Chapters 1-6 reflection
I first need to say that I teach high school special education, specifically, reading/language arts in the resource room. I'm not sure how I feel about this book. While I appreciate some of the things being said in this book, and there are things I agree with, I don't feel this book has been written with a special education teacher in mind. This feeling could change as I've just gotten to chapter seven and there's more to read.
In chapter one, our author says that "Reading is also highly complex because it involves a slew of cognitive, linguistic, and sociocultural processes that all must somehow work together, often simultaneously in order for words and texts to have meaning." (Vinton, 4)
This is something I absolutely can agree with. However, Vinton goes on to say (page 5) ... "And we teach them that the main idea is often found in the first or last sentence, or can somehow be magically cobbled by stringing keywords together."
Absolutely NOT. Not in my case, at least. Even though my students are below grade level (some drastically behind) there are NO shortcuts. We dive in and we tackle each task. We start together and we move towards independence.
I agree (page 10) that text detail + background knowledge/schema = inference. Of course. That makes sense. Background knowledge is something we struggle with in my classroom. Some students simply do not have it for one reason or another. In fact, that's an entirely different post.
My main take away from Chapter 2 is where on page 16 she talks about how third grade is the new middle school and middle school being the new high school. I'm seeing that front and center right now as a parent. My son is five. He will be starting kindergarten at the end of August. He will be in a half day kindergarten program and the only subject that is not on his schedule is a foreign language. He has summer reading homework even though he's not officially a "reader" yet. He has flash cards of sight words he must learn. He has a journal to keep. He also has a "reading map" to complete for a prize. Now, not to toot my own horn, but my kid is smart. He is. He knows all his letters and how to write them - big and small. He is supposed to know how to count to twenty, and he's up to 1,000. He can do it forwards and backward. He's presently interested in learning addition. He enjoys learning about anything and everything and can blow your mind in a conversation. However, there are going to be many kids who CAN'T and now I can see why kindergarten can be seen as intimidating. My fear is that while we want our students to love reading and to be able to tackle the tasks in front of them, I fear if we shove it at them it will then, in turn, result in a lack of interest or motivation. Does anyone read to just read anymore?
I don't have much to say regarding Chapter 3. I just graduated with my Master's Degree (focus in literacy) so this was not news to me at all. Chapter 4 was a pleasant surprise. I especially liked the section on STRESS. This section only solidifies my reflection (or rant) about kindergarten above. Just because our students may not have a mortgage or student loan payment, does not mean they aren't stressed. High school today is not like the high school we experienced. I believe that is something we can all agree on.
Chapter 5 however, did get an "AMEN" from me when I read page 80 where Vinton wrote, "Giving students opportunities to wrestle with problems provides them with concrete examples of what monitoring comprehension can look, sound, and feel like, and it lets them experience how thrilling it can be to figure things out on their own, which can help them become lifelong learners."
To this point, I say YES. Teaching in the resource room sometimes has some misconceptions. As a special education teacher, I do not baby or coddle my students. I do not do the work for them. I do not allow them to refuse to try. There is such joy when you are able to present a problem, tackle the problem, and see the sense of pride on your students face when they did it... on their own. Too often kids are used to finding some sort of a bailout. They might Google a math problem to get the answer, or "find a friend" to work on homework with. There are no words to how amazing it is to see your students make progress independently. Responding without judgment (chapter 6) and letting students be the teacher goes right along with this.
I teach according to the need of my students. It has made all the difference. I have seen success time and time again. However, I can tell you one thing. This success would not have happened AT ALL without me first gaining the trust and respect of my students. If my students don't feel valued in a classroom, they're not going to be able to learn.
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