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What is your song?

2023-02-08T18:10:08-05:00May 12th, 2021|Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary|

by Kim Reynolds

Have you ever heard a song from the past that brings you right back to that very moment in time as if nothing has ever changed? I used to laugh at my parents as an “oldie but goodie” came on the radio causing them to embarrassingly break out into song. This would often lead to stories from their past, some of which brought laughter and others that brought tears. Every time I hear Night Fever by the Bee Gees, I remember sitting on the couch in the living room with my sister watching my parents practice their disco dancing. Yes…they took disco lessons!!! I bet you have found yourself reminiscing about a memorable time in your life as a song quickly takes you back in time.

 

I now find myself doing the same thing with my own kids. I start obnoxiously singing a Whitney Houston or Laura Branigan song that I hear playing in the middle of Target, which often leads to them conveniently losing me in the store. I love using music to “pump up” before a tough meeting or to “wind down” after a challenging day! Music can also be a great way to accompany a much-needed therapeutic cry, which has happened more than normal this year. I have even cleverly set up my playlist to motivate my way through what I think will be an amazing workout on that daunting treadmill. The music makes me feel like I can successfully run a marathon…even it is for only 15 minutes.

 

This brings me to our recent Reading Recovery/Literacy Lessons training class graduation celebration. I have a tradition that I pair music to each teacher based on a funny memory, a challenging experience, or a successful moment. This unexpected part of the evening is not on the agenda and catches everyone by surprise, which makes it even more fun when I break out into song with my well-planned playlist.

 

It has been a challenging year in teaching, but my colleague, Leslie McBane, and I were able to overcome many obstacles that were out of our control to be able to successfully train our teachers. As always, I found comfort in Clay’s words, “The intent is not to find an excuse for the lack of progress, or a label to explain the child’s difficulty, or to state what was thought to be wrong with the child’s past experience at home or at school. The intent is to find a way to get around the roadblock and establish or re-establish accelerated learning.” (Clay, 2016, p. 168). The roadblock that Clay referenced was a doozie this year!! It was rough going, but we did it!!

 

I made it my goal to find the music to represent this unforgettable time in our lives during our recent end-of-year celebration. You can reminisce with me while I take you through my playlist. Cue in the Jaws theme song. As we began our journey this year, we weren’t sure what to anticipate. There was a lot of uncertainty and tentativeness heading into murky waters. Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger helped us to face the fantastic amount of learning, teach the most challenging students during a pandemic, and balance life in general with tremendous strength.

 

This brought me to Human by Christina Perri. As we managed to have school visits (remotely and in-person), teach Behind The Glass lessons via Google Meet, and instruct our students with face masks while maintaining social distance, we all came to realize that we are only human. I wanted the teachers to realize that we have survived amazing odds and we need to celebrate. This leads us to Pharrell Williams’s upbeat song Happy. The teachers’ positive energy, willingness to take on new learning, and flexible attitudes have been essential this year. We can clap and be happy together.

 

At the end of my crazy introduction, I played a song with a memory from this year for each teacher accompanied by my great dance moves! The teachers have overcome many challenges personally and professionally. Luckily the tears and laughter helped us to find a unique perspective and a common experience that will keep our professional and personal bond strong for many years to come.

 

I used music to make my way through the teaching and learning challenges and newfound opportunities of the pandemic. I drove through the roadblocks that Clay referenced with my playlist in hand trying not to hit the potholes of everyday life. I hope you find your song as I cue in mine… Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts. I know that we can find our way together even when the pavement is a little rough. I’ll bring the disco ball.

 

Congratulations to the latest graduates of the Reading Recovery/Literacy Lessons (year 1) teacher training program at The Ohio State University. Pictured above are (back row, left to right) Reading Recovery Teacher Leader Leslie McBane, Kim Myers, Tricia Kucinic, Taylor Kiehl, Melissa Cottrill, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, Kim Reynolds, and (front row, left to right) Renee Klein, Brittany Maynard, & Cheryl Grimm.

 

Kim Reynolds is a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader with Dublin City Schools in Dublin, Ohio. She is also the Reading Recovery and Literacy Lessons Docent, The Ohio State University, and a LitCon presenter.

