AN EVALUATION OF THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF
READING WORKSHP AT THE
HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL
August 2003
By Lisa M. Gonsalves
University of Massachusetts/Boston
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Page 1
A Brief Overview of Reading Workshop
Page 3
Methodology
Page 4
Teachers and Reading Workshop
Page 5
What Happens in Classrooms
Page 7
Reading Workshop and CCL
Page 23
Literacy Coaching and CCL
Page 29
The Administration of Reading Workshop
Page 34
Responsibilities of the Coaches
Page 35
The Impact of Reading Workshop on Students
Page 35
Concerns about Assessment
Page 44
Teachers’ Experiences of the Network
Page 47
Needed Resources and Continued Supports
Page 49
Concluding Recommendations
Page 50
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the high school teachers who graciously allowed us into their
classrooms and who agreed to talk with us about teaching, learning and Reading Workshop.
This report would not have been possible without their participation and support. I am equally
grateful to the graduate assistants who spent countless hours observing classrooms, talking with
teachers and students and typing up observation notes. Last, I want to thank the Boston Plan for
Excellence and the Boston Public Schools for supporting this important work. Finally, we are all
indebted to Theresa Knight for her endless transcribing of interview transcripts.
2
Introduction
Last year’s implementation of Reading Workshop in high schools across the city marks
another progression in the Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) efforts to improve literacy instruction
for all students. In August 2002, the BPS and the Boston Plan for Excellence (BPE) collaborated
to support a network of two-four English language arts (ELA) teachers from each of 13 district
high schools. The purpose of the High School Teachers Network was to recruit a core group of
teachers from each school who were interested in learning about Readers’ Workshop and willing
to work with colleagues in their school on implementing workshop instruction. Throughout the
school year, network teachers also participated in in-school professional development through
Collaborative Coaching & Learning (CCL) cycles that were focused on workshop instruction and
led by a literacy coach.
This report is an evaluation of that implementation from the perspectives’ of the teachers,
students, coaches and administrators. The information in this report is based upon four sources.
Three of those sources, observations of classroom instruction, copies of student work, and
interviews with participants, comprise the bulk of the data. The fourth, written memos and
meeting notes, was used to round out the report.
Generally, the evaluation uncovered six major findings.
First, there is a continuum of learning about Reading Workshop. The teachers who
participated in the RW Network tended to represent three different points on that continuum.
There are those who fully implement the workshop model; those who assimilate some strategies
from workshop into their current instructional practices, but who do not implement the model
fully, and those who do not change their teaching practices. The main determinant as to which
point on the continuum a certain teacher occupies is whether or not they understand RW as a set
of strategies to aid instruction or as an instructional method in and of itself. Given this, one goal
for future professional development around RW is to help teachers understand that RW is an
instructional method.
Second, teachers who had a strong group of colleagues in their own schools with whom
they could converse about RW, along with a strong coach who could gently push them beyond
their boundaries progressed further in their understanding and practice of the workshop method.
Therefore, schools that had working Collaborative Coaching and Learning (CCL) cycles got the
best results in terms of full implementation of RW.
Three, headmasters and Headmasters play a crucial role in the implementation process.
Without the Headmaster’s clear support for the RW method implementation often fell short.
Four, students who have experienced workshop classrooms unequivocally endorse the
RW method.
Five, teachers need more professional development on how to assess students using the
workshop model. They also need a better understanding of the process and outcomes of
conferring with students.
3
Six, overall teachers had a positive experience of the Network. Their main concern was
that the resources necessary to successfully run a RW classroom - books, space and shelving –
continue.
First, I present a brief history of BPS’s path toward the workshop model followed by an
explanation of what that model entails. Next, I explain the methods used to collect data for this
evaluation, and last, I conduct a detailed analysis of the findings outlined above including
examples that demonstrate how we reached each conclusion. Finally, I end the report with a
series of recommendations for the coming year.
According to those familiar with BPS’s most recent efforts at strengthening the literacy
skills of students, the path toward Reading Workshop began about seven years ago with the use
of Standards Facilitators in each high school. These facilitators were teachers who were paid
overtime to work with their colleagues to build English Language Arts (ELA) standards in the
schools. Eventually these positions evolved into the Literacy Specialist and then the Literacy
Coach positions.
During this time, the Office of Curriculum and Instruction identified a list of best literacy
practices which included strategies such as “read alouds” and the use of graphic organizers such
as KWL, etc. Schools within the system could implement literacy models that emphasized these
practices and different schools chose different models. The main high school model was LACT
– Literacy Across the Curriculum Training. The Literacy Specialists and then Literacy Coaches
worked with teachers in the schools to implement these various models. About three years ago,
BPS, in conjunction with the Boston Plan for Excellence (BPE), began to look for more
coherence in the models, for a program or model that would provide a framework that could
operate system wide. The workshop model brought this coherence. Not only is it a model that
contains the main components of literacy identified as essential by BPS, but the model also holds
within it an instructional process for teachers to follow.
As it became evident that the workshop model was successful at the elementary and
middle school levels, BPS and BPE decided to conduct a pilot study at the high school level.
They chose five teachers from the five high schools that had been identified as Effective Practice
schools to implement those literacy practices that were succeeding in the elementary and middle
schools. The main goal of the pilot was to see if these practices would work at the high school
level. They were particularly interested in discovering how a traditional high school English
classroom might adopt a workshop approach and move from teaching students about the
conventions of literature to teaching them how to read literature on their own. The work of
Randy Bomer and others aided the coaches and teachers in this effort. The pilot consisted of two
cycles. One coach worked with one teacher in each high school. The focus of the pilot was on
implementing independent reading and book clubs only; it did not focus on the other components
of Reading Workshop.
Ultimately, there was some evidence from this pilot that high school students could
develop an independent reading life. They could, for example, be taught to comprehend texts on
their own. This was mostly documented through classroom observations and student and teacher
interviews.
4
The decision to implement Reading Workshop across all district high schools resulted
partly out the pilot’s successes. Based partly on the pilot teachers’ experiences, and partly on the
desire to embed Reading Workshop in the high schools from the bottom up, Reading Workshop
was implemented through a Network of teachers. The goal of the Network was to recruit two to
four teachers from each high school who wanted to learn about Reading Workshop and
collaborate with each other in their individual schools. As the recruitment memo stated, “We
hope to build a Network of highly motivated and successful teachers who can ultimately share
their successes (and setbacks) with other teachers in the interest of supporting the successful
implementation of the workshop approach city wide.” Thus, the Network not only provided the
support structure for teachers, it was also the vehicle through which professional development
about Reading Workshop was delivered.
A Brief Overview of Reading Workshop
The following overview describes Reading Workshop in the form that has been adapted
by the BPS as described in the publication Focus on Children. I have included this description
of the workshop classroom so the reader will have a model with which to compare the
observations that follow. I also wanted to familiarize the reader with workshop terminology.
Knowing the intended definitions and demonstration of Reading Workshop terminology and
concepts is important because, as you will see, many teachers have adapted these concepts and
applied this terminology in ways that differ from those intended meanings and demonstrations.
In other words, this description is meant to provide the reader with an independent way to gauge
whether or not workshop is being applied in its intended format, and if it is not, how far a
particular teacher might be straying from that format and what the impact of that may be on the
overall implementation in that particular classroom.
As stated above, the main components of workshop include specific literacy strategies
that encourage direct student engagement as well as an organizing structure for classroom
instruction. The model rests on four main principles: time, ownership, response and
community. In a workshop classroom, students are given time to learn independently in class
through reading, writing and conversing with each other and the teacher. In a workshop
classroom students choose the books they will read as well as the types of writing they will do
about those books; they also direct their own conversations about what they are reading. These
independent choices help the students develop ownership of their learning. There is much
sharing in a workshop classroom. Students share with others their thoughts about what they are
reading; they share their writing, and they are encouraged to ask questions of the teacher and
each other throughout class time. They also share their understandings (and misunderstandings)
with teachers during frequent conferences about their reading and writing. This continued
sharing provides students with multiple opportunities to respond to content in authentic and
challenging ways. Finally, through sharing their ideas and working together, students help to
create a community of learners that fosters the kind of safety students need in order to challenge
themselves academically.
Workshop also provides a structure for teaching. A workshop classroom has three main
components. The main instructional component, called a mini-lesson, allows the teacher to
5
present and model a specific “teaching point.” Ideally, a mini-lesson lasts for no more than 15
minutes, and it often involves modeling and student participation through shared reading and
writing. The mini-lesson grows out of the teacher’s observations and assessments of the
students’ academic needs.
The second component of a workshop classroom is independent work, either reading or
writing individually, in pairs or in small groups. Independent work provides the child with an
opportunity to engage in silent sustained reading or writing. This independent work makes up the
bulk of classroom time. During independent work, the teacher confers with individual or small
groups of students about their own work. Teachers take notes during each conferring session
with a student. Conferring with students serves a number of purposes in the workshop
classroom. First of all conferring is an instructional component of Reading Workshop. It allows
the teacher to know the learning needs, strengths and weaknesses of each individual student.
The teacher’s conferring notes provides him or her with an opportunity to track and assess
student progress over time, and it gives students an opportunity to talk about their thinking about
the text or their writing, with a knowledgeable adult. The mini-lessons are often based upon the
information a teacher gathers from her conferring sessions. The students’ independent work
provides them with multiple opportunities to experiment with what they have learned about how
to think about their reading or writing during the mini-lessons.
The third component of a workshop classroom is sharing. Often the class period ends
with a round of sharing by the students and teacher. During these mini-presentations students
often share how they applied the mini-lesson to their own reading or writing, or what learned
from working independently that day. Students also might read a selection from their own
writing during sharing time.
Throughout the week, month and term this pattern of teaching, working independently
and sharing is repeated in a mindful and deliberate manner, leading students to gradually engage
and invest in their own learning.
Methodology
The data for this evaluation of the Reading Workshop implementation was gathered from
observations and interviews. Six graduate assistants conducted a total of 171 observations from
November to May. The observations were conducted in 13 high schools. Most of the teachers
observed were participants in the Network, although we did do some observations of nonNetwork teachers. We did this because the non-network teachers were either already doing
Reading Workshop or were very interested, but for various reasons were not able to participate in
the Network. The graduate assistants all will be or have been English Language Arts teachers.
They did more than observe the classrooms; they also assisted the teachers by working with
students individually and in groups and by conferring with students. The non-Network teachers
appreciated having a graduate student in the classroom who could support them in teaching the
workshop method.
Initially, we observed once a week in the classrooms. After about two months, we
switched to observing in one school three days in a row for a period of three to four weeks and
6
then moving on to another school. We would then return to the previous school. We did this
because we wanted to see the day-to-day progression of Reading Workshop and to get a sense of
how each day’s work was building on the previous lessons. We continued to observe in this
fashion until the end of the school year.
Each observation was typed, coded and analyzed. I also met with the team of graduate
assistants once every two weeks to discuss what they were seeing and to determine where to
focus our observations for the coming round. These meetings were also recorded and
transcribed. These meetings enabled us to provide continuous feedback to the Network
organizers about the aspects of Reading Workshop that were succeeding and those with which
the teachers were having trouble. Based upon this information, the Network organizers were
able to plan meetings that addressed those aspects of Reading Workshop that the system wanted
to emphasize such as independent reading and conferring.
We also interviewed teachers, students, coaches and administrators about their
experiences with and perceptions of Reading Workshop. We asked teachers and coaches about
their experiences with and perceptions of the Network. Each interview was transcribed, coded
and analyzed. We interviewed 17 teachers, six of whom we interviewed twice, once at the
beginning of the process and once near the end of the school year. We did this so that we could
track the progress of teacher thinking and learning over time. We interviewed three
administrators, nine coaches and 30 students, who were interviewed in 10 small groups
consisting of between three to six students each. We also recorded, transcribed and analyzed
some of the schools’ Reading Workshop focused CCL meetings and some of the Network
meetings.
Some of the data for this report were gathered from memos and other administrative
documents pertaining to the Network and the implementation process itself.
Teachers and Reading Workshop
As we studied the implementation of Reading Workshop, we began to notice that there
are three categories of teachers. First I provide a description of the three types. The descriptions
are then followed by the data that support these conclusions. All the data included in the
following sections of this report are representative data, meaning that no quotation or observation
was used if it was not representative of a broader theme that arose during the analysis of both the
interviews and observations that we collected.
All of the teachers who participated in this evaluation began the process of
implementation by participating in the Reading Workshop Network. The three categories of
Reading Workshop teacher we identified are not fixed. Rather, they should be seen as teachers
who are on a continuum of learning about the workshop model. In other words, the following
breakdown illustrates the different states that teachers pass through as they attempt to implement
a new program, a program that for some teachers is radically different than their previous ways
of teaching.
7
The first category of Reading Workshop teachers is successfully incorporating Reading
Workshop methods as they were meant to be incorporated. These teachers are using Reading
Workshop techniques and methods in their classrooms on a daily basis. Their students are
reading and writing independently. The teachers are conferring with students and taking notes on
their progress, and they are using what they learn to design mini-lessons for the students. These
teachers could be said to have accommodated their teaching styles to the workshop method. In
other words, these teachers have learned that in order to teach in the workshop method they must
change what they are currently doing. These teachers have been able to adjust their thinking and
develop new schemas and understandings about teaching in order to work with the new
information they are receiving about Reading Workshop.
This is not to say that teachers in this category have no room for growth; they do. The
main difference between these teachers and the teachers in the other categories is the types of
struggles they are having with Reading Workshop. These teachers ask different questions of the
model, and they get stuck at different points in the implementation. Also, these teachers tended
to remain active in the Network throughout the school year.
The second category of Reading Workshop teacher we identified often claims to have
been using Reading Workshop methods all along. The reason they can make this claim is
because rather than seeing Reading Workshop as an instructional process, they are looking at it
as a set of strategies. These teachers are incorporating some of the Reading Workshop strategies
into their teaching, but only as a strategy that compliments their prior approach to teaching, not
as a new instructional method. These teachers have yet to understand that Reading Workshop is
a philosophy about how children learn to read and write. Therefore, they tend to miss the
metacognitive aspects of Reading Workshop such as helping kids converse about text and
conferring with kids about how they are reading texts. The lack of conferring prevents these
teachers from designing helpful mini-lessons or from truly knowing their students’ strengths and
weaknesses. Rather than accommodate the new information learned about teaching in the
workshop style, these teachers tend to assimilate that information. In other words, these teachers
have come to understand the workshop method in terms of what they already know about
teaching. At times, the assimilation process can lead to a distorting of new information in order
to make it fit ones existing schemas and understandings about teaching.
Teachers in the second category are at the beginning of the learning continuum described
above. Yes, they claim to already use Reading Workshop methods, but this claim does not
prevent them from wanting to learn more. These teachers are truly interested in Reading
Workshop and in implementing it in their classrooms. They are the teachers most in need of
strong and effective professional development in Reading Workshop, and in most cases, this is
what they want. However, delivering that professional development is crucial for them, because
without it, they may get stuck at the assimilation stage. Fortunately, as will be demonstrated
further on in this report, when working in its ideal form, CCL can actually foster the kind of
reflection and accommodation of Reading Workshop methods that these teachers need.
