The Secret of Change

Today's post is contributed by Andrea Reichenberger.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Socrates

In additional to all we do as literacy leaders and coaches, there is one very important aspect of our job that I fear we often overlook--taking the time to reflect on how far we’ve actually come on this spectrum of change. We are in an era in education in which we are asked to make many changes and to make them quickly. Change is difficult and with it usually comes a whole slew of issues that need to be handled delicately. In order to keep my own sanity and to help protect the sanity of our teachers,  I decided I needed to take notice of the elements that weren’t in place in our school three years ago and ask, have we made any change?

Classroom libraries were a rarity. Now, several have been developed or revamped with modern and engaging young adult literature from a variety of genres including nonfiction and magazines.  We have steered away from the whole class novel, developed themes and purchased a wide variety of texts that align to those themes. Word walls and anchor charts are not only posted, but also referenced throughout the lessons.  There are more tables and less desks, but the desks that still linger are grouped into pods.  Students are provided the time and guided to have conversations using academic language.  Teachers are setting a purpose for learning,  they are modeling their thinking, and they are using formative assessments to drive their instruction.  We are becoming more student centered and less teacher centered. We are making change.

Recently I was in a classroom and I asked the teacher what she thought was going well in her classroom. She didn’t hesitate when she answered, “the classroom environment.” She went on to specify that it was the group interaction which has improved because she has added consistency to the process, yet she also  included a component that adds variety.  She created three different grouping scenarios and has named each of them. (One of the groupings is purposely organized by mixed ability level and the others are random.) She writes the grouping on the whiteboard so when the student enter the room, they know where to sit. Tomorrow they might be in their “This Is How We Do It” group and the next day they may be directed to gather in their “Everything is Awesome” group.

Toward the end of our conversation, I asked this teacher to reflect on how her instruction has changed over the past three years and she confided,  “I am more conscious of how they (the students) need to learn rather than just the content. I focus on the goal I want them to achieve by the end of the class and I plan the activities to match them. I feel my students are learning more now than they ever have.”

Yes, we have definitely made change!