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Welcome to Read – Write – Connect, Inc.
the Internet home of Leah Mermelstein.
Leah is an internationally recognized literacy consultant who specializes in K-5 Reading and Writing Workshop. She is the President and CEO of Read-Write-Connect, INC. She is also the author of Reading/Writing Connections in the K-2 Classroom, (Allyn & Bacon), Don’t Forget to Share (Heinemann) and the co-author of Launching the Writing Workshop (with Lucy Calkins) (Heinemann).
Selected Works
DVD
Quality Writing Instruction
This brand new DVD will assist teachers with high quality writing instruction.
Non-fiction
Don’t Forget to Share: The Crucial Last Step in the Writing Workshop
This brand new book will show you how to make your share sessions more instructional.
Nonfiction
Reading/Writing Connections in the K-2 Classroom: Find the Clarity and Then Blur the Lines
This book demonstrates how through careful, explicit assessing, planning, and teaching every student can understand and use the reading/writing connection to become stronger readers and writers at the same time.
Units of Study for Primary Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum: Launching the Writing Workshop
This book shows teachers how to launch a joyful and rigorous Writing Workshop in their classrooms.
QUICK LINKS
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Leah Mermelstein |
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Blog Posts are Below:
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Teaching Persistence: What I Learned from Watching Ariana
I am thrilled to share the cover of my upcoming book! 9780325048000-1
This book, which is due to come out this August, looks at how to create self-directed learners in the Writing Workshop: As the publication date gets closer, I’ll send along more information.
For now, I want to share one aspect of the book and how it helped me to parent Ariana in a way that hopefully will help her to become more and more self-directed.
One of the words I use in the book to describe self-directed learners is persistent. Throughout the book, I share many concrete ways to help kids become more persistent.
For the purpose of this blog I’ll give you a ‘sneak peak’ at one of these ways, but first a story about Ariana….
Ariana has learned to turn over from her back to her belly and of course now practices it about 2,341 times a day. Watch her here: VIDEO0005-0
The problem was that when she first learned how to roll over she wasn’t great at it and that caused her some frustration.
After she turned over and was on her belly, she couldn’t get her hands out from under her body and to make matters worse although she loved her new trick of rolling over, she wasn’t particularly comfortable on her stomach.
You can imagine that there was a lot of crying and frustrated grunts on the first day of this new learning.
As her mom, it was hard to watch her frustration and it was tempting to just pull her out of the situation and have her play in ways that would avoid her rolling over.
After much reflection and (googling ‘baby frustration’) I realized that a little bit of frustration was good as it would help her become more persistent in figuring out how to solve the problem herself.
I purposely say a little bit of frustration because I know that too much frustration would not help her become more persistent but rather a weepy mess who couldn’t couldn’t focus on anything. I started to try and manage her frustration.
I watched from afar for a few minutes to see how and if she could problem solve and lo and behold she began to be able to get her hands out from under her body and actually began to enjoy being on her belly.
Of course, there were times when I could tell she was going to become too frustrated and that’s when I intervened and helped as lightly as I could.
But there were just as many times when I didn’t intervene and let her problem solve on her own.
My hope is that by holding off and only helping when I could see that the frustration was too high Ariana would become more persistent in solving problems both now and in the future.
How does this story impact the classroom?
Well, for starters in my new book I emphasize that not only do we want to teach reading and writing, but we also want to teach persistence. I want kids to understand that the harder you work the more likely you’ll be able to figure something out.
A little bit of frustration is a natural part of learning. And when you get on the other side of frustration and figure something out, I think it does help with teaching persistence in both parenting and teaching.
I want to end with a simple technique that I talk about in my book to teach persistence. Interestingly, it is exactly what I did with Ariana without realizing it.
I do not speak to the kids for the first three minutes of Writing Workshop. During that time rather than talking to kids, I am watching them problem solve. When I see a child struggling rather than jump in immediately, I watch to see if and how they solve the problem. After those three minutes if I think a child is too frustrated I will intervene just as I did with Ariana.
