#sol2014 Hidden Gems

An icy storm this weekend brought our lives to a standstill.  I took the opportunity to begin a huge cleaning project: my office.  It was a glittery, cluttered, mess of books and many unfinished projects.  It was so bad that I actually had ordered ANOTHER copy of a book for a class I am teaching this semester!  I just could not find the copy I HAD last spring!  As is usually the case with a big cleaning project, the bags of garbage and recycling were huge.  The cleaning actually made things look WORSE for a while.  At the 24 hour point, the floor was still littered with "stuff" looking for a home.


I guess my husband took pity on me, or perhaps he really wanted to see the floor of the office appear!  Whatever the reason, he went out to attack the ice while I finished up.  In time, after hours of scraping and calcium chloriding the blacktop areas that would carry a vehicle, he found the hidden GEM of a driveway.  Blacktop, even if wet and still slippery, never looked so good!

Meanwhile, back in the office area,  I found a few GEMS myself. Along with the "missing" textbook, there were some wayward Barns and Noble gift cards and a few Dunkin Donuts coffee cards!  Sigh, sometimes, things get shoved into folders and bins.

There was also this long forgotten GEM, a story, written long ago by a first grader who never was one to ask for cookies or cake.  Instead, he would ask for a good meal of chicken, steak or bluefish!  He still likes to eat a whole lot of good food,only now he might include Sushi!

There were some indeed hidden GEMS in our icy day and my neat, for now, organized bookcase is just one of them!

Sharing Research: Can Graphic Texts Help Readers Find Information?

http://www.readingwithpictures.org/2014/11/can-graphic-texts-aid-readers-in-finding-information/

I was never a huge fan of comic books; however, my close-in-age cousin and my sister were ginormous fans and I was a voracious reader, so I read Archie, Superman and all the rest of the image laden texts.  

When they came back in vogue wrapped up in nice story book forms a few years ago, I began reading them again, so that I could recommend them to my students.  Somehow, I knew my reluctant readers might find the images and limited text appealing!

Naomi Kruger-Arram went a bit further and shared her research in the link above. She wasn't a huge fan of graphic works either, but as a teacher, she plunged in and has done lots of reading and research ABOUT TODAY'S GRAPHIC TEXTS.

She shares her research: 

• They are not only motivational because they look cool.  Some of the readers found pictures made it easier to visualize or understand what was taking place in the text. 
• Students felt like graphic texts had fewer words even when there was not much of a difference when compared to traditional texts.

She concludes that graphic texts may not just be "cool" or "easier."  They might actually help readers and support learning.  No matter what, it is an area that we teachers need to consider when teaching and supporting diverse learners.  it's also an area for action research in our classrooms 

#celebratelu Impulse Purchases and Little Voices in our Heads

This week, I celebrate "impulse" purchases 

and those little voices in our heads! 

"You don't need him," the practical side of my brain reminded me as I tucked a huge teddy bear into my already laden Costco basket. 

"The kids are going to love you," I thought as I buckled the seat belt around his soft belly Monday morning. 

"I hope you won't be too much of a distraction," the practical side of me wondered as we drove down the interstate listening to the morning news together.  

"Grandma's old rocking chair will be perfect for you," I thought as I nestled Beary into the rocker and put a book in his lap.  

"You can model what good readers do," I told Beary sternly as I got ready for the day, "no goofing around when the kids are here."   

It's been a few weeks now, and Beary has become an integral part of "Reading Club."  He's more focused than I could ever have imagined and is either busy with his own reading or busy watching over the readers and writers who come into and out of our room!
He's always has time for a "good morning" and to listen to the stories of his friends. He eagerly holds onto take-home-book-bags so kids can focus on their reading or writing!   Sometimes, he nestles comfortably next to reluctant or resistant readers and encourages them to take risks and stretch their own reading (I wonder if they can hear his voice in their heads?).  He listens attentively to reader responses and usually sports a "good job" sicker or two, gifts from his friends.
People stop by in the morning, on their way to lunch, and on their way home to check on his progress or to turn the page of his book for him (He may need some OT to help with fine motor issues).
On Monday, I'm told, he will begin writing Beary's Book Blog. I think his first post will be about that ol' familiar tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  I can hear his little voice (in my head) composing that first post!      

Revising Bulletin Boards

Thanks to my partner-in-learning's deep search on the Fundations Web site, 

We have an academic, interactive, and "wise" bulletin board!  

