Food for Thought

The morning session centered around the non-fiction teaching points the group had created.

In the afternoon session we discussed prompts for determining main ideas, reading notebook ideas, and committing to try new strategies.

Lucy closed out the week by urging teachers to ask more of their students, to raise the bar. She also fueled the fire for educators to be part of the conversation about the common core standards. There is some concern that the common core standards may lead to common core assessments, which may lead to a lock-step, common core curriculum - further eliminating teachers' ability to determine strategies that are creative, appropriate, and captivating for their students.

And then it was time to head to the airport.

A couple years ago, when I met some teachers who said that they go back to Teachers College, year after year for training, (on their own dime), I was perplexed. Why would they keep going to the same institute? Now I understand. I have been bitten by the bug.

TC has broken down reading, (and writing) into infintessinal little teaching points. Thanks to their ongoing research I've packed my larder full of new tricks and treats to engage the young readers in my charge. What a thrill, honor, and inspiration to be here amongst the cream of the crop again.