Professional Development-"Strategies That Work" by Harvey and Goudvis

Even though I have taught for ten years, I believe that a perpetual student creates a successful teacher.  I have always taught in title one schools, the majority of students are not English native speakers. This effects their reading as well as their writing.  Their cultures are as unique as they are, they have different interests that are culturally influenced and I want to make sure all students find reading materials that are interesting. I have found many of the boys gravitate to non-fiction, comics, sports, and" Diary of a Wimpy Kid".  I will frequently go to the library and suggest books for them to read based on conversations.  It is important for a teacher to be flexible, I have grouped the student heterogeneously, therefore they can learn from each other as well.  I have a listening center with the story for those students who need the extra time.  I work in small groups to help them develop their skills and focus on their weaknesses.  I love learning new strategies to keep the students engaged in reading. I have enjoyed reading Strategies That Work new edition.  I have found some wonderful new strategies that I am going to implement in my classroom this year.


I am currently teaching reading for my rotation, I love to focus on one subject and create new lessons using different strategies.  I introduce my students to reading as I view it, a great love.  I  want to continue to give my students the tools to help them comprehend and question what they have read.  I encourage my students to discuss their ideas, questions and findings during and after they have read a text.  We explore the theme and main ideas of a story.  With non-fiction we try to find the authors purpose and how we feel about what the author is writing.  I want the students to become more involved in non-fiction, this is where I feel they are losing interest and comprehension. While we read, students are encouraged to jot down ideas  on sticky notes so we can discuss them.  Students are also required to respond to text through Angel, an on-line tool.  I also have them use a variety of web 2.0 tools to enhance their reading experience.  I have introduced them to story bird to help them with their creative writing skills, Go Animate for a book report and Prezi for research projects.  My goal for this year is to incorporate more technology, I have acquired 5 nooks for my classroom reading instruction.  I want students to become responsible for their learning and it is my responsibility to teach them how.  I will assess the students by their conversations and text marks.

I try to have a wide variety and genres of books in my classroom for the students to enjoy.  My goal is to create an environment which is calm and relaxing.  Time is always a factor, especially with the interruptions for assembly's, field trips, testing, etc. Many days I am unable to meet with my small groups for our book studies.  Every group is reading a chapter book by Ronald Dahl for a book study.  This lets the students dive deep into the book and discuss it with me and others.  I am fortunate to have many resources at my disposal, sticky notes, markers, variety of books, computers and nooks.

My Proposal

Plan to Teach
My Big Ideas for my reading instruction is enhance students ability to identify their learning process.  My smaller ideas and approaches I will use for this process are strategies I have found in Strategies That Work,  "Noticing and Thinking About New Learning" (pg. 97) and Inferring Lessons from chapter 9 are a few areas I found beneficial.

Develop a Plan
I will first do intensive modeling, students benefit and become more proficient when shown what is expected.  I will have the students read through a non-fiction text and have them use sticky notes to identify new, interesting, and confusing information. (pg. 97 7.2)  I will also have them also have them list inferences and questions on chart paper (pg. 147 9.8)  My purpose for this lesson is to assess how the students ask questions as they read and if they are thinking about what they are reading.  My objective is for the students to be able to think while they read and be able to support their understanding of comprehension and words.    The students are familiar with making text marks, but I have noticed they are not thinking about what the marks represent.  They ask right there questions instead of inferring or "thick" questions.  I will need sticky notes, non-fiction text ie Read Works, Reading Rockets, National Geographic etc.

Collect Data
I will collect data by observing the students and what they write and share.  The students will also be able to illustrate what they inferred or question along with their written response.  This will help the ELL and students who are struggling, I will also read the text with them.  I will collect their work.



 

     

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Holding Onto Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones: Conversations About Teaching Worth Fighting For

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Core Principles in the Middle of Great Teaching

Posted: June, 2009
Run Time: 35:29
Tom Newkirk, author of Holding on To Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones, talks with Nancie Atwell, author of In the Middle, about the core principles in their teaching, the obstacles that work against them, and the ways in which their teaching values have changed over time.

