Reading Groups

Program Values # 3: Critical Mindedness

BC Standards # 7: Engage in career-long learning

The days I realized the power of autonomy:

            Program value # 3 refers critical mindedness and the need to be flexible in comparing perspectives and solving problems. BC standard # 7 states that effective teachers engage in career-long learning to improve their practice. I believe that I demonstrated these traits while planning for a pilot project around literacy at Raven Kingdom.

According to research, there is a direct correlation between reading ability, drop-out rate, and incarceration in prison. Some intermediate students at Raven Kingdom are very vulnerable because they do not read fluently at a grade three level. The intermediate teachers and the administrator grouped all the intermediate students into reading levels (using PM benchmark) and created reading groups (pilot project – 2 hours a week for 6 weeks). I felt very fortunate to be included in this project and to teach a group of 20 students (grade four level) strategies to improve their reading comprehension using Reading Power strategies.

            What I take away from this experience is the power of collaboration between teachers and the variety of opinions that exist among professional. For the last few weeks, I have been engaged in many conversations with various teachers regarding these reading groups and nobody could come to a consensus of what it should look like… e.g. grouping by reading level versus strategies /  chapter book versus picture book / fiction versus non-fiction / small groups versus whole class instruction / making connections versus asking questions strategies…

            I know that all the ideas that I have gathered from these conversations were great and helpful, and I learned that there are many ways to be an effective teacher. My best way is to stay who I am and to teach with my heart. I believe that there is not a right way to deliver content as long as: (a) I am knowledgeable about the content; (b) I use best practices; and (c) I am passionate about my lessons.

            I struggled with my lessons because I was trying to fit other teachers’ path and philosophy regarding literacy and reading strategies into my classroom. While I was open-minded to their suggestions, I had to become critical and to apply my knowledge about my students to achieve success.  The result was that my students became more engaged in the lessons and I faced less classroom management issues because the content became more relevant to the learners.

            While I attended lots of workshops and professional development sessions regarding literacy and reading strategies, my goal for the future is to continue to improve my knowledge and expertise in order to give all my students the best chances to success long-term education and life.