I agree with Renee that we are on the "front lines" of our classroom. We are held responsible for the learning and the education of our students. As teachers of our classes, we are the ones who develop relationships with our students (see Tammy's response when she refers to her literary relationship with her student) and alter our instructional strategies to fit these very diverse learners. I am not one for "one size fits all" instruction. Never have been, never will be a fan.
I encourage you to read Kelly Gallagher's "Read-A-Cide - How Schools are Killing Reading in Schools." It is profiled in Voices From the Middle (Feb. 2010) which is an NCTE publication. He does believe in many of Atwell's philosophies, as do I, and he also believes that we need to teach our students to read difficult texts and novels through whole group instruction. It's what I've been saying from the beginning - there can be and is a compromise to student-selected texts and curriculum novels. I am reading his book along with reviewing Atwell's book (I read her book long ago). We need to pull from several resources before changing curriculum or instructional strategies in our classroom. We don't have to use just ONE strategy for our students. Why would we? As one of my literary e-mail pals recently wrote to me: "We are so willing to buy into "The Next Big Thing" as the one element that will change/enhance/increase student learning in our classroom." She sits on the board of the Newberry Book Awards and I have to believe that what she says comes from years of practice and expertise in the area of adolescent reading. She is a wonderful resource for me.
Keep up the good work in your classrooms - I am impressed with the dedication, focus, and expertise of my colleagues here at PCMS and I'm honored to be a part of this fantastic group. With the changes we have incorporated into our classrooms this year, it's time to step back, reflect, and pat yourselves on the back.
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