Fostering Fluent Readers

As I find myself in the middle of my first "Review of Literature" for grad school I'm immersed in wonderful resources about how to foster fluent readers in your classroom. One name that has become very well known to me is Dr. Timothy Rasinski. For lack of better words...he's a fluency God! Click here to hop on over to his website which is jam PACKED with fluency presentations and resources. By clicking on "Presentation Material" you'll find many of his presentations in an easy-to-navigate powerpoint format. Here, he also provides many links to resources you can easily utilize in your classroom.

What is your "tried and true" fluency strategy?

The Classroom "Cliff"

601 Maple St by Jeff Gray...you HAVE to read it!

Then follow it up with a two-part video (Cipher in the Snow part 1 and part 2).

I won't give any further review of either but highly enoucrage you to look into them :)

Both the book and movie have really encompassed many of my thoughts over the past month and have encouraged me to look at my students in a different light.

I pride myself as a teacher who works very hard to get to know my students both as learners and children outside of school. During the first few weeks I pay home visits to each of their homes and do my best to connect with their parents or guardians. I've found that this makes a HUGE impact as I start to get to know them better throughout the beginning of the school year. While I was able to make a strong connection with the teacher in 601 Maple St, it was "Cliff" in Cipher in the Snow that left me thinking:

How much of my thoughts, time and energy are spent on those students in my class who demand so much of my attention?? Which students do I barely spend time on because I'm too busy filling out point sheets or counseling those who had a bad weekend?

These thoughts have led me to my most recent goal: spend more time with the students who don't "need" as much of my time! These students, who are always following directions, always on-task, always working hard, deserve my time just as much as any other student in my class and I'm going to make a valiant effort to give them the attention they so deserve!

I'm curious, how do you ensure that your attention and time is spread evenly amongst each individual student in your classroom?

The importance of a social curriculum in the classroom

In the very early stages of my student teaching I was lucky enough to have a cooperating teacher who was a "coach" of Responsive Classroom. This philosophy states that the social curriculum is just as important as the academic curriculum within a classroom. This exposure to RC forever changed the way I would teach.

I strongly believe that teaching students how to be a respectful, responsible student is necessary to academic success. In order for a classroom to be a place in which students can effectively learn it must be safe, calm and respectful. One can never assume that any of your students will come in knowing how to behave in a safe, calm or respectful way; for that reason I feel that I must teach them about manners, patience, understanding and other respectful qualities.

The easiest way to do this is to consistantly model what a respectful person looks and sounds like. I'm always very conscious about my tone, manners, and, most recently, my non-verbals. I present multiple opportunities for my students to work collaboratively together in various academics, but also in peer-mediation situations. Very rarely do I find myself working through the problem for them but with them in a way that helps them to see how they can do it on their own the next time a similar problem may occur.

Each year I am pleasantly surprised with the community that is built amongst our class. I see a group of kids that genuinely care about each other and like to see their friends succeed. I'm very confident that these are the results of intentionally teaching social skills on a daily basis.

The way in which I teach: Using a concept-based teaching approach

Currently in grad school we've been reading various articles to help us better understand what it means to design our lessons around and teach in a more concept-based way. Having read "Understanding by Design" by Wiggins and McTighe and "Concept-Based Teaching and Learning" by Erickson, I was able to grasp a better understanding of what it means to design your lessons and teaching in a way that encourages deeper-thinking and understanding in your students. Some connections I found between the two are as follows:

• Both articles stressed the importance of teaching the overall concepts and principles versus fact memorization. As Erickson states, "Facts do not transfer. The are locked in time, place or situation. Knowledge transfers at the conceptual level as concepts, generalizations and principles are applied across...situations."
• Because time is of the essence and concept-based teaching can be more "time-consuming," it's important to carefully differentiate the "fluff" from the key concepts that will have enduring understanding (teach with INTENTION!)
• In both CBI and backwards design it is crucial for students to make connections to their learning. Not only does this increase motivation but also deepens their understanding as they are more likely to then apply it cross-culturally and from unit to unit.
• On that same note, using "transdisciplinary themes" and common essential questions (from unit to unit) allows students to transfer their learning and continuing deepening their understanding within that concept.
• Focusing on a central idea within the unit helps to guide the questioning and discussion within that concept. It's also very beneficial to have common central ideas in a vertically-aligned way (within multiple grade levels or even school-wide) as, again, students have multiple opportunities to build their schema as they connect their current learning to prior knowledge.
• The idea that resonated most with me is the idea of posting essential questions (vs. "this is what you will learn" goals) before beginning a new concept. These questions should be in student-friendly language and a variety of "factual, conceptual and debatable [questions] to engage interest and facilitate synergistic thinking," (Erickson, 2012).

Sorry for the "meaty" post...and on a Monday nonetheless! Whoofta.

Hopefully, though, you were able to pick out at least of the above and are able to apply them to your teaching in a way that will benefit you and your students! Have a great week :)

Our Class Website

This will be a short one...

Click here to go to my class website.

WARNING-it is not cute. It doesn't have polka dots or little hands all over. It's white. With black text. The creative side of me is just dying to spruce it up. The practical side...no time to do it and not a top priority!

Right now I'm using it as a sort of "hub" for Educreation lessons that I've created for each of my differentiated math and reading groups. They can visit their groups "page" on their Ipads, download, and watch their lesson during Daily 5 or Guided Math. It's been a great tool as they can watch, and rewatch, at their own pace! If you visit the site using a computer you'll see a lot of "could not display" because you need an Ipad and the Educreations app to view the lessons.
I've also posted "safe" youtube videos within each of their groups that connect with a specific strategy or phonic pattern their group is working on. Feel free to visit...just ignore the white :)

From the craziness...emerges another action research idea!

I feel like I need a personal assistant living inside my brain keeping me organized! Between various ETL grad school assignments, the never-ending to-do list at work and the IPad initiative I feel like my head is spinning! However, they say "work smarter, not harder" so my new goal is to do just that! Ta-dah! A possible future action research...increased student engagement due to 1-to-1 IPad initiative. Look at me go. I'm already making my life easier :)

Sense the self-encouragment and convincing?

The Power of Intention

It seems fitting that this, my first blog post, be about my intentions as a teacher. Many of us have the goal of being great at what we do, but for what reason? How will our goal affect those around us? When I think about my intentions as a teacher, the "why" that truly resonates with me is the fact that I want every student, each year, to leave my room knowing that someone loved them, cared for them, and believed that they could succeed. I want to leave an imprint on their lives.

I believe the idea of intention especially helps to build relationships with the more challenging students we encounter each year. Not only should we evaluate our intentions with that specific student, but their's as well. Why is that they may be challenging? Why is it that they are struggling to learn something? What is it that encompasses their lives outside of school? When we are able to understand their intentions, their "why," we are able to make such a greater impact on their emotional and academic beings. It is crucial to know each of your students not just as learners, but as complex individuals.

Each year I find myself with a few "onion students." They're those students who were purposely placed in my classroom because their previous teacher thought I'd be "understanding of their needs." Usually this means "they're tough...maybe she can crack them." Initially, these "onions" leave me crying at the end of each day. I find myself wondering how in the world I am going to make any progress with them when they won't let me in! However, little by little, the more they let me in ("shed their layers" perhaps) the more I am able to understand their "why." If I never gave them the opportunity to reveal their intention and only judged them based on what I thought I knew about them, I'd be missing out on an opportunity to change their lives, and mine, for the better.