On Wednesday, May 28, 2014, we were at an assembly that encouraged recyclying and discouraged littering. I was standing along the wall, watching my class like a hawk! A colleague came up to me and whispered that Maya Angelou had passed away. My face ostensibly reflected the shock, dismay, and disbelief that overcame me!
Not only will I never forget where I was when I first found out that one of the greatest literary voices had fallen silent, but I also will never forget Dr. Angelou's spirit, nor will I forget the fact that most of my 80 5th grade students didn't know who she was!
As I explained to them, I do not blame them for not knowing (or even hearing) her name. A natural temptation would be to use this post to go into a diatribe over this whole school reform movement, but I'm resisting!
I'm choosing to remember Maya Angelou's words that passively aggressively speak to that movement as it relates to reading. "I want to write so well, that she's 30-40 pages in before she realizes she's reading."
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