listserv updates that frequently have teachers sharing their stories, and in the title of IRA's annual convention in the spring titled Celebrating Teaching.

Educators are working hard every day to make a difference in a range of levels - for individuals, classrooms, schools, districts... I continue to frequently feel energized and inspired by others in the field!

Remembering the Positive

This week was parent-teacher conferences, and the conference for my kindergartener really had me thinking about how much power teachers have in setting the tone in conferences and day to day life in the classroom. My daughter absolutely loves school. She could hardly wait to go to her conference, and she said, "I miss my teacher so much," as we were getting into the car.

Fall conferences are for going over goals, and my daughter's teacher had asked her what she thought she needed to work on in preparation for the conferences. However, before going straight to areas of improvement, her teacher remembered how vital it is to start with positives. I know that my daughter might not have understood every word her teacher said to us in English and Spanish during the conference but like Mari in Painted Words, I knew that she would be able to tell by the excitement in her voice and expressions that she was saying something positive about her. As such, my daughter kept on smiling and smiling.

Yes, we talked about areas to work on in the conference and about her current academic progress, but the tone continued to feel the same - supportive and a sense that she likes my daughter for who she is. My daughter left just as energized as when she walked through the door. At no point did it feel like negative, negative, negative...

The day after conferences I was reading through assignments that my pre-service teachers submitted when I came across a reading buddy assignment where students were supposed to discuss where they think their reading buddy falls on TESOL and state English Language Proficiency standards. I started to read one that had a paragraph starting out with the reading buddy's personality and highlighting the positives about her as a person before moving on to talk about language proficiency in different domains. This was not part of the requirement, yet, she included it anyway, and I thought, That's going to make all the difference in her interactions with kids and families.

Workshop Technology

My colleagues have been providing positive feedback about implementing workshop philosophy into their classrooms this year at the k-8 levels. The last couple of years I thought that an iPad might be perfect for conferring anecdotal records. An iPod Touch was too small and at times a laptop was too cumbersome. I was thrilled to find out that the teachers were going to get iPads, and shortly after I found out I heard about the Confer App from Jen Munnerlyn. I couldn't get my email open fast enough to share the idea with the teachers.

So much potential...

Teachers were also excited about the paper versions of Fountas and Pinnell's Prompting Guides in English and Spanish. One teacher realized that both are available through the App store as well (English and Spanish). I instantly loved the idea knowing that rather than carrying around the prompting guide teachers would be able to utilize the iPad both to record notes and access the prompting guide when needed. The school will still have the paper copies for instructional assistants who do not have access to iPads. With technology there is always so much to explore.

Celebrating Educators Recap and Reflections

Each week of Celebrating Educators has inspired me and gave me a lot to reflect on. I wanted to reflect on some of the many lines that stood out to me from the first three posts.

"I loved every minute of my time at Lewis and Clark College and read the writing of so many people who helped me understand this complex thing called teaching." - Penny Kittle
*One of my most favorite aspects of going back to school for an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction was the chance to learn alongside other professionals from the student side. Prior to starting my program, I had been narrowing in on my specific school and content area, and it has been so enriching to maintain that focus while also zooming back out to broader issues in education. Through reading, writing, and discussing, we learn so much!


"Today I keep a notebook and write in it most days, I read like a wolf eats, as Gary Paulson says, and I still love teaching." - Penny Kittle
*Penny Kittle always has powerful statements that energize me as a teacher.


"For me, this career has been about risk taking and reflection. I have been given opportunities and I often didn't think I knew enough to take them, but I did. I learned along the way, challenging myself to read and think about this work in complex ways and never settle for less than reaching every student. Teachers are powerful. I work every day to use that power well." - Penny Kittle
*This year is about taking risk for me, as well as an opportunity to really reflect on my career as an educator so far. It's never easy to step outside of our comfort zones, but I love Penny's positive attitude toward learning from new contexts.

"While this is accurate, telling the story in this manner does not describe the joys that I find in being an educator; new experiences are available to me as both a teacher and learner, so long as I'm willing to avail myself of them." - Troy Hicks
*Troy Hicks reminded me of the role of being a teacher and a learner, as well as focusing on ourselves as writers in order to be a better teacher of writing. I have enjoyed writing more than ever in the last couple of years and utilize the concepts I have taught my students to continually develop as a writer myself as well. This statement also reminded me of how there is always so much more beyond the surface level with teaching, so much rich description.


