The take away I had from this chapter is to not let any moment pass by when you could teach, evaluate, talk, or listen to a student. Each minute we have in a school day is precious and we should never let a minute pass by where students are not engaged in learning. It is important for us teachers to be aware of our students needs so we can take any and every opportunity to not only evaluate and facilitate their needs but build a relationship with them.
I have admitted many times that reading is not my "thing." I like teaching math and science because those are my interest. As I have been taking this class and reading these chapters, reading has become more and more my "thing" every day. I literally become excited to try new things and watch my students grow right before my eyes. I realized through reading this chapter that I already do a lot of things mentioned in the book. For example, I am a big advocate of modeling in front of the students, then having the students join you, then letting the students work in pairs or a group, and last having them try it out independently. I have seen this work not only in reading and writing, but in math as well. Children need to see and hear the behaviors, thoughts, and actions of a real reader. As I read more into this chapter and came towards the end where it discusses students thinking about their reading and talking about it with one another, I could not help but to think back at our session on Tuesday. I went to the session connecting comprehension, and she basically taught us exactly what Routman said. It is important for students to not only read the text, but to think about it and talk about it. Routman calls this interactive reading. It explains how it allows the students to think about what they've read and the reading process. It also gives them an opportunity to talk, which is great for ELL students. I truly enjoy and learn a lot about my students when I simply have them discuss something with a partner. Within a minute of listening to them talk, I can evaluate whether or not they understand the text. It amazes me how students can already connect situations in books to their own lives. I can not wait to hear and see what my students say to one another after I model thinking aloud about books and discussing books with partner. I know they will begin to dig deeper and deeper into the meanings of books.
I'm so glad that reading is become a little more of your "thing"! I always loved to read, but when I first started teaching, the idea of teaching reading was terrifying. Sometimes it still is. Your connections between strategies you already use comfortably in other content areas (like modeling) will help too!
ReplyDeleteHi Summer,
ReplyDeleteRoutman did a fantastic job of compelling us to think about how we use our time as teachers and to promote a sense of urgency. I appreciate how you are working to maximize your students' time during their literacy block to read, write, think, and discuss. You mentioned how you wanted to try out Routman's strategy of interactive reading. This structure helps promote metacognition - thinking about what you are thinking as you are reading and the collaborative nature of it promotes conversation and effective communication - both of which are great scaffolding tools. Thank you! Dawn