Literacy Builders

For the Love of Learning

RTI

Magic? Or Just Reflective Teaching? Lessons from a 9 Year Old

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When last I left you, I had imposed upon the nine year teacher of the Dark Arts and suggested that he listen to his students. He was slightly annoyed but the next day something amazing happened.
Lessons at Hogwarts resumed. In preparation for the day’s lesson, Matthew prepared a ditto so that his students didn’t have to write as much. As it turned out, it did cut down slightly on the amount of writing Matthew’s students had to do. But, they never finished taking the notes about the fantastic beasts that Matthew had prepared for his lesson.

Later that evening, it was time for another class at Hogwarts. This time, Matthew decided that he wasn’t going to have his students copy notes. He was going to read aloud to them and ask them to draw pictures of how they imagined gnomes. He was surprised at the outcome. As he read, Nathan drew a diagram and labeled it. He took notes on what Matthew was saying. When all was said and done, Nathan filled up almost four pieces of paper with drawings and words.

When I asked Matthew what made the difference, he admitted that this perplexed him but as he thought about it, he guessed it was because his teaching was “more inclusive.” He thought that allowing Nathan to draw really helped and he thought that because it was more about what Nathan was interested in, he was more willing to write and participate than he had been when Matthew was telling him what he should do.

As a teacher, and a teacher of teachers, I have been thinking a lot about what happened in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in my basement. When Matthew’s original plan wasn’t working, he made an attempt to change it. When his second plan didn’t get the results he wanted, he changed again. He didn’t complain that Nathan was defiant, hyper-active, ill-behaved, attention deficit, or simply incapable. He realized that the problem was his methodology and HE changed. And then suddenly, he had a successful student.

I think Matthew’s experience as a Dark Arts Instructor holds many lessons for us as educators. While some might attribute his attitude and success to magic (and the naiveté of youth), I think it’s more than that. I call it good teaching.

Calling All Learners

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Yesterday I attended a conference co-sponsored by the Long Island Language Arts Council and the Nassau Reading Council titled “Calling all Learners.” Before this day began, I gave very little thought to the name of this conference. In my mind, it was a conference—a place to gather and talk and learn with people who love literacy as much as I do.

As the morning got underway, I listened to several announcements and introductions and listened intently as Kerry Vann, president of LILAC spoke about the title of this year’s conference: Calling All Learners. She asked the audience to consider whether we were prepared to answer the call to meet the needs of all learners or would we “screen our calls” and meet the needs of only the ones we thought we could help or felt up to the task of teaching.

When she spoke, I couldn’t believe my ears. Just moments earlier, before the introductions began, I sat chatting with some colleagues whom I hadn’t seen in awhile and our conversation turned to Response to Intervention, one of the hottest buzz words in educational circles at the moment. As we talked, I shared that I thought that the greatest outcome of RTI will be teacher accountability. No longer will it be okay to identify students with reading difficulties and push them along to the reading teacher and say, “okay, now you fix them.” RTI forces classroom teachers to understand and value their role in developing reading proficiency differently. RTI will help to promote realization of a long neglected fact: when children struggle, everybody is responsible. Strugglers are not simply the charge of specialists.

I admit, the telephone analogy implied in the title of this year’s conference was lost on me at the onset of yesterday’s program. But, as a I listened to Kerry speak, I was sold. We are steeped in a culture of technology and instant gratification. We do need to be reminded that we cannot “screen our calls” if we are going to create students prepared to meet the demands of the twenty-first century.

To the people responsible for laboring over a thoughtful title for yesterday’s conference, I’d like to say thank you. You certainly have me thinking about my role and responsibility in “answering the call.”