It's been an interesting journey upon first hearing about ARC at the beginning of this calendar year. Teachers throughout the county were in a twist over this new reading program that we had never heard of but were required to implement the following school year. What was it? Where did it come from? Who made the decision? Why were we being forced to accept it? This was our county's most infamous secret. ARC ended up being raked over the coals and harshly criticized by administrators, teachers, and community members. And I was one of those!
But I have learned a most valuable life lesson from this experience and I hope our county leaders have as well. The problem is not the program. After attending a few GOOD, really informational sessions about what ARC is all about, I have to say, it's actually really incredible. I could see the vision of how this would work in my classroom, more specifically, how this program would insure that my students were engaged in reading quality text, engaged in reaching personalized reading goals, and engaged in writing every day. These are just best practices.
So where did my mind shift? I had INFORMATION!!! The training sessions I attended helped me visualize how this would work day by day in my 6th grade classroom and how I could meet individualized student needs through an assessment like we have never had before. I saw the vision and I LIKED it! I saw students working on their levels and above with high interest books. I saw students engaged in purposeful activities with a text level they could handle and be successful with, I saw very little teacher talk and more student talk, I saw reluctant readers learning to love it, I saw my high-flyers engrossed in independent reading and challenged on their level, I saw students aware of their specific strengths and weaknesses and working toward personalized goals, I saw me being able to sit down with a parent with quality information in my hand able to talk about their child's strengths and weaknesses. And I could go on and on....
Here is where it all went wrong, leaders. The roll-out of this program was completely and totally botched up. We had very little information about something we HAD to do without an option. Different people were hearing different things even before our administrators were. Large amounts of money were being spent in a time where there is supposedly NO money. The secretive nature and the lack of information was unprofessional and made us feel like the kid sitting in the corner for misbehavior. In other words, you are all incompetent teachers, and here is your punishment. Let's not even mention the lack of a stipend for attending this "optional" training for a program we have to administer but know nothing about it. This whole thing did nothing but create a horrible stench all up and down out county. Big, no, no. This is not how you rally support and solicit teacher buy in.
I see ARC as a great program with great potential. I have to admit, I was a little excited by it once I actually understood it. I feel horrible for the ARC people who I think mean well. I also feel a little guilty for my change of heart as I feel like I am letting the masses down.
Where do we go from here? How do we clean up this mess? Who knows?
Maybe you should ask the teachers.
It's going to be a very interesting year.
But I have learned a most valuable life lesson from this experience and I hope our county leaders have as well. The problem is not the program. After attending a few GOOD, really informational sessions about what ARC is all about, I have to say, it's actually really incredible. I could see the vision of how this would work in my classroom, more specifically, how this program would insure that my students were engaged in reading quality text, engaged in reaching personalized reading goals, and engaged in writing every day. These are just best practices.
So where did my mind shift? I had INFORMATION!!! The training sessions I attended helped me visualize how this would work day by day in my 6th grade classroom and how I could meet individualized student needs through an assessment like we have never had before. I saw the vision and I LIKED it! I saw students working on their levels and above with high interest books. I saw students engaged in purposeful activities with a text level they could handle and be successful with, I saw very little teacher talk and more student talk, I saw reluctant readers learning to love it, I saw my high-flyers engrossed in independent reading and challenged on their level, I saw students aware of their specific strengths and weaknesses and working toward personalized goals, I saw me being able to sit down with a parent with quality information in my hand able to talk about their child's strengths and weaknesses. And I could go on and on....
Here is where it all went wrong, leaders. The roll-out of this program was completely and totally botched up. We had very little information about something we HAD to do without an option. Different people were hearing different things even before our administrators were. Large amounts of money were being spent in a time where there is supposedly NO money. The secretive nature and the lack of information was unprofessional and made us feel like the kid sitting in the corner for misbehavior. In other words, you are all incompetent teachers, and here is your punishment. Let's not even mention the lack of a stipend for attending this "optional" training for a program we have to administer but know nothing about it. This whole thing did nothing but create a horrible stench all up and down out county. Big, no, no. This is not how you rally support and solicit teacher buy in.
I see ARC as a great program with great potential. I have to admit, I was a little excited by it once I actually understood it. I feel horrible for the ARC people who I think mean well. I also feel a little guilty for my change of heart as I feel like I am letting the masses down.
Where do we go from here? How do we clean up this mess? Who knows?
Maybe you should ask the teachers.
It's going to be a very interesting year.
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