For me, learning doesn’t have a season. So long as I am living and breathing, I am learning. And I am always seeking opportunities to learn.
Every three weeks I gather with my study group colleagues, a mix of five classroom teachers, a reading specialist, and myself, a consultant, to share ideas and talk “shop.” Through our conversations, we sift through problems and synthesize new information into new ideas. It’s so stimulating that I always leave thinking “EVERYBODY should do this!”
As fate will have it, for those interested, we will be sharing the result of some of our thinking at Eastern Suffolk BOCES’ upcoming Literacy and Learning Institute on March 19 and 20. Danielle Erardy and Kim Mielenhausen have prepared a thoughtful presentation on helping readers delve deeper for intermediate and middle school teachers. Leah Weissinger will talk to primary grade teachers with her colleague Anne Morris about teaching comprehension to our youngest readers. And I will be presenting a series of mini lessons appropriate for upper elementary and middle school classrooms on comprehension monitoring. We are all so excited and hope that you will join us.
In addition, I wanted to let everybody know that in conjunction with Western Suffolk and Nassau BOCES, I will be presenting all-day workshops on the following:
• THAT’S Understanding! They’re Reading But do They Get It? Strategies for Helping Children Monitor their Reading for Understanding
February 26: Western Suffolk BOCES
March 15: Nassau BOCES
• Structures that Support Strong Reading Workshops: Planning Effective Mini Lessons, Conferences, and Small Group Instruction
March 22: Western Suffolk BOCES
The titles are long and scary, but I promise, these days are fun and invigorating! I hope to see you all soon!
