"Rethink what we believe is already working"

To often does the human race settle for good.  Why settle for good when you can do GREAT!  The same applies to teachers.  Sometimes teacher get into the idea of settling for what is good, both in their classroom instruction and in student expectations.  If we expect good from students, what then is going to propel them to do great.  We need to always be expected the great from our students.  Above and beyond, Ellin Oliver Keene states that teachers always need to "rethink what we believe is already working" (Keene 57).

All throughout my high school athletic career my basketball coach would always tell me, "if it is not broken do not fix it."  However, I could not disagree more with this.  Just because something is not broken does not mean that it doesn't need improvements, or maintenance if you will.  Teachers especially always need to be cognoscente of their instruction, what works and what does not.  Year to year, student to student, a teacher needs to rethink instruction.  Although an idea may work one year with some students, that idea is not a set mold.  Teachers need to be able to adapt to a new year, a new student, new standards, and new modes of learning/thinking.

One way in which teachers can rethink what already seems to be working that Keene highlights is the Literacy Studio (Keene 57).  As a new teacher I am still experimenting with what works and what does not.  Although I have never used a literacy studio model in my own classroom, based on my understanding of what Keene is saying a literacy studio model should be designed so that the student's intellect is able to thrive.  While, I have not used this model I really think that it is a great idea.  Going through the ideas outlined in Figure 3.2 on page 58-60  I see a lot of ideas that jump out at me.  First of all it naturally makes sense that students will be more interested in topics of their choosing.  I do not have the exact source on hand, but I once read an article explaining how students become more profound readers if they are allowed to pick books of their own choosing.  Just like Keene alludes on those pages, if a student is allowed to choose their books or choose a given topic then of course it is something they are interested in that book or topic.  When a students is actually interested in the material then they are more likely to become completly immersed in the material. 

In my classroom I do guided reading, so I enjoyed Keene's section on invitational groups (Keene 61).  While going through this chart I picked up on things that I may be doing well and things that I need to improve on.  As a first grade teacher I feel that I think outloud pretty well.  I am constantly telling my students what  I would predict or how I would go about solving something.  However, one thing that Keene highlights that I think needs to improve is the idea that "the teacher is free to focus exclusivley on the invitational group, having taught the rest of the class to read and write independently for long periods of time.  There are no interruptions."  Teaching first grade, this step is very difficult.  There are always interruptions and students are still struggling to read and write on their own.  However, by the middle of the year I think my students will be able to master this task.