"Writing has the power to change lives [...] We teach kids to become writers, and in doing so we teach them to become themselves." - Troy Hicks
*The power of writing never fails to amaze me - so much potential. Being able to experience writing alongside my students and to watch them make sense of their worlds through writing has been fascinating and so fulfilling. 


"When I view myself as a leader, I can only see myself in relation to those colleagues that surround me. As I do what I can to teach them, to inspire them, and to help them become better teachers, I become a better teacher myself." - Troy Hicks
*I have been lucky to be surrounded with inspiring colleagues throughout my teaching career. Being able to collaborate within my school, on-line, or in classrooms is always energizing.

"There really weren’t many reading teachers around then.  And there had never been a program before for the 7^th graders to have a reading class, thus there was no curriculum for me to follow. Nothing." - Pat Johnson
*This quote reminds me that so much of being an educator entails being determined and motivated to consider what we know in relation to our present contexts and then go through many cycles of reflection and discussion in order to continually build our capacities as teachers with a sharp focus on students and their needs. There's rarely (if ever) easy answers. Yet, it is essential to allow for this time to grow and develop, rather than pushing for an emphasis on programs vs. teachers as professionals.


"I ran a tutoring clinic in my home, and I taught myself a lot about teaching kids to read by watching one kid at a time." - Pat Johnson
*One kid at a time - I have learned so much as a parent being able to closely observe my girls and their literacy development. It informs me as a teacher, as well as my students helping me grow as a parent. I love the range of data sources available through writer's workshop - conferring, comments in discussions, writing samples... So much to learn from each individual student.


"Because I know it’s NOT possible for every person to get trained in Reading Recovery, I constantly think,  “How can I help? What is it from my new understandings that I could share with other teachers?” And each year since then – through all my series of workshops at schools, through my LLG (Literacy Learning Groups that I did with Title I teachers for 3 years), through my graduate classes at George Mason University, through my two books (One Child at a Time and Catching Readers Before They Fall) – each year I try to find ways to say it better." -Pat Johnson
*Once again, the vital role of collaboration comes through. Each of us has the power to contribute to a collective discussion and understanding about content, students, and teaching. I love Pat's wording focusing on constant refining.

As educators we are on a constant journey. Where will it take us next? 

Celebrating Educators: Pat Johnson

Pat Johnson and Katie Keier's Catching Readers Before They Fall was released at a perfect time last year as I was trying to learn more about supporting my daughter's reading development. Since Johnson is a Reading Recovery-trained teacher and often mentioned her experiences and learning as a result of it, the book also piqued my interest about Reading Recovery. When I heard that the two authors had a blog by the same name as their book, I instantly added it to my blog roll so that I would make sure to check in with each new post. I always learn so much from their thought provoking posts. I am pleased to have Pat Johnson as the third guest writer for the Celebrating Educators series, sharing about passion in education. I love that her post gives glimpses into the recent history of literacy in the United States. 

While searching the newspaper one day for an obituary of someone I knew, I accidently came across this one of a woman musician who had lived in Washington, D. C. The woman played the harpsichord, the violin, and jazz piano.  Here’s part of what it said about her, “Her passion was teaching music to young children, toddlers and kindergartners. She was affectionately known as Ms. Mara, the Music Lady. Her pupils danced to the Gypsy Kings, learned about new instruments and sang nursery rhymes.”  Her passion…I loved that.  I loved the way she combined her two passions of teaching young children and music.

That idea of PASSION really spoke to me.  I’m worried about where all the passion for teaching has gone these days.  I see so much discouragement, frustration, or just plain lack of excitement about teaching. New teachers are leaving the profession by an alarming rate.  Whether the cause is the testing craziness, or the leveling frenzy, or the national standards, or the overwhelming curriculum – whatever the reason for it, I thought I’d write about passion in hopes of bringing some of it back. 

I have had ONE PASSION for the past 13 years.  And that is… to help and support as many teachers as I can to learn about a reading processing system so that they can better understand how to support the struggling readers in their classrooms.   But this hasn’t always been my passion.  In fact, maybe it takes a large part of your career to come to your own passion clearly.  So take a walk down Memory Lane with me, if you will, and although I’ll write mostly about my own journey it may still ring true for what’s been going on around the country.

I graduated from Douglass College, part of Rutgers University in NJ in 1972.  At that time there were about a gazillion baby boomers also graduating college and many of them were teachers.  Alas, there were no jobs.  AND to make things worse, my degree was in teaching English, k-12, not a degree for elementary school. I landed up taking a job as a 7^th grade Reading Teacher in a Junior High an hour from my home. 

