I’ve been thinking a lot lately. I’ve been thinking about the amount of control teachers have over their teaching (and, as a result, over their students’ learning). Many teachers I work with, as well as teachers working in other districts, have expressed to me that they feel as though the literacy curriculum is being imposed on them; that the literacy work feels scripted; that they lack any control over their teaching. This concerns me.
I am a Literacy Coach in a district where we have purchased units of study for both reading and writing. The units are built on solid research, are rigorous, clearly articulated from kindergarten through eighth grade, aligned with Common Core Standards, and filled with beautiful texts for Read Aloud and Shared Reading as well as writing mentors. The online resources are incredible too! There are plenty of suggestions for ways to adapt the units, small group ideas, and even suggestions for celebrations and communication with families. These units are meant to be used as a guide – as one way a teacher might travel through a year. I have talked with the chief designer of this work, and she assures me that this is NOT meant to be a script, passively followed by teachers as they march through another year. I do not think this message is clear to many teachers.
I’ve been thinking about how I might encourage teachers to take back their teaching. Even if teachers are asked to follow a calendar of expected units of study and to teach many of the lessons that are suggested (with lots of room for personalization, modification, and adaptation), we should still have about 45 minutes of time in both reading and writing, plus the time we have carved out for Read Aloud, Shared Reading, Interactive and Shared Writing, where teachers are completely in charge! This is the time when teachers are in control of how they craft instruction to meet the needs and interests of their students. They can make decisions about how small groups and conferences might go (Do your students need something that’s not included in the unit? Teach it!), what partnership work can look like (Do your students love to act things out? Add in some drama work!), what materials kids might use (Are you interested in trying a reading notebook in second grade? Go for it!), or how they might handle Read Aloud (Do you want to teach kids how to read a music video or a piece of art? Give it a go!).
After thinking about this for a while, I’m realizing that there are many places in our literacy work that are not scripted or imposed. Let’s take control of our teaching and make it work for our students. After all, that’s what we were hired to do.
