Ask Me What I'm Reading

Perhaps it's because of a new role at school or that after four wonderful, yet physically demanding years, I'm not sustaining human life (pregnant or nursing) - whatever the reason, I finally feel like I have the brain space and mental stamina to read more books than ever. Yes, 2019 has been one of my most literary years on record, and both my heart and my head are grateful for the chance to burrow into the stack of books that have occupied the passenger seat of my car for far too long.

The front seat of my car - always!

Literacy, or being able to read, write, and communicate, is a crucial skill necessary for growth in any academic and social setting. While it is easy to be caught in a cycle of only reading to grade or reading because I am teaching a text, this calendar year has made me rediscover the joy in pursuing the pages of books in several genres and subjects. I must admit that I have been stuck in the spokes of the reading-for-school only cycle for several years. Often feeling overwhelmed with work, grad school, and coaching responsibilities, most of my literary diet has consisted of reading about teen angst or reading work written by angsty teenagers.

As a first-year instructional coach, I sought a deeper understanding of my role and how I can best support my colleagues. Of course, Twitter and other PD experiences have provided great insights and tips regarding my new position, but I wanted more. To find answers, I turned to books by Elena Aguilar and Jim Knight. I began to carve out the time to research, read, and learn every tip, trick, and technique to mold my new position into one that would make the most significant impact on my personal learning community. Throughout this process, I began to increase my efficiency and discovered time pour over pages. While it seems paradoxical that English teachers or busy teachers of any discipline would find time during the school year to read, I can assure you that the impossible is possible. Here's how:

Shouldn't you be reading for class?

Of course! Reading for a class is an arduous task; effective close-reading and searching for every minute detail that one might interpret is time-consuming. Why is the hunting cap red? Besides youthful joy, what does that kite represent? Can we ever reach the green light at the end of the dock? While rereading texts with students, the pearls within the pages are freshly placed at the forefront of my memory, and I am ready to discuss the treasures found within that text. The luxury of being a veteran teacher does allow me to feel more confident with reading in pace with my students. I also feel less guilty about reading more than one text (Or three - there were years when I taught three different novels at the same time). With seasoned experience, I can compartmentalize my reading and learning more effectively. Thus, I can find a few moments to read for myself more regularly during the school year than years prior.

Another way to sneak in some reading is to assign independent books or provide students with the time to read for pleasure. Whether that be during a student-choice unit or a weekly (or even daily) drop-everything-and-read session, we cannot cultivate a love for reading and learning for that matter, if we do not provide students with opportunities to discover reading material they enjoy. The results of more independent reading are an increase in reading comprehension, stamina, and appreciation. Cultivating a love of reading through student-choice was a goal of mine this year, which had a noticeable impact on my students' interest in reading. Before my eyes, students began talking about what they were reading and started swapping book recommendations. That insatiable desire to read is buried in them; sometimes, they need encouragement to discover it. The unexpected by-product of this independent reading was that I, too, had more time to read and fuel my erudite tendencies.

How do you have the time to read (for fun)?

A question that people ask far too often is how on earth do you have the time to read for fun? Yes, I have three small kids and a laundry list of tasks to do. I fall into the same busy trap that we all do; the need to validate our existence with busyness is real, and I am certainly guilty of embracing this cultural practice. Still, my curiosity needs to be satisfied, and reading is a way to feel as though I am crossing something off my list while I embrace stillness and a few soundless moments.

I do not mind having a book in my hand or on the counter while I parent. My daughters will even sit with and ask me to read to them. (Tangent: The other night Willa found a copy of Catching Fire and thought it was the Bible. We read a little as the bedtime story. I did skip a few lines, but her curiosity overcame her, and I was not going to squelch that fire. She's such a Katniss).

To maximize my workout time, I read while on an elliptical. Mental and physical exercise can be done concurrently, although if you are nervous about being vulnerable in front of others do not read bereavement stories at the gym. I cry far too often in public since I actively seek out books that play at the heartstrings. My students, who also work out at the same gym, simply laugh when they see the tears running down my face.

Another strategy has been walking and reading. Pulling a Belle while walking down the hallway, in between class periods, is a great way to sneak in reading time. I have even been tempted to read in the driver's seat of a car, but I have resisted the urge (don't read and drive). Instead of surfing social media, skim through a book that you've meant to read for years. My recommendation, bring the book with you wherever you go; you'd be surprised how much time you have to crack that cover.

