Fifth-grade teacher Emily Keifer believes in professional organizations. Since joining International Reading Association she has thrown herself fully into the group, attending meetings, taking a role in council, attending conferences and a leadership retreat.
The Indiana educator, who researches the role of multicultural literature in schools, says all of these experiences have enriched her teaching and she looks forward to a long and fulfilling career that will be sure to include inspiration from her peers and continued growth in IRA.
How did you begin your career and what led you to your current position?
My career began long before I ever attended an education class in college. I fell in love with teaching when I would sit my brother and sister down for “class” in our basement. I knew from a young age I had to have a career where children were the main component.
Since graduating in 2007 I have been working at Cowan Elementary School in Muncie, IN, as a fifth-grade literacy block instructor. Two years ago social studies was added to my curriculum. Language Arts has always been my subject of passion and I love helping place books into hands of eager readers.
How long have you been a member of IRA? How has membership influenced your career?
I have been an IRA member since my senior year of college. Dr. Rice, my beloved English professor, instilled in my class the importance of joining and actively participating in professional organizations. I joined IRA and started attending local council meetings. This led to taking a position in the local council, and becoming active in the state council. IRA has profoundly impacted my career as an educator. I have been fortunate enough to attend the past four IRA Conferences, which has given me a great deal of professional development, networking, and resources for my teaching. Attending the IRA summer leadership training retreat this year was also a wonderful experience that helped me grow in my career.
What do you consider to be your proudest career moment?
The proudest moment in my career isn’t just one moment—but many different, yet similar, instances. I love helping kids find “their book.” I firmly believe every individual has a book, or multiple books, that speak directly to their heart. There are books that have changed my life and impacted who I am; and helping kids find theirs is a joy. Sometimes I think of myself as a matchmaker—only instead of finding mates, I find book matches. When I see a child come alive while reading a book, my heart just beams. There is a book like that for everyone—educators just have to help find that fit.
Talk a little about your research. Why do we need multicultural literacy?
There are so many pieces of literature that help children not only learn about a life experience different than their own, but also expose a lifestyle that may be completely out of their range of knowledge. These books are a necessary part of the reading curriculum. However, just offering them as a choice is not enough. Students need to be engaged in discussion and research learning that helps them challenge the views they have. Why do they have these views? Where did they get them? Do those views need to be changed? Through these conversations, students can grow their thinking and challenge others in a respectful way.
So many more examples of multicultural literacy are finding their ways onto bookshelves and into classrooms. Educators are seeing the impact these titles can have when brought into a collaborative effort of teaching. However, we need to ensure all students have the opportunity to push their thinking—and the thinking of those around them.
What do we do next to make improvements?
I believe more educators need to become aware of the power multicultural literature can have in their classroom. Educators also need to be given the opportunity to study this literature, and learn strategies for creating a classroom discussion where all student voices are valued.
What role do you think literacy takes across subject areas? Do you see a shift in awareness?
There has been a huge shift in the role literacy takes across subject areas—even in my eight years of teaching. All content areas have literacy as their cornerstone. Fifth grade, the grade I teach, is such a pivotal age for requiring students to be proficient readers to understand content areas. Students continue to really use their reading skills to gain knowledge in areas such as social studies and science. This is great! Students start to really understand all learning is tied together. Educators need to help students construct their understanding that by gaining skills in one area—they will grow in other areas too. This also means educators need to understand the importance themselves, while seeing the importance of teaching other content areas from a literacy standpoint.
What are you reading (personal, professional, or even children's/YA)?
Currently I am in the middle of eight books—all very different however. Personally I am reading Positive by Paige Rawl, a student at Ball State University, which is where I teach a children’s literature course, and where I graduated with my Bachelors and Masters. A second personal book is Jodi Picoult’s new novel Leaving Time. Professionally, I am always reading Donalyn Miller’s books, Reading in the Wild and The Book Whisperer (this may be my fifth or sixth time through them, and Word Nerds by Brenda J. Overturf. Last week I was introduced to the story The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which made my heart sing from the very beginning. I am working on a lesson to use with my fifth graders, read it to my family over the holidays. I hope everyone gets a change to read this amazing title!
What advice would you give a new teacher that either you received or wish you had?
During my first year of teaching I took the advice of Kenny Chesney and started a “The Good Stuff” binder. In this binder I placed encouraging notes from other staff members, drawings from students, thank you cards from teachers, positive emails, and newspaper clippings. The things in this binder made me smile when I received them, and still make me smile when I look over them today. Everyone has rough days, and whenever I have one, I will look through some of these notes and letters and it really helps me remember what is important about education—being in it for the kids!
April Hall is editor of Reading Today Online. She can be reached at ahall@/.