It's definitely February. I'll be perfectly honest and say that I'm fully ready for summer. I understand that winter could be a whole lot worse, but I'm just not feeling this cold weather and grayness. Part of the problem is likely my blanket refusal to accept the fact that it is indeed cold, therefore resulting in my being under dressed for the cold. You win some, you lose some.
I've been thinking a lot about literacy. It's a pretty huge part of my job in terms of the tutoring piece. CHAT's literacy program at our tutoring sites is a fairly new thing, but has grown out of the understanding that being able to read informs every area of a student's life in even as simple a way as not being able to complete a math word problem or a question on his/her science homework. So, instead of just going over homework with our kids, we read. After reading, there are plenty of comprehension and evaluation activities to accompany any text.
Last semester, I worked with each student to assess his/her reading level. I try to come up with new books that each kid would want to read, and I provide materials for when something a little extra is needed. The thing is that I am so wholly unqualified to do any of this. I mean, I love books and reading, but I've never learned about reading interventions or plans for students who are struggling. Our literacy director is a wealth of knowledge and is constantly giving me direction and materials. Still, sometimes I show up at the site and a tutor asks me something that I have no idea how to answer, or I feel really silly setting goals and suggesting specific activities because I really know very little.
It's super encouraging in the midst of my not knowing and not being qualified to realize that God so often used ill-qualified and messed up people to lead. I'm no Moses, but even he was super hesitant to be a leader and kept making excuses for himself and said that he couldn't speak right.