There really weren’t many reading teachers around then.  And there had never been a program before for the 7^th graders to have a reading class, thus there was no curriculum for me to follow. Nothing.  They had an English teacher – who did grammar teaching, diagramming sentences, and the 5 paragraph essay – but the school was finding that many of the kids were not strong readers.  The principal asked me to sign up for a Reading class at a local university graduate program and when I agreed, I got the job. That’s how I accidently began going for a masters degree to become a reading specialist. 

 At the junior high I had 6 classes a day with 30 students in each class, and there was quite a range of reading ability in every group.  I was handed some workbooks that included pages on synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, prefixes, suffixes, main idea, draw conclusions, fact and opinion, and so on.

I had no idea what to teach, and I soon discovered neither did anyone else.  I went across the hall one day and asked the English teacher (who had been teaching for about half a century), “Is there something else I should be doing besides these workbooks?” She proceeded to explain to me about long and short vowels and suggested I might start there.

Somehow I didn’t think that was what these kids needed.  I kept thinking, “Hmmmm…. a reading class…maybe they should be reading! Reading real books!” I asked the principal for a little more money and bought tons of paperback books. I remember one was Sounder and another was Mr. and Mrs. Bojo Jones – (about teenage pregnancy, believe it or not.)  I found a book called “Hooked on Books” published in 1969 (instead of hooked on phonics). I set up, as best I could, an individualized reading program. I spent that year trying to get kids turned onto reading.  

Was my eye on struggling readers yet?  

Not really.  If I had a passion at all back then it was about surviving each day.  And for any of you who are brand new teachers I’m sure you can relate! 

My next three years followed along a similar path. I had moved to the DC area, got a job teaching 6^th graders this time. Six classes a day, thirty kids in each, a range of abilities once again.

 My memories of my first 4 years of teaching were not very happy ones.  I barely survived each day.  Discouraged by my chosen career I decided to stay home when my first child was born. I stayed home for 8 years until my youngest was in first grade.  I still had a passion for teaching, but I wanted to be good at it.  I didn’t just want to go through the motions of giving assignments, marking papers, and giving grades. While I was home I did two things. First, I finished up my Masters in Reading and while doing so I read all kinds of professional books about teaching reading.  Secondly, I ran a tutoring clinic in my home, and I taught myself a lot about teaching kids to read by watching one kid at a time.  In my clinic I kept getting  younger and younger students– and loving it.  And I knew, when I went back to work, I was going back to elementary school.  I had found my niche.

Along comes the 1985 school year, we were living in VA, and I landed my first job as a Reading Specialist in an elementary school. That was right around the time that Don Graves published his book Writing:  Children and Teachers at Work.  Reading teachers were busy helping classroom teachers develop authentic writing workshops.  It was a most exciting time to be a young reading teacher because we were among the ones trying to figure it all out. And we were doing it WITHOUT the help that exists today.  We had none of the work of Ralph Fletcher, Katie Wood Ray, Carl Anderson, or Georgia Heard.  The Lucy Calkins kits didn’t exist and Giacobbe and Horn had not done their work with writing in kindergarten yet. We only had Graves, Lucy Calkins, and Shelley Harwayne at the very beginnings of their research.  (And of course, Nancie Atwell’s In the Middle.) Their work was brand new.  But the excitement they shared was invigorating. 

Back then, Don Graves, Lucy Calkins, and Shelley Harwayne were the most inspiring speakers anyone could have heard. I can still hear Graves’ unique voice.  I bet if you closed your eyes some of you can too. And we are all so sorry he’s no longer with us.  But we were so lucky to work in this big county of Fairfax, Virginia, because they could afford to bring these speakers in.  I heard Don, Lucy, and Shelley speak many times.  And afterwards I’d go out to dinner with friends and we’d be so fired up.  We couldn’t wait to get back to classrooms to help teachers with new ideas.  It was all so new and classroom teachers had so many questions.  Now don’t get me wrong.  Many times we bumped up against resistance --- teachers who wanted to hold onto their grammar books and spelling books and not do writing workshop at all.  It was a challenge, but we welcomed it.  We had a passion for all this new understanding. 

 So was my eye on struggling readers yet?  

