RTI

After reading a fellow cohort member's blog post, it made me think about RTI in a different way. I think that RTI can be used for any student, not just students we may suspect have a learning disability. Kids who are "fake" readers may be doing that for many different reasons and getting them interested in reading through any means (even through some RTI techniques) will be very beneficial to them.

RTI techniques would also be helpful to ELL students. So many of them exit from the ELL program but still have difficulty reading and writing because they are weak on comprehension. Going through the RTI process with ELL students will get them the help them need without classifying them as Special Ed when they really may not be.

Classroom Libraries

Routman Chapter 5: Does your placement have a classroom library? How is it organized? What are the strengths in this organization and what are the limitations? Are there any changes you would make?

There is a classroom library in my placement. However, I don’t think it’s a fantastic one…

It is organized by reading level (Guided Reading Levels) and the kids know which baskets they can choose books from and which they can’t. I think they are allowed to pick books from their level and below, but never above! I don’t think this necessarily a good way to organize a library because it could make some students at the lower levels feel embarrassed. One of its major limitations is that kids aren’t thinking about how to choose a “just right book”, they just go the bin with their level labeled on it and pick any book. Maybe they would be able to read a higher level book if it was a topic they were interested in or something they had some background knowledge on, but they are not even given the chance to do this.

Another problem I see with the library is that there are a lot of really old books in it. Some books look like they have been there since I was in 5th grade (some them I even remember reading in 5th grade). I do think it’s good to have well-loved books but there comes a time when they books are just too out of date and need to be taken out of the classroom library.

One thing I really like about the library is that my teacher tries to have complete series that the kids like to read. She has many different series and has almost every book in the series! I have seen libraries where there is the first or second book or even just random books from a series. Sure it is a good way to get kids into a series, but I think they should also be able to finish a series (with book from school) once they start it. My teacher does a good job at making sure her students have this opportunity!

Shared and Guided Reading

Routman Chapters 9 & 10
What are the key differences and similarities between shared and guided reading? What elements of shared or guided reading have you observed in your placement?

Shared reading is more of a whole-class activity where guided reading is a small-group activity. Shared reading is a way to get all students involved and give all students a chance to be successful in reading. In shared reading, students follow along as the teacher reads either out loud or silently; they turn-and-talk to their neighbors to answer questions about the story. I think the most important part of shared reading is that students of any reading ability can participate and be successful.

Guided reading is more for teaching specific reading strategies to small groups of students who need it. Students will read passages from books silently (mostly) then talk to each other about what happened. The teacher is there to guide the conversation towards the reading strategies that are appropriate for that group of students. Guided reading is also a time for the teacher to observe how students are reading and what they may need next to help them be better readers.

Reading Conferences

After reading chapter 7 in Routman, reading conferences do not seem as hard as I thought were originally. I really like the idea that it can be an informal thing but a good assessment of the student’s reading ability can be gained from it. I have seen my master teacher do informal reading conference and it works so well! She just explains to the kids that she will be asking a few of them to come talk with her about their book that day during independent reading time. She really makes sure they understand that it is just a conversation and NOT an assessment!

With my Juanita buddy, I think I will follow Routman’s guidelines exactly. I think it is important not only to make sure a student understands the book they are reading, but that they think about their choice of book. Asking them to rate the book on how hard it is for them is fantastic! In my main placement, I talked to a girl who chose to abandon her book because she knew it was too hard for her and she didn’t understand what was going on. I think it takes courage to admit that to a teacher! I also agree with Routman when she says that sometimes a short reading prompt is not a good measure of a student’s reading ability. It is much better to sit next to a student with a book and ask them to read aloud while you take an informal running record. Their interest level in the material can really play into how well they read and how hard they are willing to try to understand what they are reading.

I think the overall key to reading assessment is to keep it as informal as possible. There will always be times when a formal district assessment is necessary, but until that time comes, the less pressure there is on a student the better they will do on the assessment.

Spelling Instruction

Templeton and Morris: What aspects of spelling instruction mentioned in this article do you see playing out in your placement? Pick one aspect to describe and discuss how it works with children.

