Raising Readers and Writers

I’ve been watching the Olympic coverage tonight and saw the premiere of the new We Are the World to support Haiti. It brings chills to me as I see the world come together for one purpose. We celebrate our best athletes as the Olympics become a symbol of peace throughout the world. In the same way, musical artists of all different genres come together to aid a country in dire need.

I’ve been thinking about my post for quite awhile. Tonight’s Olympics and the airing of We Are the World brought it all together for me. It’s that time of year when I am very worried about my struggling young learners. Will they learn all the skills they need before their time with me ends? How can I best help them make the most gains between now and the end of the school year? I know that I can’t do it alone. It’s imperative that there is open communication between classroom teachers, the support staff that also works with my students, and parents. We all need to be on the same page working for the same goals. If we don’t collaborate, our kids are pulled in different directions and the adults are busy running around trying to solve the problem by themselves. It makes no sense. Unfortunately, it is our reality at times.

Choice Literacy had an article about what makes a good teacher in last week’s Big Fresh. Although there was a lot to take away from the article, one thing in particular clicked with me. Resonating among all great teachers was their mind-set. They refused to accept failures from bureaucracy, poverty, and lack of funding. They constantly reevaluated what was happening in their classrooms. There’s no denying that I’m reflective, but I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been “pouting” because I haven’t been able to meet with the other teachers who work with my kids like I want to. After reading the article, I realized that I’m not helping my kids by lamenting on what I don’t have. It’s time to reevaluate!

I have a renewed sense of purpose again! It’s up to me to make the changes that I need to make in my classroom so that I can better meet the needs of my most struggling learners while they are with me. I will continue to invite conversations with the other teachers, because I still believe that if we are going to make the most progress we need to work together as much as we can. However, if the conversations don’t happen, I will find other ways to move forward.

In the same way that all the musical artists came together for one goal, so must we teachers open our doors and invite others in so that we can best meet the needs of our shared students. It is through this important collaboration that we can most efficiently raise the achievement of all of our students and help them be the best they can be. If we all believe it is important, we will find a way to make it happen.