About half of these teachers continued in the Network throughout the school year. The
rest of them came in the beginning, but their attendance became spotty near the end of the year.
8
None of these teachers openly “quit” the Network. It was more like other things began to
encroach on their time and the Network became less of a priority.
The last category of teacher we identified was those teachers who did not incorporate any
Reading Workshop strategies into their teaching. They did not change their teaching practices in
any way, even though they originally signed up to participate in the Network. There were two
types of teachers in this category. The first type showed signs of wanting to change their
teaching practices and of wanting to do something different in the classroom. Unfortunately,
they were particularly weak overall, and had very few structures in place in their respective
schools to help them. In other words, the failure of these teachers was not theirs alone. It was
also a failure of the individual schools to help them change. These teachers came to the Network
meetings in the beginning, but eventually dropped out along the way. These teachers also need
strong and effective professional development, and perhaps an outside motivator such as a strong
mandate to change.
The second type of teachers in this category consciously chooses not to incorporate
Reading Workshop methods in their classrooms. Like the teachers who have assimilated
Reading Workshop methods, these teachers believe they are utilizing workshop methods (and
they most likely are, but as strategies), but unlike the assimilationist teachers, they also believe
that their use of the methods is more effective and that they do not need to “change” what they
are doing in the classroom. These teachers have made no attempt to use the specific workshop
strategies such as conferring or mini-lessons, although they might use independent reading and
sharing, etc. It’s important to note however, that these teachers tend to be effective in the
classroom in that their students are engaged and show signs of learning on measures such as the
BPS benchmark exams and the writing prompts. These teachers know they are “good,” and they
do not see the need to change their teaching methods. This set of teachers came to the Network
meetings in the beginning but also dropped out before the end. Of the teachers we identified,
they may be the hardest to impact in terms of professional development; however, because they
tend to be effective teachers, the need for them to change may not be as great. (An interesting
note, though I have not analyzed it further for this report, is that the majority of teachers in this
category were male.)
What Happens in the Classroom
The following examples represent teachers at three different points on the continuum of
learning about Reading Workshop, those at the very beginning, those in the middle and those
who are approaching full incorporation of the workshop method. The first set of examples
illustrate what happens in the classrooms of those teachers who approach Reading Workshop as
a set of strategies and who assimilate their understanding of these strategies into their current
teaching practices. The second set of examples is from a teacher who is in category two, but
who occupies the middle range of the continuum, and the last set of examples illustrates what
happens in the classrooms of those teachers who use Reading Workshop as an instructional
model and who accommodate their current teaching practices to make room for that model.
Lesson Planning
9
As you read the following examples, it’s important to note that all of the teachers we
observed were aware that we were there to observe Reading Workshop in action. They were all
attempting to implement Reading Workshop, either as a complete instructional process or as a
set of strategies. The examples that follow allow the reader to visualize how classrooms from
teachers at different points on the Reading Workshop continuum differ from each other. In order
to demonstrate these differences, I will present a series of consecutive classroom lesson plans.
You may remember that we observed most classrooms for three days in a row over a period of
three to four weeks.
Classrooms that use Reading Workshop Methods as a set of Strategies: Teachers at the
Beginning of the Continuum
What follows is a description of classroom lessons from two different teachers. These
examples allow the reader to visualize which Reading Workshop elements the teacher attempted
to use in class. Even though we collected multiple examples of lessons that share the
characteristics of the ones below, I included these because they are the most representative
examples. While taking great care not to lose the essence of the lesson, I have shortened the
observations. The original observations contain more teacher questions and student responses.
Classrooms Lessons from Teacher #1
This teacher is attempting to implement Reading Workshop in an 11th grade class.
Lesson Introduced on Day One
The teacher asked students to write down the heading for the day, “point of view.”
They went through the I/you/him-her-them as first/second/third person POV and the
students seemed to already know this. She then asked a number of questions about POV
which most of the students answered correctly.
The teacher then told them that the next story they would read was written in the
2nd person POV. She said the author was a modern writer, and that it is a “very modern
concept” to write in the 2nd person and that the reader feels like the author is speaking
directly to them. She then asked them to free write for 5 minutes on the topic: “How
might a person’s life be described as a journey, either your life or a character in a book?”
All the students got to work on this free write, as did the teacher.
After they were done, she asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to read what they
wrote and four students volunteered. Many of them had written in the second person,
which the teacher told them she found “fascinating.”
She next told them to open their textbook to the story. There was a picture that
went along with the story, so she asked them to describe what they saw in it. A number
of students volunteered one or two thoughts. The teacher told the students the picture
was a metaphor for life and that life is being compared to a journey. She then read aloud
to them while many read along from the text. Others sat back and listened.
Lesson Introduced on Day Two
The agenda that had been put on the board was 1) Homework, 2) book check, 3)
pre-reading log, 4) teacher conference and silent reading, 5) post-reading log. Most of
10
the students had their books. The pre-reading log that she distributed asked for the
Title/Author/Date published/Number of pages/ Type of book (listing a number of genres),
and the number of pages read today. The pre-reading question was “What are your
predictions about the characters or plot for today’s reading?” The post-reading question
was “Did your earlier predictions match what you read? Why/why not?”
The teacher and I went around and conferred with a few students. I spoke with
four students. In general I asked each some of the questions the teacher had suggested
and left them with a suggestion of something to look for as they continued. I left all the
students with something to look for in the text, and I felt that we all felt these were much
more valuable conferences than previously. They were all very positive about our
conversation and going forward with the reading.
During the wrap-up, the teacher modeled a couple of predictions using one of the
student’s independent reading books. She asked them how, if they hadn’t read much,
they could go about making a prediction and suggested reading the back of the book.
The student read aloud the back of the book and the teacher asked them to make some
predictions. The bell rang as they had this conversation.
The above lessons are consecutive. The first lesson was taught on a Monday, and the
second lesson was taught on a Tuesday. First, let’s review the Reading Workshop strategies
which this teacher is attempting to use. In the first lesson the teacher appears to be attempting a
mini-lesson on “point-of-view.” She also asks the students to share what they have written. This
teacher clearly used more Reading Workshop strategies on the second day. The students are
doing independent reading and the teacher is conferring with the students, but not taking notes on
that conferring. She is also asking the students to make predictions and to keep a reading log.
There are two things missing from this classroom however. First, it’s not evident how the four
principles - time, response, ownership and community - operate in this classroom. Second, the
lessons do not build on each other from day-to-day either in terms of process or content.
Classroom Lessons from Teacher #2
This teacher is attempting to implement Reading Workshop in a 9th grade class
Lesson Introduced on Day One
The class started with an in-class writing assignment: they needed to write a
newspaper account of the fight that occurred at the start of the Shakespearean play they
are reading (150 words). As is the routine, the students came in and started reading the
newspaper. The teacher said, “find at least one story and see how the author builds it.”
As she walked around, the students one by one started taking out something to start
writing on, it took longer for some than others. The teacher asked if anyone knew how to
write a newspaper account and if they remembered the fight scene she was referring to.
The teacher was also trying to assign roles for the students to read from the play and put
them on the board. As she did this, she fielded a number of questions from her students
and suggested they re-read the Prologue.
Once all the roles that were to be read today were on the board, the teacher
walked around and read individual essays. Some she read aloud. Some she started to
read aloud and then handed them back saying they needed to do more, and a couple she
11
didn’t get to. Once finished, the students started reading the play. The parts were mainly
between two students who both read excellently. One student, unprompted, read the
stage directions. Eventually, everyone read except one student. They read for a total of
about 35 minutes. During the reading, the teacher asked a couple questions. One was
“what would a girl do to make sure she could remain virtuous?” She then asked, “where
else have we read about beauty regenerating through birth?”
Lesson Introduced on Day Two
As is routine in this class, students came in and began reading the newspaper. The
teacher also asked that they take out the sonnets they recently wrote after a unit on
Shakespearean sonnets. The day was spent finishing and perfecting their sonnets. Some
students who had already finished their sonnet worked with other students who needed
help. The teacher worked with a student who hadn’t been in class the previous day on his
sonnet. Throughout the class period people would shout out a word they needed a rhyme
for and everyone would contribute suggestions. Students were still working on their
sonnets when the bell rang.
Again, these are consecutive lessons. When we did this observation we asked if the
teacher had switched to Writing Workshop on day two, but she had not. She simply wanted the
students to finish the sonnets they had started earlier in the week. A possible thread that
connects these two lessons is the fact that both the play and the sonnets are Shakespearean.
However, the teacher does not discuss this connection with the students. As in the first example,
these lessons do not appear to build on each other either in terms of process or content. Also, in
terms of the Reading Workshop principles, the only one that is vaguely present is a sense of
community that comes through in the students’ willingness to help each other with their rhyming
words.
These classrooms of teachers at the beginning of the Reading Workshop continuum have
two characteristics in common. One is a lack of what I call “cumulative lesson planning.” These
teachers have not made it clear to the students how what they are doing on day two relates to
what they did on day one. In other words, these lessons lack a clear sense of the day-to-day
progression in teachable points either concerning the content of the lessons or the processes of
the teaching. For example, in terms of content, the teacher might say “ I want you to consider
what we learned yesterday about point-of-view in terms of the independent books you are
reading today.” In terms of process, the teacher might repeat the structure and activities of the
class from Day One to Day Two: a mini-lesson on a literary convention, student writing and
sharing, and then independent reading, rather than being read to.
Two, the main principles of Reading Workshop - time, response, ownership and
community - are missing from these classrooms. Even though there is much more that could be
said about these lessons, I will end with this and move on to a teacher who is further along on the
continuum.
Lessons from a Teacher who is further along on the Continuum
12
This next example is from a teacher who is attempting to use Reading Workshop as an
instructional method. Clearly her classroom is designed around the Reading Workshop
instructional process. However, it is unclear how the elements of Reading Workshop manifest
themselves in her version of the instructional model.
Lesson Introduced on Day One
The "Do Now" was:
1) What job(s) did you do in Reading Club yesterday?
2) What job(s) will you be doing today?
While the students were getting organized/writing, she got after individuals about their
homework. She reminded them that homework was needed for their portfolios.
The rest of her Agenda on the Whiteboard read as follows:
Classwork:
Almost a Woman, pp 32-50
All Souls, pp 31-49
Stranger with My Face, pp. 51-64
Coma, pp 33-48
Objective: Students use Reading Club book to expand vocabulary and
comprehension.
After about ten minutes of Do Now and addressing homework problems, she told
them to get in their groups. They did so quickly. She made sure all students were facing
one another. She did not give them instruction. They knew that they were to do shared
reading, and they started (some in fits and starts) doing it.
As they read, she talked with me. She said they use Reader’s Workshop roles in
their book clubs. She used Reading Workshop as nomenclature for reading
independently. The books they were reading in the four book clubs had just arrived. She
said that three of her classes are doing the book clubs. Each group would produce a
group portfolio for each book using the Reading Workshop roles. Each group would be
reading all four books.
I sit with the group reading Almost a Woman: three guys and one girl. The female
starts reading, then the Hispanic male. He goes on for some time; another male asks to
read. They are all following. They read with seriousness; they do not giggle at the parts
about a "garter belt" or about "peeing."
The teacher is reading with another group. About ten minutes before the period is
over, she says it's time to do roles, and they start in. My group seems to stick with the
roles they had the previous day. The restless boy does the drawings; the girl does the
conflict. They do it with much attention and focus. The illustrator asks the others, "What
should I draw?" They give him an idea or two, and he begins. This same boy says to the
teacher, who has stopped by to make sure they are working, "I want to read All Souls."
She tells him that everyone will read all four books.
Shortly thereafter, the teacher gets the attention of the whole class. She says that
some are having trouble writing three paragraphs about conflict. She then demonstrates,
reading to them what she wrote the previous day about conflict in All Souls. At her
13
prompting, the students sing out the conflict triad in unison: Man/Man; Man/Self;
Man/Nature. They seem very familiar with it. She asks them to put their chairs back in
rows, put their books back, and submit the papers they did today. They were supposed to
submit them as groups, but many floated in individually as students left the room.
Lesson Introduced on Day Two
Students get started on the "Do Now"
Do Now
1) What was the least interesting thing(s) you read about thus far?
2) What character do you most identify with and why?
Classwork
1) Get into your groups and share your Do Now. Explain why you
chose the parts you did.
2) Read next ten pages in your novel.
3) Write two paragraphs summarizing what you have read and its
main idea.
Homework: Reading Club Jobs
All students with one or two exceptions did the Do Now. However, they did not
appear to share them in their groups.
I checked one reluctant-looking group of three males; they were reading All
Souls. The African-American boy had written that the least interesting thing was Patrick
(the author) trying to fit in with white kids from Old Colony. He wrote that he identified
with Patrick, the author of the book. The Asian male wrote that he least liked "when they
talk too much; when it gets boring." "I don't identify with none of them." The third boy,
a Caucasian male, had not done it. In contrast, I noted that a number of students in other
groups had written more than one sentence. In reference to another book, one girl wrote,
"I identify with Laurie. She has two cultures. I like her characterization because her life
is almost like the life we are living."
For the second half of the period, all the groups are doing shared reading. When
there were eight minutes left in the period, the teacher said they should all be writing
their two paragraphs. It took them a minute or two to get to it, but almost everyone wrote
during the last five minutes with intense concentration. When the bell rang, they turned
in their Do Nows and their two paragraphs.
This class looks and feels more like a Reading Workshop classroom. The students are
doing books clubs with roles. The teacher and the graduate assistant are talking with kids about
their work, although the talk is not yet on the level of conferring. The students are writing
interesting reactions to their books that have lots of potential for further teaching. This is
especially true in the lesson from Day Two. Also, the teacher attempts a mini-lesson on writing
three paragraphs, but she models rather than teaches them how to do it. Additionally, there is a
day-to-day progression in the process of instruction in this classroom in terms of structure and
activities, but not in terms of knowledge. In other words, there does not appear to be a specific
content or skill-set that the students are learning about from day-to-day. What’s missing,
however, are the other Reading Workshop elements, conferring with students, mini-lessons that
14
would help them structure their paired-reading, their writing and their discussions, the readers’
notebooks, etc. Most importantly, the teaching of metacognitive strategies is not evident in this
classroom, even though the teacher has created the structure that would make it possible.
Given this, there is some evidence of the Reading Workshop principles at work in this
classroom. The students display some sense of ownership over the group process, if not over the
readings. There is also some sense of community in each group, if not in the whole classroom.
The students are given lots of time to read together in class. The main principle that is not in
evidence is response. These students have not yet had the opportunity to respond or converse
about their reading with the teacher.
