As we end this year, I find I’m giving a lot of thought to integrating technology into languge arts. As the literacy coach, I’ve spent this year helping teachers dive into new units of study in reading and writing; while keeping the technology expectations at bay. Why? Because so often in schools we are

1. doing TOO much, often none of it well.
2. handed technology initiatives from the top, which fall into teacher’s laps without enough support (training, resources, schedule).
3. given expensive tech tools together with a sense of urgency to USE them often without regard for whether or not they enhance learning.

That said, I am an advocate of technology use in classrooms and for all grade levels. I want kids to be comfortable  and digitally fluent using technology in their everyday lives. However, I’m not always convinced that the “tech” is what enhances the learning. To me, the teaching is what enhances the learning. If teachers are bogged down in trying to get tech off the ground or in making up lessons to use technology in the first place, it can remove something from the learning process. Integrating, embedding, using authentically, and giving students real opportunities to make decisions about how and when to use technology is what is important. When that happens- as I know it does- it is magical.

For now, I’m trying to model simple, but effective ways to help teachers incorporate technology into their classrooms, their own lives and into the lives of the children they teach.

One idea I’ve discussed with teachers today is using Shelfari as an interactive reading log in grades 4-5.

What other ideas are you using? Please leave me a comment.

We are lucky at my school to have a large group of male teachers in our upper elementary. In two grade levels they actually out-number their female team mates. So, it is fitting then that these guys have brought up the issue of boys as readers and writers.

Fitting too that Jon Scieszka’s (author of the Time Warp Trio series) new and updated website: GUYS READ is up and running. Check it out…

Also… you might like to follow Guys With Books. Jon and other authors have come together on the Guys With Books tour to promote their books and wow young readers. Especially I expect, the male members of the audience!

This year my learning curve is even steeper as I am leading our early-release day professional development sessions. To guide me through this work (I’m in year 2 as a coach and this is my first time working as a staff developer) we purchased Regie Routman’s Transforming Your Teaching Through Reading to Understand kit. It has been the foundation needed to define our work, but I’ve also been able to add some school-specific information. (Practice what you preach… I am a responsive teacher of teachers.) Two books I’ve shared bits from lately are Beyond Leveled Books and Still Learning to Read, both written by Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak.

Which brings me to a blog I love… Franki’s blog: A Year of Reading: Two Teachers Who Read. A lot. This blog has reviews of new professional books, literature, weekly poetry posts (Poetry Friday) and sometimes even interviews with authors. If you are venturing into the literacy blogosphere, it is worth a look.

(Photo credit: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/resources/images/electronics-computers/computers-internet/computer/computer-repair/easy-computer-repair-606/overview/0606fix001.jpg)

If you haven’t checked out the blog MotherReader yet, do it! Below I’ve copied a post describing her blog name. F-U-N-N-Y with an important educational twist.

“Why I’m a Mother Reader” (posted on Motherreader.com Oct. 12, 2009)

Here’s one of my favorite MotherReader stories: I am a Mother and I am a Reader.

When my oldest daughter was five, she asked me to play house. “I’ll be the mommy and you’ll be the little girl,” she said. I agreed and prepared myself for my role. Meanwhile, she sat down on the couch, opened a book to read and, looking over the top, said, “Go play with your sister.”

Never have I felt so much angst and pride at the same time. Of course, my mother guilt kicked in. Did she think that all I did was read? Did she feel so neglected? What kind of mom was I? But at the same time, I felt proud of the lesson she had picked up from me ? namely that Moms read, and reading’s important.

As a mother of two (now) school-aged girls, I get asked occasionally how I find time to read. I can only pat the questioner on the head with an air of pity (well, mentally), and answer that one doesn’t find time to read, one makes time to read. Looking at reading as something that’s done when everything else is finished means that you’ll never even crack open a People magazine. (Not that I read this particular journal, understand.) And this goes double, maybe triple for mothers. Every minute I read, I’ve carved that time away from something else. Sometimes I don’t put the laundry away. Sometimes I don’t shower, but I make the time to read.

