Tuesday, July 22, 2014

I'm back...

An Announcement...

I have yet to officially announce that I have decided to return to the world of Literacy Collaborative. As you may or may not remember, my district suffered from HUGE budget cuts last school year and with those cuts the majority of LC coaches lost their positions. It also caused the model of a coach to change drastically with only 2 primary LC's coaching 4 elementary schools. They would no longer be in a classroom for 2 1/2 hours a day and PD would only be offered (primarily) after school with limited participants due to many limiting factors. With all of this happening you are probably wondering...what about intermediate? Well, it fell to the back burner. Without a coach, the majority of teachers did what they felt comfortable doing. Some tried their best implementing what they knew or what they thought they knew, while others abandoned best practices and did what was easiest for them. By no means am I pointing fingers....no that's not it at all. I want people to understand the importance of having a coach. A coach helps to push you to do your best, be reflective, think about best practices, think about different possibilities, think about your students individually and what they need, help to think of ways to improve student achievement, provide you with the newest research and resources, and the list goes on. So you can only imagine what was happening to 3-5.

It frustrated me that people were saying that 3-5 teachers were "doing" LC without a coach. Well, if they fully understood LC, they would know that it is NOT something that you just DO. It is a model of best practices supported by research. The model has to include a coach and professional development...both of which were now nonexistent. So...no, LC was not happening.

I spent a great deal of time deciding what to do. I had endless conversations with my fellow coaches, colleagues, my mother, boyfriend, principals, superintendents, and friends. I knew that something had to change. Someone had to step up. I knew that many of my fellow coaches didn't want to do it and I fully understood their reasons, as many of them were my cons, as well. I was not happy with the validity of the program. A coach needs to practice their craft. While, I can model for teachers, to me it's not the same. And 4 schools? How would this work? In the end,  I've decided I have to do what I can and hopefully it will help and make a difference.




With all of this being said...I think that it is time to announce that for the 2014-15 school year, I will be the Intermediate Literacy Collaborative Coach (3-5) for my district (4 elementary schools).




Here is our school's webpage...a work in progress:
http://www.vcsd.k12.ny.us/Page/9293

For more information about LC visit:

http://www.literacycollaborative.org/index.php

Monday, July 21, 2014

Summer Reading!

Good Morning! I was just thinking about the books that I am planning to read this summer and it got me thinking. What are your child(ren) reading this summer? I know I've blogged about this before (last summer). However, being that I've taught struggling readers for six years now, I can tell you that it is imperative that they read over the summer. Kids that don't read over the summer vacation can lose from 1/2 a year to a full year  of achievement. Think of it as a sport...how do you get better at basketball, football, etc? PRACTICE. And if you don't practice, you're rusty. The same thing happens with reading.

What can you do as a parent? Make reading a priority, NOT a chore!

  • Set aside a designated time for reading
  • Find fun, comfy places to read
  • Make reading a family activity
  • Make sure your kids see that you read and enjoy it
  • Read with your child
  • Talk about their reading, ask questions, have a conversation about their reading
  • Share the book
  • Start a book club
  • Take a trip to your local library (they often have fun events planned)
  • Take a trip to your local bookstore
  • Read anything! Songs, poems, digital books, magazines, comics, recipes, menus, etc.
  • Try Reader's Theater
  • Play reading games
  • Visit reading websites and apps 
Once reading becomes a part of your family's every day events...you will create a ❤ for reading and it will no longer be viewed as something your kids have to do and instead will be what they WANT to do.