By Kylene Beers, 2024 Conference Presenter

Another Zoom meeting with yet another teacher about the censorship problems she is facing in her district left me both angry and sad. This teacher faced disciplinary steps from her principal after she let her seventh-grade students check out books from her in-class library of over six-hundred books without first letting the media specialist approve all the books. “It would be February before she got to my class. My kids need to be reading now. And so, yes, I told them they could check out books. I also told them to discuss anything they were reading with their parents and if their parents asked them not to read that book, then they needed to return it to my class library and choose a different book.”

I knew where this conversation was headed as she continued. “So, one kid went home, and her mom saw she was reading Hurricane Child (Kheryn Callender, 2018). The main character is a twelve-year-old girl who realizes that she has romantic feelings for another girl. It’s really more about the girl coming to terms with her mom who has left the family than it is about her discovering she is gay. But this mom called the principal and now I’m in trouble because one parent said that didn’t think kids in seventh grade should read this book because the main character is gay. She said she doesn’t want her daughter to think its ok to be gay and there is no reason for her to read about any gay people because in their family they don’t believe in being gay.” 

The teacher was crying. “What does that even mean that her family doesn’t believe in being gay? What does it matter whether this one mom wants to believe in being gay or not? And why does this one parent get to decide what books I have in my classroom? And why does she get to decide what books any other kid other than her own can read? She told my principal that I’m not there to do anything more than teach her kid about the things she needs to know to pass the STAAR test and nothing else. I’m going to quit at the end of this year.”

We continued our conversation though I am quite sure I had little to offer. Before she ended the call, I said, “Don’t quit. Kids need you.” She nodded slowly, sighed, and signed off. 

***

I have written in other places that I believe we are fast moving toward a curriculum of irrelevancy. As a nation we seem to be bowing to the ideological and political desires of those wanting more power for some and less for others. This small but loud group wants to impose their values and beliefs on others. In response, in some places, some school districts have mandated that certain books be removed from shelves and teachers must be careful to avoid any conversations of controversial subjects. 

We have all watched as more and more books are challenged – in classrooms, in school libraries, and in public libraries. I’m from Texas and we’re leading the nation on book challenges. In 2022, 2,349 unique titles faced challenges by 93 people. While the number of challenges is unprecedented, what is also new is that until recently one parent might challenge one book to make sure one child – that parent’s child – didn’t read the book. Now we see individuals challenging large numbers of books with the insistence that no child read the books. I am writing this for a Colorado publication, so let’s look at Colorado challenges. In 2022, the American Library Association reported 56 book challenges in Colorado. In 2023, though, this state saw an increase of challenges by 143%. 
While many of the books challenged across the nation would more often be found in middle and high school libraries, in October 2023 Scholastic Book Fairs came under intense criticism as they segregated some books into a separate case that elementary school librarians had to opt in to receive for their local book fair. This special case included books about Ruby Bridges, John Lewis, and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Scholastic initially explained that they segregated these books into an “opt-in” case to protect teachers and school librarians who might be punished if parents objected to these books; later, they retracted that and apologized for segregating the books and promised to stop this practice in January of 2024. This segregation of books by a publisher represents a more troublesome type of censorship, one that pretends to be done to support teachers while removing diverse voices and perspectives. Now the parent censors are not needed as a publisher segregates some books from others. 

This selective segregating of books, suppression of topics, and restriction of certain authors serves as a concerning indication of a broader threat to intellectual thought. Such actions not only stifle the rich exchange of ideas but also hamper the development of a highly literate citizenry, a prerequisite for a thriving democracy. Diverse voices and ideas are the lifeblood of a thriving democracy as they challenge assumptions, foster empathy, and encourage dialogue. But diverse voices are harder to hear when they are segregated into certain areas or removed altogether. 

Finding ways to bridge the deep divisions that currently characterize our political and culture landscape is an ongoing challenge that demands the

collective efforts of educators, policymakers, and society as a whole. If we can bridge this divide, then educators have the opportunity to instill in students the skill of critical thinking, the value of an empathetic mind, and the benefits of open dialogue. By teaching students to respect and engage with differences while seeking common ground, teachers help create a stronger democracy. But if we do not find the stamina to stand against censorship, then ultimately, we will offer our students a curriculum of irrelevance. 

