Published in the Spring 2023 edition of Oregon English Journal by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English.

“You mean I don’t have to fix my mistakes”

“I don’t need to join a gang because now I can read”

“Maybe I could go to college”

“I figured it out while I was reading.”

“My son will be a reader!”

Tiffany showed up one day wondering how she was going to graduate on time because she had just discovered that she was pregnant. She had not even told her mother. She was clearly distracted, and her commitment to strong academic performance was compromised.

Inherent in the nature of teaching is focus on the learner therefore the best teaching moments are the best learning moments. We teach using research-based models, but ultimately, we do whatever it takes to reach the student, for individual students live and learn outside the research.

A single day of teaching is filled with teaching moments because effective teaching is filled with learning moments. No matter how well researched our plans and strategies, we cannot know which of our myriad of tools will reach that one particular student. So, we keep casting another line; we strive for yet another moment that touches a student and ignites a nova behind her eyes.

In my classroom, we had a routine for celebrating “Aha!” moments. I would call the class to attention and announce that Bobbi had an “Aha! Moment.” The class in unison would respond, “Aha!” and then return to work. It is a small celebration, but catching those moments is essential for demonstrating to the students how learning occurs.

Learning can sometimes be a grind, and they need to know that. The grind, however, is rewarded not only by the external recognition that we orchestrate but also by an internal process, a feeling that energizes further activity. It can be a passing emotion that is easily missed, but if captured even for the briefest of notice, the resulting energy can nourish another day or another week of grind that seeks another special moment.

Let’s examine some of those learning moments that resulted in the quotes above. The names have been changed to preserve anonymity.

“You mean, I don’t have to fix my mistakes?”

Sarah, a junior, had been reading with a lot of frustration because she read so slowly. She was reading about 100 wpm with reasonable comprehension. Every troublesome word, however, stopped her fluency dead in its tracks. In her mind, she thought reading was an act of perfection in which she had to correctly pronounce every word, which included sounding out those that were new or difficult.

After observing Sarah read through a few passages, I instructed her to just read through the difficult words. She had good comprehension, so I told her to trust herself, trust that she will know what the passage is about even if she mispronounces a few words. With a quizzical look, she responded, “You mean, I don’t have to fix my mistakes?” She gave this new strategy a try, and I could visibly see a change in her attitude about reading as she allowed the ideas in the passage take priority over the minutiae of the individual words.

Within about two weeks her reading fluency pace increased to 125wpm with no loss in comprehension. More importantly, however, Sarah became less reluctant to do assignments. Reading was no longer a barrier to learning for her. Unfortunately, her family moved shortly after this event, so I was unable to witness her progress, but observing her change in emotion about school left me quite optimistic.

By asking Sarah to focus on her strength, her comprehension, rather than her mistakes, her entire attitude about learning altered. Hopefully, she became a life-long learner.

“I don’t need to join a gang because now I can read”

Jose, a senior, was barely getting through high school, but with effort he would graduate on time. The question for Jose was, “What next?” He lacked confidence in his abilities because he had always been an average or low-average student who had to work hard for what he earned. Knowing I had just a few months, I began to work on his reading skills with a focus on fluency because fluency can see visible improvement quickly if practiced regularly.

He responded well to the Read Through It Strategy which emphasizes building confidence first then comprehension. He witnessed his reading pace increase from 90wpm to over 120wpm in about six weeks. I had started him with 4 th and 5 th grade materials to allow him to experience this growth, and I explained that this was necessary to build his eye muscles to move at that increased pace. He was not insulted by using lower grade level materials because of this explanation.

Gradually, we were able to increase the grade-level of his practice materials. Although we never got him to high school level, he was doing very well with 8 th grade materials by the time he graduated. More importantly, he had experienced for himself that he could improve his skills. We had had a few conversations about his post-graduation plans, and just before graduation, Jose came to me and announced, (This is actually a paraphrase.) “I don’t need to join a gang because now I can read.”

Apparently, his post-graduation plans were being altered. About a year later, I heard that Jose had found work in an auto-body shop and was doing quite well. By demonstrating through actual experience that his skills could change, Jose realized that he could control his future. He could change the trajectory of his life.