My hope is that just like Ariana saw the pay off of working hard at rolling over, my students will see the pay off of working hard to solve problems during Writing Workshop.
I would love to hear your thoughts on teaching persistence in both teaching and parenting.
Taking Risks Pays Off in Both Parenting and Teaching
I took a deep breath and drove to Boston all alone with Ariana and look at the great time she had with her cousin Celia!
I took off Ariana’s swaddle ad lo and behold she slept even better than before!
I am sharing the two pictures above because both show big risks I have recently taken in my parenting.
Both times, taking this risk, although nerve wracking, brought my parenting to a new level.
The first picture is of Ariana sleeping without a swaddle.
Initially, I was scared to take this step with Ariana because she was already sleeping so well.
“Why ruin something that is already so good,” I thought to myself.
Interesting I have heard these very same words in schools when I have introduced a new idea to teachers.
My response always is, “Take a risk. Try something new! You could surprise yourself and it could even be better!
It was time for me to take my own advice!
I took the risk and unswaddled my daughter .
She actually slept better that night and stopped making groaning sounds throughout the entire night.
I realized that those sounds were her fighting to get our of the swaddle and now that she was out she could relax more.
Taking this kind of risk wasn’t perfect.
That are still nights that she needs to go to sleep with a swaddle and then I unswaddle her later.
Some nights she sleeps beautifully, while others she is more unsettled.
One thing is for sure: When I took a risk in my parenting Ariana moved to a new place–a more comfortable place.
The second picture is from a trip I recently took to Boston. I drove to Boston and then back home again alone with Ariana.
We stayed in two different homes and Ariana met a lot of new people in a short amount of time.
I was really nervous about this trip and actually considered not going.
Ariana had such a great little life in Hoboken, why ruin a good thing……she loved her crib, her walks through town and her calm peaceful schedule.
As I thought about this trip, all I could think were the hard parts of traveling alone with her…packing the car…feeding her while traveling,, changing her diaper in a rest stop…
Again, I thought, “Why mess up something so good?”
The reason…once again because the unknown could be even better!!!!
So we went..was it hard?
Of course.
Ariana did get a bit stressed out not being in her routine but she met her cousins and as you can see from the picture above it was love at first sight!!!!!
Everything hard about the visit was worth it as she now has these wonderful relationships with her cousins in Boston!
What do I learn from both of these experiences?
Taking risks can be scary and messy but they always have pay off in some way.
The same goes for our teaching! Taking risks can be scary but always pay off in the end.
I try hard in my teaching to be someone who is always willing to take a risk, to try on a new idea, to take on a new perspective.
I think it’s what keeps me growing as an educator.
Sometimes I wonder, especially with all of the uproar around The Common Core Standards, if we could move quicker towards best practices if everyone (both proponents of the Common Core and folks apposed to it ) took a risk and tried to understand what the other side was saying… ..who knows maybe both would be surprised by what they learned and understood.
I hope this post helps you to embrace risk in your teaching.
Try out that new idea you’ve been wondering about…. Try to understand a colleague who thinks differently than you.
And if you find yourself saying what I said, “Why ruin something that is already so good?” remember by taking a risk you could you could surprise yourself and find that the new idea or perspective helps you teach or parent better than you could have imagined.
As always, I can’t wait to hear what you think.
Leah
Copyright, 2013
You Can’t Force Learning: But You Can Watch and Listen Carefully and Learning Will Unfold
Ariana has learned how to sleep in her crib for 12 hours, as well as watch movies in it on rainy days.
Ariana has learned how to sleep in her crib for 12 straight hours!!!! She is so very proud of herself and I am enjoying the sleep!!!
I want to share the story of how it happened because it pertains to both parenting and teaching.
For the last four weeks, I have been putting Ariana to bed in her car seat and later when she’s fast asleep transporting her to the crib.
I did this because when I put her in the crib in the early evening, she would wake up crying every half hour or so. Clearly she was not comfortable sleeping in her crib.
She ended up not getting solid sleep and neither did I!!!!!
