January
20
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The Power of Listening by Clare Landrigan
I was facilitating a professional development session focused on how to administer a reading assessment. A fifth-grade student just finished reading the text and I was beginning the part of the assessment in which we discuss the text together. He seemed a bit nervous with all of the observers, so I tried to calm him a bit by beginning the conversation with asking, “Did you like it?” This question is not technically part of the assessment, but it seemed like a more natural way to begin the conversation in this situation.
He looked me straight in the eye and replied, “Surprisingly yes. I don’t read, but this was pretty good.”
I was speechless. Fifteen teachers were observing me to learn the protocol of this assessment, but I had no interest in continuing with the assessment. I wanted to hear more about why he doesn’t read. I made eye contact with the group and they gave me a knowing communal nod… they were with me.
“What do you mean you don’t read?”
“I am not a reader. I never read. I remember exactly when I lost my reading life. I stopped being a reader when I was in second grade. That was the year we were only allowed to read books for guided reading. I couldn’t read nonfiction books on the topics I wanted or books from the series I loved. I never got to choose the books I read. I stopped reading in school and at home.”
I did finish the assessment and we determined this student’s accuracy, fluency, phrasing and comprehension were right on grade level. The numbers told us there was no need to worry. His words, however, told a different story. His words have stayed with me since the moment I heard them.
Becoming a lifelong reader requires skills and habits. We cannot forget the need to also assess the habits and dispositions of our readers. When we take the time to talk with students about their reading lives, we always get the most important information, often the information we truly need, to engage them. Formal, diagnostic, quantitative and summative assessments are only a piece of the puzzle. We need to also ask questions, listen, and probe further to get windows into our readers’ thinking processes, concerns, passions, and hopes. These moments in our classrooms must be seen as assessment and be used to inform the heart of our instruction.
As teachers, we have the power to ask any questions we want when we sit alongside our readers. Our conversations with them are what spark the love of reading and help them develop a reading identity. I think of this young reader’s words every day as I coach and learn with fellow educators. By remembering his words, I hope to create classroom communities in which no reader will ever have to remember the moment they lost their reading life.
Clare Landrigan is a staff developer who is still a teacher at heart. She leads a private staff development business and spends her days partnering with school systems to implement best practices in the field of literacy. She believes that effective professional development includes side by side teaching; analysis of student work; mutual trust; respect; and a good dose of laughter. She is the co-author of, It’s All About the Books published by Heinemann and Assessment in Perspective,published by Stenhouse. She blogs about books and the art of teaching on her website www.clarelandrigan.com
Nerdy Book Club 
Oh Clare! A powerful moment to share-about what really matters most.
I was overjoyed to see you write about a child’s “lost reading life”. Oh my goodness, this makes our hearts ache. As a school librarian, the greatest joy was following the trail of a student on the path of self selection. This was often the student you described in your post who had discovered the possibilities of free choice in the library. Three cheers for school librarians that subscribe to the practice of keeping open selection in the library and enable kids to find and follow their passion.
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Wise words, Clare. Thank you!
I teach 6th grade math and science and I’m on my way this year in completing 21 years teaching. Even though I don’t teach ELA/Writing I’ve always enjoyed reading MG books and have been an advocate for providing students with choices and accessibility to reading. By now, my classroom is surrounded completely with bookshelves and I have above 3200 books. I have a checkout system that allows students and teachers to borrow and read books. I full support providing students with this accessibility.
Had the pleasure of hearing Tim Rasinski last week….”Interest trumps level. Always. Interest trumps level.”
Thank you for sharing this most important post, Clare. We Messengers of Literacy must never tire of chanting the refrain around readerly identity and its relational connection to the futures of each reader we strive to support. It matters that kids read, that they like reading, that they think about books, and that they see themselves as readers. It matters. And it pains me to think that sometimes our well-intentioned, research-based pedagogy produces the effect of killing reading for some kids. I’m so glad you were really listening to this kid and hope he is able to regain his readerly identity.
This post is a great reminder of the importance of engaging with our students–to hear them, empathize and respond to their needs. I’m also reminded once again of the importance of choice in building a reading life and reading identity. Teachers and librarians play an important role in opening up access for students to books that interest them and allow them to be engaged.