If you know me, you know I am passionate about the power of literacy. My underlying goal–in all of my work with students, teachers, administrators, and parents–is to ensure every child enters the literate world so they can realize their potential. Access to the written word allows individuals to fully function in the world–from daily tasks like reading ingredients and road signs to understanding health information to civic engagement. Literate individuals have more options for employment and tend to secure better-paying jobs. As Fisher, Frey, and Hattie have said, “Literacy is among the major antidotes for poverty.”

If you are able to donate to a charity this holiday season, please consider a literacy charity–local or national. This link provides an overview of the many options across Canada. Join me in my quest to ensure literacy for all.

Today, I defer to Trevor Muir to provide this week’s reflection and motivation…

Last week I attended The Art of Banksy: Without Limits art exhibit in Edmonton. The tagline for the exhibit is “There is Always Hope.” I am a fan of Banksy and have seen numerous exhibits of his art over the years. Yet this time, his work resonated in a new way given the current situation in Alberta.

Who is Banksy? Banksy is an anonymous street artist and political activist. His work began in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s. Through brilliant satire, dark humour, and often stark juxtaposition, his art is a commentary on everything from social policies to violence to consumerism. His art seems to appear on the streets when and where it is needed most. We may not be sure of Banksy’s identity, but we know he values human rights.

This exhibit reminded me that the time we spend protesting, rallying, and speaking up is vital—especially when our voices are being suppressed and our rights trampled. As long as there are those of us willing to stand up for what is right, there is always hope.

The work speaks for itself. If you haven’t been, go. If you happen to teach junior or senior high school social studies or English, take your students. The provocative art will likely spark some interesting discussion.

Shortly before the strike, my niece who is currently in grade 12, voiced her concern about the pending strike. I explained that it was going to happen and that it needed to happen. But I also reassured her: “It won’t last long. Teachers don’t want to go on strike. The government doesn’t want teachers to strike. They’ll come to a deal.”

Here we are three weeks later. Not only has a deal not been reached but the government is forcing teachers back to work and they’re doing so unconstitutionally. They plan to push through an order which, if passed, will limit the time allotted for debate, suppressing voices while hurtling through back-to-work legislation within a day.

Teachers began this strike fighting for their students and themselves. Fighting for class sizes that make learning effective for students and manageable for teachers. Fighting for fair wages for a vital vocation that can be draining at the best of times. Fighting to put a stop to years of underfunding in education. This fight has somehow become even more critical: it is now a fight for democracy.

The word democracy literally means “rule by the people.” The people are speaking. And yet, Danielle is choosing to ignore the loud, resounding voices outside the windows of “our house” and throughout the province. Her motives are clear: she wants to destroy publicly funded institutions. Every day, she sounds more and more like an orange neighbour. Every day, she deflects and spews and spins the facts.

Last week, I stood among the thousands, moved by the passion and determination in the crowd. I was amused and impressed by the powerful signs around me.

• “What we want, smaller classes. What we got, license plates.”
• “Maximum 40 is a speed limit not a class size.”
• “Breaking News! Connor McDavid reveals why he finally signed with the Oilers: a free COVID shot was added to the contract.”
• “When Jesus said ‘Let the children come to me,’ he didn’t mean 35 in a class with no EAs.”
• “Inclusion without supports is neglect.”
• “If I taught my class in a pipeline, would you fund them properly, Danielle?”
• “The UCP Cookbook: Mashed Budgets, Half-Baked Policies, A Raw Deal for Kids”
• “It’s so bad even the introverts are here. Stepping out of my comfort zone for what matters most: MY STUDENTS.”
• “I’d rather be teaching.”
• “Alexa, Change the Premier”

Teachers, the next few days and weeks are going to be hard. As a teacher myself, I understand the sacrifices you are making and the reasons behind them. Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” We know this. (In fact, so does Danielle.)

Continue to speak up. Continue to fight. And remember, you are not fighting alone.

Recently, a grade 7 teacher I know shared a phrase she uses when her students freewrite. She calls it filter-free writing!

Students with devices certainly know filters. When sharing photos or videos, they use everything from colour filters to beauty filters to augmented reality. Describing their freewriting as filter-free is a brilliant way to describe what we are asking them to do: raw, uncensored, filter-free writing.

Going forward I will certainly be using this phrase!

To support writers of all levels, be sure to engage in shared writing experiences on a regular basis. As you and the students decide what to write, you have the opportunity to model the writing process. You can reinforce phonics knowledge, morphology, spacing between words, and conventions such as capitalization and punctuation. You can also talk about word choice including transition words to support the organization of ideas. You can model the habit of reading over what has been written (inviting students to read with you) and make revisions as needed.

