Week 10

"What we don't consider is the most significant "time on task" of all, what students choose to do beyond the walls of the school." The article focuses a lot how writing develops and how much goes into a student's experience with writing. The concept of students focusing on writing outside of school really stood out to me. I know from personal experience that I hardly ever, if ever, write unless I'm assigned to do so for class. For as long as I can remember writing has been something that seems more like homework than it seems like something enjoyable. I've always dreaded writing. However, having a nephew and younger cousins I can see that younger children really do like writing. I mean my mom has kept writings from my earlier years of school and it doesn't seem like I hated it so much then. It's interesting that most students experience this sort of shift from enjoying writing and not being able to do it enough to growing to hate it and dreading to ever to do. I really think that this is partially due to the limitations that are often put on students writings. Younger kids are typically encouraged to just write about anything they want, whereas as students get older there are more limitations on what they can and can't write. Overall from this reading I was able to see the importance of not making students write or forcing them to write about specific topics.

Week 9

"To be an effective teacher you must, first and foremost, know the students in your class and their abilities and interests." This part of the article, Understanding How Children Learn to Write: Developmental Stages, is the part that I feel is most important in basically all parts a student's learning. If a teacher is familiar with his/her students then they will be able to better measure the students success and shape their learning environment in ways that are most beneficial. This article largely focused on what to expect at each level of developmental stages for writers. The article summarizes the key components of all ten levels with the least developed being preconventional, typically ages 3-5 and the most developed being independent, having no age barriers. One part of the article that I particularly liked was that "a write may fluctuate between two categories until knew skills are firmly in place". Here one is able to take away that often times students will be intertwined in more than one developmental stage, and that that's okay. Rather than trying to put students into specific categories, it's important that teachers see where the students transitioning may need a little aid. I really liked this article because it helped me to see more in depth where my case study student may be at developmentally in his writing and where he will be going in the future. It's definitely helpful for me to see the areas that he has mastered as well as the areas that he still needs to develop and master before moving into the independent stage.

Week 8

The reading "Basic Concepts and Terminology" is really just centered around listing the most common terms used by reading educators. The authors of this text felt as if it were necessary for educators to establish some sort of common ground as far as knowing and using the same set of words in a corresponding manner. The majority of the list included words I myself had never really even heard of, or if I have that I definitely didn't know the meaning of. It was interesting to me how many words there truly were in regards to reading instruction that I wasn't familiar with. However, the part of this article that I found the most useful was that it emphasized that students don't need to know these terms. The authors stated more than once that it wasn't necessary for students to know and use these terms, but rather critical that teachers be familiar with them so that they are able to communicate effectively with one another about reading instructions. I also liked that the article opened with a statement from a teacher who said that many of her peers do not know the meaning of half the words used in correspondence to reading instruction or that they simply mix up the jargon of such words a lot. This made the article a lot more relatable for me because there have already been times in my field experiences when a teacher will use a specific term and I'm not really sure what it exactly means; whereas before I thought this meant that I was lacking some sort of knowledge I now know that a lot of teachers are still learning. It also helped me realize how awkward it is to be in this middle ground where I'm still a student (and don't need to know all this jargon and these terms) but working to become a teacher (where I do not need be familiar with such terms and jargon).

Webcast Blog

The webcast "Making Decisions for Individual Learners With Small-Group Setting" focused on giving helpful tools to improve the reading and writing skills of students. Although a lot of the information presented in throughout the webcast has already been covered and discussed in class and our readers, the three keynote speakers honed in different aspects of improving student learning in small-group settings.

The first Ah-Ha that I had came from the first speaker Pat Johnson, in which she stated that it's crucial to teach the students not the texts. This really stuck out to me because it encompasses the fact that not all students will be at the same skill level...this meaning that rather than trying to teach an entire class one book, it would be better to focus on how to teach each individual student in regards to their skill level. By doing this teachers will be able to help all students. I think that this is when the concept of small groups come into play most crucially... if a teacher is able to assess student ability and then divide or sort students into groups according to their skill levels they will be able to use a variety of different instructions meeting the needs of all students in an appropriate manner.

The second Ah-Ha moment that I while watching/listening to the webcast comes from a combination of both the second and third speakers, Diane DeFord and Mary Cappellini. DeFord focused the majority of her discussion on student-driven instructions. This meaning that teachers should get to know all of their students and know their individual strengths and weaknesses so that instructions can meet their needs. The main focus of Cappellini's discussion was ELL students and how important it is to incorporate lessons that allow students to 'mix' with students who are not in the same skill level. Combining the main components of these speakers, I realized how getting to know students both ELL students and English proficient students, teachers have to aware of the social aspects of one's learning. DeFord mentioned the importance of assessing a student both academically and socially. Being aware of students sociability teachers can better enhance their classrooms experiences and essentially improve the students abilities.