Such a curriculum might prepare students to pass state tests, but little else. If we make instruction irrelevant to students’ emotional and intellectual lives, then, it is true, no one will call the principal with complaints. If we offer books that do not challenge long-held assumptions, then we will not face the censor’s challenges. We can teach about events that led to our involvement in World War II but ignore what we did to Japanese Americans. We can explain important dates and events in the Civil Rights Movement and fail to mention what happened to the Little Rock Nine. We can teach students the sounds that letters make and overlook that harsh punishment that enslaved people faced when they tried to learn how those letters and sounds worked together. We can teach grammar and definitions of poetic terms and the difference in internal and external conflict without ever touching on any of the internal and external conflicts our students face daily. Or, we can remember what Franz Kafka once wrote:

I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. That is my belief. (1958/1977, 16)

Books ought to make us feel something. Sometimes that feeling might be regret; other times it could be horror; other times it is courage; and even other times it is relief at finding someone who looks or thinks or feels like we do. Yes, a book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. So, dear teachers, never give in to the demands of irrelevancy. Somehow, find the stamina and courage to be brave. Hold on to the knowledge that your hard work is the good work; the best work; the needed work. And don’t quit. Our nation’s students need you. 

Reference
Kafka, Franz. 1958/1977. Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors. New York: Schocken Books.

Kylene Beers, Ed.D., is a former middle school teacher who has turned her commitment to adolescent literacy and struggling readers into the major focus of her research, writing, speaking, and teaching. She is author of the best-selling When Kids Can’t Read/What Teachers Can Do, co-editor (with Bob Probst and Linda Rief) of Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice, and co-author (with Bob Probst) of Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading and Reading Nonfiction, Notice & Note Stances, Signposts, and Strategies all published by Heinemann. She taught in the College of Education at the University of Houston, served as Senior Reading Researcher at the Comer School Development Program at Yale University, and most recently acted as the Senior Reading Advisor to Secondary Schools for the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College.

Kylene has published numerous articles in state and national journals, served as editor of the national literacy journal, Voices from the Middle, and was the 2008-2009 President of the National Council of Teachers of English. She is an invited speaker at state, national, and international conferences and works with teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools across the US. Kylene has served as a consultant to the National Governor’s Association and was the 2011 recipient of the Conference on English Leadership outstanding leader award.

Kylene is now a consultant to schools, nationally and internationally, focusing on literacy improvement with her colleague and co-author, Bob Probst. 

by Shane Templeton, Ph.D., 2024 Conference Presenter

Why words have come to be spelled the way they are, and mean what they mean, is explained by their etymology. Etymology refers to the origins and historical development of words. 

Why consider etymology – word histories – in our word study? Wilfred Funk offered a very simple reason: “To know the life history of a word makes its present meaning clearer and more nearly unforgettable” (p. 2). C. S. Lewis, author of the “Chronicles of Narnia” tales – most notably The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – described how words have a “semantic biography.” Readers and writers who develop a sense of these “biographies” may grow deeper and more nuanced meanings as they read and write, a consistent objective in Colorado’s Reading, Writing, and Communication standards. 

Now, I’m not suggesting we attempt to include the history of every important vocabulary word in our instruction. The occasional story and consideration of how etymology works, however, should benefit all learners in their word learning journeys. In this blog I’ll share some possibilities and examples of how these legacies can explain the spellings of both individual words as well as processes that apply to the spelling and meaning of literally tens of thousands of words. I’ll also share sources and resources for growing your own etymological knowledge base and how you can in turn support students’ learning.

In the primary grades, children can begin to develop an interest and curiosity about words – what researchers have termed word consciousness (Scott, Skobel, & Wells. 2008). They can also begin to learn how etymology can help explain the meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of words. For example: 

Why are there silent letters in some words? Because many words and their meanings are linked by how they are spelled:  

Write the word two, and then directly underneath, write the words twice, twelve, and twenty. Ask the children, “What’s the same in all of these words?” After noting the tw, ask “What do twice, twelve, and twentyhave to do with two?” Combining children’s responses and your own explanation (as necessary!), children realize that “twice” means something happens two times; “twelve” is two more than ten; and “twenty” is two tens. The twspelling is what connects these words and their meanings together. In fact, a lot of today’s “silent” letters were once pronounced, and as the years went by the sounds they stood for were dropped from the word – but their spellings remained.

After learning about the “magic e” rule (a final silent e makes the preceding vowel long, as in bike), children wonder about the “exceptions.” We can group some of these exceptions together, and one important category will be revealed – in words like have, love, and give, children come to realize that English words do not end with the letter v! We may need to encourage this awareness, of course, by asking, “What letter comes before the final silent e?” 

What’s going on here? Long ago, if v were doubled to mark the short vowel in these words, it would have looked like a w, so printers added an e instead!

Historically, most “silent” consonants were pronounced. Centuries ago in English, the initial k, the w in wr and answer, and the g in gn were all sounded. For example, the word climb in Middle English was climben in which the b was pronounced; the word limb comes from Latin limbus in which the b was pronounced.

