Trish Prentice
January 15, 2010
Daily 5 is up and running. The children are reading. The children are writing. But it's not perfect. Do you have a "hot spot" too? Here was mine. At my school there is an expectation for teachers to send books home with children to read with parents. Since I have children at nine different reading levels, I found it was taking a big chunk of my Daily 5 time to "manage" all these books coming and going. What to do? Hmmm.
I decided to look at this "issue" not so much as a problem but a challenge. I knew that I could figure this out if I thought about it enough. So can you. Look at your "concern" as an opportunity to use your knowledge, your skills, and your creativity to come up with a solution. You know what your children need, what you need, so think it though and come up with something different.
It does help to talk it over with someone else. Maybe a teacher down the hall, a teacher at another school; even your principal might be able to provide some feedback. Stay away from those that love to say, "it doesn't work." Don't be one of those teachers. Instead, be inspired and rise above. The answers lie within you.
So what did I decide to do about sending books home? Since I know that children need "eyes on text", I'm providing that opportunity in a way that is easy for me to manage. I explained to parents in a letter that books coming home will be for "pleasure reading". Monday night, poetry notebooks go home. Tuesday night, the students choose a book from their book suitcase. Wednesday, a library book, and finally on Thursday, one more book of choice.
I love this new system; on the days the children pick their book, it's done first thing in the morning before the bell even rings. The books are already tucked in their backpacks before Daily 5 begins. Now I can focus on reading and conferencing with children.
Wouldn't it be nice if we had only one dilemma to fix? Of course there are always more. I need to figure out how to meet with a few more children and tweak some of my record keeping habits. What's on your list? Sometimes finding a quiet place to think is all we need. Whatever it takes, let's be resourceful, fix one problem at a time and remember, we will always persevere.