Remember When?
Times flies, doesn’t it?
It is 5 years this June since I was hired for a centrally assigned position that I started that September. Fortunately, as my role in this school district is designed in a way that I can co-plan, co-teach, co-debrief and co-reflect with my colleagues, I am not distanced from students. Yet, I feel a twinge on my heartstrings when I pick up a picture book or find something exciting to share as I do not always have a classroom to take this back to right away, the next day.
So I rely on a quiet activity called “Remember When?” to keep alive the fond memories that keep the 21 years in this work as a teacher well irrigated so that they can continue to bring me joy. I am sharing one such memory below, deeply rooted in intentional planning and pedagogy.
The Corner Cafe
I have taught in 2 schools in my 21 year career.
At the school with the gorgeous sunrise, I was a Grade 7-8 science teacher then a Special Education Resource Teacher in an Intermediate Student Support Centre. Our core focus was literacy and mathematics, social skills and advocacy skills among others.
With the deep commitment to support my students, I had planned and intentionally set up the CAFE Bulletin Board based on the the skills development focus on Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expand Vocabulary outlined in the CAFE Book.
What Does CAFE Mean ?
In the book mentioned above and in the pedagogical process planned around it, CAFE means
- Comprehension
- Accuracy
- Fluency
- Expand Vocabulary
It Is Not “Just A SERT Thing”
Some colleagues with whom I partnered and co-taught also used this template to set up similar CAFE boards in their classrooms. Students, when integrated in subject areas saw the same skill building supports. They did not see this board as “Just something we do in the SSC”. My colleagues and I participated in authentic partnerships incorporating Tier 1 practices for the benefit of all students (and occasional teachers who worked alongside when we were away as the classroom was the 3rd teacher). Such partnerships are possible and work well when it is acknowledged that SERTs also have subject specialities.
It was not “Just A SERT thing” or something some students needed. We all used it. As a cricket and basketball fan, I would ask my students to recommend readings for me to demonstrate my understanding. We would use this space to document my wonderings around hockey and baseball, two sports with which I am not as familiar and students saw me as a comprehension constructor and fluency builder as well. They could give me feedback about what they saw me doing and bridged over to what they would like to try. Deconstructing my comprehension challenges and examining how I made meaning opened up space for students’ learning journeys.
And Then I Moved…
After 2004-2018, I decided to move to another school, after much thought and soul searching. When I got there, my 3-4 SSC was in a much smaller space. Students at this school did not know me and their previous teacher had left the school so they were not comfortable with change, I learned.
To support them as much as me, I set up another CAFE space at my 2nd school.
Here with the added emphasis on critical thinking but with younger students and a smaller space, I also incorporated individualized Q Charts where students could ask questions from their everyday lives. We moved to other topics through the year that aligned with their science and social studies classes so the pre-teaching of content vocabulary and comprehension access happened before and side by side with their subject classes. We CAFE’d everything.
Students Remember
The Corner Cafe became a beloved and effective Literacy Hub at 2 schools in The East in a large publicly funded school board in Ontario. You did not need an IEP to work in the CAFE. We worked together so that students felt stronger to transfer their literacy and mathematics skills in other settings. Our walls were rich and instructionally strategies were intentionally planned and implemented.
I attended the Grade 8 graduation ceremony last year at School 1 and 2 and plan to go again this year as my then-Grade 3s are graduating.
Soon after I left School 2 to take up my centrally assigned work, I would get emails from The Cafe Students. They set up their own “Cafe Classroom” and emailed me to invite. So, we organized a virtual visit through their teacher and I got to hear all the wonderful things they were learning and doing.
“We remember The Corner Cafe”, they said. Then after some “tell her, tell her” whispers, they added “And we practice CAFE”. That was a warm cuppa joy for me.
Some Guiding Questions
- How am I using the CAFE framework to strengthen student learning?
- How am I using resources connected to Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy to support my learning and professional judgement?
- How am I supporting content areas in leveraging CAFE in subject-based comprehension for all students?
- How am I using ETFO resources to support my work?
- Any others you may come up with as you continue your work through your career.
If you decide to or have already set up a CAFE in your school, please take a peek at the instructional areas highlighted above.
Things Change: Please Engage Professionally and Responsibly
Although research and practice have changed in Ontario and elsewhere over the years, when I did this work, some things were different. Now, there are new resources and conversations that guide our work as ETFO members and different school districts will likely have their own supported initiatives.
I therefore invite readers to see this writing and sharing as a window into that classroom where students and I strengthened our practices. We used this board and this mindset to strengthen content literacy as well because as a J/I teacher first and foremost, I was also mindful of the importance of being able to read and comprehend subject areas like science, social studies, history, geography and mathematics.
- The concept of CAFE is not my creation.
- I applied it to my classroom programme and students ad have shared the sources I used to develop this learning space in two schools.
- If you choose to set up a CAFE in your school, do reach out.
- If you have already set up a CAFE at your school, and want to discuss ideas, please connect.
With You, In Solidarity
Rashmee Karnad-Jani