But I don't know what to read next? Create a conversation around literature.

On Facebook, I have been trying to post what I'm reading. Inspired by the media specialist at my school to create a conversation around literature, sharing what's on my shelf has helped me discover what friends are reading. Our networks of people will most likely have similar interests in books and seek titles that we are relevant to our lives in some way. The social media echo chamber is real and can be used to our advantage when it comes to literature. More of us are actively reading than we realize. Time is in constant shortage, and if we are fortunate enough to have the time to read, we often lack the time or opportunity to discuss what we're reading. The more we share and discuss books that inspire, motivate, touch, or just make us laugh, the more we can get excited about finding our next literary experience.

Another great place to look is the What's New section of the library. My local library has an impressive curation of recent and trending books that I love to browse. I have discovered several texts that I would never have picked up if it weren't for this section. Searching the New York Times bestseller list and other websites such as Goodreads can help, but I find that having in-person (or digital) conversations with friends have led to some of the best reading recommendations.

Learn unexpected things about familiar topics.

Recently, I have been reading Writers Read Better: 50+ Paired Lessons that Turn Writing Craft Work into Powerful Genre Reading (Nonfiction) by M. Colleen Cruz. In this professional development book, she addresses how reading can help us to learn and write about unexpected aspects of a topic. Reading and writing skills are so interconnected. Interesting speakers are strong readers, too; they have more to discuss and more background knowledge to draw upon when making connections and telling compelling stories. Through reading, students might be able to discover a backstory or uncover a unique fact that makes a topic like thunderstorms, table salt, WW2, or any other topic of interest come to life in a new and captivating way. There is much to discover in a book; take a trip anywhere and to any time that fascinates you.

So what AM I reading? 

The list below is the summer reading completed I completed thus far. If you want to chat about any of these titles, don't hesitate to let me know and feel free to share what books you're reading! I'm always looking to add great titles to my to-read pile. Thanks to all who already have shared what they're reading on social media! I have loved the conversation and am also overwhelmed with how much I have waiting to be read. When we take the time to ask what we're reading, we're really asking is, "What are you learning?" I have loved this summer of scholarship with my learning network of friends and family.

1. Radical Kindness: The Life-Changing Power of Giving and Receiving by Angela Santomero.
2. Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall
3. Parkland Speaks: Survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas Share Their Stories
4. I'll See You Again by Janice Kaplan
5. One Thousand Wells: How an Audacious Goal Taught Me to Love the World Instead of Save It by Jena Lee Nardella
6. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
8. Here We Are: 44 Voices Write, Draw, and Speak about Feminism for the Real World
9. Educated:A Memoir by Tara Westover
10. Dear Heartbreak: YA Authors and Teens on the Dark Side of Love by Heather Demetrios
11. The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel by Heather Morris
12. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
13. Whatever Gets You Through: Twelve Survivors on Life After Sexual Assault edited by Stacey May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee
14. Writers Read Better: 50+ Paired Lessons that Turn Writing Craft Work into Powerful Genre Reading (Nonfiction) by M. Colleen Cruz
15. Currently Reading: Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals
    by Rachel Hollis
16. Next Read: Talk to Me: Find the Right Words to Inspire, Encourage, and Get Things Done by Kim Bearden
17. Waiting in the wings (along with about twenty other books): Just Checking: Scenes from the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive by Emily Colas

Teaching Gen Z

Recently, I watched a webinar as part of a PD workshop, hosted by the community college where I adjunct, that explored Gen Z learners. With a decade already come and gone, I have seen the Millennial generation matriculate through the school system. Replaced by Gen Z,  it has been easy to forget that society and my students' perspectives on it differ from their predecessors. As technology and our world evolves, so too do our students. While both Millennials and Gen Zers have similar characteristics and levels of proficiency with the types of technological communication that interests them (Note: They hate email.), there are some distinct differences. My mother has always told me, much to my chagrin, that children are the products of their parents. Parental viewpoints, values, and perspectives significantly impact how a child engages with and view the world in which they. Millenials have young Baby Boomer parents that grew up in a golden age in which the American Dream was thriving, and hard work seemingly paid off. Inherently, Millenials, the generation I am a part of seeks connections with others through many platforms, deeply values collaboration and dreams of work-life balance (or work-life harmony as I like to call it). Our curiosity and connectedness have made us overly optimistic, a characteristic that is now being deemed as toxic when taken too far. The list of characteristics about Millenials continue to occupy the headlines, perpetuating the idea that we are all spoiled and seek instant gratifications.