 

Just Choosing Diverse Books is Not Enough: Let’s Make Curriculum Connections

2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00March 29th, 2021|General Education, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Dr. Towanda Harris

 

I have the great honor of being an adjunct professor for early childhood undergraduate students at a Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) in Georgia. For those who don’t know, HBCUs were established in the United States early in the 19th century to provide undergraduate and graduate-level educational opportunities to Black students that were unwelcome at existing public and private higher education institutions. Years later, they continue to be a source of pride that celebrates and highlights Black excellence from our past, present, and future. That little history lesson should provide enough context for my story.

 

In class, we recently talked about the importance of representation in the curriculum and focused on Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop’s work around “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors.” Dr. Sims-Bishop says, “When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society in which they are a part” (Sims-Bishop, 1990). I asked my students to share their childhood experiences in the classroom around this topic. The experiences ranged from having a great elementary teacher that saw the importance of diverse stories to an elementary teacher that focused heavily on getting through the grade-level curriculum by any means necessary; however, there was one story that I will never forget. After several students shared, she came off of mute and shared a reflection in our virtual setting. She said, “Dr. Harris, I didn’t think about how problematic my experience was until now.” She told the class how she was one of three Black students in a predominately white classroom and how the teacher shared a pretty exciting upcoming project with the class. Each student would publish their book that they would be both the author and illustrator. The student that shared is both motivated and brilliant, so as you can imagine, she said that she quickly began working! The class worked on this project for about three weeks, and it was finally time to share. Each student read their book one by one, proudly sharing the rising action, antagonist, and protagonist while matching the characters’ illustrations as they beamed with pride. It was her turn, and she went page by page, drawing attention to the pictures of her characters and her detailed story to match; however, not one character looked like her. As a matter of fact, all of the characters in everyone’s stories were white. She gasped and paused as our class nodded in agreement about similar experiences that we have had.

 

So, what happened?

 

It’s pretty simple. The students visualized and imagined the examples of stories that they were exposed to throughout the school year. The curriculum took precedence over making authentic connections with students. Planning for authentic reading and writing experiences was overshadowed by the pressure of reading each book title in the curriculum by the end of the year. Don’t get me wrong. Providing opportunities for students to publish their stories is an excellent way to help students connect to their learning but using all parts of the curriculum to help students see themselves in the learning is just as important.

 

The 2018 Diversity in Children’s Books study compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center revealed that there is much more work to do. The latest study showed that there continues to be a misrepresentation of underrepresented communities. In 2018, the dominating characters depicted in children’s books were white (at 50%) and animals (at 27%), and sadly African/African American, Asian Pacific/Asian Pacific American, Latinx, and American Indians/First Nations totaled the rest. The titles included in the very curriculum, that we are using today in our classrooms, are pulling from this same study. We must intentionally choose diverse titles to invite various perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences into our daily learning.

 

So how can we begin this work?

 

I work with teachers across the country to help them rethink planning for literacy instruction with their students. We think about ways to choose the right tools to connect with the most essential piece of the puzzle… our students. Here are some ways that you can begin this work:

 

Swapping Titles- It’s ok, I promise. We can teach about “community helpers” with titles other than the suggested list in a basal program. Don’t get me wrong. Teaching thematic units helps make learning relevant, but if you preview the stories before the unit begins and find that it is a stretch to connect the individuals and experiences to your learners, then let it go. I suggest finding more relevant titles that your students can see themselves in and is more culturally responsive. By being more culturally responsive, you recognize the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1995).

 

Pairing Text- Alright, I hear you, some titles are required to be on the scope and sequence list; however, that does not absolve us from ensuring that we are inclusive in our instruction. Pairing a text with another text with different experiences and perspectives helps our students make connections to the learning. For example, the story “Cinderella” can be paired with “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters” because of their similar plots; students can discuss the lessons that the characters learned while making connections to their own experiences.

 

Short Reads- Try sandwiching a variety of short multimodal texts between longer texts in your units. Exposing students to articles, storyboards, picture books, social media posts, posters, and more give your students more opportunities to experience and discuss other perspectives while making connections to themselves and the world around them.

