As per Dr. Beach
Chapter 11
Principle 2- (This is a challenge for me) The most those who are expected to change are involved
in shaping the change process, the more sustainable the change effort will be. Evaluation
that is controlled and managed from the outside is far less effective in
supporting real change than evaluation that comes from within the system.
Question- How involved are the faculty in shaping the current
efforts.
Answer- I think teachers want to be heard but sometimes find
it hard voice their opinions. Teachers back home in my opinion are not very involved
in decision making. I don’t think they are given a chance to be heard either.
Question- What are some of the ways you are attempting to
bring some of those outside the process more inside the process?
Answer- It would be in my best interest to enlighten them
about what they can do whether small or big. I think lots of teachers think
that their involvement needs to be significant for change to occur. However, if
many are involved, responsibilities are more widely shared. Incentives can
always work too.
Questions- Is there a leadership team taking shape within
your school?
Answer- No. Teachers are afraid to take the initiative I believe. Being in the leadership position or even being apart of a team cause for lots of responsibility,, collaboration and professionalism. At the end of the day, teachers just don't want that extra workload on their platter.
Principle 7- (Relevant to me) The literacy leader’s work is never done
because it is focused on the “culture change” imperative, forming coherence,
and realizing a vision.
Question- How comfortable are you in a leadership role?
Answer-So we all have yet to be in a leadership role. However,
I am always up for a challenge especially if it is for the betterment of my
students. I also like working with people who want to see and be apart of
progressive change. With that I do think that I will be very comfortable in a
leadership role.
Questions- Is there a culture of change taking hold in your
school? What evidence do you see of this?
Answer- In my
opinion, not really. I think we are a people stuck in our ways and find it hard
to accept change. I do not see change within classrooms so how can there can be
change for an entire school.
Questions- How can you continue to use evaluation as a tool
to guide and support change in the reading program?
Answer- The results from evaluation I think are very
important. They will help me to know what needs to be in the tool or taken out
as the years go by taking into consideration students abilities.
Chapter 15
Although we know that our students are already digital
natives, there is a lot they still need to know and do, and knowing how to do
it effectively. These New Literacy skills are important for our students to evolve.
They must know how to navigate links on the internet, read in a non-linear
manner, make connections use multimodal features such as images, pictures, text
and sound to communicate among other things.
Pick one of the ten principles to inform classroom
leadership and instruction in New Literacies and explain why you like it. Using
the instructional practices within that instruction, explain why you might have
a difficult or easy time teaching it.
Chapter 16
Parent and community involvement is crucial to the growth of
a school and more specifically a literacy program. Although we as teachers play
an important role in our students literacy success, there is so much we can do.
What does the parent/community demographic look like at your
school? Is parent involvement an issue at your school? Would you be able to choose
from the challenges starting on page 216 of why parents aren’t involved in your
school? If not, are there other challenges in your school that prevent parents
from getting involved? Is your school using any type of strategy to combat the
lack of parent involvement such as the ones on page 218-220?
Principle 1. Is relevant to me
ReplyDeleteEvaluation and change are highly personal. No claims or objectivity or” data-driven decision-making” can circumvent this reality. People change first, then programs; significant change is never easy. Anticipate emotional responses to evaluation and change. Take time to build relationships.
Question- 1. What is your relationship with the faculty, parents and administration?
During my short time as a teacher I would say that I had a pretty good relationship with the faculty, parents and administration. Because I was new I made it my best interest to follow the rules, be curious and not outspoken but I still did what I had to do to succeed as a teacher. I kept in contact with many parents daily, and had great open lines of communication with faculty and administration. I believe that all these relationships are essential to have for the better of the school as a learning community and for us as educators because we all learn from each other and we also need each other when it seems things might not be going to what we want them to.
