I was a classroom teacher, for at least part of the day, for 22 years. I was never a fan of the resources provided to me, and always supplemented with my own materials. Somewhere around 2009, I started becoming a true "creator" of curricular resources. Frankly, it was all thanks to Lucy Calkins, and the literacy "experts" in my district that tried to force her "Units of Study" on me when I became a fifth grade teacher. It is 2023 now, and national news is talking about how millions of kids have been impacted by the shift to the Calkins model for teaching reading and writing, which missed the boat on so many levels. Even Lucy admits that her materials may be in need of revision (rolls eyes). She started discussing foundational skills and such, turns out kids DO need phonics, and they DO need to know the parts of speech. WHO KNEW???
I did.
I even wrote about it. And so did other teachers like me that were handed the infamous "Units of Instruction" and asked, "wait, what?" There was nothing there that would support my students learning the important skills they needed. I am going to upset some people with this next statement, but literacy education has been dominated by white women for FAR TOO LONG. It is like they have a monopoly on teaching reading and writing, and frankly, they have failed miserably. I live in Michigan and we are in a race to the bottom in literacy, projected to be dead last soon if we do not make radical changes to our literacy instruction. Nevertheless, districts everywhere are still holding on to the curriculum their literacy leaders say will eventually work, if only teachers would do it right. SPOILER ALERT: It isn't going to work.
It has been four years since I left the classroom, and I have seen the belly of the beast. The decisions around literacy instruction are being made by all of the wrong people, and year after year, more kids hate reading and writing. College professors have been complaining for years that the incoming students just can't write, and lack critical analytical skills college students need to survive. They aren't wrong. Of course some of our kids are brilliant writers, and brilliant readers. But in the overall scheme of things, the skills needed to become a competent, skilled writer aren't being taught well in our schools. Most of the teachers that bucked the system, and never embraced the new way of teaching, did so in order to hang on to the way they have always done things. They often teach whole class novels, and bad ones at that. So many teachers force their favorite books down the throats of our kids, and guess what? They hate reading now.
One thing I have heard often being a central office administrator is the disparaging remarks about teachers finding resources on "Teachers Pay Teachers" which is now simply known as TpT. They act as though the problem is that teachers have gone rogue and refused to do what they are told. I have news for you. Some of the best resources out there are sold on TpT. But educational leaders, many of whom haven't stood in front of a classroom of students in over a decade, act like this is the reason their scores have declined. They respond by implementing programs, and canned curricular resources that corporations call "evidence-based" and promise success if only teachers would teach it with fidelity. I cringe whenever I hear that word. Teaching a program with fidelity is the absolute best way to screw up literacy education. There is no program in the world that can know the kids in your classroom, or provide them with the differentiated instruction they need. Egos are getting in everyone's way. I tell people all the time, "I am a content creator. I have taught my own curriculum. And when I could see that the lesson wasn't working, I STOPPED." The best teachers are the ones that respond to the kids in front of them. I have stopped a lesson cold in the middle of class, and if you are a great teacher, you have too.
I haven't created curricular materials in years, but I am about to start again. TpT has changed and is different than it was when I left the classroom, but I am going to try to catch up with the times and join the masses to create and post materials that allow for teachers to differentiate instruction, are culturally relevant and provide kids with CHOICES about what they read and write. Visit Doc's Shop to see what I have, and send me a message if you have any ideas for how I can create materials teachers truly need to engage their kids in literacy once again.