“Maybe I could go to college”

Miguel was often called upon to read aloud because he was quite proficient; he read well at about 125wpm. Because he read aloud so well, there was no awareness of his reading difficulties. There was, however, a concern that he was frequently late with his assignments. I was asked to speak with him.

Miguel revealed to me that for him to comprehend what he read, he always had to read passages two or three times. He never admitted his frustration because he thought this was just how reading was done. He did not know better. I asked him to read some passages for me at a pace with which he had good comprehension. He read about 85wpm to accomplish a consistent 80-90% comprehension, which compared to “nothing” (his word) when reading aloud for a class.

I introduced Miguel to the concept of Idea Units which is a key element of the Read Through It Strategy. The practice of using Idea Units while reading teaches students to build images of the author’s message one idea at a time. The students are taught to read ideas rather than words, and a typical sentence in high school level materials may have has many as three to four Idea Units within a sentence.

Within 18 months, Miguel was reading over 150wpm with his usual 80-90% comprehension. His teachers remarked that he was much timelier with his work, and he was demonstrating much greater confidence. He came to me in spring of his senior year with the idea that, “Maybe I could go to college?”, which he had never before considered as an alternative.

Miguel needed to develop an awareness of the creation of ideas within his mind as he read. For him, there was a separation between the reading process and the idea development process because fluency came so easily for him. He did not connect the different aspects of reading. With practice, he came to realize how his mind worked with the text as it was delivered. He was empowered to awaken to the ideas in the text and those in his own mind, which broadened the world of possibilities for his future.

“I figured it out while I was reading.”

Tiffany was a bit of a perfectionist and felt a need to correctly pronounce every word she read. She came across the word “anxiously” in a passage and struggled for about a second, as I had instructed, then she plugged in the word “anxietily” as a place holder that allowed her to move on. She knew it was not correct, but she needed something in place of the troublesome word.

Later in the passage, “anxiously” appeared a second time, and Tiffany pronounced it correctly with no hesitation. Based on the false word she used in its place, comprehension was not an issue. When asked to describe what happened during her reading, she responded, “Yeah, I was wondering how to pronounce that while I was reading and I figured it out.”

It took some weeks of regular practice, but Tiffany learned to trust the working of her mind as she was reading. We had had many conversations about how her mind creates images while she reads, and those images are helpful in coming to an overall understanding about the passage. She learned that she could always go back for details if necessary, but she need not interrupt the development of ideas while reading just to decipher one individual word.

“My son will be a reader!”

Karen was a 16-year old new mom who was taking school in stride and just hoping to graduate. She had never considered herself a good student although she was willing to work, and now with a family, she was eager to get a diploma to help her job prospects. Other than the diploma, she did not see a connection between learning in school and future economic success. She just did school because that is what 16-year-olds do, and she was resigned to her level of performance as what she could expect of herself.

In the fall of her junior year, I was asked to help her with reading skills. I discovered that she was reading at about 90wpm and was only comfortable with material at about 4th grade level. One day while reading aloud, she came across the work “little” and she read it as “small” with no recognition that she had made this simple error.

At the end of the passage, I informed her of the mistake, and she became apologetic. But I quickly assured her that this was not in fact an error because she had successfully read what the author had intended. She was initially confused, so over the next few weeks, we practiced several different exercises that eventually became the Read Through It Strategy.

Karen’s fluency scores improved rapidly to over 120wpm and she became more comfortable with 5 th grade, then 6 th grade, then 7 th and even 8 th grade materials. More significantly, however, teachers came to me and reported that Karen was producing more work and better-quality work than they had ever witnessed. Karen was growing in both skill and confidence.

Before Karen graduated, she came to me and asserted with previously never experienced confidence, “My son will be a reader!” She had never imagined that academic performance was a skill she would share with her child. Now, a whole new level of possibility in parenting was before her. She experienced it for herself and therefore felt sure that she could share it.

Empowerment

When students are able to experience a growth event for themselves, whole new worlds open up for them. We know learning happens, and we know that our instruction is somehow related to and even responsible for some of this learning. Capturing those individual moments of insight and becoming mindful of how they affect further growth is an important part of the instructional process.

Often these moments are unpredictable because we do not control the kismet at the junction of teaching and learning. Awareness of these moments, however, should be developed. Take a pause, if not for the student before you, then for the next student. Be alert. The moments will continue to happen, and we must practice being aware of them.