Millenials have gotten a bad rap. These headlines bashing Millenials frustrate me to no end. The idea that Millenials are lazy, still living at home, and love to eat avocado toast while drinking Starbucks lattes is mostly inaccurate. I must admit I indulge in a coffee after only getting four hours of sleep because I was working my side hustle (adjuncting at an awesome community college) the night before, but according to media headline, I'm still lazy and probably feel a little too entitled to that morning cup of joe. Entering the workforce in the great recession of 2008, in a time when work landscapes are radically shifting to consultation work and remote offices, has led to Millenials struggling to pay off excessive student debt and seek alternative types of employment. Still, Millenials remain incredibly open-minded and tend to view the world with slightly rosier glasses than their Gen X and Gen Z counterparts. I'll refrain from unleashing a verbal deluge about how Millenials never asked for participation trophies or demanded smartphones. In spite of the negativity thrown at my cohort on this planet, I see my generation using social media platforms and technology to rewrite the narrative on what the definition of the American Dream actually is and how it can be achieved.

Now that the youthfulness of Millenials has passed on to a new class of humans, I seek to understand and recognize the new population with my classroom and identify what motivates Gen Z. At first glance, they look like Millenials - tech-savvy and ready to use social media to document their lives, yet they are showing a decline in optimism. Considering issues such as global climate change, natural disasters, and the political climate, I am not surprised by this information, but recognizing the more realistic, "tell it like it is" attitude of the next generation does cause me to stop and reflect on my teaching practices and how I view their behavior. Remembering that our world continues to evolve at rapid rates, it is critical as a teacher that I identify how and why these changes impact my current students. Again I return to my mother's belief that children are a product of their parents. Gen X, the grunge-loving, slightly more cynical generation who values work-place independence are now raising these Gen Zers. Their children will reflect their desire to save money and work autonomously. With this iteration of students and their tech-savvy skills, it's time to insert blended learning and flexible scheduling opportunities.

Recently I read Start Something That Matters by TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie, a book that addresses the desire to use for-profit companies to engage in nonprofit ventures. This theory of using one's professional platform to participate in more philanthropic pursuits is one that this generation is and will adopt in their futures. When they believe in a cause, their motivation increases tenfold, and they are willing to use their digital resources to share their thoughts openly. Student motivation has been down lately and perhaps technology is to blame or increasing levels of anxiety that is the result of numerous factors (including ACEs, pressure to perform, economic disparity, violence, social and political issues, etc.). Whatever the reason, my goal is to deliver my best Jaime Escalante impression and reach these kids.

Teaching a room full of repeat freshmen this summer has challenged me to reflect on student motivation. A few days ago, I ended up on my Sukow soapbox and started preaching about developing literacy and communication skills that will make the remainder of their high school experience more successful as they develop a strong sense of self-efficacy. (I wasn't handed a ribbon, but I did receive a round of applause. Thanks for the metaphorical gold star, kids!) When students improve their reading skills, they inherently become better writers. When they develop their writing skills, they naturally become better speakers with some encouragement to face their speech anxiety. These skills are interdependent and are the foundation for any future pursuit - academic, personal, and professional.

While I am still new in exploring generational studies and how that impacts classroom learning, I have drawn a few initial nuggets of knowledge.


1. Gen Z prefers to work individually. 

As offices turn digital and require more remote work, this generation seeks autonomy, although they are highly driven by relationships. Working alongside others instead of directly with others is a more efficient way to complete work. Although the webinar I recently completed and some of my initial readings suggests that this generation still values and is motivated by their relationships. Perhaps a blended-learning model would be most desirable for these students as it would allow them to meet and engage with others face-to-face but also work independently and at their own pace.


2. Students in this generation are more invested in projects that are broken into smaller tasks and want to feel a sense of accomplishment along the way. 

Gamification and badging are both strategies that may drive these students who are motivated by their sense of accomplishments. Direct feedback after completing a step in a greater project or assignment motivate these students to continue working, and the latter seems like a great educational practice. Giving students more feedback before a test or a summative is collected is the best way to help their revise, grow, and cultivate critical skills. Creating mastery pathways and using learning management systems to personalize the learning experience can help students to work at their own pace while accomplishing specific curriculum-based tasks. I'm still not sold on badging or how that could possibly motivate students, but I suppose everyone likes a sticker to put on their Chromebooks, right?



