Reflection

I really enjoyed this class. It really helped me start thinking as a teacher rather than a student when it comes to reading. Enjoying all the book demos and sharing each others' choice projects my book list is very long. I thought the book we had to read and write the blogs about was WONDERFUL. It helped in every way to think about every type of student that could be in the classroom and how to relate to their reading habits. Doing the book reviews was a great way for me to understand what makes a book useful in the classroom and enjoyable for students to read.

Chapter 14

This is what I think the fun of being an English teacher would come in. How to find the right books that fit the class personality and the content. When Beers brings up the point of choosing books strategically according to the length of the book, personally I believe that it is how the book is presented that decided whether students are going to read. But I do like the theory of choosing books that that student can relate to their characters and who may be facing similar choices. This could bring up great discussion in the classroom. When dealing with non-fiction, teachers should try to collaborate it with another subject or lecture to tie everything together for the big picture.

Chapter 13

When it comes to confidence, especially the point where teachers are to keep their expectations high, I kept thinking about Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. Teachers need to know where that line is from too hard and too easy to get students to learn. It really frustrated me that teacher,like that ones mentioned in the book, basically refused to challenge their students with work. A great way to get students involved in a challenging text is to get them thinking about it in a creative manner. "We need to give students the opportunity to form their thoughts, mull it over, and decided what they want to say or ask about what they've read." (pg 268).

Chapter 10

This chapter is so important because it is basically the foundation of good reading and comprehension.Teachers need to be able to pinpoint those readers who are dependent or independent. Measuring fluency is a great way to provide this. One stratgey I thought was a great idea was to read aloud to the students. Using the educator as a model, the dependent students will be able to learn appropriate expression, phrasing, and pacing. Another important suggestion Beers has is that teachers should prompt students when reading, not correct. If students are constantly told their wrong, it will not only discourage them from reading but also it can be hard for them to correct their own mistakes.

Chatper 9 (The right chapter 9)

When I was in high school I HATED, DESPISED, AND LOATHED vocabulary. I thought it was a total waste of time to learn words that I most likely was not going to pick up and use later in life. And continuing to my freshman year of college, I was write. Yes, I feel that having an extensive vocabulary is important, but I feel it is more important of how one takes those newly learned words and works them into their writing. For me, my new vocab words seemed so foreign in my writing that it just felt unnatural in the piece, and teachers commented on it; "You're trying to hard." they would say. When I stopped trying to add in words that teachers shoved down our throats in high school I feel that I slowly became a better, more fluent writer. I think of good portion of why I didn't like the vocabulary part of school is that not one teacher I had made it interesting. It was just 20 extra points to memorize in homeroom and get by the end of the day. Going back to the book, I really like that the vocabulary tree gave a student a sense of creativity towards the words. It also could help the slowly progress to learning how to input these words into their writing.

Chapter 9

A major topic for a teacher to be concerned about when discussing their student's reading capabilities is how they construct meaning in what they read. The chapter gives a list of multiple things an independent reader need to be able to do to construct meaning such as: identify the main character, plot, and ideas, visualize the text,and know the difference between fact and opinion. A strategy the author gives that I really like is the "Somebody Wanted But So". This is a great way to help students keep the plot of a piece of writing in order, especially if it is on the longer side or if there is many similar characters. A good example to use this is The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane. Because most characters do not have specific names like John or Jim, and are commonly named "the young solider" or "the loud solider" students could get confused quite easily. I feel that this is a great way to keep student actively involved in the reading and also keeping it clear and concise. Retelling is also a great way to start a lesson. As many English teachers know, many students dislike Shakespeare because they have no clue what is going on. I feel that if teachers had student try to retell what they think happened in their own words or actions clarity may come with the help of fellow students and the teacher as a guide.

Chapter 7

As I said in previous chapter blogs, I really like to use the "Say Something" strategy in order to see my student I am tutoring for the OGT gain a greater understanding of what he is reading. After reading paragraphs or stanzas he tells me what he thinks he's read. Next time, I think I am going to try to have him make a prediction of what will happen next. I really like the idea of the double entry journals, because they are very similar to a class blog... but without the blog. I think that this can get the class very engaged with the material and take notes at the same time. I think the bookmarks would be a great way to ask questions about material. Personally, on various types of novels, I would like to have used bookmarks during readings at home, and use them in the classroom to help understand the plot, and characters. Although I think syntax surgery is a great idea in theory, I think that if a student would look back on the paper dependent readers could get confused, discouraged, and want to give up.

