"Non-Negotiables" Impacts

Daily read alouds will impact me as a teacher because it will be a time where we can relax and enjoy reading as a class.  Read alouds will impact my students because they will listen to books they may not be able to read on their own.  Student learning will be impacted because they will hear and see what a good reader looks like and does.

Building classroom community through morning meetings greatly benefits all.  It will be a time where we will get to know one another.  My class will be impacted because we will build a community in which we all feel safe and welcomed.  My students will be impacted because they will learn how to work and collaborate with one another.

Choosing a cliff or cliffette allows me to keep in mind the importance of building relationships with my students.  My students will benefit because they will get to know the differences we all have.  I want each student to feel important and loved in my classroom.

I have learned so much about the importance of play.  I truly believe students need time to just “play.”  I intend to make time for this each day whether it be free choice time or playing a class game.  My students will benefit because there is so much that can be learned through play such as sharing, taking turns, and working together.

Using a variety of teaching strategies will benefit my students because I will be meeting their many different needs.  Students will be instructed in the way they learn best.  Using a variety of teaching strategies will help me to learn more about myself as a teacher and reflect on what I can do differently.

“Non-Negotiables"

As I reflect on my summer learning and prepare for the upcoming school year, there are ideas/concepts/practices that I will not give up.

1.  Daily Read-Alouds: Throughout my summer research, I have read a lot about the importance of reading aloud to students.  It is important to read aloud to students daily no matter what age.  This helps students to hear a fluent reader, build comprehension, and be exposed to vocabulary words.   

2.  Classroom Community/Morning Meetings:  Each day, I have a morning meeting with my class where we greet one another and play a community building game.  This helps students to get to know one another and feel part of a team.

3.  Cliff/Cliffette:  It is important to me that I build a positive relationship with all my students.  I want all my students to feel noticed and important.

4.  Play:  Kids need to play.  I want to incorporate more play into my classroom this year.  I want my students to have fun and build positive relationships with one another.

5.  Instructional Strategies: I want to continue to use a variety of teaching strategies.  Last year, I incorporated Marzano’s six step vocabulary process.  This is something I plan on using again this year.

Comprehension

After reading, Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten through 3^rd Grade, I learned some new things about teaching comprehension that I can implement in my classroom.  I have also been thinking about my action research and what I changes I could make with reading.  In the article, five recommendations were listed for teaching comprehension.

Recommendation 1:

Teach students how to use reading comprehension strategies

• Teach students how to use strategies independently 
• Strategies can be taught individually or in combination 
• Gradual release of responsibility-students are given more and more independence in practicing the strategy

Each week with my reading curriculum, I introduce a new comprehension strategy.  They are repeated throughout the year.  This year, I would like to give my students more independent practice with the strategies.

Recommendation 2:

   Teach students to identify and use the text’s organizational structure to comprehend, learn, and remember content

• Model and explain how to make connections to the text 
• Teach common structures of informational text

It is important for students to understand how text is organized.  This year, many of my students enjoyed reading informational text so being able to understand how it is organized is important.

Recommendation 3:

Guide students through focused, high-quality discussion on the meaning of text

•  Structure the discussion to complement the text, instructional purpose, and readers’ ability 
• Develop higher level thinking discussion questions
• Encourage and facilitate discussions 
• Have students lead discussions

I would like to plan for more discussions next year.  I always feel that there is so much to do, but I need to remember to slow down and let students share and make connections.

Recommendation 4:

Select texts purposefully to support comprehension development

• Teach comprehension through multiple genres 
• Be intentional about choosing texts 
• Choose appropriate reading ability texts 
• Use texts that support instruction

Recommendation 5:

Establish an engaging and motivating context in which to reach reading comprehension

• Help students see the benefits of reading 
• Create opportunities for students to feel successful
• CHOICE 
• Collaboration

The Seven Structures of Best Practice Teaching

After reading, The Seven Structures of Best Practice Teaching, by Zemelman, Harvey, and Hyde, I was able to reflect on what I am already doing and what I can do in the future.  Listed below are the best practices that I can incorporate to create a more student centered classroom.

Small-Group Activities:

Currently, I use literacy centers, math stations, Choice Board, and Read-to-Someone.  Next year, I would like to try to do more with writing such as peer editing.  This would give students the opportunity to provide and receive feedback from their peers.

Reading as Thinking:

I use the questioning techniques with students before, during, and after reading.  In the future, I would like to give students post-it notes to write their thinking and connections from reading.  I would also like to try the written conversation after reading technique mentioned.  I think this is something that would be time consuming at first, but very beneficial.

Representing to Learn:

Having students write and record their thoughts in a journal is a way for a teacher to read what students are thinking.  Next year, I would like to incorporate more writing by having the students reflect throughout the day on different lessons.

Classroom Workshop:

At the end of the year, I incorporated a Choice Board in which students were able to make choices about their reading and writing.  Making a choice was very powerful for my students.  This is something I want to continue next year.

Authentic Experiences:

Students need to have “real-world” experiences.  Next year, I want to give my students more opportunities to discover things on their own.

Reflective Assessment:

I would like to do more goal-setting with my students.  I also like the idea of choosing five students per day to write down observations.  These notes will help me when it is time for conferences.

Integrative Units:

Creating units based around a theme would be beneficial.  I would like to work on tying social studies, science, and health into reading. 

By incorporating the seven best practices in my teacher, I will be working toward creating a more student-centered classroom.  I look forward to implementing the above best practices in my classroom next year.

The Principle of Attention

 

After reading Chapter 2, The Principle of Attention, the following quotes were meaningful to me.

“If you want something to thrive and grow, pay attention to it.  On the other hand, if you want something to wither and diminish, don’t pay attention to it; intentionally ignore it.”

This quote was meaningful to me because I find myself getting caught up in the little things that often don’t matter.  I need to make sure that I pay attention to the big things in life and direct my focus there.

“Attention, in part, is an effort to be attuned to what’s happening around you by being grounded in who you are.” 

This quote stuck out to me because I feel that lately I haven’t been attuned to my surroundings.  I feel that I have been stressed with a lot of things to do and I haven’t been able to focus my attention to the people around me.  I need to work on refocusing my energy so that I can be grounded in what I am doing.

“What you treasure is where you put your heart.”

This quote was meaningful for me because things that are really important to me are where I spend a lot of time and energy.  For example, teaching my students is really important to me so I feel that I put a lot of time and energy there.  My family and friends is another example of what I treasure and put my heart in them.

Intention is the why behind what you do and attention is what you need to focus your energy on.   This summer I plan to be intentional with my work and give it my full attention.  If I set intentional goals to complete my work and give my attention to meeting those goals, it will make the summer work seem easier.