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Right now, we are working on getting him to sit up on his own without support. I read a lot of articles and blogs about how to support your child in what seems to be a very basic task. I consulted our family chiropractor about techniques that were appropriate for his spine and alignment. I spoke to veteran mothers in and outside of my family and friend circles too. I had all of the tools necessary to help my child sit accordingly. Though all of my research and discussion proved to be helpful, the most powerful gathering of information came from simple observation and a "discussion" with my son.
You see as the days progressed, I watched my son's methods of troubleshooting the act. He'd start out mostly using his right arm to support himself then plop to the floor and end up on his belly or back. I sat typically behind him using my hands to catch him or leave pillows around him to see how he would react. Then, the break through happened when he realized he could use both hands to support himself and look around the room. Yes, his back was fully bent over and his face was nearly planted to his feet, but I remember him looking at me like he was saying, "Mommy! Look at me! I'm sitting!" My first reaction was, "Oh my, he's going to have some serious back problems if he thinks that's sitting," but instead, I applauded him and smooched his check which then pushed him to his side and eventually he lost his position. BUT, he still had the biggest smile on his face as he looked up at me flat on his back eager to try again. In that moment, I realized he knew our established goal- to sit up.
This interaction led to him trying harder to independently sit up. Each time he tries to sit he gets closer and closer to a full upright, independent position, and I am there to cheer him on and celebrate the small successes. Most importantly, he is able to see the benefits of sitting too. It was a real treat to be at Galveston this weekend with family and see him sit in the sand with a cousin and discover the world around him until his body tired, and he plopped to his side.
As I read this chapter, I couldn't help but apply this story. When it comes to literacy instruction, often times I have most of the tools I need to guide a student to success. If not, I lean on others for support and pull my resources. However, sometimes the biggest bang for my buck comes from observation and goal setting through conferences. Theodore and I never had a true conference (HA!), but in the interaction we did have, he could tell what my objective was for him when he had that initial humped over sit. The more he saw how happy I was for him and when he realized the cool things he could do when he sat, he was motivated to sit longer and improve his technique. Sooner or later, he'll do this act without even thinking like most of us do now. Then, that's when it clicked for me.
My students will never know what to work on, if I don't guide them to discovering their goal in literacy, and I mean a true grit goal- not a percentage on an assessment. I want my students to discover their goal in literacy with me guiding them. I want to celebrate them when they take baby steps toward accomplishment. I want my students to realize that the goal we set allows them to do cool things in literacy and not simply pass a test. I want my students to be motivated to work at their goal and apply their new skill set like it's second nature. Do you see the connection?
But it's not always clear how to set the "right" goal for every student... or is it? This chapter hones in on how to look at your data collection, set a goal, and set the table for success.
Chapter 3: Interpreting Data and Establishing a Goal
"Our job is to interpret that data and use it to set goals for our students that will make a real difference in their reading lives." (page 94)
"When goals come from an accurate assessment of what's really going on with a reader, when they are decided upon in conversation with the student and supported over time, readers accomplish more and succeed more." (page 96)
Page 101 gives an excellent sentence stem to help the educator frame a literacy goal after reviewing the triangulated data- "I think (student) could learn (possible goal in reading) and (related goal in writing) because in reading, I noticed (evidence) and in writing I noticed (evidence)."
This is the sure fire way to make sure that you're on target with evidence to support a claim and not your own "habitual misstep in trying to teach in a data-based way" (page 95).
Serravallo wrote 5 possible goals for Joana, and then applied the 80/20 Principle and picked the best goal. On page 103, she explains that the 80/20 goal (AKA Pareto rule) "refers to the idea that 20% of something has the potential to cause or create 80% of the result." She thought, "What one thing will make the biggest difference? What 20% of her reading needs, when worked on consistently over the next month or so, will yield an 80% improvement?" This is serious analysis! Just remember you want the ultimate goal you choose for that student to have the potential to impact other goals or areas for improvement.
After that process is complete, the real skilled work begins- the goal setting conference. Serravallo notes that the educator must be prepared to guide the conversation in the intended direction so that the student realizes their area for growth. She suggests presenting materials to the student that match the goal (Figure 3.2). Page 106 is a tool that we agreed we'd use in our conferences. We all shared a moment where the conversation with a student sort of stalled, and then discussed how one or two of those questions in that chart could have helped. The last part of page 107 through 114 feature a transcribed conference Serravallo had with Joana. There was another moment of, "WOW! What a student!" But a #teachernerd mentioned that this only proves that Joana is familiar with this type of conference. In other words, it's evident that this "wasn't her first rodeo" as one put it. We got side tracked discussing the power of vertical alignment in reading and writing workshop instruction and expectations as well as the dedication of a staff to help support her comfort level with goal conferencing and academic terminology. It takes a village, right?
The goal setting conference section of this chapter is really where I think we learned the most. This chapter gave the group some space to reflect upon our own goal conferences and some things we need to tweak or revisit in our classrooms. We admitted that most conferences are based around goal setting for an assessment (i.e. benchmark or state assessment), and though this isn't "bad", it also isn't tangible for a child to understand. The objective of this study is to read and take away aspects of this practice so that we can improve upon our craft and impact student achievement, and essentially, I'm adding this type of goal setting and discussion into my day. I may not have the time to do it all at one time with every student, but I will try. Sharing this in our buildings with our coworkers (even if it's only the goal setting sentence stem and prompts to use during goal-setting conferences) would be thrilling too. We all agreed that was a good starting point!
Those of you that are joining us virtually, what were some take away moments for you? Anything new you learned or enjoyed revisiting? Any questions you have for the author? Please chime in! We'd love to have your feedback and further our discussion online.
If you didn't get to attend, but want to join next week, we'll see you at 3 o'clock at the Starbucks located in the College Park Shopping Center at 3068 College Park Dr. This location seems more centrally located for the group.
Happy reading and learning (by the pool, at the beach, on the patio, in the shade, on the couch... somewhere fun I hope)!
See you next week my fellow #teachernerds for the LAST #teacherbookup of the summer!
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