What are you wondering about in terms of reading and reading instruction? What questions do you have around the ideas that have been floating around your buildings? What are you hoping to get out of being a part of this group for another semester?
Take a few minutes to do a quick write about what you are wondering about. It may end up as a list of questions or it may be that you will pose one or two questions and end up writing about them. Remember, when you do a quick write, just let your thoughts flow. This is an exercise in figuring out what you are thinking and wondering about and you may not even know until you begin writing!!
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16 comments:
I feel as if I am on a very exciting ride at the carnival and I don't want to get off!
That is my feeling about what I have learned from this class. The fact that all of my students have learned and demonstrated comprehension from using the strategies I have taught, is testimony enough. Not only have the kids shown understanding, but they have also taken ownership of these strategies. We use them and refer to them in every subject across the curriculum. It is truly an amazing thing to see.
I have always taken part in every opportunity and new teacher training that the district has provided, but this is the first time that it has made sense, and has really made a difference in my method of teaching.
Around the building, other teachers are talkng about what they are learning and trying in their own classrooms. The kids are truly benefitting from all of this. We may not see it on the NECAP scores for this year, but it will make a huge difference in the scores in the upcoming years.
I am feeling like all of the strategies are finally becoming a lot clearer. I still need to do a little more organizing of all of the materials we have been given.
I have a lot of activities that I want to try and look forward to learning more this semester.
The big question I still have is about how to set up a reading workshop model in my classroom (especially now that we are halfway through the school year.) I feel like maybe it is best to just start next year off doing this and spend the rest of the year becoming more comfortable with all of the strategies.
I wonder where this journey will take me. As difficult as change can be, I am enjoying learning to use a different approach to teaching reading skills. I have revised my schedule and am working toward being more efficient to be able to keep to the schedule. I am wondering what the "Reader's Workshop" format looks like in other first grade classrooms. I hope to gain more knowledge/skills in putting the workshop model into practice while feeling confident that all learning goals are being achieved. I wonder if I will ever be able to publish my comment on the first try.......
I have always believed in strategy instruction to allow students to be able to "do it on their own". Working with students that struggle in reading to begin with, they are not going to read outside of school unless I show them tools and strategies to help them be successful. We have to enable them. I have enjoyed learning more about comprehension strategies. I really enjoyed the wordless picture book activity we did with schema and inferencing. I have always liked using wordless books for reading strategies, and now I have a new purpose for them with comprehension strategies! I would really like to take the time to organize and compile resources for comprehension strategy activities. I hear classroom teachers wanting more information on readers workshop. It would be valuable to learn more about how to manage this successfully in a classroom. I also hear them saying that there seems to be a new initiative each year, and when will we (as a district) take the time to see an initiative through so that everyone is successful. It can take as much as 3 or 4 years to become proficient on something new. We don't give it that time. There will be a new initiative next year on math, or science that will take time, energy, and resources away from futhering our understanding of conprehension instruction and reader's workshop. What is really important in elementary school?
Yesterday was our 'Teacher's Workshop' day and my first question is...why do I always feel much more exhausted at the end of these workshop days compared to days I spend with my students? Our afternoon was spent with grade level colleagues (to start out) to make a chart of our 'strengths' and 'weaknesses' towards moving to a 'Reader's Workshop Model'. What are we feeling comfortable with? What do we find challenging? We then met in the library to display the charts (all grade levels) and to see what each grade level brainstormed. Many questions arose from this activity...especially in light of the overview of assessment needs from the a.m. If we are moving away from a reading series (McGraw-Hill) then what are the common threads we need to be sure to keep intact at each grade level? Right now many of us still use the sight words, vocab words, and spelling words from the McGraw-hill series as it is integrated into the stories & this does, in my opinion, make the words meaningful to our students and there is some consistency with the word work/spelling patterns, grammar, etc. being taught within our grade levels. Right now we have a continuum report(first-second grade) that is tied to McGraw-Hill to measure progress. Does this need to change and if so in what new way will we report progress to parents? I started using a 'Reader's Workshop' framework last year with my first graders & feel I am doing better this year (having learned from my mistakes...and gained more knowledge about the strategies & how to teach them) but I still use some of the pieces of McGraw-Hill (leveled readers for guided reading & core story to teach comprehension strategies or phonics & grammar skills when it is a good match). Is this wrong? My students are engaged in the stories (most of them) so doesn’t this matter? I don’t want to lose sight of a balanced literacy approach. I hope to learn more mini-lessons to teach the strategies, gather more resources, and learn how conferring helps me to move my students forward.
Right now I am both very excited and worried about my reading block. I love that my students are choosing books and actually reading them themselves and I love that they are choosing books for a free time activity over games, puzzles, etc. Just today one of my girls asked if she could 'share' the end of the book 'Marley and Me' because she had just finished reading it. Her sharing led to a nice discussion and I wonder if it will set a precedent in my class. I worry because I am afraid that I won't get to all my students during conference time and I don't have a good feel for where some of them are or have much documentation for report cards. Knowing this, I have decided to work with one reading group a week and the other students will be reponsible for completing book projects to show their understanding of the strategies and the story. I also worry that an administrator will ask to see the difference between what I was doing and what I am currently doing and how it benefits my students. Right now so much of my lessons center around discussions. I am hoping that working on book projects will 'prove' that my students thinking is beneficial.
I am wondering how I can best continue to change my "literacy stations" time of day to incorporate the elements of a readers' workshop that I find most relevant to first graders. Right now I feel as though I am getting a handle on what my version of a readers workshop will look like, but I am starting to second guess my ability to acknowledge what my students' needs are in the way of mini-lessons. I Feel as though sometimes I am completely baffled as to where I "go" next with respect to the mini-lessons. I have a feeling that couple of primary resources might be all I need to move myself in a more confident direction though...so if anyone knows of any, please feel free to share!
For our second semester, I would love to focus on the activities and lessons we can utilize for each trait and since the district is moving into a new "assessment" focus, it might be nice to discover various ways that strategies could be assessed and reported on.
I signed up for the 2nd semester for 2 reasons: to get another credit, and because I have enjoyed the ideas and discussions from the 1st semester. I did find some of the exercises "Painful" to do (the metaphor paper and the poster). But, for the most part, I found them helpful, even when they were painful.
I am wondering about where the district is planning on going with all this. I wonder if readers workshop will be mandated, just as the basal was a few years ago, and whole language was before that. I wonder if they will ever let us try something new, spend time to master it, and then be able to do it for a few years and make improvements, before changing it again.
I feel fairly comfortable with the teaching of reading and can make the best of whatever materials I am required to use. I am cautious in my approach with new methods and insist on seeing the benefits myself.
I see many of my students verbalizing their thinking, not just in reading, but across all the subject areas. I wonder if those students who now verbalize thinking always did this anyway in their heads. I wonder if this thinking aloud and annotating is making a difference with the lowest of readers. I'm not sure how to measure this and I find the grading of strategies is very subjective.
I plan to visit a 5th grade class to observe readers workshop. Then I will decide if I prefer it to literature circles. I am still concerned about the lack of in depth discussion when each person chooses their own books. I worry about the logistics of organizing it all, and what is involved in correcting and assessing.
I recently felt a sense of accomplishment after spending several hours on a Saturday reorganizing my classroom and my classroom library. I came in after the teacher day refreshed and ready to finish the leveling and jump into readers workshop. After 3 days the remaining books are almost completely leveled, but I don't have enough space for them all. And I'm really not sure how to jump into workshop. After speaking with Tomasen this week, I'm realizing that I don't need to completely leave everything I have been doing. I can just adjust things. I think workshop is a little different in first grade than the upper grades anyway.
I am wondering where the district is headed though. If everyone isn't required to take these LTT sessions, then how will other teachers know what to do? How are we all going to be getting the same message across, if some people aren't participating and learning readers workshop? I have gotten a lot out of the classes and have absolutely seen a difference in the level of discussion in my classroom. I know that first graders (most of them) have the ability to be "deeper" thinkers, I just worry that what I'm doing isn't as in depth or isn't on the same level as other teachers. I want my students to get the most of out our time together.
As I read and reflect on the comments posted, it leaves me with so many questions regarding implementation and purpose. One of my main questions is that in which I posed at both of my book clubs? When teaching children how to strategically engage with text for understanding, do we use "activities" or do we use "structures"? I labeled activities as lessons are usually taught once with a product/outcome that is finite, but a structure is something that can be used with many texts, strategies, and overtime for GRR. Is this something that we can talk about more this semester at LTT?
I love teaching reading again. It's so exciting to see my students participating during think alouds with connections and questions that dig for deeper meaning and help them to better understand their reading. Children who were afraid to take risk now eagerly raise their hands and share their thinking with the class.
I want to find the time to organize lessons for each strategy and plan how those lessons will fit into the reading schedule. I have created and implemented many lessons but I don't feel at this time that it all fit nicely together. I need to work on my reading block and design it so that I'm doing all that is required and that I'm conferencing with all students and meeting their needs. I know with time it will all come together and I'm excited about journey.
I'm wondering about so many things in terms of reading instruction...first and foremost, I'm constantly wondering if I'm "doing this right". I just want, so much, for my students to get the most out of reading instruction. I want them to grow in their depth and understanding of what they read, and I want to be able to guide them to that end. I'm wondering if others are feeling the same. I'm wondering if my trial with choice in reading will be successful, and if I'll actually be able to let go of some of the control/stranglehold that I've had on reading instruction. I'm wondering if I'll be brave enough to give it a try. I'm hoping that this second semester will build both the depth of understanding that I have of the strategies, and my confidence in my ability to use them effectively. I'm hoping to learn more from my colleagues, and to branch out to visit and observe others....how does it work? I'm looking forward to, as Janet said, continue the ride!
Dolly and Deanna both asked a question that has been lingering in my mind and that is 'where is the district going with this?' I always thought that the district did a good job of looking at and revising our curriculum maps even though it may mean more work and some hard changes for us. But now we (teachers)are trying to do something worthwhile for our students and how does that fit in with the districts initiatives? I spent today, our snow day, working on report cards and trying to fill out continuums using information that doesn't match the descriptors. Now I need to go back to school tomorrow and assess a few more students so that I can finish their report cards. My time could be better spent doing other things. Last week on Tuesday we spent a disappointing and frustrating day discussing assessment. All I could think of is, 'What is the purpose of this?' because none of it is refelected on our report cards or end of year district records. Right now I feel that I am assessing what is on the report card so that I can fill it out. However the district is supposedly committed to comprehension strategies - very poorly reflected on our report cards.
I also feel as though we are always being judged on our ability to teach. We will all be observed formally at some point and I think we all want to show that we are quality teachers. We are all so willing to do it 'right'. And sometimes I think 'right' means what the district wants, not necessarily what is right for our students.
This is my blog from last week. I was not able to post it, but it is working now...
I still wonder about a lot...The biggest question I have is how to begin a readers workshop in my classroom. I do feel that I am becoming more comfortable with the strategies. The kids seem to do well with them and are really catching on. I think this is a more enjoyable way to teach.
Sometimes I feel like it is a partnership between me and the kids we are working together to think about our reading rather than me teaching
and them "learning"
As far as the readers workshop goes. I feel like I would need to see it in action before I could actually run it in my classroom. I think I have many "parts" at this point and am waiting to put the "whole piece" together!
I do feel much more energized about teaching reading.
THIS IS DIANA BATES
In response to the first blog this is where i am now--I am to the
point where my children have sorted and labeled
our classroom library and they quietly remain on task through the
reading workshop- Most pick just right books. They put there name on
the board for conferences
I have a few forms Im using when we conference. Friday i started to
literature groups for lack of a better name.
But it doesn't feel solid.
Are children reading the right stuff?
Do I have enough just right books for the students avarice appetite
for books.?
Are some skimming and flying through and I can I manage it all?
What happens with a bigger classes of young children?
I don't feel I have an organized introduction of focus lessons
losts of questions
db
I have been thinking about my students and how much I they are sharing during a read aloud. How some of the struggling students are starting to actually share their thinking and are now willing to take a risk. I do wonder if my shift in focus on comprehension will affect fluency. My literature block is very different and I am still monitoring my students’ fluency, but do I need to have more of a balance in fourth grade.
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