Labor Day weekend has come and gone.  All schools are in session.  Some have been for a week or so. Others have over a month in.  It’s that time of transitions.  No more “wearing white”. Getting out the college football colors and fall clothes.  Trying to prep fo hot weather in un-airconditioned buildings.

I remember kindergarten in a country school.  It was less than four miles from our house.  Easy access. A true neighborhood school.  The old “be careful what you wish for” as it was a small building and classes were combined.  I loved that I was allowed to read.  I hated that we wasted our time on silly worksheets and coloring pages and so much Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Puff. Their lives didn’t match our rural farm lives.

And then first grade was in town.  In an addition to the school.  First grade with other first grade classes.  First grade where I could only read books off the first grade shelf in the library.  First grade where I read all the books by the end of the first quarter.  First grade where my teacher tore up my page with a red sun, a purple sky and green flowers.  That wasn’t her picture.  First grade where it didn’t matter what I needed or wanted to learn.  First grade where I was going to conform.  First grade where I was sick. A lot. first grade where I can still remember the number of tiles on the bathroom walls, the floor, and even the ceiling.

First grade when I hated school.

Hated the Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot and Puff stories that I already read the year before. They were awful the first time.  They were an even bigger waste of time the second time around.  I didn’t excel at coloring inside the lines.  I wanted the task to be done.  I wanted to be able to read, write and draw.  Creativity was not prized. My pictures never made the wall. I know exactly how Lois Lowry’s Anastasia Krupnik felt when her teacher gave her an F for her free verse poem and this poem by Robert Gianni was praised.

“I have a dog whose name is Spot.

He likes to eat and drink a lot.

When I put water in his dish,

He laps it up just like a fish.”  *(Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry)

Which school better met my needs?

What matters?

Access and Equity matter.  All students need access to quality education.  Equity is huge.  The books that I was mining this holiday weekend are here.  There are many others I could have consulted, but these were at the top of my stack!

What’s our goal?

If it truly is to “grow readers and writers” – students who want to read, who do read, and who love to read – kids need access to books.  That’s an equity issue whether the school doesn’t even have books – due to their zip code!  Or because the students have a new teacher and of course there is NO classroom library set up magically waiting for new teachers!

And then time to read glorious books. Self-selected books.  Books that match their interests!  Books that make sense to them!

Literacy for ALL . . . What does that mean?

Reading

Writing

Speaking

Listening

THINKING!!!

Communicating as a priority.  Classrooms not existing as rooms of silence!

Books that reflect the composition of the classroom and the communities around the world.  No more “Boy Books” or “Girl Books”!  Has you thinking been challenged?

A focus on learning NOT assessing.

The real tangible goal.  Are ALL students progressing?  Are all students learning self-assessment?  Are students developing their own goals and agency?  Are students transferring their literacy work to other content areas?  What are your students telling you?  Do they love learning?  Are they curious?

Here are a few of the quotes I’m still holding onto . . .

How did you grow your knowledge and skills this summer? 

What are you still wondering about? 

What questions do your need answered?   

What quotes would you add?

Thank you, Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey for this weekly forum from Two Writing Teachers. Check out the writers, readers and teachers here.