2. Can you identify the strengths of all the teachers you work with in the school?
As a whole I would say that all the teachers I once worked with were genuinely nice individuals who had a passion for teaching and had all their students’ best interest at heart. In addition, I think they all worked well together, both in a team and vertical collaboration manner. In my lower grade section the teachers were always willing to assist me and provided me with good advice.
3. In what ways have you actively reached out to build a community of learners that is willing to take risks?
I am not in a school now but when I was and because I was there for just a short time, I did not have the opportunity to build a community of learners. However, I did work closely with the other grade-level teacher as she shared her ideas and I shared mine on different teaching strategies, thoughts and other learning concepts.
Principle 10. Is relevant to me
The literacy leader’s work is never done because it is focused on the “cultural change” imperative, formatting coherence, and realizing a vision.
Questions- 1. How comfortable are you in a leadership role?
To be honest, I enjoy being in a leadership position, thus I feel rather comfortable in the role. I think leaders should be strong but will to accept criticism, work with others, delegate, trust, and build a group of people into a community of other leaders. On a scale of one to ten I would say I would be at a eight/nine level of comfortability because there’s always room for improvement.
2. Is there a culture of change taking hold in your school? What evidence do you see of this?
I do believe there is a culture of change taking place in the school I once taught at. Due to the fact that I am still in contact with these individuals, I have a general idea of all that is happening. They are working hard to ensure student success in math and reading and are blending the two with, what it seems to be, month family nights. During these sessions in the schools’ auditorium parents come with their children to engage in games and other activities that promote the learning of math with the inclusion of literacy.
3. How can you continue to use evaluation as a tool to guide and support in the reading program?
Evaluation tools are essential for growth. I think they are beneficial to the students, teachers, parents and staff alive. These tools can be used to identify student reading levels, proficiency, and comprehension.
Krystie,
DeleteHaving a school that is in a culture of change can be great, but I know it can also be a painful process. Change requires people to change thoughts and ideas that they have held close. When you are home, so you all have certain testing data that you are required to show growth in?
DeleteA culture of change can be good and unfortunately it can go badly. Teachers of the 21st century should be curious and open minded and willing to accept help to adjust to changes. Some teachers can make positive change so difficult in a school. It would be important to rally around those teachers to show them the outcomes of positive change and to influence.
Pick one of the ten principles to inform classroom leadership and instruction in New Literacies and explain why you like it. Using the instructional practices within that instruction, explain why you might have a difficult or easy time teaching it.
ReplyDeleteI like principle number ten because the children/students of today are our future and they are currently surrounded by so many new technologies that will help them to learn and grow as students and as cultured individuals on a whole and I think this principle will help each student to do this. Also, I think it would be easy for me to implement this principle because I am very eager to move away from some of the traditional ways we teach our students. I also want to implement technologies that will help my students to broaden their horizons educationally. I feel that I am familiar with these technology tools that can help students so it would be easier for me to.
I think that it is imperative that we teach students new literacies. One of these ways is through the use of technology. Technology use is an easy way to engage a student in a learning objective in a way that they are connected too. Also, we need to ensure that students are literate online. What I mean by this is that they are able to navigate in such a way to obtain information when needed. This also means being able to weed out information that is useless or untrue.
DeleteKrystie,
DeleteI am also eager to teach using new technology. I feel like our world will continue to grow as technological junkies and as teachers we also need to grow with the times. Like Cathy stated, our students should be able to navigate the internet. Being able to do research is a big part of our standards and instead of solely using books, children need to be able to research online as well.
Cathy and Katheryn,
DeleteYes, technology is definitely and important aspect of students’ lives now outside the classroom so why incorporate it into your instruction where they are to become good digital citizens. I think they will be able to use their skills in so many ways…and can eve teach younger siblings, parents or even grandparents a thing or too. The WWW for research provides students with a world that some may never be able to see. They are able to ask questions and engage in the higher levels of Bloom’s Revisited Taxonomy especially if they are in a classroom that is flipped. Which is a classroom that give students the opportunity to get new material at home in the form of videos or slides etc, and then are able to go to class with the information where they discuss, analyze, create and evaluate. Today, technology changes the way we learn and teach, and I like it.