 

Of course, this is not the only way to be more diligent in our efforts, but it is a start. You can also strengthen your toolkit with additional resources. To name a couple, helpful resources by #DistruptTexts offer “alternative titles and approaches through thoughtful pairings, counter-narratives, and inclusive, diverse texts sets.” Also, Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul developed some useful Anti-racist/Anti-bias (ABAR) Educator Guides that accompany several children’s books in our libraries. Just know that this is a never-ending journey. It is our responsibility, our duty, and our honor to make connections with our students throughout each learning experience within our classrooms each day.

 

Dr. Towanda Harris has been a teacher, staff developer, literacy content specialist, and instructional coach. Currently an Instructional Leadership Coordinator and an adjunct professor of reading and writing in Atlanta, Georgia, she brings almost twenty years of experience to the education world. Towanda is the author of The Right Tools: A Guide to Selecting, Evaluating, and Implementing Classroom Resources and Practices. You can follow her on Twitter @drtharris and IG @harrisinnovationcg.

Learning Loss-Myth or Reality (Check)

2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00March 18th, 2021|Classroom Teaching, General Education, Latest News, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Kathleen A. Brown

 

Learning Loss: one of the many topics of conversation in the education world of the pandemic. As school districts across the nation are working tirelessly to open schools, many are planning for the loss of learning due to online instruction and the effects of the pandemic.

I cannot stop wondering what learning loss is and how it is measured? Is learning loss measured by attendance, homework, assignments, quizzes, tests, or achievement reports? Maybe learning loss is measured by the lack of student engagement, motivation, or attention? Whatever the case may be, I do agree there will be some learning loss, but the key question is how we strategically plan for it, without watering down our teaching and spending too much time on remediation. Vince Gowmon so eloquently helps us to ponder the following, “Instead of teaching children to get ‘there’, why not let them be ‘here’? Where is ‘there’ anyway? The world needs more ‘here’ than there.”

As adults, we have focused too much on what the students have lost academically. But the pandemic has taken a toll on student’s social and emotional well-being as well. If we interviewed students and families what would they say is their greatest loss during the pandemic? Perhaps they would say: loss of a loved one, a job, a place to live, poor mental health and wellness services, food insecurities or unstable and unsafe home environment, or inability to see and connect with others. There is a myriad of things for us to consider as we plan for post-pandemic schooling.

In Reading Recovery, our students come to us with a supposed “learning deficit” and we celebrate each student as an individual, discover their strengths, valuing their cultural background, language, and life experiences. Through careful observation and assessment, Reading Recovery teachers focus on a student’s assets instead of the student’s deficits. Through carefully planned and executed lessons, Reading Recovery teachers provide targeted instruction, scaffolds, and prompting to foster accelerated learning to help close the achievement gap.

 

Children are resilient and what they bring to our classrooms, in person or virtually, needs to be acknowledged, valued, respected, and honored. I cannot help but think of Marie Clays’ words of wisdom that remind us that students take different paths to common outcomes and that is both okay and important to take into consideration in instruction. Cassi Clausen reminds us “Ask any child development expert, and they will tell you that children do not develop in a straight line. There are no average children. There are no standard children.”

 

 

 

I have some concern students will be set up for more learning loss if we treat students the same, think they ALL have a loss of learning and we teach to the floor and not the ceiling. As educators, we must have the mindset of acceleration, not remediation, value our student’s new knowledge and experiences, and fill in the gaps when necessary. As Marie Clay has stated in “Literacy Lessons” page 20, “Achieving acceleration is not easy but it must be constantly borne in mind.” Moving forward, ongoing keen observation, formative assessments, and differentiation will be more important than ever. And we must celebrate individual differences as assets. We approach student learning to start where each child is and take them as far as we can. During Mary Howard’s presentation at LitCon 2021, she challenged educators to think about interventions as opportunities throughout the entire school day, not as an isolated act or time. She also expressed interventions should not work in isolation but be connected to a comprehensive learning system. This vision for intervention would be inclusive for all students in need.

 

When we safely open our schools again, students will be bringing with them a myriad of experiences and new learning from their families, communities, and the world at large. How do we capitalize on that learning and their experiences moving forward?

