[LIT] Content Literacy and the One Room Schoolhouse

[TLP]

When I think about best practice, I remember my great-great cousin
Colista. Mrs. Colista Morgan was the beloved teacher for generations
of students, including my mother, in Greenwood City, Maine.  She
taught in a one-room school house and obviously understood the value
of differentiation, the worth of integration and the importance of
content literacy, long before they became a popular terms. In my
multi-age classroom, my own modern day version of that one-room
schoolhouse, I strive to continue in Colista's tradition and hopefully
channel half of her expertise, patience and love of teaching. As a
community we were fortunate to read Colista's weekly column in the
local paper, the Advertiser Democrat. Tucked in among the many local
columns about the mundane happenings of neighbors and friends was a
work of art. Her writing was beautiful and poetic. It included
observations of the world around her neat log cabin that sat nestled
among maples and pines directly across from Hicks Pond. Her column
included science, history and literature and was a true reflection of
her skill. I have slim volume of her writing at school. I plan on
reading to my students and discussing Colista with them in light of
our recent conversation about content literacy.
Tena