Let's just suppose it was hard for us...

A couple of things have me thinking about this idea of role reversal and it's impact on teaching. I attended a very good day of professional development last week (you don't hear that often!), and came away considering how to know when the kids just aren't getting it. Also, I've been reading my son's posts about his teaching and his reflection on how it's going.

One of the hardest things for teachers to do is relate to the struggling student, be those struggles with curriculum, discipline, or social. Most teachers were successful in school, usually in all three, that's one big reason why they enjoyed it and wanted to be teachers. For instance, personally I have real trouble with kids who complain that they hate to read. That's totally foreign to me, I have always loved reading. It's hard to reach those kids, although I try, when I can't really be where they're coming from.

So what I was supposing was, what if a teacher took a class in something they knew nothing about, something they would have some trouble with, a different area of interest for them. Would this lead to more awareness of what it's like to struggle? Would it lift the veil from our eyes to see our students' struggles more clearly, more sympathetically?

Time is always the issue, however, it might be worth trying.

Let's just suppose it was all new to us.

Today I had the opportunity to read to a group of kids who are starting Kindergarten this year. They're part of a program to "kickstart" their school experience by getting them in the building for a week or so in the summer and showing them the ropes. I always enjoy this. They are excited about being in the school, and let's face it, is there anything more cool than being in the library and finding out that all those books are there for you to read!

Harry the Dirty Dog on Amazon

Today we read the classic Harry, the Dirty Dog. The story is older than me, but it holds up. They were smiling and talking along with the story the entire time. It just validates one of the major portions of the "gospel" that a friend and I have developed for reading instruction. We believe in the power of story. If you read a good story or give a kid a good story they'll listen or read it.Nothing is worse than some of the instructional reading material we give kids, text that works so hard on the "blend of the week", that the story just doesn't matter. Who'd want to read that stuff!

Our county has adopted the Superkids reading curriculum for grades K-2 and I'm very pleased about it. I listen to and read with a lot of kids every year and I think they have made great progress with this program. And the kids love it! The stories are just that, stories. The kids learn the characters and what makes them tick, and they feel like they know them. It builds a connection to the text, to the story, and to wanting to read. Win, win, win.

So as we begin another school year, I'm really watching with interest to see how our kids do after a year of Superkids under their belt. I expect great things and another bit of the gospel is...You have to have high expectations.

Let's just suppose we start over.

I'm returning to the blogging platform after a absence of several years. Life and work just got too complicated to do it well and I felt that I was perhaps doing more harm than good. I'll get going again, using the blog to discuss whatever is sticking in my mind. It's a good way to work through some thoughts and share some ideas. These are thoughts of mine and do not represent anyone else. At times posts may be bewilderingly vague as I feel the need to write about current events in my community, but don't want to start a war in the county. We'll see how it goes.