I found in the article “Not This: Is There Enough Time? And
Is Time Enough to Support Independent Reading?”, to be a concept I ponder each
year. My goal is to teach reading and
instruct the children in my classroom to become better readers. However, often I am compelled to teach my students
so when they take STAR/DIBELS…I can see improvement. I am driven, by my competitive spirit,as I
believe most educators are. As I teach
the whole group; I am constantly making connections to my thinking and we think
out loud so we (students as well) will learn to think strategically as if
playing a game of checkers to beat our opponent.
Reading independently and allowing the time to do so seems
to go by the wayside because “doing all this stuff about reading” takes time to
teach and to maintain the stamina of the standards and ‘keep them on task’
while I address individual needs or group needs.
I found it interesting to note that many continue to teach
The Calendar. It is no different than
the 100th Day. When I began
teaching 3rd grade, I had students who came to me and stated, “It is
The 100th Day!” I looked at
them and said, “Yes, it is! We have much to do.” I didn’t understand the Big Deal! Then when I went to 2nd grade;
again, it was, “What are you doing for the 100th Day?” I pondered and struggled with a sympathetic
answer. When I taught Kindergarten, I
made time for the 100th Day and felt it necessary to integrate
reading and math for its purpose. We are
so swamped with not moving on from one great idea to the next, we don’t seem to
have much time for Reading to gain individual meaning, connections, and
enjoyment.
Reading should be more than just, “Lookie Bookie” time just
for the sake of reading. Sustained
Silent Reading and Drop Everything And Read were the beginning of getting
children to read independently; however, many years/days in my classroom as I
would read alongside of the students I wondered how many were actually reading
and internalizing the print? Previous
experiences of conferencing with my students to see what they know and
understand is valuable; just documenting it and the time to do so is baffling. I love understanding, getting to see inside
of the students’ thinking and their heads to know where they are making the
connections. Making time to get in their
heads is an important insight as to what the children know and need to know for
the next lesson whether group or individual.
Cheri Parker
I agree with your comment on conferencing and how it gives teachers better insight into what is actually going on in students' heads when they read. It's an important teaching strategy that I'd personally like to see more.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that you're coming alongside students to talk about what their reading. In first grade, building that strong foundation is vital. Conferring should continue throughout the grades to not only develop students as readers but to show them that their teachers take the time to get to know them as readers.
DeleteHi Cheri,
ReplyDeleteLike you I appreciated Miller and Moss's article and how their focus compelled us as teachers to really think through how we are using our time and where the most meaningful time is spent each day (they argue for independent reading and writing) and where we have routines and familiar events that can start out as meaningful but can become time drains the more and more we add to them. I have seen how morning work can go from a five minute bell ringer to a thirty minute packet that kills trees and motivation. I appreciated Miller and Moss making the point that well meaning time in the day for SSR or DEAR does not provide the student with support through instructional minilessons or the teacher with formative data such as conferencing or reading response to determine what students are thinking as they are reading. I believe that we have to make the most of our students' time every single day to ensure that they are growing. I am glad you do too! Sincerely, Dawn