Chapter 1 response

I thought the first chapter of the book pretty much went through the same stuff we read about in the first article and that I already commented on. So I am going to respond more to the things we talked about the other day in our PLC discussion.

First of all - I want to say that I think we are all huge fans of getting our kids to love reading! It's the "how to go about doing that" that seems to be our biggest source of frustration. I, like Tammy, believe that letting the kids have that extra time in class to read - JUST FOR PLEASURE...is what is going to create the life-long readers! This is where I struggle with the reader's workshop part of giving kids "assignments" to do while they are reading their independent reading, SSR, whatever you choose to call them... books. I believe we need to give them the time to read just for the enjoyment of it...and that the other turns them away from it!

We also discussed AR and how we feel like that fits in to what we do...we all agreed that it doesn't fit. I really think we need to bring this to the forefront and try to get away from having to do this for a grade! I don't think it is in our students' best interests to continue the AR program the way it is set up for us now. Atwell talks about personal selection for the kids...not being bound to something that is AR opens up even more personal selection!

As far as how to create the environment that Atwell talks about, I think we each need to find what works best for us and our own students. What works for Mikki or Kelly, might not work for me. This is why I have kept coming back to us being the professionals in the classroom, who know our students the best - those on the "frontline" and we need to be able to use our arsenal of teaching techniques as we see best fits our students. With that being said, I think it's important to note that it could be something different between students and from year to year! So...I guess what I am saying is that the models are good to have to draw from - but can't solely be relied on to work 100% of the time with 100% of the students! Best practice would be for us to look at many different options...not just one.

Okay...just got off my high horse...sorry! But the more I read Atwell - the more I realize that I agree with some of what she says, but not all - AND I THINK THAT AS THE TEACHER IN THE CLASSROOM...THAT SHOULD BE OKAY FOR ME TO DO! I see it like this...no one tells our math teachers the best way to teach 2 + 2 = 4, or how to teach a big concept even like geometry or algebra. They are able to try one way and if it doesn't work move on to what does!