In a meeting, we were told that we were allowed to do Whatever it takes (within the legal limit) to get our kids ready for the test. Whatever it takes?! ... Like dropping all instruction except Reading and Writing. OR NOT. I don't care that the test is 16 school days away, I will not stop teaching the other subjects.
I feel a bit hopeless. I'm working Extremely hard to keep a critical eye on how my students are doing on each and every aspect of reading.... Yet I cannot bring myself to torture them by teaching only reading for the next month of classes. They already show me their lack of effort, and shoving more test prep into their faces isn't going to excite them in any way.
Even if my students pass the test with a 3 (the desired goal), it doesn't change the fact that they cannot read, that they don't even care about reading. All it proves is that they know how to take a test.
Just so you know, I am Teaching Reading. I am also teaching Test Prep (which is important despite my complete aversion to the testing that takes place in this city, state, and country).
I cannot wait for this test to be over. Then the real cramming time will begin. I'll be cramming to spend the rest of the year Actually Teaching reading... No more of these copied one page stories that are as bland cauliflower (if it is bland - so I hear).
As I began my commute this morning, I tried to recall learning to read when I was going through elementary school. I remember the reading text (and although they are dreaded, I'd much prefer a reading text book to the lame copied stories we get piles of). Yet, I remember reading books (Yes, Real Books) more than I remember any text book. I read... books that I now own in my own classroom library. I loved books. I might have hated taking the quick 10 question quiz after I completed the book, but at least I was reading... More than the students at my school can say, the ones who don't know how to sit down and read a book... Which doesn't surprise me after the first few months of attempting to teach reading at this school.
Does anyone remember learning to read? Leave a comment. Share your stories.
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4 comments:
It's interesting that teaching your students has caused you to reflect on your own development as a reader. I often think about my own experience as well. For me, reading was easy. I just "got" it from the very beginning and I loved reading. As a small child, I used to memorize all of the books I had at home which would drive my older sister crazy because she was actually trying to read the words and she struggled a bit. When I got to first grade, we didn't have a classroom library the way I do now, but we would go to our school library to listen to a story and check out books. I think so much of my reading process had to do with the fact that I had been read aloud to since I was born. The first book I can actually remember reading on my own was Charlotte's Web (which I think is level M). I read it towards the end of first grade. From that book on, I was hooked on reading. I often think about my students who struggle at levels B and C and how they are stuck in these boring books and don't really get the same joy that I got out of reading Charlotte's Web. I also think about their life experiences. I try to do a lot of read aloud because I know it is so necessary. It's like I want to make up for the fact that they are not being read to at home.
My mother taught me to read years before I started kindergarten. I also recall taking yearly standardized tests - biannually at most - and never once being dogmatically, narrowly, prepared/trained in what specifically would be on it. The tests were basic standardized aptitude tests.
Hey Kiddo, Your old principal here.
I don't remember learning to read, but I do know I hated it and the first "book" I read was as a senior in high school. I learned to love reading as an adult. You may not always see the results of your efforts.
Hey, give us all a call if you come home for Christmas. We have school on the 22nd and would love to see you here. Hang in there. I know how good you are and you do too. Keep making a difference for those kids.
P.S. Send me an email.
Immerse them in reading. Read books to them...books that you can discuss. (Spinelli's "Loser" comes to mind.) Discuss it with them. Let them anticipate what will happen, then reflect on what happens and what they learned. Let them write a short log every day about what happened during the day's reading. They learn that books can be fun when it isn't always a struggle for them to read it on their own. And that is your main goal--to help them realize reading is fun. Always have a book that you can read just a couple of chapters a day. They will be begging you to read to them. That is what my elementary teacher did. And soon, I was longing to find good books to read on my own. Other books: Hatchet by Paulsen, Holes by Sachaar, Pictures of Hollis Woods, On My Honor, Missing May (can't remember the authors)and I am sure you know many others.
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