Why Summer Reading Matters

The Importance of Summer Reading

Colorado mom and Possip team member Sara Peters shares  why summer reading matters.

You may have heard of the “Summer Slide” —   the tendency for students, to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year.  Educators and researchers are torn about whether or not the Summer Slide is in fact “real”.  Either way, it’s good to keep kids learning, safe, and healthy over the summer.  Summer reading helps! In fact, the simple act of reading is so powerful.  According to a study by the Colorado Department of Education:

• Access to books is critical. The public library is an excellent free resource for families to have access to books of a wide range of interests and reading levels, as well as librarians to guide children and families in selecting great books.  Not sure where your closest library is?  Check here!
• When children select reading materials themselves and read for enjoyment, they receive the most gains in reading achievement, including better reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development. Also, the longer that this free voluntary reading is practiced,
  the more consistent and positive the results
• Reading just 4 to 6 books over the summer has the potential to prevent a decline in reading achievement scores from the spring to the fall, so even small steps are very beneficial
• Parents, caregivers, and other adults can help stem summer slide by reading themselves, as children that see adults in their lives reading often tend to read more themselves

In the spirit of children choosing their own books, we asked all the kids in our lives (sons, daughters, friends, nieces, nephews, neighbors and students!) for their Book Recommendations.

Possip Kid Picks:

Preschool (Ages 2-5)

• The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds
• Shady Baby, Gabrielle Union-Wade & Dwayne Wade Jr.
• I Broke My Bum!, Dawn McMillan
• The Serious Goose, Jimmy Kimmel
• Elephant & Piggie Series, Mo Willems
• Press Here, Hervé Tullet
• The Day the Crayons Quit, Drew Daywalt

Early Elementary (Ages 6-9)

• Dragon Masters Series, Tracey West
• Dog Man Series, Dav Pilkey
• Max Crumbly Locker Hero, Rachel Renee Russell
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
• Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey
• Boxcar Children series, Gertrude Chandler Warner
• Ranger in Time, Kate Messner
• Kid Lawyer, John Grisham
• The Jumbies, Tracey Baptiste
• The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Star Friends series, Linda Chapman
• Magic Tree House series, Mary Pope Osborne
• Flora and Ulysses, Kate DiCamillo

Upper Elementary (Ages 10+)

• The Candy Shop Wars, Brandon Mull
• Diary of a 6th grade ninja, Geronimo Stilton
• The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, Dusti Bowling
• It’s Trevor Noah (YA Edition)
• Becoming, Michelle Obama (YA Edition)
• Fish in a Tree,  Lynda Mullaly Hunt
• Front Desk, Kelly Yang
• The War That Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
• Babysitter’s Club, Ann M. Martin
• Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief, Rick Riordan
• Harry Potter Series, J. K. Rowling
• City Spies, James Ponti
• Land of Stories Series, Chris Colfer

Middle School (Age 13+)

• Bananafish, Akimi Yoshida
• Out of my mind, Sharon M. Draper
• Skink, Carl Hiassen
• The Inheritance Cycle series, Christopher Paolini
• Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo
• The Shadow and Bone Triology, Leigh Bardugo,
• Arc of a Scythe series, Neal Shusterman
• Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
• Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard
• Keeper of the Lost Cities, Shannon Messenger
• Looking for Alaska, John Green
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
• Five Feet Apart by Mikki Daughtry, Rachael Lippincott and Tobias Iaconis
• The Only Black Girls in Town, Brandy Colbert

Happy Summer Reading!! For other ideas of things you can do with your kids, check out our blog posts here: https://possip.com/category/parents/

Team Possip Kids

The post Why Summer Reading Matters appeared first on Possip | Parent Engagement Platform | School Feedback App.

Tips for Supporting Your Students’ Academic Recovery

As schools reopen and return to in-person learning, many educators are preparing to address the “COVID learning gap.” Earlier this summer, our Reporting Team Lead, Amanda Richards, shared tips and resources for planning 2021-2022 curriculum. Overcoming the “COVID learning gap” also requires intentional efforts from educators to support students beyond curriculum planning. Supporting your students’ academic recovery requires increased collaboration, engagement, and patience. With this educators can help their students recover any learning “lost” during the pandemic.