In these ways – through learning about processes that apply to many words, an awareness of etymology can grow children’s nuanced connections between words, their meanings, their spellings, and their pronunciations. 

Although the Reading, Writing, and Communication standards in Colorado do not explicitly address etymology until the secondary level, the study of Greek and Latin word roots and affixes (prefixes and suffixes) begins in earnest in the intermediate grades, and learning how they work to determine the meaning of words can be enriched through etymology: 

Many words in English have come from words and word parts that were spoken and written in Greece over 2,000 years ago. The suffixes –phobia and –phobic, for example, come from Phobos, the name of the Greek god of fear. Many more words with Greek word parts – such as telegraph and microscope – never existed back then but have been created from the word parts that did: tele (far off), graph (writing, written), micros (small), and skopos(watch, see). These word parts remain readily available for assembling into new words to stand for new concepts. 

October and November both come from the Roman names for the 8^th (Oct) and 9^th (Nov) months in the Roman calendar. In our calendar they’re the 10^th and 11^th months in the year. What happened? The explanation for the difference is that the original Roman calendar began in March, and they counted forward from there.

January comes from Latin. When the Romans revised their calendar so that it didn’t begin in March anymore, they named the first month of the new year after Janus, who in Roman mythology was the god of doors. Doors swing backwards and forwards – so, Janus would look back to the old year and forward to the new year.

Etymology explains “chameleon” prefixes such as in– and com– in which the spelling often changes. Why, for example, is in– also spelled im and ir? A long time ago, when in– was added to a word like mobile to create the word that meant “not mobile,” it was awkward to pronounce the /n/ sound before the /m/ sound. Over time it became easier

to pronounce just the /m/ sound instead of both the /n/ and /m/ sounds. The spelling later changed to reflect this. (Have students pronounce both INmobile and IMmobile – which is easier to say?) When in– was added to regular, it was awkward to pronounce the /n/ before /r/, so the spelling changed to reflect the easier pronunciation (INregular vs. IRregular). 

As intermediate students are learning how Greek and Latin roots and affixes determine the meaning of so many words in English, it’s fun as well as insightful to explore the etymologies of some common words. For example:

If students have learned the meaning of the prefix dis– (“not”, “opposite”), ask them what the base word of diseaseis. They probably haven’t thought about this common word this way, and may be surprised to realize the base word is ease. “So, if you have a disease, you are literally not at ease!” Words evolve and change in meaning over time, and disease, which once had meanings including “trouble” and “discomfort,” is a good example. 

Visit has two roots! We know the vis means “to see” (vision, visual) – but it is also a root – it means “to go.” So, visit literally means “to go see” someone or something. Once students have this insight, look at the words exit (ex– = “out”; exit = “to go out”) and transit (trans = across; transit = “to go across”).

A common spelling error in the later grades is illustrated by the word circumference, which is often misspelled as “circumfrence.” Students (and many adults) misspell such words because the common pronunciation often deletes unstressed syllables such as the third syllable in circumference. Although we can point out that a careful pronunciation can help them remember the fer spelling, such encouragement usually doesn’t work that well. This is where a combination of etymology and morphological analysis may be more effective: 

Point out that the spelling f-e-r not only stands for a syllable, but for a word root as well. Display the unabridged dictionary entry for circumference: “Let’s check the

etymology for circumference. We can find it right at the end of the entry. It shows that the word is composed of circum– plus this Latin root [point to –ferre–], and it tells us this word means ‘to carry around,’ from combiningcircum with ferre. It also gives us the meaning of the root –ferre–, ‘to carry.’ While you’ve probably learned how to figure out the circumference of a circle, it’s interesting to know that originally this word simply had something to do with going around a circle.”

As a last example, let’s return to those “silent” letters that run rampant in English spelling: 

Why is there a “silent” c in scissors? In the 1500s, during the English Renaissance, Greek and Latin were thought to be much richer, logical, and expressive languages than English. So, English language scholars wanted to make the spelling of many English words look like the Latin and Greek words they thought were the words’ ancestors (Templeton & Bear, 2018). So sisoures became scissors, because the scholars thought the word came from Latin scindere, which meant “to cut.” Similarly, dette was changed to debt, based on the Latin debere; doute was changed to doubt, based on Latin dubitare.

Resources

In our books Teaching Reading and Writing: The Developmental Approach; Words Their Way; and Vocabulary Instruction: Word study for middle and secondary students, we describe and share a number of examples of the role etymology can play in word study. In addition, the following are excellent resources:

The Online Etymology Dictionary etymonline.com

John Ayto (2009). Oxford school dictionary of word origins: The curious twists & turns of the cool and weird words we use. Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/education/product/9780192733740/?region=international

Jeff Zafarris (2020). Once upon a word:   A word-origin dictionary for kids. Simon & Schuster. 

