I don’t want to be responsible for a classroom that does not
work. So I’m pretty into this textbook, Classrooms That Work. The first chapter, Creating classrooms that
work provided an exciting introduction to a topic that I’ve been waiting three
years of college for. What first grabbed
my attention was the pervasive theme of “excellent teachers” contrasted with
not excellent teachers. Effective
classrooms versus not effective classrooms. uhm... I couldn’t live with myself
if I were on the wrong side of that contrast.
So, as I read, my motivation is, how do I become one of the excellent
teachers?
Classrooms that work is a broad
title. A lot goes on in a
classroom. In the lens of a reading
education class, the theme seems to be literacy. Reading lots of books, reading lots of
different types of books, textbooks and fun books. Reading comprehension; the plot of a
fantastic story or the main idea of the science textbook chapter. Reading does and will and rightfully ought to
find itself in nearly every minute of the day.
Followed by writing and
speaking. Effective teachers did not put
science or social studies on the back burner in favor of language arts all the
time, rather they integrated these studies, and they complement so well.
Chapter two
of the text calls for creating enthusiastic, Independent readers. Most helpful and ironically most obvious is
the idea of acknowledging students differing interests and providing plenty of
books to suit those interests. Boys like
different things than girls, as I observed first hand this summer and recently
verified from my readings. I have four
younger siblings, all between the ages of 6 to 11. Over the summer, for one week they all came
to Knoxville and stayed with me in my tiny college house and we had a blast. We went to the library and checked out some
books. My sister Emma picked out a
fantasy chapter book (typical girl) and also a lengthy, picture-less historical
fiction chapter book (surprising). My
brother Gabriel picked out a large informational book about bugs, spiders, and
snakes, with plenty of pictures (typical).
I also took summer classes and it happened to be finals week when I had
the kids. For my children’s literature
class I had to read Clementine, an
easy kids chapter book with a few sketches
here and there. So I decided to
read it aloud to them to kill a few
birds with one stone (benefiting their interest in reading, studying for my
class, snuggle time…) the boys could not have been less interested though!! My
sisters loved it and would sit and listen.
The boys did not. Lesson: kids
like different sorts of books! I’m glad
we went to the library and found something Gabriel would enjoy.
Richard
Allington’s article, What I’ve Learned
About Effective Reading Instruction was suspicious at first. Really?
What you learned about effective instruction fits neatly into six
T’s? Seems unlikely…
I was surprised! What
good things he had to share that added to what I’m learning about effective
reading instruction! Disheartening
though, from what he had to say, the excellent teachers taught against the
grain. They rejected the neat and
outdated techniques of assign and assess.
Textbooks are not “one size fits all”. Classrooms need tons of all sorts
of reading materials that are not otherwise provided. The excellent teachers spent their time and
money fighting to effectively teach their students. It sounded like a lot of “fighting the
system,” I don’t want to have to fight
the institution. I want to teach. But how can I teach well in a setting that is
not helping that cause?
can I keep calm?
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