The Language of Learning

This morning I received an email from a local administrator. I have been working with his staff on setting up the First 20 Days of literacy and learning conversations, emphasizing the alignment of our beliefs with the language and actions we use with students.

Teachers have planned and prepared intentional mini lessons, aligned with the following:

• Reading and learning are not skills of mastery-they get better over time across increasingly more complex text
• Comprehension is not a commodity-it is an active, reflective, problem solving process
• Lifelong learning is a habit requiring stamina and endurance, and everyday students get stronger the longer we can sustain the work
• Reading is lifework not deskwork

You know that these are not just statements of rhetoric, when you hear the following:

Angela,

Thought I would pass along a 1st grade quote I received on the 3rd day of school.  While the first graders were eating lunch, I approached a table and asked how things were going. "Great!!" they responded.  So, I continued…."are you learning lots of new things this year??" 

A cute little girl named Zoe responded…"not too much yet because we are just trying to build up our stamina.  We are only at 5 minutes, but on Monday we will move up to 6 minutes and then we can learn more.  It just takes some time to build up our stamina!!!" 

Thought you would appreciate the conversations happening at [our elementary school].  These types of things were NOT happening a few years ago.  I LOVE IT!

Out of the mouths of babes! What are your students saying today about literacy and learning?