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Who Owns the Learning? The Importance of Adopting a Facilitative Stance

2023-02-08T18:10:10-05:00January 22nd, 2019|Classroom Teaching, General, General Education, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Maria Nichols

Henry: No!! They gotta go the other way!

Ella: To the waves!

Teacher: Angel? You have that look …

Angel: [nodding] Yeah – I’m trying to – like, why do they go all wrong?

Sara: Yeah – they get all confused. It’s really, really sad.

Angel: But – like, why?

Teacher: What are you all thinking?

Marceline: It said the lights – I think they’re all glowy. Sorta like stars or something.

Josue: Oh – maybe …

This bit of talk comes from a class of second graders engaged with Philippe Cousteau’s Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles. The children were wrestling with the perils that await the newly hatched turtles, including confusion caused by the lights of beachfront homes. Their talk is understandably tentative as they construct, and their teacher’s actively leaning in, watching, listening, and nudging.

Brian Cambourne speaks to the critical nature of engaging children in thinking and talking together in this very way, reminding us that “… learning, thinking, knowing, and understanding are significantly enhanced when one is provided with opportunities for ‘talking one’s way to meaning’…” (1995). This process actually shifts children from passively, compliantly absorbing the teacher’s thinking to actively constructing ideas that are bigger and bolder than possible inside a single mind alone.  And, when children construct in this way, they truly own the learning.

In Comprehension Through Conversation (Nichols, 2006), I explored specific talk behaviors – drawing in a range of voices, growing ideas and negotiating meaning – that are foundational to engaging children through talk. But, there’s another critical piece to the process—one that involves a deliberate shift in our own instructional stance.

In the bit of talk about Follow the Moon Home, you may have noticed that the teacher’s interjections were brief, yet powerful. She’s not leading the talk – she’s facilitating the talk. A facilitative stance differs from traditional, teacher-driven instruction in that it doesn’t funnel children’s thinking or attempt to corral their process. Rather, facilitation opens space for children to engage in an honest flow of talk and meaning making.

Thoughtful facilitation has four overarching qualities (Nichols, 2019):

Facilitation Is Invitational
Our facilitation should invite all children’s voices into the meaning making process. We hear an invitation from our 2nd grade teacher when she uses the signs of thinking on Angel’s face to draw him into the conversation, and when she creates space for others to respond to his question. Invitational facilitative moves may sound like this:

  • What are you thinking?
  • Is anyone wondering ___?
  • I’m noticing a look on your face …

Facilitation Is Responsive
As we facilitate, we listen intently to the flow of children’s talk, alert for constructive possibilities. We may nudge specific lines of thinking to deepen and broaden them, or we may nudge towards new lines of thinking – but always in ways that honor the children’s process. Notice that our teacher responds to Angel’s question and Sara’s thinking, nudging for thoughts about their noticing and wondering as opposed to layering in her own predetermined questions. Responsive facilitation may sound like this:

  • That’s interesting. Why do you think … ?
  • Can you say a little more about that?
  • What do others think about this? 

Facilitation Is Agentive
Our facilitative language speaks to relationships in the meaning making process, and lays bare our beliefs about children’s capabilities. Language such as, “Now, who can tell me…?” positions us as central to the process, while language such as, “What are you all thinking?” positions children as capable thinkers and collaborators who are central to the process. Agentive facilitation may sound like this:

  • What are you thinking?
  • Have you considered…?
  • How is that thought settling with you?

Facilitation Is Meaning Driven
To support children as they construct understanding together, we attend to the ebb and flow of meaning making, tailoring our facilitation to their needs. We lightly support when meaning is flowing and nudge a bit more if it’s faltering. We might refocus children on a confusing part of the text, encourage them to notice more in a particular passage, or support them as they connect bits of thinking— but always remembering that the meaning needs to be their own. Our teacher’s move to position Angel’s question as a springboard for the children’s thinking communicates exactly this. Meaning-driven facilitation may sound like this:

  • Does this thinking seem to make sense…?
  • Let’s reread a bit, and see if …
  • How do these thoughts fit together …?

When facilitative support is invitational, responsive, agentive, and meaning centered, children come to realize the power and potential of their voice—both individually and collectively. In these classrooms, children truly own their learning.

