Customer Reviews

Invitations: Changing as Teachers and Learners K-12

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This is an absolute MUST for both emerging educators and for veteran teachers who are willing to keep up with the never-ending changes in education! Ms. Routman does not get bogged down with quoting today's "educational standards" in her book, because she does not write in order to please State Boards of Education (which I'm sure she accomplishes, anyway). This is the "inviting" thing about "Invitations"! She writes out of her love of learning, and even more, her love and belief in children, ALL children, as capable learners!

As a novice myself, entering into the world of teaching, I have found Ms. Routman's book to be my bible, at my fingertips in the classroom and on my desktop when preparing lessons, research papers, and answering some of those tough questions like, "Well, Johnny doesn't WANT to read! What can I do to motivate him into a love of learning?" Ms. Routman answers this question and more.

I'm not talking about an author who gives wonderfully idealistic examples of "what to do", but an author who describes, through concrete examples, lessons, approaches, philisophy, and ideas as to HOW to set up your classroom and get your kids reading and writing. She also includes an abundance of resource information (in her "Blue Pages" section) as to where to seek out additional information. An entire section is outlined in detail on how to present "fantasy" writing for children. It's as if somebody took the time to do the work for you, yet she leads you to a place where you want to go beyond what she's done and create even more for yourself and for your students.

I have used many ideas and suggestions from this book, from "flip books" to the tiny "eight-page" booklet (out of a single piece of paper, no less!) in order to encourage my students' writing in ways which are both fun and meaningful. Never have I been met with a grunt or groan in my classroom when using an "enterprise" from Ms. Routman's book.

As for the "veteran" teacher, well...while I cannot claim to be one, I have seen (during my student teaching experience) teachers who are afraid (yes, afraid!) of making the leap from so-called "tried and true" ways of teaching to utilizing today's newer ideas in education. Routman addresses these issues in a non-condescending, respectful manner, and attempts to sort out ways of individualizing education, emphasizing cooperation in the classroom, and including ALL students in lessons no matter what their "seeming" ability is said to be, in order to bring each and every student to his or her fullest potential. This is not an easy task in today's classroom where the teacher lives and breathes under a microscope.

Perhaps there are better books than this one out there...if there are, I haven't yet located one which includes the wealth of knowledge and insight that this one does.

Call me an "over-zealous novice" if you must. I don't mind. I'm going with Routman and her suggestions. Go ahead! Try it yourself! Consider yourself officially "Invited"!

Routman's user friendly guide is well written, easy to understand and extremely practical to use. It has made me reflect on my teaching techniques in a whole new way and I now think and rethink what I do and why I do it. I have seen my at-risk students gain success using the program and I have seen my other students feel a love of reading and writing because of the techniques I learned. It does work.

Some say that whole language is a fraud and that it doesn't work. That is truly unfortunate. It has gotten a bad rap because many people assume that whole language ignores the skills. I taught phonics in my classroom and it was a whole language classroom. Phonics are necessary but just not the only thing necessary and this book helps you to find the other parts of a good literacy program!

For a book about reading and writing, Invitations is poorly written and hard to read. It is chock full of ideas that teachers can adopt and adapt for their classrooms, yes, but there is no sense of order to the book.

What I like about Regie Routman's Invitations, is that it matches my own theories and ideas about reading, writing, grammar, spelling, etc. What I don't like is she only gives you a lot of theories and ideas, but no framework to do it in. She doesn't tell you how to build up a foundation, how to get where you want to go. I suppose she doesn't want to because she figures that is a very individual process.

Other authors tell you what to do along each step of the way, and how to implement it. What is hard about Routman, is she doesn't give you a plan, a framework on which to build.

Routman is also very verbose. She has so much to say about a given topic, that I got lost, and I lost a sense of the big picture. I wish there was an abridged version of Invitations. It is so verbose, that it is boring.

I'm afraid that when someone opposed to Whole Language reads Invitations, they will see it as wishy-washy and loosey-goosey. Sadly, that's how it comes across even to a sympathetic reader. Why does she try to cover so much in one book? Why does she go on for so long on tangential topics? Why does she spend so much time quoting the excerpts from her letter-writing correspondence and interviews with teachers? It was a waste of my time.

Frankly, the most inspring and helpful material I got from Invitations was on pages 12-23 (which isn't saying much for a 500-page book). She discusses her philosophy of education and what she believes. Personally, I found this to be the most useful and inspiring. Inspiring, because it was full of noble and worthy goals. Useful, because it reminded me of several important things to be aware of, such as focusing on the strengths of every child.

I was assigned this book as required reading for a course in Reading & Writing Instruction in grad school. What I don't understand is why the instructor chose this book. It is poorly organized, poorly written, too long, and uninspiring. Because all the ideas are presented willy-nilly, there is little that a new teacher can take, grab hold of, and actualize.

Even for an experienced teacher, I don't think this book would be very helpful. Perhaps there are some people who just like a lot of vague ideas, and then will make use of the ideas in their own way. I have met 1 or 2 teachers who are so confident and are such catalysts, that they probably work best that way. But for myself, my team-teacher, and most other teachers I have met, people want concrete steps and directions when they try something new. Perhaps there is a group of teachers who work from a "big picture" perspective and so this book would work well for them.

What I couldn't stand about Routman was this: she would start the chapter regarding classroom management by talking about how behaviorism is old school and doesn't have a place in Whole Language. She says that rewards and punishments should not be present, except intangible rewards like use of the computer, etc. Then she goes on to say that praise is a vital tool to reinforce the behaviors you want to see children repeat. That's pure behaviorism.

The book is a great resource for teachers. It provides step-by-step techniques to help you teach different strategies to students in the area of language arts. Many of the techniques can also be used with other disciplines. One technique is called the KWL. It allows students to participate and to critically think. K=what do you know? W=what do you want to know L=what did you learn? Using this technique, it will teach students' strategies such as using their prior knowlege and predictions. The book also includes pictures and numerous examples to guide you. It promotes cooperative learning and draws from the interest of the students. The book also provides a variety of different techniques to reach students of all ability levels.

I am a former teacher-turned-stay-at-home-mom and I find myself referring to my tattered book over and over again.