Elizabeth Graham Post 7: Ch. 5 "Organizing an Outstanding Classroom Library"

Chapter 5 of Routman's Reading Essentials focuses on classroom libraries. While I am privileged to organize and oversee the school library which serves the needs of the whole school community rather than an individual classroom library, I still found many helpful ideas in this chapter. Routman recommends providing "lots of choices and books" and allowing students to play a role in the set-up of the library. In our school library, my goal is to help the users (students and teachers) easily find books that they want to read. Books are faced out on display shelves, graphic novels have their own featured section, books are put on top of shelves, and, yes, students can take books off of displays. Many students get overwhelmed when confronted with thousands of books on the shelves and need help finding that "right book" that captures their interest. Putting up signs, book review cards, pictures of favorite characters/series, or otherwise promoting titles helps lead students to those books.

A big, but controversial trend in school libraries has been ditching the Dewey Decimal system for what is called genrefication. Books are organized by genre: mystery, romance, horror, animals, action, etc. whether than more traditional categories. The impetus behind this trend is that genrefying leads to increased library circulation and enables students to more easily locate books they want to read. This is similar to Routman's classroom library that is organized according to the students' interests.

More information:
Exploring Genrefication in the School Library with Tiffany Whitehead

Angelica Guevara April/May Blog #7 You Only Have So Much Time

Routman Chapter 12

The title of this chapter is You Only Have So Much Time and it touched on so many aspect of the classroom and teaching that I had to repeat the title to myself over and over. “We have the same 24 hours a day we always had, but more keeps getting added-curriculum, standards, mandates, new students, programs, in-service, materials, testing requirements…..” not to mention IEP changes, amendments, and ESOL documentation. I must say, all that paperwork is not mentioned in any educational course at the Universities where we prepare to become educators. Teachers have to be extremely organized and disciplined in order to get all their instructional time and paper work done before dinner time. The only way to survive is to learn to multi-task. This chapter mentions doing two or three tasks while performing; such as observe, monitor, and assess students while reflecting on how to become a better educator all while conferencing with a student! That is easier said than done, but it is almost a requirement now days with all that is expected from us and our students. During my students’ independent reading time I conference with my them and observe their confidence level and their choice of book, I monitor their fluency, and assess how phonetically skilled they are. As I do that, I am thinking Oh, that lesson I just taught on contractions really helped Johnny, or Johnny did not get what I just taught him about contractions, I am going to have to go over it again in a different manner.

“Students will happily engage in work that is connected to their lives and in projects in which they can see value.” “Together we determine needs, interests, purpose, and goals.” I have definitely used this as an advantage to me. My students’ self-advocacy programs allows them to reflect and monitor their individualized goals. I take into account their strengths, needs, and interest and that allows me to modify their lessons. The students know I have high expectations for them and we discuss reachable goals by showing them how to connect their learning to their daily living situations. We definitely Cultivate a Love of Learning in my classroom and I would hope all educators do that. Our days are set depending on our energy level. Routman believes first and foremost, we must do whatever we can to ensure that our students love learning. Our students can read our energy and love for teaching and learning. We are their educational role models. We have to make teaching fun and show them that we are enjoying the act of education. They can tell if a teacher does not want to be in school or doesn’t want to teach something, that is when they lose interest. A day in the classroom will be determined by how positive and exciting the students and teacher are. Both will feed off of each other. Both must be present in order to have a smooth and productive day. I know I have to come in with a positive attitude because I am the adult and the leader of my room. If a student comes in stressed out or angry it is my responsibility to try to help that student change his attitude for himself and the rest of the class. Sometimes that is not achieved but if it is, my job is easier and the rest of the class will have a better chance of being creative.

Maggie Delaney March/April Blog 7

"If we want kids to wind up with comprehension, we have to begin with comprehension." The opening to this chapter really hit home for me.  Eight years ago, I switched from being a 2nd grade classroom teacher to a part-time reading tutor/interventionist.  For six of those eight years, I basically taught word recall via various SRA programs.  The result.  Kids can call words.  But their comprehension is grade levels behind.  So many of our students believe that reading is about words, but they are unaware that reading is about meaning (thinking)!

I especially liked the section on making YOUR (the teacher) reading/thinking process visible.  So, for the past two years, I have worked with older kids and given them strategies to use while reading to help make meaning out of what they read!  Interestingly enough, a high percentage of our kids "sound" like good readers (thanks to SRA), but have little understanding of what they read.  I think comprehending and understanding are very abstract ideas for kids and difficult to grasp.  I have worked hard over the years to help make these concepts concrete ideas for my students to remember and use on a daily basis while reading.  I was excited to see the list of strategies that Routman included in this chapter.  Making connections, monitoring your reading for meaning, determining what's most important, visualizing, asking questions, making inferences, and synthesizing.  These are ALL my strategies that I have been teaching!  Yay!!

Comprehension.  I feel like it is my biggest challenge as a reading teacher today.  I plan to refer back to this chapter in the coming years to remind myself of what I need to provide to my students to best teach them this life changing skill.  When your reading has meaning, that is truly when reading becomes so powerful and a love of literacy begins!

Jennifer Novak Chapter 8 -April Post

Chapter 8: Teach Comprehension

Reading comprehension was something that I always struggled with as a reader in school.  First I was a slow reader and had to reread passages a lot, making reading not enjoyable. I am not sure if I was never taught the right strategies or just slow to process what I read.    So I really loved this chapter on teaching children to comprehend what they read. 

In the beginning of the chapter, Routman discussed that there is great emphasis on word calling, automatically, and fluency in the early grades.  I would completely agree with this.  We are constantly assessing our students on their fluency.  However, how appropriate is it that a student can word call from the SRA manual or meet the fluency requirements in the SRA manual?  How well is this really assessing their comprehension? 