When I put her in the car seat, she slept better and if she did wake up, I just had to rock the car seat a bit and she went back to sleep.
When I told people I was doing this, I got all kinds of well meaning comments: Don’t rock her so much….she will come to expect it…you are setting up bad habits by putting her in the car seat….the list goes on and on.
Their comments stressed me out because I knew that my goal was for her to eventually sleep in her crib.
I got so stressed out by this goal and the well-meaning comments that I decided to force the teaching upon her.
I decided that the very next night she was going to learn to sleep in her crib.
In my gut, I knew that it wouldn’t work but I went ahead and tried to teach it anyway..
Sure enough, she woke up crying numerous times and back in the car seat she went.
Even though I tried to teach her how to sleep in her crib, it didn’t work because she wasn’t ready for it yet. And because she wasn’t ready Ariana had a difficult night as did I ..no learning (or sleeping) took place!
About five days later, when I went to transport her to the crib, she was wide awake.
She wasn’t crying but she was wide awake.
This was a VERY different behavior because normally at this time in the night, she was sound asleep. Because it was so different, I took note of it.
I wasn’t sure what to do.
So I put her in the crib ( I kept the lights on as my plan was to only leave her room for a minute) and went to my room to think about my plan of action.
I fell asleep and woke up an hour later in a panic…first of many guilty mom moments!!!!
I ran to the crib and there she was awake and still not crying. I wasn’t sure what else to to so I turned off the lights and she slept peacefully for the rest of the night.
Once again, I took note of this new behavior.
Based upon my observations, I knew I had a teachable moment…I realized that she had changed..she had grown into a little girl who felt comfortable in her crib. Now was the right time to teach her to sleep in her crib for the entire night.
Sure enough the next night I put her directly into the crib and she is now sleeping twelve hours a night….I hate to say it aloud as I’m scared I will jinx it!!!
What did this teach me? When I tried to force her into learning to sleep in the crib it didn’t work. I forced her because of outside influences and goals I had for her.
What I had to do (which was harder) was to never forget the end goal of sleeping in the crib but to listen and watch her behaviors so that I would know when she was ready to learn it.
When I taught it at the wrong time, she did not learn it!!!!
The perfect teaching opportunity wasn’t years away ..it was days away and what a difference it made to wait just a few days to teach her to sleep in the crib.
I still met the goal pretty quickly but I met it by watching her carefully and teaching it at just the right moment.
What this mean for teaching?
Quite simply: You can force learning and at times we waste a lot of precious teaching time teaching kids things they cannot learn.
Our job is much harder than that!
We can’t forget the end goals that we and others place upon our kids but just like I had to watch Ariana’s behavior so I knew when she was ready to learn, we have to watch our students so that we know when they are ready to learn.
Keep in mind that a few days might make all the difference just like it did for me with Ariana.
Like always, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and comments.
Until next time,
Leah
Copyright, 2013
Get Excited About The Small Stuff
I’m two months!
I’m always imagining all the ‘big stuff’ of Ariana’s life. I can’t wait for her to start talking, walking, singing, –I was so excited for her first smile! As you can see, it is quite beautiful.
But because I am so excited for the big stuff I almost forget to notice the seemingly small stuff.
Last week, Ariana discovered her tongue!!
She figured out that she can keep her tongue in her mouth or if she wants she can put her tongue out of her mouth. What power she has and the look on her face while she does it is priceless.
She even noticed that she can do something (I’m not quite sure what she is doing) that will make her tongue make a funny sound.
Watch it here: IMG_0194
What I’ve realized is that discovering her tongue is not a small thing but a big thing for my little girl!
Because I realized that, I made a bigger deal out of it with her–talking to her about how much fun it must be to have figured out all kinds of fun things to do with her tongue.
It’s a good reminder for both both parents and teachers to revel in all that kids do and notice not just the big things, but the small as well.
In the end what seems small probably isn’t and probably will have a bigger impact on the child.
Just ask Ariana..she looks pretty proud to have discovered her tongue and I have a feeling it’s the start of a lot of other things.