 

References
Cambourne, B. (1995). Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning: Twenty years of inquiry. The Reading Teacher, 49(3),182-190.
Costeau, P. (2016). Follow the moon home: A tale of one idea, twenty kids, and a hundred sea turtles. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Nichols, M. (2006). Comprehension through conversation. Portsmouth, NH:   Heinemann.
Nichols, M.  (2019). Building bigger ideas: A process for teaching purposeful talk. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

 

Maria Nichols is a literacy consultant and Director of School Innovation for the San Diego Unified School District. She is the author of Comprehension Through Conversation. Maria will be a featured speaker at the 2019 National Reading Recovery & K-6 Literacy Conference, February 9-12, in Columbus, OH. Her session entitled “Talk Matters! Supporting English Learners in the Dialogic Classroom”  will be presented on Sunday 3:30-5:00 pm and Tuesday 8:30-10:00 am

Do It All and Do It Now

2023-02-08T18:10:10-05:00January 8th, 2019|Classroom Teaching, General, General Education, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by LeeAnn Lewellen

As an instructional coach, I hear so many “buzzwords” when administrators and district personnel discuss teacher effectiveness after a brief classroom observation. Engagement, rigor, cultural responsiveness, high yield strategies, assessment… the list goes on. But as a teacher, how do I attack ALL of these things right now?! I feel the sense of urgency to improve in all areas right away, or I will witness the failure of the students and the demise of the education system. How can I attack ALL of these things right now? The answer – I can’t. It brings to mind the leader of the Roman Empire, Augustus, and his phrase, “Festina Lente…” – make haste, or go slow, to go fast.

What if, instead of fixing every little thing that needs attention in the classroom, I choose one area to improve?  Just one. What one thing could I change about my teaching to improve student learning? Isn’t that what I would do to help grow my students? As a Reading Recovery teacher, when I hear a struggling reader read a text, I make a mental note of all the problems I hear and see. In one reading, I might notice visual errors, lapses in meaning, incorrect structures, and more. But if I try to address ALL of those things, I will have confused my reader! I think about what will move the child forward in his or her processing, and I pick one thing to address.  As a teacher, I need to afford the same opportunity for learning to myself.

So that is what I will do. I will think of one way to improve my craft that could make a positive, lasting impact on my students. Does the day seem long and monotonous to me? Then I need to improve my engagement strategies! Could nearly every student finish every activity with 100% accuracy before I even began instruction? Then I need to improve the rigor of the activities. (or move on to a new topic!)

I will cease the practice of rushing through everything without mastering anything; I will go slow to go fast. I will develop a proper balance between urgency and diligence; I will go slow to go fast.

Join me, colleagues. Choose a path, work hard to improve, take a little at a time, and watch you AND your students flourish.

LeeAnn has 17 years of experience in the field of education. She is a Reading Recovery teacher and an instructional coach for her building. LeeAnn, along with Shawna Wilkins and Kelsey Wharton will present a session during the 2019 National Reading Recovery & K-6 Literacy Conference entitled “Deconstructing the Data: What Your Readers Need Now”.

Teaching and Cheerleading

2023-02-08T18:10:10-05:00October 30th, 2018|Classroom Teaching, General Education, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Johnny Downey

A month or so ago, I was racking my brain, over and over again to try and find a topic to explore for the wonderful opportunity to guest author on the RRCNA blog. This week, a great idea swept over me. I brainstormed some things I was passionate about, first jokingly, but after looking at my list I realized two of my great passions are great topics to blend into advice.

Some of you who know me know I am a teacher by day, cheerleading coach by evening. I am getting ready to begin years 11 and 15. It seems not nearly as long!  As I’ve illustrated below, there are many things teachers and cheerleaders have in common.

 

GREAT Teachers GREAT Cheerleaders
-On stage at ALL times

-Celebrate EVERY success even when you’re “losing”

-Encourage students to get excited about learning

-Adapt to many environments to meet needs of all students

 -On stage at ALL times

-Celebrate EVERY point, even when we’re losing.

-Encourage others to get excited about the event

-Adapt to many environments, rain, snow, wind, flying balls, etc.

 

Two lessons every Reading Recovery teacher-in-training learns are: (1) use simple language and (2) celebrate/praise the partially-correct in teaching situations. To help early readers, a Reading Recovery teacher learns early on that language is important to every lesson. Having a simple language that is easy to take on provides a child with the tools to internalize the wanted behaviors of learning to read. In cheerleading, we must remember that fans do not know exactly what we want them to say. We need to keep our cheers and chants short and easy to repeat. We introduce phrases, ask for fans to yell with us, and repeat several times in order to get the whole stadium yelling together toward a common goal.

