Reading this
section, within the first two pages, had me visualizing my own third grade
classroom, back in the early 1980s.
Remembering our “Quiet Reading” time brought back the feel of humidity
to the skin in our cramped little portable that seemed to always have a
lingering mildew smell from the attempts to clean the carpet over the summer. I recall sitting in a hard, stiff, orange
plastic chair, at my desk, holding a book that I had found inside the
desk. Of course the teacher had
instructed us to read quietly until we were dismissed but at this time in life
I had not found a love for reading. So,
trying to be an obedient student I had a book out but found myself peeping over
the cover to stealthily observe what books others had out or just watch what my
teacher might be doing. Analyzing my
behaviors now, I realize this time was nothing more than filler time and not
productive to me as a reader. The
D.E.A.R. description Miller provided quickly transported back to this memory of
my own reading instruction.
When I analyze by own teacher methods I found
myself guilty of being the “guard” that has remained true to some past methods that
may not be best practice but are instructional strategies that I feel
confident using. Expecting children to
utilize independent reading time effectively, especially my struggling readers,
without instruction that corresponds is not best practice. Without feedback students do not understand
how to build their skills or allow a teacher to connect with a student on
another level. Expecting students to
read in order to improve and grow further as readers without intentional and
systematic instruction is like handing an automobile key to a sixteen year old
who has never been behind the wheel. The
child does not know what direction to take, how fast, or how to make use of any
of the tools inside an automobile. As a
teacher, I need to empower my students by allowing them to choose meaningful
text, but provide them instruction to guide them to becoming better readers.
I love how you state: When I analyze by own teacher methods I found myself guilty of being the “guard” that has remained true to some past methods that may not be best practice but are instructional strategies that I feel confident using. It is interesting to me as I read your blog post and the posts of others, how we are all taking a good hard look at how we teach reading. I am excited to see the new directions that you are taking this year.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your sincerity in this post and how you took Miller up on her challenge to all of us to closely examine our practices and to see which "benches we are guarding" and what can be let go off or modified in order to provide our students with meaningful reading and writing instruction. I loved reading your description of your childhood experiences with a SSR/DEAR model that wasn't effective for you and how you realized that your students could benefit from more than just time to read independently, but time and support from you through instructional mini-lessons and conferencing. Sincerely, Dawn