At the end of the webcast I realized that although we are learning about all of these strategies and scenarios in class and in our readings, it's going to be much different once I'm actually in the classroom and experiencing these situations first-hand. It's a bit intimidating to think about all of the different parts that go into truly teaching all students in a way that is meaning and lasting to each individual student. While this webcast covered a lot of material we've all already been introduced to, it still made me think further about how I will structure my classrooms in the future.

Week 6

"Guided reading is a context in which a teacher supports each reader's development of effective strategies for processing novel texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty." When reading the Fountas and Pinnel article "What is Guided Reading" I was able to relate many of the discussed concepts with methods I have witnessed my field placement teacher using in her classroom. In my 5th grade field class, Mrs. Kinkead has a pretty diverse set of students from varying countries, a handful of whom hardly speak or read English. It is with this group of students that I see guided reading used most often. During our time in the class room, the students are often working on their social studies units. Typically the class is divided into groups, with the ELL students always working with Mrs. Kinkead. Although I am not one hundred percent what their meeting time consists of, but it is at this time that guided reading strategies are most explicitly used. As the text states, "the ultimate goal in guided reading is to help children learn how to use independent reading strategies successfully." I believe that through the exclusive group work time with only the ELL students Mrs. Kinkead is essentially killing two birds with one stone- not only is she working on the students learning of English, she is also using guided reading to help them develop the skills necessary to read effectively and comprehensively.

Another critical part of the reading that I found interesting stated: "It is usually not enough simply to provide children with good reading materials. Teacher guidance is essential". Through this and the text that follows I was able to conclude that teachers really have to be aware of the impact and roles they plan in a young readers growth. It's critical for teachers to monitor and aid a young readers growth to assure that they are truly developing the skills necessary to build the strategies needed to read independently and not just reading to be reading. Reading words is much different than understanding words read, this distinction is not always easy to differentiate but is something teachers must be aware of when trying to build a readers reading process and strategies.

Week 5 reading

Chapter 5 focused on the components of a comprehensive literacy framework; or in other words the key components needed to help reach a student's full potential as a reader. These components include read-aloud, guided reading, independent reading, and more. One part of the chapter that really stood out to me was on page 80 and deals with the 'focus' of instruction. The paragraph ends with "...as long as you base the focus on the needs of the students in that group. Remember, we are teaching the readers, not the book." When I first read this I instantly thought about how many times, the exact opposite of that had been done by my previous teachers. So often I think that teachers forget or maybe don't want to go the extra steps in teaching beyond the required or tested material/books that they simply teach to the book or to the tests rather than teaching to the needs of the students. I found it both interesting and good that this chapter described the key parts, but left the method of implementation up to the teachers.

Chapter 10 of Catching Readers Before They Fall is solely about assessments; not simply tests but rather a full range of assessments teachers can and must use in assessing how well they're students are doing as well as in what areas they are struggling. Prior to this chapter I was pretty familiar with the terms reading conference, benchmark assessment, and adapted tests, however the basis of anecdotal notes and running records were both knew forms of assessments I really wasn't too familiar with. Running records seem to be the most important of all because they give the most clear indication of the students progress and struggles if they are kept accurately and accordingly. Running records "give us insights into which strategic behaviors are being used or not used as well as information about what level text is appropriate for a child. To take a running record, you use a coding system to record on paper what a child says and does while reading". Essentially for me, this form of assessment would be the most useful in measuring a students current and prospective abilities, while also noting their areas of struggle. However, it seems as if taking a proper running record is not something that can be done easily but rather something that needs a lot of training and further exploration.

Week 4 Reading

Throughout this chapter, I couldn't stop thinking about how interesting it is how much has changed from how teachers were teaching when I was a student to how I'm going to be teaching my students when I'm a teacher in the future. I was constantly told "sound it out" as a reader/student throughout the majority of the elementary school experience. I remember almost all of my teachers using this as their go-to phrase whenever I or another student were stuck on specific words. While at the time and even prior to this reading I didn't really think that this wasn't a valid or good way to get students to figure out the word on their own, I am not able to see that there a strong structural balance of sources that will better suit students and their comprehension of words.

Figure 4.1 on page 54 of the chapter is essentially the key aspect summarized or organized into one simple diagram with word solving as the focus. S, M, and V (S=structural knowledge, M= meaningful information, and V= visual information) are the three components that feed into the larger center and common goal of solving words. The structural knowledge portion deals with a readers knowledge of what does and doesn't sound 'right' in addition to knowledge of their spoken language. The meaningful information portion draws from the pictures, story lines, or contextual information that helps the readers relate their background knowledge with the text in a manner that makes sense. Thirdly, readers use visual information, or the letters and words, in addition to their phonetic knowledge to decipher what words do and don't look right.