This lesson demonstrates something else that is common to teachers who are at the
middle point on the continuum. These teachers are familiar enough with the language of
Reading Workshop, with the terminology and the concepts, but they do not yet have a full
understanding of what those concepts look like in action. Therefore, they tend to talk about their
teaching and about what they are doing in the classroom in Reading Workshop terms, although
what they are actually doing does not match Reading Workshop practice. We recorded many
examples of this in our observations, in our conversations and interviews with teachers and even
in the talk that took place at Network meetings.
It is clear that the teachers in the above examples are struggling with the nuts and bolts of
Reading Workshop, i.e. mini-lessons, independent reading, conferring, ownership, time,
response and community. As is evident in the example lessons, they are making progress in
some of these aspects of Reading Workshop, but not in others.
Before we move on to an examination of classrooms where Reading Workshop operates
as an instructional model, I want to present another example of book clubs in action. There are
two main differences between this upcoming example of book clubs and the one we just read.
The first difference is the teacher’s relationship with the coach. The second is the way in which
the teacher goes back and forth between listening in on the book club discussions and talking
with the whole class.
Another example of Book Clubs in Action
This teacher has just introduced book clubs to her 9th grade students. According to the
graduate assistant, this teacher has been very worried her students would struggle with book
clubs because they did not enjoy talking to each other during whole-class conversations or during
small-group discussions. Students had participated in a book pass the week before to select their
next books to read. The teacher used their book preferences to form book clubs. To prepare
them for book clubs, she grouped students around the shared text, The Lovely Bones, to teach
them how to have conversations with one another. This class represents their first attempt at this
kind of grouping around the discussion of a book.
The Observation
The teacher’s students have just read the beginning of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones
as a shared text. They have generated the following questions, which the teacher reminds
them of as she begins class. (They are listed on chart paper):
15
Why is this book named The Lovely Bones?
How do you think he killed her?
What is her Heaven like?
Why did she start with the snow globe story? "He's trapped in a
perfect world."
The teacher divides the students into small groups to begin to have a conversation
in response to their questions about The Lovely Bones. Students are told to refer to these
questions and to talk to one another for about ten minutes.
The graduate assistant sat with one group of four girls during this first book club
discussion. Two of the girls were completely silent. The other two quickly got into an
argument. One student indicated that she thought it was sacrilegious (she didn't use this
term, but this is what she meant) for the character in The Lovely Bones, Suzie, to refer to
"heaven" as something she could own. Aisha1 suggested that because Suzie was young
in the story, she may be at a place developmentally that made her view heaven as
something she could own. "She's just a kid," said Aisha. "She might think that it is hers
because she's just a kid." The other student, Lynnette, grew angry. First, Lynnette said,
"She's not a kid! She's how old? Thirteen? And didn't her mother teach her about
heaven? It's not her heaven. It's nobody's heaven. It's God's heaven." Aisha grew very
defensive and tried to explain that the point wasn't whose heaven it was; the point was
that the character may have been too young to understand. Lynnette felt that Aisha was
discounting her idea, so she said to Aisha, "That's just stupid. We know she's not young."
Aisha replied, "I'm not sayin' nothin' else." The two girls glowered at each other. One of
the other girls in this group began to flip through the pages of the book, trying to find
evidence about Suzie's age (so she said when I asked her what she was looking for). At
this point, the teacher called the class back to order. She had been working primarily
with a couple of the other groups, though at one point she had listened to enough of the
girls' disagreement to assess what was going on.
The teacher said to the students, "You just had about a 12-minute conversation,
and I think it would be really interesting if each group could share one thing from your
discussion that you found interesting." One male student said, "Side conversations are
distracting." The teacher created two columns on the board: Difficult / Done Well.
Beneath "difficult," she wrote, "side conversations."
The teacher waited for more students to contribute. When they didn't, she asked
Aisha and Lynette if they could summarize their disagreement. Aisha said, "Lynette
wanted to know, what did she mean about her heaven, and I said, “what is she like nine?”
Because I thought that she might be too young to know. And then she got all on me."
The teacher added to the chart, "disagreements; right vs. wrong" beneath "difficult." On
the right side of the chart, she wrote, "different interpretations" and "clues about what
happened" beneath "done well."
Then she said to the class, "Things that make a group discussion difficult. . .it's
difficult to talk about ideas when there is no obvious right and wrong. On the other hand,
we can use clues from the story to figure out what happened. Now, you can do this alone
1
Not her real name.
16
or you could discuss as a group what made the discussion good and/or difficult? Think
about what you did to make a conversation happen. Think about what you did that
stalled the conversation."
The teacher walked around the room, trying to rouse a response. She asked one
group (while the rest of the class listened), "How did your conversation start?"
Student: "When you came over."
Teacher: "What were you talking about before?"
Student: "We were talking about how she got buried in the dirt."
Student: "Somebody said something about what happened."
Teacher: "When did your conversation die out?"
Student: "After we stopped talking."
Teacher: "What made it so difficult?"
Student: "When nobody talks."
Teacher: "What do you do to try to jumpstart conversation?"
Student: "Ask questions."
Teacher: "Okay. So that's what someone can do ask a question.
What else could someone do?"
The teacher moved back to the front of the class. She said, "So what you're
saying, is that it's difficult to have a conversation about something when others are
talking about basketball." Another student added, "It's difficult if you haven't read."
Students worked alone to add to the list about what made discussions "difficult"
and "done well." The teacher collected the lists before the end of the period. When the
class was over, the teacher told me that she was frustrated. She didn't know how to make
the "dots closer" for the students to connect. The coach was in the room as well and they
had a long discussion after the students left about what the teacher might do to help the
students learn how to have a better conversation about texts.
Overall the teacher was frustrated because she felt that the students’ initial
questions were really good ones. She especially liked the one about the snow globe and
why the book was called The Lovely Bones. The teacher felt that these questions had
real potential for deep conversations and referring back to the text. The coach reminded
the teacher that they had just started on book clubs and they discussed ways to structure
the task better for students. The teacher ended discussion the by stating that she “just had
to be more patient.”
Unlike the teacher in the previous book club example, this teacher does a number of
things designed to “teach” the students how to talk about text. First, she has the students
generate group questions as a whole class before they split off into separate book clubs. This
provides the students with a focus that can help them jump-start the conversation. Second, she
gives the students a time limit. This creates a sense of safety and provides a structure for the
students. Third, she listens in on some groups and then brings what she has heard back to the
class to reflect on and discuss. The teacher does this at two different points in the lesson.
Finally, the teacher is aware that her students need to learn how to have a conversation and she
approaches the period as an attempt to teach them, meaning that the focus of this lesson isn’t
about what the kids say about the text, but that they attempt to say anything at all.
17
This distinction is important. We have not seen this kind of lesson in classrooms that are
at the beginning and middle of the Reading Workshop continuum. Clearly these students have a
long way to go in learning how to have a conversation about text with each other. But the
teacher has the support of a coach who is present in the room and is able to confer with her right
after the class as she struggles through this. She had immediate help in addressing her frustration
and a possible plan for the following day. This classroom is an example of a teacher who is
attempting to accommodate her teaching practice to the Reading Workshop model.
Classrooms where Reading Workshop operates as an Instructional Model
The following observations are from classrooms that are attempting to use Reading
Workshop as an instructional model. These teachers are beyond the middle point in the
continuum that I have identified. As with the first set of classroom lessons, these are from two
different teachers and the lessons were taught consecutively over a two-day period.
The students are doing independent reading in the following 9th grade classroom.
Lesson from Day One
The agenda is written on the board:
Do Now--respond to a comment
Mini-lesson—O’Connor—write summary
Read
Journal: respond to what you are reading today
Students are told to get their journals (reading logs) out and to respond to a
comment that the teacher has written to them in their reading journals.
When students finish, they take out a handout that the teacher has prepared. She
asks the class to read along with her and to annotate the text. The reading is the first
paragraph from a short story. In the story the character refers to a man as a “tramp.” One
of the students interrupts and says, “I thought that a tramp was a girl.” The teacher
pauses and comments on this.
After the teacher is done reading, the students take another minute to finish
annotating. Most of them have written comments and/or questions and underlined words
and phrases. The teacher tells the students, “We’re going to do exactly what we did
yesterday. Right now—write a two-sentence summary.” The teacher projects the
handout on an overhead and prepares to make notes on the space to the right of the story.
The students ask for more time on their summaries.
When finished, a few students help the teacher compose this sentence on the
overhead: “An old woman and her daughter were sitting on their porch looking at Mr.
Shiflet.” The students begin to make inferences about the story; the teacher says that this
strategy is good, but she wants them first to summarize.
Another sentence, with students’ input, is added to the first: “The old woman
thinks Mr. Shiflet is a tramp.” Now that the two sentences of summary are on the
overhead, the teacher draws a line and writes, “response, wonderings, connections,
inferences.” She asks the students, “What’s the difference between a response and a
18
summary?” Before answering, the students begin to make “responses” to the text. They
call out, more or less one at a time, while the teacher scripts on the overhead:
“Is he a war veteran?”
“They like Shiflet.”
“He’s a handyman.”
“Is it her husband?” There is some conversation about this question;
most of the students are quite sure this is not her husband.
“Who is he? Why is he there?”
The teacher asks, “what would you tell me about these characters? What would you say
to Shiflet and the old lady and her daughter? What would you say about the setting?”
Student:
Teacher:
Student:
Teacher:
“I think that the setting is in the old times, like slavery.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s never been up the road before.”
“Good inference.
[The teacher then transitions the students into independent reading] Right now—
in your journal—write down something that you’re wondering about the book you’re
reading.
Students begin to work on their independent reading. The mini-lesson took about
15-20 minutes.
I follow the teacher around the classroom. One student wants to switch books.
She tells him that it’s okay. She says, “It wasn’t what you thought it would be?” He says
“no” and goes to the book closet to find another title.
The teacher kneels next to a student and asks him what’s going on in his book.
The student softly explains.
Teacher: “Why would he put his friend in that position?”
Student: “I think he’s going to get killed, too.”
Teacher: “How good of friends are they?”
Student: “They’ve been friends since elementary school.”
Teacher: “Will they cover for each other?”
Student: “No.”
Teacher: “Why is the title of this book Monster?”
Student: “He’s ugly. Look at his face [student refers to face on
book]. Ugly people are like drinking old milk.”
Teacher: “Okay. . .what do you predict will happen?”
Student: “He’s going to be not guilty.”
Teacher: “Why?”
Student: “There are witnesses who don’t want to tell who shot him.
They don’t want retaliation.”
19
The teacher stands up to exit the conference, stops, and kneels down next to the student
again. She says,
Teacher: “Tell me again. Why do you think the friend won’t make a
statement?”
Student: “Depends on friendship.”
Teacher: “So your focus is on friendship. . .whether or not you
think this character is still a good friend. What makes someone a good friend?
Think about that.”
The teacher stands up, looks at the clock, and says to the class,
“Write a response to the response you wrote earlier. It may be that you don’t know the
answer yet. That’s fair. The point is to write a RESPONSE, not a SUMMARY.”
Students write, most of them working even after the bell rings. They drop their journals
in the basket at the front of the room on their way out.
Lesson From Day Two
Agenda - “Do Now: respond to my comment
List of journal ideas
Wondering
Read
Journal (see handout)
After the students complete the Do Now, the teacher passes out a handout called “Types
of journal responses.” The hand out includes the following:
PREDICTIONS: WHAT YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN LATER IN THE TEXT.
INFERENCES: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT A CHARACTER, THEME,
CONFLICT, PLOT THAT HAS NOT BEEN DIRECTLY STATED IN THE TEXT?
WONDERINGS: WHAT ARE YOU CURIOUS ABOUT LEARNING AS YOU
READ YOUR TEXT?
CHARACTERIZATION: WHAT HAVE YOU NOTICED ABOUT THE
DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR CHARACTER?
RESPONSE TO CHARACTER: IF YOU WERE THIS PERSON’S FRIEND, WHAT
WOULD YOU TELL THIS PERSON TO DO?
CONNECTIONS: AFTER GIVING SOME CONTEXT, EXPLAIN SOMETHING
THAT HAS HAPPENED IN YOUR LIFE THAT REMINDS YOU OF THIS
SITUATION IN THE BOOK. EXPLAIN THE RESOLUTION AND HOW YOU
THINK THE SITUATION IN THE TEXT WILL BE RESOLVED.
CONFUSIONS: WHAT IN YOUR BOOK CONFUSES YOU?
20
SOCIAL COMMENTARY: WHAT IS THE AUTHOR SAYING ABOUT OUR
SOCIETY IN THE TEXT?
QUOTE: FIND AN INTERESTING QUOTE FROM YOUR PASSAGE AND
EXPLAIN WHY IT STUCK OUT TO YOU.
SCENE: FIND AN INTERESTING SCENE IN THE TEXT. EXPLAIN ITS
IMPORTANCE TO THE TEXT AND WHY IT STUCK OUT TO YOU.
CONFLICT/THEME DEVELOPMENT: WRITE A TIMELINE OF CONFLICT OR
THEME DEVELOPMENT IN YOUR TEXT.
AS ALWAYS. . .EXPLAIN YOUR OPINION/REACTION TO THESE IDEAS.
Students read over the list. The teacher points out what is not on this list: journal entries
that are summaries and simple sentences. She says “You cannot do any one of these
responses more than twice a week. That’s my new rule. Now, what’s an inference?”
Male student: “Reading between the lines.”
Teacher: “There are no words between the lines. I want you to be
clear. What’s an inference?”
Same student: “Looking for words that are not in the text.”
The teacher continues to go through the list, quickly reminding students of each type of
response that might write in their journals. She then launches the students into
independent reading, reminding them to write what they are wondering in their journals
BEFORE they begin to read.
The teacher has a quick conference with a female student about her journal entry.
She then moves on to confer with a male student in the back of the room.
Teacher: “What do you think?”
Student: “It started out slow [he’s reading Paterson].”
Teacher: “Did it get better as you were reading?”
Student: “Yes. . .after 25 chapters they all started meeting.
[another male student tries to chime in; the student in the conference says, “Who’s
telling the story here?”]
Teacher: “You are. What’s good about the first one that makes you
want to read the second one [this student is well into his second Paterson novel]?
The interrupting student: “He’s just a groupie.”
Teacher: “That’s okay. I read every book by Jeannette Winterson.”
With this set of examples, we begin to see the principles of Reading Workshop in
practice. The students have ownership over their reading. One boy is allowed to return a book
after he had started it. They are given time to read and respond to the teacher, both in writing (as
they respond to the comments she has written them previously) and during conferring. The class
21
begins with a mini-lesson designed to teach both what a summary is, and that the teacher expects
more than a summary when students write in their reader’s notebooks. Students are given
something to look for when they begin their independent reading. Last, there is some continuity
from Day One to Day Two in these examples. On Day One the teacher introduces summary and
explains how it differs from other types of responses. On Day Two she introduces what some of
those other responses might be. The students in this classroom are given something to think
about each time they begin their independent reading.
