What Have We Tackled?

Wow, I can’t believe how long it has been since I wrote my last blog post! I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago, for spring break, and it’s difficult getting back into the groove of things. I am not going to lie and say that while I was at the beach I was thinking about literacy, but I have had the last week back at school to channel my thoughts in the right direction. This post, specifically, is supposed to discuss a major topic (or theme) that we have discussed in our Literacy Learning and Teaching III class. Strangely, I think that this blog assignment is the most difficult one that I have to write because we have read and discussed so many important ideas so far. How can I just choose something to narrow in on when I find so many areas useful for my future career?

Before break, I was a group leader for my small discussion group. We focused our conversation around chapters 1-4 of Carl Anderson’s Assessing Writers textbook. A lot of what Anderson talks about ties into my core beliefs in education (such as taking the time to really get to know your students). For example, he discusses the value of assessing writers everyday, which I will definitely want to include:

-It allows teachers to get to know their students (their strengths and needs) as writers.

-Helps us create individual learning plans/mini-lessons

-Makes sure that we modify our teaching to students’ needs in writing conferences.

-Also helps educators create units that we should all work on as a class

“Assessment gets to the heart of teaching and lets us decide how and when to offer support as writers (pg 66)”.

Another big idea from the textbook that aligns with my beliefs is the idea of getting students to become initiators of writing! I have always stated that not only do I want to create meaningful lessons that touch on students’ interests, but I also hope to get students to love learning! When it comes to writing, I want my students to be initiators of writing which, according to Anderson, means they:

-Find writing to be meaningful

-Write for many purposes

-Have a range of genres they write about

-Write for real audiences

Since the beginning of the semester, we have tackled so many strategies (involving reading and writing) that will be incorporated into our future classrooms. We have discussed ideas such as what our rooms will be like, conducting over the shoulder miscue analysis/read alouds, teaching for understanding and engagement, effective reading and writing strategies, writing assessments, etc. With all of the valuable information it is important to remember the “self” in all of this. In Debbie Millers, Teaching With Intention, we learn the importance of defining your own teaching beliefs and aligning them with your lesson plans and practices. As we have discussed in a large group in class, all of the researched based strategies and ideas that we are given in college will mean very little if we do not think of our own beliefs first. If I do not stick to my guns on what I consider important in regards to literacy and teaching, I may see myself making mistakes.

Thanks for reading! 

Think About Think Alouds!

Hello fellow bloggers! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Sunday afternoon (I know that I am ;-)). I can’t help but smile knowing that I have worked so hard these past couple of weeks in order to conduct my FIRST think aloud! I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous because I wanted it to be great! The more I thought about it, however, the more that I realized that this experience was not about doing a perfect job. The purpose of this assignment was to reflect and discuss what I have learned from the task. Since it was the first time I did a think aloud with an elementary student, I believe that it went fairly well. More importantly, I learned a lot about myself, as a teacher, and my student as a reader.

I chose to conduct my think aloud at the elementary school where I am placed for practicum. I am getting to know these students pretty well so I thought it would be just the right place for the job. To prepare for the activity I read through the book that was suggested to me by my classroom teacher. She found the book to be appropriate for the 3^rd grade student that I was going to work with. I was only given one female student to do the read aloud with because the other students must have been preoccupied with work. She is somewhat of a skillful reader, but definitely could improve on some reading strategies. The fictional book is called, Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell. I read through the story a couple of times to see how I would, as a reader, personally interact with it and then marked the areas that I needed to pause to discuss.  For this particular read aloud, I wanted to teach my student (and focus on) how to predict, question, clarify, connect and summarize/reflect a story. I also chose to narrow in on strategies for think aloud collaboration and gradual release of responsibility that we talked about in our Lit III class. In other words, I did a combination of a somewhat free-response think-aloud that included text tagging. This is discussed in Whilhelm’s book, Improving Comprehension with Think-Aloud Strategies: Modeling What Good Readers Do.

The modeling portion of the think aloud went better than I expected! The student was very engaged in the text as I read aloud and I stopped to model my thinking at appropriate places. I think the student really noticed how I paused often to make predictions, ask/answer questions and make connections. I even modeled how to post notes to record my thinking (using different colors for different strategies), as many good readers tend to do. I think that it really benefited my student that I took the time to introduce the book and discuss some of the strategies proficient readers use to make meaning.

