Comments for Read Aloud.

Comment on real life literacy by amfernan

amfernan — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:38:56 +0000

I agree that school’s need to inform parent’s for their value in their child’s education. If parent’s know that what happens at home benefits the home…then there would so much collaboration between home and school. I think we as a society need to realize that we need to work together to educate our children. Learning isn’t something that only happens at school.

Comment on Rants and Raves by kabcuse

kabcuse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:47:41 +0000

Thanks so much for your great post. I think it was really interesting and you did a good job of pointing out the deficits of NCLB- especially since you had a similar situation of your own in high school! I have heard multiple administrators completely admit that certain kids are not going to receive as many resources or as much help, because with their previous EOG scores, they were unlikely to meet proficiency in the next year. The administrators have said that realistically, it’s better to focus on the kids that have high 2s, so they have a chance of boosting their scores to 3s. As disappointing as that approach is, I have to admit that I see where they’re coming from. It think the EOGs and NCLB funding forces teachers and administrators to teach and work in a way they probably never would’ve predicted when starting in the field. Hopefully we will see some change with testing in the future!

Comment on p.s. by Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:07:01 +0000

I agree that parents and teachers need to form partnerships to best meet the needs of children. We can both learn from the other. Parents have the experience of living with a child and understanding their individual interests, temperment, personality, etc. Teachers could benefit from learning from parents how best to interact with their child. And teachers have an understanding of subject matter and general child development concepts, particularly for the age group they have the most experience with. Parents would benefit from the teacher’s perspective on appropriate expectations for a particular age group, as well as school expectations.

Unfortunately I don’t think we take advantage of each other’s knowledge and expertise very often. From a school perspective, I hear so many teachers and administrators talk with pride about their parent involvement efforts, and then describe the strategies they use to “get families into the school” (”feed them”). I also hear of parent workshops and how parents “just don’t know” how to …. (fill in the blank with whatever you want). I seldom hear about schools seeking out information from families about home routines, in spite of the fact that this type of information could be used to anchor learning experiences. We have much to do in this area!

Comment on p.s. by ecteacher2009

ecteacher2009 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:14:07 +0000

I agree that communication is very important when it comes to education. We as educators have lots of valuable information and opinions, but it also important to remember that parents do also. I think it is important that we communicate with parents, but that we also remember that they are the parent and respect their opinions about what is best for their child. Yes, we spend alot of time with our students, but 6 1/2 hours a day for 180 days in not much time at all when we look at the time the parent has spent with them since the second they were boring. I think the key is to remember to think before speaking and think about how it would make you feel if the parent said the same comment to you about teaching.

Comment on p.s. by Susan

Susan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:13:07 +0000

I agree that parents and teachers need to have communcation that is two-way. I think that teachers often forget that parents have a lot of knowledge about the interests and capabilities of their children that would be extremely helpful in the classroom.
One of the classes that the people in the MEDX program are required to take is Families and Teams. I learned a lot about viewing families as team members rather than as bystanders who have no stake in the classroom. I have found that when I ask families what their hopes and goals for their own children are, they begin to trust me, to be more relaxed with me, and to give me support in what I am trying to do in the classroom.
In my own experience, I have found it easier on me when I acknowledge and respect the knowlegde that families have about their children – they are the experts.
When my own children were small, my favorite pediatrician always asked for my opinion on what was going on with my children. He saw me as an expert on my children – who I spent much more time with than he did! While he was still the expert on medical matters, he always genuinely took into account what I had to say and recognized my preferences when there was a choice about procedues,etc. This doctor made me feel respected. That is what I want to do for families.

Comment on ¿Hablan ingles? by cbh

cbh — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:27:43 +0000

Great point and exactly what i’m talking about… there are plenty of professional development available for the new math program my county adopted, science kit training, etc. but I have found nearly no professional development for ELL students or any other students with diverse needs. There is just as high of an increase in students diagnosed with autism as there are ELL students in my school and yet no teacher training. However, we are moving back to more inclusion based classrooms (which I am glad about) but with no professional support. Thankfully, at least in my school, we collaborate and support one another, but I personally feel frustrated and not as qualified as I should be to meet the needs of all my students.

Comment on Hear No Literacy, See No Literacy by Cindy

Cindy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:18:01 +0000

Although I’ve not taught students with visually impairments, I supervised a teacher of the visually impaired when I worked in a local school district. After reading your article, I realized that the students she worked with were all in the general education classes. Most used large-print or braille textbooks. They used either adapted computers or braille writers to write. I don’t recall her working with any students who were in primary grades. I realized that the students who were unable to be successful in the general education were likely served at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind. Do you know that back then a teacher could get an add-on certificate to teach visually impaired students with just 12 hours of college coursework? Imagine trying to help students with visual impairments learn to read with just 12 hours of training!!!

Comment on Running Records by ecteacher2009

ecteacher2009 — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:50:32 +0000

I so agree that running records are only valuable if you are using them to direct your instruction. I have seen so many teachers do the running record for the simple fact that their school system makes them do them on each child. As a teacher, if I am going to take the time to do an assessment then i am going to take the time to use the information to help the childs learning and my teaching. Yes, it may be more work now, but in the long run it is going to be less work because it is going to help you as well as the child.

Comment on Dialoging on Dialogic by Cindy

Cindy — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:41:56 +0000

I love to hear a librarian talk about the importance of working collaboratively with teachers. Last semester I had a project that involved learning about and comparing the services offered a public library, a elementary school library, and a secondary school library. I was really surprised with my findings. I expected to find the most collaboration at the elemenary school, but there was none. Students visited the library once every two weeks. The media specialist planned her lessons according to the Standard Course of Study. There was no connection between what when on in the classroom with what occurred in the library. Occasionally entire classrooms came to the library to work on a project. Otherwise the media center was empty, with the exception of the students who came to use the computers to take AR tests. I was really surprised.

Things were very different at the middle school, where the librarian actively worked with teachers to provide resources for them to use in their classrooms to supplement their lessons. She also planned lessons with the students that were coordinated in some way with the focus of their classroom units. Students were allowed to visit the media center before and after school, as well as anytime during the school day.

I was especially surprised to see how much the public libary worked with teachers. Its proximity to two schools may have encouraged that however. They collected resources for teachers to supplement their classroom studies. Teachers brought classrooms to the library to conduct research projects. The public library also allowed students to visit the library after school each day, many staying until parents came to pick them up.

You’re right that teachers need to use the resources available to them. Sometimes those resources are within the school and sometimes teachers might have to look outside the school walls.

Comment on Dialoging on Dialogic by kndrgrtnrnglr

kndrgrtnrnglr — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:24:30 +0000

I agree with you on many points. First about the song, I will repeatedly make fun of songs that I will often have stuck in my head. Secondly about repetition and books. I often get tired of reading the same book over and over again even if I know it is best practice but the kids love it. What gets me is when they can actually read the book with me and then the book isn’t so boring anymore!