Class 4 reflection

I was not in class last night, but I would still like to reflect on what I have seen on the wikispace website.

First, Norm, I e-mailed you about not making it to class and also sent you a copy of my lesson plan. I never got an e-mail back from you so I just want to make sure you recieved it.

I Saw on the wikispace a set of questions that which I would like to comment on. I'm not sure if this was done in class or not, but since I was not there I thought it would be something good for me to blog about.

Reflective Questions:.
2. Comprehension problem because of laziness or interest level? What can we do?
I do not think problems with comprehension are due to laziness. Some kids just cannot absorb information as well as others. It has nothing to do with being lazy, rather it is a disability. We can try to make it easier for students to comprehend stories by reading slower, and reinforcing key facts, and asking many questions. Also we could tell the students to take notes on the story.

3. Do you refer to the Delaware standards for each lesson plan that you create?
Yes I do. Without refering to the standards I would have no way of knowing if what I was teaching was going to meet any requirement. Students need to learn what the standards say in order to achieve succcess on standardized tests in the future.

4. Do you implement the same plan for 5 lessons if they are connected with each other?
No, lessons should be differentiated. Students need a variety of different ways to learn material.

5. When you teach students different strategies and have them practice them, at what point to you expect them to start utilizing them on their own? How do you ween students from direct instruction to the part where they should be able to utilize the strategies on their own? Is it a natural transgression or do you need to slowly back out?
I think as a general rule students are not going to be able to complete activities on their own right away. Students need the teacher to scaffold them up and then in baby steps let them go off on their own. Students need to see the teacher as a model and then they will be able to succeed. The teacher should show strategies that work so the students know what they should be doing. The students will let any teacher know when they don't need help. I work in a pre-k class and the students tell me everyday when they understand and they can do it by themselves!

7. How would you use guided reading in upper grades?
In upper grades I would use guided reading as a tool to help the lower level readers understand what they are reading. I would read out loud as a class and allow the stronger readers to read out loud. The other students who are not as strong can listen and as a result they will be able to get through the reading much quicker and on to other tasks which will help them learn .