The common goal of learning to read is where our simple language falls in the classroom. If we simplify our language around the reading process, our students can begin to internalize. Take for example my favorite thing in every Reading Recovery beginning lesson, the self-correction. Self-correcting is noticing something is wrong and attempting to do something about it. If our language is quick and simple, “try that again,” “something didn’t look right, sound right, etc.” the student can begin to internalize these simple phrases and metacognitively think about his/her reading.

If our language is full of words, and drawn out, students won’t be able to pick up as quickly. For example, if a teacher said something like, “that wasn’t right,” or “right here you said ____ and this word sounds like ___ at the beginning. Make the ___ sound with your lips. Great! Now let’s make the next sound, and the next, and the next and now let’s put it together.” By this time, the student has totally forgotten about the page they’re reading, and the book! Simple is the way to go!

Celebration is the essence of positivity in the classroom. Reading Recovery teachers let some errors slide in order to build upon the strengths of their students. Cheerleaders will do the same thing. Think of a game where the home team is down by 14, the cheerleaders don’t give up and tell the team everything they are doing wrong (even though they might want to). They get pumped up and tell the team and the fans to keep going! They celebrate and stay positive. Teachers can do the same in their classrooms. There is no need to point out every little thing that is wrong and needs fixing. No one likes that, so why waste the time? Just like a big Friday night game – be the cheerleader for your students.

  • Celebrate when they first recognize they’ve made a mistake and they go back to try something.
  • Celebrate that they’ve noticed! (Worry about fixing it later.)
  • Celebrate when they first recognize the lowercase “b” or “d” correctly.
  • Celebrate when they’ve learned to write their name efficiently.
  • Celebrate if they simply do well on a running record.
  • Celebrate the partially correct, build their confidence, and you can’t go wrong!

Teachers and cheerleaders should remember to use simple language that can be picked up by the students and fans – something that can be the same and repeated when needed. They must also remain positive above all and celebrate even the partially-correct in all situations.

 

Johnny Downy is a Learning Design Specialist with the Forest Hills School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

Teaching as a Team Sport

2023-02-08T18:10:11-05:00September 4th, 2018|General, General Education, Reading Recovery Teaching, Reflections and Commentary, Teaching|

by Susan Vincent

This past summer, I watched the Tour de France bicycle race on TV, as I do every summer. I loved waking up every morning to the incredible scenic views of quaint French towns, the majestic Alps, and the spirited fans who lined the narrow streets to cheer on the bicyclists.

What I did not really understand for many years is that bicycling is a team sport. I always viewed cycling as an individual effort, because that’s the only way I’d ever experienced riding a bike. I’ve come to find out, however, these bicycle teams are actually intricate networks of support for the cyclists.

The cyclists group themselves in a clump called a peloton. The peloton helps cyclists ride more efficiently by cutting wind drag. The other riders “draft” for each other in turns, blocking the wind and making it easier to ride. The riders also have outside support. Supporters ride along in cars, handing off water and snacks, or changing flat tires. Communication is also a big part of success, I learned. Riders wear earpieces to get information about road conditions and to get advice about strategy.

Of course, no cyclist would get very far in the Tour de France alone. A network of support is absolutely necessary. It occurs to me that teaching is the same.

When Marie Clay, in all her genius, developed Reading Recovery, she made it a team sport. She established a required professional network for teachers. The network provides teachers “continuing contact” with each other (as we used to call professional learning meetings.) Groups of teachers meet regularly to watch each other teach and to learn with and from each other. Even during the “alone” times of teaching, at the first sign of stagnated learning, a colleague or teacher leader is at the ready to sit beside you, observe a lesson, teach your child, and problem solve with you. You are never really alone in Reading Recovery. You are in a peloton, sometimes drafting for your colleagues, sometimes being drafted by them. Your earpiece is always in place with your professional readings and colleagues to guide you. And of course, the children are always the winners when teachers operate in this kind of team.

