Starting in September of this school year, all of Holt Public Schools implemented a K-2 literacy program that involves much more time devoted to literacy. In my kindergarten classroom, this means spending at least 90 minutes on literacy instruction without any interruptions (in theory). The students spend time on their letters, letter sounds, sight words, and comprehension. All of their small group time is dedicated to practicing these skills, and because the students have specials they are often rushed through the learning process and forced to work on it when they get home. My CT has a book that spells out exactly the worksheets she should be using, the stories she should read to her students, and even the questions she should ask her students while she's reading or after she finishes the story. All of the freedom to plan activities, allow for thoughtful discussion, and time for students to reflect has been seemingly taken away, although other school systems claim to have seen improvement in their reading scores after they implemented the program.
Although in this situation, my CT doesn't have many options in regards to her literacy instruction, all hope is not lost. In the Leland article about critical literacy, she essentially describes the literacy program at my placement by saying "For while many classroom reading programs are now micro-managed to the point of becoming scripts that teachers are asked to 'stand and deliver,' the time-honored institution of story time leaves a tiny chink in the armor". This article gave me hope that even if I have to teach such structured literacy, I can still find some loopholes to expose my students to meaningful reading experiences.
In my classroom, I want to build a learning community where my students feel comfortable taking risks and stretching outside their perceived "limits". In TE 401 we talked a lot about how to create a successful learning environment, and after reading this article, I now have another method that not only will foster a learning environment but also help my students become more literate individuals, think critically about text, their experiences, and the world around them in which so many social issues exist. Exposing children to societal issues is controversial, but by the time some students reach kindergarten, they have already been exposed to these issues in one way or another (depending on their home life and other experiences). By talking about these issues, students are learning to think critically about meaningful things and building literacy skills that are essential later in life and also experiencing positive interactions with reading, increasing their willingness to participate in the classroom discussion and the activities that may follow.
Along with the content of the literacy instruction of my classroom, I believe the medium in which I teach literacy is just as important. Like we talked about in Lindsay's blog post last week, there are so many new ways to experience text (due to technology) that it is important for students to be exposed to many different mediums. Between the internet (blogs, wiki's), eReaders, iPads, and even children's learning toys (LeapFrog), and just plain paperback books, there are many options on how to give your students rich literacy experiences.
With all of these options, it will be difficult trying to incorporate it all into my classroom, but I'm up for the challenge!
Great post Mary. I have all the confidence that you will be able to incorporate meaningful literacy instruction into your future classroom. I also found the Leland article very compelling and hopeful. Today in Math, we even talked about what happens when your principal doesn’t want you to teach a certain way, or parents get upset with you. It’s frustrating to think of these plausible realities of our future. It often feels like we are fighting against our own system. The literacy program you are talking about in Holt probably had thousands and thousands of dollars behind it in research, curriculum planning, development, production. And the end result is a teacher with her arms tied behind her back, having to think outside of the box to find time to incorporate the theme of homelessness. At the end of the day, learning how to read and write is important. But if students don’t understand the importance of what those abilities allow us to do – to discuss, critically think, problem solve, explore our world, challenge the norms – then what is the point of it?
ReplyDeleteYou talked about how “exposing children to societal issues is controversial, but by the time some students reach kindergarten, they have already been exposed to these issues in one way or another (depending on their home life and other experiences).” I think you are right on. In another class I had last semester, we were interviewing some doctoral students who were already teachers in the field. One of the girls in my class asked them “I know there are topics that we aren’t allowed to talk about with our students, so what do we do if they bring them up?” The doctoral students looked at each other and asked one another “have you ever been told you can’t talk to a student about something?” “Nope – have you?” The point being, aside from the egregious of issues (explicit dialogue of sex, drugs, and violence) those controversial issues (race, religion, gender, sexuality, bullying, etc.) can and should be talked about in a classroom. The key is to simply make it age and grade level appropriate. I don’t think that means dumbing down any information (what I always think of is people telling kids “we should love everyone, white, black, blue, green, or polka-dotted people… when was the last time you saw a polka-dotted person?) It is about relating the ideas to the experiences they are having at that age. So, I guess my idea is that the topics might be controversial in that people have strong opinions about them, but “exposing” the children to them is not controversial in any way. Like you said, by the time they reach kindergarten they have already been exposed to these issues in one way or another, so it is delusional to think that these students aren’t aware of these issues – or even worse they hold strong misconceptions or stereotypes about them.
I feel like my literacy instruction in my field placement is very similar to yours, Mary. My field placement is in a second grade classroom and located in Holt. The literacy program implemented in the classroom is called “Reading Street”. According to my teacher, the students are also required to have 90 minutes of literacy. Whereas Mary’s teacher facilitates discussion amongst her students, my teacher hands out worksheets. She will have the students read a short story out loud, giving each student a chance to read out loud, then she will immediately have them work on worksheets for the remainder of the time. If this type of program was done differently, and students were to engage in discussion, I think students would have a very different reaction to this instruction. I see a lack of motivation to complete these types of activities in the classroom, especially from struggling readers. They hardly follow along with the material, and they are not inspired to read out loud. When I become a teacher, I want to be able to teach my students the curriculum I’m given, but in a creative way. Is this possible? Could I possibly get in trouble if I take the students’ learning in my own hands? These are issues I hope to explore before and while I am a teacher. Trial-and-error is very important to understand the types of activities, materials, and lessons to include in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the Langer article, I think it’s important to identify the environment in which a student is learning. The different interpretations of text students go through affect their reading. As I become a teacher, I want my future students to feel comfortable asking me any type of questions in the classroom. Similar to Mary, I want my students to stretch their “limits” and feel comfortable with certain material we will be reading in the classroom. I think this can help students understand ELA to the best of their ability, and they will not feel shy about asking questions.