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July 5, 2014 - Issue #389 |
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Cucumber in a Tomato Cage
A garden requires patient labor and attention.
Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good
intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them
Liberty Hyde Bailey
I have two 4'x8' raised beds
in my garden for all of my herbs and vegetables. Tomatoes and basil are
non-negotiables, as are chives and parsley and rosemary. This year, on a whim,
I bought a cucumber plant for the first time. It was so cute, and the
possibility of fresh cucumbers from my own garden made me drool in
anticipation. I didn't think through the space issues, though. Cucumbers vine,
and I don't have horizontal space in my tiny garden, only vertical space.
 So I'm growing a cucumber in
a tomato cage, and it's mostly working according to my plan: a large part of
the plant is growing the way I want it to grow (up). But I have had to
come to terms with the stems that cannot be convinced to stay in the cage and
are instead sneaking between the flat leaf and curly parsley and heading across
the bed to hang out with the basil.
This cucumber in its tomato
cage has me thinking about all of the supports our students need to grow
successfully.
We can plan for behavioral supports
- a calm, quiet voice, refusal to engage in power plays, alternative spaces to
work alone.
We can plan for academic
supports - alternative texts, small-group instruction, extra time, and multiple
attempts.
We can plan for social
supports - careful composition of work groups, time spent with the guidance
counselor, informal lunch bunches
Yet invariably, some of our
students will need supports that do not come from our toolbox of tried-and-true
strategies. For some of our students, we will need to invent the right support
for one particular child and for the conditions at hand.
It's this "cucumber in a
tomato cage" mentality that I need in my classroom as I support my students in
a variety of ways. Most will grow predictably, and will respond to the supports
I provide from my toolbox of reliable strategies. But I need to be ready to
improvise now and then, creatively supporting a child for the most success possible
while relaxing my expectations about the direction of each child's
growth.
This week we feature books for launching reading workshops. Plus more as always -- enjoy!
Mary Lee Hahn
Contributor, Choice Literacy
Mary Lee Hahn has been teaching 4th or 5th graders for more than 20 years. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse Publishers). Mary Lee and her colleague in the Dublin City Schools, Franki Sibberson, blog about their reading and teaching lives at A Year of Reading.
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Free for All
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Here are two booklists from the archives to help you think through how to launch your reading workshops.
What are the best books for the visual learners in your classroom? Carol
Wilcox draws on her experience as a mom to two boys who do not love her
"world of words" in coming up with suggestions:
Jan Miller Burkins highlights books for launching the school year with intention, confidence, and community in mind:
Cathy Mere has terrific advice for launching primary reading workshops at her Refine and Reflect blog:
Will you be working with students on the autism spectrum next year? Aaron Lanou explains how you can adapt morning meetings to suit their needs:
Join us in July for a live workshop or online course. We have two online offerings, Text Complexity in Grades 3-5 with Franki Sibberson (July 9-20), and Literacy Coach Jumpstart with Jennifer Allen (July 19-30). Our live event is Coaching the Common Core in Wrentham, Massachusetts July 16-17. For more details on costs and registration, click on this link:
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