“Practice makes permanent” — Bobby Robson

Yesterday I discussed how important focus and stamina are and how that equates to practice. If you want to improve at anything you have to practice! There is a saying, practice makes perfect. I like this adaptation much better, practice makes permanence. Trying to achieve perfection is an unattainable goal and we should not be sending that message to students. However, practicing to make something permanent is definitely achievable. It equates to muscle memory. That’s why it is so important to practice things correctly as opposed to incorrectly.

Stephen Krashen (2004) found that students’…

“Focus on progress not perfection” — Bill Phillips

I have spent the majority of my career learning and thinking about literacy, specifically as it relates to struggling readers. Why do some readers struggle? Why does it come so easily for others? I am not a researcher, I am a practitioner. Practitioner is defined as a person actively engaged in an art, discipline, or profession. Throughout this series on Engaging Children to be Readers, I have been focused on how to build a solid foundation as a reader. What are the necessary components that need to be in place for a…

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents” — Emilie Buchwald

What do powerful ELA classrooms look like? If asked, could you define the most powerful literacy practices in a classroom? I would like to highlight what I believe to be those powerful practices starting in this blog post and continuing in subsequent ones. The first and to me one of the most powerful is interactive read aloud.

Interactive Read Aloud

Powerful literacy classrooms spend a significant amount of time dedicated to interactive or teacher read aloud. During the read aloud, teachers are demonstrating or modeling how to…

“Children need to be creators with technology not consumers” — Jill Bromenschenkel

When I was working as a literacy coach roughly ten years ago, I had the opportunity to work with an inspiring educator, Jill Bromenschenkel. At the time, Jill was a consultant working with the district I worked for. Jill was supporting a technology integration initiative as well as training teachers and leaders on EL strategies.

Let me set the stage a bit, what education was like in regard to technology ten years ago. Classrooms were being outfitted with interactive SMART boards. You were fortunate if you had a…

“A teacher is also a student” — David McConkie

This phrase has served me well throughout my career as I often look as myself as a learner to see when my learning is at its peak and when it isn’t. What am I doing in those moments of success and those moments when I am struggling.

In yesterday’s post I discussed one of the five necessary ingredients for successful engagement, purpose. Today we’re going to look at the key to the process, engagement. What does successful engagement look like?

Engagement — the act of engaging or the state of being…

“Content without purpose is only trivia!” — Steve Revington

In yesterday’s post I honed in on the five ingredients necessary for learning to happen in regard to reading. I discussed what happens when students lack confidence in themselves and their ability and the devastating effect it can have.

Today we’re going to take a look at the ingredient of purpose or relevance and how this impacts students who want to succeed and can succeed but still fail.

One thing you will notice about me as an educator is I like to keep things simple, easy and relevant. My goal is…

“To learn to read is to light a fire, every syllable that is spelled out is a spark” — Victor Hugo

In yesterday’s post I shared the five ingredients that are needed for learning to happen. Today I want to discuss how these five ingredients: desire, interest, purpose, engagement, and confidence are necessary for children to become readers. I believe that all student can learn and specifically can learn to read. So why do the students who want to succeed and can succeed still fail?

I believe that if success is possible, students will choose it. No one wants to…

“Learning how to learn is one of the most important skills in life”- Norma Fauziyah

In yesterday’s post I wrote this statement. In order for students to be successful learners they have to become engaged in the process. I want you to zoom out for a moment and think of this in the larger context of learning in general. In order for a person to be successful or achieve the desired outcome, they have to become engaged in the process. …