 

It will take coordinated and strategic efforts to get our students back on track socially, emotionally, and academically. In the Long Beach Unified School district, literacy teachers and intervention specialists are being refocused to build cohesiveness, implement effective and proven interventions, and be trained in the use of best practices. In his keynote speech at LitCon, Cornelis Minor implored us to look at the following:

  • We need to be more attentive to school-based outcomes…
  • …and attentive to the mindsets & systems that drive those outcomes.
  • We can understand how those systems impact curriculum, pedagogy & school/classroom culture.

 

Let us not be too quick to remediate but let us also accelerate and provide necessary scaffolds along the way. Instead of focusing on learning loss, why not focus on learning recovery or learning enrichment. Our children have a lot to teach us if we let them. As one of my Reading Recovery students reminded me, “I am not good at reading yet, but I know a lot about animals and drones.”

 

William Butler Yeats suggests, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” It is our moral imperative to educate our students during the best of times and the worst of times. The children are counting on us. Let us not let them down.

 


Kathleen A. Brown has worked in the field of education for 36 years as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, and Reading Recovery teacher; serving as the Reading Recovery teacher leader in Long Beach Unified School District for the last 20 years. She provides literacy coaching and training for the district and serves on a variety of early intervention/early literacy committees.

LitCon 2021: A Remarkable Conference in a Remarkable Year with a Remarkable Community of Learners

2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00February 26th, 2021|Classroom Teaching, General, General Education, Latest News, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Amy Smith

LitCon2021 is in the books, but we are still riding a wave of excitement about our first virtual conference. Within hours of the opening general session, I began to receive texts and emails from colleagues across the country. Our participants were not only satisfied, but they were also exhilarated by LitCon! Their enthusiasm persisted, and grew, throughout the week. Thus, I decided to curate participant comments to help our conference committee and the RRCNA staff understand why this experience was so universally impactful. A few themes emerged from their feedback:

 

THE KEYNOTES: Not only were Cornelius Minor, Jeff Williams, and Gerry Brooks exceptional in their own right, but they all did something that is quite rare, and necessary, especially right now. They humanized teaching and teachers in a way that made us feel seen, heard, and understood. We’ve all been to great PD sessions that challenged us to work harder, strive for excellence, and learn new things. Rarely, if ever, does a speaker also say, “And never forget, you’re a human being with needs that matter. Take care of yourself. Have grace with your human limitations, and stop apologizing for them.” We needed to hear that long before now, but especially after the year we’ve had. Whether it was Cornelius’ guidance about our need for restorative rest, Gerry’s reminder that seeing the world through other people’s lenses is essential to building empathy, sympathy, and understanding, or Jeff’s reassurance that the weeks we spent frantically organizing drawers and closets was simply a way of coping with Covid trauma, our keynotes spoke directly to us as human beings. Thank you, Cornelius, Jeff, and Gerry for saying the quiet parts out loud.

 

ACCESS, ACCESS, ACCESS: The extended, personalized access to on-demand sessions was among the most popular aspects of LitCon. Participants gave many reasons for this, but the most pervasive were: the on-demand format gave us an opportunity to view more sessions; we were able to view sessions at times that fit our schedules; and, the ability to pause, rewind, rewatch and process information at an individual pace fostered robust learning. Also popular was the ability to view sessions from wherever you were (home, office, volleyball tournament, etc…). Teacher Leader, Jeff Williams, coined this the “sage in my space” effect, in which experts we’ve long admired met us where we were, for the first time. Moreover, many people, myself included, relished the opportunity to watch sessions while wearing comfy clothes, eating a favorite snack, and snuggling our household pets. Although I don’t know the convention center policy on pets or snacks, I am making a plug for sweatpants as an acceptable dress whenever we return to Columbus.  Who’s with me on this?

 

SHORTER SESSIONS…SAME EXCEPTIONAL CONTENT: One of the biggest changes we made at LitCon was to shorten the length of concurrent sessions. We made the decision based upon guidance from teachers about the difficulty of sustaining their attention virtually. The abbreviated sessions were an unequivocal hit! Our participants were highly satisfied with their learning and also suggested that the brevity made the content more targeted, succinct, and easier to digest. Furthermore, the shorter segments gave participants time to enjoy more sessions than they normally could. This is a huge win for our attendees, and we are so grateful to the teachers who urged us to make this change. At the same time, paring down content into shorter (and virtual) sessions placed new burdens on our speakers. Presenting a session on any topic is a challenge that requires both knowledge and finesse. Doing it in 45 minutes, and virtually, requires serious deliberateness and dexterity! Thank you to all of our incredible speakers who not only made it work but made LitCon a remarkable, unforgettable learning experience. 