Shared writing builds confidence by providing a scaffolded experience. When this instructional practice begins in Kindergarten and continues throughout the grade levels, students feel empowered when putting their own pencil to paper.

With your pen in hand, think aloud. You will likely support more students than you realize!

Many of you reading this are teachers in Alberta. With the strike beginning Monday, I wanted to write today to remind you that you have the unconditional support of so many!

There are many who understand your dedication and commitment to education. There are many who know the long hours you spend–planning, prepping, assessing, coaching–outside of your time with students. There are many who realize that class sizes are much too large and classroom conditions much too complex to meet the needs of students.

Alberta used to be known as a leader in education. We can only do so much with the resources we are given. Let’s fight for the good of our children in this generation and those to come. Stand strong.

Many of our students are daunted by the task of writing. To ensure they are willing to task risks and not rely on the adults in the room, it is essential we provide them with knowledge, tools, and ongoing opportunities for practice.

The knowledge: Phonics.

• If you teach primary students, your phonics lessons will be daily, explicit, and progressive based on a scope and sequence. Then, take opportunities to reinforce what you are teaching in these lessons throughout the day during a morning message, literacy stations, shared reading, and shared writing, for example.
• If you teach older students, you likely will not have an explicit phonics lesson. However, you can be responsive to student needs and talk regularly and explicitly about specific graphemes-phoneme correspondences.
• Students inevitably ask, “How do you spell…?” Ensure your language supports them (and everyone else listening) in the moment and going forward. “What two letters say /ar/? That’s right, a-r. Remember, when the letter r comes after a vowel, the r is in charge.” “I hear the long a sound in paint. What two letters say /ā/ in the middle of a word?”
• With students of any age, I remind them to try to spell “word by word” or “syllable by syllable.” Sometimes they say a whole sentence (or a longer word) they want to write and they don’t even know where to begin. “Give it a try, word by word.”

The tools: A word wall.

• I feel strongly about this tool! For specifics, read this post from last spring.

Opportunities to practice: Daily, low-stakes writing.

• Our students should be writing something daily. This is not writing to be handed in and assessed but rather an opportunity to practice and take risks.
• What are some low-stakes forms of writing? Journal entries, freewrites, and reader response are the three low-stakes forms I suggest every week of the school year.

If we want to curb our students’ habit of asking “How do you spell…?”, they need knowledge and tools in their repertoire!

(We’ll save morphology for another day although it too will empower student writers.)

Last week I was back in the classroom for my first writing residency of the school year! When I asked a student in the grade 5/6 class to read the beginning of her story to me, she looked shocked and said, “But why? Can’t you read it?” My reply: “But you’re the author. I want to hear your voice.”

In the younger grade levels, I ask my students to raise their hand when they finish writing. Then, I go to their desk and they read their work aloud to me. If needed, I help them track as they read what they’ve written. In the older grades, I circulate as students are writing. Rather than reading their work over their shoulder, I ask them to read a portion of their writing aloud to me.

Why is this an effective strategy? First of all, many students don’t read their own writing at all: they hand it in without ever reading it. And when they read it aloud, they often catch their own mistakes. They tend to hear their work more objectively and discover changes they want to make. These moments are also an opportunity to offer differentiated support. If you notice a student ready to use quotation marks–show them how. Do you have a student who need reminders about finger spacing? Now’s the time! Do you want to ensure your word wall is used regularly? Hold students accountable by checking for the correct spelling of word wall words when they read their writing to you.

September is the perfect time to begin using this strategy. By developing your habit of asking them to read their writing to you, you will also help develop their good habits as writers.

Who hears all of my writing first? My pooch! I read everything I write aloud.

During the past few weeks, I have presented to many educators of various grade levels. One of my messages to all groups regardless of the topic was the importance of intentionality.

This is the perfect time of year to consider the reasons we do what we do. If we can’t articulate our reasons, perhaps we should reconsider the practice.

How might you make your practices more intentional and more effective for learning? Could you embed an oral language task to strengthen an already effective activity? How can you integrate writing as a form of thinking into your lessons in the content areas? How might you bring your science vocabulary into your language arts class? How will you ensure that morphology finds its way into your teaching of all subject areas?

The more intentional you are the better. And take the time to share your reasoning behind your routines and activities with your students. They are more likely to buy in and comply when they understand how it will help them learn!