A Letter to my Students

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Dear EDCI 302 Teachers of Tomorrow: 

It has been a pleasure getting to know you this term.  I want to thank you all for your hard work, critical thinking, and positive attitudes.  The school community will be lucky to have you - and I want to wish you the very best in your professional journey.

If you remember just one thing from our few months together - I would really like it to be this:
Students will rise to the occasion of excellence in your Language Arts classroom if you create an environment which nurtures:

• a love of language (or willingness to play with language and try different strategies); 
• a meaningful purpose (I almost wrote "a meaningful porpoise"...which would make for an interesting story, wouldn't it?); 
• a safe environment; 
• a balanced approach;
• constructive feedback;
• and, an authentic audience.

Sharon Creech managed to create such a classroom via Mrs. Stretchberry in Love That Dog.  Nancie Atwell and Lucy Calkins have been working on creating such an environment through Writer's Workshop.  Donald Graves, Tom Romano, Penny Kittell (and many more) have been calling for teachers who value personally-meaningful engagement in the writing process for many years.

So much depends
upon a language-rich classroom
in the school where you will teach.


So much depends upon
a willingness to try
and an open mind.

You all have a beautiful opportunity in front of you.  Go forth bravely, and enjoy!


Sincerely,


Carol N.