Class Reflection

I really enjoyed this course. I feel as though I learned a great deal of valuable information about teaching! I've learned the importance of interactions with students. I've learned that how a teacher interacts and plans a class can effect every area of it. If a teacher doesn't interact with students in an appropriate and effective way then students may have their confidence shattered and become unmotivated on the subject and become poor students. I think that a teacher holds ultimate control on how learning takes place in their classroom. We must be firm and have high expectations but we should be willing to teach what students don't know and we must be willing to lose some control in the classroom. I've learned a lot about how to teach students to read, and get them excited about it, and I believe that I will be using knowledge I've gained in this classroom in my own classroom!

Fluency and Automaticity

An idea from this chapter that I found intersting was that reading rates as the content changes. Beers writes, "We should also expect that reading rates vary as the content changes (magazines might be read faster than physics books), as motivation and interest change, and as background knowledge changes." Teachers should allow students some silent reading time in the classroom but they should also acknowledge these possible conditions in reading situations. This is why it is important for teachers to have students 'write aloud' or to hold discussions periodically through a reading assignment. Some readers that aren't very fluent will treat the quiet reading time as a 'zone out' time.
I liked what Beers wrote about determining a student's reading rate on page 210. I think I will revisit this section of the book when I am teaching. But even in her list it showed me that there is so much more to reading than the words on the page. It is important for teachers to understand this before trying to assess a student's reading rate.

Finding the Right Book

I believe it is important for students to have a choice in what they read. This chapter gives teachers several suggestions as to how to 'sell' the books to students. I think that taking students to the school library is a good suggestion. This may sound obvious but some students don't use the library. I think that taking the time to show students exactly how the library works, and what is available for them in there, can improve students interest in reading. By taking them to the library students can see the real choice that they have in what they read.
Knowing your students' interests can also help a teacher encourage reading in the classroom. A teacher can suggest books that relate to the interests of students and will motivate them to learn. I also think that talking about authors can motivate students to pick up books. I think that teachers shouldn't just tell their students about biograhical information about the author (like when they were born and what university they studied at) but they should tell them about what they wrote about and their style. I know that if it hadn't been for some of my professors/teachers reccomending authors to me I wouldn't like the authors that I read now, I may have never heard of them before!

Creating the Confidence to Respond

I think that a huge reason why students don't participate is because they lack confidence. Teachers can create an uncomfortable classroom environment that can shut some students down. I think it is important for teachers to keep high expectations for students. If you never assign homework, students are going to think you don't have faith in them to do it. They may even believe that you think they are dumb. One of the strongest ideas that I found in this chapter was the concept of creating a classroom that encourages risk. A teacher cannot completely eliminate the risk that goes along with sharing personal thoughts about a text in the classroom but a teacher can provide "padding" so students don't think taking a leap can severly damage what others think of them. (Or what the teacher thinks of them). Providing students with choice is a great idea. If students have the choice to share with the class or only the teacher, this may allow a teacher to build a student's confidence level up. Small-group discussion is also another way that teachers can build a student's confidence up. When these previous levels of participation have been met, a teacher can provide a student with the opportunity to participate in front of the entire class.
I think that it is important for teachers to understand that sometimes if a student is not participating it's because they lack confidence and not because they don't understand.

Vocabulary: Figuring Out What Words Mean

Vocabulary is something that I did not like doing in high school because it always felt like busy work to me. I don't remember ever actually using the terms or even keeping them in mind after the test. Teachers often require students to memorize many words that are not used very often. I think it is a really good idea for teachers to get in students' heads regarding this issue. If the words are too difficult for teachers to integrate into his or her daily speech, the words will be that much more difficult for students to use. I also liked the idea of teachers using a few new words each week then introducing them as vocabulary words to the students. Students will be able to understand the words better because it isn't the first time they have come in contact with them.
I like how Beers explains the importance of explaining to students how to use context clues. This means that students must "see relationships among words and can make inferences about the passage" (Beers 187). I think that if a teacher understands how to present the material more creatively and interactively with students their classroom will flourish because of that. Vocabulary is one of those subjects that is difficult to teach because it has been taught the same way for many years-- it is time for teachers to break the mold!

Extending Meaning, After-Reading Strategies: Chapter 8

Thinking doesn't stop after a reader closes a book. Readers are still processing the material even though they are no longer reading the words. Given this information, it is not fair for teachers to expect students to fully comprehend a text right after they have finished reading it.
Scales can help students visualize the information that is presented in the text. Teachers can phrase things so that they are open-ended and encourage participation. The point is for students to compare/contrast, draw conclusions, and distinguish between facts and opinions. This format, like the Likert scales, helps students gain interest in the material. Once a student is interested, thought about the material is increased which, in return, multiplies a student's understanding of the text. Using these activities in the classroom challenges students to think from their own minds. I like this concept because I don't want the students in my class to get by with memorizing characters and plot.
The activity "Somebody Wanted But So" gives students confidence and organization while creating a summary of the text. This technique allows students to feel comfortable while summarizing and allows them not to worry too much about giving the wrong answer. I will definitely incorporate this activity into my classroom.
The activities mentioned in this chapter not only provoke thought about the meaning of a text but also increase participation in the classroom as well as student motivation!