Students should be taught strategies to understand what they read.  We are always teaching strategies to decode words.  Making connections, determining the importance, visualizing, asking questions, and making inferences are all very important skills that must be taught in order to gain comprehension skills.  I use many of these skills when teaching my students how to comprehend what they are reading. 

Kelli Wolfe Blog Post #7 (March/April) Guided Reading

I like what Routman says in Chapter 10 of Reading Essentials:  Examine Guided Reading.  She reminds us at the very beginning that Guided Reading can take place at many different times during the day – not just during Guided Reading Group time.  She reminds us that Guided Reading is intended to be a time where students are in flexible groups and are “practicing what has already been demonstrated by the teacher.”  It is important that everyone know this definition.   I have recently observed a few guided reading groups where the teacher is just listening to the students read . . . there is no guided practice going on.  We need to remember to group our students in a way that allows us to get the most out of our time and to be sure they are practicing a skill or a strategy that has already been taught.  

What I liked most about this chapter centered around what Routman had to say about classroom management during a Reading Workshop model.  I, too, hear this question over and over!  “What do the other students do while I am meeting with a Guided Reading Group?”  And, “Creating these centers took me all weekend.”  I truly believe, and have experienced myself as a classroom teacher, that if students are engaged in what they are reading (because they are given choice) and are taught expectations, management will not be an issue.  Of course there will always be outliers, but overall, students pick up a routine very quickly and respond well when they know what the expectation is and are engaged in what they are doing/learning.  

In response to “creating centers,” I think this speaks mostly to teachers who think center work is worksheet work.  In reality, it should be the exact opposite.  I will admit that I have used games as center time . . . a figurative language sort or something of that nature.  I don’t think this scarred students for life, but I am not sure it was the best use of time either. Maybe if I had asked them to watch for examples of figurative language in a book they are reading and recording it in their notebook, they would have gotten more out of their time.  In that scenario, the student is doing the work . . . not the teacher.   It is definitely a paradigm shift and will probably be harder for those of us who have been teaching longer, but it is important that we give students the opportunity to think for themselves EVERY DAY!  Centers full of worksheets won’t do that.

Painter March-April Blog-Chapter 9-Shared Reading

As I was reading this chapter, one part really stuck out to me: "Recently, however, even in Kindergarten and grade 1, big books and enlarged texts have fallen out of favor as an emphasis on prepackaged programs has dominated reading instruction."  I agree with this and am guilty of this myself.  I know that I do not do shared read alouds as often as I used to in my classroom.  I try to squeeze in so much into the few hours I have causing shared read alouds to be put to the side at times.  As Routman mentions, students get vocabulary, fluency, inferring, and the list goes on, from that time. 

I am also guilty of pulling up a read aloud on you tube instead of taking the time to find the book in the library.  This is just not the same as me reading and stopping to discuss and think as I'M reading with my kids.  This chapter definitely hit home and reminded me of what I need to really go back to and make sure that I make more time for.  Shared reading is so important for the kids that I teach that haven't been read to as much at home. 

Sharon Doyle - March/April - The Final Post

     As I selected the topic for my final post for this course, it seemed to end where I began.  Earlier, I wrote from Debbie Miller's Is There Enough Time?.  To end, I looked to Routman in Chapter 12, You Only Have So Much Time.  I clearly see the word 'time' as a four-letter word.  I have yet to find a single teacher as we approach the final nine weeks of the year facing so many interruptions with testing, holidays, and general spring and summer fever, looking for additional curriculum at their grade level because all has been taught.  Instead, March Madness to me is equated with high anxiety, stress, and a general mood that describes one of guarded desperation.

    Routman brings me back to a more centered approach while I can almost hear her yelling, "Take a breath, people!"  She brings me back to those strategies that I know work: use your experience to plan well and embrace the craziness in your plans, remember to think about your goals and the necessities within the curriculum, ask yourself frequently 'why' and if you can't answer this with integrity, move on.  Also, at this time of year, it is important for students to feel satisfaction and success.  We don't want them to give up now, this is a critical time for them to feel empowered.  Engagement and encouragement sprinkled with genuine fun will go so much further than complicated skill and drill activities.  Students also need a sense of closure and recognition of just what they have accomplished.  Reviews that look like games that demonstrate to students a visible measure of what they have accomplished and recognition of what they may not have yet truly mastered provides the teacher and students with valuable information for this time of year. 

     Sometimes, I must remind myself that it is me, not them that has become fatigued.  As each assignment, checklist, and job bombards me, I become less capable of handling the mess.  Routman reminds us that when students are in the room, make every minute count.  This is a time to revisit the lesson plans, assess what has been accomplished and what is needed to lead them into the new year and close this year with a feeling of accomplishment.  This is also a time to evaluate, not so much the students, we know there is enough of that already required, but ourselves.  This is a time I ask my students how I have done for them.  Do they feel that I as a teacher have provided them the support they needed.  At the beginning of the year, I chart with students their expectations through interest surveys for me as their teacher.  I remind them of these ideas and we take a pulse of which have been fulfilled and what is left.  I also ask them if they as students have met their commitments to the class.  I find that this helps students to refocus as to why they are in the classroom and find it easier to maintain attention to the very end. 

      Finally, Routman reminds us of the need to maintain and create structure to maximize participation.  This time of year, we must structure every moment or our students fill the moments with their most creative ideas, not necessarily productive, but definitely creative.  Varying group dynamics with individual, small group, and whole group activities provides variety and interest.  Rubrics that are given at the beginning of the lesson help students maintain focus and holds students accountable.  Assessments that help me recognize 'strugglers' are also important allowing me to provide additional support for students who may not necessarily feel successful.  I want students to leave the year feeling successful and as stated earlier 'time' is the dreaded constant.