Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Angela Jackson - Why Not? What Works?
Section 2 of Miller (2013) both challenged and enlightened me as a new teacher. I admit, I had no clue how to teach reading once I graduated college. I read all the required material, posted to class blogs such as this one, and responded to peers as well. We all tried to figure out what it would take to help students become better readers, but it never crossed our minds that IR with focused instruction would be the answer.
The text stated that time spent reading independently in school is directly related to academic achievement. Then, the big question is if we know this fact, why don't we do it? I am asking myself that same question. The text states that I can achieve this by tailoring my instruction to allow a specific time for students to read independently and choose what they read. Moreover, I realized that I had not given explicit instruction about what, why and how readers read. Furthermore, it will help eliminate poor readers from choosing books they can't read!
I had trouble setting up my classroom library and today, I still need to finish getting it set up the way I truly want it. I know it will take time for me to get all the different varieties of texts that my students need to read, but I am thankful that I received enough books to get us started.
My last takeaway from this section is the importance of conferencing with students about what they are reading. Miller states that "students need to talk about what they read." Students need to reflect on what they have read in order to build schema and make connections to the text.
These are all essential things I need to do in the coming weeks in order to be an effective reading teacher.
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Everything takes time, and you are taking in so much. I had the same experience, Angela. I didn't really feel like Converse taught me how to TEACH reading. I learned a lot about Children's Literature, etc., but it wasn't until I was IN the classroom that I realized . . . I don't know how to teach reading. I did A LOT of independent study to figure it out. As teachers, we have to take responsibility for what we don't know, and you are doing just that.
ReplyDeleteAs the year progresses, I think you will become more and more comfortable with what to do and what not to do . . . how to use time and how not to use time, etc. Your kids WILL grow as readers, just you wait and see!
Your question is a great one--if we know IR works, why aren't we doing it? Basal texts have a long, long history in schools, and I think sometimes we just do what has always been done without thinking about why. You know the benefits of IR, so you will find a way to do it!
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