My fondest professional wish is that this type of Reading Recovery learning network could grow even larger and more intricate.  Reading Recovery professionals have a wealth of knowledge that could support literacy teachers everywhere. The teaching peloton no longer needs to be bound by geography. We have tools today that didn’t exist in Reading Recovery’s early days. Thousands of teachers meet on Twitter and share educational ideas. Over 4 million posts per day are on education-related topics. Shouldn’t Reading Recovery be a major voice? I think so.

Perhaps Reading Recovery professionals can “draft” for the field of literacy professionals, who have been bombarded in recent years by all kinds of craziness, from NCLB to high stakes tests, to scripted programs. Teachers could use some expert literacy “drafting,” taking us in the right direction, helping us understand how children learn to read and write. If you are a Reading Recovery professional or if you support Reading Recovery, I think you can help the team.

If you haven’t joined Twitter, join. Check out Reading Recovery’s monthly chat by following the hashtag #rrchat. Participate and bring a friend.  If you are a teacher leader, spend some time getting your teachers signed up and encourage them to participate. If you are unsure and in new territory, all the better! You can learn together. There is help available through Reading Recovery.  Soon, Reading Recovery could be a very noticeable voice in a very public forum. It’s important because more children are waiting to be literacy winners! (Let’s wear some yellow jerseys!)

 

Susan Vincent is a faculty member in early childhood education at Miami University Regionals in Ohio. She taught Reading Recovery for 19 years as a teacher and teacher leader. Follow her on Twitter, @ssvincent. Susan will be a speaker at the 2019 National Reading Recovery & K-6 Literacy Conference, February 9-12, in Columbus, OH. Her session is titled: “Accelerating Progress with ALL Readers Through Classroom Instruction”.

Beyond the Reef: Reading Recovery Teachers as Literacy Leaders

2023-02-08T18:10:11-05:00August 6th, 2018|Reading Recovery Teaching|

by Jamie Lipp

My daughter recently turned three. It’s safe to say I’ve watched more than my share of Disney princess movies over the last three years. These films offer powerful messages. One in particular, stands out to me in relation to the work we do as Reading Recovery professionals. In the words of my daughter’s beloved Moana, “There’s more beyond the reef.” Teaching students is our reef.   

As a former Reading Recovery teacher and now a university trainer, I am continually reflecting on the power and promise of the work we do as Reading Recovery professionals and all the ways in which we support student learning.  The numbers cannot be ignored.

With the overwhelming success of students, there is another key piece of Reading Recovery implementation that needs explored more deeply. Throughout my time as a Reading Recovery teacher I very much enjoyed supporting classroom teachers, specialists and principals to further their understanding of literacy processing and ways to support struggling readers.  In short, I quickly positioned myself (through an eager and willing desire to share and collaborate) as a literacy leader within my building and district. This year’s Teacher Leader Institute (TLI) provided the opportunity to look closely at how Reading Recovery teachers are already serving as literacy leaders in their schools, as well as ways to support and extend these practices.  TLI confirmed for me that Reading Recovery professionals not only support student learning, but should be seen and utilized as literacy leaders, with a focus on building literacy capacity within their schools.

Reading Recovery professionals are often equated as expert teachers.  Nancy Anderson reminded us at TLI that the term expert can signal that our learning is complete, which we know to be false.  We are in a state of continual learning as Reading Recovery professionals, with reflection and refinement being integral to our practice.  Being an expert teacher without sharing this expertise and without supporting the learning of others allows for a limited reach.  When one functions as a literacy leader, this reach is extended and multiplied exponentially. I’m no mathematician, but it was powerful for me personally to see that if I positively influenced the practice of just one teacher, that teacher could positively impact 26+ students EACH YEAR.  When I worked with groups of teachers, I could see and feel my impact spreading rapidly, and it felt AMAZING. Way back when, my former district contributed a large amount of resources to provide me the training and experiences needed to become an expert teacher. It was both a financially smart and educationally sound decision for them to encourage, support and value me as a literacy leader.