3. When learning is directly relevant and related to their interests, they will work. Hard. 

Student motivation seems to be lacking as of late, although I doubt this is a groundbreaking problem. The phrase "kids these days" has been used for generations. I propose that if we reframe how we view our frustrations with "kids these days," we can empower both our students and ourselves to be more proactive, productive, and positive (Sorry, I can't seem to shake my Millenial optimism). In the book Marching Off the Map: Inspire Students to Navigate a Brand New World by Tim Elmore, student-apathy is addressed. By tapping into students' passion, we can encourage them to take control of their educational pursuits. Providing student choice, blending classroom experiences, and encouraging students to choose their independent books or research topics are not new concepts, but finding ways to update the curriculum using these teaching practices is still crucial. When our students seem to lack motivation, there are multiple factors at play. Perhaps social-emotional obstacles are in the way, or there is a gap in prior knowledge to be able to engage with the current curriculum, whatever the reason might be, we must continue to reflect as teachers and adapt when possible to provide students with learning experiences that will spark their motivational fire.


4. Gen Z needs to be challenged to be content creators not just side-line consumers. 

Consuming digital media is a constant in students' lives. They are plugged into YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and the ever-evolving list of social platforms (such as TikTok) continue to occupy their free (and even not so free) hours. Instead of allowing students to be passive consumers of content, they should devote their time to networking, engaging, and creating through the platforms that are most comfortable to them. By navigating the interwebs effectively, they can learn and hone their skills; they can find their voices. While students need direct instruction in digital citizenship, especially since their digital footprints are permanent, learning to develop their brand and foster relationships that could be professionally beneficial to them in the future is a critical part of their world.

Note: My daughter, the three-year-old vlogger, is preparing her first TED Talk as I write this.

I still have much to learn, but I am hopeful that with a deeper understanding of the successors to the Millenial generation, I can continue to adapt and revise my teaching practices in ways that provide my students with greater access to learning, autonomy, and a sense of empowerment. My biggest takeaway from what I have learned thus far is that change is the only constant in education and life. We must be observant, seek understanding, and not be afraid to experiment with what works in the classroom.

If anyone has resources or books to read on Teaching Gen Z, please share!

Choose Your Own PD Adventure

After soaking in a few weeks of sun, I find myself burning for learning once again. Refueling the metaphorical tank with a little more sleep and a day that is not dictated by bells, leaves my mind thirsting for knowledge. This summer, my bedroom floor and the passenger side of my car look as though I am attempting to stockpile books that have been salvaged from futuristic firefighters determined to destroy their contents. Hoarding books that may have been temporarily stolen from my school's media center, and devouring their pages as the dawn breaks has been my summer morning routine. As a result, I find myself rejuvenated - the flames fanned and are smoldering once again.

This past year, I attended countless conferences and professional development experiences. ISTE was in Chicago, and as a first-year instructional coach (a new position in my district), I had much to learn. Instead of trekking to Pennsylvania this summer, I am spending a quieter one seeking opportunities to enhance and further my skills.  With blended and online learning transforming the educational landscape, my summer goal is to pursue asynchronous learning experiences that will allow me to share best practices and resources to the teachers at my school and district. Experiencing courses and PD experiences in this format will also foster a richer perspective on best practices for this mode of learning, a format that 60 courses will be experimenting with this coming school year throughout my district.

Where to begin? Naturally, I took to Google to find the "Best FREE PD" available and came up with a few promising leads. Free online resources are the best places to explore and experiment. Without the financial pressure and the openness of the resources have allowed me to browse and evaluate the overall experience before committing to a course.

Google Certifications

If your school is a Google for Education school and you have not looked into Google Certifications, that is the first place I would recommend any teacher begin. Google has several training courses, including a fundamentals course, perfect for teachers of all tech levels looking to develop or refine their skills. Once the fundamentals course is complete, teachers can pursue a Level 1 certification, which is a three-hour test that unlike standard multiple choice tests is skills-based. The assessment is hands-on learning in itself, and is one of the most informative and practical tests I have ever experienced; I learned a great deal from the test itself. For more advanced users of Google Suites, I recommend pursuing the Level 2 certification or even the Trainer certification. Not only do people who earn the certifications get fun badges to add to email signatures, but the certifications stretch one's understanding of Google Suites and how to best use these tools to enhance student learning.

