SOME BACKGROUND [SHARING MY ROOTS]
Many moons ago, I was a self-contained, intermediate teacher. I loved teaching, loved my kiddos, loved my colleagues and my school. From day-to-day, my students helped breathe life into the work I was doing. That was especially true when the work was extra hard—navigating school initiatives, trying to understand state and district mandates, making sense of curricula, and staying on top of the never-ending, to do list on my teacher clipboard.
Those days are vivid in my mind’s eye because it was the same time my firstborn, Sydney, showed her beautiful face to the world. I was a proud, new, working mom [missing my baby fiercely] which resulted in a daily quick share during Morning Meeting, referred by my students as “Sydney Story Time”. I shared stories about Sydney throwing Cheerios all over the floor, her refusal to keep baby socks on her feet, her babbles and first words, and descriptions of lost toys in our backseat. My kiddos learned a lot about Sydney, but they also learned a lot about me and the things that were important in my life.
In those days being digital was a 2 or 3 step process. Once a week, I added a picture to my narrative to add to the storytelling experience. My students would gather around our desktop computer to view the “Sydney Picture of the Week”. As I shared the play-by-play descriptions that accompanied the picture, my students would smile and laugh and ask questions and give advice. I knew I was onto something meaningful because if I was out of the classroom and missed Morning Meeting, my students expected 2 “Sydney Stories” upon my return. It was pure joy.
Each day during Reading and Writing Workshop, my students had 2 big chunks of work time where they were doing the work of READING [reading texts they chose] and doing the work of WRITING [writing a lot]. Among others, we had 2 goals that were consistent across every unit, every day. They were:
EYES ON PRINT, EYES ON PRINT, EYES ON PRINT to build reading volume.
PENCIL TO THE PAGE, PENCIL TO THE PAGE, PENCIL TO THE PAGE to build writing volume.
“Sydney Stories” often became entry points for my students’ reading and writing experiences. It was not unusual for a few details to show up in my students’ Writer’s Notebooks. Sometimes students recounted the events from Sydney’s point of view. Sometimes fictitious details were added. Other times, students would write a similar story, but change the main character or add a new ending with a twist. There were even times when a few students would launch some research and create things, based on something that was shared, which is how I acquired homemade, baby-safe, hanging toys in the backseat of my car.
SO WHAT? WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
Kids want to know their teachers. They want to know about our experiences, talents, fears, family happenings, and the adventures of our daily lives. It’s reciprocal because we want to know our students in the same way. As the years passed, I expanded my Morning Meeting share to include lots of things about me— interesting things about my extended family, my passions, and curiosities. My sharing often inspired students to want to to do the same, giving everyone ongoing opportunities to learn about and know one another.
EFFICIENT & EFFECTIVE PRACTICES STAND THE TEST OF TIME
Recently, our family got a new puppy. Oh my…. it’s like having a toddler in the house! Here’s Denver, our 16-week old Bernedoodle.