In my placement I have seen students doing word sorts with their spelling words. From what I can tell they are closed sorts because the teacher has given them certain categories to sort their words in to. Students are in three different groups which are based ability level. However, I don’t think the kids know which level they are at because each group is working on different spelling patterns. One group’s words aren’t necessarily harder than another group’s words, they are just different. They do the sorts on their own and they also do them with a partner where they test each other for speed. Also during the week, they pick about 10 words to write in sentences. This helps them learn the meaning of the words and gives them more practice writing the words. When Friday comes and they have their spelling test, the teacher randomly picks about 15 words from their lists plus some words not on the list but that have same pattern they are learning. I like this method because it eliminates the potential for memorization and regurgitation. Students really have to learn the spelling pattern and how to apply it.

Genre

Out of all the readings this week the idea that interested me most was Routman's talk about genre. I was taught (as I am sure many of us were) about each genre in isolation, learning all the characteristics of the genre and writing to fit them. I really like how Routman in Ch. 8 talked about just teaching good writing and the different genres would happen more naturally. She also mentions that as teachers, we need to nurture students and give them what they need in terms of writing. If a student feels she needs to express herself with a poem, that would be a good moment to give her a mini-lesson about poems. In Writing Essentials, Routman said that, "The purpose for writing determines the genre or form the writing takes, not the other way around" (194). I completely agree! I have seen it done the other way around and seen kids struggle through an assignment just to get it done. They had no investment in the assignment whatsoever. I think the important point to take away here is that all we need to do is teach good writing and the rest will follow.

Grading Writing

In Elbow he mentioned that not every writing assignment has to be graded and Routman pointed out that like reading, becoming a good writer takes practice. I think these two ideas go hand-in-hand. Grading everything students ever write is not only time consuming for the teacher, but also sends a message to the students that they need approval.

I think that writing workshop (or something similar) is a great way to integrate writing time into the classroom. I feel that writing is usually done in spurts and are usually fairly substantial assignments. Writing every day is the only way that students will become better writers. This also means that students need to be free to write about whatever they want. That's not to say that there can still be assignments where students write about specific things (something has to be graded to show their progress!) Giving students that time every day just to write is necessary. It also means that teachers would have an overwhelmingly huge amount of grading to do, therefore, don't grade every piece of writing!

Tech Readings

This was an amazing video! Not only did it send a great message but the way it was done looked really cool! I agree that we need rethink a lot of things because of what the web has become and what technology has become. Seeing all the things we are capable of doing with technology made me realize that I still have a lot to learn.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally
This was a neat article! There is so much happening in the world of technology and bringing it into the classroom. This definitely requires students to learn an entirely new set of skills. This article brought that to light for me. Re-working Bloom’s Taxonomy and including all the verbs that have to do with technology made me realize how much you need to know to survive in our blooming technological world.

New Versus Old: Which is the Way to Better Learning?
Again, another great article! I have seen a similar situation first hand. I have had experience this year with older teachers who resist using technology because they don’t want to take the time to figure it out. These are the classes that seemed boring, even to me. I think it is important to teach in a way that students are going to learn best. If kids today are good at multitasking, are good at using technology, then I think that is how teachers should teach. The study in this article seems obvious to me. Of course students who are being taught in the way they learn best are going to do better on the test! I don’t want to imply that “older” ways of teaching are bad, they are not; they are just different. At the same time, I also think the older more traditional teacher should talk to other teachers who are comfortable using technology and learn from them. Maybe then they wouldn’t feel so intimidated by it.

Chalk Up another One for Blogging
I have to admit, I am not a fan of blogging… But, after reading this page about why Dan Meyer blogs, I can at least see the benefits of it. I think I resist blogging right now because it is an assignment and we have to blog about certain things which takes me longer than if I were writing about something I want to write about. If I were teaching and choosing to blog about what I am doing, then I may have a different opinion. I could see using a blog as a form of communication with students and even parents. It is an open, public, form of communication, which may have its limitations, but it at least could be used to keep parents informed about what’s going on in the classroom.

