Teaching on a daily basis. . .

I mentioned in my last post that teachers are only allowed to do what their administrators direct them to do.  That is not totally accurate, teachers can do something that the administrators did not direct them to do at the risk of being written up or applauded depending on the outcome. Teachers are required to teach the curriculum as mandated by their state.  Teachers can not just "teach by the seat of their pants." Teachers are evaluated at least twice a year in the state where I teach.  Some teachers are evaluated multiple times depending on a program that they may be participating in or teachers can be evaluated as many times as the administrator wants to evaluate them.  I will address evaluations in a future post.

As a teacher, I do not think that the general public has a good grasp on what a teacher does on a daily basis. 

Teachers spend a significant portion of their time documenting what they are doing and how they are doing it.  As a teacher, there are some weeks when I work 6-7 days, on average, 8-10 hours a day.  Not every week is like that but I would estimate that  to be 2/3rds of the time.  I report to work usually at 6:30 to begin my day. I am not required to be there at 6:30, I do that so that I have time to prep for the school day, and this is a good time to do that.  I do not get called away to do something else.  The students begin arriving at 7:25 and then I have duties to complete.  I teach 6 classes (50 minutes) a day.  I have one planning period (50 minutes) to complete any task that has been assigned to me and to check on students in detention.  I do not use my planning period to plan, it is impossible, there is not enough time. I write my plans over the weekends, (I usually take work home everyday). Many times my planning period is used for parent conferences, communications (phone/email), meetings with other school personnel and possibly covering another teacher's class. My lunch is 23 minutes long, to include travel time to the cafeteria and back to the classroom. At each class change I am required to be in the hallway or by the restrooms to monitor student behavior.  At any point in time, my classroom my have a "walk-through" (quick evaluation by administrator).  I do not sit at my desk, I am constantly walking and monitoring the students.  Occasionally I will sit in a student desk or stool or chair, but not for any length of time.  The students are released for the day at 3:00.  I am then required to attend any meetings that have been scheduled or that are called.  Meetings can last from 15 minutes to an hour or more.  When the meetings are over, I then have time to grade papers, enter grades and data on the computer, plan lessons, copy materials, or another task I need to complete to teach the next day.  Often times I leave the school grounds around 5:00 or 6:00.  Recently, I have made a rule for myself to try and leave by 4:30.  That doesn't always happen.  I am officially released at 3:30 or 4:30 (depending on the day of the week).

With all the aforementioned, we teach students.  Before we can teach students, we must have classroom management procedures/skills in place.  That means dealing with discipline. During the school day, we are continuously dealing with events/issues that the students are having while teaching.  We have to be and remain extremely flexible for school events.  A drill (fire, severe weather, earthquake, etc), can be expected anytime.  We also have events which occur during the day such as club meetings, pictures, rewards time, nurse calls, office calls, any numerous interruptions, etc.  A teacher has to continue to teach and maintain the flow of instruction.

That is why we are all exhausted.  Absolutely no one teaches to "get rich" (our pay scales do not go that high). You have to love the job to do it.

3rd and 4th grade readers

Multiple studies/research have been completed on reading and it's impact on school success.  We as educators know that if reading problems aren't addressed in 3rd and 4th grade that student who has problems is at risk for dropping out and not completing school. You can read one study at http://www.aecf.org/Newsroom/NewsReleases/HTML/2011Releases/DoubleJeopardy.aspx.  If you also consider socioeconomic status, the student is even more at risk for failure.  The more we look at data, the more we know that children with poor reading skills, combined with other indicators is very likely to fail. We know this as educators, we can identify these students, so why aren't we doing something?  There is not an easy answer to this question.

The answers involve parents, teachers, administrators, and central office personnel.  Why so many people?  We know what is right for the child.  Teachers are controlled by administrators, administrators are controlled by central office personnel.  Teachers can only do what they are allowed to do.  As a teacher, I can make recommendations, but those recommendations can be taken or discarded.  In my experience, more times than not my recommendations have been discarded.  At this point, I have no recourse as a teacher. 

This of course brings up the debate on social promotion.  Social promotion is advancing the student to the next grade level so that the student can remain with the same group of peers.  Many parents do not want their child held back in school. As educators, we know that reading problems that exist in the 3rd and 4th grade are detrimental to the students' success, many times the student will never catch up to their peers, regardless of the reading interventions.  If this is not addressed at 3rd and 4th grade levels the outlook is less than positive.  Another study that supports this is found at http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/documents/17/DismalNAEP.pdf. 

So, if you child is beyond 4th grade and the teachers are recommending reading interventions, then it is imperative that you as a parent demand that you student gets the interventions.  If your student is a primary student, pay very close attention to the reading scores, the reading lessons and practices.  Work with the teachers on what you as a parent can do to assist the student to become successful.  I might add, if a teacher recommends that your child remain in the grade level for an additional year, then seriously consider this, for the sake of your child's success.  The best self-esteem builder is academic success.

"I don't want to read."

