Dear Intensive Reading Teacher,
A few weeks ago I heard a story about an American woman living in Germany who spotted a street vendor selling ice cream. She desperately longed for a scoop of pistachio goodness, but she wasn't fluent in German and didn't want to look like a dumb American resorting to a shameless game of charades in order to secure a cone.
Instead, she went home and researched the translation. She practiced the awkward pronunciation (pistazienfarben) in front of her mirror for a solid twenty minutes.
The next day she woke early determined to order in German and sit in the sun with the green, cold goodness dripping from her fingers. As she stood in line, she began rehearsing the word quietly in her head. She was the next customer in line when the man behind her yelled out, "vanille" -German for vanilla. In an instant, the confusion of the other man's language caused her to lose the security of all she had learned. Disappointed, she walked away because she couldn't get her words to come out.
In hearing this sad story, it made me think of the countless struggling readers I have taught through the years. I wondered how many of them had made it to the counter of life but walked away empty-handed because they couldn't play the same language game that came so easily for their peers.
For the rest of my life, I want to spend my days helping others get their pistachio ice cream because a world without ice cream is a dull way to live.
Reading teachers, which is really to say every teacher, I cannot underestimate how vital your role is in a student's educational advancement.
Nobody should be denied the riches found in reading. If you really stop and think about it, reading is the foundation of every good and holy gift in our lives. Students desperately need someone who will practice reading with them. Someone who won't let them settle for a charade. Someone who will show them they can (and will) learn to read, write, and speak the language through hard work, constant exposure, and an exceptional teacher who is always striving to learn more.
That exceptional teacher is you. Yes, this work is hard. I have done it. The progress is slow. Disappointments are plentiful. The teaching, reteaching, and daily hair pulling is enough to make you rethink everything you thought you knew about education.
On top of it, the disengagement and learned helplessness makes you want to check the job line, but don't. Please don't.
Because without you, how will they ever get their ice cream?
-CDB