Erica's Reading Buddies Blog

2006-10-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

Final Reflection on Training

I found the training to be extremely helpful in all areas, including building self-esteem in students, building phonics skills, identifying possible abuse, embracing other cultures and languages, and understanding multiple intelligences. I definitely feel prepared to begin my journey at P.S. 154 with the 6 students I will be working with!

2006-10-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Day 11 of Training

Today was a great day!!! I learned so much about TESOL/ELL students and how to best help them. I found the presentation to be especially interesting because I have had a lot of experience working with Spanish-speaking ELL students and am interested in possibly pursuing a masters in TESOL in the future.

I also had a great day because I was switched to a school much closer to where I live and was informed that I will be the leader of the reading buddies at this school!!! I will be keeping track of attendance and will be the liason between the reading buddies, the teachers, the principal, and Dr. Arno! I am very excited about this leadership opportunity! We went to visit our school after training and met with the principal, vice principal, and two first grade teachers! This school seems wonderful so far. I love the attitdues of the principals and the teachers we met! They are definately there because they care about the students and are working hard to do everything possible for these students!

Although I am somewhat sad that tomorrow will be the last day of training, as I have really been enjoying the past 3 weeks, I am extremely excited for Monday, when I will meet the teacher and the students I will be working with!

2006-10-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Day 10 of Training

While I did not find today to be quite as interesting as yesterday, I still thought it was very helpful. I have a lot of experience with running records and have read the story "Quack Quack Quack" that we worked with today in the past with students, so I found today's training to be somewhat repetitive. I liked that we were shown a video of Joe doing a running record and working with a young reader so that we had an actual example of the ideas he was talking about. I was glad that Joe gave us his website, which I know will be a valuable resource to me both as a reading buddy and as a classroom teacher.

2006-10-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

Day 9 of Training

Today was excellent excellent excellent! I learned so much! In my practicum and student teaching experiences I have done a lot of work with guided reading and with students reading leveled books; however, I never actually knew the specific criteria on how to level them and I also never got the chance to actually try to level books myself! I now have a much greater understanding for what students should and should not be able to do at each reading level and why certain books are appropriate for each reading level. I also now know how to determine if a book is at an instructional level or at an independent reading level for a student, based on his or her accuracy in reading 100 words. I am now confident that when I search for books of high interest to each of the students I will be working with, I will be able to choose books that are at an appropriate level for them, even if the level is not already printed on the book. I cannot wait to learn more tomorrow!

2006-10-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Day 8 of Training

I thought today’s speaker was excellent! I found Dr. Lisa Blackwell’s discussion of the brain being malleable to be interesting and motivational. Dr. Blackwell really made me think about self-fulfilling prophecies and about the importance of encouraging students and reminding them that they can learn! I liked that she took us back to our memories of elementary school. This exercise made me think about how I felt to always be in the highest reading group, and although now as an educator I am ashamed to admit it, I used to think less of the students in the lower reading groups and thought of them as being less capable than I was. I can only imagine how the students I will be working with must feel, knowing that they have been labeled as the “lowest 6 readers” in their class. I especially loved the way it was suggested that we approach this label with the students. Rather than thinking of students as being the “6 lowest,” we should emphasize with these students that they are students who we see a lot of potential in! I definitely plan to remind students that they are being pulled out because we can tell that they have “a lot of room to grow” (not because they are “bad readers”) and I want to help them do that! I also agree with Dr. Blackwell’s recommendation that we discuss with students what they are good at (i.e. videogames) and how they got so good at them. Just like students succeed at videogames when they practice them for hours, they will succeed at reading if they also spend the time practicing that!

2006-10-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

Day 7 of training

I learned a lot about phonics today, such as cvc words, how to focus on the "ch," "sh," and "th" sounds that may confuse students, and on how to blend and segment words. My favorite part about today's training was when we went around the room verbally wrote stories using "sh" and "ch" sounds at the beginning of words. This was fun for us as adults and I know that it would be a fun way for young students to learn and practice words with these sounds. I was also very excited to finally get my school placement today, as I have been anxious to know where I will be spending the rest of the school year! Although I wish that my school were a little closer to where I live (I was placed at the school furthest from my apartment), I am very excited about meeting the students and teachers at the school. I am also happy because there are many reading buddies placed at my school who I am anxious to get to know better! I can't wait for my first visit to my school!!!

2006-10-04T19:17:00.000-07:00

Day 6 of training

I was glad that we were given time today to discuss our feelings about Friday's child abuse training. I also found the time we focused on the book "Freedom Summer" to be helpful and interesting. We learned more about how to choose appropriate books based on (1) Level of Interest and (2) Readability. I liked that the reading buddies were split into two smaller groups because I got to know more people on a more personal level and was able to express my feelings about the story to the group.

2006-09-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Day 5 of Training

I found the child abuse training to be intersting, upsetting, informative, and shocking. This training helped clarify what is and is not considered abuse and neglect in the state of New York, which will be very important for me to know both as a reading buddy and as a teacher next year.

2006-09-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Day 4 of training

Today was rough for me because I woke up with a horrible headache, which only intensified throughout the morning and afternoon. However, I still really enjoyed both speakers. Although I feel that I got a great background on teaching reading in my undergraduate program, it was nice to get another perspective on it. I also really enjoyed the video of the student reading and am looking forward to viewing the other students reading on the video and discussing what should be done (or what was done since the studens were taped) to improve fluency and automaticity. The comment that I found to be most interesting was when we were told that we should not feel sorry for the students we will be working with or feel guilty about the sheltered lives we may have grown up with; but instead we should focus our energy on leveling the playing field. I know that in my past experiences in schools, I often spent a lot of time at home thinking about my students and feeling sorry for the difficult lives many of them led. I think that a challenge and goal for me in this program is to try to push those thoughts aside and instead spend more time brainstorming ideas to give these students the skills they need to learn and to succeed!

2006-09-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Day 3 of Training

Today I really enjoyed getting to more about the other Reading Buddies as we introduced each other to the group. We all seem to have very diverse backgrounds and experiences and I am eager to learn more about and from everyone! I found the "Reading Wars" debate to be interesting and I am very glad that we are not taking a side, but basing instruction on the individual needs of each of the students we will be working with. I was also glad that the time was taken to discuss and look at the rubric for the ECLAS, as I have heard much about it but never actually known what the criteria were for each level. I have learned so much each day of training and am really enjoying it; however, I am very anxious to get into the schools and meet the students I will be working with!!!

2006-09-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of Training

I am shocked at how true the Myers Briggs Test was for me! Although growing up, I always would have considered myself to be quite introverted (and I am sure that my peers and teachers would have agreed), I am now a very extroverted person, which was reflected in my being labeled an ESFJ type. This makes me wonder if I have always been extroverted and if I just needed time to move past the shyness that used to hide my extroversion. The Multiple Intelligence Assessment found that I am equally self smart and people smart. These finings did not surprise me at all, especially the fact that the test said that I am not body smart – I do not enjoy physical activity and am not athletic at all!