Re-Treat Yourself And Your Classroom

Welcome to our series of Friday Teacher Scenes where Ethical ELA features teachers’ stories from their classrooms and experiences to contribute to and shape the public narrative of what it means to be an English language arts teacher in today’s sociopolitical climate. We hope to center and uplift one another by featuring the professional, informed, intentional work that drives and makes possible inclusive-affirming critical language arts learning spaces. We welcome your stories in the comments or contact Sarah if you’d like to contribute a blog post.

On a late October Saturday morning a pair of teachers are planning.  

But this planning is not occurring in the classroom or a coffee shop, instead they are sitting cross legged in their pajamas in a rental cabin.  And they are far from alone. 

There are four teachers on the couch – three reading books and a fourth on her laptop. In an adjacent room, there are another five teachers partaking from a table laden with snacks, games, and crafts. 

This is not only what happens at teenage slumber parties, but also what happens when a few adult women (who happen to be teacher friends) get together and decide that the best way to practice both self care and professional development is to escape to the outskirts with three bags: one for clothes, one for snacks, and one for books.

This is our Reading Retreat Weekend.

Managed to the Point of No Return 

I want to be clear, our reading retreats did not begin out of a need to solve a problem; however, my own experience with it has shown that it can be helpful in soothing the troubled teacher’s mind and soul.  It has shown me that the best gift you can give a teacher is time and space that is in their control.

Too often now others have decided that we as teachers are no longer capable of deciding what is best for our classrooms, students, or even our profession. Our classrooms are overly documented, surveyed, and scripted to the point where there is little room to be creative or adapt to our styles for teaching.

It’s hard to go on as a teacher some days when every aspect of your job seems to be dictated by forces that are not even in your physical classroom, just in your business. 

I’ll admit, based on what I have heard from my fellow teachers, the district I work at is nowhere near as bad as others.  However, there is still a sense of isolation and frustration among my colleagues. We are starved for the ability to make creative decisions and frustrated at the lack of collaboration with those in our own communities.  

We want to run away, but instead we take a retreat.  

The One Rule to Reading Retreat

When we held our first reader’s retreat this summer, the focus was simply to find a place away from our obligations and duties. It was meant to carve out some time for ourselves in a low pressure, low steaks, semi-social environment. 

Really there was only one rule: “You are responsible for your own needs.” 

If you were going, you were bringing your own food, you were bringing your own books, and you were doing your own thing.  Most of us would be reading, but if someone engaged in something else, they could ask the group, but no one was obligated to join them.  It was a simple expectation, but appreciated, and meant that the only person we were responsible for was ourselves.

The concept of a reading retreat isn’t new, but this was my first time experiencing one.  I was used to professional development workshops where much of your free time was spent in structured pursuits with everyone doing the same thing.  

When our librarian first pitched the idea, I was at least thinking we would all be reading the same book – but even our reading choices were left up to us.

At first, I was a little disappointed.  How would we bond or discuss our reading if we were all reading something different? I thought it would be too chaotic, but I was wrong.  Instead, while each of us was reading something different, we were still there for a similar purpose: reading.  I made a point of looking up from my own reading just to see everyone else with their heads bowed over a book – each completely engrossed.  I remember thinking: this is what I wish that quiet reading time was like in my classroom.

But how would that work?  What did we talk about if we each read a different book?

To start, we were constantly asking each other about the books we were reading and the progress we were making.  We not only discussed the titles currently in our laps, but related works or aspects that inspired us.  We shared what excited us or why we were switching to a different book because our current read bored us.  

Not only did we add to our own reading piles, but we left with inspiration for our classrooms as well.  We each left the weekend feeling refreshed and renewed and ready for the year ahead.

Relax and Read the Room

I want to believe there is a way for me to merge the freedoms I experienced with the reading retreat with my approach to managing my own classroom.  I do believe that of all my years of teaching, this is the year that I’ve finally relaxed a bit – I don’t want to be micromanaged, so I try not to micromanage my students either.  I’ve relaxed.

I am doing my best to let the students manage their writing and reading lives, while also offering supportive structures.  As much as I wish I could recapture the magic of reading in a cabin in the woods, my classroom isn’t quite there yet.  It’s not feasible to just sit around with a book and read on a sofa for several hours at a time – apparently students still need to report to PE or math class.  

However, the magic of seeing several grown women sitting around chatting and sharing their books, their food, and their time sticks with me.  And I try to hold that image and channel it back into my classroom practices. 

I don’t know what your teaching community is like, but maybe you can find a few teacher friends to retreat into the woods with you as well.

Author

Erica teaches in the rural town of Vilonia, Arkansas.  She has dedicated 12 years to helping high schoolers earn college credit for English.  Erica is currently pursuing designation as a teacher leader at the Arkansas Leadership Academy, a decision inspired by her work with the Teach Write Academy.