Week 3 Readings

One sort of sub-concept that stood out to me throughout the reading of chapters 1-3 was Vygotsky's idea of the different types of language students and teachers use during their interactions. Vygotsky narrows in on three different types of speech: social speech, private speech, and inner speech. He defines social speech as the language a teacher uses when interacting or conversing with her students; private speech is the language a child uses on his or herself to guide themselves in the appropriate direction, often this speech directly reflects the teachers social speech just in an abbreviated form; inner speech is the language that the child has going on his or her head and eventually turns into thought. When I first read this it all  made sense, a teacher talks, a student reiterates what the teacher says, and then the student thinks of his or her own about the concept at hand. However, as I was answering the questions on page 30, and I reread this section, I began to think about just how critical a teachers language and speech is in regards to a child's language and thought. In the test Vygotsky states "this is not an exact imitation of the teacher's language but the child's own abbreviated version of that language" when defining a child's private speech. This is what really grabbed my attention. Sometimes I think teachers forget or becoming careless about how much of an impact they have on children, especially during critical learning experiences such as reading or writing. In order to form a positive and self-rewarding language and thought process, a student must hear positive and reinforcing language. Basically, I feel that this brings up a vital point- teachers have to demonstrate effective language and speak positive reinforcement to their students, since after all their students are modeling the way they think about themselves and their work after what the expressed thoughts of teachers.

For the most part I really enjoy and appreciate Vygotsky's theories and outlook when it comes to education. I most definitely agree with his idea of zone of proximal development and the effects modeling and gradual release of responsibility have a child's learning. I also like that he mentions how important sociocultural learning and teaching are for student's; I strongly agree that providing students with a learning environment that meets their needs, is the most important part of fostering the utmost of learning experiences.

Week 1&2 Readings

The first of the two readings had several points in which I found interesting. The first of these points- "...oral reading is slower and because various interruptions are more likely to occur...". This quote emphasizes the idea that perhaps lower-achieving students should be reading to themselves rather than aloud. Like the quote states, reading aloud is a much slower less concentrated activity, hence decreasing the amount of time lower-achieving students actually spend reading. I found this interesting because in most cases I feel like it has been pounded into my head that students who have trouble reading should work on reading together aloud. I mean every since I was a child I have always sort of thought that students who needed extra help would work with the teacher or aid and read together. However, the point this article presents makes complete sense. Not only do I think that singling students out to read with the teacher is a form of tracking, I also think it decreases the students desire to read. Whereas having all the students read on their own and at their own pace will not cause any division in the classroom, while also increasing the amount of time students actually spend reading. The second thing that stuck out to me about chapter 2 were all of Foertsch's major findings in relation to the background factors that were most closely related to reading instruction and performance. Initially I expected the list to be comprised of factors that were not so obvious; factors that maybe people often overlooked or didn't think about. But to my surprise, I felt as if the list was made up of extremely obvious factors. For example "students who reported home environments that fostered reading activity had higher reading achievement". Maybe it's just me, but I definitely feel as it goes without saying- a student who reads regularly at home will more than likely be a higher achieving reader than those students who spend little to any time reading at home. There was however one factor on the list that had a bit more depth than the others... "students demonstrated difficulty in providing details and arguments to support interpretations of what they read". While I still think it's in a sense clear that the majority of students simply read the words but don't necessary comprehend or retain what it is that they are reading, I was glad that this was added to the list as it sheds light on this prevailing problem. I mean I will even catch myself from time to time having to reread things simply because I wasn't actually paying attention and comprehending what I was reading the first time. And if I, a twenty year old college student, have this problem, there's no doubt in my mind a multitude of elementary students have this issue.

The second of the two articles had a lot more 'tips' than did the first, which was equally as interesting to me. While the first of the two reading informed me more about the why's, I think the second was centered more around the how's. By this I mean that chapter 2 identified reasons why students were perhaps lower or higher achieving readers, whereas chapter 3 identified tools on how to improve or continue to grow a students reading ability. I especially liked the portion of chapter 3 that focused on Leveling Books. This section not only explain what leveling books, but how to do so and why it is beneficial for students. It also included  tips like "teach kids the three-finger rule" and "observe kids reading to better match them with books", all tips that not only aid the teacher, but that ultimately aid the students in progressing toward a higher and more complex reading achievements. I also really liked that chapter 3 talked about the how important it is for teachers and schools to give students the tools they need to improve their reading. It's crucial that teachers and schools as a whole recognize that not all students and their families have the means to supply students with a large number or variety of reading books, therefore it becomes the responsibility of the teachers and the schools to give students the means necessary to expand their reading capabilities. The easiest and simplest way in which this can be done is of course through school libraries (which include classroom libraries). This gives students the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of different books and varying reading levels, which will ultimately help the students achieve higher reading skills.