Megan Kruse

Learning Through Blogging

  • Power of Positive Resources
    • POP Articles/Blogs
    • POP Books
    • POP Media: Podcasts/Videos/Social Media
  • Science of Reading Resources
    • SOR Articles/Blogs
    • SOR Books
    • SOR Media: Podcasts/Videos/Social Media
  • Teacher Leader Model Standards
    • Collaborative Culture
    • Research
    • Professional Learning for Continuous Improvement
    • Facilitating Improvement in Instruction and Student Learning
    • Assessments and Data
    • Outreach and Collaboration
    • Student Learning and the Profession
  • About Me

The Environment We Create

February 6, 2022 by megankruse

We (I use this pronoun loosely) have made significant gains as an educational society in shedding light on the power of the Science of Reading/a structured literacy approach.  Phenomenal resources like The Reading League, Amplify Science of Reading the Podcast, the International Dyslexia Association, and reporting from journalist Emily Hanford and author Natalie Wexler have made access to overwhelming information not-so-overwhelming.  In addition to these resources, there are many, many books on the topic of structured literacy.  The latest, Structured Literacy Interventions:  Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties, Grades K-6, edited by Louise Spear-Swerling, is another must-read.

Structured Literacy Interventions: Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties, Grades K-6

Despite the gains, we have a loooooong way to go in making structured literacy instruction the norm rather than the fringe.  Just when I’m feeling good about the gains made, I read a social media post from a first grade teacher whose team is working collaboratively to bring systematic and structured literacy instruction to their students, only to be deterred by their administration who is questioning their efforts and their data which shows gains.

Of the many things we all need to remember about implementing structured literacy, topping the list of “things to remember” is that the benefits/rewards of our efforts will not happen overnight.  This is a long journey that will involve lots of obstacles along the way.  One of the most daunting obstacles is that we are asking teachers to “suspend their beliefs” about much of their approach to literacy instruction.  To many teachers, this may sound like, “Everything you have been doing around reading instruction for the last ___ years is wrong.  Start over.”  Which can then lead to thoughts like, “I’ve invested so much time and effort into doing what is best for kids and now I am being told that it’s all wrong.  I’m a terrible teacher.”  OR “I’ve been teaching for ___ years; nobody is going to tell me what I need to change.”

When I think of my own journey, I can get a bit discouraged.  I’ve been at this (this = learning about the Science of Reading) for just over 3 years, and I still have MUCH to learn. The majority of my career has been spent teaching middle grades (4th, 5th, and 6th grades).  While in those classrooms, I didn’t have a clue about how to teach kids how to read… and I didn’t know that I didn’t have a clue.  🙁   I took those kids in, assuming they could all read (for the most part), and figured it was my job to build their love of reading.  I had that art of teaching mastered…. but I was no where close to having the science of teaching mastered.

Where do we go from here, recognizing the many, many obstacles that stand in our way?  We continue to work our a#$%! off to create environments where it is safe, as adults as well as children, to suspend beliefs, to fail, to learn, to improve, and to collaborate.  We attend events like Aldine’s Virtual Literacy Matters Conference  held yesterday (I am SO SORRY that I missed this one!); we immerse ourselves in the Science of Reading Resources; we give ourselves permission to fail; we create conditions so that the above-mentioned approaches can happen without teachers sacrificing so much that they have nothing left to give.  Kareem Weaver, leader of FULCRUM, summed this idea up beautifully in a must-listen-to interview with the amazing Susan Lambert on Amplify’s Science of Reading the Podcast, Season 4, Episode 14  What it Takes to be a Literacy Education Changemaker:  Kareem Weaver.

Kareem drops so many important points throughout the podcast episode.  Some of my favorites that speak to the environments that we create, include:

  • This is big work
  • It will not happen overnight
  • Systems have to provide sufficient support to teachers
  • Systems need to provide enough time to implement [structured literacy] without breaking teachers
  • Then teachers need to listen when told don’t worry about this
  • You have to sell it – you can’t just present the data/info and expect the system to change.  You have to sell it.  “I didn’t sell it because my ego got in the way.”
  • “I was assuming that they [teachers] would suspend their belief…”
  • “If you can’t make the case, bring in somebody that they’ll listen to…”
  • We can’t function with curriculums that are “do what you want, when you want, how you want”
  • I don’t care what your political affiliation is.  I care about education and who is going to do right by kids.

