This will be our last post for this class.
On this post I would like you to think about this school year. How has your thinking changed about your struggling readers? Do you think you have changed as a reader by being involved in this class? Have your teaching practices changed as a result of being a part of our SCRI Study Group?
Thanks for being a part of our first year!
14 comments:
Having graduated recently from college, the study group hasn’t been (as other things have been) a game of catch up. Many of the concepts and strategies we discuss were the foundations of my master’s program. Therefore, I feel like I’ve come to each meeting with something to offer…and not just the “young gun” who has much to learn. It has been wonderful to be around willing ears and amazing educators! Thank you so much for the experience and support!
I really enjoyed learning about all of the reading strategies. I think that I now have methods to help struggling readers. I will share my knowledge with others even if I don't have an individual class to try things on myself. I learned a lot in the class and have not enjoyed a class more than this one. I will say that the surveys got a little redundant. The blogging was fun up until I the point that I coudn't find some of them that I thought I had already done.
My ultimate goal this year was to understand how to formulate a “reading long-range-plan” in order to best meet the reading needs of my students. After my first two years teaching, I believed my long-range plan needed to reflect sequential reading mini-lessons; the goal would be to move students through reading strategies toward becoming independent readers. The culmination, I figured, would be something to the effect of having students read a major classic and be able to manage their own reading for the most part. Maybe that culminating piece needs reconsidering, but my goal for the sequential reading lessons has not. Increasingly this year, I think the traditional unit model doesn’t fit reading instruction (or perhaps any effective instruction). It is too compartmentalized and limiting for something like reading, which, as I’ve been reminded, cannot be neatly packaged. Through this class, I am more confident in planning and focusing my reading instruction within a logical framework that builds upon students’ skills as the semester goes.
I would like to in many ways second Kate's comment. The class as a whole was not necessarily a revelation of new ideas but a wonderful environment that provided me with the support that I so desperately needed this first year of teaching. My favorite part of the class was being able to see how ideas can be manipulated and used not only in different subjects but by completely different teachers. One strategy instantly became 15 strategies amongst the wealth of knowledge and experience in our study group. It was really good to get a refresher on my grad studies when they were finally practical. It was often hard to see how the ideas could be used when I was in the higher-learning theoretical world of college. I would probably have forgotten to include many of the awesome strategies from my studies if it had not been for this class. Thank you BC-SCRI. It has been a real experience.
I have really enjoyed this class. After taking many different classes, this has been the first class I have been able to immediately take concepts into the classroom. It was especially powerful to create the portofolio. The portofolio has provided an opportunity to remember the activities completed in various classes, reflect on what has worked, what we would change, and what we may never try again, as well as offer a starting point for next year. I am getting new textbooks for a few classes, and this will be the perfect opportunity to incorporate newly learned ideas and concepts and make them my own. Thanks and I am looking forward to next year's class...
This is the most practical class I have taken because it something I have really used and will continue to use in my classes. Paula is certainly an inspiration. I feel like I have so much to learn from the new teachers. I am so impressed with their creativity and dedication. Of course, I also got some great idea from the “old” teachers as well. I loved hearing about the strategies that others are using and being able to discuss what works and does not work. It is nice to be in a class with peers from BCHS because we speak the same language and we all know the students we are teaching. I have to compliment Barry on having the fortitude to take a class with all women.
On Reading, Learning to read, and Effective Reading Instruction
Did everyone notice that the actual article was the about the same amount of pages as the research cited pages? What this tells me is that many hours have been put into learning how we learn to read and effective reading instruction. I believe the results of each study show similar results. The task at hand is getting educators and parents to follow the effective reading instruction guidelines. The guidelines that I think are probably most difficult for teachers to follow are the following: building background knowledge of topics, building partnerships with families, and providing ongoing support to students who need additional instruction.
The building of background knowledge can be difficult for teachers because often students have
varied experiences. Some students may have parents who read to them, take them to museums, travel places, while other students may not have ever experienced a family vacation. The building of partnerships with families is often another difficult task because some parents are working many hours and can’t make many meetings, others have the attitude that the schools should do it all. They don’t feel the need to “partner” with the teachers. Providing ongoing support to students who need additional instruction is often difficult due to large class size,
lack of after school transportation, or limited resources to help students whose first language is not English.
I am happy to say that Lex Two’s policies seem to be in line with those cited. Teachers are respected and treated as professionals. We have materials in the media center that are engaging, and age appropriate. Beginning reading instruction is provided. One of the areas that we need to improve in right away are more reading materials especially in Spanish for students to become competent readers in Spanish while they are learning English. Another area that courses like this one will continue to help with is “providing opportunities for teachers, parents, educational leaders, and the public to continue growing in their understanding of how we read, how we learn to read and effective reading instruction.
I posted twice because I realized that I left out a lot more than I had intended in my original posting.
This class has certainly brought about a great deal of reflection. Like Elizabeth, I intend to keep some practices/strategies and rethink others. The new materials, books, and insights certainly have changed the way I will approach content and methods of presentation in my classes.I agree that it was a very, very practical class, and I always came away from a class with something new to implement. As Marysusan said, the portfolio gave us a means by which to process all the information and make it very personal. Two "big thumbs up" on the class, Paula, and thanks for everyone's input this year!
The portfolio is what actually helped me see how much I did re-think and re-see this year. I know I am quite stubborn about some of the things I do or don't do, but as has already been stated here, I can see that it is not a matter of throwing out the old--just refining it and adding layers to it. Through this year's group, I have seen that I am not the only one to struggle with certain elements of teaching reading and language--which is helpful on those dark days.
And this class has also shown that I can still learn--that there are newer strategies and refined techniques that will strengthen the things that I'm already doing.
It was well-worth the time to take this class.
...and I work with some pretty smart people. :)
I needed to have the upgrade on my strategies for reading and writing.
I am old school I mean REAL OLD School. This has been most helpful especially in the areas of helping struggling readers and writing promps.
These new ideas have giving a booster shot to my class. I have also learned a great deal from my peers. Thank-you for all of expertise and compassion in a career that does not always give the credit where it is due!!
You can fly paper airplanes with me anytime.
This has been a fun class. I've really enjoyed listening to all of the discussions. The research we explored was not new to me, but the strategies were.
My thinking about struggling readers really has not changed. I've been teaching this population of students for 29 yrs. What has changed for me are the strategies I implemented. While some worked better than others, none of them were a "bust." It has been amazing and fun to watch over the year, the increase in comprehension, just by using Best Practice Strategies.
The students definitely have benefited.
I have changed in all areas when it comes to my outlook on reading. I was a bit skeptical at first, and being the only guy in their was no small task, let me tell you. As a lifelong non-reader, it has opened my eyes to the importance of reading. My students have definitely benefitted from the strategies I took with me from the class. They, I believe, now enjoy reading a lot more than any of my previous students. I really enjoyed it, and you did a great job Paula. I have actually read more this year than I ever have. That is a tribute to you Paula. A special thanks goes out to Mrs. Summers for keeping me in line. That too was not easy, I assure you. I always was a terrible student. Thanks for everything.
I enjoyed being a student in this class. It was very helpful to participate in the discussions with colleagues, and to learn about the strategies that they use in their classrooms. My students enjoyed the activities as well. I look forward to developing more reading projects with my French classes next year!
I enjoyed many of our discussions regarding literacy. As Ruby Payne references there were many "aha" moments when the research and studies made sense in the reality of the classroom. Strengthening literacy strategies cross-curricularly is so important and I think our study group has made an amazing gain at it!
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