These October-themed "Echo" characters really were buried deep on the site, 

under Wilson Academy, Prevention/early Intervention, 

Expert Tips, Archives School Year, Don't Be Tricked By Trick Words!

 http://www.wilsonacademy.com/default.aspx?p=PLC_MR_ET_AR_SY_Don%E2%80%99t_Be_Tricked

It's worth the hunt if you are using Wilson/Fundations
And Baby Echo is on your "friends" list!

Thank you Mrs. Fulgieri!

UPDATE*
We had a "Wow" or two on that first bulletin board of the day;
however, late in the day, we began to Revise that bulletin board!
We may be Wilson/Fundation aficionados;
however, we are still deeply rooted in the Reading Writing Project thinking.
Thus, we Draft, Revise, and Edit many times,
even when we are "writing" a bulletin board!
Perhaps this should be referred to as
"A Fundations/Writing Project Merger!"
I 

Why Garlic Belongs in a Healthy Diet

I suspect many of you will shutter when you learn that I spent last Sunday at a Garlic Festival!  That's right, I was surrounded by some of the strangest, kindest, most interesting, most eccentric, and passionate people anywhere! I tasted a bit of fresh garlic and bought ground, pickled and fresh garlic.  I have to admit, I avoided the garlic red velvet cupcakes but I did gobble down a lot of garlic popcorn! Then, as if I had not had enough, I came home and ate more garlic pesto.  I used to avoid garlic thinking it would make me smell, but now, after several years of attending the "festival" for several years, listening to endless garlic lectures, tasting lots of garlic, listening to lots of passionate people, and lots of reading, reflecting, and thinking, I am beginning to believe  how amazing and healthy garlic is, and I eat quite a bit!  

Did you know:   

• Garlic appears to have cancer protecting properties.  If you let garlic sit after chopping, you get more of that wonderful, healthy nutrition.  Mircrowaving appears to negate the cancer protecting properties. It may be the alliu in garlic that is the key here.  It's a pretty complex mechanism involving nucelar erythroid factor and a mechanism that helps cells want to abandon the "shut down" process.  

• Eating garlic every day may lower the risk of all cancers except breast and prostrate.

• Garlic may improve your metabolism!  Sulfides in garlic may increase production of ferroportin, a protein that is important to the transport of nutrients within a cell/  

• Garlic appears to have cardioprotective benefits, too! Red blood cells take the sulfur and use it to protect our blood vessels and blood pressure. 

• Garlic may even help control the number of fat cells in our bodies!  It's the flavanoids we can thank for that! 

• Leeks and onions are cousins of garlic

• Garlic appears to have antibacterial and anti viral properties. It might just help ward off or shorten the flu or a cold.

Garlic is not just for getting rid of vampires.  It has many healthy benefits.

References

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265853.php

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=60

I Won't Ask You To Do Something I Wouldn't Do

I've asked my going to be master teachers to reflect on and write about some aspect of their own literacy learning .  It seems like such as an easy task, and yet they will go through the complex process of selecting a topic, determining a focus, finding a small moment of time, drafting, revising, rewriting, editing and sometimes, even discarding and starting over.  They will do the work they ask their students to do!  I too am writing about some of those who have shaped on my own literacy learning journey.

I worked hard to make sure everything I did for Mrs. Peters was perfect.  At night, she filled boards with impeccably written chalk tasks for us to complete each day.  Then, she sat at her desk and corrected work glaring over her glasses at anyone who dared to disturb the quiet.  I dreaded being called to her desk where certainly, you would be berated for handwriting deficiencies, calculation imperfections, or wrong answers. I dreaded read-around the room.  I dreaded raising my hand and asking the whole class if I could use the bathroom!  Yet, from Mrs. Peters, I began to learn what kind of a teacher I didn't want to be.

There were lots of great models along the way, like Mr. Jackson.  I would have done anything for him!  He always had a "point of praise" and shared a "point of growth" on anything you did.  He shared bits of his own life and modeled (what a novel idea) what he wanted those biology lab write ups to be!  We lived biology that year and I began to wonder if I should be a doctor when I grew up.  I loved that we "turned and talked" during his class!  I learned more than I needed to know about the subject and that I could make mistakes as well as about the kind of a teacher I wanted to be.  

I've taken more courses in person, on video-tape (remember that?) and online than I can count.  I've read more books, attended more workshops, watched more peers, and reflected on the process of literacy teaching and learning for the better part of years of my life.  The more I learn, the more questions I have and the more I realize I will never know it all!  