While I’m taking time for myself in a self-care, Oprah kind of way, I’m also conveying an important message to my kids. Moms read books for fun. I couldn’t talk to them about reading being important and then never open a book myself. My actions speak louder than my words ever could, and believe me, I can make my words LOUD.

I’ve also been asked by parents that with today’s busy lifestyle, how can I find time for my kids to read? For this question, I allow a quick wide-eyed expression of shock so the questioner realizes the very seriousness of the inquiry. For me, it’s as if they’ve asked how I find time for my children to eat dinner. In my family, reading is a necessary and vital part of our day. We formed the habit early, and rarely break it.

Since my daughters were babies, the last part of every evening has been given over to reading. When the girls were younger, my husband or I read to them. Then each child went through a stage where we would alternate fun picture books with the beginning-reader series of the month. Now sometimes we read a book to them–a great picture book or chapters from a harder book–and sometimes we all read our own books. Often one daughter and I will recline on the couch, each leaning against the opposite side arms, our legs sharing the space in the middle. It’s comfy. It’s fun. The dishes can wait.

Want to raise a reader? Then read. Read to them, read with them, read beside them. Take it from a MotherReader.

(Photo credit: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/resources/images/electronics-computers/computers-internet/computer/computer-repair/easy-computer-repair-606/overview/0606fix001.jpg)

Today I had the pleasure of going into my friend Heather’s kindergarten class to talk to them about my own reading life. In their fist Unit of Study in reading they are learning why readers read.

So, on my way out the door this morning, I literally pushed all of the books on my bedside table: Wicked by Gergory Maguire, Michael and Natasha: The Life and Love of the Last Czar of Russia by Rosemary and Donald Crawford and Frommer’s Guide to Paris, into my school bag. As I neared the door of my bedroom I also grabbed off the top of my desk, the children’s books: Olivia Forms a Band by Ian Falconer and Pete and Pickles by Berkley Breathed from my before-bed reading with my daughter the night before. These books became my artifacts when sharing my reading life with Heather’s new, eager readers.

I told them that I read lots of books for many different reasons. I also told them that I loved to share great books with my friends. So we read both children’s books. Besides the keen interest shown to my presentation by a group of 6 year olds, my favorite part of experience has to be when I finished Pete and Pickles-and the end of this book is not to be missed!- and looked out at Heather sitting between her kids… fighting back tears. “They were just such good friends!” she cried.

I also told my new reading buddies- readers care about the stories they read. Good books make you feel something!

At ACS we have been back in school for about 3 weeks. Our elementary Back to School Night is coming up next Wednesday. As we are implementing some new literacy units and ideas I’ve been asked to help teachers prepare for parent questions and concerns. Here are two ideas to get us started…

From Mindy Hoffer of All Write!!!: Give parents a handout explaining how they can help their children at home with both reading and writing. (Clicking the link will send you to Scribd where you can download these documents to make them your own, giving credit to Mindy of course as the original document creator.)

On Thursday I asked for help with this topic on the blog: Two Writing Teachers. These ladies have a wonderful blog with a wealth of information, so I wasn’t surprised when they wrote back with several great ideas. (Click the link to read my question and their response.)

Do you have more good ideas to share? Please do so in the comment section for this post.

Sometimes you just have to laugh. Today I came across a lit blog which made me LAUGH OUT LOUD! How often does that happen when you’re reading about Earth Day, Jerry Spinelli, and poetry? Check out MotherReader- I think her mini profile says it all…

One of the bestselling preschool books of recent times was Walter the Farting Dog. At the same time, the American Library Association named as one of its best books Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, a book in which Mr. Rosen talks about his despair over the death of his son. I believe that, for most of us, what we want lies somewhere between a flatulent canine and overwhelming grief.