The last week of school usually finds me reflecting on the previous year and asking myself what changes I can make for the following year to better my instruction. As I begin packing up my classroom for the big move to Moffat County, I find myself organizing books in a fashion inspired by Susan Kempton. I am pulling all of the non fiction books out of my units to make them accessible for the children to use as discovery tools during morning opening. I am hoping it will spark excitement and curiosity that will set an enthusiastic tone of learning for the day.
I am also anxious to begin the year focusing my read alouds around schema, visualization, questioning and schema. I was hoping Susan could bring a list of her favorite titles for each area when she comes to Craig this summer. I really believe the discovery of nonfiction paired with the power of good read alouds will set a positive tone in which children will be excited to learn how to read.
I was so happy to hear my new teammate state the need for leveled readers. We have used Rigby PM books for the first time this year and the children's reading levels surpassed our expectations.
I am very excited for the possibilities of next year. Thank you to Susan for inspiring us all to be better teachers.
BREAKING NEWS: Students are still bored
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Breaking news! A nationally-representative poll of more than 1,000
teenagers finds that… students are still bored. Here are some key findings:
- 64% ...
19 hours ago
Your self reflection is inspiring, Amy. Just want to make an important point about children's reading material -- it's all about balance. Kids need to have a variety of texts in their hands during reading workshop, not just leveled texts. It's the song, pattern, rhyme, non-fiction books that expose children to new vocabulary, schema, sight words etc. that ultimately nudge children to the next level. If you were just reading leveled text, you wouldn't necessarily encounter this new material.
ReplyDeleteI truly agree with you about your reflection strategies. This is a topic and technique that is very prevalent in my life right now as I have started my MSED in Elementary Literacy and am in my first year of teaching Kindergarten. I love it! Every day I find something that I need to change, it does not bother me, although sometimes I can really overwhelm myself. That is when my to-do list comes out and I focus on one thing at a time so I can really make the changes I need to.
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait for my end of the year reflection process. Although I will be sad to see my first set of students leave me and venture off into the first grade world, I will be very excited to have the whole summer to make the changes I need to and start off my next year better than the last. I love this about teaching, the students teach me so much and they do not even know it. I may think I have thought of every aspect of my lesson, but I almost never have. This is okay with me; I do not see it as making a mistake because I change it and try it again until I get it right.
I am very comfortable with my reflection process, and I really like it when others comment to. When I seek my colleagues opinions they always have great ideas, and sometimes they can see weaknesses that I did not see. I am looking forward to continuing reading your blog. You seem like a very laid back and compassionate person!