"I don't get it" is so much easier to say than "I can't infer the relationships among the words, or the characters or between the characters and myself," or "I can't use the context to help me infer the correct definitions," or "I think the causal relationships are too distant and that's causing confusion." Teaching would be easier if students would use that language. But no. "I don't get it" is the synonym for all those problems.

That elusive it, the beginning of understanding, originates in the text but does not fully reveal itself on the pages. It is in the interaction between the reader and the text, between the words on the page and the images and ideas in the mind. It sits in the interaction of the author's words and the reader's wonderings as the reader navigates what the author has said and has left unsaid. Bridging the two requires that readers make inferences."  -Kylene Beers, 2023

Using the research of Beers and Probst and the scaffolds provided in the second edition of When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do (2023) by Kylene Beers, we will unpack the tacit knowledge and skills that make masterful readers (teachers) able to produce inferences with speed, clarity, and accuracy; and evaluate how those same knowledge and skills elude our students. Join us for this hands-on workshop aimed to enhance teacher clarity and classroom technique.