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Once-Upon-a-Word/JZafarris/9781646112593

Conclusion

Not many of us have a background in historical linguistics! But that’s certainly not necessary in order to begin to blend these intriguing etymological legacies into your word study. Over time, as your build your knowledge base, you should become even more engaged and motivated – with the payoff, of course, being your students’ engagement, motivation, and learning.

Shane Templeton, co-author of Words Their Way, is Foundation Professor Emeritus of Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a former classroom teacher at the primary and secondary levels. His research has focused primarily on developmental word knowledge in elementary, middle, and high school students, and he has been published in both research and practitioner journals. In addition to Words Their Way, he has authored or co-authored a number of books on the teaching of literacy and word study.

References

Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F.  (2020). Word Study: Phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (7^th Ed.).  Boston: Pearson. 

[Formerly Words Their Way]

Colorado Academic Standards: Reading, Writing, and Communicating (2019). Colorado Department of Education. https://www.cde.state.co.us/coreadingwriting

Crystal, D. (2014). Spell it out: The curious, extraordinary, and enthralling story of English spelling. Macmillan. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250028860/spellitout

Funk, W. (2011). Dictionary of word origins. Arcade Publishing Company.

Gehsmann, K. M., & Templeton, S. (2022). Teaching reading and writing: The developmental approach (2^nd ed.). Pearson. 

https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/teaching-reading-and-writing-the-developmental-approach/P200000001937?view=educator

Lewis, C. S. (1990). Studies in words (2^nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/literature/english-literature-general-interest/studies-words-2nd-edition-3?format=PB&isbn=9781107688650

Scott, J. A., Skobel, B. J., & Wells, J. (2008). The word-conscious classroom: Building the vocabulary readers and writers need. Scholastic. 

Templeton, S. (2023). Spelling: Theory, assessment, and pedagogy. In Tierney, R.J., Rizvi, F., & Erkican, K. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education, vol. 10, pp. 374-387.  Elsevier. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.07053-6.

Templeton, S., & Bear, D. R. (2018). Word study, research to practice: spelling, phonics, meaning. In D. Lapp & D. Fisher (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts (4th ed.) (pp. 207-232). Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

Templeton, S., Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston, F., Flanigan, K., Townsend, D. R., Helman, L., & Hayes, L. (2023). Vocabulary instruction: Word study for middle and secondary students (2^nd ed.). Pearson. 

by Maria Nichols

In a world addicted to speed, slowness is a superpower.

~ Carl Honoré

Summertime means fiction time, and my summer has launched with Abraham Verghese‘s The Covenant of Water. My pacing is delightfully unhurried as I linger over gorgeous prose, reread long passages, and take time-outs to talk with friends about perplexing characters in an unfamiliar world.  Page by page, I feel myself balancing delight and despair, beauty and horror. I’m reveling in slow reading, taking to heart Thomas Newkirk’s invitation; “Take your time. Pay attention. Touch the words and tell me how they touch you.” (2011).    

In reflection, I realize that I tend to reserve certain reading, particularly rich fiction, for stretches of time when I’m able to sink in and pay attention.  Conversations with my colleague, Adria Klein, lets me know I’m not alone here. Newkirk himself seems to offer insight into this preference through his definition of slow reading, citing it as a thoughtfulness, a “… deliberate effort to maintain an intimate relationship with what we read, the quality of our attention to ideas” (2011).  Jacqueline Woodson eloquently elevates this coveting of protected space and time for reading, recalling:

As a child, I knew that stories were meant to be savored, that stories wanted to be slow, and that some author had spent months, maybe years, writing them, and my job as the reader, especially as the reader who wanted to one day to become a writer, was to respect that narrative (2019).

Stories are meant to be savored.  If we live this joy as readers, shouldn’t we then make space for this joy with our students? What might happen if we slow to savor texts by thinking and talking during read alouds, and offer extended independent reading time for partners or small groups to read, think, talk, and savor their own reading? And, how might time siting alongside our readers, reveling in ideas, offer insight into their process, language learning, and meaning-making (Klein & Brisceño, 2019)?  These questions are the perfect segue into a fourth grade classroom, and a year-long study guided by a single compilation of these ideas: How do we invite students to savor texts?  

Let’s begin with an end of year scenario from students’ independent reading.  The teacher and I were wrapping up a reading conference when Isla, Alona and Francisco caught our eye.  The three were comfortably occupying prime carpet real estate, a picture book open in front of them.  As we watched, they shifted from excitedly talking and flipping pages to a long, contemplative pause over a single two page spread.  Isla said something, and Alona and Francisco rose to their knees, swiveling their bodies towards the class library. Then the two hopped up and, deftly navigating the maze of classmates, raced for the shelves.