Even though this teacher has structured her whole class according to the Reading
Workshop model, she still has more to learn about how that model works. For example, the
teacher does not give the students assignments after she confers with them, and the conferences
themselves are still a bit weak. Note how the conference on Day Two ends up reading more like
a general conversation about the student’s book rather than an instructional conversation that
points him toward something to think about as he continues to read.
The next teacher from this end of the continuum is also working with a 9th grade
classroom on independent reading.
Lesson from Day One
Agenda
1. Mini-Lesson: Questioning: Structural / Motivation
2. Guided Practice
3. Sharing Time
While she is writing this, some students are copying into their
notebooks.
Teacher: Ok, now the mini-lesson! “Questioning.” Questioning is breaking down
types of questions you can ask as you read. So we’re gonna start making categories. If I
said one type of question is called “Structural Questioning,” what do you think that
means…related to a reading?
The students respond to the teacher’s questions calling out answers. She clarifies
and corrects. She also asks students to respond with their independent reading books in
mind.
Teacher: Theresa, tell me how that book you’re reading is set up.
Theresa: Two pages per person (she’s reading Freedom Writers
Diary).
Teacher: Right, Sagal’s book is structured into all these different
diary entries. And your book, Linda?
Linda: Every other chapter is a different person, said in their own
way.
Teacher: So rather than from some narrator’s perspective, each person has a
different perspective. Your book is fiction, right? Theresa’s is a true story. So, (writing
on the board and saying aloud) How is the book set up? Who is the narrator? Does the
voice change or stay the same? Does that make sense? Do you all understand when I say
22
“voice?” In both examples we used, Theresa’s book and Linda’s book, the voice does not
stay the same. What else could be structural?
The teacher continues in this same vein and then introduces the concept of
motivation. She writes on the board under motivation: Why did characters take certain
actions? Why did the author make the character do that? The author may want you to
think about the problem.
She then tells the class about “Guided Practice” and instructs them to read their
independent books, using the terms that she gave them (Predicting, Visualizing,
Inference, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World, Text-to-Text, Reaction.) She explains the
following:
Teacher: You’re going to read. When you want to make an inference, use your little blue
strategy sheets. I’m gonna come and have conferences with you. These conferences are
not to test you! The purpose is for you to have a chance to talk about what you’re
reading, if you like it, if you’re challenged and just to talk about it. Does everybody have
their independent reading book?
Students eventually get settled and begin reading. I go over and listen in on a
conference between Teacher and Theresa who’s reading Freedom Writers Diary and is on
p. 18. Theresa is in the middle of describing the first character (remember, this book is a
different voice every two pages). They talk about the book in general at first and then the
teacher says:
Teacher:
Remind me what you said earlier about the structure.
Student:
Yea, it’s different every chapter.
Teacher:
And does that get confusing with all the different
characters?
Student:
Kinda.
Teacher:
But does it hurt your understanding of the book?
Student:
No.
Teacher:
What do you like about it?
Student:
I’m just starting to get into it.
Teacher:
It seems like you should be looking to see if it gets confusing with so
many characters and if it does, we should find a way to organize. I’m really glad
you’re reading that.
The teacher takes notes during the conferences. She plans to use the notes each time and
come up with strategies for the students who are having trouble to make it more
comprehensible. The bell rings and the teacher announces the homework for tonight.
Read 25 more pages and use 5 more strategies.
Lesson from Day Two
Agenda
4. Mini-Lesson: Workshop Procedures and Questioning
5. Guided Practice
6. Sharing Time!
23
“Everybody please take out your notebook and your individual reading books.
So, all of you know the basic structure of the workshop, right? Mini-Lessons, Guided
Practice. I want to talk to you about what they mean and what would work for you. The
mini-lesson could be on many different things. You all helped me come up with
questions to help us with our reading. “So let’s talk about Guided Practice. Does anyone
want to say from your experience yesterday what Guided Practice looks like?” Students
offer responses. The teacher says, “because I haven’t read many of the books you guys
are reading, we’ll discuss them and try to find different ways for you to spend time
reading in class and to make it more meaningful. So this is what we’re talking about Guided Practice is time to read and confer with the teacher. We’ll be talking about the
book and things I want you to try to do while you’re reading. Can anyone think of some
things that would make the Guided Practice work? (No answer.) Ok!”
What would make it really bad?
Student:
If you don’t read.
Teacher:
Right, that wouldn’t be good.
Student:
If you don’t feel like talking.
Teacher:
Ok, as soon as I see you reading and check homework (using more of the
reading strategies), you can come up. I have new books.
Reading in silence quickly follows. After students have read for about 10 minutes the
teacher announces, “Two more minutes to Sharing Time!” Student share what they are
reading and the class ends.
This last example demonstrates the workshop model even more fully. The first aspect of
this classroom that jumps out is how the teacher makes Reading Workshop terminology and
concepts explicit. She constantly reminds the students that they are engaged in a process that
will aid them in making meaning of texts. Second, this teacher explicitly refers back to the
previous day’s lesson, helping the students connect their learning from day-to-day. Third, as the
teacher solicited responses from students during the mini-lesson, she specifically asked them to
speak from their independent reading books, to use those books as an example of what they were
talking about. This constant practice of turning to one’s book for responses helps to reinforce the
notion of using text to support one’s interpretations of a book. Last, during the conferring
session, the teacher gives the student something specific to think about and look for as she reads.
The suggestion the teacher makes for the student is not a general suggestion, but one that might
cause her real confusion as she continues reading, i.e. getting lost in the host of characters that
appear in the book.
The progression of examples above demonstrates the different spaces teachers occupy in
their attempts to implement Reading Workshop. The last three examples differ dramatically in
that we are able to see the principles of Reading Workshop more consistently applied. In the last
examples, the Reading Workshop principles are what lend cohesion to these classrooms. It’s
important to keep in mind that all of these teachers have a desire to implement Reading
Workshop. They are all struggling with aspects of how to do that. The examples used at the
beginning of this report tell us that, like the students, these teachers will need time, ownership,
response and a sense of community before they can progress in their performance of the
24
Reading Workshop method. Some teachers have that now, and they are blossoming. Others
need more of it. Fortunately, we have a system in place that can provide them with these needed
structures - the CCL cycles.
Reading Workshop and CCL
The connection between those teachers who accommodated their teaching practices to the
workshop model and those teachers who were having conversations with colleagues about
Reading Workshop emerged as a clear pattern in our observations. The most common venue for
the conversations the teachers described occurred during participation in a CCL cycle.
This first quotation demonstrates one teacher’s process of learning about Reading
Workshop. This teacher has been teaching for three years. When asked how she first heard
about Reading Workshop she said:
[In the summer of 2001 my] Headmaster said there is a Writer’s Workshop training.
Randy Bomer was there, and that was my first introduction. I had read about it as an
undergraduate, so I was exposed to it, but I hadn’t been trained. I went that summer and
then started Writer’s Workshop in the Fall (2001), and then eventually Reading
Workshop showed up. Then in Spring 2002 I did one unit of independent reading. I
didn’t really have books that the kids liked, so I didn’t think it went well. . . . But I kept
going to Randy’s training and then participated in the Network and went full into it this
year (Fall 2002). It went much better this Fall because I had books that kids were
interested in, and I had my mind around the concept of Reading Workshop.
Question: Can you describe the change of having that concept and not having that
concept?
When I was first exposed to it, I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage 25 kids in a
room reading 25 different books. When I introduced independent reading they were not
excited about it, and they were like “this is stupid,” and I wasn’t really sure. Having a
book that you really like is the difference between having an independent reading
workshop that really works and a terrible one. I guess talking with Randy and other
teachers I was able to bring up those questions and issues. They gave me strategies and
talking it through and hearing that others are dealing with the same things helped a lot.
Last year at the Saturday workshop, Teacher X and Teacher Y, we are all friends anyway,
and we would get together and talk about this and kept reading about it. . . . I also saw a
lot of [Randy Bomer]. There were 8 Saturday sessions that were 6 hours throughout the
academic year. Very long sessions; it is a lot. I saw him teach at W. Roxbury. So
seeing it and talking about it a lot I sort of came into it piece by piece. I sort of evolved
into real familiarity with Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop.
I start with this quotation because it chronicles the two-year process this teacher went
through before she became comfortable using Reading Workshop methods in her classroom.
Her experience demonstrates what teachers who are open to a new method need in order to feel
comfortable pushing past student resistance and their own anxieties. For example, note that this
25
teacher first hit a wall when her students rebelled against the method. She was also anxious about
how Reading Workshop would work in her large classroom. The data collected for this study
reveal that concern about classroom management stymies many teachers who have an initial
interest in Reading Workshop. However, this teacher was simultaneously working with a small
group of teachers and a mentor. This provided her with three essentials: colleagues with whom
she could talk about her frustrations and anxieties, reading assignments which helped explain the
methods more deeply, and the ability to watch others actually teaching the method through
Bomer’s demonstrations.
One key point in this narrative is that this teacher was participating in conversations
about Reading Workshop before she began the Network implementation. This was not the case
for many of the Network teachers. The Network teachers experienced the same anxieties and
frustrations she did when they attempted to implement independent reading this past Fall. The
data that follow show that those teachers who had a strong group of colleagues with which to
confer, and a strong coach who could encourage them, had an experience similar to the teacher in
this narrative, while those who did not faltered in their attempts to successfully implement the
workshop method.
One strong example of this is evidenced in a conversation between two teachers at one
high school. This school appeared not to have any active CCL cycle or coaching, even though
they did have a coach. However, the school did have some teachers who were successfully
implementing Reading Workshop. A graduate assistant overheard the following conversation
between two teachers after class one day.
I was witness to an open conversation between Teacher X and Teacher Y in which they
discussed a couple of concerns about implementing Reading Workshop. Teacher X
raised the concern that he does not see his students twice a day and was at a loss as to
how to do both Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop. He talked about whether it would be
better to integrate the two or keep them separate and alternate back and forth, and how
either option could actually be accomplished. The teachers addressed the issue of not
having successfully met with other teachers who were doing the Reading Workshop in
their school. They were aware that Teacher C was well underway [with implementing
Reading Workshop], but had not had the chance to share ideas with her.
Interestingly enough, both of these teachers fall into the third category, i.e., not
implementing Reading Workshop at all and dropping out of the Network. This conversation
took place between a weak teacher, Teacher X, and a strong teacher, Teacher Y, who believes he
already does Reading Workshop and does not need to learn more. It was unfortunate that for
whatever reason, Teacher X was not able to have this conversation with Teacher C, who has
accommodated her teaching methods to the workshop model. This is an example of two teachers
who may have had a better experience had a structure been in place where they could have had
these conversations in a more formal setting with teachers who they knew had more experience
than they did. Both BPS and BPE have worked very hard to have such structures in place, but
unfortunately, those structures did not succeed at this particular school. Based upon interviews
with teachers and the coach at this school, one reason for the breakdown was lack of Headmaster
26
support for the process. A more detailed discussion of the administrative layer of this
implementation follows further into the report.
Following is one more example of the power of a successful CCL cycle. This teacher has
been teaching in Boston for six years. She is talking about meetings she had during the CCL
cycles at her school this past year.
I mean I’m an okay teacher, but [at this school] I was the only person doing Workshop.
So I didn’t know if I was good at Workshop because I was the only person. They always
had me with the model classroom, so I felt like I was really good at it, but there hasn’t
been anybody at this school to push me. I’ve learned more this year because there are
teachers in this school, English teachers, now in my company who are far better than I
am. And it’s only because of that that I feel that I’m improving. Recognizing where I am
lacking, but also trying to improve now in my practice. When there is no discussion, and
when I’ve always been the only person, the person to pilot everything, no one ever knew
if I was doing it well. No one ever asked me questions; nobody ever prompted me to get
better or to be reflective. There’s never been a conversation about how we’re
approaching a particular text or why we teach these things in this order. It’s never
happened. And now I’ve actually seen other teachers doing it, “oh that’s how it’s
supposed to be done.” You know. And it’s humbling and educational. There’s really
good practice going on. . . .that’s what I like about it; it’s group of really good teachers, I
think, getting together and talking about how we’re doing it. And it includes a safe
environment where we can ask questions and say, “I’m not sure if I’m doing this right.
Help me.” That’s good. That’s very good.
Question: So when you have these “ah-hah” moments, mini-epiphanies in your teaching,
to what do you attribute it?
Partly to the CCL, partly to the kids. . . . I need to go back to school because I forgot that
you can buy a book and learn about anything.
Question: And did you learn that this year?
I’ve learned that this year from a whole bunch of things. Just that by reading something. .
. .you can teach how to do pretty much anything if you read it and you study it and you
practice it. I just forgot to do that. I know how to teach to do that, but I forget to do that
in my own practice. So I think that CCL certainly lends itself to having that (pause) you
know what connection that I just made that I haven’t really thought of. . .I mean, it’s so
obvious, but in the same way that our kids have deeper conversations about a book when
they talk to each other. You have deeper conversations about teaching when you talk to
each other.
This narrative describes a teacher who is in a different situation than the one in the first
narrative. This teacher has been recognized as being an instructional innovator. Throughout her
teaching career she has been recognized as someone who is successful in the classroom and open
to trying most new methods. However, it wasn’t until she participated in a CCL cycle that she
27
felt pushed to move beyond were she was. What motivated her were colleagues whom she
respects and with whom she feels safe. These narratives demonstrate that CCL can be a
powerful method for professional development for teachers at various levels in their career. This
finding is especially important for teachers who are using Reading Workshop as a set of
strategies and who have assimilated the workshop methods into their prior approaches to
teaching. Talking with colleagues in their own building about their own students is the best
chance we have of helping these teachers see for themselves how their own practice might
change. We have the professional development method for accomplishing this in the CCL
cycles. Now we have to focus on implementing it effectively in all schools.
One teacher who is participating in a successful CCL captures the importance of talking
with colleagues in one’s own building in this next quotation:
Question: How do you think the Reading Workshop Network has supported the
implementation of the program?
They are helpful, modeling, success, things that work. I think what has been more
beneficial is the CCL thing – that is where it works - Where you sit down with people in
your building and work together to do the same thing. That is when you can get specific.
All the kids are the same. We could be sitting next to someone from Latin school, but the
reality of how that template is thrown into play here is different.
Unfortunately, there are no similar narratives that detail the process of learning about
Reading Workshop from those teachers who are at the assimilationist end of the continuum. One
reason for this is that many of these teachers have come to believe that they are already doing
Reading Workshop. As I stated above, these teachers are able to maintain this belief because
rather than seeing Reading Workshop as an instructional process, they are looking at it as a set of
strategies. In many cases these teachers have been using some of the Reading Workshop
“strategies,” and now that they are involved in this implementation, they may incorporate others
into their teaching practice, but only as a strategy that compliments their prior approach to
teaching, not as a new instructional method.
An interesting aspect to all of this is that teachers at the beginning of the continuum often
cite the CCL process as helping them come to the conclusion that they already do Reading
Workshop. In other words, for the teachers who assimilate Reading Workshop methods into
their prior approach to teaching, it is sometimes the CCL process that aids them in doing so.