Kareem’s last point was made in connection with the dangers that exist in the momentum being gained around the Science of Reading, one danger being that there is great potential for this whole issue to become polarized by politics.  If that happens, as Kathryn Solow suggests in the Goyen Foundation‘s Jan. 27 blogpost referenced below, our kids lose.  That is the LAST thing we want.

Might I second what Kareem suggests:  do not let political affiliations get in the way of creating environments in which teachers are supported in creating effective structured literacy classrooms and students are fully, functionally literate.  As Robert Rogers says at the end of his tweet, “Every person, R or D, benefits when kids can read.”  Full stop.

@goyenfoundation Kathryn Solow, appreciate the insights in this blog. The least "echo chamber" aspect of my social media life is in reading advocacy. I follow many people whose posts I would never see if not for advocacy.
Every person, R or D, benefits when kids can read.

— Robert Rogers (@choirdoc) February 6, 2022

I continue to seek clarity around how to contribute to the above-described environment.  As the instructional literacy coach in our district, I do not take this responsibility lightly.  I remind myself often, during those middle-of-the-night bouts with sleeplessness as I worry about all of the above-mentioned obstacles, that I am so fortunate to have an amazing team of instructional coaches, administrators, and teachers to work with.  I remind myself to focus on what I can control; I cannot control the thoughts or actions of others, but I can control my contribution to the environment in which we work.

Posted in: Collaborative culture, Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, Outreach and collaboration with families and community, Personal Learning, Professional learning for continuous improvement, Research, Student learning and the profession, Teacher Leader Model Standards, Uncategorized Tagged: Aldine Independent School District, Amplify Science of Reading Podcast, art of teaching, Emily Hanford, environment, FULCRUM, Goyen Foundation, International Dyslexia Association, Kareem Weaver, Kathryn Solow, Louise Spear-Swerling, Natalie Wexler, Robert Rogers, science of reading, science of teaching, structured literacy, Structured Literacy Interventions, Susan Lambert, suspend beliefs, The Reading League

Recent Posts

  • Reflecting Into Action
  • A Trifecta in the Sciences
  • Middle of the Road
  • Creating the Conditions for Learning
  • Tough Conversations

Recent Comments

  • Katie on Question Everything
  • Elton on Generosity Abounds
  • Katie on This is Where the Rubber Meets the Road
  • Katie on Value in Values
  • Katie on The Bookends of Learning

Goodreads

Megan's bookshelf: read

The Flight Attendant
really liked it
The Flight Attendant
by Chris Bohjalian
Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
really liked it
Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
by Jennie Allen
Half Broke Horses
it was amazing
Half Broke Horses
by Jeannette Walls
Ground Zero
it was amazing
Ground Zero
by Alan Gratz
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia
really liked it
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia
by Emma Copley Eisenberg

goodreads.com

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021

Subscribe by Email

Completely spam free, opt out any time.

Please, insert a valid email.

Thank you, your email will be added to the mailing list once you click on the link in the confirmation email.

Spam protection has stopped this request. Please contact site owner for help.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tweets by bmkruse3

Categories

  • Assessments and data
  • Collaborative culture
  • Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning
  • Outreach and collaboration with families and community
  • Personal Learning
  • Professional learning for continuous improvement
  • Research
  • Student learning and the profession
  • Teacher Leader Model Standards
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • Edublogs - free blogs for education

Copyright © 2025 Megan Kruse.

Alpha WordPress Theme by themehall.com

Skip to toolbar
  • Log in
  • About WordPress
    • Get Involved
    • About Edublogs
    • Learn WordPress
    • Edublogs.org
    • Documentation
    • Contact