Getting the Word Out: Slaying Myths about Video Games
As I read this article, I couldn’t help thinking about the argument that chocolate is a vegetable because it is made from the cocoa bean. I’m not I agree with the idea that World of Warcraft is educational… My brother plays that game for hours at a time, completely cut off from the outside world with his headphone and mic. I think that games can be educational only if that was their purpose for being created. Sure there are games out there like WoW that can teach strategy skills or if we stretch it farther, communication skills, but there is NO way it would ever be approved to use in the classroom to teach those things!

Orchestrating the Media Collage
This article talks about a new kind of literacy; about being able to read and write in different types of media as well as being able to create something using different kinds of media. This article was harder for to follow and understand than the others… I don’t really agree or disagree with anything in this article. It seemed to simply present the facts about how technology is changing the definition of literacy.

Lamott

I haven't done a post about Bird by Bird yet, so that's what I decided to do this time. As I have been reading the book, I was first looking for quotes that I liked for whatever reason. When I read back through those, I didn't see any connection to how they would help me as a teacher. From then on, I have only marked passages that I could apply to kids (which are few and far between, but really great ideas!)

"If you write a long piece, and it is your first, and you are wondering if it's publishable, and it isn't, even by a long shot, someone should tell you this in a way that is gentle and yet not patronizing, so that you are encouraged - maybe not to pursue publication, but to pursue writing. Certainly this person might suggest you get a second opinion. But if he is too strident or adamant, ditch the sucker. Would you stand for someone talking this way to your children - for instance, telling them that they are not a very talented painter and shouldn't even bother? Or that their poetry is not very interesting? Of course not. You'd want to pay this person a little visit with your flamethrower" (Lamott, 169-170).

This idea directly relates to what my vignette is about. It is a teacher's responsibility to help kids learn to write. If they are harsh and say ideas are not good or that the child is not a good writer it will completely defeat them! Of course you want to point out what needs to be fixed, but it needs to be done in a way that is constructive; a way that is also a learning opportunity. This passage also relates to what Routman says in Chapter 9 of Writing Essentials. The chapter is all about conferencing with students and teaching them how they have the tools to be good writers. Children need encouragement in order to feel comfortable taking risks; however it should not get to the point where they are so dependent on it that they need approval at each little step along the way. Showing children that you value their efforts and letting them know gently when something needs to fixed will help develop strong, confident, young writers.

Blog Comment - Learning is Messy: Writing Phones

What a fantastic idea! This is a great way to give each student privacy but at the same time get them listening to how their writing sounds. I may "steal" this idea in the future :)

Structural Analysis

I am going to write about Fox Ch. 6 this week because it intrigued me. Structural analysis comes so naturally to experienced readers and I would never think to explicitly teach it. It makes sense to teach it, but there are so many exceptions to the rules! I saw a lot of exceptions to rules in the section about Syllable Patterns. English is such a complicated language... Why make rules about spelling, grammar, anything when there are just going to be exceptions to every one of them? Every student learns these exceptions but some master them and some don't. I still am never sure if "i" really comes before "e" or not! There is so much to learn and remember when learning the English language. I think it really is a marvel that we all generally turn out ok.

Exceptions aside, I do think it is important to teach Structural Analysis. It give students clues to meaning when they are able to see base words or Greek and Latin roots in longer words. These same elements are also very helpful for younger students who are still working on sounding out words as they read. Compound words are a young reader's best friend! Even if the meaning of the whole word has nothing to do with the meaning of the separate words, those smaller words are still clues to pronunciation. Structural analysis is a more advanced reading strategy but definitely a very useful one.

Added to Cohort Wiki

Free Worksheets I used one of these for my direct instructions lesson for Jean's class. They are all pretty simple, but look like they would get the job done. (http://worksheetplace.com/)


Ideas Galore! I found this when I was searching for thematic unit ideas. They have a ton!!!! Lesson plans are included :) There is a bunch of stuff on this site that I haven't ecplored yet so check it out!!!! It all looks great! (http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/)

Here is a great way to think about division when students are first being introduced to it.




This is a fantastic video from Scholastic about how to structure Reading Workshop. There are many other videos and teaching resources here as well!