 

MORE INTERACTION: The engagement components (both extended engagement and Q and A segments following the keynotes) were resoundingly lauded by participants. It’s not lost on us that even when you’re in the room with speakers, there is still an element of passivity. The opportunity to engage with speakers, via submitting questions to a moderator or by speaking directly to them, was a new feature that participants loved and appreciated. Several people remarked that these opportunities made them feel like they were part of the conversation and had a more active role in the sessions. It is also important to note how grateful we are for our exceptional volunteers who moderated our live sessions. Their facilitation supported our speakers and enriched the experiences of our participants.

 

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Despite the distance between us, we were still together, united by this shared experience. Both the #k8litcon Twitter feed and the copious text messages between people in our community showed us the feasibility of connecting with each other, regardless of platform or proximity. More importantly, the messages illustrated how much connection MATTERS, how much we need it. Connection feeds our spirit and empowers us to do what is often solitary work. It reminds us that we have a vast network of like-minded people doing this work “with” us. I was moved to tears by a text from Reading Recovery teacher, Ashely Cornelison, who explained that this year had worn her out, spun her in circles, and depleted her spirit…. and how LitCon rejuvenated her. Ashley noted, “Gerry Brooks reminded all of us that this is just a season and it will end. LitCon reminded me I’m never alone and how blessed I am to be part of an amazing, connected community.” Ditto, Ashley.

 

I am incredibly grateful to be part of this community and to have had the privilege of working with our conference committee, speakers, moderators, and RRCNA staff to create a conference unlike any other in the midst of a year unlike any other.  LitCon was a challenge that taught us so much about what else is possible. As we look toward the future, we must continue our positive momentum. As Cornelius Minor said, our goal is “not to get back to normal, it’s to get back to better!” So, in the spirit of moving forward and striving for better, we want to hear from you. Please consider submitting your own blog post about LitCon. Perhaps you’d like to reflect upon a session you loved, a feature you want us to consider for future conferences or your overall experience. Please note: photos of snacks, pets, and comfy clothes are optional but welcome! We care about your opinion and learning. So, if you have an idea you’d like to share, please reach out to Carissa Hershey or visit the RRCNA website.

 

On behalf of all of us at RRCNA, thank you for making LitCon an unforgettable conference. See you at LitCon2022!


Dr. Amy Smith is a Reading Recovery teacher leader in Richmond, KY. She currently serves as RRCNA President has served as chair of the Advocacy Committee.

 

 

LitCon Vlog Contest Winner – Becky Fritz

2023-02-08T18:10:09-05:00November 11th, 2020|Classroom Teaching, General, General Education, Latest News, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

Becky Fritz has won a free registration to LitCon 2021 – congratulations!

How has professional development improved your practice and promoted equity, equality, and excellence for your students?

by Becky Fritz

 

 

 

Becky Fritz is a Reading Recovery Teacher with Fayette County Public Schools, Lexington, KY

 

 

 

What are you most looking forward to at LitCon 2021?

I am most looking forward to getting to learn from other professionals. This school year has been isolating, so seeing and interacting with others, even online is encouraging.

 

Describe the impact this yearly PD at LitCon has on your teaching and leadership, even this year in its virtual format.

LitCon fosters collaboration for me.  As soon as a session is over, I debrief with our team and we dream about how we can bring back what we have learned to our classroom and our school.  I like to write down a couple of things that we can tangibly do right away and some things that may have to wait until later.  Sharing ideas across the district has happened as well, through Title-I-sponsored PDs.   I always come back energized and ready to try new things.

 

What session are you most looking forward to?

So many, here are a few:

  • Digging Deeper into Comprehension across the RR Lesson with Lea McGee
  • Word Work across the RR Lesson with Jamie Lipp
  • Hard to Teach for Me with Maryanne McBride
  • What’s your Point with Leslie McBane

Learn more about LitCon 2021!

 

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