I would love your thoughts on how paying attention to the seemingly small details in both teaching and parents have yielded great results.
And by the way, Ariana laughed out loud today…She did it while watching me dance. I think she already had discovered that I have two left feet and finds it funny:)
Until next time,
Leah
Copyright, 2013
Three Things to Say To Children Everyday
I love how hard (and joyfully) Ariana is working at tummy time! 
My friends and colleagues at Parenting Smarts, Ellen Dillon and Norman Stiles, Parenting Smarts Productions recently posted a wonderful article by Mojo Lisa A. McCrohan that was about the three things you should say to your child or children every day.
Things to Say To Your Child Every Day.
To sum up her wonderful article these were the three things that she believes children should hear from your mouth and learn from your actions everyday.
1. I see you…..
2. You matter…..
3. I love to watch you…
As a new parent, I have been thinking about this wonderful article how and if I was doing that for Ariana.
It’s amazing even at 7 weeks Ariana can tell when my attention is elsewhere. Just yesterday, I was hanging out with Ariana. My phone rang and without any warning to Ariana I took my attention elsewhere and started gabbing with a friend of mine. Within a minute or so, Ariana started to cry. It was as if she was saying to me: Don’t forget about me. I matter and if you’re going to talk to your friend at least let me know:)
She is right and I told her so.
I talk to Ariana all day long.
We talk about where she goes, what she does and what she likes and dislikes. Even though she doesn’t understand everything I am saying, she does know that I am talking to her.
Hopefully this ongoing conversation, helps her understand that she matters and that I see her.
My friend (the same one I was gabbing on the phone with) recently noted that I speak with Ariana in a conversational mode as if she is going to respond (which she really does even at 7 weeks in her own way).
Again our ongoing conversations will help her know that I see her and that she matters.
I LOVE watching Ariana play. In the past week,, she has been napping a bit less and playing a bit more. I especially love watching her watch herself in a mirror. The moment her eyes catch her own image in the mirror is simply priceless.
I also love how engaged she is with tummy time. Watch her IMG_0188
Now that i am thinking about these three ideas in my parenting, I can’t help but think about these same ideas in my teaching.
No matter what we are teaching or how we are teaching it, if we want kids to learn they must know that we see them, and that they matter.
It certainly won’t hurt either if we tell them on a regular basis what we love watching them do.
Sometime people will say to me, “Yes that is all good but The Common Core Standards changes all of that.”
I don’t think so.
Although The Common Core Standards are not perfect, most most of it is simply good teaching.
The biggest problem is not the Common Core Standards, but how people react to them.
I believe that if we keep the three ideas above in our mind while teaching, we have a better chance of kids actually learning.
I would love to hear your thoughts on these three 3 ideas (and others of course) and what they mean to both your teaching and to our parenting!
Until next time,
Leah
Copyright, 2013
Read Aloud is Magical at Any Age
Just a quick post today! Since being home with Ariana, I have been reminded of the importance of both Read Aloud and oral language.
Throughout the day, two of Ariana’s favorite activities are reading books and listening to me talk.
I often read books to Ariana before she naps and if she was fussy beforehand the second we start reading books she calms down.
Of course I know that she doesn’t understand the words yet, but she is attuned to both the the sound of language and the pictures.
Here is a video of us reading together! Isn’t she cute??
Her other favorite activity is to walk up and down the hallway of my condo and listen to me talk about all of the things that are there.
It’s like our little field trip ( I actually call it our little adventure!) ..we look and talk about strollers, lights, boots, and elevators and once again the second I start talking and naming all that we are seeing, her fussiness ceases.
I know both of these activities will have huge impacts on her.
This reminds me of the importance of both Read Aloud and language in the classroom.
I would love your thoughts and ideas on both Read Aloud and language and ways they fit into both your teaching and/your parenting!
Until next time,
Leah
Copyright, 2013
Teaching and Parenting Through the Eyes of a Child
Ariana has a new hobby: Light Watching
Here is Ariana playing with her first toy: Her awake time is about 10 minutes so she engaged for about 5 minutes with her bouncy toy!!!!!! Amazing.