A Definate Read

As I finished reading Holding on To Good Ideas by Thomas Newkirk I was relieved to know there was a book that relayed the messeage-just because it's a new idea means it's a good one!  Newkirk gives a short journey though the history of Reading and Writing instruction.  Many of the ideas have circulated, while many have come and gone.  I found it interesting that Newkirk point to the standardize test makes for the Reading crisis "Those who are pushing standardized, scripted education first created a climate of crisis-despite all evidence to the contrary, they would claim that reading failure was widespread in schools, there we were in an epidemic, that schools were failing, that we were still a "a nation at risk," and that a big new remedy (their) was the answer." (Newkirk pg. 41)  With so many new and improved ideas, it was a relief to know there are some that are tried and true.  Mostly it's based on common sense.  Reading needs Writing, let students enjoy the process and not view it as a punishment.
This book is refreshing and humorous, he is honest in his view of the continually changing education instruction.  I would definitely recommend to this book to any one who has been frustrated by the education system.

"No I don't want to write another story!"- Students Everywhere

While I was reading Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones, the chapters about writing seemed very familiar.   As an educator we have been "taught" how to teach writing.  There is a format the students must follow, there is even a rubric.  The writing traits which include focus, organization, support and conventions.  We introduce similes and the wonderful world of figurative language, we encourage the students to use their own voice and ideas (as long as it is within the rubric, of course).  I use different books to illustrate different genres of writing and relate reading and writing as one.  I encourage them to be creative with their limited background knowledge.
To say the least it is frustrating, but I still love to teach writing.  Some of the student thrive with the expository rigid format, mostly my ELL students.  They know what exactly to do, there is limited creative requirements.  Others immerse themselves in the narrative world, create elaborate setting with wild characters.  As Newkirk points out some of the best writing is free writing, this I believe is important and more valuable than the writing I am teaching (don't tell the district).  Especially with the boys, as Newkirk explains, with censorship of writing boys fall dramatically behind girls in reading, and particularly writing, by the third grade.  Boys enjoy excitement, comics, video games more than girls.  I have more break downs during writing from the boys than I would like to acknowledge, the pressure from having to "create" to a prompt that holds no interest for them can be too much for them to handle.  Especially when they know it is a standardized test.
We are getting rid of writing FCAT and replacing it with responding to text writing.  Maybe this will eliminate the meltdowns (doubtful).  Maybe, I will have time to encourage free writing, they can explore the world of creativity without me reminding them of how many similes and pizzazz words they have, let them enjoy writing about what ever it is nine year olds find facinating.

Education VS. Micromanaging

I have enjoyed reading Holding on To Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones by Thomas Newkirk.  He writes a comparison of ER nurses and teachers.  An experienced ER nurse/doctor can make a diagnoses within minutes of seeing and speaking to a patient, they do not hesitate.  Newkirk quotes Lee Shulman who has studied both medical and educational decision making.  "The practice of teaching involves a far more complex task environment than does medicine.  The teacher is confronted, not with a single patient, but a classroom filled with 25-30 youngsters.  The teacher's goals are multiple; the school's obligations far from unitary.  Even in the ubiquitous primary reading group,the teacher must simultaneously be concerned with the learning of decoding skills as well as comprehension, with motivation and love of reading as well as word attack, and must both monitor the performances of six or eight students in front of her while not losing touch with the other two dozen in the room."  (2004, 258) (Newkirk pg. 28).
With all of this then why is it that educators are still being micromanaged?

What are your "Good Ideas" for reading instruction

Since reading Holding on to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones, I began to focus on as  educators we all have our stand by teaching methods.  Which ones have you do believe in even though there have been "new" and "improved" methods that have surfaced?

Finally!

Thomas Newkirk author of Holding on to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones states"There is an epidemic of teaching to the test-any one who denies this is simply not facing reality." pg. 4.  It is refreshing to finally hear that as educators we are being forced to teach to the test.  When I first began teaching I was shocked that the teaching was geared soley towards the test.  I felt the students were not getting a complete education.  I'm glad it is being acknowledged!