Blog Comment - Learning is Messy: Interactive White Boards

I agree that the jury is still out! I am a student teacher right now and have been in classrooms with SmartBoard and ActiveBoard. In both situations it didn't seem like they were being used to their full potential. They were being used as a surface to project what was on the computer, which could be done without the IWB being there. But at least the computer was being used! One teacher didn't even use it because she didn't want to take the time or effort to learn how.

I think that if teachers were mandated to take a class that the results would be better. Teachers would know how to create Flip Charts and use the many other resources offered by interactive white boards to engage their students in learning. One solution I have seen is that the school district hired some teachers specifically to create Flip Charts for the math curriculum. These are what my master teacher uses. She likes it because she didn't have to take the time to create them not to mention all the time she saved on not having to learn how to make Flip Charts!

Shared Writing

Writing Essentials Chapter 4:
Consider the optimal learning model Routman introduces in this chapter in terms of teaching and learning writing skills. What do the components of the model mean? What do they look like in practice? How do these connect, compare, and/or contrast to your field experiences or past schooling?

The components of the model explain the different level of involvement for the teacher and the student. It starts out with the teacher being completely in control then gradually releases the control to the student. This model reminds me of a direct instruction lesson. The steps of direct instruction are "I do", "we do", check for understanding, and "you do". The "I do" is when the teacher is in control and is directly teaching the class. There may be some student participation but they are mostly listening. This is the same as the demonstration stage of the optimal learning model. The "we do" of direct instruction matches with shared demonstration. This is when the teacher is still doing most of the work but the students are involved in answering questions or giving suggestions (for example). Checking for understanding coincides with the guided practice piece of the optimal learning model. Is this stage the student is doing most of the work and the teacher is there simply to guide. Students may be asking questions of the teacher to clarify their understanding of the topic but they are not completely on their own yet. Once the teacher feels the students have a good understanding of the topic, they move on to "you do" and independent practice. Students are off working on their own in the classroom. This stage may also where homework assignments come into play. Homework is the ultimate independent practice activity since the teacher is not at home helping the student along. However, just because students are working independently doesn't mean they can't ask for support!

Writing

Writing Essentials Chapter 1: Consider the writing essentials listed on page 13. What is your response to these, as a writer and as a teacher? Which do you think are easy, and which are challenging? Does one strike you as being particularly powerful or problematic?

As a writer this list seems overwhelming! How is someone supposed to think about ALL those things at once and still get something down on paper? As it turns out, these are things that come naturally when writing about something that interests us. We don't even have to think about it, it just happens. Looking at the list as a teacher is a little different. It is still overwhelming, but in a different way. It makes me wonder how to go about teaching these things to our students. It doesn't make sense go through each one individually because they all need to be used together in order to produce a good piece of writing. However, it is a lot to focus on at once! There has to me a middle ground somewhere...

I think the easiest one is writing for a specific reader. Depending on the type of assignment, the reader should be pretty easy to determine. If the assignment is to write a letter, then the reader is whoever the letter is written to. If the assignment is a persuasive paragraph, the reader is mom who you are trying to convince to buy you that cool new video game for your birthday. Determining the reader is easy when you give students assignments where they are writing for a specific, meaningful, purpose. I think the hardest one is embracing language. Voice is up there too, but it students are writing for an authentic purpose, their voice will naturally come through in their writing. Embracing language is something that can seem forced. For example, if a student is very concise in the way they speak and just the way they are, it will be difficult and maybe even unnatural for them to experiment with language. It's just not who they are. It's still a skill they need to learn, it just would be more difficult to master.

Writing Essentials Chapter 2: "All students, especially those who begin school with limited literacy skills, need to think of themselves as readers and writers, see the processes as meaningful, and have positive attitudes about literacy before they can successfully engage in literacy practices" (p. 34). How do you respond to this quote? What connections can you make between this quote, your field placement, and/or your own experiences?

