This week I agree with the contents of chapter two of Readicide. In my first placement, I sat in on two Team meetings and one Content meeting. During the Team meetings, teachers discussed items that the book listed on page 30 and 31. For example, teachers talked about health benefits, attendance policy, and new rules implemented by the assistant principal. I think this meeting would have been a great opportunity to address reading problems in all content classes. I am assuming that there are students at a low reading level some where in the team.
In the Social Studies content area meeting, the only thing discussed were behavior problems and making sure all Social Studies teachers were on the same lesson in order to be ready for the first unit test. This also was a perfect example of how schools focus more time on certain ares and leave reading as a secondary topic.
Last, I agree also with Readicide that the old excuse of not having enough books can be address by using the Internet. If 80% of 6 to12th graders have a facebook account and there is a computer in every classroom, students can read articles from the Internet. I also think that most kids have access to a computer and the Internet at home or near their home. If the students do not, allow them to access reading from the web in class.
It is interesting that you bring up the internet. It is so true that now a days most of the students have access to the internet (either at their own house, family memeber's house, or a friend's house). I think if you asked students to read an article and gave them a website, they'd actually be more likely to read it than if you handed them a printed out article. It's funny how that works but in a facebook world, students are constantly on the internet anyways. I think if we incorporated more things using the computer the students would be more interested.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to know that we all have the same meetings at our schools. Did you have RTI discussions also?? I very rarely hear them talk about reading strategies but do hear them talk about TESTS, TESTS, TESTS. But, that is what the administration is being graded on so they have no choice.
ReplyDeleteBTW, looking at your site makes me want to go back and fancy mine up a bit. Good job on the creativity.
I agree I worked in a school for two years that was test crazy. If it didn't have anything to do with CRCT it wasn't important. Teachers had no freedom in how or what they taught, they were literally teaching from the CRCT coach practice books because that's how the test was formatted. On the flipside it was also a Reading First school which is government funded program that provides books and makes the teachers in K-3 have a two hour block where they do nothing but reading strategies. Problem is it was still under the pressures of testing and that made it unpleasureable for the students because they had to do this each day and they knew that their progress was being monitored.
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