Recently, Google for Education has added two courses that I am interested in working through this summer that include Tools for Diverse Learners (perfect for my SPED friends) and Teach Applied Digital Skills. Also, I am excited to check out the apps that work with Google and other Google for Education resources that support digital literacy and learning. Google Suites, as any tech product, is continually changing and evolving, and staying up-to-date is critical.

EdPuzzle

EdPuzzle is an incredible tool for flipped and blended learning. EdPuzzle allows teachers to use online videos or import personal videos and add voice notes, annotations, and multiple choice/free response questions for students to answer. Creating interactive lessons that can be completed asynchronous allows students to work at their own pace while holding them accountable for critically thinking and engaging with the material (For more on EdPuzzle, check out this post). EdPuzzle is also intuitive to use and design, and the product has a great bank of resources that teachers can access and copy to use with their students. EdPuzzle continues to develop and create asynchronous, free courses for teachers to take to enhance their understanding of 21st-century learning, the flipped classroom, and digital citizenship. With over a dozen courses, these free resources are informative and engaging. I have enjoyed browsing these courses and have completed the EdPuzzle Coach certification. Currently, I am completing the 21st-Century Learning course and will then begin the Personalized Learning course. These courses can be completed at one's own pace, and I have found make a great and quick addition to my morning routine. Each video is only a few minutes long, and the courses are chunked in a manner that can fit into any plan or prep period without being too demanding. Being an EdPuzzle student has also helped me reflect on how I use this tool with my students and how I might continue to improve my practices.

ASCD Webinars

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) offers free professional development webinars that teachers can view at any time. These webinars come with supplemental material, resources, and have transcripts from live chats that occurred when the webinars were first aired. From trauma-informed schools, fostering resilience, quality instruction, and content-specific topics, these webinars are thorough, informative, and are the length of a podcast episode. I've listened to "Reading, Writing, and Rigor: Helping Students Achieve Greater Depth of Knowledge in Literacy" and "Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind;" both of these webinars were engaging and came with several resources to explore. For anyone looking for new research-based strategies, books to read, or practices to explore, this list of resources is one worth checking out.

Open Educational Resources

Looking for content-specific content and resources? Utilizing open educational resources is a discussion that my department at the College of Lake County continues to explore. As a community college, our goal is to make education accessible to students by reducing the cost, and using free online books and resources instead of costly college textbooks will allow us to achieve this goal. I stumbled upon HarvardX as I was seeking potential texts and supplemental resources for my students. The more I scour their catalog, the more impressed I am with potential content-specific texts that may allow teachers to update their courses or expand upon a subtopic in a fresh manner. Courses range from material that can be reviewed in a few short hours to several weeks. Auditing these courses is free, there are additional paid options if a person wanted to earn a certification or in some cases, college credit. I started with "Communicating Effectively: How to Inspire and Convince," which had great resources on teaching persuasion. As I explored further, MIT has a great course selection, too. Personalized learning and online learning has allowed individuals to share their knowledge in exponential ways.

Books

In my first year as an instructional coach, I turned to Twitter to find highly recommended educational books to help hone my craft. Elena Aguilar's writing, an educational coach and author, came highly recommended. I started with Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience Educators and then read The Art Coaching: Effective Strategies Transformation. The Dave Burgess book series is also full of many interesting and meaningful topics that appeal to a wide level of instructional levels and content areas. I just ordered Talk to Me: Find the Right Words to Inspire, Encourage, and Get Things Done. This book is the next book on my ever-growing list of must-reads. In spite of an overflowing nightstand, I am always searching for quality texts to read.

Twitter

Twitter is my favorite way in which to connect with other teachers. Teachers are always willing to collaborate, share ideas, and connect with others. My personal learning network has expanded greatly because of my experience through Twitter. Finding Twitter chats and following hashtags has allowed me to form strong relationships with people who have provided me with inspiring ideas and encouraging words over the years. I co-moderate #engsschat, which is a combined social science and English chat that occurs once a month. I am so grateful for the experiences I have had sharing and gaining knowledge from others. The best way to learn is to foster relationships and glean understanding from others.

Not attending ISTE this year means more time to explore a variety of resources at my own pace. I'm glad to say that my car has been cleaned out; I drove my grandma to her local library so I transported my books to my nightstand. I have been on a reading tear this summer and am slowly regaining space to be filled with my next literary stash. Since I was out of district, I could not be tempted to check-out additional texts. Here's to a summer full of burning the midnight oil and learning to expand my curricular horizons.

