Secret Ways : Character Building

I'll never forget my first year of teaching.  I had planned to teach elementary and was given the opportunity to work with six graders.  To say I was unprepared would be an understatement.  There were no supports in place for teachers, but thankfully my husband taught eighth grade and the teachers in our small school were always happy to help.  It's still quite easy to remember how hard that year was for me.  I can remember telling myself that certainly by year three I'd have this teaching thing down to a science.  Of course, that didn't prove to be true as even over twenty years later I find I'm always working to change.

The first years were hard.  Thankfully there were professional books.  It wasn't long after I started teaching that Nancie Atwell wrote, In the Middle:  Writing, Reading and Learning with Adolescents now in its third edition.   To this day, I consider this book to be one of the professional books that helped shape my work as an educator and honestly may have kept me teaching.

Authors of professional books about education continued to improve my work when I moved grade levels, noticed parts of my teaching that I needed to grow, or joined groups of educators hoping to study teaching in greater depth.  Authors like Gay Su Pinnell, Irene Fountas, Debbie Miller, Franki Sibberson, Katie Wood Ray, Ralph Fletcher, Shelley Harwayne, and Troy Hicks all played a part in important shifts in my teaching.

Professional Books for New Teachers
I've been doing a lot of our work with our newest teachers.  I've found their conversations engaging as they work to take what they know and solve new questions they're finding as they work alongside children each day.  In addition to working with new teachers, my son is doing his student teacher this year.  All of these conversations have me thinking about professional books I'd recommend to new teachers.  Here are a few titles I recommend as teachers begin:

Guided Reading:  Responsive Teaching Across the Grades by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

About the Authors:Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers by Katie Wood Ray with Lisa Cleveland

Reading with Meaning:Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades by Debbie Miller

Still Learning to Read:Teaching Students in Grades 3-6 by Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak

The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo

Amplify:  Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-8 Classroom by Katie Muhtaris and Kristin Ziemke

Teaching with Intention: Defining Beliefs, Aligning Practice, Taking Action K-5 by Debbie Miller

There have been so many books written that it was hard to narrow to these titles.  These seem to be the books that help when thinking about the foundations of our work.  If you have favorite recommendations for new teachers, I hope you'll share them in the comments.

It's time!  During the month of July the #cyberPD community is reading DIY Literacy:  Teaching Tools for Differentiation, Rigor and Independence by Kate Roberts and Maggie Roberts.  This week we're looking at chapters 1-2 and the bonus chapter.  I've been lurking this week as participants have posted their reflections.  As usual, I'm amazed by the variety, the different ways to think about what we've learned, and the tools that have been created as participants think through the process.  If you have read DIY Literacy, are reading DIY Literacy, or plan to read DIY Literacy you should stop by the community to check out the reflections.  It's honestly quite inspiring.

My Response 
My response includes a few key points from the chapter and an attempt to work through the tools in thinking about supporting students in the study of structures for writing.


Like many participants I wanted to try some new digital tools during this virtual chat.  For this response, I chose Flowvella and then put the presentation into Explain Everything.  On a side note, I attempt to work through the charts/notebook/progression/bookmarks.  I would likely have charts/notebooks/progressions as digital and thought the chart and notebook page would help a student select a strategy which would then be written on a post-it for the student to try.    

More About July's #cyberPD Event
Participants post weekly reflections in the Google Community.
Our Book Talk Schedule:

• Week of July 3rd: Ch 1&2 Bonus 
• Week of July 10th: Ch 3&4 Week of 
• July 17th: Ch 5&6