Okay- I had to break my reply into 2 sections sorry!!
ReplyDeleteGuiding Principle #2: “The more those who are expected to change are involved in shaping the change process, the more sustainable the change effort will be. Evaluation that is controlled and managed from the outside is far less effective in supporting real change than evaluation that comes from within the system.” (p.163)
Q 1: How involved are the faculty in the shaping of current efforts?
Obviously I have no magic answers to this question. So many schools struggle with this principle. I believe it is a continual process. In regards to the faculty I work with, I know that we have a say in the change. People's voices are welcome to be heard. I think people sometime don’t feel they are shaping change because it isn’t always clear how to best go about this process.
Q 2: What are some of the ways you are attempting to bring some of those outside process more inside the process?
Looking at this from the point of view of someone who hopes to one day be a reading specialist, I think we have to ensure that the faculty that we represent understand how to make their voices be heard. What actual steps does the school and district have that aid in ensuring this occurs? I think if teachers see there is a system for them to be heard and shape change in that manner it helps. This can occur through the leadership team that is created within a school. This team can help guide change from the bottom-up.
Q 3: Is there a leadership team taking shape within your school?
I can see a potential team that is currently working with literacy directly. I think a few grade level representatives need to be added along with some specialists. This team can help facilitate change through that bottom-up process the book spoke of.
Guiding Principle #8: “Program change must be strategic in the ways in which bottom-up and top-down pressures are negotiated.” (p.163)
Q 1: What are the pressures from the outside that challenge your teachers?
So this principle overlaps a little with #2. I think there are various outside pressures at work. I know some feel the pressure from the federal government and the state to ensure that all learners are performing according to the academic requirements set in place by “the powers that be”. In the area of reading in early childhood, we know that students can be given ample opportunity to have a great foundation for reading and one day developmentally everything just clicks. They then become great readers. Some teachers feel the pressure to push students through these stages rather than allowing this to occur through the process of learning.
Q 2: What are you doing to find a way to be strategic in addressing these pressures?
I think that our reading sufficiency plans helps provide teachers with documentation about specific interventions they are providing to students. These interventions are a foundation to creating strong readers. Even f the student doesn’t perform where desired on a test, teachers can at least say that attempts have been made to help scaffold a student’s learning. I see this documentation as a way bottom-up way of meeting the needs that come from the outside in.
GP2 Q3: Cathy, I could definitely see you being a part of a leadership team in your building. You possess a lot of knowledge about literacy, how to work with others and show compassion and understanding when working with others.
DeleteGP8 Q1: I appreciate you mentioning the pressures of pushing reading in an early childhood classroom. As a former kindergarten teacher I felt so much pressure getting my kids ready for first grade because the jump from kindergarten curriculum to first grade curriculum is huge. Instead of allowing time for growth, I felt so much pressure to do and get as much as done to ensure that they were learning way above the kindergarten curriculum even if some of them might not have been ready. Now as a first grade teacher, I feel like I prepared these kids for as much as I could and sometimes regret not allowing more natural developmental growth.
Cathy,
DeleteI agree with you when you make the point that it is a continual process when it comes to faculty and the shaping of current efforts. The staff plays such an enormous roll in educating or students and they should have the chance to have their voices heard on the issues they think need to be addressed, without any backlash or consequences. When they do not feel like their voices are being heard or they do not think they are helping to shape change it can become difficult to work in such an environment, both physically and mentally. I really think classroom teachers know more about what needs to be done for schools, for student’s success, for their continued development as educators and their students as learners, than any other administrator or stakeholder. But hey that’s just my honesty opinion. Growth or change can be achieved when a single thought is taken into consideration, so let their voices be heard.
