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Post by Amy Vaid on Oct 29, 2015 1:54:59 GMT
Amy Vaid, I liked how you described the first and second read process. I think is it super important for students to re-read because it will increase their comprehension of the text. It was nice to hear that you do not see readicide happening to your students. That shows that you are all doing a great job! The second graders I observed all seemed to love reading too. I wonder if the middle schoolers have that same attitude. The middle schoolers are a mixed bag of attitudes! Some, love reading. Some only love books they pick out. Then there are some that are happy and healthy until it is time to read, and they suddenly have to go to the bathroom, are so thirsty, or they are suddenly ill and must see the nurse! It's strange because the kids that avoid don't all have issues reading. They just don't like class reading assignments for whatever reason. I think it might help if the class would get to vote on a book to read together, sometimes. Picking a book for 20+ tweens to enjoy sounds like an impossible task for a teacher! |
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Post by Amy Vaid on Oct 29, 2015 2:05:59 GMT
Erin, you quoted that "Authentic interest is generated when students are given the opportunity to delve deeply into an interesting idea” and that made me remember something. In the ELA class I'm in, students get Articles of the Week to take home and do close reads with - annotating the article, and writing an opinion paragraph. Each article is about something controversial in kid life, like do Photoshopped images make children have low self-esteem, or are video games healthy, that type of thing. It's nice because the students get a whole week to work on it at home, at their own pace. They don't have any other take home work, so it's very manageable, and the students seem to be proud of their paragraphs, and have started to use annotation (but on sticky notes) in their personal reading books all on their own. I even asked the students if they were taught to do that or were asked to, and they just wanted to because they liked it.
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Post by Amy Vaid on Oct 29, 2015 2:11:59 GMT
The biggest takeaway I have from reading Readicide is that we need to help students find a balance between academic reading and recreational reading so that learning can take place as well as the enjoyment of reading. The author Kelly Gallagher talks about making sure students find their “reading flow” and I fully agree. The first time I was able to get completely lost in a book wasn’t until a few years ago. I have always hated reading up until then. My view on reading changed and I have enjoyed reading so many great books since then. I'd really like to learn how to help students find their "reading flow." Reading novels and books for pleasure, even academic pleasure, is so incredibly different than test-taking reading of short passages. I love reading, but those tests are not fun at all! It must be really challenging to teach kids that yes, both activities are reading, but they are so different! |
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Post by Amy Vaid on Oct 29, 2015 2:18:54 GMT
Amy Johnson- I totally agree with you, getting student to discover their reading flow is so important when trying to develop lifelong readers. When I was an aid, I constantly saw teachers chopping up books. We would stop almost every page and discuss something or check for comprehension. I could see that the students were getting so frustrated that they were continuously being interrupted. However, this is how I remembered my own reading experience to be, so I thought it was a good teaching practice or something… I am glad to hear I was wrong! I also agree that the jigsaw approach sounds like a really great way to engage students in group discussion and also build background knowledge. Wow, every page or so?! That does sound incredibly annoying. But, I guess, if it's very complicated text, that might be necessary? I think as I was growing up, we stopped often, too. It's going to be tricky to not do that as a teacher. Sometimes, when I'm reading to students, I stop every once and a while to talk about what's just happened - but I'm also the annoying person who likes to talk during movies. |
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Post by Amy Vaid on Oct 29, 2015 2:24:52 GMT
I do not think this book transformed the way I think. I have been frustrated with the education system in Chicago since my kids have been in school. I feel it has only solidified my opinions on all the tests that kids are mandated to take. I previously felt, as a society, we focus on too many tests. As Gallagher mentions, we cram in material, and schools give kids shallow information on a lot of topics so that they can do well on a standardized test. There is no time for processing. What this book has me wondering is how much money someone is making on all of these tests. They are not free. Who is the politician making money off the exams? Is it about equality or money? Now, I do not have experience teaching and I am 100% sure I would have interpreted this book differently if I was. I do think, as a parent, teachers can be melodramatic and do not want to get involved. A problem I encounter is that many teachers do not take the time, like Gallagher, to figure out what works best. It is the teachers themselves who lack motivation and background knowledge. Truth! Who is making money on all these tests? Making money off the backs of children is vile. Some teachers are lazy. The trouble with being a lazy teacher vs. a lazy office worker is that the lazy teacher impacts the lives of many children and their futures. So many lazy teachers need to retire and make way for us. |
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Emma Underwood (Kells)
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Post by Emma Underwood (Kells) on Oct 29, 2015 22:47:16 GMT
Thanks, Huda!
We really need to move in that direction as educators. Test skills aren't necessarily going to translate over to real world skills. We need to train a group of children who are knowledgeable of topics outside of a fill in the bubble mentality.
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Post by Emma Underwood on Oct 29, 2015 22:51:03 GMT
Erin, I like that you mentioned that "sweet spot" tht Gallagher talked about. I think that's something a lot of reading teachers really struggle with. How do we know when we're simply assigning reading versus actually teaching it to our students. We need to make sure we're aware that what we plan, teach, and assign is all valuable to our students and their education. We have to hit the "sweet spot"!
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Post by Emma Underwood on Oct 29, 2015 22:54:42 GMT
I do not think this book transformed the way I think. I have been frustrated with the education system in Chicago since my kids have been in school. I feel it has only solidified my opinions on all the tests that kids are mandated to take. I previously felt, as a society, we focus on too many tests. As Gallagher mentions, we cram in material, and schools give kids shallow information on a lot of topics so that they can do well on a standardized test. There is no time for processing. What this book has me wondering is how much money someone is making on all of these tests. They are not free. Who is the politician making money off the exams? Is it about equality or money? Now, I do not have experience teaching and I am 100% sure I would have interpreted this book differently if I was. I do think, as a parent, teachers can be melodramatic and do not want to get involved. A problem I encounter is that many teachers do not take the time, like Gallagher, to figure out what works best. It is the teachers themselves who lack motivation and background knowledge. Truth! Who is making money on all these tests? Making money off the backs of children is vile. Some teachers are lazy. The trouble with being a lazy teacher vs. a lazy office worker is that the lazy teacher impacts the lives of many children and their futures. So many lazy teachers need to retire and make way for us. (Emma) I agree with both of you! It didn't transform my thinking because I've already been thinking the same things for years. It was definitely a confirmation of all our thoughts and feelings on the subject. The testing system in our country is so corrupt. Think about Iowa testing...private companies contracting with school districts throughout the country on a yearly basis. I have had teaching experience and this book had a lot of hard truths in it. Great points, both of you! |
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