To help you prepare for the upcoming school year, Amanda has compiled additional tips for supporting students in their academic recovery.

1. Learn from students, their families, and data.

Use data to inform next steps for student remediation

Don’t just give a test and track students in class–that can cause even more gaps. Instead, use whatever data you have (state tests scores, MAP scores, grades, pre-unit benchmarks, etc.) to be aware of gaps that need to be filled through tutoring or one-on-one support. Build off students’ strengths, and push-in where they need more support during classroom time (e.g. more teacher touch points during independent practice, mini-lessons, small group reteach, etc.)

Talk with families and students for qualitative data points.

Quantitative data doesn’t tell the whole story, especially when it comes to student learning during the pandemic. Have parent-teacher conferences to talk about the whole student. How is the student emotionally? What does the parent see as a gap in learning? Maybe the student thrived in virtual learning? Listen to their community.

2. Engage and motivate students.

Work on increasing attention spans.

After being on screens since the start of school closings, make sure to focus on getting students motivated and engaged by working on their attention span. Attention span probably has decreased from high-tech stimulation, so it may take a bit to get students focused and ready to be back in the classroom without technology. 

Make connections with students right away.

Figure out what students need emotionally and socially and use those findings to build relationships, kick-start their success in class, and let them know you care about them as people.

Be trauma-informed.

This was a tough year for everyone, and students went through a variety of traumas (pandemic fears, police brutality and racial violence, isolation, deaths in the family, etc.). Therefore, make sure to know the signs of trauma and support students through this difficult time. If they are dealing with trauma and not being supported through it, they will not be in a space to learn. 

3. Be Patient, have multiple planned checkpoints, and improve. 

Academic recovery and learning loss won’t happen overnight. It takes intentional planning with checkpoints along the way to monitor student success. Following the plan consistently, having more checkpoints, and then reassessing and improving the plan can help. Remember to also communicate your plan clearly to staff and families. Don’t be discouraged if in the first month of your academic recovery plan you’re not seeing “mind-blowing” growth from students that you need to re-chart your path. Above all, be patient, be consistent, work hard, and meet student’s needs. 

By sharing our collective knowledge as educators, we can continue to combat the “COVID learning gap.” Looking for resources to plan curriculum to aid supporting your students’ academic recovery? Check out part one of our academic recovery blog series. Do you have a resource or strategy for planning for academic recovery? Let us know! 

The post Tips for Supporting Your Students’ Academic Recovery appeared first on Possip | Parent Engagement Platform | School Feedback App.

Possip Team Teacher Appreciation Pt. 4

Teacher Appreciation Week is in May annually, but at Possip we celebrate teachers and educators year round! Many of our reporters and full-time Possip team members have worked in education as classroom volunteers, teachers, and school administrators. They bring their education expertise into their work– making recommendations for school leaders and teams, helping our partners meet their goals, and creating blog content for school leaders and teachers.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to feature Q&As with current and former teachers on our team to show Possip teacher appreciation!

Meet Possip Reporting Team members, Kory and Beverly!

Kory Von Leue

What is your hope for teachers and teaching?

Without hesitation, this has been the hardest year as an educator, even harder than my first year as a principal. But I’m hopeful that teachers and leaders move forward knowing that not only has this been hard for kids and students across the globe, but they have been so amazingly resilient. My hope is that we use this pandemic experience as a time of transition to shed the practices and mindsets that held students back and embrace the whole child approach that I, and so many teachers and schools across the country, have undergone. Sometimes it’s more than reading and writing, it’s not just “what do you want to be when you grow up”, but “how are you going to be when you grow up”.

What has been a favorite recommendation you’ve left as a reporter?

As a teacher, I’m very critical about every interaction I have with families, and sometimes put off the harder conversations longer than I should, and sometimes second guess decisions. As a reporter though, I love to elevate positive comments and shout-outs to teachers, leaders, and staff. Parents rarely, drive to the school to give the principal a piece of their mind about a positive interaction. Possip allows parents to deliver all of the good news to schools with the smallest of effort. Communicating with families is a two way street and recommending communication strategies or highlighting communication efforts are something that really resonates with me as a reporter.

 

Beverly Hamm

What is your favorite topic to teach?

