Rhiannon Wyatt-October Blog- "Not This! Is There Enough Time?"

Oh! Finding the time! That is the biggest hurdle I have as a teacher…fitting everything in.  As I read “Not This!” by Debbie Miller I was thinking about my daily routine with my first graders.  The everyday routines of taking lunch counts, collecting papers and transitioning from one activity to the next can take up so much time. And I wonder where the time goes!  I find myself saying “If only I could have a couple more hours, maybe then I could get everything accomplished that I set to teach my students today.” Incorporating the 7 Habits in our school has brought around the discussion of “the big rocks” in our life and also our school day.  Big Rocks in my classroom are the most important things that my class and I are trying to accomplish. So when I think about making time in the school day for reading workshop, I think to myself..that is a big rock. Miller states “The more opportunities we can give children to read, the better.”

As I plan my day in my classroom, I realize that teaching weather for the day and counting how many days in school is taking some of the time away that we could be utilizing for reading workshop.  In addition to making time for independent reading and conferencing, I realize that it is important for me to model reading practices to my students.  This could be done through mini lessons at the beginning of reading workshop or during conferencing with students individually. When reading this chapter, I am brought to the realization that I am not the only teacher who feels the pressure of time in the classroom. However, I will begin to manage the time in my classroom more wisely so I can utilize reading workshop to reach all of my students’ needs.

Rhiannon Wyatt-September Blog- "The Habit of Kidwatching"

Wow! The article titled “The Habit of Kidwatching” by O’Keefe really hit home with me.  Kidwatching is something that all teachers do on a daily basis almost unconsciously.  We observe students while they complete work independently, when they are listening to instruction on the carpet as a whole group and even how they interact with their peers on the playground. We can learn so much about our students just by watching and listening to them. O’Keefe asks “What can a B+ or an S in reading really tell us about how a child reads?” “Sitting with a child and watching and listening carefully may be the best thing we can do to get to know our students as readers.”

As I think about parent conferences that are taking place soon, I know that the type of information a teacher can gain from kidwatching is the most informative for parents.  Several times throughout my teaching career I have had parents ask me how their child was progressing with reading and I did not have much information to give them other than what is shown from vocabulary and comprehension tests.  I want to be the best reading teacher that I can be which is one who can pinpoint a child’s strengths and weaknesses through observations and conferencing.  I feel that keeping anecdotal records of the observations and conferences is a beneficial way to keep up with student’s progress in reading. As I begin to implement reading workshop in my classroom, I will also continue to kidwatch but create a template so I can record what I observe of each student.

Rhiannon Wyatt-August Blog-"The Pleasure Principle"

While reading “The Pleasure Principle” by Nancie Atwell I realize the way that I was instructed in reading when I was in elementary school is not what every reading classroom looks like today. Atwell states to not rely on “test driven comprehension tests”. However, “The way to get kids to read and love it is to let them choose their own books.” Instead of filling our reading time with teachers talking and children listening and completing vocabulary exercises, teachers need to give their students time to experience the satisfaction of books.    

The reading workshop method is very appealing to me. It is one that I would like to begin using in my classroom to help my students love reading and therefore grow as readers.  I feel that letting the students have freedom to choose what they would like to read is a great way to encourage their growth. Several years ago, I implemented a method very similar to reading workshop.  It may not have had all of the components that is mentioned in Atwell’s article.  However, a 30 minute amount of time was carved out in our day, every day, for reading.  I had a couch, carpet, and stools that the children could rotate getting comfortable and reading a book of their choice.  I would have 4 to 5 children that I would conference with each day about what they were reading and I would even have them read some of the book to me.  The students really enjoyed that time and I learned a lot about my students both academically and personally.  I felt that my students benefited greatly from the reading workshop time that we had on a daily basis that year.  I would love to implement it again and instill the components that Atwell mentions in the article.