June 2024
I send my warmest wishes to you and hope that you’re settling into some summer fun and reflection. As I write these words, I’m sitting on my patio surrounded by my latest planting frenzy (so much fun, I love to have my hands in dirt!) and two big basset hounds whose snoring is audible. There is a sweet morning breeze before what promises to be a hot Colorado afternoon.
I’m writing to you because our paths have crossed along the way, and I wanted to let you know that I’m giving careful thought to my work with teachers around the country. I have been extraordinarily lucky in our profession; I get to work with teachers and students nearly every week during the school year and when I’m not in classrooms, I’m studying the most relevant research, reading books by colleagues, and in conversation with some of the most respected literacy leaders around the country.
I am aware, however, of the complex challenges that today’s literacy educators face. To name a few: too many treasured colleagues are leaving the classroom, there is rancor around literacy research and the “Science of Reading”, there are pedagogical questions about relying on a particular method or program to teach reading, and there’s always testing to worry about! I’ve added to this worry list, though. I am deeply concerned about our children’s well-being socially and emotionally, particularly since the pandemic.
All of this has led me to realize that I want to give back to the field in a more tangible way. I want teachers to be able to access the kind of professional learning they most need and enjoy greater access to free resources and content. To that end, I’ve created a long-term plan that includes three major goals.
I have worked with a wonderful colleague to redesign my website. It had languished following Covid, and I am so excited to welcome you back. My intent in the new incarnation of the website is to share, not only how we might work together in your school or district, but to offer substantive, free resources based on my experience in classrooms and careful review of the research in literacy teaching and learning.
From the website I will offer:
short blogs to highlight the most effective and research-based teaching and learning insights,
downloadable resources to enhance your work in the classroom immediately, and,
insights from teachers with whom I work around the country including interviews where they will share their ideas for making literacy teaching and learning powerfully effective in your classroom.
Giving back
I am eager to relaunch an effort I began before COVID to give back to a profession that has given me so much with The Mosaic Foundation. I realize that schools and districts have complex budget issues and that in some cases, professional learning takes a back seat to other priorities. I believe in classroom-based professional learning that is based on a full partnership with educators in a wide variety of settings. I will offer limited, on-site professional learning for a few schools and districts pro bono except for travel expenses. I was lucky enough to work with some schools and districts prior to the pandemic in this way and I’m delighted to say that the work was very productive. Watch for details next month.
Publications Update
I will share that I am revising my 2018 book Engaging Children: Igniting a Drive for Deeper Learning, K-8. In some ways, I wish I had released this book after Covid because, and you’re the last people I need to remind of this, our world in terms of children’s social and emotional well-being has changed dramatically. In this revision, I’ll address these challenges in more detail, but I have to think that our responses to students’ social, emotional, and academic needs lies in part in their academic engagement. Heinemann wants to publish the new edition in an audiobook form and is considering whether to issue a second edition of the print book.
Thank you for the joy and challenge of your colleagueship and please reach out to me at any time if I can support your efforts.
Very best,
Ellin Keene
