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Cornelius Minor: Removing Barriers to Student Success

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Colby Sharp

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your own biases as a reader, rather than actual information, about the book or the process, guide your thinking.

To be fair, she then said that she probably needed to read the book before offering an opinion, but I was left feeling like that wouldn't happen. (Admittedly, I...

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Thread by @jenniferlagarde: Not long ago, after a session in which I celebrated Jerry Craft's #newbery win for New Kid, a teacher approached me to express her dismay ov...

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Thread by @jenniferlagarde: Not long ago, after a session in which I celebrated Jerry Craft's #newbery win for New Kid, a teacher approached her dismay over a #graphicnovel winning this award and asked me to justify my enthusiasm for the decision. She wa...

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Editable Reading Survey from A Teachable Teacher

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A couple of years ago I asked my students to tell me why reading was amazing. When Jack whispered to Michael that "Reading sucks..." the rest, they say, is history. Inspired by Jack's words of truth, I have asked students for years now to tell me their reading truths and not hold back. I cannot be the kind of teacher I would like to be if I don't get to know them. The real them. Not the school-primed, sanitized version. Not the kid that knows how to play the game. Not the kid that says whatever they think we want to hear so they start off on a good foot.

So on the third day of school this year, I told the story of Jack. Of how I had been doing that lesson where I talk about the magic of reading. How he had dared to whisper those words. Some of the students laughed, they remember the lesson I was referring to, as they have also head about how amazing reading is for years. And then they got quiet as I asked them so when is reading not magical? And when is it?

I wrote in big bold letters "Reading is magical" and then asked them what to write on the other side. "Reading is trash!" they said as they chuckled, not quite sure, I am sure, of what to make of all of this.

They grabbed as many post-its as they could and then started to write their reasons. Please tell me when reading is amazing. Please tell me when reading is trash. Tape your post-its to the board so they stay up. Sign your name if you want. And then step back, read the post-its. What do you notice?

Over and over their words joined together to form the same patterns I see year after year. The same things I have done to kids through the years. The same things many of us educators are told to do every year by well-meaning administrators who are led by an expert curriculum that someone told them to purchase to raise test scores.

No choice!

Boring books!

Too much writing!

Tests!

Forced reflections!

Sitting still!

Their words glared at us.

But wait? When is reading magical? Again a pattern that we all know.

When I find the right book!

When I am given time to read!

When I find a great series or author!

When it is quiet!

When I am allowed to just read!

Their words have carried us into our beginning reading conversations, into our analysis, into our very community. They have guided us as we start to figure out where reading fits into our lives and whether we can protect or promote a strong and personal relationship with reading. They have guided us as they have mentioned the amazing experiences they have had with their previous teachers, and the ones they wish that had not had.

We fret so much over what curriculum we should use, how we should teach, and how we should grade, yet sometimes the biggest impact we can have with kids is simply when we stop and ask them for their truths. Do you know what your students would say?

PS: This lesson and the others that surround it are all discussed in my new book, Passionate Readers. Passionate Readers.
If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers - The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017. This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block. If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first book Passionate Learners - How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

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A couple of years ago I asked my students to tell me why reading was amazing. When Jack whispered to Michael that "Reading sucks..." the rest, they say, is history. Inspired by Jack's words of truth, I have asked students for years now to tell me their reading truths and not hold back.

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Student Interest Surveys: Getting to Know You | Scholastic

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Download my student interest survey and hand it out to your students at the beginning of a school year. Use their responses to guide your instruction the rest of the year

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Every year, I do several surveys at the beginning of the year, I don't think I am the only one. As we try to get to know these kids that have come into our lives, I think it is so important to gather as much information as they are willing to tell us in order for us to be better teachers for them. But I also think about how hard it can be to answer questions those first few days of school when you don't really know what your answers will be used for, when you are not quite sure who this person is who is asking you these questions, when you are perhaps not even sure what the questions mean.

So this year, I am changing my approach a little bit. The questions have been changed to be more of a progression of trust, not because I am under any impression that from Tuesday to Friday the students will trust me, but because I want to honor the relationships we are building and the fact that they take time. Students will be asked to answer a few questions every day, but can also choose to speak to me about these things. They are focused more specifically on what the child needs from me potentially to be successful and not so much on academics. Students will do a separate survey every day, while not ideal, it will allow me to see their answers as the week progresses and then create one answer froup per student at the end of the week.

Along with these questions, I will also give my reading and writing surveys during that first week. Those will be on paper as I place them in my conferring binder alongside the notes I take during our conversations.

Before the children have shown up, we will also have asked those at home about them. We want to reach out to parents and caregivers as experts on their children and honor the knowledge they have through a home survey. It is sent electronically before school starts and I respond to each person that takes it with follow up questions, those who do not have access to email or choose not to take it online are handed a paper version once school starts.