The think-along phase, on the other hand, was a little harder than I had hoped it to be. It took me a couple of times to get my student to finally collaborate with me during this important process. I told my student that they are welcome to chime in when they want to make a prediction, ask a question, make a connection, etc. Maybe I was not clear enough with my directions, or the student was nervous, but I had to keep repeating to the student, “Hmmmm let’s stop here, what do you think?” or “Can you help me____________ based on what we have read so far (for example make a prediction)?” Although it was very difficult to get my student to talk, once she did, it became very natural and spontaneous for her throughout the rest of the book. I noticed a great deal of confidence bloom from my reader once she realized that I was here to support her and make her a better reader. She allowed me to step back and let her try it on her own (with support). My reader was really good at making connections to real-world experiences and other texts. I would say that this strategy was definitely one of her strengths because she did it many times. She also figured out how to ask important questions throughout the text and then went on to answer them later as they came up (i.e. clarified). What my student really needs to improve on is making predictions more often, staying on task, and text tagging. This rarely occurred during our session, which is fine, but now I know what to work on with her next time. From this experience, I learned that this young reader needs more reassurance on her reading skills and more opportunities to collaborate with others to discuss ideas and strategies regarding a text.

As a literacy instructor, I need to learn how to slow down for my students. A think aloud should be a calm, natural process that is not rushed. I was short on time, which made me rush the procedure a little bit. I also had a harder time releasing the responsibility to my student because I thought that I was making her nervous, so I took over even longer than I needed to. I also should have taken some more time with the guided practice portion. I could have asked more questions to get my student thinking instead of worrying about getting my student to talk and try it on their own. Lastly, the next time I do a think aloud, I would like to work with more than one student and have the opportunity to select a more meaningful text.

I can’t wait to use the think-aloud strategy in my classroom one day! This technique will help my young readers verbalize ideas they use while reading to better their overall comprehension and strategies as readers (from the article The ABCs of Performing Highly Effective Read-Alouds). 

Thanks for reading and happy blogging!

Ms. B's Inquiry Topic

I have done a lot of work over the past couple of weeks! A great deal of my time has been spent on assignments such as the over the shoulder miscue analysis (OTSMA), think-aloud and recently, my Inquiry Topic (or territory). Even though these particular tasks have taken a lot of time and effort, they have helped me positively grow as a pre-service elementary teacher. As I move on to my new task at hand, I cannot wait to see what else I learn!

While I am waiting for spring to arrive, (which I am begging for it to be soon) I am spending some time focusing on my inquiry topic, which is about effective classroom learning spaces/setups. This personal interest of mine has been building up ever since I stepped foot into my first classroom as a novice educator. I have seen various classroom layouts/designs and I wonder, according to research and studies, which ones were truly effective and designed for optimal student learning and which ones needed more work. I also have further questions in mind such as;

 “How much do classrooms differ from grades K-6?”

“Are there common errors that teacher’s tend to make when they setup their learning environments?”

 “What are some ‘must-haves’ that one should see when they step foot into a room?”

 The combination of further readings, class discussions and my pins on Pinterest will help me discover the correct answers to my questions and more.

I am still in the process of researching, but I have already found helpful published texts, journals and articles around my inquiry topic. Some of the authors of interest include Carol Bradford Cummings, Debbie Miller, Joyce McLeod, Jan Fisher, Ginny Hoover and James H. Stronge, Pamela D. Tucker and Jennifer L. Hindman. These are only authors that I have selected as of right now, but there will be more to come in the next few weeks. I am sure that I will find these readings to be useful and fascinating. I also think it will be interesting to consider my practicum classroom once I am further into my readings. As of right now, I believe that my classroom teacher has her room purposefully setup to benefit all of her learners. Even though my C.T.’s room is a lot smaller than one would hope, she makes the best of it and has everything setup with a purpose.

As the semester progresses, I will continue to provide my classmates and followers with important findings from my resources. If you are also on Pinterest, please feel free to follow me and witness my board grow as I find more sources on my inquiry topic. It is great to see how my research ties into some of the topics we have discussed and read in my literacy III class. For example, one of my previous blogs focuses on the classroom and its arrangement. The more that I explore around this topic, the more abled I will be to connect my research and practice!

Thanks!

Ms. B