Oct 30

In favor or against the "teachable moment"... I have felt like we've had several such moments since beginning this book. When reading with my small group I really try to connect them with history. I feel good, but what comes of the "teachable moment?" Do we lose it? If we keep up with it, is it still a teachable moment, or does it become something else? I'm not sure how much students retain, no matter how well it is handled by the teacher. Perhaps the good ones (not sure if I'm talking about moments or teachers here) do stick, because they find their way into future lessons/discussions, in which the teacher keeps reinforcing the concept. We tend to measure teachers on these moments, at least when we're observing, but I'm personally not sure of the outcomes.

Oct 29

I've been grading the vocab tests for the chapter book and students are doing wonderfully! Unfortunately we've switched so many things around I can't sure at all that it's due to the book and the context. I like that we've had students highlight the words, and that we're both reading and listening to each chapter and answering questions in small groups. That may be reinforcing the vocabulary. One of the differences between the tests is that the new test is strictly multiple choice. The previous tests over the week's vocabulary were also multiple choice, but students copied down the words first, which were spoken by a teacher. They did not have the words written for them. Now I'm very curious about which one of these variables has made a difference in students' scores. Of course, it could also be that the students are more familiar with the vocab words from the text.

Oct 29

Today I had a chance to read with a small group of students who do read, but perhaps not fluently. I noticed all the mistakes they made -- transpositions, substitutions, deletions... they seemed to understand what they read but it was interesting to note this characteristic as a hallmark of a disfluent reader. It reinforces the need in my mind for reading instruction such as the Reading Naturally that we're doing, where students practice reading something fluently. I also wonder what impact this has on comprehension. They do seem to understand what they're reading. I'm learning a lot about non-beginning readers who are older but who are still struggling.

Oct 27

Long time.. we've been out for break and sickness. We're starting a novel now, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, and our vocab is now tied to the book. It makes me wonder how we teach vocab. I've discussed this before, and at least this is more in context, but how do we know / check whether students really retain these words? We'd have to do planned activities with the students, but we'd also have to pre- and post-test. I'm sure they already know many of these vocab words, and it varies quite a bit from student to student. Having students select their own vocab words might be more productive, but also time-consuming, and projects with the words would be more difficult from the teacher's point of view. Meanwhile, we're also testing with multiple choice, which is very common. It's also recommended for students with LD who might not be able to pick a definition out of their head even if they "know" the word. Of course, then we have to ask what "knowing" the word really means.

Oct 15

Today I worked more with students using "Reading Naturally." The students seemed genuinely engaged in listening to the stories, following along, and trying to read more fluently. As I mentioned previously, I'm not sure it's working so well for students who were already able to read the passage fluently, but for non-fluent readers, it seems to make a world of difference. I'd like to just sit them down for a longer period of time and see what happens. The "cold" and "hot" read timings are reinforcing to them and to me as an instructor. I'm impressed with this system.

The teachers have given up on DOL finally. What would have made this work? Probably introducing "new" concepts systematically -- e.g. starting with beginning capitalization and punctuation, then capitalizing names, places, etc. -- and adding on, being sure to go back and review periodically. Each week when we tested on Friday, we'd only test on what had been reviewed in the previous week and before. Additionally, if we had given points for a correct DOL sheet at the end of the week, perhaps students would have been more motivated to get started and to review their work when we reviewed it as a class. I'm sure it's not too difficult to get ahold of a plan of study for this type of grammar work.

Oct 14

I helped supervise a Reading Naturally fluency session, whereby students do a "cold read," listen to the passage on CD, time themselves, and get a "hot timing" done by a teacher. Then they have to read comprehension. My question is how fluent is fluent? Some of the students already seemed fluent, which they would be at their instructional level. Now it just seems like they're rushing when they try to beat their score. Fluency is just so important, but I'm not sure where we draw the line and say "enough." Comprehension is a part of this, but not a huge part. Also, how much above a child's instructional level is appropriate for them to practice? Obviously they shouldn't be missing a lot of words, but they would need to do some practice if it is a bit above their level.

Oct 12

Whew, a HUGE day. We introduced "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" with a little history lesson. Drove me just about crazy, because I love history and I love teaching history. So many of our students have a spotty record with history. Some never got it because they were pulled out for extra reading help. Anyway, I went to town with my small group. At the end I had them write down what they had learned about the '60s so they could refer to it. It's tough to find appropriate reading material in history for sixth graders with limited reading ability. As I discussed history with my small group, they started talking. It's so rural they really don't know any people of color and aren't ashamed to admit they're racist, they're afraid of Blacks, etc. I know this happens in so many communities, and it's tough for individuals and schools to address. I've suggested a speaker from my university and we'll see what happens. I'm sure a one-shot deal is not the best way to address this issue, but at least it will be a start.