Curiosity peaked, we made our way over to Isla, who had shifted her gaze back to a book I recognized as Monika Vaicenavičienė’s What Is a River?. This text launches with a  young girl’s simple question: “Grandma, what is a river?”.  Grandma’s response immerses readers in a multi-faceted exploration of rivers across time, and around the world. 

As the teacher and I settled beside Isla, she matter-of-factly shared, “We’re talking about the magic.” The look on our faces must have begged explanation, as she nudged, “Remember?  The forest book – the one we read?  Maybe the girl and the grandma – ”

Isla’s thought was interrupted by Alona and Francisco, who plopped back down, Maria Dek’s A Walk In the Forest in hand. Dek’s gentle story carries readers alongside a young boy on his daylong foray into the forest’s wonders. The story ends as night sets in, Dek’s sparse but lyrical prose and illustrations capturing the awe of the enveloping darkness: “When night falls, it’s magical.” Isla eagerly grabbed the book and flipped to this very two-page spread.

Isla: Here! But remember how everybody thought the whole thing [forest] is magical?  Now I think maybe it’s like, the magical – it could be in him. Because I think it’s getting in them [the characters in What Is a River?]too.

Francisco: What? 

Isla:  Remember, the grandma? She tells about the river, and at the end, they’re all feeling really – like [sigh of exasperation] I don’t know how to say it.  

The three sit in quiet contemplation, thumbing through the pages of both books as they think.  

Francisco: So maybe the river and a forest – they’re both magical?

Alona: Oh – I get it!  maybe people go there, to the river or whatever, and when they’re in it –

Isla: Yeah, they’re in it, and maybe the magical gets inside them.  

The three pause again, Isla’s theory nudging at them.  Then Francisco flipped both texts back to the beginning, and said, “Let’s read them again, O.K.?”  And, with unspoken consensus, the three stretched out on their stomachs, chins resting in hands, ready to dig in … to take their time, to pay attention.

So, what’s happening here, and how is it connected to our focus on savoring texts?  An early September visit to this same classroom revealed reading that was anything but slow.  Students raced through books, hopping up and down to the library to switch out titles.  Meaning making was surface level at best.  We quickly realized the need to slow and deepen student’s reading, and began designing instruction around three overarching elements: compelling text, thoughtful use of time, and broad and deep meaning making.  Let’s explore each a bit more.  

Compelling Text

Isla, Alona and Francisco were coaxed into an exploration of the beauty and complexity of our shared earth by two gorgeous picture books.  Each text was the work of a single author/illustrator who entices readers with both evocative illustrations and words that flow between poetry and prose, fiction and nonfiction. Texts that are crafted to be slowly sipped and savored.

If our goal is students who savor as they read, then we need – and they deserve – texts that compel.  Texts that are intellectually worthy, texts that are invitations to linger and explore. Instead of answering our questions, these texts should spark students’ own questions.  Instead of relying on false invitations to extend learning using teacher directed tasks, these texts should stir self-determined reflections and intentionality.

Thoughtful Use of Time

Isla, Alona and Francisco had ample time for independent reading, and were intentionally using that time to best serve their own purpose.  Without prompting, the three had slowed to notice, wonder, and pursue that wonder.  

This thoughtful self-crafting of an intellectual journey was the result of what Marie Clay calls “patient instruction” (1991) that focused on the flow from read aloud to independent reading.  Ways of savoring text (see below) were facilitated and made visible through reflection and discussion. These processes were then imagined into and supported during independent reading.

Broad and Deep Meaning Making

As the children talked about What Is a River?, Isla realized that immersion in nature touched character’s hearts in this and in A Walk In the Forest, and shared that tentative revelation. Alona and Francisco recognized this as an expression of curiosity (Engel 2015), which they interpreted as an invitation, and the three launched into self-designed inquiry.

Isla, Alona and Francisco’s decisions are the result of multilayered teaching intended to consistently strengthen children’s capacity to slow, sink into, and savor text, with an emphasis on deep meaning-making. As I reflected on this teaching with Adria, her noticing resonates:  Instruction was not scripted, over scaffolded, or narrowed towards isolated outcomes. Rather, teaching focused responsively on three broad meaning-making goals:

Thinking and talking to construct understanding:

• Talk was taught and facilitated with the goal of building ideas that are bigger and bolder than possible in a single mind alone (Nichols, 2019)
  • The process was made visible through reflection and feedback to help students develop the ability to think and talk well together on their own (Nichols, 2019)   

Finding depth in single texts:

• Read alouds modeled deliberate slowing to linger with beauty and complexity
• • Cognitive process work was supported through facilitation and feedback, developing students’ awareness of and strategies for attending to the quality of their ideasRereads were purposefully designed to re-engage readers in beauty and complexity, with time to reflect on the benefit

Broadening meaning making by thinking and talking between or among multiple texts:

• Read alouds included reflection on the ways ideas in one text might make us wonder more about the ideas in another text 
  • Teacher facilitation emphasized thinking and talking between or among texts to deepen and broaden meaning making 
• • Reread alouds modeled purposefully rereading to support this process

All of this teaching and learning was buoyed by feedback that made the process – and the result of that process – visible (Johnston, 2012).  The outcome was readers who are agentive and thoughtful, fully attending to the quality of their ideas.  So, where are Isla, Alona and Francisco going with their inquiry?  Will they continue to revel in the wonders of nature? Form theories about nature’s impact on the human spirit? Advocate for stewardship of our rivers and forests? Only time – time filled with filled with intentionally slow reading – will tell.  

References:

Clay, Marie.  1991.  Becoming Literate: The Construction of Inner Control.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Dek, Maria. 2017. A Walk In the Forest. Hudson, NY: Princeton Architectural Press.

Engel, Susan. 2015.  The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Honoré, Carl. 2021. How To Make Slowness Your Superpower.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPpTmoZrK4E  

Klein, A. F., & Briceño, A. (2019). An Assets-Oriented, Formative Oral Language 

Assessment for Multilingual Students: The Oral Language Record in Handbook of Research on Assessment Practices and Pedagogical Models for Immigrant Students, Onchwari, G., and Keengwa, J. (eds.) Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Newkirk, Thomas.  2011.  The Art of Slow Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Johnston, Peter.  2012. Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives.  Portsmouth, NH: Stenhouse.

Nichols, Maria.  2019.  Building Bigger Ideas: A Process for Teaching Purposeful Talk. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Nichols, Maria. 2009.  Expanding Comprehension With Multigenre Text Sets.  New York, NY: Scholastic.

Pearson, P. David & Tierney, Robert J.  2023. Fact-Checking the “Science of Reading”: Claims, Assumptions, and Consequences.  I.L.A.  

https://www.literacyworldwide.org/meetings-events/ila-digital-events/ila-webinars/fact-checking-the-science-of-reading-claims-assumptions-and-consequences

Vaicenavičienė, Monika. 2019. What Is a River? Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books.

Woodson, Jacqueline.  “What Reading Slowly Taught Me About Writing.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading.  Nov. 8, 2019. https://www.ted.com/talks/jacqueline_woodson_what_reading_slowly_taught_me_about_writing?language=en

Maria’s work as an educational leader includes 33 years with the San Diego Unified School District, where she served as a classroom teacher, demonstration teacher, literacy coach, and eventually as the Director of School Innovation. Now, her passion for transformational approaches to teaching and learning powered by the constructive, dynamic nature of talk fuels
her efforts with educators, districts and organizations across the U.S. and internationally. Maria honors the innovative capacity of teachers and students alike, and finds immense joy engaging alongside both.

Maria Nichols is the author of numerous texts and articles focused on engaging students through talk, including Comprehension Through Conversation: The Power of Purposeful Talk in the ReadingWorkshop (Heinemann, 2006),

“Real Talk, Real Teaching”
(Ed Leadership, November 2014), and most recently,

Building Bigger Ideas: A Process For Teaching Purposeful Talk (Heinemann, 2019).

By Kass Minor

For the first time in my life, I’ve begun to exercise regularly as per the request of my primary care doctor. My muscle mass, categorized “below average” (yikes!) yielded a prescription to weight-lifting and a regular exercise routine. I anticipated the worst: my most recent “going to the gym” experience was high school track practice, where I was barely able to bench press the bar. 

However, after some time on task, I’ve become less adverse to the gym. Rather, I’m finding intentional exercise illuminating, especially as it parallels with the types of risks and practices we engage in with school transformation. Particularly, I’m learning about the significance of paying attention to the muscles I don’t typically use–how releasing weight is just as important as lifting it.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash/Victor Freitas

For example, I often find myself in the throws of forward movement, creating goals for school change in partnership with educators, caregivers, and school communities. With fervor, we plunge into the work of “meeting the objective!” We list ALL the things that need to be done; the strategies, the things that will be measured to help along “achievement” so we can show up with the “deliverables.” Myself and other school community members immediately begin lifting a TON of weight, and we do it regardless of our aches, because it’s our work and we love doing it. 