Marie Clay, one of my reading heroes, once said that in order to teach effectively you have to look at and reflect upon every teaching/learning encounter not through your own eyes, but through the eyes of the child or children that you are presently working with. The three pictures above remind me of that quote. The first is a picture of my sweet Ariana. If we ignore the fact that it looks like she is flipping me off upside down, what she is doing in this picture is staring at the old dingy light in the lobby of my condo.
Ironically, in preparation for Ariana, I redid all of the lights in my condo and they are quite beautiful if I say so myself (much nicer than the lobby light) I would have thought she would have liked the lights in our home better. She likes them but her favorite light is the one in the lobby.
She noticed that light after we had gone for a walk around the block. I thought the adventure was the walk around the block. After all, I had pointed out all of the things during our walk that were interesting to me. When we got back into the lobby I thought the adventure was over and I was already anticipating what we would do once we were upstairs. I was about to get into the elevator when I noticed her focused gaze on the light in my lobby.
Thank goodness I stopped because it was in this moment that she discovered her first hobby of light watching.
If I keep Marie’s Clay quote in mind when I parent. it will help me slow down and let Ariana enjoy her hobby of light watching and keep in mind that the light that she likes is the one in the lobby.
Yes, not a hobby I have or a light I would have chosen. but it’s what Ariana is passionate about and whatever she is passionate about will surely nurture her development.
The next picture is a hilarious picture of a child’s response to a homework assignment…we can laugh at his response, but in reality it makes a lot of sense.
This child, more than likely, has been taught the correct words for the different body parts and simply followed the directions by writing the correct word by the arrow. Through our eyes it’s funny or perhaps mischievous, but more than likely it’s just an honest response to an adult question.
The last picture is Ariana having her first play time. I was so excited that she was starting to play with one of the million toys I have for her that I started to grab other ones for her to play with next.
I had dreams of her playing with these toys for hours. But alas after about ten minutes of being focused on the toy, she got fussy and needed to be held.
Pat, my baby nurse, reminded me that a newborn’s awake time is usually between ten and twenty minutes.
Now, that I am looking at playtime through her eyes and not my eyes it goes a lot better. She plays for ten minutes and then I hold her and she is fine.
Again, another reminder of Marie Clay’s quote that for every encounter, we need to look at it not through our eyes and what would be nice or fun or interesting for us, the teacher or the parent, but through the eyes of the learner/child that we are working with.
I also need to bring up Ariana’s fussiness, which is during certain moments of the day causing me considerable anxiety. At times, not matter how hard I try I can not seem to soothe her and this feels awful to me.
I have a secret stash of chocolate and sweettarts in my desk and I have been known to go eat a ton of these after one of her fussy spells.
Beside eating bad foods I try to In those moments look at the fussiness through her eyes and understand that her body is new to this world and things like easting, sleeping burping and pooping are all big deals and can cause distress.
As she gets older and gets used to this it won’t be nearly as hard.
In other words, THIS WILL PASS!
I try to remind myself all of this everyday and I also quietly explain this to Ariana. I hope it helps both of us.
Once again, it’s been helpful for me to look at this fussiness through her eyes not mine.
In my eyes I would just say what’s the big deal…Just eat, sleep, burp and poop!
All of these things are routine for me but not for her.
How does this apply to teaching?
I can remember about a year ago being in a 5th grade classroom working with a more fragile student on his persuasive letter. He was just about to come out of his writers’ notebook and was using his notebook at the time to ensure that he had enough arguments and details to support his arguments. When I talked with him about the idea he was most passionate about it was about students designing their own schedules at school.
It’s so easy in the rush of the day or in the assumption that we know best not to ask this student more questions or assume that the topic is a superficial one and that if we questioned him he would talk about a schedule that included goofing off all day long.
When I questioned him I was able to see this topic through his eyes and what a brilliant and unique pair of eyes he had.