Following is a series of examples that illustrate this phenomenon. Analysis on why this might be
happening and what we might do to prevent it follows the examples.
Example #1
One teacher stated the following during her interview:
The CCL has helped me because it has helped me to organize what I was already doing
or to say something is ok. I was surprised to see that what I was doing was something
that you are supposed to be doing. I was pretty happy. I felt lucky. For example when
we were doing CCL I was like “oh God, I am always reading out loud to these kids and it
28
drives me crazy.” There were things that I kind of did out of desperation and talking to
other teachers, like Teacher Y, she does a read aloud. She doesn’t have the kids looking
at the reading, she has them quietly sitting and listening. So by talking to other people,
trying things out, helps me to organize things on my own.
Example #2
In the next example, a different teacher is talking about the benefits of conversations she
has had at Network meetings. This teacher was interviewed in January.
[The Network meetings] have been good because I met teachers from other schools that
have been doing it longer. It has been good to talk to teachers that have found ways of
doing these things, and also talk to teachers who are not leaving their required texts. That
has been good because I would like to do that as well. I think it depends on the grade
level. The middle school teachers are more into the “couch, lamp, independent reading
while you are in school;” whereas high school, we are into required texts, but using
readers workshop methods.
The graduate student observing this teacher’s class made the following observation in
March. (Note we had been observing this teacher’s class since November.)
I had a few minutes before class to speak with Teacher X, and she started by telling me
about what’s happened with the book Makes Me Wanna Holler. She said that she told
the students who chose it for their independent reading that she wanted them to switch
books because she did not feel comfortable with them reading it for her class. . . . She
said the students took it all well, and when I was in class some were still reading the
book. She also said that after they take a test on this independent reading, they would be
returning to the textbook. She said there were a lot of good short stories from the 1940’s
on, and she planned to do lots of silent reading, use the post-it notes, make predictions,
etc. She said she would “try to do Reading Workshop with the textbook.”
In an observation from early May, the graduate assistant noted in her reflection,
How much leeway do the teachers have to bolster the curriculum with other stuff, not
from this textbook? I’m a huge fan of the short story genre, which the textbook seems to
use as a mainstay, but I could find much more compelling ones than these. . . . I think this
is one of the most important points from my observations – the students are not reacting
nearly as well to the textbook readings as they did their independent choices, and so if the
purpose is to implement this individualized type instruction, as the Reading Workshop
model would seem to prescribe, then a major part of what they are given to read is falling
short of the goal.
The teacher in Example #1 states that participating in a CCL cycle at her school “helped
me organize what I was already doing.” This is a very important quotation. What this teacher is
saying is that talking with colleagues provided her with a framework through which she could
organize her current teaching practices. This is very different from one of the previous teachers
who talked about being “challenged” by the CCL cycles. However, this does not mean that this
29
teacher was not challenged at all; she most likely was in certain areas. For example, this teacher
does plan to implement independent reading in her classroom, but she is anxious about it and has
not started yet. The implication here is that there are different kinds of “talk” that happen in
CCL meetings. This teacher enjoys her CCL meetings and feels that she gets a lot out of them.
She describes the kind of support and conversation she experiences in these meetings below:
I learned a lot of stuff, and it is done during school time. You can see the importance if
they are letting you use the time you’re at work to do it. The Headmaster really makes an
effort to get everyone involved in what the district says we have to get involved in. But
s/he makes it easy, so people will enjoy it. You get help if you need it. You can borrow
books. You do know who the literacy coach is. I think participating in CCL was helpful
because they tried to group you, well I don’t know how, but I was with other English
teachers, so it was a nice resource to talk about what they were doing, and it was nice to
talk about things we had in common. It is definitely supportive.
Note that she states, “it was nice to talk about things we had in common.” Ideally, CCL
is a place where teachers talk about both what they have in common and what they do differently
in class. It is through safe opposition, through challenging dialogue, that people grow. These
quotes indicate that CCL is itself a process that can either evolve into deeper and deeper
conversation or plateau at a certain level of polite conversation.
Example #2 shows us how affirming one’s current teaching practices happens in Network
meetings as well. In this example, the teacher switched from independent reading with books the
students had chosen to “doing Reading Workshop with the textbook.” This is a teacher who
came to every Network meeting and who is open to doing things differently in her classroom. In
fact, this teacher engaged the most in conversations about this process during Network meetings
because there did not appear to be a CCL cycle for English teachers that focused on Reading
Workshop at her school. She had participated in one cycle at the beginning of the school year,
but it focused more on literacy across the curriculum. (I think this happened because the coach
had to recruit members and the volunteers were from various subject areas. They also chose
their own course of study rather than have the coach dictate it, which is desirable). For some
reason, she did not have the opportunity to do another CCL cycle. Also, there was a coach in
this school who often came to this teacher’s classroom. The teacher felt very supported by this
coach and worked with her “on a regular basis.” We observed in this class for the entire year,
from November to May, but we did not observe the coach working with her around the question
of how to use a textbook in the Reading Workshop model or engaging her in conversation about
why she was making this choice.
Rather than see this as an example of failure, we might simply study it as an example of
how, despite having a good process in place for professional development, people in place to
help carry out that process and willing participants, things can still go awry. It is also important
to note that the implementation process has not ended. We can learn a lot from these examples
about what is needed next year to ensure success with teachers who find themselves in similar
situations.
30
Literacy Coaching and CCL
One question the above examples raise is, “if structured conversation is to be used as a
means toward professional development, how do we ensure that that conversation is challenging
yet supportive, rather than just polite and supportive?” Another question we must ask is, what
makes the difference?” What makes the difference between those teachers who have a strong
CCL experience that pushes them to change their practice and those who have a strong CCL
experience that confirms what they have already been doing and aids in their tendencies to
assimilate new methods? Unfortunately there is no one answer to this question. These data
show that at least two factors influence whether or not a teacher wholeheartedly adopts the
Reading Workshop method. One factor is internal and has to do with the personal disposition of
the teacher: Is s/he inqusitive, reflective, able to easily adapt to change, etc? To some extent, a
teacher’s personal dispositions influence how he or she reacts to particular educational reforms.
The dispositional question is more complex. Some research suggests that certain
dispositions are better suited for teaching then others. In recent years, colleges of education have
debated whether or not teacher education candidates should be tested for certain dispositions
before they are allowed to enter their programs. Since the question of teacher dispositions leads
us down another path, I will focus on this second factor, which is external. This research reveals
that the strength of the coaching and the support of the Headmaster influences how successfully
teachers adopt the Reading Workshop method.
Two strong examples about the role a coach can play in encouraging teachers to adopt
new methods emerged during the interview phase of this project. In the next example, a coach
talks about how she persuaded one teacher to join a CCL cycle.
Example #1
The biggest resistance come from Teacher X and Teacher Y, who have been here for
awhile, and Teacher Z, who is newer, not a veteran but certainly very competent. She
wasn’t sure because it seemed unstructured and unfocused, so she resisted because she
wasn’t convinced that it was an effective way to teach English. . . . She didn’t sign up to
do CCL with me. In fact, none of the English teachers did with the exception of the 9th
grade core. So I went to them one on one and asked Teacher Z, “why won’t you do it?”
She said, “ I just don’t know if the program is structured enough, and don’t I have to start
doing it once I start doing a CCL cycle?” I said, “No,” because you start where people
are and she wasn’t ready to begin yet. I said, “Come to watch me implement, and every
week you come watch me in someone else’s room and then we will talk about how to
make it work for you.” I think watching me model week after week. . . She watched me
in Teacher A’s classroom, and Teacher A bought into it wholesale, and Teacher B was
doing it in her room, so whenever the three of us would try to meet to process it, Teacher
Z would come to those, and we would have lunch together occasionally and talk it
through, and then she decided to try it.
She got a stack of independent reading books and she did a book pass. They all
chose to read many books and they were excited about it, and now they are in week 4 and
beginning to wind down the first unit.
31
Question: And what does she say about it?
She says they are reading a lot more. She said she was surprised at how much they
already knew about their own thinking, their metacognition, that they already were doing
all of this stuff. She is modeling on the overhead. She is very structured, there is the
mini-lesson, the practice, etc.
Question: Does she do the mini-lessons the way they were meant to be done?
She started by directing it, and that I see is a pattern. I see everybody kind of start there,
but as she has been working with the kids, and we have seen together what they are
producing, she is beginning to be more responsive to what they are doing. But for her
that is something she still needs to get better at. She is not being as responsive as she
should be.
Question: How has she changed?
I would say she is talking about what it means to read well and less about, say, the
content Of Mice and Men or something like that. She feels good about it. She was also
really surprised at how willing and focused her kids would be to sit and read.
Question: Why do you think they don’t think the kids will read?
I think because the kids don’t traditionally read what they are assigned to read. The big
difference here is giving them choices of books that they might actually want to read.
She has found it to be so successful with them, she wants to start it with her sophomores
too. [She is doing] a standard Reading Workshop. They keep their logs; they keep
writing, although that is still kind of new for them. They are conferring, and she keeps
conference notes. I took home the students logs so I could talk to her through them, i.e.,
“based on what they are doing here is what I would teach next.” She is beginning to see
that trend. She is still worried about assessment – “I want the numbers, the papers and
the quizzes,” and I am trying to figure this out. She was willing to participate, but I had
to figure out how to get her in.
Many characteristics of successful coaching are evident in this example. Note that this
coach was undaunted by experienced teachers or by those apprehensive teachers who were
rejecting of the method. She quietly and persistently pushed each resistant teacher to try the
method. She was also able to engage the teacher in this example in direct conversation about her
resistance. This shows us that this coach was not afraid of possible confrontation. Being able to
confront is a very valuable skill when working for change in schools. Obviously this teacher was
not involved with the Network or with the CCL. However, this coach had a clear sense of the
mandate, i.e., that all Language Arts Teachers would implement Reading Workshop. Therefore,
rather than just work with the group of teachers who wanted to work with her, (there were a
number of supportive teachers in the building who were implementing Reading Workshop), she
also sought out the resistant teachers and worked to bring them into the fold. As she states,
rather than push these the resistant teachers to join a CCL cycle, she first had lunch with them.
32
What the coach did in this example is build relationships with the resistant teachers.
Fortunately, her efforts paid off, and she was able to recruit at least three resistant teachers from
that school. She was not successful with them all, but had she not tried, only half of the teachers
in the building would have been implementing Reading Workshop. In order for a coach to play
this role he or she must have confidence in his or her own abilities; he or she must be able to
withstand the force of resistant teachers, which we all know can be formidable and intimidating,
and he or she must be experienced enough to gain the teachers’ respect.
This next example is from the perspective of a teacher who was initially resistant to CCL
cycles and Reading Workshop. She talks about how she came to adopt the method.
Example #2
That leads me to why Reading Workshop was one of my more successful programs
because the coach taught it, modeled it, then gave me materials to support it and verified
that it can be modified with these kids2. That is one of the things that made it successful.
Also the kids reaction to it which was I saw some kids get excited about reading and they
weren’t excited before and the value of choice. They were saying, “Please let us read
more.” They were excited.
Question: Now you were initially resistant to Reading Workshop weren’t you?
Yes, the new “flavor of the month” – I tried to be respectful, but it is just one more thing
that has come down the pipe. Way back in the seventies reading libraries were the thing.
Then they went by the way side, and now they are back. . . . So if you see us jaded, it is
with good reason. We have reform, reform, reform and it is always pointed at us. “You
need to learn this to make a difference to the kids.” It is very hard sometimes to listen to
people who haven’t been through it all. Not that they aren’t good people that don’t
believe in what they are introducing. It is not personal. But you have to understand
where we are coming from. There are some talented, energetic people who have done it
all, and guess what? The kids are still the kids; the neighborhood is still the
neighborhood; the system is what it is.
Question: So given that context, what made you decide to join CCL and adopt Reading
Workshop?
The choice, the getting away from required text. . . . This was something they wouldn’t
allow us to do in the past. And it (Reading Workshop)is flexible. A lot of things are
introduced this way or no way, and maybe it is just the way that the coach introduced it
and saw the need for flexibility. But I see its usefulness because I can modify it and work
with it. It is not just this or nothing at all. So when I asked the coach all through the
professional development and the modeling, “well can we do it this way,” she said, “sure,
sure,” and I can see it working. I didn’t even want to do a cycle, and the coach convinced
me.
2
This teacher teaches Special Education students.
33
Question: How did s/he do that?
Part of it was that I thought I would be doing it and the coach would be watching me, but
the coach said “no, you will be a participant, and I will model it.” The coach made it
attractive, showed me how it was going to be done. I thought that I was going to be
watching other people who are not even certified. The coach said, “I will be modeling
it.” The CCL I pictured was that you are going into others’ rooms, and you are learning
and taking what is good and giving suggestions, and I am not into that any more. If I
respect you then I choose you, but I don’t want to be forced to go into people’s rooms
that I don’t want to go into.
The coach in this example really had to put him or herself on the line when modeling the
methods for this teacher. His or her ability to say to the teacher, “I will model it for you,” took
courage and confidence. It is very difficult to perform in another person’s classroom. Imagine
how much more difficult it is to perform when you know your performance will make or break
whether or not a teacher who is already resistant buys into a mandated program – a program
which you have been hired to promote and guide. When you add the fact that some coaches are
working in schools without Headmaster or Program Director support, you begin to see more
clearly what we are asking coaches to accomplish in this implementation process. I stress this in
order to demonstrate how crucial the coaches’ competence with Reading Workshop, the coaches’
ability to persuade teachers, and the coaches’ level of self-confidence is to this whole endeavor.
Other coaches commented on the difficulty they had in helping teachers follow through
with the workshop methods. This coach talked about the discrepancy between the work teachers
did in the CCL cycle and the work they did when they returned to the classroom.
Example #3
CCL works well in this school. We spent the time in CCL looking at different aspects of
Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop. Within CCL we chose something to study. In one
case it was book clubs. In another case it was the use of strategic reading. Another one
was getting independent reading started. In one group we decided to give ourselves 15
minutes to skim and we would spend one chunk of time on the inquiry piece and another
on demonstration and listening. We had, over the course of the year, five groups, six
weeks each, English, ESL, Special Ed. Teachers.
But once they were on their way, it was different [i.e., once CCL ended and
teachers were back in their own classrooms] Different teachers had different issues. Like
one teacher always talks too much. The kids love her, and she can do that, but she wants
to do Reading Workshop, and every time I am in there she knows she needs to wrap it up,
but she doesn’t. As a group, independent reading is a struggle for the teachers. The
teachers who are doing it are not in the Network.
Also, the idea of workshop as a class structure seems to be the hardest thing [for
teachers]. I have been doing a lot of thinking about this, and I have gone back and I have
seen that what the teachers have found the most compelling is the strategic reading stuff.
