Raising Readers and Writers

My friend, who is a principal in a school district in northern Ohio, knew that I was trying a math workshop approach this year in my first grade classroom. She asked me if I would be willing to share some lesson plans and how I set it all up. Her teachers want to try a math workshop. I have to say that she is a phenomenal instructional leader, because she jumps right in with her staff and learns along with them as she guides them to expand their horizons.

Of course, pulling this information together gave me time to reflect. Even though I absolutely love doing math workshop and I believe that I know my kids better as mathematicians this year, there have been times that I wanted to throw in the towel. Once again, it’s that messy teaching that I have mentioned in previous posts. Sometimes I feel like I am walking through really muddy water and I can’t quite see where I am going. I just hope that I get there. It’s uncomfortable. I make mistakes. And sometimes I need to take a break and I just teach a lesson out of the book. There are times, too, when the sun comes out and I think, “Whew! I did it! This is great!” Those are the times when I’ve had a chance to meet with our math coach. She helps me refocus and she listens to my frustrations. Then she leads me again down the path of hope by reminding me of what I do know and what has been successful. I need a pick-me-up from her every once in awhile.

As I was reflecting tonight, I began to think about my struggling readers who are not where I hoped they would be in January. I wonder if they feel like I do when I’m feeling lost in math workshop. Do they look at a page and feel befuddled as to what to do? Do they forget what they have learned and lose confidence in themselves? This serves as a reminder to me about how important my job is to coach them and remind them of all the smart things they know how to do as readers. I also have to remind myself as to where they began the year. They have made tremendous progress and we still have almost 5 months of school. We will just keep working toward our goal. There will be dips in the road, but that’s to be expected. That’s what makes the journey more interesting. We WILL arrive at our destination.

And let’s hope that I make it down that math workshop road without too many bumps (or giant potholes)!