Students need to feel confident enough in themselves to take risks. Learning to read and write are HUGE risks to take! There are a ton of mistakes to be made before becoming a fluent reader or becoming a great writer. If students do not see themselves as readers and writers and/or do not have positive attitudes about reading and writing, they will not be willing to take the risks. Above that, the reading and writing they are being asked to do must be meaningful. If it's not, they will be even more unwilling to risk learning how to do it. When writing, especially, has meaning it will give the student more confidence because they will be passionate about it and maybe won't care as much if they "mess up". I have felt unconfident about my writing many times in the past. I could never think of a good way to start anything! It had to be perfect before I could move on which sometimes led me to just give up. Even now I have to really think about where I am heading before I begin writing. My reading experience has been different. I hated reading as a kid! I would choose to do ANYTHING rather than pick up a book. It didn't help that I was (and still am) a really slow reader. Thinking back on it, I never read for pleasure. I was so busy with other activities (mainly gymnastics, then theatre) that I only had time to read the books assigned to be form school. Once I was in college and had a bit more free time, I discovered how enjoyable reading could be. I relished the opportunity to live in someone else's world for a while. Until that point, reading held no meaning or purpose for me which caused me to hate doing it.

Writing Essentials Chapter 3: Routman asks us to examine our lives as writers so that we can more authentically and effectively teach writing. She poses four questions on page 41 for us to explore. Consider these questions and write a response about your writing process and yourself as a writer.

When I write, I have to think about where I am heading. I usually have a general idea so I can get started, then I refine it sentence by sentence as I go. When I don't have another thought, I re-read what I have so far. Doing this usually refocuses my attention and the next thought comes easily. During my re-reading I revise and edit if I find mistakes or things I don't like. By the time I am finished, I have probably read my work at least 5 times already (depending on how long it turns out to be.) When I am writing a bigger piece, I do this process paragraph my paragraph. Once I am satisfied with one paragraph I don't include it in the re-reading again. Once I am completely finished, I will re-read the entire thing (short and long pieces) a few times to make sure my spelling and grammar are correct; to make sure everything sounds right and makes sense. If I am stuck on a certain part and can't quite figure out how to make it sound right, I will read it out loud an few different way until I find the one that works. In general, my method of writing is to revise and edit as I go.

Drama in the Classroom

This is my ideal job! I want to be an elementary school drama teacher. This position does not exist in very many places here in Washington, but I hope that one day I will find one.

This video is an example of what drama looks like in an elementary school. I have learned about all of these activities and was excited to find a video like this on YouTube.

Welcome to the world of drama!

Middle School Math

So many things have been happening in my current placement! I don't have the time to write about it every day, but here is a synopsis.


I was really excited to be in a new district, in a new school, with a new teacher, and a new grade level. Middle school kids are so much different than elementary school kids! There is more drama, more cell phones, and more height! Many of the 8th graders are taller than me which is a little intimidating at times. However, I feel like there is less of a connection between teacher and students...


In elementary school you get the same kids all day and there are only about 25 of them. In middle school, you get 5 different groups of kids in different grades for a grand total of around 135 kids every day! And with only 50 minutes in each period, there isn't time anything besides math. There is no time to really get to know your classes. I miss that... I have been in my placement for a total of 4 days over 2 weeks and I know only a few names. In elementary school I knew all the kids' names by the end of the first day. It makes it harder that 5 different kids sit at the same desk throughout the day. One of the ways I learn names is by visualizing who sits where and I found that technique doesn't work in middle school.


4 out of 5 of the math classes are the gifted program. These students are very smart! This plus the fact that the teacher has the desks arranged in groups and these groups work together very well means that these students do not need much extra help. This leaves me and my partner to simply watch all day. This isn't necessarily bad, it can just get boring doing it period after period. Even in the one class that is not gifted, students always work with their group members to figure out answers to their questions. I still walk around to see what students are working on but there really aren't any questions to be answered. Another major difference between elementary and middle school - the amount of self sufficient behavior.


I am conscious not to interrupt students as they are working to ask them to explain something to me to see if they understand because if they don't have a question and it looks like they are doing the math correctly, then that leads me to believe that they understand. They are old enough to know to ask a question if they don't understand and to know when they don't understand. In fact, that is part of what they have to turn in with their weekly homework packet: they rate their level of understanding of the weeks' work on a scale of 1-10. They also know that it is their responsibility to come for help during the extra period at the end of the day if they need it. From what I have seen, they actually do this! There is just not enough class time to teach the lesson, practice the new skill, and make sure everyone completely understands.


