final reflection

Standard 1: Foundational Knowledge

• Analyze classroom environment quality for fostering individual motivation to read and write (e.g., access to print, choice, challenge, and interests).
• I do not yet have classroom experience. I would think that access to a variety of materials would be the best way to get all students involved in reading and writing. If there are more choices, I would think that students would be able to find some genre they were interested in, like mysteries or autobiographies. For this course, I began with a rather proficient third-grade reader, so when I chose The Giving Tree for our first selection, she breezed through the reading and comprehension questions easily. The good part about the book is that it did manage to keep her engaged even though it was a lower-level text. From this experience, I began to realize that I needed to choose different books, so that she was given more of a challenge in her reading and comprehension, but she is such a good reader that none of the books I chose were truly difficult for her, they just took her a little longer to read.

Standard 2 Curriculum and Instruction

• Provide appropriate in-depth instruction for all readers and writers, especially those who struggle with reading and writing.
• Through the reading Rockets website, I learned a lot about struggling readers, from the facets of dyslexia to the way parents play a big role in getting children interested in reading. I think that the key to getting students interested in reading and writing is to make it fun and exciting. One article suggested to make reading a special time to converse with your children, whether it is taking them to the library to pick out their own books or playing words games in the car to develop their vocabulary. No matter how you look at it, the most important part of instruction is to be consistent in your assignments and assessments and assist struggling readers when and where you see the issue and to do that Immediately.

Standard 3 Assessment and Evaluation

• Administer and interpret appropriate assessments for students, especially those who struggle with reading and writing.
• Analyze and use assessment data to examine the effectiveness of specific intervention practices and students responses to instruction.
• This is probably one of the most important standards to investigate. You cannot truly know how your students are doing without administering assessments/evaluations. For example, students who struggle with spelling would benefit greatly from weekly spelling tests, to be sure they are heading in the right direction. Another assessment that I enjoyed in school was the vocabulary test. I think these were beneficial in every course, not just language arts courses. In biology, you need to know what the scientific words you are using mean, the same goes for English, foreign language for sure, and even math.

Standard 4 Diversity

• Provide differentiated instruction and instructional materials, including traditional print, digital, and online resources, that capitalize on diversity.
• Yes! A variety of materials is crucial in reading and writing. All people need to learn the value of every type of text from print to digital or even audio/video recordings. There will be a time when cursive is completely taken out of the curriculum (unless it is already) and I think that is sad. Students should definitely be able to read and write in cursive. A lot of documents from our antiquity are written in cursive, like the Constitution. If students are unfamiliar with cursive style writing, they will never be able to read these documents. Even in digital media, business names and other things will use a cursive font and those text styles need to be seen and known by students and people everywhere.

Standard 5 Literate Environment 

• Understand the role of routines in creating and maintaining positive learning environments for reading and writing instruction using traditional print, digital, and online resources.
• I believe routines are important to children of all ages. Children need schedule routines, chore routines, homework routines and especially school day routines. Children need to feel secure in their environment and routines help create that atmosphere. I know, as the parent of a 1.5 year-old that routines make the day so much easier to manage. If my daughter’s routine shifts, she becomes cranky and irritable. I can tell that she needs to rest and am pretty strict when it comes to her bedtime routine. I can imagine that this type of routine is going to be important throughout her life, as I know that if I skip a step in my own daily routine, I begin to feel confused and it can last all day. When we did our reading interview at the beginning of this course, Miss Judah said that her favorite place to read was in her room, on her bed, with her light. This is her reading routine. She has created this space where she feels most comfortable and undisturbed.