We asked the Heinemann authors who published a book in 2014 to provide a resolution for 2015. We hope these resolutions--or edulutions--spark a note of self-reflection while lifting you to continue your good, vital work into the new year. Over the next two weeks as we share our education resolutions, we’d love to read your edulutions. Share them with us or follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #Heinemann15. Cheers for a happy new year!
Today: Dan Feigelson.
“It goes without saying that if a kid leaves 4th grade—or 8th, or 2nd—without mastering the 4th—or 8th, or 2nd—grade reading standards, a teacher hasn't done his or her job. But at the same time, when kids leave school there is no little grownup sitting on their shoulder, telling them what to think about when they encounter a complex text. Shouldn't we devote at least some of our time teaching kids to come up with their own ideas about what they read, rather than only answering clever comprehension questions from adults? My hope for the new year is that as a field we begin to take seriously the idea that kids should be taught—in school—to recognize, name, and extend their own lines of thinking about books. Here's to freedom of thought!”
-Dan Feigelson author of Reading Projects Reimagined