The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery." ~Francis Bacon
Dear Caedmon Community,
Only three more Inside Caedmon messages left for the 2021-2022 school year. Likely, the penultimate and ultimate messages will focus on gratitude and best wishes for a rich and restful summer. Before we take a break, however, I wanted to share some thoughts on Caedmon's teaching of reading and language arts.
Teaching is a science and a skill. But it is also an art. Truly exceptional teachers are artists, and they weave their magic into the classroom experiences they design, so that the science and content being delivered engages, affects, and transforms their students. In the case of a music or a painting class, this lofty description might seem to make more sense. But it is perhaps even more essential for the teachers of the "basics" - reading, writing, and arithmetic. A favorite podcast author of mine, Seth Godin, writes, "Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn't matter. The intent does."
Two Sundays ago, those of you who read the NY Times may have seen the front page article on reading guru, Lucy Calkins, titled, In the Fight Over How to Teach Reading, This Guru Makes a Major Retreat. I poured a large cup of coffee and dug in to study the article. I forwarded it to Saniya Mehdi, Jelecia McGregor, and Heather Halverson (Caedmon's reading guru). Knowing that Lucy Calkins and TCRWP (her program, Teachers College Reading and Writing Program) were a solid piece of Caedmon's Language Arts Program, I set up a meeting to discuss and further discover Caedmon's Reading Program.
As I often point out, to capture the scope and sequence of a Toddler through Fifth grade academic program is not realistic for these short IC messages.
But I was excited to be reminded how rich and varied the sources are that create the "whole" of Caedmon's approach to the science of teaching reading.
Maria Monstessori's Language Corner is built on phonics and sounding out, touching, and seeing letters and words. We do absolutely embrace much of Lucy Calkins' approach to reading and writing. There is a foundation of joy, connection, and gaining confidence in your ability to read (and to write) that results in the kind of creative, expressive readers and writers who are praised highly by ongoing Middle Schools. And, I am happy to share, we also embrace and enhance the teaching of reading with elementary Montessori materials on grammar, spelling and vocabulary, with vocabulary programs such as Wordly Wise, with frequent assessments to track reading levels, with diverse classroom libraries in addition to our main library on the fourth floor, and with an incredibly effective online tool called LEXIA, which targets the full range of reading skills and lessons.
The various components of our program, capturing the complexities of an effective delivery of the science of reading, were impressive. And the opportunities to expand upon them and dig more deeply into the arguments brought forth in the NY Times article only reinforced my appreciation for the Fund for Teacher Development, currently seeking your donations. There are fantastic learning opportunities for our faculty to keep growing.
Most importantly, however, I was reminded of my first point in this message.
Caedmon has bright, knowledgeable teachers and administrators, who seek to deliver expertly this complex science of teaching reading.
But no teacher solely focused on the expertise of their science is a great teacher. That requires the person to add the magic of the artist, which frankly is hard to define. But you see it in the sparkle of the eye and the gleeful laughter of a child, as they sit with a book or better yet, sit with you and a book, and the enchantment of a shared story takes place.
We now head toward the summer. Please make sure to create as many of those moments of shared enchantment as you can!
Matthew