Katheryn,
DeleteI also agree that reading should be pushed in early childhood classrooms. Even if the reading isn’t heavy, it can be done in all subjects throughout the day, giving students the opportunity to grow their vocabulary, sight words, and even imagination. Yes, the gap between K and 1st is like crossing the Grand Canyon, but we can only put our best foot forward and do what we think is best for our students and if we tried our best we have nothing to worry about….so you shouldn’t have regrets, but only thoughts about how you could change your teaching strategies for the next year to help your students have more of a natural developmental growth. When you think about it, like you are, that means yours learning from your experiences and that’s what good, effective teachers do.
Part 2:
ReplyDeleteRegarding chapter 15 and NL and nl, one of the principles that stood out to me was number 2: “Begin teaching and learning new literacies as early as possible” (p. 204). In an instructional sense for early childhood, I find myself loving and hating this. I know they need this type of integration and it will occur. I just don’t want students to miss out on certain types of reading development they would miss by using NL. I think we just have to insure that integration is what is occurring in the class. There needs to be a mix of both traditional print and technology. I have used starfall before. I think it is one of many great tools available.
What does the parent/community demographic look like at your school?
Well, my school is about 70% free and reduced lunches. We are a title one school. We have a few parents from higher middle class, but a lot of students are from rural farm areas with limited budgets. I like the idea that test mentioned about “differentiated parenting”. This is freeing to a teacher and a school. Not all parents will be involved the same way. It is crucial to give every parent an opportunity for involvement tailored to their specific needs. I know in my class this year I have at least four students who are being raised by grandparents. This also presents challenges. I think it is crucial to know your families before you make a plan to reach out to them!
Cathy,
DeleteI also have a love hate relationship with technology, really what I mean is "screen time", in an early childhood classroom. I definitely agree that there has to be a balance between traditional print and technology. I also think that technology integration doesn't necessarily need to always be in front of the screen. I have a listening center in my classroom where students listen to books on CD (yes CD and not ipods ;)) and I consider that integrating technology. I have used starfall as well. Try abcya.com it is also a good literacy website!
DeleteI agree that we should give every parent an opportunity for involvement tailored to their specific needs. And getting to know before-hand if even more crucial. With them knowing that you want them to be involved from the beginning I think it would give them more of a boost to be involved.
Guiding Principle 1: Evaluation and change are highly personal. No claims of “objectivity” or “data-driven decision making” can circumvent this reality. People change first, then programs; significant change is never easy. Anticipate emotional response to evaluation and change. Take time to build relationships.
ReplyDeleteQ1: What is your relationship with the faculty, parents and administrator?
I like to think that I have a great relationship with my faculty, parents and administrator. I think it all starts with showing others kindness and that you care and understand their concerns or needs. After all, we are not in this profession for kicks, we are in it because we care for not only children but also for others we come in contact with every day. I try to be mindful about smiling or even saying “hello” to everyone I come in contact with when I step into the building. Believe it or not, others don’t always do little things like that and I’ve seen relationships get hurt because of that.
Q2: Can you identify the strengths of all the teachers you work with in the school?
I feel like I have a good ideas of most of strengths each teacher possesses in my building. I definitely don’t think I know all of the teachers well enough but definitely the teachers who have been in my building for as long as I have. I think this is something I would try to work hard at if I were to be a reading specialist in the building. I think it is easier to answer this question if I directly worked with each teacher which is something the reading specialist does. I think my schools guidance counselor does a good job of recognizing everyone’s strengths in my building. I think that is part of her ability to be open minded and being able to see the good in everyone.
Q3: In what ways have you actively reached out to build a community of learners that is willing to take risks?
When I was on team kindergarten for five years, I had established relationships with my teammates and we all knew what strengths we brought to the table. We used each other’s strengths and I knew that I could rely on them when we would take risks. I think now being on a new team we are slowly getting to know each other’s strengths which will allow us to take more risks and learn with one another to help us grow as teachers.
