Blog for November:
Elda Hymas
Routman: Chapter 6,7
Students who
struggle to read, need extra time for their independent reading. I think that we could all agree with
that. Students who read more, read
better. Steps need to be in place to monitor and feedback student reading. This needs to start in kindergarten. In independent reading students can become
interested in books and share them with friend.
“Just Right Books” are an important part of the reading process. In the past I have had many students who do
not like or want to read a book again. Helping them by modeling skills can encourage
closer reading.
Assessment if a
difficult thing that teachers need help developing. The author suggests that teaching/evaluating
is a constantly ongoing thing. I
agree. Adjusting teaching to the need of
the students is the right way. Sometimes
teachers feel that lesson plans, long range goals and the need for proof tie
them to a certain mode of teaching.
While evaluations are (probably not) necessary, more trust in a teacher
to use her/his skills to teach may be more meaningful. The author’s outline provides a working
framework for student conferencing.
Elda, you're right, we should all agree that students who have an opportunity to read independently are going to get that practice and improve as readers. I feel that the struggle a lot of teachers are facing is how to implement the independent reading time into their already packed schedules. Like Miller and Routman have suggested, assessing the time spent throughout the day can give them the chance to see where they can save time to be given to IR.
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad to see that you agree with the need to trust teachers to make decisions about what to teach their students. Teachers know more about what their children need than people who don't interact with their students. Adjusting assessments and instruction based on what they're learning as they go is the best way to meet the needs of their kids.