Woah, is right!

This week’s readings have had an impact on my thinking about teaching. Most prominently, Chapter 7 of Catching Readers Before They Fall, was very interesting to me. The title: I thought I knew How to Teach Reading, but Woah!, is perfect for my feelings right now about becoming a new teacher. There is so much to learn, and a lot of what the authors talk about involves getting the field experience and practice. The best way to learn is to work with students first hand, and I am so glad that I am able to do this in my experience at University Elementary School. One of the most important points I got from this chapter is that all children can learn, and there is always something that can be done so that the child is able to learn how to read. Every child is different and what may work for one child, won’t always work for another. I never really thought much about directional issues in reading. I think when it is something that we naturally do, it’s hard to believe it was ever taught. I have to realize that, especially in kindergarten, all of my students will have different levels of experience with text. I have also learned some helpful hints when it comes to teaching reading. Making meaning for lessons, like the teacher who read the book about the bear, is a great way to set the children up for comprehension of text. Even if the book does not have much of a story line, making one up, like this teacher did, allows the students to grasp onto a story and make meaning of the words. Another valid point made in the chapter involves using the childrens’ names to teach lessons. In most cases the students learn their names first, and by having them learn other words and letter sounds through that understanding is a great way to jump start understanding of letters and the sounds they make. For example, if a child’s name is Steve, I might say: “Let’s get our mouths ready to start like Steves’s name.” I found this simple trick to be very useful and made sense. One other stressed idea in this chapter is that there will be some struggling readers that will require more attention, and you will not always be able to work with all the students the same amount of time. The authors let you know that it is okay, and that it is important to make sure those who are struggling are never left behind. Overall, this chapter was a great resource for finding solutions to fit the needs of the struggling student. By observing other teachers, asking for help, providing age-appropriate resources, celebrating achievement, and most of all getting to know my students individually, I will be better off in my literacy block. I am sure I will come back to this book when I graduate.