When I enter an elementary school classroom, there are two things I look for. I don't even have to meet the teacher or observe the class in order to figure out if it's the kind of learning atmosphere I'd want my children to be in.
Those two things are:
- Student work displayed on the walls, and even on the shelves. It's a reward for time and effort, and sends the message that school work is not just completed for the teacher. In a true learning community, students learn from each other and should share their work.
- Children's books all around the room. There are books for every subject taught (even math), so with every classroom theme, there should be new books on display. Even more importantly, though, is a wide variety of children's books for children to read just for the fun of it. A child should never have to say he has nothing interesting to read, and time should be set aside each and every day for free reading and looking at books.
The number of classrooms I've actually examined is a mere fraction of the total number in my own state, let alone the entire country. But the ones I did see had one thing in common: they lacked enough of either of these things.
If we want our children to value their work and their books, we have to show them that we do first. Unfortunately, I don't think that consideration is necessarily taken into account during the teacher interview process, or when test upon test is administered to students in the intermediate grades.
If parents and teachers show that they don't like to read, or that it's okay to crumple up school work and throw it in the garbage, how can we expect children to value reading and learning at all?
When we watch television, or play video games with our children, instead of reading together - what message does that send?
When we fail to set limits on screen time (and they certainly don't need any more of this at school), and don't encourage children to seek out reading materials, how can we possibly claim that "our children just don't like to read?"
If parents and teachers don't build the bridge of reading and learning, how can we ever expect children to do it themselves? It would be like making them live without sunlight in The City of Ember (Books of Ember)!
They say "it takes a village to raise a reader." Well, that village starts with one person, one family, and one book.
If you live or work with children, please build that bridge! The finishing touch would be the lights...
Please note that this post was written in reaction to comments left in the first post in this series.
If you have a unique way of building the bridge, please don't hesitate to share!
You can find part 5 here.