Gamfiying Vocab and Diagnosis Meaning

Teaching vocabulary - from old school note cards to using root words to derive meaning, there are many methods that can be used to promote vocabulary acquisition. As a high school student, morphology made sense to me. My sophomore English teacher was passionate about drilling the Latin meanings of prefixes and suffixes, and to this day, I can dissect words to glean understanding. While teaching root words is not as integral to the curriculum that I teach, vocabulary strategies are still at the forefront of helping students improve their reading skills - especially when I am teaching struggling students or English language learners. To help make main ideas and authors' claims more cognizable, students need to have a foundational understanding of how to comprehend the words they read, especially when texts may contain words that they have not encountered before. And in case anyone was wondering - gnos means to know; that root happens to be my favorite.

This summer, I am teaching a group of what I affectionately am referring to as repeat offenders or students who for whatever reason, struggled through freshman English and found themselves sitting in summer school. My goal with these students to help them develop a strong sense of self-efficacy, cultivate essential literacy skills, and show them that learning can be fun. By building into these students as people, showing them grace, and helping them brush up on skills that can apply reading and writing in any context, I hope to empower them and give them the confidence they need to be active learners moving forward. Part of being a successful student in any discipline is understanding the language and being able to decipher meaning from a text.

Students who avoid reading at the high school level often struggle more than they like to admit to reading comprehension. A significant part of that struggle is not being able to access the meaning of the text or the words within it. I find this to be particularly true when reading nonfiction texts in the science and social science disciplines. To combat this issue, one of my focuses this summer is helping students use context clues to make meaning of what we are reading. Yes, students can use their Chromebooks to look up the definition of a word, but even with that resource (which they are reluctant to use in that capacity), they still may struggle with understanding what the author is trying to say. Instead, encouraging students to use context clues to create overall understanding can empower them and give them the confidence they need to succeed.

Using gamification, I have encouraged students to enjoy vocabulary work. To help students prepare for accessing a text, I provide students with sentences that contain vocabulary words underlined. We read the sentence first together as they are projected on the board. Then I have turned to fan favorite formative assessment tools such as Kahoot, Quizlet, GimKit, and Quizziz that challenge students to apply what they have initially understood about the words presented and also shed light on what words they may need to review more thoroughly.

Often, I start with Quizlet to allow students to use the flashcards and individual games to review the words that we are studying for the day first. Note that I typically have used 12 words in any given session, which I find to be an adequate number of words to make the learning experiences interesting while not overloading students with too many words as too many words may limit student retention. After students are exposed to the words, I will start a Quizlet live session, which encourages students to dialogue about the words with each other. Then, we play a quick round of one of the more competitive formative assessment tools to reinforce gained knowledge. I prefer GimKit as it repeats questions, which means more exposure to the words students are attempting to learn. After a session of formative gaming, we have read and annotated these articles together - stopping to talk about the words and their meanings while we read. While this process can be time-consuming, modeling the use of context clues and vocabulary learning to the class can show students the importance of understanding the words they read and empower them to be able to decipher texts based on the clues and content provided to them.

This summer has been an enjoyable experience with students and the gamification of vocabulary words. Witnessing students processing texts and seeking a deeper understanding of words they may not be familiar with has been such a positive experience. These students are so capable of decoding the texts we have been exploring related to cell phone and technology issues, mental health, and healthy lifestyle choices. I am encouraged by their ability to make connections, identify authors' claims, infer, and evaluate what we are reading. My prognosis for student literacy success- take the time to cultivate vocabulary skills. When students can diagnosis definitions and examine a text to find the author's intended message, they are sure to have a healthy sense of reading self-efficacy.

Let the Light (And Reasons to Hope) In

The revolving door of doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, a geneticist, and a passionate and overly eager social worker flood the tiny room on floor two of Lutheran General's Children's Hospital. What was once overwhelming and exhausting has become routine. Some of our visitors gown up and poke their heads into the room to remind us that they're on our team, and others, like the aforementioned social worker, linger. While she evaluates our emotional well-being as the parents of a toddler with CF, Josh and I can barely contain our laughter. As a communications coach, I am impressed by her listening skills, attention to detail, and ability to mirror our language. Upon her exit, we typically erupt in muffled laughter as the paper-thin doors do not guard against our chortles. Still, we appreciate her so much as it is so apparent that she genuinely cares deeply about her patients and their families. During her visits, we are extremely aware of what she is attempting to evaluate with her leading questions and the distracting toys she brings in for "Jordan" to play with, and even still, we both have immense respect for and appreciate her role in the CF clinic. After approximately two hours of a constant rotation of specialists, we meet with our primary doctor, the fast-talking, incredibly positive and intelligent doctor who continues to shed light on Jordan's disease. The infectious optimism and encouragement from the entire staff, led by our doctor, has made a once arduous and painful experience more uplifting.

