For my choice textbook, I chose Catching Readers Before They Fall by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier. I decided to choose this textbook because I personally find teaching someone to learn to read as a difficult task. Since my major is early childhood education, there is a chance that I will be hired full-time as a teacher in grades K4 through fifth grade teacher. Grades K4 through fifth are critical times for teaching young learners, and they require a lot of attention academically. From this textbook, I hope to learn more ways to integrate different reading strategies to help young readers to be able to read sufficiently.
Since chapters one and two are smaller chapters compared to the rest of the textbook, I decided to synthesize them together. The title for chapter one is Expanding Our Paradigm of Reading and the title for chapter two is How Reading Works. The first chapter was more over an over view of how the next several chapters can help teachers expand their knowledge of teaching literacy. The authors, Johnson and Keier, encourage teachers to create or adhere to their own belief systems because it will change as new thoughts and situations occur through our teaching careers. "Classrooms should be incredibly safe places where every student feels respected and valued; where it's okay to make a mistake; and where it's accepted by all to have strengths and weaknesses that may be different from other students in the classroom community (Johnson and Keier 2010) ". This quote sets up the mood for the title of chapter one, Expanding Our Paradigm of Reading. In order for teachers to do this we must start with making sure our classroom environment is a safe zone for our students. "Do keep trying to develop teaching stamina. The struggling readers in your classroom need you desperately. We know it's difficult and we know you can do it (Johnson and Keier, 2010)". This quote stood out to me because it's easy for teachers to lose hope when the strategies they integrate into their lessons don't work for all the students. In order to teach stamina, reading needs to be looked at as a marathon. If a child isn't persistently prepared and challenged on a daily basis by their teacher, they won't have the chance to improve academically. Students have to be constantly checked on to make sure their reading and comprehension is on the right track (Johnson and Keier, 2010).
I really enjoyed reading chapter three, Vygotsky Takes a Seat in Our Classrooms, because it introduces the importance of Lee Vygotsky and his concept, the Zone of Promixal Development. This chapter demonmstrates how we as teachers can accommodate struggling readers by teaching them in their Zone of Proximal Development. On page 32, figure 3.1, there is a explicit model of how Vygotsky's Zone of Proimal Development. The model shows three different stages of how our students learn; zone of actual development, zone of proximal development, and out of reach.
"Granted in a classroom situtation it would be difficult to have every child working within his or her ZPD every moment of every day. But we have found that when teachers understand the zone of proximal development, they strive to know their students better and try harder to vary their supporters, questions, or instruction for different students". When I have my own classroom, I plan to have individual student ZPD charts so that I can learn my students better. My favorite statement that I plan to focus more on when I teach is:"Social interactions provide the platform for learning how to learn and for the development of self-reflection, responsibility, cooperation, and effective problem solving, and it is through social interactions that children develop and expand their capacity to learn (2003, 136)".
“The authors, Johnson and Keier, encourage teachers to create or adhere to their own belief systems because it will change as new thoughts and situations occur through our teaching careers.”
ReplyDeleteAs I explained in part one of my “Literacy Journey Story,” when I began my education classes in college, I thought that children learned how to read by learning letters and sounds and then put sounds together to make words. When I took my first reading class, I began to realize that I actually learned to read by having stories read to me, by learning the nuances of language, and trying it out for myself in a safe environment where I was encouraged every step of the way. I learned to read at home.
I agree that it is important to establish classes as “safe zones.” Learning something new is a risky endeavor. I learned that when I started taking step exercise classes many years ago. I am sure I looked ridiculous when I could not keep up but I learned to laugh at myself. Unfortunately, I had one teacher who made me feel like I wanted to cry – and I was an adult! I can’t imagine how scary it must be for a child to have to try to learn in an environment where they feel afraid.
I would love to see the diagram about the Zone of Proximal Development. It sounds like it would be handy to keep in our classroom to remind us of where our students should be learning. Now, it is a phrase I learned in college and have read about but could not actually teach anyone what it means. Haha, that is something I learned from my AP Biology teacher in high school – if you know something well enough to teach someone else, you are ready for the test!
Tatiana I love your idea of having a ZPD charts for your students! I have a data notebook I keep up with on my students, but a chart would actually show their growth. Also, when you discussed the importance of social interaction I thought about my self reflection this week. Sometimes as teachers we are so focus on teaching and completing other teacher duties that we tend to forget and look over the important things such as social interaction. My first graders are full of stories! So, I finally realized that although we have to follow a schedule it never hurts to allow students to share exciting stories. They will truly remember that!
ReplyDeleteI chose the same book as you! I really enjoyed reading the first few chapters. I was able to see Vygotsky's beliefs and understand how students think while they read. I also agree with you that social interactions are so important. I think children learn so much from each other!
ReplyDeleteHi Tatiana,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you specifically chose your text to read for this class in order to help prepare you for early childhood education and equip you to teach reading. You did a solid job of explaining what you learned from the first three chapters. You specifically discussed the importance of a safe and supportive classroom environment that supports growth over time and a gradual release of responsibility through Vygotsky's ZPD. I look forward to hearing what you will learn next.
Sincerely,
Dawn and Melissa
I chose the same book as you! I enjoyed reading through Vygotsky's beliefs as well. My favorite part of your blog, was when you mentioned social interactions. I agree, I think that is so important for students. They learn so much from each other when they are so young. It gives them social interactions and it helps them develop language.
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion, Tatiana. You've included many beneficial strategies for any new teacher to the profession. I like how you included ZPD as a mechanism to help support communicative tasks when teaching reading and writing. It is important that teachers find engaging and meaningful reading activities that promote reading growth for students in the early childhood grades because it will help them along as they enter middle and high school grades.
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