Katheryn,
DeleteIt is evident that you care for kids and the members of your team. I like the fact that you mentioned that we need to show care not only for children but also the people we meet everyday. I think making a focused attempt to acknowledge people and show you care goes along way. I think this is important to do this out of respect for each other.
I also agree that care should be shown to both the students and people we meet. I mean, a smile or a hello from us as a teacher might be what drives them to want to be better, and the cycle would continue. In addition, if we continue this genuine approach, it can be beneficial for any of us. This means that people (parents or people from the community) might be interested in becoming a part of our teams, maybe not as teachers, but as individuals who are able to contribute time, materials or funds, all the things we need as teachers. Being nice can go a long way and it also created for a better working environment.
DeleteGuiding Principle 2: The more those who are expected to change are involved in shaping the change process, the more sustainable the change effort will be. Evaluation that is controlled and managed from the outside is far less effective in supporting real change than evaluation that comes from within the system.
ReplyDeleteQ1: How involved are the faculty in shaping the current efforts?
Thinking about my faculty I believe we do have opportunities to be heard and apart of change. However, I do think that teachers do sometimes complain and feel that they are not being heard but it’s because they don’t participate in contributing to the change. I think it depends on the people and how much they want change. I think it is good to have reminders that we should be doing what’s best for our kids.
Q2: What are some of the ways you are attempting to bring some of those outside the process more inside the process?
I choose to “choose joy” no matter how hard the top-down change tends to creep into our school buildings. It all starts with being positive and looking at successes no matter how small. I try to change the conversation when it turns into a negative mentality and help other faculty members when I can. I think it goes back to being the person that radiates positivity and looks at the glass half full instead of half empty.
Q3: Is there a leadership team taking shape with your school?
We currently have an instructional leadership team at my school which I have been a part of for the past two years. At my school each grade level is represented in this team along with the reading and math specialist, gifted and talented teacher, special education teacher, librarian and of course our principal. It was definitely a different experience when I was first apart of the team making decisions about my school and looking at literacy and math benchmarks, standards and making school wide literacy and math goals. It is definitely apparent that everyone on this team plays a leadership role at my school as we try to make bottom-up changes.
Chapter 15 Part 2: I appreciated principle four, recognizing that online search skills are important to success in new literacies. I observed another first grade teacher implementing this in her small group reading and I thought it was so simple yet innovative! Before reading a non-fiction reader with her small group she had her students write down questions they wanted answered from the text. After reading the text if their questions weren’t answered, she would pull up her laptop and with the children she would show them that the internet was another resource they could use to answer their question. They would search the question on google and try to find the answer. Sometimes as teachers we get so busy that we just brush off questions from kiddos who want answers. I thought it was so simple but intentional and it was great that she used the internet as a resource. The world will continue to grow in this direction and it is important that we grow with it.
ReplyDeleteChapter 16 Part 2: My school is a Title 1 school which means about fifty percent of the students receive free or reduced lunch. Even though we have some low income families, we also have some great families who are very involved with their child’s schooling. I feel like my school has the best of both worlds! We just recently had parent teacher conferences and out of twenty four students all of my parents showed up for conferences except for one. I think that says a lot about the family dynamics at my school. I feel like the Hispanic community at my school might not view education as important because they want their children to work straight out of school. I find that this cultural barrier is the most difficult at my school along with students with behavior problems. Parents of these children tend to be more hesitant. It is important to know your clientele when working with parents and the community.
Katheryn,
DeleteI love the example you provided about the first grade teacher utilizing technology searches to help build knowledge for students. This is a great idea. I like the fact that this could be integrated into guided reading groups. I think when we attempt to integrate technology into what we are already teaching, we are more likely to use it and find ways to apply it in new ways in the classroom
Yes, I thought it was such a simple yet innovative idea in incorporating technology into the classroom. The kids were also really interested and engaged during the whole lesson!
Delete