This most recent clinic visit gave us much cause to celebrate because Jordan's lung function is perfect (for now). He's even a little chunky - as if he's preparing for hibernation or a major growth spirt. Except for a bowel obstruction at the end of March, which was more of a learning experience for Josh and me than anything else, he continues to thrive. The more engrossed I become in the CF community, the more aware I am that there is no way to predict his progression. CF is a unique disease for each patient, and we have countless reasons to hope that he will be a healthy child as long as we continue to diligently follow his treatment protocol and adhere to his dietary needs (lots of salt, lots of fat, and a daily dose of Miralax in Gatorade, or as we affectionately call it - Jordan Juice). A barrage of emails has flooded my inbox this spring with information about breakthrough treatments and medicines that dramatically increase lung functionality and quality of life for our CF friends. Again, there is a reason to hope.

These past few months, Josh and I have learned to allow others to love on us. As kids, Josh and I found ourselves cleaning up after practice, working on projects for our musical director, or cleaning out file cabinets in the choir room; we actively sought ways to quietly serve our peers, mentors, and teachers. As teens and even into our 20s, we pursued serving a new community that focused on empowering young people to find their voices. Saving no time for ourselves, we evaded coping with the infertility problems we faced because we chose to expend our energy on others. With a little grit, we could brighten any situation placed before us, which often involved helping a teen through a life-problem or challenge. Both of our ENFJ personalities still actively seek opportunities to heroically swoop in to solve the problems of others, leaving us little time or interest in addressing our own needs. Not the healthiest life practice, but we're working on it. Having children, especially a child with unique needs, has greatly humbled us as we now recognize that sometimes we need an extra hand to walk dogs or watch the girls while we are attending to Jordan's needs. Sometimes we need to find a sympathetic or supportive ear to hear our concerns or just find a person to give us a hug on tougher days.

Our annual CF walk was this past weekend, and I am proud to say we raised over $11,500 for AJ, for Jordan, and for all of the CF community as we continue to actively look for treatments and an eventual cure for this disease. The level of gratitude that Josh and I both feel to our biological families, friends, speech squad, church, and students who all supported through literally walking with us at this event, raising or donating money to the cause, or simply giving us extra hugs when we needed it cannot be expressed in words. Through this event and our adventures into the CF community, we have learned to express our vulnerability more openly and now realize that allowing others to help us is an integral part of being in community. Helping others fosters feelings of hope.

I must admit that for Jordan's first year (and even a few months after that) of his life, I was guarded. My instinct is to smile, show more enthusiasm, and will myself into believing that "everything's fine." At home, I've held Jordan until my arms ache; I've inadvertently shielded him from interaction with people and places where germs might unknowingly hide. But as he continues to grow, I recognize that he is no longer Baby Jordan. And as a result, I am slowly learning to allow him the space that he needs to grow into the well-rounded person that he is meant to become. Patience, sharing, and kindness are all behaviors we expected the girls to begin to implement at his age; he should not be exempt from those behaviors. It's time to level-up, Stink Man.

On the brink of a word explosion, Jordan, just as any small child, needs to find his voice and learn to be the author of his own story. In spite of my attempts to empower him to exhibit his independence, I will continue to douse him in hand sanitizer. My aggressive scrubbing of the wood floors he crawls around on and my mysophobia may continue to manifest into more erratic behavior, but cleanliness is a virtue, right?

Still, life was designed to be messy. Messiness adds color to our lives and can lead to a greater appreciation for the world in which we live and for the people who comprise our village. In author Margaret Wheatly's book Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, the idea of having a village or a community is addressed. She states, "Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone." In this new era of my life, I have stopped attempting to "go it alone" and started processing my joys and my pain with the people in my village as they are the ones that continue to fuel my hope.

Even in the most challenging times, there is always a reason to hope. Our village or community is meant to provide us with that sense of hope, and our relationships are the lights placed on our path to illuminate the way in any season, at any time. What I've learned from these past few months is that it is okay to have hope, and it is okay to let the light in.