Chapter 5

I am really thankful I read this chapter before I started tutoring my student for Principals of Teaching. As we are given OGT practice tests, my student's main issue is to become aware of what is going on throughout the text. I had him read the selected poem and answer the questions that followed on his own at first. After he got a few answers wrong we went back together and went through the poem stanza by stanza. Together we discussed what he thought was going on throughout the play, and I asked him to show me where in the text if was getting this information. Taking a look back into the poem seemed to help him comprehend the piece.
I really enjoy that fact that inferences are based on the person, and past experiences. Yes, as the text gives guidelines of what type of inferences can be made; but it fully based on the persons thought process that different inferences come from.

Chapter 6

A major way students to face what they are reading is by simply getting them to think about what they already know. This is also called activating their prior knowledgeable. This chapter is strongly focused on who to get dependent readers to become independent readers by using anticipation guides. "These guides activate students' prior knowledge, encourage them to make a personal connection to what they will be reading, and give them a chance to become an active participant with the text before they begin reading. I feel that these are so much productive than KWL charts. They actually take the text and apply it to the reader's knowledge, rather than a KWL chart that only uses the broadest topics possible. Even so, unless the text or novel is not going to relate to the student right away, it will be difficult to get a student engaged in this activity.

Chapter 4

As teachers, we should not assume that when a lesson plan is given, that students automatically comprehends what was said. As said in a previous blog, there needs to be more than one strategy to learn. The author claims that certain strategies can help students transform from dependent to independent readers. I feel that a lot of these strategies can be done both in class as a reading activity and also has a way to get students to think deeper into a reading. The author also gives a “play by play” instruction of how to teach certain strategies. Although I like this idea of actually showing students how to become active and independent readers, I also feel like this waste so much class time. Being a high level teacher, I think I feel this way because I am implying that should already be strong readers by the time they come into my classroom. When I find students who have slipping through the cracks of the education system and have yet to learn certain strategies then I feel that if will be crucial to create or explain a strategy based on where they are having difficulties and their learning style. That is why I find this chapter an important one; it helps prepare teachers for all aspects of comprehension, whether it is early or later in a student’s education.

Chapter 3

I think that the most important parts of this chapter were mostly the author’s opinions than the actual data. Although I did like the list of what constitutes as a struggling reader, I feel that there were so many aspects to it that it could pertain to anyone. For instance I read out loud all the time, but I do not necessarily identify myself as a struggling reader. Perhaps that a struggling reader has a collection of these aspects. But I did enjoy her mentioning that a teacher must be able to teach in more than type of instruction. English grammar and reading has so many options for how students learn that I feel that this is so important to be brought up. If we have so many students with different characteristic of being a struggling reader, a teacher must realize how to accommodate those learning styles. “Reading is a social process.” I love this statement. It brings the entire chapter together. A student must understand what his is reading to enjoy it. Some comprehension can come from simple discussion, whether it is because they do not understand the content, or bringing other ideas into the conversation. Having reading become a social matter in the classroom is such a strong notion in the class.

Chapter 2

One of the most important ideas that I learned from this chapter is that not all students act the same way. For example: the author brought up the idea of what a struggling reader looks like. Most would think of a student that slumps down in their desk, not paying attention with their heads down, or turned around completely. But any student could be a struggling leader. This suggestion can be extended further than just noticing when a student is struggling. Not one student has the same body language as another; each is going to react to a situation at home, in the classroom, and in a social situation differently. It is important as teachers to recognize the difference. I also liked that idea of transforming a dependant reader into a independent reader. Again this can take place after the teacher has taken the time to notice an issue or setback in a student’s reading ability. But as the chapter wrapped up it mentioned one very important point. A person must make mistakes in order to learn. I believe this is so true. Furthermore a teacher must know the balance of making a student feel comfortable to make mistakes and learn from them, and when a mistake is simple a lack of effort.