While the first-week surveys are not done, I am sharing here in order to receive feedback. What have I missed? What have I misworded? What would you add or remove? You are more than welcome to make a copy and make it fit your students, just please give credit. To see the surveys, please see here:

Tuesday - Go here

Wednesday - Go here

Thursday - Go here

Friday - Go here

Thank you to those who have already helped me make it better, here are all of the questions together.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers - The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child. This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block. If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first book Passionate Learners - How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

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Every year, I do several surveys at the beginning of the year, I don't think I am the only one. As we try to get to know these kids that have come into our lives, I think it is so important ...

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The needs of my readers are so diverse. How can I manage it all? Sandy's first grade classroom is comprised of students who read everything from Elephant and Piggie books to Clementine and beyond. Within Sandy's classroom of 26 readers, she has nine students who are learning English, a student with Asperger Syndrome, several students on IEPs, and at least three students who are working through the social/emotional effects of trauma. Her current assessment shows 10 different independent reading levels ranging from what her school considers kindergarten to third grade and beyond. She often worries she won't be able to meet the needs of these diverse learners.
Does Sandy's classroom sound familiar? Every classroom is comprised of children with diverse strengths, needs, interests, backgrounds, and experiences, and therefore Sandy's worries are common to most teachers.

We don't pretend to have a quick or slick answer to doing this important work, but in today's post we share eight starting points for creating conditions to support a very diverse class of readers. Perhaps a couple or all eight might resonate with you.
1. Get to know your students as people.
Relationships matter. The more we know about our students, the more authentic the relationship we are able to build with each of them. The more authentic the relationship, the more trust will be built. Students are more likely to be open to new learning if they feel they have a relationship with us and can trust us.

One easy tool to help grow your understanding of individual students is an interest survey. Interest surveys allow us to collect periodic information about students' likes and dislikes, learning preferences, thoughts about school, and even interests outside of school. Although many teachers use surveys such as these at the beginning of the year, anytime is the perfect time to dig a little deeper into what matters to your students and makes them tick.

If using an interest survey is new work for you, take a look at Christina's survey with her fifth grade class. Feel free to make a copy in Google docs to edit for your own class. Since her school year is at the halfway point, Christina actually gave this survey to her students last week. She learned that one student was no longer that interested in soccer, while another felt like she needed more support in math, and yet another is consumed by friendship issues out at recess. By giving this survey to her students at this point in the school year, Christina was able to reconnect, check-in, and show her students that their needs and concerns were of the utmost importance in the classroom- thus, building trust even more.

Students' interests grow and change over time just as ours do as adults. The better we know our students as the unique people they are, the more equipped we will be to support them in their growth.
2. Ensure Daily Time for Self-Selected Independent Reading
Meeting the needs of diverse readers begins with making sure that every day, every reader has access to diverse reading materials that they truly care about as well as time to read those materials.

Take a look at your schedule. Does it include regular time for students to carry out daily, self-selected, uninterrupted reading? If not, where could you start?

We know many K-8 teachers who've swapped out "bell ringers" or "morning seat work" in lieu of starting the day with self-selected independent reading. Students come in, put their materials away, and then settle into reading with a book of their choosing. This gives every student the chance to start the day with predicability, choice, and success. Sarah Ahmed has named this gem of a practice a soft start.

A soft start like this not only gives kids a safe, empowering, and predictable landing, but it also provides the teacher the time to personally greet each reader and potentially commit to a more in-depth conversation (conference) with at least a few of them.

Whether self-selected reading happens at the beginning of the day, the end, somewhere in between, or in some combination, the benefits it provides for a diverse classroom of readers are enormous.
3. Diverse Readers Need Diverse Books
It's books that engage readers. Plain and simple. So when you've got a diverse classroom of readers, you're going to want to make sure you and they have ready access to a continually growing diverse collection of books.

As you picture each individual reader in your classroom right now, do you feel confident that there are at least a few baskets or shelves in your library that they are consistently excited to choose from? If not, this is a critical starting point.

Also, all children should see themselves in the books on the shelves in their classroom library. In addition, all children should have access to books that provide a glimpse into the lives of others. Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop wrote about this idea in her essay Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors. It's worth a read to help you start or dive more deeply into this important idea.

Think of your classroom library as an organic and ever changing collection, reflecting the diverse interests, attributes, and identities of the students who you work with everyday. When in doubt, ask your kids. What kind of books do they look for and hope to find there? Our book, To Know and Nurture a Reader offers oodles of support for helping every kind of reader learn to consistently find books that lead to high levels of engagement.
4. Offer Personalized Learning through Conferring
The more varied the needs of our readers (or writers, mathematicians, etc), the more critical we believe it is to develop a committed conferring practice. Conferring, the art of purposeful one-on-one learning conversations, is a reliable and effective path to personalized engagement and learning for all of your students.