It is not workshop; it is strategic reading. It is not workshop, but it appealed to the
teachers so much that they are really good at getting the kids to be strategic, to use the
34
strategies. The whole reason for doing Reading Workshop is how are we going to get
kids to become better readers - more comfortable, more confident, and more eager to read
and to be able to tackle challenging texts. Workshop does that, and it is the mission, but I
also feel like teachers have to find a point of connection, and I think I have to fault
myself here because I haven’t forced them to plug into the model.
This example raises the important question of follow-up after CCL. This coach is clearly
aware of the struggles her teachers are having with Reading Workshop and of the kinds of
supports they need, but it is difficult on many levels. It is difficult to push people who are
already trying new methods. Also, this particular coach had many other responsibilities in the
school; she was not able to visit teacher classrooms as much as she knew she needed to.
Last, the coach quoted below describes her understanding of resistant teachers.
Example #4
It is like people in general. There are some that are interested in growing and others that
aren’t. The veteran teachers are more into what they are doing, and it is more difficult for
them to shift. Actually, it doesn’t really have anything to do with age or years. It is more
personality, the whole notion of being a life long learner. If you have someone who
really cares about what they are doing and has a passion and cares about the kids, then
they are more likely to make themselves more uncomfortable. You have to take an
interest in some of the things that people do well and build on that. There are so many
teachers at this school. I have plenty to do without dealing with those that don’t want to
work with me. I have been a coach for a while. I feel that the CCL is the best model so
far.
This example raises two issues. The first is how educational reform workers, such as
coaches, perceive resistant teachers. Clearly this coach’s perception of resistant teachers is that
they are not life long learners; they do not care about what they are doing or about the students;
they have lost their passion. I point this out not to criticize the coach, but to highlight the fact
that these perceptions are common, and it is difficult to persuade someone to change his or her
perceptions. One reason the coach in Example #2 was able to successfully persuade veteran
teachers was because she was able to alter her perceptions about what motivated them. The
coach in this example is correct when she states that some teachers are unwilling to “make
themselves uncomfortable.” Rather than use the word “unwilling,” however, let’s try
“apprehensive,” and perhaps “a bit fearful.” I would also argue that some coaches share these
fears. One thing this points to is that coaches may need training that goes beyond simply
understanding the Reading Workshop model.
A second issue this raises is that of time. This coach says, “I have plenty to do without
dealing with those who don’t want to work with me.” This sentiment is also common and valid,
especially in those schools where the coaches have taken on other responsibilities. I argue that it
should not be the sole responsibility of the coach to persuade resistant teachers to join in the
reform efforts. This is where the Administrations’ role becomes crucial.
35
The Administration of Reading Workshop
Many of the administrators involved in the implementation of Reading Workshop agreed
to be interviewed for this evaluation, but I have decided not to use direct quotes from these
interviews. The reason for this is because the number of administrators overseeing this program
is small, and it would not be difficult to identify who said what. In order to ensure that I am
reporting widely held concerns, I have not included any thing in this section unless more than
two people commented on it. The comments in this section come mostly from coaches and
administrators involved in the implementation.
Administrative Concerns in the Implementation of Reading Workshop
There are three main administrators involved in making sure Reading Workshop is
successfully implemented in all BPS high schools. Even though all of the administrators support
Reading Workshop and the implementation, they each have different ideas about the program as
a method for teaching reading and about whether or not it should be a mandate in the high
schools. This difference of opinion among the administrators is no secret. All of the
administrators know that they have different viewpoints about Reading Workshop and each is
willing to talk about those differences. This has lead to healthy debate at many of the planning
meetings for this program. I mention it as a concern here, however, because sometimes this
difference of opinion leads to different messages communicated to coaches and teachers,
depending upon with which administrator the coach or teacher happens to be talking.
In a number of interviews, coaches have expressed confusion because they feel they have
gotten contradictory messages from the main administrators. The main area where this issue
becomes especially trying for coaches is in working with the Program Directors in their schools.
Let me point out, before I go on, that this is not true in all high schools. A number of the schools
have Program Directors who support the coaches in their implementation attempts. However,
there appear to be an equal number of high schools where this is not the case. In these high
schools the Program Directors appear to be unaware of the coachs’ responsibilities. In some
cases they are not supportive of Reading Workshop as a program or of the coach’s attempts to
implement it in all English Classes.
The same is true for some of the Headmasters. Although a majority of the Headmasters
are highly supportive of Reading Workshop, there are some that have not made it a priority in
their schools. In these schools the CCL cycles appear to be hurt the most by the lack of
Headmaster support.
All of this puts the coach in a very difficult position. This is especially true for those
coaches who are young and new to the system. This situation makes it especially difficult for the
coaches to play a strong role in challenging teachers to try new approaches or to push past
teacher resistance when it arises.
I recommendation that the administrators, program directors and Headmasters participate
in a CCL cycle with a course of study on professional development and influencing teacher
change in urban high schools. In these cycles, the administrators might read the same materials
and visit high schools together. This might enable the administrators to bring their clout to bear
36
on improving the implementation across the system as a whole. The CCL cycles have proven so
powerful for the teachers; it may have the same powerful effect on program directors and
Headmasters. Perhaps these CCL cycles could be led by one of the few Headmasters who have
met with their teachers in CCL cycles through out the school year. This has happened in at least
four of the schools in this sample.
Responsibilities of the Coaches
As this report makes clear, the role of the coach is extremely important in ensuring that a
teacher experiences a successful CCL cycle with the appropriate follow-up and support once that
cycle is completed. We have seen that those teachers who have coaches who can run the CCL
cycle and then spend time in teacher classrooms after the cycle is completed, have come far in
their own professional growth. However, in a number of schools, the coach is called upon to do
much more than is called for by his or her coaching responsibilities. This happens most often in
those schools where there is little Program Director and/or Headmaster support.
The coaches are in a difficult position. They have the challenging job of encouraging
people to change their practice. We all know how difficult change can be. Often, one way for
the coach to become a member of the team, so to speak, is to take on tasks that ease the job of the
teacher. This is a natural tendency and a practice that should continue. However, in some
schools the coach has ended up taking on too many responsibilities or even of assuming the
duties of the program director. This is too much if we expect coaches to help shepherd the
teachers toward change. One way to remedy this situation is to communicate the responsibilities
of the coach clearly to both the program director and the Headmaster in the school. Because
coaches need to maintain the relationships they have built up in their schools, they cannot always
be expected to report being over worked. This is one issue that cohesion among the
administrators might help to alleviate.
The Impact of Reading Workshop on Students
We gauged the impact of the Reading Workshop implementation on students in four
ways. First we paid particular attention to the way teachers talk about the changes they see in
their students when they use the workshop model. Second, we conducted interviews and focus
group discussions with students from three high schools. Third, we collected and analyzed
samples of student work. Last, when the MCAS scores are released, we will assess the progress
of the 10th grade students who were in the implementation classes. (We observed in five 10th
grade, thirteen 9th grade, five 11th grade and two 12th grade classrooms. We also observed in
three ESL and two Special Education classrooms). Examining the MCAS scores will allow us to
assess how well Reading Workshop prepared students for this very important test. Although we
have to wait until the scores come out, this section ends with one teacher’s comments about
using Reading Workshop to prepare students for the MCAS exam.
Student Experiences of Reading Workshop
I begin this section with students talking about their experience of Reading Workshop. In
this set of quotations, students are responding to six questions asked during focus group
discussions. First you will see the question, followed by various student responses. The
37
responses are numbered, student one, student two, etc, but keep in mind that “Student One”
under the first question is not necessarily the same “Student One” under the next question. I
wanted to include a variety of responses from the various focus groups. I have included multiple
responses because I want to provide a sense of the students’ voices. You will note that all of the
responses below are positive. This was not by design; the students truly had no complaints about
this method.
Question 1: How did you feel about reading before you learned in the Reading Workshop way?
Student 1: Before reader’s workshop, I never used to read at all. The teachers would bore
me with their stupid lectures and they would read books that made no sense, and the
books were old fashioned. I never read them.
Student 2: I think the big difference is now we can relate to different stories because of
the way Reading Workshop teaches us. Before the teachers would say “read this book”
and then give us some questions about the book. We had no connection to it, so we
didn’t want to do it. They wouldn’t explain why we were reading it or if it had anything
in life. It was just “here is the book read it,” and it didn’t mean anything to us.
Student 3: This year I had a choice, and last year we didn’t have free reading, and this
year we did. I think that is why. I think if I were exposed to the free reading last year, I
would have read more. This year I got to pick, and the students were like “you got to
read that!”
Clearly students feel more ownership in Reading Workshop classrooms. They are also
more engaged with reading.
Question 2: What do you do when you are reading a boring or difficult text?
Student 1: If I have to read it, I always do the reading strategies. If it is boring you have
to find some way to do it. If I read a book, and I don’t relate to it, it is real hard for me to
completely read the book or like the book. I just do the reading strategies and see if there
is some way that it connects to things I see or to someone I know or something like that.
It is easier because then I will be interested in that topic throughout the book and
obviously that topic isn’t going away, it is going to reflect the character in some way in
the end. So maybe it will help me understand my friend’s struggle. I just always say I
have to find a reading strategy, and once I do, it becomes more interesting. It still doesn’t
change. I still will be bored in some parts, but I have an interest in the book.
Student 2: The reading strategies help me. The ones that really help are text-to-self, textto-world, and text-to-text. Those are the ones I always use and inferences and
predictions. Those are the ones that are the easiest to do and they are the ones that keep
you most interested in the book.
Student 3: I try to do reading strategies, but I get too caught up in a book and forget
about them. When I like the book I get caught up in it and forget. I do, because the book
38
is so good so why stop and do the strategies? When you try to come back later and do it,
it is much harder.
Student 4: The post-its help
Student 5: I am forced to read so, I do it. The reading strategy thing is new to me, so I
don’t use it as much, but it helps a lot. All Souls was mandatory. But I liked it when we
did the reading strategies. If we didn’t do the strategies, I would not have read that book.
These responses demonstrate that students are using the strategies on their own, and they
remember them. The Reading Workshop strategies also help kids continue reading when they
originally might not have finished a book.
Question 3: Tell me what specific activities of Reading Workshop helped you most with
reading?
Student 1: The conversations we have in class.
Student 2: Reading Workshop makes class more fun. Teachers don’t interact with kids.
They don’t ask for opinions, but in our Reading Workshop class she asks for opinions.
Question 4: What have you learned from independent reading?
Student 1: I learned that I like reading. Really.
Student 2: I got to explore different books. If I pick a book and look at it and don’t like
it, I can pick another one instead of a teacher forcing me to read that book. Basically, I
just pick a book.
The students in one particular focus group had an interesting conversation about writing.
This next question reflects that conversation.
Question 5: Is reading in this way reflecting, impacting your writing?
Student 1: We had to do reading prompts and things like that in our journals. One boy in
our class he was like, “I don’t know how to write about what I read.” But the reading
prompts are like different questions. I guess in the future it is going to help him because
now he is used to answering different questions, whereas before he would write what he
remembered. Now he knows to go in-depth of what he is reading, so it helped him write
about more things. It opened up his brain to know he has to write about this. Your
techniques get better the more you write.
Student 2: You are stronger.
Question: Why, because you have a prompt?
39
Student 1: Like when I write poetry, it is more in-depth instead of simple and short.
Question: Why?
Student 1: I don’t know, like she said, when you read it opens up your mind.
Student 2: I don’t know, when you read you understand more words and learn more
things so Student 3: It helps your writing skills get stronger, I feel. Like with the writing prompts,
it helps to do them when you have read more than one book. I was going through all of
these books trying to figure out which one I could write about the best, and I ended up
picking one. I couldn’t pick just one so I wrote about like three and picked one,
whichever one supported the argument better.
Clearly the writing that happens in Reading Workshop is helping these kids understand that they
have to do more than summarize, or just write about what one “remembers” from a book. This
will most certainly help students improve not only on the MCAS long composition, but also on
the short responses as well.
Question 6: Do you talk to people outside of school about your reading, like your parents?
Student 1: My mother is like “hey.” She notices. She is like put that book down for five
seconds, when before she is like you need to read. I am like “Eight months ago you were
telling me I need to read, and now you are telling me to put a book down.”
Student 2: The funniest thing is when you are on the bus and you just pop open a book
and someone else opens a book and someone else opens a book and everybody starts
having a conversation.
Student 3: It is funny. It is also like I am cracking up on the bus and everyone is like
“what are you reading?” And I am like “this.” And next they are like “I am getting that
book.” Even older people, they are like “I am getting my daughter that book.”
Student 4: I even tell my friend. She goes to Latin Academy. They don’t do it [Reading
Workshop] over there, and she doesn’t like to read. I told her that she should do reading
connection, and she was like “what is that?” And I was telling her about inferences like
if you find you can’t get into a regular book, write about how it connects to the world and
stuff like that, and now she reads. She goes to the library every week, and I can imagine
that she tells people in her school too - knowing the person she is. It helps. It is useful.
The following comments were unsolicited. Students just volunteered them throughout
the course of the focus group discussions.
40
Student 1: I think it will help me in college, I know it will help me in college. If I get a
difficult book, I know I will be like “I don’t want to read it.” I know how to keep me
interested. I do a strategy, and I know how to use it.
Student 2: We don’t think about the pages anymore or how thick the book is.
Student 3 (in response): A lot of kids that didn’t like to read, they are like “I don’t want
to read,” and it was because it was 300 pages, and I said, “you gotta read it. You are
going to be interested.” A lot of kids were telling them they have to read; they have to
read. A couple of boys in class refused to read, and I am like “just read it.” They were
like “you’re crazy,” but as soon as I gave them a book, they can’t put it down.
Student 4 (in response): It is better for a student to recommend that you read the thing
than a teacher because they understand.
Student 5: If I am reading a book, everyone asks “where did you get that book?” I say
“go to my teacher’s room.” A lot of kids go in there and get books. She is like a library.
As these quotes demonstrate, when students talk about Reading Workshop, they stress
ownership and a genuine sense of new discovery. They clearly enjoy sharing books with their
friends and encouraging their friends to read now that they have been sold on the concept. It’s
clear from these conversations that what won these kids over is the concept of choice and
conversation. Being able to choose their own books and talk about them in class made the
difference. But these quotes also illustrate that students see the academic value in reading. They
are able to talk about how they use the strategies and how writing about texts helps them
improve their writing. One of the fears teachers have is that even though students are reading ,
they can’t be sure they are getting anything out of it. The following quotation from a teacher
articulates this fear.
I am not sure if I should be concerned about this. The kids who are reading voraciously,
are they getting it? Bomer says there doesn’t have to be the culminating project at the
end. It is all by journals and conferencing. So if you hit five kids in the class [during
conferring] then you are doing well. So if I am doing everything that I am supposed to,
then I don’t know if I am seeing them enough. Kids who are going through a book every
four days, are they getting everything that they need to? I don’t know if they are getting
anything out of the books? If they are reading two a week then are they not looking
carefully? Versus one kid who takes 6 weeks to read because he doesn’t take it home
with him. I don’t know if I should be setting deadlines or how much I should push them.
