Monday, October 26, 2015
Alisha Bridges August Blog
When Reading "Not This: Section 1" I was faced with a similar question that I see in all my fellow educators' blog posts: "What can we cut?"
As a teacher, we don't waste time willfully because we know it is a precious commodity. We can, over time, fall into a routine of what we find comfortable rather than best practices. To combat this, it is essential to revisit your routines and norms periodically and see if the reason they were implemented is still a valid reason for the betterment of your class. Only by answering these questions, and every educator's answers will be different based upon the needs of their class, that we will be able to find what we can cut.
Knowing what is deemed essential within a reading block is another guiding principle we could use to determine this. I feel that is essential that students have guidance and a teacher as a thinking model while they model excellent reading strategies for the students. Students also need the chance to try out these thinking and reading strategies while they get feedback from their teacher, who is the reading pro. A lot of times we get caught up on what the reading program we are supposed to be teaching with says we need. This is a disservice to the kids we teach. We need to get to know them as readers, ascertain their needs, and then think about what we do as readers and how our brain processes print to make meaning. Then it is up to us to give the readers we teach all the clues, strategies, and hints we can to put in their own toolboxes to become pros at reading themselves. Even the newest teacher has at least 15 years of reading experience!
I agree that SSR and DEAR are not enough. Independent reading must have structure. Kids (especially in the younger grades) need to know what is expected of them during this time and how to check their own participation. Independent reading also needs instruction. This could be your small group reading lessons or a minilesson on something you've seen your whole class struggling with in their reading previously. Independent reading must have support. That support means you provide and recommend and track the books the kids read. You conference with them about their reading. You take interest in the readers they are becoming. You enjoy books with them. This kind of meaningful independent reading does need to happen in classrooms daily as the author suggests.
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I struggle with conferencing with them during their independent time. We read appropriate books in guided reading, which they put in their book baskets, after mastery, to read during their independent time. However, I do not go into read to self with them to ensure they are still reading with fluency or expression. I need to find more time to sit with them and allow them to read to me because you are exactly right, I need to learn who my kids are as independent readers so I can take that information back into guided reading lessons.
ReplyDeleteAlisha, I love that you state that we as teachers must review our practice each year to be sure that we are doing what best meets the needs of our students! We can get comfortable, and that's not good for the students. I love too that you remind us that we have to teach procedures, or the "how-to" of independent reading to our students.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we as teachers can get comfortable with certain routines and procedures. As we continue to grow as educators it is so important to reflect upon our practices and what we deem as important. In doing so it is helpful to keep up to date on recent research. I know this helps me as an individual to reflect on my teaching practices and make changes based on current research as well as the needs of my students. I also love what you say about the fact that even the newest teachers have years of experience with reading. It is important for our newest teachers to feel confident in their ability to teach reading. What better way to encourage them than to have them realize the experience they already have!
ReplyDeleteHi Alisha,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Miller and Moss that while we do not ever have enough time and we do not have the power to create more of it, we do have the opportunity to critically reflect on how we are using the time we have and to consider ways to maximize our students' engagement and the way we utilize what they are doing during independent reading and writing time. Like you, I see the positive intent behind DEAR and SSR but they are lacking in support and feedback. As teachers we need to be able to feed into our students' independent reading through instructional mini-lessons targeted to our students' needs and conferencing and use the data that comes out of this to inform the next cycle of mini-lesson, application, conference time. Thank you! Sincerely, Dawn