Many teachers have told us that they feel they don't have adequate time for conferring because their schedules are filled with structures suited for mostly whole and small group instruction. Yet, the more diverse the needs of the class, the more transformative conferring can be for individual students.

Sure, it would be easier if all students' needs were similar, and could be met mostly in whole group instruction. But, we know that's not reality. When we rely too much on whole group instruction and one-size-fits-all assignments, we lose learners along the way. A consistent conferring practice can become a lifeline for readers and teachers alike, providing a platform for building both relationship and personalized learning plans, one caring conversation at time. For some students, it may be the one of the few times of the school day where their unique academic or social-emotional needs are being more closely met.
5. Prioritize Your Conferring Time
Once independent reading is a routine part of the schedule and you've committed to conferring, it's time to grab a clipboard and start to make some decisions about who you'll connect with (confer with) first. Take a quick look around the classroom. Which students seem most in need of your partnership to help them strengthen their engagement with reading? Which students don't seem to be settling into a reading spot? Which students appear to be struggling to find a book?

As you launch or recommit to a conferring practice to support your diverse learners, you'll want to prioritize who you feel needs your time most urgently. Everyone doesn't need your attention in equal increments. Some students might benefit from more regular check ins, while others will thrive on a meaningful conversation every week or so.

Whether you jot a simple note on a sticky or something more concrete in a planner, what's important is that you ask yourself, "Who could most benefit from my partnership in building a more vibrant reading life?" In To Know and Nurture a Reader, a chapter titled Make a Plan offers more tips and tools for planning.
6. Enlist Partners to Support Your Efforts
It takes a village to teach a child. Anytime you wonder about how to best support a particular student, one sure fire strategy is to reach out to trusted colleagues, coaches, or specialists for help. When working with students whose needs fall outside of your developmental area of expertise, you might reach out to a reading specialist, English Language teacher, math coach, school psychologist, or even a teacher above or below of your grade level for support. Colleagues are an invaluable source of ideas of strategies, texts, and next steps for kids who need more specialized sorts of attention.
7. Consider scaling back on other commitments.
A simple truth of education that we don't always openly talk about is that some combinations of students are just more challenging than others. Some years are trickier than others. So, watch for signs that you might have more going on in your life than you realistically have the bandwidth for.

Then give some thought to what you might possibly be able to cut from your daily or weekly schedule to open up for more needed thinking, reflecting, or even conferring time for you and your learners.

This school year, Christina's classroom includes many learners with extremely diverse needs. A few weeks into the year it became apparent that she wouldn't be able to keep up all of her extra school duties, committees, and also meet the needs of her learners.

Because meeting the needs of her learners was the priority, Christina gave herself permission to step away from two committees that she'd served on in prior school years. Finding the courage to say no to two commitments gave her more space for thinking and planning in her daily teaching life. Saying no is not easy, but sometimes it can be life changing.
8. Take care of yourself.
Finally, we encourage you to embrace the idea of engaging in a bit of self care. To bring our best selves to a classroom of diverse learners every day, we need to be intentional about taking care of ourselves as well. We can't meet their needs when we aren't meeting our own.

So, be good to yourself. Breathe. Smile. See the best in the children around you. Eat something healthy. Take a walk. Do a little yoga. Go for run. Laugh out loud. Stop with the negative self talk already. Wear comfortable shoes.

And by all means allow yourself time and grace when adopting or refining a practice, such as conferring. Trust yourself to follow your students' lead and honor their interests. And remember, we're all learners. This is a practice, not a destination. So just show up every day determined to get better.

Meeting the needs of all learners takes time, energy, collaboration, and self-care. Making plans that prioritize certain needs, asking for support, and engaging in self-care are critical in this work. It's an ongoing journey of recognizing what's going on, reevaluating what's working, and adjusting as needed. Sometimes it takes a while to figure it out- the important thing is to not give up. Your students need you, and you can do this!

To learn more about the art and the science of this little conversation called a conference, check out our new book, To Know and Nurture a Reader: Conferring with Confidence and Joy from Stenhouse Publishers.
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Diverse readers? Eight Ideas to Consider

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The needs of my readers are so diverse. How can I manage it all? Sandy's first grade classroom is comprised of students who read everything from Elephant and Piggie books to Clementine and beyond. Within Sandy's classroom of 26 readers, she has nine students who are learning English, a student with Asperger Syndrome, several...

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from "To Know and Nurture a Reader"

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Getting to Know My Students as Readers | Scholastic

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Research students' reading lives at the start of the school year and gain a deeper understanding of them as individuals.

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K curriculum outcomes aligned with standards

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