I think I like elementary school better.

Word Identification

Fox Chapter 2:
Isolating Sounds: Activity 2.22 Picture-Sound-Letter Sort
*The focus of this activity is to sort pictures according to their shared beginning sounds and identify the letter that makes that sound.
*Hold up a picture and ask children to say the just the beginning sound. Talk about the letter that represents that sound and look for other words in the room that share the same beginning sound. Have one child glue the picture into the correct column on a piece of chart paper. Write the letter of the beginning sound next to the picture.
*My assessment for this activity would be to call on each student during the group activity and make sure they are able to put the picture in the correct column. Another option would be to continue the lesson and have students do their own word sorts. In these word sorts I would also be looking for correct placement of pictures in their corresponding columns.


Isolating Sounds Activity 2.34 I Spy (I like this option because it is something that can be used as a filler if there is extra time!)
*The focus of this activity is to check for students' understanding of beginning sounds by looking for objects in the classroom with a specific beginning sound.
*"I spy something that begins with ____" Students must guess the exact object the teacher is thinking of by using the beginning sound of the object as a clue.
*Assessment for this activity is to listen for the students' guesses of objects that match the beginning sounds the teacher has specified. It's a nice bonus if they can guess the exact object :)


Fox Chapter 3:
I can see both sides of the invented spelling dilemma... It is great to encourage students to use what they know about sound-letter relationships to guess how spell a word. However, I can see a potential problem when students are guessing at blends or some long vowel sounds. For example, an invented spelling for boat may very be bot. Continuing to spell boat that way could potentially lead the child astray and they may never fully understand the oa spelling of the long o sound since they have already come to their own understanding of how to spell boat. Their own long o rule could be generalized to other words with the same long o sound. Invented spelling can only be allowed for so long. Maybe one solution could be to add the conventionally spelled words to the word wall every time you see an invented spelling that could lead to a misconception.

Emergent Literacy

Sulzby and Teale Article:
Think about classrooms you have visited. What aspects of emergent literacy have you observed in young children? How have you seen teachers support the growth of young children's literacy?

Every so often when I have a chance I will sit down and read with niece (she is now in 1st grade). For her birthday this past February I told her I was going to take her to the bookstore and she could pick out any book she wanted. She looked at me and said, "I want a book that will teach me how to read!" It was the best thing I have ever heard come out of her mouth! We found such a book, a set of books really, and she couldn't wait! When we got home she opened it up and looked at the books. She couldn't read all the words in them yet, which I think bothered her. But the set also came with a bingo game where you match letter sounds with pictures. For example, if you spun the spinner and it landed on R, you had to find a picture on your bingo card that started with an R. She could not get enough of this game! She loved it because she was able to be successful in identifying the first letter and first sound of words even though she couldn't quite read the books yet.

In the classroom have seen teachers support the growth of literacy in the form of partner reading. Last year I worked in a 1st grade class at a private school. All these students already knew how to read and loved doing it! Whenever they were given reading time they always asked if they could partner read. Two girls in particular LOVED to read to each other! Often, one of them would take the role of the teacher and read to the other one as if she were the student. They helped each other sound out words when they got stuck and sometimes even told their own stories to go along with the pictures in the books. The teacher allowed this to happen because the students ended up getting more out of their reading time when they had someone to share it with.



Mason Article:
Identify and summarize the main points of the article.
Identify a specific quote, topic, or issue for discussion with your group.

The Mason article gave examples of how teachers read three types of books to their Kindergarten students: storybooks, informational books, and short phrase books. For each type of book there was a dialogue between the teacher and students that directly illustrated different ways to introduce each type of book, to check for comprehension during reading, and to summarize the book after reading it. For the most part, the technique for storybooks and informational books were very similar. The technique for the short phrase books involved the students more directly in the reading of the story with fewer interruptions during reading.

“…kindergarten teachers use a number of techniques to foster kindergarteners’ understanding of book” (61). Just like everything else in teaching, there is no one right way to teach kids how to read. There is not one way of reading books to a class that will work for everybody because each group of students is different. The more we learn about different techniques the better off we will be because there will be more ideas to choose from when the first one doesn’t work out.