Keep questioning everything you do

This is a quote from the book I am reading at the moment. Reading Essentials by Regie Routman. This book makes me think.

She really stresses that teachers be accountable for their own education. We must read about, hold conversations about, and try out new methods. We must be knowledgeable enough about teaching that we don't jump on every bandwagon that comes along. We need to know WHY we do the things we do.

In chapter 2 of this book she talks about bonding with the students. I moved away from centers this year. I now use The Daily Five and Reader's Workshop. This freed my time up enough that I conferenced with each child once in about every 10 days (some more often). I got to know them as readers. It was so interesting to see what books they chose, why they chose these books, how they read these books, etc... I learned that some of my readers liked to have several books going at once. Some liked to read a book straight through. I learned that some liked to read nonfiction while some liked rhyming books. I learned that some of my readers didn't have any books at home while at least one of my readers used his small allowance to buy books from garage sales. I learned more about fighter planes, dinosaurs, and motorcycles than I ever thought I needed to know. I bonded with these kids as readers.

I would like to think that I have always bonded with my kids. This year was a little different I bonded with them as readers in a way I haven't in the past. In the past, I may have known that Suzie really liked dogs, but I didn't know that she only liked to read fiction about dogs and not nonfiction. I may have known that James liked dinosaurs, but I didn't know that he used his weekly allowance to buy dinosaur books at garage sales that his grandmother took him to each Saturday. I felt like I moved to a different level this year.

In the past, I would try to match the guided reading books to interest levels for that group. I took that responsibility to choose books they would like. How presumptuous of me! This year's class knew what they liked and they knew what they wanted to try to read. With a little help, they knew what level they needed. That doesn't mean that I don't still need to suggest books. I still have the students choose from different genres, but I do give them the final choice now.

Along these lines, Routman talks about building a reading history with the class. Displaying a copy of the covers of all the books you have read together as a class. I won't lie, this thought overwhelms me. I think about the number of picture books we read together as a class and I think about where I would display these... I am going to try to accomplish this this year. I may start by making the covers smaller. I need to really think about where to display these so that the kids really use them to reference. I want the class to make those text to text connections more often and I think this will help.

Another suggestion Routman gives is to use books for Sharing Time. (Show and Tell) I think I will modify this a tad and have each child bring one of their favorite books with them on the first day of school. I will ask that they keep them at school for the first two weeks. We will start the year off reading these books together and getting to know each other through these books. I think I will prop them on top of our library shelves with a name plate by each one. (note to self: include this in the welcome letter)

I think I will stop now. I will you keep you posted on more as I read more!