This weekend began with a celebration hosted by the Indiana Reading League in honor of Science of Reading Champions in Indiana. I was thrilled to be a Top Ten Finalist and completely overwhelmed when named as a Champion. Of course, the highlight of the virtual reception was learning from literacy legend Laura Stewart, whose wisdom from Courage to Lead, not only validated the work being done in our schools but she also dropped some much needed inspiration to "keep on keeping on" as we work diligently to ensure all of our students succeed. My girls were thrilled to celebrate with a big dinner (complete with Reese Cheesecake for dessert), but as we all gathered, I couldn't help but realize how much they have opened my eyes as an Educator. I didn't know what I didn't know until everything I knew didn't help my children. As a former first grade teacher, "just read more" has not worked for my girls. It haunts me to think how many times I have uttered those words to other parents. Fortunately, my oldest was blessed with an amazing first grade teacher that understood explicit phonics instruction -- she helped her not only with those foundational, necessary, important skills but then she modeled and demonstrated with complex, authentic, interactive read alouds filled with powerful vocabulary and examples of content knowledge -- and with joy, my girl finally decided that maybe she did like school after all. Reading hasn't happened 'naturally' - easily - for my girls. It has opened my eyes to a whole new world of instruction, teaching and learning, that has resulted in the coaching adventures with many other Educators and Administrators, some of them parents like myself struggling to make sure our own children have the supports they need, and of course, all of them with the desire to do what is best for all of our students in Indiana. Implementation is hard - especially when you get caught up in perfection. "Progress over perfection!" became a natural part of the discussion during Saturday's celebration with Laura Stewart. As Educators, knowing our non-negotiable list is critical, implementing best practices for literacy in all subject areas is crucial, and realizing WE provide the necessary instruction when utilizing core resources with integrity is nothing more than...ground-breaking. KUDOS to everyone breaking down barriers and stepping out of comfort zones - I am grateful for you.
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