Live in the moment, not in the cloud.
—Abhijit Naskar
The Power of Selfies
Like so many of you, the kids in front of me had never had a typical elementary school year. School routines, interacting with peers, sharing supplies, and developing a joyful stance as a learner were brand-new concepts for many. This made for lots of sleepless nights for me, as I thought and rethought about how to help them create a classroom community that celebrated who they are and where they were as learners.
All year, I kept coming back to one question: “How can I keep learning joyful?” I wanted these children to look back on the year and be able to celebrate their learning journey. I wanted them to see that no matter where their learning for the year ended, they had grown. Most importantly, I wanted them to leave my classroom with the skills and the tools to learn anything they want.
As I planned each week, I keep telling myself to celebrate where they were and nudge them to the next step. But finding tangible and quick ways to capture students’ progress can be tricky, given all the “busyness” in the school day.
So, each week, we captured learning with reading selfies. As the children chose new books each week, they also took a selfie with a text they had read that made them feel proud. Perhaps it was a text they read all on their own. Maybe it was a book they read with a partner. Often, they chose a book they read and reread because they loved it so much. No matter what the reason, each Wednesday, before morning meeting, students held up the text, grabbed an iPad, and took a selfie.
These selfies are housed in SeeSaw in their journal. They shrink the photo a bit so that they can fit four on one page. This way they will have one page for each month.
Now as I listen to them look back at these photos, I hear giggles and “wow”s. They giggle at how they have changed physically, and they are amazed at how they have grown as readers. These moments each week, and now at the end of the year, helped us pause and honor who and where we are, and keep the perspective that learning is a journey.
As I look back at these photos, I can reflect too. Next year, there will be more selfies, and fewer sleepless nights, as I remember to trust the readers in front of me.
Shine on,
Tammy Mulligan
Contributor
Gwen Blumberg is a literacy leader for a K—8 district in Greater Boston. She’s a lifelong, avid reader who loves to share books with kids and listen to the stories they write and tell. She believes book and topic choice are essential ingredients for students to develop authentic reading and writing lives. Gwen shares her passion for children’s literature by writing for the collaborative Teachers|Books|Readers blog. You can also find her sharing about all things literacy on Twitter and Instagram @gwenblumberg.
The Choice Literacy Book Club is reading When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. Don’t miss Gwen Blumberg’s book talk. It is fantastic, and you’ll want a copy of the book right now! Just click here.
Franki Sibberson explores the varied needs of young readers and writers beyond explicit instruction. This article was first published in 2015.
No matter how many education methods courses and professional development workshops you take, if you’re a parent, your children will always teach you the most about how students learn. Tammy Mulligan shares three practical strategies for reaching struggling readers that she learned from experiences with her son. This article was first published in 2012.
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Jump in the Pool: Playing Around with Readers’ Notebooks with Christy Rush-Levine is a new Process Play course that guides us to teach students how to create thoughtful and meaningful responses to text. This course is included with the Literacy Leadership and Literacy Team memberships and available to purchase for others.
It isn’t a secret that writing meaningful responses to text is important. The question is how to empower students to engage in creating substantive responses and deep analysis of text. Christy Rush-Levine cracks open her own notebook to guide us in creating thoughtful responses to text. By sharing over 20 of her own mentor entries, as well as inspiring texts, Christy adds a splash to reading response that no one can resist.
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.
Stephanie Affinito curated a wise and useful guide to plan virtual literacy intervention. Useful resources are included for those who are teaching remotely or in person.
The best way to find joy in striving readers is to know their stories. Make a plan to complete Stella Villalba’s course Honoring Our Students’ Stories.
In this encore video, instructional coach Staci Revere reminds us of the importance of modeling our own reading lives for students, especially the parts where we struggle as readers.
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.
This school leaders’ guide offers 45 ways to support striving readers.
Quote It:
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.
—Molière
That’s all for this week!
