Chapter Two: I Can Do It

This chapter is an excellent theme for any classroom! The real life examples, personal stories, and "celebration" incorporated into the learning process are valuable tools for every student. I like the section on ensuring all voices are being heard as the author describes a student who started reading during an interactive read aloud with a whisper and eventually, through making it a priority to have her involved in classroom conversations, her voice became louder and she was smiling too. In my classroom, I had a student who struggled with stuttering and when it was his turn to read aloud, I must admit, I always got a little nervous, but through his willingness to try, my encouragement, and the respect of his fellow students he would read his portion of the text with a smile. Writing for valued audiences and purposes seems to be a great way to get students passionate about writing and in turn learning the skills needed to compose a piece of writing. I thought the kickball rule story exhibited a very tangible way to have a classroom discussion, write down thoughts, and find a solution to the issue at hand. Celebrating and cheering students on motivates each individual in a mighty way -- they begin to believe in the Can Do It concept!

Chapter 1: Look Beyond What You Can See

In reading Chapter One, I was reminded how important it is to enter your classroom on a daily baisis with a positive outlook on the "possibilties" of learning in many different ways. Being an encourager while teaching and tapping into the various avenues in which to motivate students individually, will hopefully help the classroom as a whole to "Aim High." The section entitled Raise Your Expectations explains well the benefits of having high expectations in every classroom setting and using engaging curriculum and strategies to peak the students interest and encourage participation that results in happy learning.

Chapter 5

The more I read, the more I admire our teachers. This method of teaching literacy is so different from the one I used many years ago. I thought I was a good teacher, that most of my students were learning.....Now I think I would like to go back and have the chance to teach this way and see what the results would be. I am sure it would be exciting to have Regie in the classroom, demonstrating these techniques of responsive teaching, with useful feedback that is specific and aimed at instructing, rather than general praise. And to experience the students beginning to be able to give themselves their own feedback as they move toward independence.
I was also interested to read about grouping again, and to see that she does not generally use homogeneous grouping once students are readers. I agree that until that time, grouping by ability is beneficial when teaching basic skills and strategies. I also agree with her point about summative assessments not providing a comprehensive picture of a child's achievements. There were times when I was teaching that were discouraging because it was obvious that some standardized scores from my students did not truly reflect their accomplishments. Formative assessments are more accurate in my opinion too.
I was also glad to see that she encourages teamwork among teachers, and that she advocates additional classroom support that is so necessary for success. And I was impressed with the example of Thommie Piercy who met with each teacher to talk about the reading progress of every student!!

Chapter Three

As teachers, students think they were are suppose to know everything or be an "expert at smartness." For us to be true experts, we need to be continuous seekers of knowledge; especially in our field. As a new teacher I am still trying to find my belief systems and effective practices. I agree that we need to question our practices and evaluate what is really working and what is not. I feel it is important to look to your colleagues for new ideas and different ways of teaching. To be an expert in our field we also need to keep up with research and practice new things in our classroom.
I feel that it would be very easy to get stuck in a routine where you reuse the same things each year because it is already planned and prepared. From the experiences I have had, there are so many other demands on teachers that finding the time to implement or even research new practices can be the real challenge. One practice I will take from this chapter is modeling for students how to read and write.

Chapter Two

I love the real-life examples she uses! I especially liked when she was talking about her father after he had his stroke and how giving him reasons to fight helped him to recover quickly. I feel it is extremely important to give our students reasons for why they are learning certain material. When students feel they are doing something for a purpose, then they put more effort into the work. I also like that she gave her students an audience for their writing besides the teacher. Giving students a purpose and audience for their writing makes the end goal clear to the students. When I was doing my long-term sub I taught letter writing. When it came time for the students to write their own letters, I let them choose to whom they wanted to write their letter. The students were very excited and engaged in this activity because, they knew that they would be able to deliver the letter to whom they had written it to. I found that my students worked harder on this assignment than the prompt writing for PASS. I really feel the reason for this was because they had a real audience and purpose for the letter writing.
In creating an "I can do it" environment I think one of the most important things she talked about was giving specific praise. Telling students things like "good job" means nothing to them. It is important to find specific things that students have done well and make a point to let them know. Finding something to praise a child about will greatly boost their confidence in themselves as learners. We like to be praised specifically for our work and so do they!

Chapter One

First of all, I find what Regie does fascinating. The idea of someone with such expertise being able to come into your classroom and guide you for an entire week would be amazing. As a new teacher I would find something like this very beneficial.
I especially liked reading the part about having high expectations for all students. I have always believed that high expectations need to be set for all students. Students will only jump as high as we set the bar. I was always disappointed when I would go into a classroom to observe and see students finishing their work rapidly with little effort put forth. In these cases the work that was given to them involved very little critical thinking and a lot of regurgitating information. These students were not given a challenge and were not being held to high expectations; they were simply going through required work that was put in front of them. Where there are low expectations there is also low engagement in learning.
I also found the part about teachers making excuses for less fortunate students interesting. It is easy to feel sorry for students who are in a bad situation and because of that, have lower expectations of them. I truly believe this is the worst thing you can do for that student because, it is only going to hurt them in the long-run.

Chapter 4: Focus on meaning first

'If we focus on meaning and content first..., we can't help but succeed and teach all the necessary skills.' Regie tells us we must rely on a whole-part-whole teaching approach, making sure students are clear about why you are doing something. Their activities and assignments should have purpose that makes sense to them. And most of the daily reading time should be spent actually reading what they choose. When we plan, we should give priority to what we want the learner to know and be able to do. She stresses that this does not mean having a narrow focus of mastering a skill or standard. Our plan should start with "what matters most to this child". And we should encourage our students to work as independently as possible, with the teacher alongside, guiding. Our curriculum needs to be interesting and relevant to them, and ever changing. And at the heart of our instruction must be teaching for understanding. Using techniques such as the teacher reading aloud, taking time to relay her thoughts to explain unfamiliar vocabulary, and encouraging questions are also important.
Reading this chapter emphasizes for me the importance of resource teachers, assistants, and coaches. This is an overwhelming task for the classroom teacher alone, and she needs encouragement and support. It is also important for the struggling students to have more individualized attention. I hope that our district gives these teaching positions the importance they deserve.