JCCL: The UNI Literacy Initiative
JCCL: The UNI Literacy Initiative
Darcie Wirth’s (’00, BA, elementary education) experience with the UNI Literacy Initiative, a professional learning experience offered through the Richard O. Jacobson Center for Comprehensive Literacy (JCCL), reflects the heart of the program.
“The experience has literally changed my life, both professionally and personally,” says the school improvement facilitator and math consultant at Prairie Lakes AEA. “It allowed me to honor my authentic self in a safe space with people who are so supportive, gain the confidence I needed to find my teacher-voice, and lean into what I know is best for kids. It also opened me up to other ideas and ways of thinking.”
Each summer, 16 teachers from across Iowa spend two weeks on UNI’s campus to study elements of transformative comprehensive literacy and identify a research project to be carried out in their classroom during the school year, with ongoing support and guidance from JCCL staff. This research is then presented at a statewide “Share Fair” at the Iowa Reading Conference in Ames.
Wirth was initially attracted to the Literacy Initiative because it was hosted at a place she knows and loves: UNI.
“I was also looking for an experience that would grow my leadership skills and give me some experience in literacy that would allow me to move my career in different directions,” she says.
I learned so much, made lifelong friends and colleagues, and grew in ways I never thought I would through a professional learning experience.”
On a personal level, Wirth feels the Literacy Initiative connected her with fellow educators in a way she never had experienced.
“I found friends and felt accepted, and that was something I had been missing for a very long time,” Wirth says. “I found myself beginning to flourish and to really like the person I was when I was in their presence. That showed me who I wanted to be in my daily life as well.”
After her experience with the Literacy Initiative, Wirth wanted more, so she signed up to be a coach for the initiative’s second cohort.
“I really enjoyed that year, where I spread my wings as someone who can help teachers, and I found out that I really like it,” she says.
Wirth started her first year at Prairie Lakes AEA around the same time, and the two experiences went hand-in-hand. Her time with the Literacy Initiative is what ultimately inspired her to pursue her EdD degree at UNI this fall. This summer, Wirth was excited to serve as assistant coordinator for the third cohort of the initiative, where she helped “coach the coaches.”
One of these coaches is Nicole Robinson (’21, BA, elementary education), who currently teaches fifth grade at St. Edward’s Elementary School in Waterloo. She wanted to take part in the Literacy Initiative’s second cohort to “learn more about literacy and not only grow as a teacher, but also for my students.”
She accomplished just that.
The experience impacted the way I look at teaching and gave more choice to my students on how they might want to share their thinking."
“I think the biggest impact it’s had on my students is giving them a voice with my classroom library. They can give suggestions of what books I should add and share book recommendations with other students.”
This is a shining example of the Literacy Initiative’s emphasis on comprehensive literacy at work — a teaching approach that focuses on the interconnectedness of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Robinson’s research project also highlights her takeaways of comprehensive literacy. She worked with one of her students to advocate for their own needs when it comes to the reading interventions Robinson put in place for them, communicating about what they think is working and what they’d like to try.
Now in its third year, the UNI Literacy Initiative is perhaps more important than ever.
“There’s a real concern that so many teachers are leaving the profession,” says Lori Norton-Meier, director of the JCCL. “We’re trying to create something that reminds teachers why they do this work. It’s the innovation, it’s the reaching kids, it’s the love of the act of teaching and learning. We want to support them as learners and why they wanted to be teachers in the first place.”
The Literacy Initiative has also had the unintended benefit of creating strong teacher voices.
“When you have the opportunity to gather with 15 other teachers from across the state of Iowa and have intellectual conversations about the choices we make in the classroom and how you put your beliefs into action, it raises these leaders up and gives them confidence in a way we didn’t know would happen,” says Norton-Meier.
Ultimately, the initiative has impacts that extend far beyond classroom walls.
“The Literacy Initiative pushed me to think outside the box and to dream about what could be, rather than what is or can’t,” says Wirth. “This is a professional learning experience like no other. I can say, without a doubt, that my students have benefited from all that I have learned, the confidence I gained, and the joy I now bring to every conversation I have.”