Though I am a passionate environmentalist and love teaching science, I really enjoyed working with students in credit recovery and helping them reach their goal of high school graduation.

As a reporter, how does your teaching experience inform your recommendations?

I spent 13 years in virtual education as both a teacher and advisor working directly with families on supporting students schooling at home, so I was really able to relate to both the teachers and parents during the pandemic as they faced the challenges that came with virtual education.

 

 

Check out more Possip Team Teacher Appreciation and other team stories here!

The post Possip Team Teacher Appreciation Pt. 4 appeared first on Possip | Parent Engagement Platform | School Feedback App.

Possip Team Teacher Appreciation Pt. 3

Teacher Appreciation Week is in May annually, but at Possip we celebrate teachers and educators year round! Many of our reporters and full-time Possip team members have worked in education as classroom volunteers, teachers, and school administrators. They bring their education expertise into their work– making recommendations for school leaders and teams, helping our partners meet their goals, and creating blog content for school leaders and teachers.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to feature Q&As with current and former teachers on our team to show Possip teacher appreciation!

Meet Possip Growth and Partnerships Lead, Chima Mbadugha and Possip Reporting Team members, Delia and Kimberly!

Chima Mbadugha

Why do you love teaching?

Teaching shapes the future! It creates new scientists, entrepreneurs, musicians, healthcare professionals, educators, and more! Everyone has had a teacher formally or informally. At the core of the work is helping others tap into their potential. What greater gift could you give to the world than to play a part in helping others maximize the gifts they were given?

Why does parent partnership matter?

It would be a fallacy to think a school could help a child reach its greatest potential without leveraging its village. That village originates with the guardian or parents. A school cannot consider itself effective without believing, including, and fostering a partnership with parents.

Delia Casey

Why does parent partnership matter?

Parent partnerships matter because as adults, teachers and parents have impactful roles in all aspects of the education of a child. We teach in shifts, and while teachers educate during school, parents educate before and after. When there is a strong partnership between parents and educators, the kids benefit the most.

Kimberly Robinson

What is your hope for teachers and teaching?

I hope that schools and teachers have space to see children as more than scores on spreadsheets and have time to enjoy and honor the special moments of childhood.

The post Possip Team Teacher Appreciation Pt. 3 appeared first on Possip | Parent Engagement Platform | School Feedback App.

Possip Team Teacher Appreciation Pt. 2

Teacher Appreciation Week is in May annually, but at Possip we celebrate teachers and educators year round! Many of our reporters and full-time Possip team members have worked in education as classroom volunteers, teachers, and school administrators. They bring their education expertise into their work– making recommendations for school leaders and teams, helping our partners meet their goals, and creating blog content for school leaders and teachers.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to feature Q&As with current and former teachers on our team to show Possip teacher appreciation!

Meet Possip Reporting Team members, Savannah and Stephen, and Possip Sales Team Member, Natalie Sessoms!

Savannah Staley

What is your favorite novel to teach?

All students should be able to equitably access an education that creates space for them to think critically, explore new ideas, and practice creativity. I had the opportunity to create this space for students by building relationships that allow them to feel truly seen. For example, my favorite novel to teach is The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison. It allows Black and Brown students to see themselves represented in literature. Students explore this text through the Feminist lens and practice applying Critical Race Theory. Meanwhile, these frameworks provide them with an even deeper dive into this already beautiful work. Furthermore, it’s important we teach texts that embody the entirety of the human experience, and Morrison does this in a truly profound way.

Stephen Casey

Why do you love teaching?

I love to teach because I truly believe everyone has a light that is hidden within them. Sometimes we have to work hard to remove the things that bury the light. Therefore, my goal is to motivate scholars to grow the light that is buried within them, so their light can shine brighter and farther.

Natalie Sessoms

What is your hope for teachers and teaching?

I hope teachers: feel cared for and supported. Take risks. Continually learn. Advocate for themselves and their students. Center students’ humanity. And value the unique beauties and capabilities of all learners.

---

Thanks Savannah, Stephen, and Natalie! Interested in joining the Possip team or learning more? Click here! Additionally, you can read more Possip Team stories here.

The post Possip Team Teacher Appreciation Pt. 2 appeared first on Possip | Parent Engagement Platform | School Feedback App.