The end or just the beginning

Well, I just finished Chris Tovani book, the last chapter is titled—“ Did I Miss Anything? Did I Miss Everything?  Last Thoughts.

This is not an unfamiliar set of questions, for the last week and a half I've been asking myself the same thing. I keep going back to our assignments checking to make sure that I have done them all, that I have read all the articles, that I'm not missing anything. I've been stressed trying to balance my family, my job, and school. This was my first online class and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up. At the beginning of this blog I told you about being dyslexic and my early education. I still carry scars and fears that I'm not good enough, that I'm stupid, that people would figure me out. I'm 48 years old and it's time to put these fears and feelings of inadequacy behind me. I am an educated man. I am a good teacher.

 Tovani reminds us that we can never stop learning and progressing as teachers. On page 121 she writes “one wizened veteran told me my first year that if I was going to be a truly great teacher, I would never be satisfied. No matter how confident or experienced I become, I would never be happy. She shook her head as she said, ‘sadly, the good ones are always searching for better ways to teach children.’ She continued, ‘my wish for you is that each year you look back at your career and laugh with embarrassment about the way you used to teach. If you do this, you will continue to learn and grow.’”

In this final chapter Tovani emphasizes that we should never give up on students, that we should keep giving them the opportunities and the tools to succeed.  As teachers we never know when a student is going to catch on. We need to remember that each student is unique coming to us with their own primary discourse. It is up to us as teachers to help these students build on their existing knowledge. She makes clear that she doesn't have all the answers, that she struggles on a day-to-day basis in the classroom the same as we do. There is no quick fix in this book. What you will find are commonsense strategies and tools to help readers at all levels.

  “If teachers become distant from their own learning they will most certainly become distant from the learning of their students.”   Alyssa Willes-Keely

In closing I would like to answer the question posed on the cover of Cris Tovani’s book:

“Do I really have to teach reading?”   The answer is no I don't have to, I CHOOSE TO!!!!!!