Read, Write, Lead: Chapter 1

Literacy should be a topic of giddy gossip in every teacher's lounge. We should be delighted to show our students the way to learning. Regie Routman's Read, Write, Lead can give us tips to readjust our school culture to bring this to reality.

This year I'm in a book study focusing on Regie Routman's Read, Write, Lead with literacy specialists. That's right! I'm sneaking in there and poking my ESOL head into the literacy specialist's camp. I want to throw open that door and connect our departments!

The ASCD created a study guide with thought-provoking questions. We were encouraged either to choose one question from guide and react, or to choose a resonating quote and explain why it struck us. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

"Examine the infrastructure and the culture at your school. What is already in place to support a school-wide focus on instruction and learning? What's missing? What's the priority for improving your school's infrastructure and culture?"

Our principal has made it clear that he values high-quality instruction, which seems to communicate that teaching is an art form. This impacts teacher morale and, at least for me, makes teachers want to improve. There is already a habit of writing high quality, detailed lesson plans because of prior years of being on warning, impacting the culture of instruction across grade levels. Right now, teachers are not required to turn in plans regularly, but I suspect the culture of high-quality preparation has survived. Part of what is missing is an ongoing conversation and passion for sharing how to plan high quality instruction and learning. I rarely overhear conversations about that, but perhaps they are happening in team meetings when I'm not there. The priority is to integrate memorable structure into instruction (hooks, multi-sensory, peer interaction, and more).