As my journey begins with my final graduate reading class, Reading 633, better known as “Reading Camp”, I find myself apprehensive about meeting two young students who I know absolutely nothing about and beginning our relationship with assessment. As a high school teacher, the apprehension doubles due to years of experience with teenagers, and very little experience with fourth grade and under other than my own grandchildren. There is one connection to my high school students however; due to their reading disabilities, most of them usually read within the same range as the students coming to reading camp. As I consider my first lesson plan, my first objective must be to get to know my student’s interest and ability so we can proceed with a positive, successful learning experience. Jennifer Allen’s “Becoming a Literacy Leader: Supporting Learning and Change”, offers a very positive outlook on reading growth in the school. As we have two new literacy leaders at BHS, I can’t help but wish to share this book and the possibilities for our own staff. Allen offers many ideas and resources, as she explicitly talks about her growth as a literacy coach, beginning from scratch with little money and a very bare room. Allen’s beginning struggle with professional development workshops where the teachers sat as observers rather than willing participates reminds me of many workshops I have attended. I must confess that I plan to borrow her idea “My Life in Seven Stories” for my own English classes. Of course, I must get busy with my own “first story” so I have a model for my students.
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