August Blog #1- Mills and Clyde article

I could not agree more that it IS the teacher's beliefs that make the difference in a child's success with reading and writing. After reading this article, I did some soul-searching myself and asked myself, "What are the assumptions I'm making about my students?" I want to believe that I see every child as a child with limitless potential. As in everything we do, it is backed behind a belief system. It's true that the decisions I make in my classroom are not accidental or random, but are grounded in my belief about learning, effective teaching and the nature of children.

As a newer teacher to this profession, I guess I'm trying to figure out what do I really believe about teaching and teaching students how to be readers and writers. I'm asking myself, "What are the ways I think is best to teach my first graders how to read and write?" I know there are many strategies I use in my classroom such as small groups, whole group reading, read alouds, word work, partner reading, listening to reading, and all types of buzz words about literacy. I'm still trying to figure it out, but all I know at the end of the day is I want my students to be confident readers and love to read when they leave my classroom. I want to make reading fun and be positive towards the efforts my students are making with reading and writing. I liked all the positive and creative aspects they found about Matt in at the Child Development Center and I'd hope that when my students think about me and my teaching that they would notice my positiveness and "cheer-leading" for them to be the best readers and writers they can be. When I reflect on my own experiences as a student, I remember the teachers that were positive and I could tell they wanted me to do my best and made me believe that I could do my best every time.