Before we know it, we’re exhausted, and the weight becomes a struggle to bear, injuring the ways we are able to engage with our community. Certainly, creating objectives is integral to guiding our work in transforming schools that embrace the needs of children, that are joy-centered and justice-based. But if we can’t lift what we sought to do in the first place, we need to reconsider how we organize the load we carry. 

Importantly, rather than exercising the same muscles over and over, there are new and different ways we can create school transformation, and it begins with our ability to reflect. In essence, to move forward, we must first look back.

In weight-lifting, I’ve been supported by a coach who has helped me to understand the “negative space” of routine circuit training. For example, if I am doing a simple bicep-curl, I might do two-counts up, and the weight feels heavy. When I release the weight, I count for longer-up to five counts. This requires me to pay attention to the muscles I’m working on, and it helps me to understand how my muscles are growing. Most importantly, it prevents my muscles from being overworked, and I’m able to exercise without being too sore the next day.

In schools, we can consider similar movements. To sustain our work in centering joy and activating justice, we can focus on how we release the weight that comes along with that work, just as deeply as we consider how we lift it.

This summer offers us a beautiful opportunity to reconsider how we carry “the load.” In the last few months of school, I’ve worked with both educators and students to develop strategies for how we pay attention to what we’ve learned and what we’ve lifted. Here, find a low-lift, yet high-impact reflective process, called Remember, Hope, and Imagine. This process can be revised to accommodate learners of all ages, from elementary school to higher education to professional learning spaces.

Remember, Hope, and Imagine: A reflective process that helps learning stick

1. Remember. What did you learn? 

Across x period of time, such as an entire school year, a curricular unit, a lesson plan, or even a singular shared experience, generate a list of what you’ve learned. Often times, using visuals such as a photo collection will help surface important memories. Consider activities, field trips, books read, topics discussed, people met, and/or celebrations. Document your learning memories in a place you will be able to refer back to, and add to later. (Padlet, Google Jamboard, and Notability are my personal favs!)

2. Hope. What do you hope for in the future? 

Reflect on what you’ve learned, and dream a little–What do you hope will happen next? Consider ways that have supported your own growth, or community growth in the past. What parts of that growth surface excitement? What kinds of things would you like to try? What experiences would you like to engage in? 

3. Imagine. What do you imagine what you hope for will look like? 

Now it’s time to reflect on what you’ve hoped for, and dream– A LOT. Many of us educators have not experienced the kinds of transformative learning in our own school lives that we are working to build for our current school communities. This requires us to exercise our imagination–often under-utiilized muscles in the work of teaching and learning! Consider how you will feel, how your community will feel. Think about what you will learn, and what resources and experiences would catalyze this dream. Continue to visualize and document your reflection. 

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The power in this process is that you will have created a blueprint for transformative change, one that wasn’t initiated in the forward movement of an agenda-ed meeting; rather, this blueprint was surfaced from a rebirth of experiences and dreams that can be made real through the nexus of your imagination paired with documented learning. 

When it does come time to develop clear objectives for your school community, use this blueprint as a catalyst–and remember, reflection is where the learning sticks.

Blank Remember, Hope, and Imagine Brainstorm Graphic Organizer 

Read more about the reflective process in deeping learning experiences, featured in Chapter One and throughout in my new book, Teaching Fiercely: Spreading Joy and Justice in Our Schools.

Kass Minor is an inclusive educator who is deeply involved in local, inquiry-based teacher research and school community development. Alongside partnerships with the Teachers College Inclusive Classrooms Project and the New York City Department of Education, since 2005, she has worked as a teacher, staff developer, adjunct professor, speaker, and documentarian. She has contributed content to the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Edutopia, Heinemann Education Blog, inclusiveclassrooms.org, and has been featured in KQED Mindshift, Parents Magazine, Teaching Tolerance Magazine and the critically acclaimed New York Times Serial Podcast, Nice White Parents.

By Kate and Maggie Roberts

Administrators, coaches, consultants, creators: Teachers need us to make their jobs easier right now. 

Of course – many of us are, many of us have. But there is also a feeling lately that we should be back to normal, and everything should be getting back on track. Yes, things have stabilized a bit, but have they normalized? Are there even the same tracks to get back to? 

We have worked inside schools, alongside teachers, across the country for 18 years and we have not seen this level of burnout before. Many teachers are at their limit. The goal feels clear each day we walk into a school building – we need to help make this job easier. We need to show up. We need to listen. We need to serve. 

It’s as if we collectively sprained our teaching ankles during these past few years of teaching – teaching amid a global pandemic – and we are still lurching forward, ignoring the pain of the injury. As any orthopedic specialist would tell us, all this does is create more lasting damage.

