Next Steps in the Journey: Outgrowing the Current Self: A Case for Cultivating Conscious Competence and a Sense of Possibility

Wilhelm takes another look at the content analysis of Voices from the Middle and condenses it into a search for answers to a couple of key questions: What makes effective literacy teaching and learning at the middle level?What makes a great middle level literacy teacher? In looking for those answers, he reflects on the complexity of teaching, the path to “conscious competence,” and the role of Common Core Standards. In the end, he concludes that in spite of the challenges, teaching is a “magical endeavor”!