He said that different students have different strengths and weaknesses and therefore should have more ‘decision power’ in what their day/schedule should look like.
He was better at math he said and not so good at reading so he felt, for at least a short period of time, his schedule should include more reading time so that he could improve as a reader. He also felt that at other times in the year rather than focusing on his weakness he should spend more time in his daily schedule on his strengths.
He felt that if all students designed their own schedule they would be more engaged in learning.
The rest of his arguments for this topic were sensational and so were his details to support these arguments.
Once again looking at topic choice through his eyes made my teaching so much stronger and made me realize that this was not a silly topic but actually one that would revolutionize education if we could somehow put it to use in schools. .
I would love to know your thought on teaching or parenting or both through the eyes of your learners/students.
Until next time,
Leah
Copyright, 2012
Think Positively
One of the many quotes on my bathroom mirror. This is a quote that Pat, my baby nurse said to me. It says “Don’t anticipate that she’ll be upset. Anticipate that she will be fine and if she is not try and soothe her.”
I’ve never been a person to put much stock in inspirational quotes. As a matter of fact, I have always secretly poked fun at people who put quotes up around their homes. “Don’t write about what you’re going to do, I would think to myself. Just do it.”
Having a baby changes everything, I guess, because now covering my bathroom mirror are quotes, not from famous people, but rather parenting advice from friends and family.
Last week, I was really struggling to get Ariana to settle down to sleep and I said to my baby nurse Pat, “I don’t know what I’ll do tonight when Ariana doesn’t settle down.”
Pat, in her soft spoken way said, “Perhaps you shouldn’t anticipate that things will go wrong. Anticipate that she will be fine, but if she is not try and soothe her.”
Such simple advice but I realized when she said it, it was the advice I needed to hear.
Assume it will go well and if it doesn’t figure out then what to do…
As you see in the picture above, I immediately added her words to my bathroom mirror.
Her words have been so helpful. It really was a matter of changing my mindset from one of assuming things would go poorly to one of assuming things would be fine and intervening when/if they weren’t.
Since I’ve added Pat’s advice on my mirror (and read those words every morning and evening), Ariana has been so much less fussy and I have been able to settle her down to sleep more easily.
I don’t know if she is growing up (she turned three weeks today ), or if it’s my mindset, or perhaps a combination of both of these things but things are getting better-at least for now.
So what does this mean for teaching?
Two thoughts I am thinking but am hoping to hear your connections and thoughts as well.
At times when I visit a classroom of kids and I tell them we will be doing Writing Workshop together they groan—I know hard to believe that someone wouldn’t LOVE Writing Workshop!
When this happens, I stop everything and have a little bit of a heart to heart with the kids.
I say, “If you start off thinking that Writing Workshop won’t be fun it probably won’t be. If you start off saying wow, that could be interesting it might very well be.”
This usually calms the kids down and things tend to go much better just from those few words of advice from me. Really, if you think about it my words of advice in this situation are the same words of advice that Pat gave me. Assume it will go well and figure out later if there is a problem. Interesting that I can see it in work but needed to have it pointed out to me in parenting.
When talking with teachers about Writing Workshop, at times when I say that in a Writing Workshop kids choose their own topics I will have a few teachers say, “What if they can’t?”
I always respond by saying, “Let’s assume that the kids can choose their own topics and if they can’t we will brainstorm and figure out ways to help them.”
Once again..the same advice that Pat gave me.
Having a positive rather than a negative mind set has seemed to work with my parenting, as well as working with kids and teachers.
I would love to know your thoughts about this connection.
Until next time,
Leah.
Until next time,
Leah
My Baby Nurse Likes Onsies but Doesn’t like Pants: Keeping the Big Picture in Mind
Here is Ariana wearing yes, pants. These pants were given to her by the teachers in Burlington, Vermont!
On Friday, December 28th I came home from the hospital with my sweet girl Ariana. I had a huge entourage with me: My brother, Josh, my sister in law,Anne, my friend, Ellen, Pat, the baby nurse, and my three nieces and nephews, Celia, Vince and Mark.
