Ms. M's Tales of a Teacher: My Personal Teacher Blog

 I can recall even when I was in early elementary school, one of the emphasized points of writing was reader's response, which acted as a direct connection to reading text and writing. In my earlier years of teaching, it was a scheduled skill in various curriculums that needed to be covered (in both reading and writing.) Over the years, with the rise of Readers' and Writers' Workshop, where the emphasis is on student choice, teaching reader's response has become a skill that's been tucked away into the shadows.  My question therefore is: Has the need for reader's response truly become less necessary to comprehend text and demonstrate proficiency in writing, or has the de-emphasis added to the struggle for readers to think about the W.A.B questions (posted in an earlier blog!)  and write well?  The goal here is to share some brief points of importance and let you as an educator decide...  1. Teaching reader's response can have a place in both reading periods ...

 This week our chapter of KDP held a PD session for our initiates and members; Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning. The outstanding panel of professional educators we had brought their wisdom as well as fresh perspectives for getting organized, writing plans, and adding creative flare for student engagement.  As a veteran teacher, this workshop offered a space for me to think critically about my plans, and how I can modify them for our current learning environment, as well as a traditional classroom. After the workshop I compiled a list of main take-aways and will share them here:  - Lesson plans might seem redundant, so make them meaningful for you!  - Think about what areas you need to focus on more critically. For me, connecting my standards and objectives is always a challenge!  - Use lesson plans as a space to plan out everything you will do during that lesson, and also as a reflection after to see how well students did.  - Share your lesson plan ...

 I could not wait to write this blog post today. Many of my questions and concerns have finally been addressed, and I'm understanding so much more about my reading instruction, and the growing readers I work with.  Although I will keep my summary short, I will be sharing some of my take aways that I insist you look into and dig deeper with. For those who have been wondering how encoding skills can be strengthened for their students- you're not alone! I've asked myself the same question!  I've always taught students decoding skills, (sounding out words) along with phonemic awareness/ phonics. In an article by Jeannine Herron for Educational Leadership, Herron states that phonics can be more engaging if we teach students how to spell and write words (encode) before we read them. The article was written in 2008, yet we are still facing the same issues with struggling readers today. Could this mean that we are still approaching instruction from an incorrect angle? Most def...

 Recently the term "the science of reading" has grown to be a common buzz-phrase among those who study reading, and how to teach reading. I came across a great article (ironically on social media,) that I found not only interesting, but relevant and comprehensive.  There's a difference between knowing and reading about "the science of reading" which by nature is empirical in nature, whereas teachers need practical applications for their daily work with students learning to read. In the article I'm sharing, cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham speaks on this topic. He's been mentioned in podcasts I've listened to before, and now I see the relevancy even more in his work.  I've shared this before that structured literacy is important to the foundation of learning to read. One point in the article that stood out was the idea that teachers of reading must be able to pronounce all 44 sounds in English correctly. This is understandable when teaching e...

 Stuck on words.... it happens, to all readers, at some point. Readers get "stuck" on words, especially when they are learning to read. Part of what I love most about teaching reading is working with students on achieving these decoding skills. In my opinion, structured literacy has to precede comprehension and higher order thinking questions.  I'm often asked what are some strategies to teach decoding? What I can say it's not is always using picture clues. While they often offer assistance, pictures cannot be a continued strategy. For example, if a student does not recognize the word "horse" and they use a picture clue and say "pony," these are not the same word, nor the same concept. What teachers of reading need to do is provide word attack strategies for students to apply.  I've compiled a list of some successful steps to assist students with decoding: - Practice letters and sounds  - Use letter-sound correspondence to write words - Apply l...

 When we think of reading comprehension we often think of students' ability to answer specific questions about the text they read. While this is certainly not the only goal of reading, for joy is what drives the heart to wanting to read more, it is important for readers to be able to explain what they have read and answer questions.  Very often, teachers need guidance for what types of questions they should ask their students. My goal is to show the different types of questions that are not only most popular, but are assistive to deepening comprehension for readers.  W- Within the text: Ask readers questions they can easily find within the text. This is good for struggling readers, but even students who are reading successfully but may be reserved or less eager to talk. Questions like, who are the characters? Where did the story take place? What happened after____? are great starters! A- About the text: Ask readers questions about the book that might not be directly state...

 September 8th is International Literacy Day. I'm ecstatic that my chapter of KDP is launching our Literacy Alive! project this month to celebrate literacy all throughout September.  My goal for my blog is month is to dedicate at lest one blog post a week to just literacy (which for me, it might be harder to not post about it!) One question I often get is how to set up a classroom library efficiently? This is a great question, and one of our PD workshops this month will be on just that! Our friend Stella from Scholastic will be the presenter, and she is amazing at working with teachers on how to build their libraries! If you're interested in learning more leave a comment or reach out to me on social media! I always love having conversations about our sessions, and extending the dialogue past here!  For now, I'd like to share my top tips to get you excited to build your classroom library:  - Start by thinking of your overall library? How do you picture your library to...

If you are interested in leadership as much as I am, then you'd appreciate Todd Whitaker's perspective on leadership.  Oftentimes we tend to blame "school culture" as the root problem for many things from failing test scores, student behaviors, and teacher morale. What is really being described is the leadership culture. What happens in our school relies more on the leaders than anyone or anything else.  If you're considering moving into a leadership position, my previous words can, and should be a bit jaunting. The truth is, that well, they are true. Leaders have a tremendous responsibility on their shoulders, and it's vital to know this before embarking on a journey toward becoming a leader. Despite the weight of this responsibility, there is a beauty to it that is rewarding.  Todd Whitaker states "when there's a highly effective culture, there's a highly effective leader" and same is true in reverse. Leadership energy is best spent on sup...