Lori Sabo
November 30, 2012
I have been practicing to improve my singing voice with the help of a CD that focuses on vocal strength. Tim Carson, the founder of Vocal Artistry, says this on the last track of one of his training CDs:
"I hope that this CD will continue to be a valuable tool in your vocal progress. One last thought I have for you in closing is a reminder to have fun. Technique is important, but it is only a tool. Don't get so bogged down in the training that you forget the heart and joy that first created this desire in you to sing. There will be moments of frustration, that's normal. But when you're ready to throw this CD against the wall, take a break and pull out some songs that remind you how much you love to sing, and just sing. Not so that you can try to get it right, but because you love it. Because really, that's what it's all about."
The students we work with come immediately to my mind. The strategies we teach are tools - tools for reading fluently and accurately, for deepening comprehension, and for expanding vocabulary. We teach tools for navigating complex and difficult texts (e.g., our sixth graders have to navigate a social studies text that is on an eighth-grade reading level). We nudge, coach, teach, and push them to higher levels of thinking and performance each time we teach.
For some of our boys and girls, the learning journey is difficult and fraught with challenges. If any of our students get bogged down in the training, they are likely to lose the heart and joy of reading. That's why I love Daily 5 so much. It provides balance. Students have the wonderful gift of extended periods of time to get lost in books that remind them why reading is magic, and they read, just because they love it. Extended reading opportunities are enhanced when they have done the hard work of building stamina, knowing how and why to stay engaged, and knowing the purposes for focusing on reading strategies. It's the best way to ensure growth and the surest way to foster those self-winding, lifelong learners we want to release into the world. And for us, that's what it's really all about.