Vince Lombardi once said, "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."
He was right. One could easily plug in other habits, both positive and negative, and the statement would hold true. Take, for example, reading. Earlier this week, during a Senior Exit Interview, I found it hard to restrain my excitement when one of my students uttered the words "Reading is becoming a habit." I cannot think of a better Christmas present from one of my students, although Sydney's coconut dessert bars and Allyson's homemade cookies do come close.
Today was the last day of classes for the fall semester at BHS. We have experimented extensively in our hallway this semester, trying or expanding flexible seating in several classroom, diving headlong into student-guided project-based learning, implementing a 10 minute sacred reading time in some classrooms, and, in general, just trying to find new and effective ways to engage and learn with our students. I am blessed to have a team full of brave souls who will kick the side out of the box, explore what possibilities exist, and then either rebuild the box into a boat, rocket, or terrarian or burn the dang thing, whichever makes the most sense for our kids. It makes life in our hallway exciting, for me and for our students, and it is incredibly freeing.
In our senior classes, we have long used project-based learning to extend research and "doing something" with what our students have learned in areas that they are particularly passionate. We are in the midst of this process as the semester ends, as seniors have completed the initial research and have written proposals of what they hope to do with or springboarding off of that learning. Greg Froese and I decided that we needed something other than a traditional final at this point, something that would allow us to engage with the students and entice them to reflect on their second to last semester high school life.
We settled on a form of Senior Exit Interview. While somewhat exhausting over these last few days of the semester, they have been something I wish I had been doing every year.
The one-on-one conversations that I have always found worthwhile are happening with each student. As they prepare to present evidence of growth and learning and answer questions about how they could improve, the anxiety levels rose, but not excessively high. Questions were raised about the need to "dress professionally", resulting in my giving up one of the teacher's most treasured days, Jeans Day, as I agreed to forego that luxury and maintain my professional dress as well. They gathered evidence and wrote a letter of application, stating their current grades and explaining what adjustments were in order, and why.
During these interviews, I asked each senior about our 10 minute time, a period of sacred reading time we have at least four days a week. In one senior class, we call it Tyna Time, in honor of one young lady who complained about how much she hates to read when we started it. Not a single student, not even Tyna, expressed negative feelings about the time. I learned a great deal about their thoughts about reading as well as what we as a school may have been doing to our kids' love of reading.
"I'm in a lot of activities and sports, and I work. I don't have very much time to read. Reading time gives me a chance to actually read." This statement was from a wrestler, but it was echoed by multiple students. In our conversations, a common thread emerged. At the very time when our students should be reading more, and at higher levels, than any other time in their school careers, they are reading less. Look at our examples of the "best" students in our schools. These individuals are "well-rounded", which means they are involved in activities, they play sports, they hold leadership positions, they take college and AP classes, they work weekends and evenings, they take part in youth groups, and they help out at home. We want them to do those things, and we celebrate those that do. Think about that. Is it any surprise that those kids are giving only the quickest skim of reading assignments and abandoning reading for pleasure completely? Over and over again, students echoes that for them the most positive aspect of our 10-minute Time was just that: 10 minutes of time.
Those 10 minutes allow a seed to grow. It allows the habit of reading to regenerate for many students. "I find myself reading more during the day now." Be still my heart. Oh, and for you fuddy-duddies who complain about the ubiquitous cellphone? "I used to play on my phone a lot in school. Now, I find myself reading instead." She might have a book in her hand as opposed to her phone, or she might be reading an ebook on her phone, but she is reading.
One major component of our reading time has been student choice. Some of my kids read classics like Gulliver's Travels while others sang short story collections off my shelf. Some read graphic novels. A few read technical articles about topics ranging from fish habitats to welding techniques. I honestly do not care, as long as they are reading and reading closely. After listening to my seniors and after having a "So, what are you reading?" sharing day in my on-level sophomore class, I am more comfortable with this. My sophomores were talking about their reading much as they talk about movies, TV shows, or popular music. How cool is that? Some related the books they have reading the first semester to particular movies or TV series. Some admitted that they had started and dropped multiple books because they cannot find something they like. This resulted in peer-suggestions for books that might be appealing. "Oh, you would love..." began more than one conversation. I am not naive enough to think every kid is 100% invested in their reading, but more students are now, and some who are all in are surprising.
Some people may also argue that the open choice aspect allows students to take "the easy way out". Maybe, but one of my final interviews opened my eyes even more as to why we are doing what is right for our kids. One young lady, one of those quiet kids who has magic behind her eyes that she hides if she can, told me why she loves our reading time. "I'm a slow reader," she told me. She said she always felt like she could not keep up with some of the more difficult books classes have read. She went on to say that the nature of our reading time allowed her to pick books that are "too hard" for her to read in class. She is not worried about keeping up or passing a particular reading quiz. Her worries about being behind the other students or getting lost trying to keep up are gone. So she reads more difficult books, rereading as needed, and she actually enjoys them. She reads them more often, and she understands what she is reading. If she doesn't she goes back and rereads parts of the book, or talks to the another student or her mom, whoever recommended the book. Reading, rereading, reading more challenging texts, finding ways to overcome struggles, and talking about the reading.
And we have not even touched on what "learning" and reflection that comes from all of this reading.
So, I guess in the end, I just want to say that I am encouraged, to say the least. I know this approach to reading is not really new, even in our school, but it seems to always come with some sort of strings attached. Thank you to NerdCamp for reigniting the conversation last summer. Thank you to Sam Neill for her enthusiasm. Thank you Sam, Greg, Amber, Kiley, and John for being the greatest ELA team, and for providing the most amazing hallway collaboration on the planet. Thank you for our supportive administration. Thank you to Janea Gray for not only providing our kids a place they can land in the library, but also for suggestions, support, encouragement, insight, and expertise, not only for our kids, but for us.
And thank you to the young people who walk through my door each day and who stream through our halls. Have a Merry Christmas.
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