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| "jump" by Michael Kaltenböck (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) |
Every teacher I know leaps for joy at the end of the year. Unfortunately, not every one of us takes the time to look back at all that we accomplished. Did I help my students learn? Did I make a difference in their lives?
As I close the book on another year, I reflect back on the year. The highs and the lows. I have found that my biggest professional gains occur in these moments of quiet reflection. The time I spend considering my successes and failures provides the space to grow from year to year.
So I ask myself: was this my best year ever?
Keeping in mind a growth mindset, I consider what I have done to improve myself as a teacher and the learning environment for my students. In a word, yes, it was my best year ever. However, I know I have much more work to do before I return to my classroom in August.
My growth began with a three day professional learning experience last summer. Several fellow teachers and an awesome middle school librarian spent three of our summer vacation days studying with Penny Kittle, learning all about Book Love, writer's notebooks, and non-fiction reading. At the end of those three days, I knew I wanted to change so many things about my classroom, but I was unsure about how to accomplish everything I wanted.
My first task was to begin. So much can change because we begin. Nothing will change if we never do.
Having seen my wife's successful implementation of Book Love in her English classes the previous semester and bolstered by spending three days with Penny Kittle, I knew my students would be spending at least 10 minutes a day independently reading. However, I didn't know what that would look like or how I was going to build a classroom library to sustain their reading.
Starting in July, I set out to make the south wall of my classroom into a library. At the end of the school year, I now have over 500 books to share with my students. Not all are amazing. Some never get read. But almost all of my students have read at least one of the books from our classroom library.
Then another teacher and I sat down with our curriculum and got to work. We limited the number of teacher selected texts to create space for student selected texts and time for students to read them. This enormous change startled many of my students, but as they came to expect those 10 minutes of reading every day, they embraced the opportunity and dove into the world of books.
During the year we discussed and wrote about the books we were reading. Students told me they hadn't read a book in years. Some told me how much they missed reading. Some told me I was cruel for forcing them to read a book every day. Guess which group I need to focus on even more!
This fall my library will double. A few days ago I received a phone call from Penny Kittle telling me the Book Love Foundation was awarding me a 500 book library for my classroom. What a bookend to my year. Three days with Penny Kittle last summer and a Book Love grant this summer!
Where would my students have been if I had told myself that I couldn't build a library? Where would they be if I said I couldn't change the curriculum? Where would they be if I hadn't made the effort to improve my teaching?
My commitment to independent reading has just begun. I know I need to do a better job conferring with my students and understanding their reading lives. I know I need to broaden my understanding of all genres of literature to be a better advocate for books in my classroom. I know I need to incorporate more reading skill lessons. I know I need to provide even more occasions for writing about the reading we do and the lessons we learn.
I started the year with a plan to incorporate independent reading as a daily activity in my classroom by revamping my curriculum and building a classroom library. I ended the year watching most (not all unfortunately) of my students having reading success.
I'd say that qualifies as my best year ever!
Now I get to do it again next year, and I can't wait.
