Reflection Part 2 I forgot…
29 04 2008I forgot to tell you all to share what you have done that you are proud of. This is a space NOT to be humble. So let it out, we all know you are good… Besides, I may need this information for recommendations… Don’t talk about your student. Talk about what YOU did and/or understand that makes you a good teacher of reading.
I am most proud of the fact that I worked with my student on something that he really wanted to work on.
As a graduating senior this year, Will knew it would be a struggle to go to college next year (he’s attending community college) without being able to read or write cursive. We worked on it every day at the end our sessions and even when he became frustrated, and said he wasn’t going to remember it, I kept telling him that it would be worth it.
By our last session (yesterday) he was writing in cursive extremely well… better than I anticipated. I asked him to write to me 2 things he liked doing or that he thinks have improved and 2 that he didnt. His first thing was “I liked that we worked on my cursive reading and writing.” THis just shows me how important it really was to him, that he listed it first.
I am also proud that I was able to use texts throughout our sessions that Will really liked; it was important for me and he constantly told me how much he liked some of the books. He did a great job throughout the entire semseter : )
Ethan has definately improved in many areas with the help that I gave him. I didn’t really think that I would make an impact in anyone’s life in such a short period of time and I’m really excited about that I was able to. It just goes to show that any time that is spent with a student will help them in the long run. Ethan is more ciked about reading now. He knows different strategies for understanding what he is reading and learning new words.
I am also proud of this case study. It is done and was a lot of work. I understand now though what the purpose is for all the parts of the case study and how they are put together. If I was to do this again it would be much easier and probably be better in general because of this experience.
I am proud of the fact that Logan has learned through practice that he can become a better reader and I am proud of all the progress that Logan has made. I have witnessed a 2nd grader stand up for himself by defending his reading abilities to a friend that was older than him.
In the end I am proud of all the work that I have accomplished. In the beginning of the semester I was hesitant with all of the work that was expected of me. Being that this was my first reading assessment class, I wasn’t used to the jargon that goes along with being a reading facilitator. Through trial and error I was then able to focus on strategies that were beneficial for Logan and in the end helped him to become a successful reader.
I am proud of how organized I was throughout the semester. My student was frequently out of school and so I had to stay on top of changing our schedule so that we will still complete the required hours. Also, I am proud of how well I handled Dezsirae’s personal, family issues. Not only did I provide an outlet for her, but I was able to teach her at the same time. She was proud of the skills she learned with me and even prouder to share them with others. It took some time to figure out what she needed most, but I feel like I fulfilled those needs in the end.
I think the progress that Savanna made throughout the course of our sessions is what made me feel like I was doing something right. She made such significant progress in her sight word recognition and her overal fluency, that it made me feel like I had chosen the right activities and targeted my instruction specifically for her. It allowed me to feel confident that I really had listened to Savanna in the beginning of our sessions about what she felt we needed to work on and really helped her with those areas. It makes you feel good as a teacher to know that you have helped your student in this way!
People,
Do you notice how many times you talked about your student when I asked you what you did that you are proud of? How about answering “I am a good teacher of reading because…..” and you would not be allowed to talk about your student. You could only talk about what you did. Try again
it is very difficult to try and write what you are proud of and not mention your student…. isn’t ultimate goal of our job to have our students succeed, therefore making us successful ?
but, to follow your guidelines, i will say that I am a good teacher of reading because I now have the knowledge, after taking a variety of litearcy graduate courses, to help my student in the best ways that I know are out there. I know what works and what does not and I know how to execute strategies that will eventaully make whtever student I am working with and I both feel successful. I am a good teacher of reading because I am able to adapt myself and work around situations that are not following through in ways that I feel they should be and I can use my knowledge of many different literacy practices to make myself the best possible teacher that I know how to be.
Yes, Stacey et. al.
It is very hard to write about how good you are and not talk about the students because as you said, they are our raisin d’etre. Yet, it is important to stop and reflect on WHY you are effective and WHAT you are effective at. This is what guides how you teach and eventually how effective a teacher you will be or continue to be.
So, in the area of literacy assessment and instruction, what are you good at and why are you good at it?
Stacey & Tiffany –I gave you credit for this posting already. For those of you who haven’t written yours yet, I hope this is helpful. Dr. Summers
I think this is going to be tough to respond to without talking about my student, but here it goes… I feel that I am a good teacher of reading because I was able to take what the assessments showed me and gear my instruction in that direction. I then took what the student told me and showed me and molded my instruction to fit her even more specifically. It is important to use the data the assessments gave you, but also use what you have observed as well. I think that is why I am a good reading teacher, I was able to observe many different things that helped influence my instruction. I am proud that I was able to take all of the knowledge I have gained and use it to create activities that were successful.
I feel that I am a good teacher of reading because I am able to effectively implement assessment strategies to pinpoint specific areas of difficulty that a reader may experience. I am then able to apply my knowledge of these specific components of literacy and design/implement valuable instructional strategies designed to work with students’ strengths in order to develop their overall literacy development. I am very pleased with the instructional strategies I used with my student mainly because I saw great improvement in her skills. I feel a lot more confident to go out there and administer literacy assessments and then drive my instruction based on the results and other background knowledge that I gather from each student.
I am a good reading teacher because, first, I took the time to get to know my student and find out about her interests. Secondly, I listended to my case study and did the things she liked to do that would help her to become a better -”word solver, ” such as play Hangman, and using magnetic letters to stretch out words even though it is time consuming. I also spent a lot of time with Ella’s mother educating her in regards to her role in her daughter’s life when dealing with literacy. Her mom didn’t realize that she should still be reading to her daughter, thus I provided many “just right books”, as well as challeging books in a book bag for Ella’s mother to work with, based on Ella’s interests. Finally, I also took Ella and her mother to our community library (she didn’t know there was a library right in our own little community with so many wonderful books for chidren and adults to read).