Yet, it was on the sidelines of a lacrosse (or perhaps it was a football) field, where I began to understand that effective teachers really serve more as coaches of learning.  Have you ever watched an effective coach carefully?  What they do is really hard and yet totally magical at the same time!  They first make certain their players are immersed in the sport, the plays and the options.  They spend time encouraging bonding, film viewing, and building muscle memory.  They demonstrate again and again and yet again through their own modeling and through mentor texts and videos the moves of effective players.    

Effective coaches do not expect their players to go into the game without trying out plays and positions. They make sure their players are fully engaged in playing the sport!  Even if a win is unlikely by most wise spectators' expectations, coaches expect players to give it 100% and maybe, even to win!  Finally, but perhaps most importantly, effective coaches give effective feedback. They pat players on their helmets if they have done their best even if their approximation of the play was far from perfect!  They don't waste time and airspace with empty words of praise like, "That was great." They clearly tell their players what they did right and what they did wrong.  They find words to encourage after defeat and words to celebrate what worked and what didn't.    

Along my own literacy journey, I've realized that reflective life-long learners learn not only what they don't want to be but also what they do want to be!   Effective teachers realize that everything they say and do can impact those they are coaching.  Effective teachers demonstrate, immerse, engage, encourage, and provide feedback as their students engage in real life reading, writing, listening and speaking activities. We know our actions, models, and words matter. 

Welcome Back: What did you do this summer?

For those in education, 

"How was your summer?"

Rolls off the tongue,

Those first words to each other.

Off the pen.

The dreaded first essay

That first assignment:

If I'd gone to Europe, 

There'd be too much to say.

Too many "small moments" to share.

If I'd stayed home,

Watched movies,

Read books,

Who'd care?

"It was good," 

I'll respond again this year.

Ever grateful that I chose the profession

That assures prolonged summers.

Knowing that so many others are envious.

I won't bother those with details of 

Dreams, Hopes, Prayers,

Trips to Europe, 

Backpacking tours of Nepal,

Oceanfront stays in Bali,

Expeditions to the South Pole,

All those stories are my own,

In my head.

I'll tell them of picking blueberries,

Snippets of love in the heat of the day,

Filling our buckets, hats, 

Eating our weight in warmed by the sun sweetness

That gushes in your mouth.

Toasting marshmallows under the Super Moon,

The warmth of the fire dwarfed 

By the power of family love. 

Sleeping under the stars,

Swarmed by mosquitoes, 

But not bothered,.

Snippets of View, Chew, Today,

What Not To Wear

Ice bucket tipping,

Great novel writing,

Great book reading,

Rocking on the porch

To the rhythm of summertime.

Mastering the Teaching Game

Mastering the Teaching Game

Over on Edutopia this week, Tomlinson shared a post, Mastering the Teaching Game.  It's a good one for this time of year as we "gear up" and "psych up" for a new year with new challenges and all the potential that new learning can offer.

I spent some time in the past few days setting up my room.  There is a lovely, inviting reading area and the charts and books are ready to go.  While it may not be Pinterest worthy, I think it looks inviting and enticing.....and I was proud of how it looks.....and thinking I was all set.....until I read this article and was reminded that we also need to prepare our HEADS and our HEARTS to teach......and to learn.......it's not just about pretty spaces and images.....

This article, which you really should read, is based on a successful tennis coach, Coach Groeneveld, because as we all know, what teachers REALLY DO is to COACH learning!

"All human beings can achieve far more than they believe they can."

"Success comes from the desire to work hard to achieve a goal." 

"It's not enough to only teach skills."

"Make sure the player [student]takes responsibility for his or her decisions."

 
"Being a good coach [teacher]means dissecting the player's [student's] game"

"When there is resistance from a player [student], don't take no for an answer." 

"There's no single way to coach [teach]players [students]."

Reaching ALL Readers (Sight, Phonics and other Approaches)

I've spent a good deal of my adult life guiding, supporting and helping others find the joy and wonder in the printed word.  Sometimes, learning to read appears to happen like magic; however, there were years of experiences that serve as a foundation to the miracle of reading! 

Sometimes, learning to read is hard; however, if parents and teachers carefully analyze a student's relative strengths and needs, all students can learn to read.    