Or if I know a smart kid who chooses a book that is far too easy for him, should I push
him or should I be happy that at least he is reading?
The students’ quotes show us that they are, in fact, gaining educational knowledge and
important skills from reading books. These quotes also point to the crucial fact that students who
were in a Reading Workshop classroom this past year will really need to be placed into a similar
classroom next year or they may rebel. This happened during the pilot program two years ago.
41
The students went from a Reading Workshop classroom to a more traditional classroom and the
transition caused problems in the school.
The reality is that not all ELA teachers have implemented the program yet. I realize that
it will be difficult to ensure that all students will be placed in Reading Workshop classes. If
placement in a Reading Workshop classroom cannot be assured, we must at least be aware of
and anticipate this problem and come up with some solution, even if that solution consists only
of explaining to the teacher that his or her students may have had a different experience the
previous year. We cannot let teachers be blindsided by this possibility, nor leave our students
hanging.
Teachers’ Stories of the Impact of Reading Workshop on Students
Teachers also shared their experiences of how students reacted to workshop instruction.
Example #1
As we have progressed, students get more excited about reading and have come to me
and said, “Ms. I want this book before someone else takes it.” And in their readers’
notebook they are responding more in writing when they didn’t before. So I would say
that as time goes on, I am expecting more from them in reading and writing. Now every
time they read a section whether 2,10,20 pages, they are going to respond to those
particular pages in reader’s notebooks. And that is more recent. A lot have one-subject
notebooks, and many of the students’ notebooks are almost filled up.
Example #2
I think that allowing the students to choose books on their own is the aspect of reader’s
workshop that really worked for me. I think that allowing them the freedom, saying
“here is the classroom library,” and it will probably never be large enough, but I never
had that in the past. I had old books that I had brought in, that people have given to me
that I had in the class for students. But with readers workshop the school has bought
some books. Some students will bring in their own books. I don’t limit them. So the
independent reading is the most important thing. I think there is a better chance for them
to push away and be detached from the text when it is assigned to them. If they choose
then it is theirs. I tell them all the time if they choose a book and after a few pages they
think it isn’t a book that they want to read, that is fine. Put it back and choose another
book. So the freedom I think is what is really making it work. That is the biggest thing.
Example #3
I do buy a lot of books if I know their interest level. One of my students wanted to read
about war, and I was like, “oh god, I don’t have any war books.” I was in Barnes and
Noble and looking in the young adult section, and I found a fictional book about the
battle of Troy. I bought it, and he read it and really liked it. I am willing to do stuff like
that especially for those that are really resistant. “What kind of book do you like? What
do you want to read?” And then I’ll go buy it and keep it and keep it in our library.
Example #4
42
I had a number of students today. They all read 10 pages. They all had a response.
There was 15 to 20 minutes of silence. I got kind-of nervous. I sat and opened up a
book. I was amazed. This seems to be working.
Example #5
It is the back pocket thing – as soon as the boys carry their books in their back pocket I
know I have won.
Example #6
The kids have become leaders of their own groups. They take responsibility. They have
their work. They know what to do with it. They sit and read. Now they are reading for
45 minutes, and paying attention to what they are reading. They are not only reading, but
they are looking for other things. They are not just looking for vocabulary.
Because a lot of times students would come in and you would say “what have you
read”? “Did you like the book”? And they will start to tell you the whole book. They
will retell. Then you guide them with the questions. Now students are getting away from
retelling. They don’t just do a summary and that is it. Now they’ll say, “you know what
Ms., I don’t like the end of this. I expected the end to be this way, but is wasn’t.” The
seniors I had went beyond that. They were connecting the text-to-text or text-to-world.
So there is more there. They are going into deeper thinking. They are going on now to
symbolism. They take it and analyze it more the critical analysis. That happens to kids
that read a lot.
Example 7
It really is amazing to see kids discover books that they want to learn. They started
reading books two weeks ago, and I have already had kids finish and say I want to read
this next, and it is not something that we have on the shelf. It is not something that we
ordered. It is something that they discovered themselves, sometimes from the back of the
book, sometimes from the snippets from the book.
It’s clear from these quotes that ownership and choice are elements of Reading Workshop
that both teachers and students recognize as important. However, we saw from the previous
examples of classroom lessons that some teachers have not come to see how choosing one’s own
book impacts students. Teachers who still want to use the textbook, and those like them who are
still hesitant to give students that choice, need to hear this testimony about choice from
colleagues. We need to assume that every teacher wants to do what’s best for his or her students
educationally. But teachers cannot do what’s best if they have not experienced it. CCL cycles
are about providing teachers with vicarious experience of student learning through colleagues
whom they trust and respect.
It’s also evident from these quotes that students are taking more ownership of their
learning. Classes are running more smoothly; students are doing the work and responding more
deeply to text.
Teachers and coaches have also told the following stories about student readers.
43
Narrative #1
Steven, a junior, picked When I Was Puerto Rican and the boys made fun of him because
it had a picture of a girl on the front. But he devoured it; he read it in two days. Then he
read How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. They made less fun of him because they
were all struggling with their own books at that point. Then he asked if I could find
books for him about Castro. I said “why?” He said he was curious and wanted to know
about this stuff. I am guessing he must have read something in those books about it. So I
go to Wordsworth, and I bought him a couple of books. He devoured those. He has
started to write all over them, and his teacher said, “no, write on your post-its.” If you
look to his book and post-its you will find thoughtful, long responses to his texts. Then
he went to the bookstore on his own and bought Plato - on his own. And he brought it
into class and said “I have Plat-o.” He is in 11th. So he has grown. And then there is
another female in this class who read Lois Lowry’s Gathering Blue. It is a pretty simple
text that she read quickly, but when we were conferring about it she made beautiful
connections between the oppression of the social system with Things Fall Apart, and
began to weave together – she had read Things Fall Apart I think for another class. But
she made the connections on her own and identified this big idea.
Narrative #2
There is this beautiful black kid that says “I hate reading, I don’t like reading…” He is
beautiful, and probably too beautiful for his own good because he gets away with trouble.
But he is on a team so I (the coach) told the teacher, “you have to tell the coach that he is
not reading.” And she did. And the next day he came in with Hope in the Unseen.
Narrative #3
This year I have a student, Jerry. In the beginning it took him soooo long to pick out a
book for independent reading. He just was not sure what he was going to read.
Eventually he did get a book and finish it and wrote his book review. He stated in the
review “I didn’t think I was going to like this book. I didn’t want to read it, but once I
read it, I enjoyed it,” and he recommended it to kids his age.
Last, one experienced Reading Workshop teacher discussed how she believes Reading
Workshop can help kids prepare for the MCAS exam.
MCAS Example
Teacher: I think that as students become better readers all of the content areas can
improve. If their comprehension improves in Reader’s Workshop, lets say in English
class, then their comprehension will improve in say a history class, in a math class with
word problems. So the comprehension will broaden into the other content areas, and that
will allow the student to become more competent and to reach the standards set upon
them by the school system and MCAS, which appears to contradict Reading Workshop,
but I don’t think it really does.
Question: Why do you think it seems to?
44
Teacher: It seems to because until you really get into the nitty gritty of Readers
Workshop, it seems very abstract. [For example] if literary terms are going to be on the
MCAS, and Readers’ and Writers’ Workshop is stressing that the students choose what
they read and write about, then how are those literary terms going to be addressed?
MCAS is very traditional. [I believe] the students can learn everything through Readers
and Writers Workshop to pass the MCAS, but it seems difficult because part of me feels
like “oh, I want to make sure they get this so that next year when they take the
MCAS…But if they are all reading different books how will I make sure?” But it is not
that difficult. You can tell them to look for examples of symbols in their own books.
They will find them, but it is just not as direct – it is more broad. They will learn it more
in context rather than giving them a list of literary terms – which I have done. We have
discussed them; we have looked for them in the class text. Now I want them to look for
them on their own. All the skills necessary for MCAS can definitely be covered in
Readers and Writers Workshop. I am convinced of that.
Knowing as much about the MCAS exam as I do, I support this teacher’s assessment.
But as this teacher notes, the connection between Reading Workshop and MCAS is not readily
apparent because on the surface MCAS is a standardized test. However, what teachers may not
realize is that the kinds of questions MCAS asks about literature match the kinds of questions
asked in Reading Workshop. MCAS is about how students are reading the passages. If they
know how to approach a text, they can only improve their MCAS scores. Fortunately, we will
have some data on this as soon as the MCAS scores are released.
Hearing these children discuss Reading Workshop and hearing the teachers talk about
their students’ reaction to it is like reading an autobiography from an African-American male. In
most autobiographies by black men, it was reading or discovering books in prison that changed
their lives. Of course our students are not in prison, but they are having the same experience of
being freed from something through their experience of Reading Workshop. The students are
discovering something new that stimulates their minds and they are very excited about it, and
perhaps some of them are being transformed.
I do believe that this phenomenon of transformation will wear off once students are
exposed to Reading Workshop in the earlier grades. Once our students enter high school as
readers who enjoy reading, I believe the fear that many teachers have expressed during this
process – that they can’t teach “traditional English literature and the great books” - will dissipate.
Currently some teachers have a fear of “letting go” of more traditional English content.
However, once students enter high school as readers, teachers will be more successful in sharing
their love of introducing them to the “great” books because the students will know how to
approach those texts. What’s happening at the high level now is that some teachers feel that they
have had to shift from focusing on content to focusing on helping students understand how to
making meaning of text. I predict that once more teachers come to understand the metacognitive
aspects of Reading Workshop, they will see that the workshop method asks them to do both – not
one or the other. Once the rest of the system catches up by fully implementing Reading
Workshop in the elementary and middle schools grades, teachers will be able to teach literary
content and help students make meaning of that content at the same time.
45
The next section of this report examines teachers’ concerns about how to assess student
reading through the workshop model. As with the other sections, the examples here are laid out
according to where teachers fall on the continuum of learning about Reading Workshop starting
from those at the beginning and progressing to those who are further along.
Concerns about Assessment
The way teachers talk about their concerns around assessing student reading indicates
where they fall on the continuum of learning. I include this discussion because teachers are very
concerned with issues of assessment. Teachers need more professional development on how to
assess students using the workshop model. The next six quotations represent how teachers think
about assessment in terms of Reading Workshop depending upon where they fall on the
continuum.
Example #1
Question: Is there anything else you do that helps you know if what you are teaching the
kids about reading is working?
Teacher: I just read out loud to them. I don’t do it as much as I used to. But, when you
do read out loud they might see a word that they know, but they don’t know they know.
To have me reading it and then they say, “oh that is what that looks like.” Maybe it will
stick in their memory; maybe then they know how to say the word, so reading to them is
good. I am trying to get into quiet reading, so they can read to themselves, read to
themselves, and enjoy it and build confidence in themselves. Maybe if they had a book
that was at their level, they would feel more confidence in it, and start talking about it,
then maybe they would start to feel that they knew more. Then they would do more
work.
This teacher is at the beginning of the continuum. She is just not sure how to assess what
her students are learning about reading. She is not even confident in her chosen method of
reading aloud to students as is evident in the tentativeness of her language. The student “might”
see a word. “Maybe” they will remember it, etc. We can also see from this example that this
teacher teaches reading partly as a way to teach vocabulary.
Example #2
I had never thought about the idea of getting away from the required text, and I was
scared to leave the text and not have read all of the books that they read. I wasn’t sure
how to assess what the students were reading outside or one day a week for independent
reading. The fact that a lot of the ownership is on the students to keep track of their
progress is difficult for me. I still am not sure how to assess what they are doing. When
you are reading together in a class you know who is falling behind and the main ideas
that you want to teach. Independent reading - they are getting different things from their
books, and I don’t know if they are on track or not.
46
This teacher is having trouble letting go of control when it comes to assessment. This
anxiety prevents her from really transferring ownership to the students. But the teacher is asking
the right questions, and she is not alone in asking these questions. This teacher would benefit
from a strong CCL and consistent coach support.
Example #3
I created a rubric, a reading rubric this year. It needs work. One thing is how long it
takes them to finish a book, whether or not they are quick to abandon a book. Their
responses in their notebook to reading, whether they can really think about their reading.
One thing is about metacognition, although I don’t know how to assess that, but I am
aiming for it.
This teacher is further along. Reading Workshop calls for assessing students based on
individual, internal criteria, based on where the student is in his or her reading process; however,
she is not there yet. She is assessing students based upon an external rubric, which is what she is
used to doing. She is making progress however. She says at the end that she is working on how
to assess the students’ metacognitive skills, but she is still unable to connect the assessment of
metacognition with the need to confer with students and keep track of how they make meaning
of text from day-to-day.
Example #4
In the five years I have been teaching I have always given students time to read their own
book in class. With Reading Workshop, it is the first time that I am counting it as part of
their grade and have them respond in writing to it. I would devote time to independent
reading, but I wouldn’t have any assignments attached to it. I would just let them read,
and the students enjoyed it, but I didn’t get a lot of feedback as to if they understood what
they read. Did they enjoy it? Did they not enjoy it? I didn’t have anything to assess that
independent reading. Whereas now, with Reading Workshop I have the reader’s
notebooks, I have conferences with students and this has allowed me to keep better track
of their independent reading and assess them better as to how they are doing with
reading. I am more involved in their reading. I know the title, when they started it. I
didn’t have that in the past, before Reading Workshop.
This teacher is able to articulate how her assessment of students changed since she began
Reading Workshop. She understands that her assessment has to be based upon what she learns
about individual students. This example represents what I have come to identify as the turning
point for teachers, i.e. the point at which conferring with students clicks for them, when they
realize that conferring gives them the information they need to plan the next day’s lesson. The
teacher in the next example articulates this even more clearly.
Example #5
Mostly, I assess in response to what I see from the kids. When I read through all their
journals and saw the disconnect in their passages, then I new that was something I hadn’t
done. So my original concern with workshop was “how am I going to know what to
teach them on a daily basis?” I found that their writing and their responses didn’t form
what I teach them on a daily basis. That was helpful. It is something I learned. I can’t
47
write a workshop unit because every year the needs are going to change depending on my
kids. Most of my “AH HA” moments are from their journals and the conferences with
my kids, from seeing what the commonalties are, and then I bring it back to my class.
Assessment is deeply tied to the children. If a teacher isn’t used to interacting this much
with kids, it will be difficult to figure out assessment at first.
The last two sentences reveal the key to assessment in Reading Workshop. It is based
upon an authentic relationship with each child in the classroom. As this teacher so eloquently
states, assessment will be difficult for teachers who are not used to having that type of
relationship with the students in their classrooms. This example provides us with insight into
one area we need to focus on in the upcoming year – working with teachers on how to build
those one-on-one relationships with students that make effective conferring possible.
The last example in this assessment section is from a teacher who has come full circle in
terms of assessing students through the Reading Workshop model.
