Guided Reading

As we go further on in our classes and our Kindergarten practicum I have noticed several different reading methods.  Though many methods are productive in the classroom I find one method to be extremely pratcial and developmentally appropriate for the children.  There is one method that I have found to be very successful in my classroom with my students and that is guided reading.  There are three points to guided reading:
1.) Reading to children
2.) Reading with children
3.) Reading by children
Each point is highley acheivable for children and gives them the ability to work on literacy skills with peers, parents, teachers, or alone.  I found a useful qoute made by a teacher that really shed light on the reality of teaching she said "it isn’t only the reading but the responses and interactions that go with it that provide the true context for literacy development.” (Parker)  Guided reading is a style of reading that can very well be used with any child's developmental level and escpecially children who may have special needs cognitivley.  The children are reading stories, reflecting, retelling, naming characters, talking about plot situations, and practicing writing.  Along with word recognition, pronounciation, and the ability to formulate new words or familiar words from exsisting text.  To support guided reading however the teacher must support the idea of it and in the classroom enviroment.  A good classroom enviroment for guided reading should consist of large blocks of time to pursue reading and writing in depth, the opportunity to choose the particular activities they would pursue; and ownership of their learning.

Testing a Child with a Learning Disability

As I go through my practicum I noticed that the school that I am in is going through testing right now.  Even in Kindergarten the children are being tested on their ability to read words and how fast that they can read them.  There is a child in our classroom that my teacher suspects has a learning delay.  My mentor teacher has talked to her parent and informed him that her reading level is low and she loses focus very quickley when doing projects.  His response was well I will just tell the doctor to up her dose of medication.  He was not concerned about getting a second opinion about his child or further look into his child to see if she has more learning disability's then suspected.  My mentor teacher knows that this child can not pass the reading test and will be placed in the lowest level on the Kindergarten spectrum.  I asked her how she will test her and she said the same way that I test all of the other children.  She said that she can not change the test or extend the amount of time for her because she does not have a diagnosed reason and her father said to test her just like everyone else.

This is where I struggle to see how a child can survive in school without support from their families.  This child will continue to fall behind her peers, because her father chooses not to follow up with her learning needs.  As a teacher I know that we can request for an IEP for the child, but I sometimes wonder if that will be enough.  How can an IEP be enough if the parents choose not to be invovled in their child's learning and what if a parent refuses an IEP for their child?  Where do we go from there?

Hearing Impaired

In my kindergarten practicum I have a child that is hearing impaired in both ears, but can hear if you talk through a microphone. He does all of the same activities that the other children do and is not treated any different. He is in our lower level reading group and loses focus quickley when we begin projects. He is taken out of the room frequently during the day for special intervention classes. This leaves him behind in our activites and projects when he returns to the classroom. I sometimes wonder if this is why he is in the lower level reading group and loses focus quickley. Maybe he is taken out of class to much and does not need to be. I believe that by taking him out of class he is losing ample learning time with his peers.

A Failing Administration

As I read more and more of our text book I came across a story that shocked me.  As we go through our teaching classes we are told that we can go to our administration with problems, but what if our administration is not helpful?  I understand that we as teachers need to find our own outlets and resources for our families, but what if we need more.  Sometimes the administration are the only ones that can help our classrooms and our families what do we do if they fail to do their part?

Teaching children with disabilities

There are many children that may be placed in my classroom that have a wide range of disabilities ranging from mild ADHD to Autism and down syndrome.  As the children are introduced into the classroom how do we as teachers cope?  How do we make the connection with the family allowing them to feel secure in us to provide the best learning enviroment for their child?