For many students, the "need" is opportunities to learn the phonetic code.  Programs like Fundations have made their fortune out of teaching the code.  Learning the complex ways that sounds can work in English offers all of us the means to read words and ideas we do not yet know.  While that may not seem like something we need, it does allow us to read scientific terms as well as names and the ideas of others outside of our experiences.  Some findings suggest students with language, speech and articulation difficulties, including apraxia of speech, may benefit from this type of approach.

Yet for other students, the need is opportunities to learn a fund of sight words.  There is some research that suggests diverse students benefit from structured sight based approaches. Students with Downs Syndrome as well as students with significant hearing/speech/articulation difficulties may benefit from a fund of sight words that can serve as a base for their own understanding of the code. I wrote about some of that research in this article http://journals.cec.sped.org/tecplus/vol5/iss3/art3/
Other students just find comfort in the predictable and repeated words that are found in sight word based programs such as these.

Some readers benefit from Language Experience approaches too!
Someresources to think about as we all prepare to return to school and face the need to teach ALL children to be readers!

• http://journals.cec.sped.org/tecplus/vol5/iss3/art3/
• http://pridelearningcenter.com/2013/01/29/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-and-reading-help/
• http://ereadingpro.com/ProductSeries-IWLD.htm
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3251281/
• Supporting Individuals with Down syndrome and other ... - DSAW
• www.dsaw.org/Data/Sites/3/media/resources/peer.../a11took-kit.pdf
• READING PROGRAMS/HELPFUL WEBSITES ... and for older non-verbal children ... grades 1-3 and 4-6 with games, sight words, teacher links, kids links and

• http://www.down-syndrome.org/practice/349/practice-349.pdf
• [PPT] Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome 
• www.dsgsemi.org/pdf/TeachingReadingtoChildrenwithDS08.ppt 

• Providing Effective Literacy Instruction to Students With Down ...

  www.bsnpta.org/.../VOL.36NO.4MarApr2004_TEC_Al_Otaiba36-4.pdf

What did women wear in the 1920's?

I am sure you really wanted to know!

http://glamourdaze.com/2010/05/1920s-fashion-womens-dress-and-style.html

Two Flappers -Photo – 1928 

.

 

In th

Teachers Write: Mary, Anna, Laura and Jo are right here with me

I'm writing this summer.
In fact, in the last week I think I might have written more than ever before in my life!
I'm also thinking, a lot, about what Judy Blume wrote in some autobiographical text I use almost every year, She said that when she is in the middle of a book, the characters are really at the dinner table with her! Pieces of the setting would start to appear in her window or perhaps in her mind.   I never really "got" what she meant until the end of last week, when fresh off some curriculum writing and full of the vim and vigor you feel when you accomplish something in spite of the odds, I really started to take my TWO summer writing groups seriously!
Rather than rewrite the same old stories again this summer, I took Kate Messinger's words to heart and started writing the story that really was churning inside me.  I decided not to worry about the parts of the story I did not know the answers to and decided to just put fingers to the keyboard.
Now, Mary, Anna, Lora and Jo are sitting right here in the office with me.  They are wearing house dresses and peeling potatoes but pretty soon Lora will head off to Normal School.  Pretty soon, they will all leave the farm.
Truth be told, some characters in this story are true, but others are figments of my mind.
Truth be told, some events are true and others are realistic, historical fiction.
Truth be told, the setting, the 1920's were a pretty interesting time and I've spent quite a bit of energy thinking about them due to another project that will launch this winter! (It's pretty neat when the pieces of you life fit together, even if only for a moment in time!)
So when the link below popped into my browser this morning, I gasped softly and then went right back to writing.  


When some day (in my dreams) I am writing my own story about my own writing for kids, I will have to share with them that it really is pretty neat when the project you are working on pops into your browser.  

#celebratelu Goals, Cars, and Couches: Reasons to Celebrate this Week

I can't say it was an easy week; however, there is still much to celebrate! Thanks to Ruth Ayer's weekly Celebration, I am acknowledging the good stuff.

Change of any kind (even good, wanted, needed changes) induces stress, and I suspect the level of stress is somewhat proportional to the level of change (new semester, new house, new job, new car).

So I will start with the end of the semester, which in all accounts is a good thing for all of us!  My weekly powerpoints and daily emails from grad students will stop, and I will marvel at my "free" time as I only work only "one" full time job as a teacher of little kids!  Yet, those grad school finals and papers cause stress as I squeeze time to read, comment, and grade them with the respect and credit due. Yet, I really do love seeing how my students grow through the semester (or two or three) that I work with them. In my recent Assessment in Special Education course, I had them write "pretend goals" for students based on IEP needs. I smiled as I read them hearing my own "voice" as well as the course readings reflected in their words.

