Teaching Essentials, Ch 2

Trying to slowly move through this book so I can actually learn and apply some of the ideas! {What a thought!}

At the very first of this chapter, Regie Routman says, "once students believe 'I can do it!' anything is possible." Oh, I so want to create that kind of environment/ belief system in my classroom - but it is not there...yet. This is so frustrating to write this morning, after one of my little friends had a serious meltdown yesterday, basically over his belief that he can't do it - and in his mind, I almost feel like "it" involves everything. 

The last part of this chapter, Routman really focuses on celebrating. She reminds us to have "celebrations of specific strength - not idle praise." And her list of celebration includes "affirming, congratulating, showcasing, noticing, and making public ... actions and work learners have done or are attempting to do." I like that last little bit - attempting to do. I have a group of three very low readers, and a second group of low readers. I need to notice - to them! - not only the progress, but the attempts they are making. This is something I feel I need to do a better job at, especially during Guided Reading. And just as I was typing this, I thought, maybe I need to have them think about what they've done - what hard work have they done during our 15 minutes together. 

One small thing that Routman said in this chapter is "I try hard not to repeat what students say." Hmmm, that comment got me to thinking. I almost always repeat what students say. And I think I do it so much, they look at me and wait for me to do that. That also got me thinking about my frustration with some of my students who don't seem to be listening during the short 20-25 minutes of whole group reading. Why should they, when I kindly repeat anything that's worth them hearing? Ack! So I'm going to try today, to tell the kids of this new idea I've read about - that they need to listen to each other talk. And I'm already thinking of a few ways to hold them accountable for this. We'll see how it goes. 

Teaching Essentials, Chapter 1

Today was a strange kind of day. I felt like I was getting sick yesterday, and the sub situation here is so bad, that if you don't call in early, well, your teammates have to split your class up. And nobody likes having 6 or 7 extra little friends around, no matter how nice they are. 

Soooo - I put in for a sub last night. And I don't feel terrible, just not a lot of energy... and a lot of chills or warmth. Might be a fever. 

But I Am Going tomorrow! It's the Valentine's Party for pete's sake!


So I'm reading this:




Chapter 1: Look Beyond What You See
And if anybody wants to chime in, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Right at the start of the chapter, Routman says, "We need to suspend our preconceived beliefs and judgment each time we meet a student, to assume that every child is capable." 

Sometimes I think I don't necessarily have preconceived ideas, but as I'm around my class, I get set in stone notions. This child is never going to learn double digit subtraction; or that one will never move up in Reading. 

She says two more things that go along with this:
1 - "assume all students are smart and treat them that way."
2 - "Students immediately pick up on whether or not we view them as capable."
{I am so battling with one little friend on that right now - I think, no, I know! he is capable, but he doesn't believe it. This is a hard battle to win.}

Routman also writes that she has "never been in a classroom or school where the expectations are too high." Yikes! I definitely want to find that balance between high expectations and realistic expectations. I'm not sure how to do that, or where that line is. 

Happy Valentine's Parties tomorrow - hope they aren't too crazy and you get just enough chocolate!

Catching Readers - Assessments

I wanted to write about one last chapter in this book:


{Well, that is unless I read something else that is really good!}

Chapter 10 is about assessments. When I brought this up with my little in-service group, there was some discussion about teacher observation versus testing data. Our school is going more and more toward testing data as the final authority - the teacher's thoughts/observations/anecdotal notes don't really mean much. 

Having said that, however, I feel like my thoughts, observations and anecdotal notes go a long way toward what should happen in my class - together with the testing data. In my guided reading group, I need to work with students, based on what I'm seeing throughout the week. And I need to move students around, based on that, too. 

Here are two quotes:

“assessments must be authentic, ongoing, and informative in order for teachers to effectively use it while instructing children.”

 “We must be intensely aware not only that they are struggling but also of what is contributing to their struggle.”

As to the first one - my school does running records on below level kids ever week - but I'm not given those results. Hmm, does that make sense? I didn't even think about it until I read this, but I think it's something I need to bring up and ask for. Why should I do this to my kids again, when the information is already there?

The 2nd quote - ouch - I'm working on this. I do at least weekly anecdotal notes on each of my kids. I've also started noting "what's next?" What do I need to work on with this student. I want to be more aware of what each of my students' struggles are, particularly my lower kids. Haha, that's one of my struggles!

This is a great book and an easy read. If you get it, you might want to make sure you have a highlighter with you as you read. 

Catching Readers

I was told by a knowledgeable student that I was supposed to wear my pjs inside out, flush two ice cubes down the toilet and sleep with spoons under my pillow to make a snow day happen. I did not do any of that - and I guess that's the reason we didn't have a snow day on Thursday. We have another chance on Monday - so maybe I need to get on the ball Sunday night. 

I mentioned in another post that I was leading a book study loosely based on this book:


{It's really just an excuse for me to make the time to read this book!} 

I was looking at Chapter 7 - I Thought I Knew How to Teach Reading, but Whoa! Whoa is right! Much of the discussion is for students that are in earlier grades, but it seems every year I have one or two {or, yikes! more!!} that are still struggling to read. Well, let me clarify - I always have students that are lower than we'd like on their DRA - but those 1 or 2 students are considerably below where they should be. 

"The best thing is to catch it (dependency on the teacher) and encourage self-monitoring from the very start" (page 123). Do you have students that don't even realize that they've made a mistake, particularly when it's one that doesn't make sense?? When the authors talked about self-monitoring, I realized this is something that many of my students don't do. So, here's something to work on for me {and my kiddos - even though they don't know it yet!}

When I got done with Chapter 7, I just couldn't stop - so I kept reading - Chapter 8 - Comprehension. 

"Comprehension strategies are not an end in themselves, but rather a means to understanding. Our classroom instruction must reflect this." - the authors are quoting Harvey and Goudvis. The authors also discuss the difference between spotlighting a strategy and heavy-handed teaching. 

Ack - I think I'm guilty of heavy-handed teaching. Our basal reader has a strategy for the week - and that's what I focus on. At one point in the chapter, the authors ask if the strategy is something you as a teacher use when you are reading. Well, this week our comprehension strategy was story structure. For me personally, I do sometimes make lists of characters and their relationships to each other if I'm getting confused. But what about beginning, middle, end? I guess, yes, I think about these things. I guess what was a light bulb moment for me was when the authors said, "The teacher treats the strategy as the end goal" {heavy handed} versus "Teacher gives time for students to talk about how the strategy helps them understand the story." {spotlighting}

Anyway, this has given me lots of food for thought. If you've read Catching Readers - what are your thoughts??

Catching Readers

This year our district has given us a release day in April - I think it's the day after Easter. The catch is we have to get 7 in-service hours before then. I sorta missed the boat by not taking advantage of any of the few in-services the district offered this summer. {And boo, hiss - the district doesn't allow me to use the 6 college hours I'll have by then.}

Anyway, I've done a slap-dash bunch of in-services and I'm still an hour and a half short. Some of the other teachers in my school are also short. So I volunteered to do a book study, very loosely based on "Catching Readers Before They Fall." 




I was just re-reading chapter 5, "A Comprehensive Literacy Framework." I find myself reading professional books with two pulls - one is excited to see what else I can do; the other is reluctance to see where I am missing the boat. 

One quote I noticed this morning was this:

“If we want to support children as they build an effective reading process system, then we must show them what it looks like when a proficient reader is using his or her system.”

I would like to figure out how to do a better job of showing my students the thinking that is going on in my mind as I'm reading, so that they can {hopefully} transfer this information to their own reading. The authors advocate sticky notes - and I think that might be a good strategy for me to get started. 

Any hints from you?