I am a good reading teacher because I am able to use a student’s strengths and interests to help improve their weaknesses. I believe I was very successful with pinpointing the areas of difficulty and develop effective lesson plans and goals to work toward. I also feel that I am a good reading teacher because I was extremely organized and flexible. Things didn’t always go as I planned but I always had a back-up activity that I was able to fall back on. I was very good at determining what kind of mood my student was in and switch up the lesson plans if I needed to in order to make it most beneficial for him.
I am proud that I learned so much in this class. I’m not a literacy major – special education – and this is the first LIT class I’ve taken since my undergrad days (spring 2004). I am proud that I was able to make a difference in my student’s reading ability. I am proud that I was able to encourage Zack to try different things, that I was able to develop a trusting relationship with him, and that he gained much self confidence over the past few months. I developed activities for Zack that were engaging and fun for him, as well as educational. I have gotten Zack to the point that he self monitors his reading, stops when he realizes that what he is reading is not making sense, and actually self corrects. I am proud that I have taught Zack how to use context clues when reading – something that he rarely did before our tutoring sessions. Mostly I am proud that I have helped this little boy realize that he is able to read and that he is confident in his reading abilities. He enjoys books and is eager to share what he has learned with everyone! I am also proud that I finished this case study while balancing the needs of family and teaching full time! Yeah!!!
In the area of literacy assessment and instruction I am good at tailoring instruction to meet the needs of students while allowing them to enjoy the experience and demonstrate what they already know. I am good at this because I create comprehension activities and instruction that point out the fact that students are already using comprehension strategies just not realizing it. I am a good tutor because I provide the student with a comfortable environment to talk about their problems and work hard to make their reading better. I take little steps to change not-so-good readers into good readers and keep persisting even when progress is slow. I am proud with how I tried a variety of methods to reach the student, trying to find the best way for them to connect to the strategies. I am proud that I can excite a reluctant reader by sharing fun and cool books and articles!
I am proud of how I was able to incorporate the interests and strengths of my student into every session. I found that it was much easier to adapt these lessons to her strengths and interests because it was just one student I was focused on, rather than twenty. I am also proud that I was able to keep Megan interested in reading and writing and proud of who she is as a reader and writer. It is difficult to keep a students spirits and confidence high when they are aware of their struggles. I also have to agree with Kendra that being flexible was a big part of this case study. The last thing that I would have to say I am proud of was having Megan eager to come and work with me as well as just as eager to go home and share with her family the work we did that day!
I am most proud of my tutee’s newfound confidence! His teachers reported that, for the first time all year, Sam volunteered to read aloud and now does so every day! He is much more confident in his reading abilities (and he now has MUCH better fluency), and that is a gift I am so proud to give him!
So trying to stay away from talking about my student (oops….sorry….haha) I feel like I am a good reading teacher because I went to the library and used my resources! I did not try to come up with everything on my own. I used knowledge of other people’s experiences and information from reference books. Also, going to the library opened me up to the “hip” books that are every child’s favorite now and I knew “my student” (sorry) would be interested in reading. I also think I am a good reading teacher because although I did not catch her true needs at first, once I realized it, I changed my instruction. I was flexible enough to be change right in the middle and be able to transition smoothly without stopping something abruptly and then starting something new. I was also able to make different activities that would make our tutoring sessions last up to an hour and a half or more without getting boring or redundant. Our last session was almost two hours long because she kept wanting to play this game over and over and she did not want to leave. Oh Yeah!! One awesome proud moment that I really had was when my student came to me and said she had repeated one of the poems we read out loud to her class and she had memorized it because she practiced it so much before she read it. This coming from a student who said she did not like to read in front of her class and she memorized it to retell in front of them! It just made me proud that I had built up her confidence that much to get right up there without any initial encouragement from me to do it. It was entirely her idea and I let her roll with it! (I know, I know, I talked about my student, but it was in relation to something that I had done for her, so it is really about me!!)
The thing that I am most proud of with my teaching reading is that my student improved his reading by two grade levels. I think this is becuase I taught vocabulary, word decoding, and other stretiges on how to figure out a word he did not know. I also let him figure out the words he was stuck on with out just giving him the word after a second. This was the hardest part for me. I use to just give my students the words.
After working with my student, I feel that I spent time evaluating his needs and strengths and worked to tailor the needs that fit him. I have always felt that I have a good connection with children and I am able to understand them and ” meet them at their level.” Some children have a hard time talking about things that are botheringthem or areas that they need help in. I feel this is an area that I am strong in and can be a great sounding board for them. I also found myself to very well organized and prepared for each session. I made sure that I was meeting our goals and not working on things that did not need attention. I learned a lot about myself while working with Tyler and he taught me a lot about being patient and flexible.
I feel that I am a good teacher of reading. This is because I was able to take what different assessments showed me and then gear my teaching in that direction to help students out. Also I make sure that I use the student’s strengths and interests in my teaching this way the students will be interested and will be able to then improve their skills.
I also feel that am organized and flexible. Things don’t always go as I planned, but I made sure I always have a back up plan. It is important to be very flexible and be able to change things if you need to.
I’m singing Mr. Roger’s song–I’m proud of you. I sing it to my children when they have done something noteworthy or wonderful, usually after a lot of effort. Choose which applies to you. Dr. Summers