Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.
—Angela Duckworth
Stay the Course
Andy and I first hosted an exchange student when we were 28 and didn’t have kids. Taija was from Finland; she taught us that love, not bloodlines, makes a family. I am sure that she changed the trajectory of our family life.
As our family has shifted through adoption and other ways, we’ve continued to host students. Usually it wasn’t the best time to invite someone new into our home, and always we were better for it. Each student has become a permanent fixture in our hearts, and we remain in touch with each of them just as you would any favorite family member. As our own children grew and moved out, we thought our time as a host family would come to an end.
Yet…
Next week Cedric arrives and will spend the next six months in our house. We’ve never met, but in October we were matched as his host family. Since then we’ve been getting to know each other mostly through WhatsApp messages that consist primarily of photos and emoji reactions.
We’re very excited to meet Cedric in person, and thrilled to be drawing a wider circle that includes his Austrian and Kenyan heritage around our lives.
And…
There’s also a part of me that’s wondering if I still have what it takes to nourish family life with a teenager. Will we catch up with the necessary trends, and do we have the energy to make his time in the U.S. special?
It reminds me of a quote by Angela Duckworth: “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”
I’m not sure what it is you’re enduring, but I want to remind us both that it is worth it. We can make a choice to stay the course. We might need to squash self-doubt. We might need to get scrappy. We might need to take the next step even if it feels futile.
The articles in this week’s collection are about practical ways to let student choice shine. They are just the inspiration we need to keep fighting the good fight of uplifting student choice and voice—plus more, as always.
Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in. Chief
Gwen Blumberg shares a school-wide approach to a mock book award experience. This clear step-by-step guide with a rich resource download makes it possible to implement in any school.
Jillian Heise uses the lowly paint-chip board to inspire poetry in her middle school students. This is from the 2015 archives and is a reminder that poetry doesn’t have to take a lot of time to be powerful.
Molly James takes us into her kindergarten classroom and the shared experience of finger knitting. Finger knitting is a creative way for young learners to take chances, try something new, problem-solve, teach, use tools, and create a valuable and genuine product. It’s a lot like being a writer, and Molly shares the similarities.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Inspired by real-life pop-up poets, Gretchen Schroeder designed a similar experience for her high school students. Gretchen outlines the process for preparing and implementing a pop-up poetry event in the halls of your own school. This activity is focused on poetry, but Gretchen thinks it ended up being about squashing your inner critic, trusting your instincts, and leaning into personal connections.
Leigh Anne Eck shares the dilemma of many teachers—at the start of a new school year, book talks are easy to keep up with because the fresh reads from the summer are front of mind. But as the year gets busy, it becomes more difficult to keep up, and it’s easy to let book talks fall away. Leigh Anne offers a simple and practical solution to have book talks ready.
Choice Numeracy | Mallory Messenger shares a way to help students slow down and reflect on mathematical ideas. As she poses dot images to the class and collects different ways students see and count each image, students begin to reflect on key ideas. Mallory gives questions that will help students develop a stronger understanding of the concepts.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
So, how do we help teachers develop a notebooking habit that will fuel their own writing life and positively impact their students? Stephanie Affinito offers practical steps that begin with starting small, starting with intention, and starting with what feels good. Stephanie outline six types of notebooking—pick the one that feels right to you!
When data was flying and difficult to corral, David Pittman sought to create a tool for teachers to use that would encompass all pieces of data as well as align with shifts in instruction. David shares the process of developing a useful tool that honors student learning and provides clarity for next steps for growth.
Instructional coach Paula Fiscus finds ways to establish positive momentum in a season of combining two schools into one.
Quote It:
What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
—George Bernard Shaw
That’s all for this week!
