2021 in Review: Sharing a Literate Life with Children

Husband and grandson sharing a literate life at the end of 2021

I played blog post hooky a few weeks ago. It was intentional, and I was glad I did it—the break was important. However, when I asked myself if I’d like to skip more often, I knew the answer was no. It’s become a part of my teaching DNA to be looking throughout the week for a topic worth reflecting on and sharing, and to have that closure, that foothold or handhold—here’s something important I tried or thought about. 

At the end of the calendar year, I can look back and see a trail of about 50 such bumps or cracks that have brought me and my students to this point. It’s become my practice in the last 4 years to look back over that trail—especially the ones that stood out most to readers—to see what I can learn from that. This year’s top 5 most viewed posts highlight my move into elementary, experiments with inductive grammar (Patterns of Power) and independent reading, and a continued value for professional book discussions.

2021 Top Blogs--ending with the most viewed:

(5) Learning to Teach Writing to Littlers: Summer Goal #1 (July 24) One big adventure for me this year picking up an elementary class—4th and 5th grade English language arts—beginning in April. Spring term was a learning curve, and a summer online course helped me identify what had gone well, and what I could modify to do even better.

 
(4) Staying Curious about Language (April 24) When inductive grammar meets independent reading and true curiosity is sparked.

(3) Still My Best Professional Development: Discuss a Book (July 3) This post both describes why I love a good professional book discussion in general, and gives a glimpse into the discussion my department had this spring of The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox by Larry Ferlazzo.

(2) Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher (January 2) My first blog post of this year was about a professional development book I read over break—Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher—and how I would use it in one of my first units back to school. That proved a significant forecast for the year, as this fall my department began a discussion of the same book, resulting in 2 more recent blog posts, “Books: One Key to Fostering Empathy and Multiple Perspectives” and “Global Competence: What Do My Students Celebrate?” 

(1) Cultivating a Culture of Reading in Every Class as the Year Begins (April 17) The beginning of my experiment expanding starting class with 10 minutes of independent reading from just grade 6/7 English language arts (ELA) into upper elementary ELA and middle school English as a foreign language (EFL).

What are some of the markers of your path in 2021?

Past Annual Blog Reflections:

• 2020: What Blogging in 2020 Taught Me  
• 2019: 5 Top Posts of 2019 
• 2018: Best and Worst of My 2018 Blogs 
• 2017: What and Why I Blog