Dr. Betina Hsieh @ProfHsieh is an associate professor of teacher education at California State University, Long Beach, and a former K-12 educator. Dr. Hsieh researches the ways people are drawn to teaching and what impacts a teacher’s decision to stay or leave the profession. Her recent study (2022) synthesizes responses from nearly 1,000 US-based educators and former educators; the results disturbingly confirm the kind of lasting damage those orthopedic doctors warn us about when we don’t tend to our injuries. Dr. Hsieh recounts: 

Of the teachers who responded to the question, “Within the last 12 months, have you left or considered leaving K-12 teaching?” nearly one-quarter had already left the classroom; another 53 percent had seriously or at least fleetingly considered leaving teaching. Only 13 percent said that they had not considered leaving K-12 teaching in the previous 12 months.-ASCD Blog: Rehumanizing the Teaching Profession by Dr. Betina Hsieh 3/22/2023

Teachers have sustained injuries on the job, especially over the past three years. 84% of them, in fact. In the study, Dr. Hsieh posed this question: “Have you personally experienced mental or physical health challenges that you attribute to your work in teaching?”

Of the educators who answered this question, 84 percent said yes…I read [the] more than 500 open-ended responses in which educators detailed how they themselves had tried or were trying everything they could to stay in the classroom, despite the mental and physical demands.-ASCD Blog: Rehumanizing the Teaching Profession by Dr. Betina Hsieh 3/22/2023 

Teachers are trying everything to stay teaching, despite their injuries. They are lurching forward, staying in the game, albeit in pain and the known risk of lasting damage. Administrators, coaches, consultants, creators: We need to reimagine and nurture the conditions in our school communities for our MVPs – our teachers – to heal. 

We as school leaders, coaches, and consultants don’t have the power to change the whole educational system – a system notoriously full of obstacles and filled with places to twist ankles! But there is certainly one area in which we do have control: professional development. In the years that we have been doing this work, typically professional development goals are set up by the school or district’s leadership team. Certainly, teachers have (or should have) input, but often the final goals are typically set up by those in charge. Those in leadership can usually see the proverbial forest through the trees; they can look out to the educational horizon for new information, identifying macro issues in instruction and equity, and determine a high yield focus that many of their colleagues can benefit and flourish.  Then, people like us are hired – educators who have spent decades teaching, researching, developing, writing, testing, listening – to help teachers get closer to that goal. 

Makes sense, or at least it did.

Recently, though, we are finding that this model isn’t always working as well as it used to. With all great intentions and visceral historical memory, we are setting goals for teachers and schools in our districts that are not meeting the immediate needs of teachers. With all great intentions, we are adding to their already toppling over plates instead of looking to see what we can take off their plates. With all great intentions, we are too often asking teachers to run faster, put more weight on sprained ankles. 

Professional development should not – and cannot be in these times – feel like a drain, like another thing to do, like a chore. Instead, professional development should and can feel energizing – energizing like it is answering questions, or removing obstacles, or energizing like it is being heard.  

This is an easy-ish fix though: We need to listen to teachers and use what we know about healing strained muscles:

REST: Teachers need time. They need time to plan. They need time to relax. They need time to make jokes with colleagues or make that doctor’s appointment or text their child or go to the bathroom more often. 

Example: Embed paid planning time into every PD plan. Real time, like hours. And gift them a copy of The First Five: A Love Letter to Teachers, By Patrick Harris III.

ICE: Teachers need resources and professional development that soothes, mends, and solves. 

Example: Teachers tell us that they want to focus on grammar instruction (even though that isn’t the priority) and so we look at the Patterns of Power series by Jeff Andersen and Whitney LaRocca. 

COMPRESSION: Not the compression that many of us feel right now! Not the stressful compression that builds and builds until we can’t stand it anymore. The kind of compression that is supportive, restorative – the weighted blanket, the brace for your knee so you can keep walking your dog without wincing. 

Example: Teaching writing is hard! Make time for teachers to linger in what’s hard when teaching young students how to write. Then, offer some supportive structures and solutions – compression, if you will – by checking out the work of M. Colleen Cruz, especially the supportive instructional suggestions in The Unstoppable Writing Teacher. 

ELEVATION: Teachers need inspiration that is specific, real, honest, and career-affirming. 

Example: If teachers say that they are deeply struggling with the kids’ attitudes towards school, focus on a professional learning book group around We Got This by Cornelius Minor or Unearthing Joy by Gholdy Muhammed.

Match professional development to what teachers are saying is causing the most friction in their work. Then give them time – real time – to study the causes of the friction, develop and implement a plan, and troubleshoot during the process. 

Like an ice pack to a sore joint, offering teachers exactly what they say they need will help us all heal. (Join us at kateandmaggie.com and tell us what hurts so we can offer some support!) 

Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts