Kelly Schachner: Blog #2: Miller Section 2

Independent Reading isn't INDEPENDENT at all! It requires teachers to be part of the process and collaborate with the students in an effort to move them forward. Reading one-on-one with students is the best way to attack and find the struggles that a student is facing. Explicit instruction is necessary and vital to the growth of students. Choice makes a big difference in learning. Students who have choice are more interested in what they are reading and more likely to enjoy the selections. This will lead to them wanting to read more.Teachers have to do a circus balancing act to make this work. Mixing up the teaching strategies to best meet student needs, creating small group lessons to show them how to find different genres, teaching them how to choose the best books for THEM, instilling confidence through conferencing, and helping them to think through what they are reading, are all necessary steps to successful reading. Students must be met where they are in order to move them up. Now, how do I do this and not go crazy? Hmmmmmmm.....the first step is to start. Then I will move on from there. I see the benefits of this, but am frightened a bit by how overwhelming it seems. How do I write this in my plans? How do I keep up with the record-keeping part? How will I be sure that what I am doing is actually helping? What about the children who still aren't learning? So many questions and unknowns...... The first step is the hardest, right?