Then, there was the stress of getting a new car.  I spend a LOT of time in my car.  I was attached to my old one with magical powers and the ability to go more than 600 miles on a tank of fuel! http://drferreri.blogspot.com/2014/05/sol14-thanks-matilda.html

It was hard to say good-bye to a dear, reliable friend; however, my NEW car is incredible.  I took him to school on Friday for the first time and could not help but think how far cars have come since that first, radio-less '54 Ford I inherited, so to speak, from Uncle Phil!  This new car has more cameras than a fleet of cell phones and more brains than all the other cars I have ever driven.  As he drove through some mighty big puddles without hydroplaning, I realized he is the smartest car I could have ever imagined!  I am pretty sure he will be known as "Al" as in Albert Einstein!

Finally, the news is usually stressful and this week was no exception.  Yet, the story out of New Paltz about college students finding money in a couch made me smile with gratitude.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/16/313118337/thrift-store-couch-yields-40-000-roommates-return-money
I know that their parents are smiling from ear to ear with pride and gratitude this morning (even though the college bills are still piled high!).  I am smiling from ear to ear because no matter what they say about young people and our society, we are doing something right!  

Kids don't read anymore?

Frank Bruni's May 12th Opinion page article in the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/opinion/bruni-read-kids-read.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=1
has me thinking about WHY kids don't read anymore! While Bruni eloquently talks about Common Sense Media's report, I wonder WHY fewer than 20 percent of 17-year-olds now read for pleasure “almost every day!”  According to Common Sense Media, back in 1984, 31 percent read for pleasure almost every day.

YIKES is my first thought!  Yet, this study does not talk about the WHY?  A zillion WHY questions are playing in my head. 

• What happens to kids when they read every day for pleasure when they are younger?
• Did these kids read every day for pleasure when they were younger?
• If so, when did the reading decline?  When did it end? 
• What happens when kids are read to every day by parents?
• What happens when kids are read to every day by teachers?
• Did these parents and caregivers read to theses children?
• If so, what kinds of books did they read?
• Did they discuss the books?
• Were these kids "forced" to read just right books rather than texts they wanted to read?
• Were they "forced" to read certain genre books?
• Were their choices (comics, newspapers, sports) embraced?
• Were these kids forced to do reader responses?
  Were these kids forced to keep reading logs?
• Where there books in their homes growing up?
• Did their parents model reading?
• Was reading valued in the same way sports and grades might be?
• Was reading the subject of family discussions?
• Did their parents see reading as a way of opening doors?
• Do the young adults see reading as valuable or enjoyable?
• What roles do teachers, parents, caregivers serve as reading models?
• Do kids read for pleasure in school?
• Do kids have time to read for pleasure?
• Do they consider school mandated reading as pleasurable?
• Do kids consider reading newspapers and Twitter reading for pleasure?
• Are today's kids too cool to read?

HOW SAD was my next thought and yet I really wasn't all that surprised.  I thought about how busy our youth are with grades, sports, clubs and all the notches they need to put on their belts to get into the "right" schools.  I thought about ALL the homework That takes LOTS Of time.  I thought about afterschool, karate, dance, baseball. ballet, Brownies, Cub Scouts, swimming classes, playdates, the need to make the travel soccer team and the desire for our kids to be fit.  I also thought about Minecraft, Ipads and other video games....but only at the end. 


HOW IMPERITIVE it is that we research and find out the answers....because I really suspect there are more than one answers to the question.

Why don't kids read anymore?

Education Soup with Evidence

I dedicated a few hours of Spring Break to Spring Cleaning, also known in my house as Spring Clearing (and that is not just a typo).  I found some great science experiments hiding in the fridge; something that would have inspired Louis Pasteur in the pantry; and some old, never published pieces hiding in my computer. 

 

APPR

Evidence

Standards

Evidence

Lesson Plans

Evidence

IEPs

Evidence

CCS

Evidence
Evidence Binders

Domains

Elements

Evidence

Goals

Evidence

State Tests

Evidence

SLOs

Local 20s

Evidence

Teacher Effectiveness

Evidence

Student Learning

Evidence 

 

#sol14 #celebratelu March 15 Smiling During a Superintendent's Conference Day?