No, I was very busy with writing workshops! And besides that, the schools I worked at had Title I Reading Teachers who were in charge of teaching all the struggling readers. (Isn’t it interesting how easy it is to say that struggling readers are someone else’s job?)

What was going on in reading at that time, in the mid 80’s and early 90’s?  Well first off there was the appearance of Big Books and Shared Reading in primary grades.  All of that was based on the work of Don Holdaway.  But, again, schools didn’t have the wealth of wonderful Big Books to choose from that exist today.  Each school was lucky if they had 10-12 to share among many classrooms.

Also, in reading, the Whole Language approach to reading and writing was taking shape in classrooms in my county and all across the country. Ken and Yetta Goodman, Frank Smith, Regie Routman and several others helped Whole Language to flourish in the U.S.  Teachers began moving away from only using a basal, to using real books in the classrooms.  I read children’s literature like there was no tomorrow. I was passionate about Whole Language because it came with an aspect of ‘turning kids on’ to books and into lifelong readers, writers, and learners. Whole Language pushed for bringing enjoyment of reading into classrooms and encouraged teachers to support children as they made their own choices, as they read authentic texts instead of basals and workbook pages, and as kids wrote for real purposes.  And it was fun!!!

There was no talk of Guided Reading yet, no Interactive Writing, and no leveled sets of books in classrooms. Because teachers wanted to know how to work with kids who were reading their own books, my work headed in that direction.  We developed many generic ways to respond to texts – we had response logs and response activities coming out our ears! Perhaps many of you can remember those days.

Was my eye on struggling readers yet? 

 No, but we’re getting closer.  I was reading children’s literature like crazy and I was trying to get teachers to match children to books better as a way of motivating them.  In fact, talk of motivation was big back then, and I’m embarrassed to say I even jumped on the reading incentive bandwagon --- reading for pizzas or ice cream parties and balloon launches.  I quickly realized the error of my ways and saw the problems and the dangers of these incentive programs.  Now I abhor those and want to support children in learning to read for intrinsic purposes. I always remember an article that came out back then titled something like “Are we raising readers, or just fat kids?”

But let’s get back to Whole Language.  I won’t go into the details of the misunderstandings of the WL movement, how the media played a role in destroying it, but soon it became a dirty word in our county and elsewhere.  Whole Language gave way to a Balanced Literacy Approach to reading and writing.  And we began to understand the different contexts of a comprehensive balanced classroom that included Reading Aloud, Shared Demonstrations, Guided Reading, and Independent Reading.  In writing it also meant modeling writing, shared or interactive writing, and independent writing time.

By the time that Balanced Literacy was in full swing, I had moved to a different school in my county and stayed there for seven years.  This school had a very diverse population and we had a much larger group of kids who were struggling with reading.  Fountas and Pinnell’s work was becoming very popular; they had put out their first book about Guided Reading and we were all taking note of how we could actually teach kids in K-2 better.  We knew we needed more early intervention and to give all students a better, stronger start.  We thought,  “Why wait until 3-4 grades when they were totally frustrated and then test them and place them in LD programs?  Wasn’t there something we could do to help more kids, especially in grade 1?”  As an answer, our county implemented a low student/teacher ratio (15:1) in grade one, but required teachers to take a “Beginning reading strategies” class.  The idea behind this was: “You don’t just get less kids.  You have to be doing something different. You have to better meet the needs of individual learners!”  

Around this same time Reading Recovery had also come to the county  (1986) and some reading teachers were getting trained. Our county was actually the second site in the U. S. after Ohio to begin training RR teachers.  When it began it actually snuck in very quietly.  No one knew too much about it. Little by little a few more teachers were trained. I was a bit skeptical about it at first but only because of my ignorance.  The training for it was so intense that those who were trained just didn’t feel like they could share any of it with others who were not trained.  Many of us used to tease that there was a ‘secret handshake’ and only those trained knew it.

But I was reading more and more about guided reading, about early intervention, and about struggling readers needing to build their own reading processing system. I facilitated countless Teachers-as-Readers groups, reading and discussing professional books together, learning more about running records, about guided reading, about leveled texts, about teaching for strategies, and so on. I believed strongly back then as I do now that the way to support teachers is through long-term staff development – slow change over time is the best way.  Eventually, around 1994, I was Reading Recovery trained. Woo Hoo, I got my Reading Recovery tattoo and learned the secret handshake!