It's so interesting to hear about students' conceptions of history. When they see pictures of war, they don't tie it to a certain era, just start guessing any war they can think of. Then that makes them think of other wars. So all of a sudden we're talking about WWII. I wonder what part of this is having so many children with ADHD, in that their stream-of-consciousness is often right out there for you to see. Perhaps we all think this way but are able to at least seem as though we're focused. They seemed to really need some kind of outline/structure to keep them focused on the era. They enjoyed the pop culture part, and we could really use that to introduce some of the other issues.

Oct 9

Today got me thinking about medication. I asked the special education teacher, "What did you do to D? He seems much calmer and is doing his work." She mentioned that he's medicated sometimes. There's another student with the same issues. He's either on task or he's way, way off task, even in trouble for behavioral issues. So how do we sort out when to medicate? Obviously this is an issue that troubles many people. I'd like to know how the students think about their own behavior on and off medication. By sixth grade they should be more conscious of it, but if they've grown up with it, who knows? It's easy for people to say no meds, period, but some children really can thrive in school with them.

Oct 8

Today I started thinking about something way, WAY outside my area of expertise. After listening to two paraprofessionals discussing teachers, I was wondering whether and how they could be used to participate in teacher evaluations. These are individuals who do have experience in classrooms, who sit in teachers' classrooms day in and day out. That's the critique of the one-shot in-and-out evaluations and administrators do -- that they cannot know the real context of the class. Paraprofessionals might not have the whole story but they see students, and they see students who struggle. They understand and positives and negatives of instruction. Unfortunately I have seen a lot of negative energy from paras in my time, but we have to realize that they are underpaid and undervalued overall. They may know more than the teacher quite often but have little input into instruction. How can this energy and expertise be channeled in such a way as to assist the school in this important function?

Oct 7

I had to ask myself today, "What is good teacher education?" It just so happens that a sped major from my institution is in our classroom for her practicum. What if I were really supervising her? Wouldn't that be good teacher education? Would I give her different feedback from the teacher? to me, this would be great teacher education. A professor out in the classroom so s/he knows the teacher and students. An observation that's more than a one-shot deal by someone who knows neither the teacher, the content, nor the students. Plus, she's doing some work with a general ed major. The two of them seemed pretty tight. Surely this is also good teacher education, and I'm hoping some good conversations are occurring in transit. More can get done this way, if done correctly, than anything else. The informal connections are so important, but they have to be structured.

Another thing that we all need more of is time. What if we all sat down together -- the university professor, me, the teacher, and the student. I know it would be intimidating for the student, so it would have to be set up in such a way that did not seem like an inquisition. This would be an amazing opportunity to discuss the teacher candidates' possibilities in in-depth ways and use the different perspectives to advantage. I'll have to ask my students about this one, how this could be accomplished without being a terrible experience intimidation-wise. Meanwhile, this is exactly what works in teacher ed: a teacher candidate having a hands-on experience and having the opportunity to debrief and learn from the situation with the guidance of more experienced professionals. I'd argue it's one of the only things that we actually KNOW works in teacher ed.

Oct 6

Today I got a positive response from one of those unlikeable students you're always telling yourself you have to work harder to reach. This particular student unfortunately fits the description of a typical "bully" -- overweight, tall, shoves other students, not particularly agreeable, doesn't do his work, etc. But I always tell my students these are the ones who need us the most, so I had better practice what I preach. Yesterday I told him that I had meant to mention last week before I got sick that he did a great job on his essay from that week, had a good attitude and got right down to writing, which is not an easy task for him. He actually seemed pleased, and for the first time called me over by name today. He even said goodbye to me by name yesterday. This doesn't mean it's permanent, but sometimes I'm amazed at how little it takes. He also showed an interest in work for one of the first times, and showed me that he was on task and that he had completed some of his assignments. I certainly shouldn't take full responsibility for this turn-around in behavior, but why not?

Oct 5

GREAT to be back after being out sick last week. I feel refreshed and had a wonderful day! I remember this feeling as a teacher. Again, we're redoing the grammar. I know that teaching grammar explicitly is considered an "evidence-based practice" in my field, but perhaps we need to refine what that looks like and how it connects to writing. Even going back to nouns and verbs with this group is challenging. We reviewed pronouns explicitly last week and they're still unable to get them with the first "guess."

We also worked on our essays. I encouraged students to write in the customary format -- put everything they want to write about upfront, then write a bit about each thing, then close. They had to plan out their writing ahead of time, but didn't seem to be able to follow through well with writing more about each thing they wanted to say in order. I think it will take some more direct instruction in essay writing. I'm sure it does not look good for them when it comes to the state writing test.