“Give me a fish and I eat for a day.  Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.” ~ Chinese Proverb

As I watched teachers busily engaged in building curriculum maps yesterday, images of Superintendents' Conference Days - old school style - flooded my mind!  

• If you've been to a meeting where someone drones endlessly about something distantly connected to you life, but on very little day-to-day practical value to you, you know what I mean. 
• If you've ever been to a conference where someone talked, and talked, and talked, and talked....you know what I mean!
• If you've ever been at a meeting and spent time (or watched your friends, neighbors, colleagues) emailing, texting, Tweeting, Facebooking, Pinning, writing notes, correcting papers....or doodling, you know what I mean! 

The dread of those days, without kids smiling faces, when teachers who are usually on the prowl all day long are confined to a chair or a table for hours, was one of the few things teachers, on every level, agreed on - in the old school days!

Yet, yesterday, we had "one of those days" that really wasn't so bad; in fact, most considered it a good and productive day!   We used internet-based software and peer-based shared learning to organize our curriculum maps. We were busy, all of us, thinking about our teaching and students' learning, while learning to fish in a brand-new ocean!  

• Our maps turned out to be beautiful (see the example below).
• We will be able to find "fish" more readily, now that we have cleaned up and organized the "oceans" of papers and files that each of us had!  
• Our fishing for ideas and activities will be easier thanks to technology! 

I'm confident "those" who wrote that ol' Chinese Proverb were smiling at our maps! 

#sol14 #celebrate lu March 8 Friday Night Renditions of A Cold Lady

This morning,

There are still grades to do,

Power points to complete,

Quilts to finish,

Miles to go before I sleep.

Yet, this morning,

 I smile and celebrate

A Friday night date night

A moment in the spotlight,

A little girl proudly emerging a reader,

Multiple renditions of Little Rabbit's Birthday,

Multiple renditions of There Was A Cold Lady,

A bedtime story, catching up on the cuddling!

#sol14 #celebratelu Day 1: Words, words, words

http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/sol14day1/

This morning, 

A month-long celebration of  words begins.

We'll be sharing "slices," 

Small "bites" filled with the words,
Sweetness, sadness,

Joys, hopes,
Images and sounds of life. 

This week, 

I have been reminded,

Again, and again,

Of the impact and influence of words,
Spoken, written.

We use them from our earliest of days, 

Learning that words can make others happy, 

Fulfill our wants and needs,

Learning that words are powerful,

Sharing thoughts, messages and ideas.

Words can be devastating,

Taking our breath away, 

The wind out of our sails,

Leaving us bereft, distraught, 

Saddened, 

Not sure of what to say.

Words can change the course,

Of history, of lives, of love,

Taking our breath away,

Filling us with anticipation,

Joy.

Today, 

This week,

I celebrate 

The potential of words

To do more good than harm

To heal, provide hope.

Where Does Poetry Fit? A Common Core Dilemma Part 1

Where Does Poetry Fit?   A Common Core Dilemma

Part 1 - The Part Where I Talk About Accepting Change

  Long, long ago, I dutifully taught students in a manner similar to the way I had been taught....the way I was taught to teach. I poured over every word in the teachers' edition of every basal.  I was not just "winging it" by anyone's perspective; I was working to be the best I could be.

I did small group and whole group reading, every single day.  I did handwriting, every single day.  I checked every page of seat work, every day.  But, I did not encourage my young students to be writers.  I saw myself as a teacher of reading.  I did not see my students as writers. I read a few poems, with students, but only if they "came up" in the basal. I did not see myself as a writer or as a poet.  

Then, in part due to reading professional journals like the Reading Teacher and workshops, lots of us learned of the seminal works of teachers who had another perspective, like Donald Graves, and the National Writing Project.  Lots of us started "following" (long before Twitter) Teachers College Writing Project, where writing and poetry was seen in a whole new light. 


We changed.  We took risks, read and wrote poetry with kids.  We infused poetry and demanded our kids take risks as writers of poetry. Over time, lots of us fell in love with poetry.  Our kids looked forward to "the poetry season" in reading and writing workshop.  

Over time, formal and action research has shown: 
     •Learn phonemic awareness best in meaningful context.
     •Love reading the right poetry books.
     •Love writing poetry about things that matter.
     •Love that poets break rules 
     * Who struggle often write beautiful poetry

Then came the Common Core with limited mention(s) of poetry in primary standards for reading(stanzas, poetic language).  There was NO mention of poetry in primary standards for writing.  

So where does poetry fit, now?