All kidding aside, Reading Recovery changed my world!  Now I look back and wonder, “How could I have called myself a reading teacher for those first 12 years if I had never taught a struggling reader to read? I’m not saying every reading has to be Reading Recovery trained, but I am saying that a reading teacher should know how reading works.  A reading teacher should know about reading process. And a reading teacher should be able to share with classroom teachers, ELL teachers, LD teachers, special ed teachers, how to support their struggling readers.

Was my eye on struggling readers now?  

Oh yes… clearly…absolutely.  And I’ve been focused on struggling readers for the past 13 years now. I’ve been an advocate for struggling readers because I’ve made it my mission to reach as many teachers as I can and help them learn about 3 things:

• how a reading processing system works
• what that means for struggling readers
• and how to teach in ways that support struggling readers in building a reading processing system. 

Because I know it’s NOT possible for every person to get trained in Reading Recovery, I constantly think,  “How can I help? What is it from my new understandings that I could share with other teachers?” And each year since then – through all my series of workshops at schools, through my LLG (Literacy Learning Groups that I did with Title I teachers for 3 years), through my graduate classes at George Mason University, through my two books (One Child at a Time and Catching Readers Before They Fall) – each year I try to find ways to say it better.

I hope my journey has stirred up some memories for those of you reading this.  Or I hope that sharing my passion will help you focus on your own personal passion about literacy teaching. 

Workshop Round 2

Recently I found out that other teachers at my school who were not able to attend the summer reading and writing workshop course were interested after hearing everyone else talking about it, so I will be doing a second round of the training in the next couple weeks. We also invited the other teachers from another rural school who had a participant in the summer. The rest of their teachers will also be attending.

During the start of the year preparation days, teachers talked frequently about how excited they were for the workshop ideas. Those who have a partner teacher who they alternate with by week (an English teacher and a Spanish teacher) started talking about what they wanted to implement. Now they are a couple of weeks into the school year, and they are still excited.

They have been able to implement at different ranges, depending on individual classroom time frames and what the students needed most at the start of the year but all have plans for how they are going to continually implement. In addition, they have been telling me about different meetings that they have been having with each other to continually support each other, as well as to troubleshoot. I couldn't be more happy that they are continuing to collaborate.

It is so fulfilling to see their excitement and to hear how the workshop philosophy has been positively impacting their classrooms, just as I have noticed in my classroom. On a professional level, I am excited to have the opportunity to teach another round so close to the first in order to adjust and improve. When I original wrote my reflections, I had no idea that I would have another round so soon.

Celebrating Educators: Troy Hicks

This second installment of Celebrating Educators features Troy Hicks, who I first heard about through his book The Digital Writing Workshop. As I was just starting to explore with technology in education, the book instantly caught my attention. I was so glad to realize that Hicks also has a blog so that I could continue to learn from his insights. 

As a teacher educator, I am proud to work with and for my colleagues. Through workshops and conferences, classroom coaching and conversations over coffee, we have opportunities to collaborate and create, as well as to commiserate and celebrate. We write together, plan together, learn together. And, as I reflect on my journey as an educator at this, the beginning of my 15th year of teaching, I see that my work as a teacher educator has grown out of my continued desire to lead, grow, and change.

The simple story of how I came to be a teacher educator -- currently as an associate professor of English at Central Michigan University and Director of the Chippewa River Writing Project -- appears to be one of linearity: undergraduate English major working at a writing center, student teaching internship at a high school, teaching at a middle school, adjuncting at a community college, returning for graduate school in teacher education, and eventually earning a tenure-track position at a university. While this is accurate, telling the story in this manner does not describe the joys that I find in being an educator; new experiences are available to me as both a teacher and learner, so long as I'm willing to avail myself of them. And all of these experiences are a result of the relationships that I develop with dedicated colleagues. 

In particular, I would like to focus on the relationships that I've developed as a result of participating in the National Writing Project (NWP). When I was an undergraduate, I was aware of the Red Cedar Writing Project that was housed at the Michigan State University Writing Center. I knew the teachers came in each summer for an intensive workshop, and after that they were qualified to lead other professional development events and youth programs. I knew this even as I went out into my teaching, and began my masters degree, and yet I never took the opportunity to come back and participate in an Invitational Summer Institute. 

After a few years in the classroom, and participating in a variety of professional development activities, I was having a conversation with my mentor from the middle school. He knew that I wanted to move beyond my classroom walls and work towards broader goals in education. In the context of a conversation about my future, he winked and smiled while saying, "Troy, you just don't belong here anymore.” After a long mentorship, his witty insight gave me the push that I needed to call my former supervisor at the Writing Center and to reconnect with the Red Cedar Writing Project. I returned to Michigan State University that fall as a doctoral student. 

