Engaging the Many Facets of Literacy

Maggie Schumacher contributed this post. Click here to read more of Maggie's thinking.

This February I had the privilege of attending the Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA) reading convention in Milwaukee. Every year I look forward to attending this conference and I have so many take-aways that I can bring back to my district and share with others. This conference offers an annual opportunity for me to learn from others and re-energize. 

This year’s convention focus was “Engaging the Many Facets of Literacy”, and I was lucky enough to attend presentations by some inspiring presenters including Sharon Draper, Jacqueline Woodson, Michael Fullan, Samantha Bennett, Jeff Zwiers, and Chris Lehman. For this month’s blog post, I will highlight two of these inspiring speakers’ presentations in my attempt to “pay it forward”.

Michael Fullan - “Critical Issues in Education”

This was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to hear Michael Fullan present and he had some important information to convey regarding critical issues in education. Fullan recently published the book Coherence: The Right Drivers In Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems. He had a lot to share throughout his presentation related to systems change and how to shift school culture. He stressed the importance of good leadership, and also the importance of positive collaboration. According to Fullan, “If you want to change the group, you need to use the group to change the group.” He urged the importance of building the capacity of teachers to learn from each other. As literacy coaches, it’s essential that we empower teachers to learn from each other and deepen understanding collaboratively so we are not teaching and working in isolation. In his presentation, Fullan also reminded that judgmentalism doesn’t work as a motivator. As literacy coaches, it’s essential that we support and empower without judgment. For systems change, it’s essential that leaders be transparent, specific, and non-judgmental. I’m hoping to pick up a copy of Fullan’s new book soon.

Chris Lehman - “Celebrating the Absolute Awfulness of Writing”

This was the second time that I have had the pleasure of hearing Chris Lehman present, and the same as last time, he did not disappoint! Lehman spoke about the awfulness of writing in a way that was entertaining and left me inspired. Lehman reminded us that it’s not what we say and do when we’re in front of students, but it’s also what we DON’T say and do. If we’re not living our beliefs and modeling this in front of our students, our students may default to producing work that doesn’t match with our ultimate goals.

Lehman urged teachers to set measurable goals for students when it comes to writing. He also delivered the powerful message that we need to be more than writing editors for our students. We shouldn’t just be “correcting stuff”; if we limit our focus to errors with grammar and spelling, we won’t be cultivating writers. Lehman instead empowers teachers to teach writing strategies as a teacher of writing, or even better yet, to be writing “personal trainers” encouraging and motivating students to reach their writing goals. He reminded that in real life we tend to write about things we are interested in and passionate about, so we should ask our students to do the same. We need to create the right conditions for our students so that they want to write. This includes demonstrating and modeling our own writing in front of our students. If we expect our students to write for us, we should be writing for them. Another of Lehman’s conditions allows for choice. It’s important to let your students feel connected to the writing process. It’s also important that students receive frequent feedback related to their writing; this feedback should be coming from both the teacher and from peers. And ultimately, and probably most importantly, students need time to write. If you are worried about the writing skill of your students, they need to write more. Period.