So, how can Reading Recovery teachers serve as literacy leaders?  We have only begun to capture all the ways in which this is possible and may already be happening in our schools.  I was excited to read the recent blog post by Reading Recovery Teachers Rhonda Precourt and Gen Arcovio addressing how to Spread the Word about the effectiveness of Reading Recovery.  Many of their ideas relating to the power of Reading Recovery for students relate to the power of Reading Recovery for teachers. Likewise, I’ve gathered some ideas about literacy leadership based on my experiences as a Reading Recovery professional and beyond:

  • Open the door.  Literally.  Sometimes we find ourselves in our tiny rooms with our Reading Recovery students and we inadvertently shut the door to the rest of the school and what is happening on the outside of our four walls.  Keep your door open. Let others hear what a Reading Recovery lesson sounds like and allow them to catch a glimpse when they pass by.  Invite classroom teachers, principals, specialists, parents and anyone else interested to watch a Reading Recovery lesson and help them to see and understand your instructional decisions within and beyond the lesson.  Let’s speak the same language.
  • Advocate.  Work with your principal to advocate for Reading Recovery within your school and district.  Help your PTA and school board understand the effectiveness of what you do and how it supports your school’s comprehensive literacy plan.  Help to safeguard the schedule of Reading Recovery teachers and work with your principal to identify what your key roles will be within your school. Be an advocate for students in general.  We must advocate for shared beliefs about teaching, learning and efficacy.
  • Collaborate.  Work with the other professionals who also support your Reading Recovery students to share data and problem solve ways to best approach your students and their learning paths.  Work together as a team to determine clear roles and responsibilities for each person involved in this student’s literacy journey. This should be ongoing, not just during the selection process. Meet formally and informally to discuss progress and next steps.  Use and share the data you have collected to help support the intervention efforts, not only for those selected students, but for all students who are struggling readers and writers. Work together to seek solutions for these students and help the team see these students as more than just the numbers produced by standardized, computerized assessments.  Help literacy teams identify student strengths and support their efforts to teach accordingly.
  • Provide professional development to deepen literacy understandings.  This professional development can be large or small in nature.  It can take on the form of coaching, demonstration lessons, conversations, or formal professional development.  Conducting whole group mini-lessons, modeling guided reading lessons/ writing lessons, supporting teachers to more effectively analyze and use assessment data to set goals for students and teach according to these specific goals are a few ideas of how this may occur.  Professional development can happen anywhere; one-on-one, small group, large group. It may be as broad as a district wide literacy session or staff meeting based on the current needs of the teachers/students or as focused as a 30 minute meeting with a teacher or small group of teachers.  The possibilities are truly endless and differ according to the strengths and needs of both the students and your colleagues.
  • Be a valuable resource. Be available when your colleagues have questions and work collaboratively to arrive at the answers. Share the articles and research you are currently reading and include personal insight as to how this information applies to the students in your school. Help your colleagues connect the dots between research and practice. Send brief email updates sharing any new learning you’ve discovered. Help to take complex ideas and simplify them into meaningful classroom implications.  

Perhaps one of my favorite understandings of being a leader is found in the text,  Becoming a Literacy Leader (Allen, 2016), when she describes this process as “rowing in the same direction.” (p.6) Isn’t that exactly what we want to do as Reading Recovery professionals?  We want our principals, classroom teachers and specialists to share the same beliefs and values about literacy and student learning, and we want their teaching practices to embody these beliefs and values.  We want them to be with us on the boat that is sailing toward understanding how to best support literacy learning and we want them to grab an oar and row rapidly to our shared destination.

Reading Recovery professionals ARE literacy leaders and it is within our role to promote just how powerful Reading Recovery is FOR the students and BEYOND the students. In order for Reading Recovery to continue to grow and prosper, we have to demonstrate the power and benefit of utilizing Reading Recovery as an investment in students, teachers, and the overall growth in literacy capacity within our schools.  This is non-negotiable. It is simply not enough to limit our ties to effectiveness to only the students we serve.

Moana will tell you, “we were voyagers.”  We still are. Now, go beyond the reef.

Let’s keep talking about going beyond the reef.  Join me for the Twitter chat, “ Reading Recovery professionals as Literacy Leaders” on Sunday, August 19th at 7 pm EST.   

 

Jamie Lipp is a Reading Recovery trainer at The Ohio State University. Follow her on Twitter @Jamie_Lipp.

Jamie Lipp will be a speaker at the 2019 National Reading Recovery & K-6 Literacy Conference, February 9-12, in Columbus, OH. Her sessions are titled: “Build Literacy Expertise in your School Through Intentional Coaching Experiences” and “The Composing Conversation – Avoiding Roadblocks on the Path to Writing”.

Any views or claims expressed in The Reading Recovery Connections Blog are those of individual authors, not RRCNA.

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