After participating in my first Summer Institute, I instantly became enamored with the NWP's twin goals of having us become better writers and better teachers of writing. I was able to focus my graduate study and full-time work around professional development opportunities for our local site, as well as the state and national network. I worked with teachers to develop presentations and workshops, shared ideas for integrating technology into their classrooms, and, eventually, in my dissertation study, collaborated with a group of teacher researchers to explore how they represented their work in digital portfolios. Through all these instances, we relied on the NWP model of “teachers teaching teachers” in which we valued and applauded our own knowledge and experiences while also seeking new resources and opportunities. 

As I finished my work at Michigan State and began the job search, one of the questions I was asked when interviewing at Central Michigan University (CMU) was whether or not I would be interested in starting a writing project. Of course, I was, as I had grown to know the teachers with whom I worked not only as colleagues, but as friends. I wanted to provide the same types of opportunities for teachers in the local contexts around CMU, and so I partnered with colleagues in the English department to establish a writing project. This was no small feat, as it required collaborations both inside and outside of the university, including local schools and intermediate school districts. We wrote the grant, were awarded a site, and then the real work began. 

After a great deal of planning, we were able to launch our first summer invitational Institute in 2009, and have, since then, continued to invite teachers to campus each summer to explore the intersections of writing and technology, all the while furthering themselves as writers and teachers of writing. Throughout the school year we meet in a variety of continuity and professional development events, many of which now are led by the teachers themselves with me acting only as an outside coach to help inform and motivate them. Also, I am able to take what I learned to work with writing project teachers and immediate we apply it in my preservice writing methods course, English 315.

At this moment, my professional career has come to a crossroads. Not because I feel it ready for a change necessarily, but because outside forces have acted to cut the funding for NWP and made me question many of the things that I took for granted because of that support I have relied upon for so long. This puts me in a precarious situation as an educator and as a leader in local, state, and national conversations about the teaching of writing. I want to continue doing the same types of good work that we've been doing for many years, and yet I find myself -- like so many other teachers have found themselves during the last year and a half -- feeling increasingly beleaguered and under pressure from a variety of sources inside and outside of school. 

It is difficult for me now to stand in front of a group of preservice teachers and, in good conscience, advise them that they are choosing the right career. I feel guilty about the pay, the status, the burdensome restrictions and supervision placed on teachers. There are times when, sadly, I can no longer try to fight against the monotony of standardized tests, the ever-increasing requirements to become certified, the demands for accountability. I want to tell them that, no, really teaching isn't all that we want to romanticize it to be. 

Yet, as my work with writing project teachers continues, my colleagues remind me that, yes, indeed, these young people are choosing the right career, the right calling. Writing has the power to change lives, and teaching writing offers us opportunities to reach our students in ways that no other content can. As a teacher educator, I know I would not be able to inspire or motivate or encourage my preservice teachers to do the kinds of work that we do inside and outside of class that helps prepare them to become better teachers of writing were not for my relationship with the writing project teachers with whom I collaborate. They remind me of the reasons we teach, and those reasons are the people who sit at the desks in our classrooms each day, not any set of standards or a meaningless test. We teach kids to become writers, and in doing so we teach them to become themselves. 

And so, in reflecting on my journey as a teacher -- and in thinking about the power of personal learning, professional networks, and the visions that I have for education, both broadly as well as in the classrooms that my own children attend -- it is only with continued collaboration and learning that I might move forward. It is possibly trite to say that I love my job, but it is not trite at all to say that I care deeply for the colleagues with whom I work, from rural to urban, K-16, near to far. This is what inspires and motivates me, and makes me want to learn so that I can share my learning with others. 

Recently, I was asked by other faculty members at my university to lead a presentation at a new faculty development workshop. Someone asked me how to become successful and how I collaborate with so many people. My simple advice was this: leadership invites collaboration. When I view myself as a leader, I can only see myself in relation to those colleagues that surround me. As I do what I can to teach them, to inspire them, and to help them become better teachers, I become a better teacher myself. 

I begin teaching next week for the 15th time. I will be proud to work with and for my colleagues each and every day of the coming year, and as they encourage me to keep learning, I will work with them for many years to come. 


*You can read last week's guest post by Penny Kittle here.