Example #6
This year for me has been very different in that I focus on talk in a way that I never have
before. Talk has been the largest assessment tool around reading and writing. As far as
reading it has been. . . . I mean thinking about looking at student work. I mean not
looking to assess the work, but to assess what they are understanding and how that
reflects on my teaching. That goes with what I was saying about talk. I have used
writing to assess, but I have looked at talk as an assessment tool like I have never before.
Whenever I take notes or listen to peers and groups talk, they are informing me. While I
have this long-term map [a cumulative lesson planning], I am modifying it based on what
I am hearing. It has been glorious because they tell me what I need to teach. If I just trust
them, they will tell me what I need to teach. I have known that before, but I have never
embraced that before.
Of course this teacher has not reached this point of discovery over night. She has been
engaged in this process longer than the Network teachers have. Her example points to where we
would like our teachers to end up in terms of assessing students and conferring with them.
Fortunately, we have examples of how teachers come to this level of reflection on practice
through conferring. This next example demonstrates this process as it unfolds.
Example on Learning through Conferring
Today, one of my students said she was reading, and we were conferencing on (book
title) and she just started, and yesterday she had written in her journal that she was not
enjoying Annie’s Baby because it was interesting at first, but it had become boring, so I
was surprised to see that she was reading Crick Crack. She had just given up on Annie’s
Baby, and I asked her to tell me about it and come to find out that she had giving up on
Annie’s Baby, and she had also giving up on another book before Annie’s Baby, so
Annie’s Baby was the second book she had given up on. One she gave up on because it
became boring and one because it was confusing. So we started talking about that, and I
said, “ what I am hearing you say is that sometimes books become difficult and they no
longer become enjoyable. Sometimes they become difficult because they become boring
48
or sometimes because you don’t understand what is happening.” So we didn’t end
conferencing about Crick Crack. We ended up conference about what she can do when
Crick Crack becomes difficult and that is not something that I would have thought to do
before, to talk about what she can do and this pattern of it is OK for a book to become
difficult. We are seeing this pattern here. It must be hard sometimes when reading, so
what do you do? What are the different things you can do so you are not always giving
up on reading? What is in your head that you are not doing that if you maybe learned
that would make that part of the book that still might be difficult more bearable? What
she came up with was when Crick Crack becomes boring, she is going to write down
everything that is difficult that is confusing, boring, whatever it is, and we are going to
talk about what techniques will help her deal with that difficulty.
Finally, we examine how teachers experienced the Network and what they say about the
resources they will need in order to continue implementing Reading Workshop successfully in
the coming years.
Teachers Experience of the Network
Example #1
I think that the BPE is trying to adjust the meetings so that it meets the needs of all the
teachers and the different places that each teacher is at because all teachers are not at the
same level or not at the same part of Reader’s Workshop. So the first meeting I did not
find beneficial because I thought that it was re-hashing stuff I had already learned. When
myself and a couple of the other teachers from school talked about that – it was brought
up by Richard Martin that maybe we should break off into different groups, those who
have done it for a while and those who are at the beginning. Even with that I thought, I
am in between those two groups, so I felt I was in limbo. Each time I go I definitely get
something that I can take back, but I haven’t felt that the meetings have meet all of my
needs.
Question: What needs would you like to have addressed?
I think that I would, I know it is difficult, but I would like to ask more questions one on
one, and I know it is almost impossible in these Teacher Network meetings. I would also
like to see everything in practice. My understanding is that part of the Teachers Network
is that we will be able to visit other schools, and an opportunity did come up before the
holidays if we wanted to go to Madison Park, but I couldn’t participate on that particular
day. And I guess that it is supposed to happen again, but I think that by allowing teachers
to go to different sites and see teachers at different levels in the classrooms is very
important, because I want to see it in practice.
Example #2
I like going to the Network meetings when I get to choose with whom I speak. I find
Randy Bomer useful. I think there is too much time to share in his meetings. I like more
content. I think he is good. I think the Network works when people are on the same page
as I am, then I enjoy it. When it is a bunch of people saying guess what I do in my
49
class… rather then explaining to help others grow, and there is a difference. When I
learn from others that is what good networking is. This is what works in my classroom,
have you tried this? - open and honest and safe environment.
Example #3
Right now, the Reader’s Workshop Network, the group where the teachers get together,
that is not really a Network right now. I think of it as a group. We get together as a
group, and we are presented to and we ask questions and we talk at our tables, but we are
not networking. We are not extending ourselves within that room and building
relationships, and I don’t think we are going back to our schools to build a support
system throughout the building for Reader’s Workshop. That is what a Network really
should be doing. If you don’t do that then you have this group of people that get together
every month that has this knowledge in their heads that stays amongst that group so that
means that it is not being spread, it is not being disseminated.
Question: Why do you think that is?
Because our role is not to disseminate, our role is to learn and try it in our classes, but
that doesn’t mean that we disseminate that amongst other teachers and I would be willing
to bet that most teachers at [my school] don’t know who is part of that Network, so they
don’t know who to talk to if they do have questions, or whose classrooms they could
visit. Part of [the Network] should be that this group extends themselves beyond the
group, and I don’t see that happening.
It is possible that it is too early for that. If you have a group that is just becoming
proficient, in a way you don’t want them to go out in to the work because then they could
spread misinformation, or poor information and that wouldn’t be helpful. So maybe there
is a phase 2, phase 1 would be getting a group together and they learn and practice, and
phase two they have a different goals, they continue to learn and practice, but there is
another layer added on where they lead CCL cycles or they visit other classrooms, or they
are paired up with a different teacher and they help that teacher. If that is the case, I
don’t know about it. But the meetings are helpful. It makes it interesting and stimulating
and makes it feel as though I am learning, I feel like my brain is getting bigger, which is a
good feeling.
These comments reveal that although teachers find some benefit in attending Network
meetings, the extent of helpful professional development delivered by the Network system could
be improved. First, the teachers want an opportunity to converse with other teachers who are at
the same level as they are in their attempts to implement Reading Workshop. Teachers could not
stress this point enough. Generally, they found Bomer’s presentations helpful, but those
meetings when Bomer was not present were not as beneficial.
Second, many of the teachers said they wanted to visit more classrooms, to see Reading
Workshop in action among their colleagues. Visiting each other’s schools and classrooms was
part of the original plan for Network teachers. In fact, the Network did schedule visits to other
schools. However, teachers had trouble actually getting to these arranged visits. According to
what teachers said in the interviews, they found out about the visits too late, and they were not
50
able to arrange for substitute teachers. I should explain, however, that this is one of those
concerns where individuals on both sides feel that they did everything possible to make
classroom visits happen. This demonstrates the need for clearer procedures and systems that
teachers can easily access.
Also, some teachers reported a lack of support in their efforts to leave school during the
day. The Network did make a provision for this in the original documents. Each teacher who
joined was granted two visits. This provision either fell through the cracks or the procedures for
requesting the two days were not as clear as they could be. In any case, the Network’s instinct to
schedule visits was a good one; the teachers want visits, now we have to find a way to make this
process more accessible.
Last, some teachers would like better channels or procedures for them to play a larger
role in the overall implementation of Reading Workshop in their schools. This is encouraging as
long as we keep in mind that some Network teachers would not be ready to assume such as role.
We need to have proper screening procedures in place.
Needed Resources and Continued Supports
Teachers also discussed what would be needed in order for them to continue to
implement Reading Workshop fully in the coming years.
Example #1
I do really worry about the reader’s choice part. In one class the majority picked True to
the Game and we had enough copies that they could all read it. But I worry that if you
have a person who is an alfalfa sprout of a reader, and if you don’t have the book that
they are excited about reading that they are not a strong enough reader or interested
enough in reading that they can pick up a second choice book. You and I if the book we
want to read is not in the book store, we have our stack of 6 books that we could also read
sitting by our bed waiting for us, and we are more than willing to wait for 2 weeks for
that book to come in and we will read something else in the mean time that we are
excited about.
I worry that these kids don’t have that list of books in their head that they want to
read. They are doing great, but they may have one book that they want to read next, and I
worry that if we can’t feed them that next book that they won’t want to read something
else instead.
It is this catch 22, that you created someone that is interested enough in reading
that they have a book that they want to read, but they are not so interested in reading that
if you can’t give it to them immediately then they will read something else. So that
means you have to feed them the book they want when they want it and that is expensive.
Even if they can tell you the next book, you have to have the money to get it. I am
worried that that group that is reading True to the Game will have a next book, but they
will each have a different next book, and I won’t have all of their titles and they will
wither on the vine as readers.
I feel as though Reader’s Workshop is a serious investment where we are
committing ourselves to do whatever it takes to grow this reader and that means that you
51
can’t stop watering them until they are a full fledged pickable flower, and they are not
there yet. You are starting to grow something and then you abandon it and it – there are
only so many times where you can rescue a plant that you haven’t watered in a week
before it just doesn’t come back to life.
Example #2
More books, more books, that is the main thing. Having an extensive class library and
having the shelving to hold the books and organize them. Space is an issue as is money.
I know the budget isn’t great and that will affect the buying of books, but I think in order
to adequately run readers workshop you need space, books, and shelving. And those are
practical things, but without those you can’t do it. So I hope that if Boston is indeed
going to adopt Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop fully that they will support it fully. Not
just with coaches but with materials.
Example #3
There has to be a constant infusion of new books. Kids are going to develop. One of the
things that they are supposed to do is discover what they want to read next, and as they
discover what they really enjoy, you have to be able to order new books and to feed that.
It is almost as though you are trying to create an addiction and all addictions are
expensive. I think the district helps in the professional development and in the money,
but without the money that the school gives we wouldn’t be able to feed their addiction.
You need books.
Concluding Recommendations
I conclude this report with a number of recommendations. These recommendations are
based upon the data collected for this evaluation. It is my hope that these recommendations will
prove useful to the up-coming implementation of Reading Workshop in the middle schools, as
well as to the planning of the middle school Teacher Network and the continuation of the high
school Teacher Network. The following recommendations address the administrators, coaches,
teachers and students needs in that order.
1. The administrative support for the implementation of Reading Workshop needs to be more
cohesive. This would prevent teachers, coaches, program directors and Headmasters from
receiving different messages about aspects of the implementation. The Superintendent already
supports Reading Workshop. It would be very helpful if one Deputy Superintendent also took
the program under his or her wing. I make this recommendation because the perceptions of
those involved in the implementation have been that there is a disconnect between the
instructional mission of the BPS and the Deputy Superintendents. Involvement of a Deputy
Superintendent might help improve the cohesiveness of the overall instructional mission and
among the administrators responsible for the implementation of Reading Workshop.
2. The role of the Headmaster in the implementation process is crucial. Teachers who worked
for schools that had Headmasters who met with the CCL cycles and supported the coach in his or
her implementation efforts made more progress than those teachers who worked in schools
where the Headmaster was not involved at all. One school in particular started out with a
52
number of teachers who joined the Network, but by the middle of the year those teachers who
were not able to take a personal interest in Reading Workshop dropped out. I attribute this to
lack of Headmaster enforcement of the implementation school wide.
The Headmaster also played a strong role in the success or failure of the coaching in each
school. My recommendation is that the importance of Reading Workshop in the district needs to
be continually reinforced for the Headmasters. As I recommended in the body of this report,
Headmasters and program directors should participate in a CCL cycle of their own.
3. The most complicated administrative relationship appeared to be between Program Directors
and coaches. There was a fair amount of confusion about how the roles of program directors and
coaches differed in terms of the English department in general and in terms of who was
ultimately responsible for making sure all ELA teachers implemented Reading Workshop. Even
though Reading Workshop was a mandate for ELA instructors this past year, our observations
revealed that the program was not implemented in all ELA classes at all of the high schools.
Even though each high school had at least one person attempting to implement Reading
Workshop, some of the high schools had no programmatic implementation at all. Again,
support from both the Headmaster and the program director would go a long way toward
remedying this situation. Coaches cannot implement Reading Workshop school-wide by
themselves.
4. The coaches job responsibilities in terms of implementing Reading Workshop by running
CCL cycles and visiting teacher classrooms both during and between cycles cannot be
diminished by alternative or conflicting administrative demands. For example, in addition to
their coaching responsibilities, we observed coaches who doubled as program directors, who ran
the entire writing prompt process, who oversaw the SRI administration, and who played a major
role in writing whole school improvement plans, etc. Supervisors told the coaches that they were
not to prioritize these activities, but coaches are in a very difficult position in the schools. In
many cases, both the Headmaster and program director would direct them to do certain tasks. It
was difficult for coaches to refuse these tasks partly because they were working very hard to
become part of the school community and to be a contributing member of that community.
Administrators need to take the pressures that are put on coaches into consideration and take
steps to protect them.
5. The training of coaches has to expand beyond a knowledge of Reading Workshop. Of course
coaches need to have a full understanding of Workshop, but this evaluation has revealed that
they also need some understanding of the how to push teachers beyond their boundaries; how to
encourage change in a teacher’s professional practice. Coaches cannot be expected to know how
to work well with resistant teachers. If the implement is to be successful we need a majority of
coaches who can persuade teachers in the ways revealed in this report.
6. I do not include specific recommendations in terms of teaching Reading Workshop because
most of what’s needed was already covered in the report. Furthermore, any recommendations
made about teaching this program are contained in the coaching that teachers will receive. A
summary of the areas such coaching might focus on next year include: how to interact with
students in terms of assessing their reading skills, how to confer with students, how to make
53
better connections from one day to the next, and how to take a more global, as opposed to a
mechanistic approach to the principles of Reading Workshop, etc.
7. Care should be taken to place those students who participated in Reading Workshop classes
this past year into similar classes next year. However, given that this is probably not possible,
some effort needs to be made in communicating with all next years ELA teachers that they may
have students in their class who had a different experience last year. These students will expect
to have ownership over their ELA learning. Hopefully some process can put in place to ensure
that some adult explains what’s happening to the students who end up in more traditional
classrooms next year.
8. Last, we need to think about how to implement CCL in the small high schools within high
schools. Often times these schools have only two ELA teachers. This is not enough for a
successful CCL cycle. In these schools the CCL cycles focused on Reading Workshop may need
to cross school boundaries, however this will most likely be very difficult in terms of scheduling.
This is a question that will need to be addressed as the high schools get smaller and smaller.
The question of cross-disciplinary CCL cycles also needs to be discussed. This past year,
in order to get enough participants, some coaches ran cross-disciplinary CCL cycles, but these
were not focused on Reading Workshop, and they were often not as successful. If the focus is on
Reading Workshop there needs to some prioritizing. It’s not always effective to just work with
those individuals who volunteer.
Overall, based on what we have seen, the first year of the implementation of Reading
Workshop and the Teacher Network reflects the degree of difficulty that teachers, administrators
and school systems face with they attempt such large scale, district wide reforms of educational
practice. This evaluation demonstrates that the BPS is off to a good start in its efforts to
transform literacy practice in ELA classrooms, but we have more work to do. A crucial
component will be the extent to which we can learn from what we have done so far and our
ability to adjust midstream if need be.
54