Charts Charts Charts!

Reading Chapters 5 and 10 of "Catching Readers" got me thinking a lot about the importance of chart keeping and organization as a teacher. When you are becoming a teacher, organization and chart keeping becomes not only a daily occurrence, but a way of life! Charts become everything!

Last week I accidentally read the wrong reading for M301 (oops.. I read Chapters 1 and 2 of the CAFE book... but I might as well use my accidental knowledge now!) and what I read was also all about charts and the importance of keeping records. I think the reading in Chapters 5 and 10 coincides with this accidental CAFE reading.  So many benefits come out of chart keeping. With keeping a running record of when you have met for a conference with a student will keep students from falling between the cracks and keep you on task of knowing who you need to confer with next.  That is just one of the many reasons why you need to keep records!

Records and charts can also be a concrete proof of growth in a student. As much as you think you cam remember how much a student has grown from the first day of school, there are many details that you will simply forget if not written down.  This helps you as a teacher analyze your teaching and what to do next with this student.

Keeping charts will keep teachers on their toes.  There will be no scrambling around for ideas of what to teach a student in a one on one conference, because you will have the notes right there with you! You will know exactly what that student has accomplished in the past, as well as what that student needs to work on.

I think chart keeping will be a big change for me as a person. I am not one to write everything down (which I know I really should try to be a person like that). But, when I teach, I want to change myself into one of those people who always has their planner (or charts in this case) on them at all times! I want to be extremely organized in my classroom and this means having a multitude of running records on everything that goes on in the classroom. I want to also be an avid note taker, because I know in the long run it will help. I way to often think of something really great and forget it later because I never wrote it down! So, for the benefit of my students, I am going to start to make the gradual change to a really great chart keeper!

Beyond "Sounding it Out": My Thoughts

Chapter 4 of "Catching Readers Before They Fall" seems to me one of the most beneficial chapters that I have read from any of my books this semester. Something that I had always thought about during my past field experiences is how to handle a reader when they cannot read a word. Chapter 4 gives you many scenarios about what to do/say when readers are struggling. In my classroom, I will definitely be using the "MSV" strategies of word solving with my students. I feel as if this is actually easier for the students to understand than "sounding it out".

When I was in elementary school, I remember teachers constantly saying "sound it out!" rather than, "does that sound right?".  But, like what Johnson and Keier explain, most of the words in the English language can't even be sounded out! The English language is so confusing and crazy that I don't know how people could rely so much on the "sound it out" method. I understand that some words it might work, but I feel as if it would just be too difficult to enforce that strategy with my students. How would they ever know if the word was "sound-out-able"?

In my M301 field experience this semester, I am placed in a 5th grade classroom. By 5th grade, most students have reading strategies down pretty well, but the occasional struggle on a word is quite common among the students in my classroom. Last Thursday, I was reading with a student in their history text book when they came across a word they didn't know. I waited to see whether or not they were going to figure out the word (and to see what strategy they would use) and the student seemed to sound out the word, stop, think, and then finally say the word correctly. I think that this student started to sound out the word then maybe realized that it wasn't working for them, thought about the context of the word, then realized that it was a word that they have seen before. I had not read Chapter 4 by this time and I really wish I had because it would have been a great learning experience for me! Next time I go into my field experience I am going to listen closely to strategies these students use to figure out words that they do not know.

The Importance of ZPD

In just about every education class you will probably hear something about the ZPD.  Whether it is a methods class, a psychology class, or anything else, you have probably heard about it. But why is it so important that it is incorporated into so many classes? After reading Chapter 3 in "Catching Readers Before They Fall" I finally realized why this idea of teaching in the child's ZPD is so important.
 But how do teachers incorporate the use of ZPD in the classroom? I really liked the ideas that "Catching Readers" gave. One example of this was asking children individual questions based on their ZPD. I think this is an extremely good idea. As I was reading I was actually wondering how it was possible to be in each and every children's ZPD all of the time. This is nearly impossible, but asking questions specifically tailored to them is something that teachers should really incorporate into their lessons.  Not every lesson is going to be the same for every student. Some student might think it is too hard, some it might be just right in their ZPD, and some it might be into their ZAD, This idea of modifying questions may be one step toward getting everyone to learn within their ZPD.
I will continue to look for ways to work in every child's ZPD. With little ideas like the question asking idea, teaching can be a lot more successful.

Blog Post 1 - 9/8/14

Readings: Allington Ch 2 and 3

In Allington’s chapters 2 and 3, he includes essential information about reading that I believe all teachers should know and understand.  I have never really looked this keep into reading ablilities at the elementary level, but Allington has now given me the ability to do so!  In chapter 2, Allington says a lot about the sheer volume students read in their classroom and how beneficial reading time is in the classroom. As I was reading, I was trying to put myself in the position of a teacher.  How could I think of ways to make more time for my class to have reading time? Would it be possible for me to eliminate some of the “interruptions” Allington talks about? I feel as if I would need to establish an EXTREMELY structured system in my classroom in order to completely eliminate unnecessary interruption and transition time. I am not sure yet HOW I would do that, but I do know that I will need to develop ideas for this.  When I am in my field placement, I am now going to pay special attention of what strategies teachers use in order to have a structured interruption time (because interruptions will most definitely happen; that is just life). However, there was one thing that Allington talked about that I wasn’t completely in agreement with.

Allington talked about how some schools are now having their “specials” be 50 minutes long instead of 25 minutes long, and have them be only 2 days a week instead of 4.  I really like the idea of this because it would cut down on interruption time, but I think that for younger students this would become an issue with attention span. There is definitely no win-win situation with this, so I think teachers need to find that sweet spot.  We need to find that amount of time that is perfect for their attention spans, and is better on interruption time.  I feel this way because I have somewhat experienced something like this in the past. Over the summer I teach swim lessons and the swim lessons are for 2 weeks, 30 minutes per day (Monday-Friday).  However, our summer got cut short this past season, so our last swim lessons session was only one week long, with 45 minute sessions.  From my perspective, it seemed like the children’s attention span was not long enough for this long period of time, and therefore was not as productive as the shorter 30 minute periods. The children would stop listening to their instructors and just want to play games, and it would be hard for the instructors to get any work done with them.

In Allington’s Ch. 3, he mentions a program called Accelerated Reader as one of the leveling programs schools can use.  This is the leveling program that my elementary school used. When I look back on it, I remember not really liking “AR” because a lot of the books I wanted to read were not “AR” books.  I really didn’t understand the concept of it at the time, but now I realize what my teachers were trying to accomplish by having us read AR books.  By now, the AR program has probably expanded greatly, so the issue of not having enough books would probably be gone.

When Allington talks about “series” books and how predictable, have flat characters, and are mediocre, I was a little surprised. I was definitely a series book reader when I was in elementary school, but I never felt like it was ever a bad thing. I feel as if I fully developed my reading skills even though I was reading about the same characters over and over again. I see Allington’s point, but I think series books help children really enjoy reading! Later on Allington talks about promoting series books in the classroom. He talks about dividing the class up into “clubs” of different series. I actually think this would work out really well and students would really have an interest in it because these are the type of books I know that all of my elementary school classmates loved to read! Maybe the problem would be eliminated if we encouraged reading from multiple series, not just one series.