This is my nephew Mark
This is my nephew Vince
My niece Celia with Ariana
Everyone ran around helping me and never was I more relieved and thankful for good friends and family.
Before my sister-in-law, Anne, left she gave me a wise piece of advice. She thought she was giving me parenting advice and of course she was but really she was also giving me (and now you) great advice for working with kids and teachers in classrooms.
She told me that there were many ways to parent. . Yes,there are guidelines or big ideas she said, but as long as you fit into those guidelines you are fine.
What great parenting advice!
But really what great teaching advice!
Over the past 2 weeks, I have learned so many guidelines about parenting from Pat, my baby nurse, such as:
1. Safety with the car seat
2. Making sure to get lots of burps from Ariana during feedings
3. Helping Ariana understand the difference between day and night
These are just a few of the guidelines or big ideas I have learned from Pat.
Over the past few days, I have also noticed that Pat has commented on the outfits I have put Ariana in.
1. The pants are too big she tells me.
2. Ariana’s shirt that goes with the pants creeps upward and she doesn’t think that is so tidy,
3. Her hat is too big and it might fall in her eyes..
For a moment I was trying to change how I dressed Ariana to please Pat. This was very difficult for me (Those of you who know me know I have strong ideas about what makes for a fashionable outfit)
Thankfully, Anne’s words stayed with me and I realized that safety, burps at feedings and knowing the difference between day and night are important guidelines (or big ideas) of parenting but what to dress her in was NOT a big idea.
I had to be OK with the fact that Pat and I had different ideas about this.
Interestingly, when I talked to Pat more about this it turns out that Pat does not like babies in pants (she thinks they are tidier in onsies or jumpers as she calls them)
I think there is nothing cuter than babies in pants.
We had to agree to disagree on this. Both of us were OK because Ariana was safe and both of us even with our different ideas of ‘baby fashion’ were working within the guidelines of good parenting.
What does this mean for teaching? I’ll say what I think and I hope to hear from others.
When working with kids on writing there are certain guidelines. or big ideas..For example, when I work with the youngest writers I want them to do some sort of drawing to help them with their writing but it should be up to them whether they draw all their pictures first, a picture and then words or their words first and then their pictures second. The general guideline is planning but we should be flexible in how kids use their drawing to plan.
Sometimes we /I get too stuck on kids doing things exactly how we/I ask rather than doing what Anne suggested, having guidelines and getting kids to work within these guidelines.
Likewise, when working with teachers, I/we have to always be careful that I/we don’t get frustrated if teachers don’t do things exactly the way I would do them in the classroom.
One guideline I have for good upper grade teaching is that kids do extended planning. Exactly how teachers do this in their classrooms should be unique to that teacher (although I will offer suggestions).
Once again there should be guidelines (or big ideas) and as long as teachers are within those guidelines they’re fine.
And when we let people be themselves their teaching, their learning, and their parenting is better
I hope to hear from you.
Until next time,
Leah
Listening is Key!
Yes, there is my dear Ariana on her tummy!!!!!
I must point out that in both picture she is wearing very cute outfits…so far takes after her mother…loves to dress up . )
I know, I know that she needs to sleep on her back and don’t worry I turned her over once she fell asleep but I want to share a quick story about Ariana and then how that story relates to teaching. When I first brought Ariana home I was having an informal chat with Pat, my baby nurse. During our chat, I shared how one of the joys of not being pregnant was my ability to be a ‘tummy sleeper’ again. She didn’t really respond to that comment but she was clearly listening!
A week later when Ariana was fussing and could not settle down for a nap, Pat said, “You know you are such a tummy sleeper–I wonder if your daughter is the same way.”
She turned her over on her stomach and Ariana instantly relaxed and slept
Pat was able to help Ariana by listening carefully to me-her student. It was a seemingly causal, off the cuff conversation that led to the solving of a huge problem.
So how does this relate to teaching? I think it reminds me of the importance of listening to everything a child says even if feels unrelated and using what you learn in all aspects of your teaching…
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time,
Leah