Teachers constantly struggle to meet the educational needs of each individual in their classrooms.
This is a daunting task considering the unique combination of talents, learning styles, strengths, experiences, interests, and values each child possesses. When I first started teaching, I assigned students to reading groups according to ability. I knew my students were actually reading little and spending a great deal of their time filling out skills worksheets. I was not enjoying myself and my students were not enjoying the pleasures of reading. Then, one year, a teacher across the hall introduced me to reader's workshop.