Laura Schiller
Instuctor, Birney Middle School
I'd like to introduce myself but I'm not sure which self to emphasize. I am defiantly middle aged, a golf widow, mother of three assertive daughters, a devout learner, and a passionate teacher. I've lived and worked within a ten mile radius my entire life, but my vision is anything but parochial. On the surface, my life appears stable and tranquil, blending into a middle class suburban culture, teacher, homemaker, mom, complete with Golden Retriever and mini-van.
Let me assure you, appearances can be deceiving. Emily, my sixteen year old, keeps me grounded. She says, "In our house, if you can't nuke it, you don't eat it." Once she rebuked me for talking about 'my kids.' "Mom," in two syllables, "we're your kids. They're your students." Her distinction sums up how I feel about teaching. I'm out to change lives through literacy, nothing less, and the students who pass through my door each fall become family to me.
In recent years, my notion of what it means to be a professional educator has evolved. Standards of excellence both for students and teachers, the expectation that teachers will be well-read in their field and connected to a larger network of practitioners through professional organizations, attending, speaking, and writing for colleagues, has challenged me to grow personally and professionally in ways I never could have imaged ten years ago.
Currently, I teach sixth grade language arts and social studies in a diverse community in the midst of a population shift. The two dominant cultures are African American and Chaldean, Christians from Northern Iraq. I co-direct the Oakland Writing Project in Michigan, present seminars nationally on reading and writing instruction for the Bureau of Education and Research, am one of the first National Board Certified teachers, have published in local and national journals on community and diversity, standards, and genre and craft of language, and have spent the past four years involved in a state standards project.
I'm leaving off the details, but suffice it to say, all this keeps me off the streets. Recently, my interest has shifted to reading instruction in my classroom. Too many of my students are coming to me as non-readers. As I grope for answers, I find the opportunity to be involved with the "making American Literatures Project" a gift. It will enable me to pursue two passions simultaneously in the company of colleagues who can push my practice and depth of understanding; first, how do we enable increasingly diverse student populations to access an empowering literacy, and second, what does the secondary classroom teacher do when students come to class unable to read?
While my husband's playing golf this summer and my daughters are traveling or at camp, I'll be back in college at U-C Berkeley, sharing a dorm room and eating cafeteria cuisine. It's been thirty years since I first went away to school. Back to the future. I can't wait.
Email: 70007.4762@CompuServe.COM
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