How many times have teachers heard this?  I can’t count that high.  I have learned from experience that I have to preface the oral reading we do in class with an explanation.  As a teacher, I need to hear the students read, so that I can gain some information about the problems the students are experiencing with reading.  Yes, there is a plethora of tests to indicate reading and comprehension levels. Yes, the students are tested multiple times using multiple formats.  Although, there is no substitute for observing (visually and aurally) the student perform. There is a tremendous amount of information that you gain by hearing the students read aloud.  You can hear mispronunciations, attention to punctuation, inflection, expression, etc.  Without hearing the student read, you are losing important information that could be corrected to lead to a student’s success.  My observations are not only auditory, but also visual.  The students’ body language yields valuable information.  There are many times that I discover poor eyesight just by watching the student read.  If I can solve the problem with addressing eyesight issues, then that is a winning situation for the student and for me.  

When a student is assessed in reading, many times the scores are reported as “grade level” scores.  A grade level score would look something like 7.2.  That score means that the student is reading on grade level 7, second month.  If the student is a 7^th grader and that it is the beginning of the school year, then that student is on grade level.  The problem occurs if the student is again assessed, using the same instrument, and continues to test at 7.2, then we as teachers are going to have to discover or explore on a deeper level why that student is not growing.  If the student assesses at a higher level, we need to continue to challenge them to stretch and grow.  A student performing at a higher level would be given reading material on a higher grade level than what assessment results indicated.  A parent might hear complaints of the “work being too hard.”  The student needs to be challenged, without this challenge they will not improve.   I am referencing Lev Vygotsky’s, Social Development Theory and in particular the Zone of Proximal Development.  You will also find the terms “scaffolding” or “constructed” used in conjunction with the Zone of Proximal Development. (Retrieved 4/23/12; http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html)

An analogy could be learning italic handwriting.  As you practice writing, your instructor observes the way you hold your pen, or makes the strokes for the letters, with brief instruction to correct the deficit, you would be able to hold the pen correctly or make the strokes of the letters correctly. Sports skills are perfect examples. Any skills that you are trying to learn, or improve on demands a progression of difficulty to increase your skill level would be examples or could be analogous to this theory. If this student is given something below their reading level on a continuous basis, they will not grow and perhaps become weaker in skills that they had already mastered (resistance to learning (Retrieved 4/23/12; http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/resistan.htm).

Sometimes reading assessment scores are reported as stanines.  A stanine score is on a scale of 1-9.  Nine is the highest a student can achieve on an assessment reported as stanines.  From my experience a student who is scoring in the 4-5 stanines is more than likely reading below grade level.  If a student consistently scores 4-5 on a stanine assessment they will likely need some reading remediation.  It follows that if the student scores 1-3 on a stanine scale then they are well below grade level and will need intense remediation.  There are other assessment scores that your child’s teacher may report to you (i.e. lexiles or percentiles).  You child’s teacher should be able to explain the assessment scores to you and what the scores would indicate is needed to help your child succeed.  The key to understanding all scores is to observe a steady increase regardless of how the scores are reported.  What I like to see is a steady progression over time.  If fluctuations in the scores are occurring, then I as a teacher will have to do some more investigation; you as a parent can really assist teachers at this point.  Your knowledge of your child and a discussion of their habits, likes and dislikes, lifestyle, eyesight, etc. will be extremely helpful for the teachers to understand what approach and methodology to use with your child.

Teachers are just as individual as students.  We are all people, so we are all unique.  I approach reading somewhat differently than other people, and perhaps somewhat similar to some.  When I encounter the entrenched “I don’t want to read,” I immediately try to investigate.  Many students are “taught” to hate reading.  Reading is seen as a chore, and in some instances torture.  Somewhere and somehow these students have been taught to hate reading (not necessarily in a school setting, but sadly many times it has been).  Perhaps it is poor reading skills, maybe the student has a speech impediment, poor eyesight (and refuses to wear glasses), or just by having an embarrassing moment at some point in their past when called on to read.  I have to address all of these issues, as do other reading teachers.  If I can’t get past this roadblock, then I will not have much success if any.  That is why a classroom needs to be a “safe zone” so students who are inhibited will feel safe from reprisals and will stretch out to become successful.

The most opportune time to address reading issues is prior to and during 4^th grade.  Reading issues can be addressed at higher levels in school and should be addressed. A deficiency that is apparent at 4^th grade is hard to overcome.  I will discuss this 4^th grade issue in another post.

Retrieved 04/23/12

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/resistan.htm

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html

Why reading?

As a veteran teacher (and a novice blogger), I want to attempt to make suggestions for reluctant readers, weak readers, people who just don't like to read.  Reading is essential to success in school.  It is the one most powerful thing that will lead to success in any class you are taking whether you are an adult or a student in elementary, middle or high school.

There is an epidemic occurring in our schools.  This epidemic concerns the lack of a broad spectrum of reading skills.  I have on numerous occasions (over the years), conducted some very loose surveys.  I have to preface my questioning with "you are not going to get in trouble; I want you to tell what you actually think."  My first question on this informal survey is "How many of you have books at home?"  Usually, only 2-3 (out of about 28 students) raise their hands to indicate a positive response.  My next question usually is "How many of you read for pleasure?"  After the laughter dies down, I say, "no guys and girls, I am serious, I want to know."  Then 1 or 2 students reluctantly raise their hands.

I have witnessed the whole spectrum, from excellent readers to struggling readers.  Reading is not just being able to recognize and "call" words but also understanding and comprehending what you are reading.  That is what makes it so hard and that is why every reading class should have class room discussions as well as silent/oral reading time.

If you are a parent, you should model reading for your children.  Read printed material.  I say printed material, not digital, because young children and even students in high school are too easily distracted when reading on a laptop or other electronic device.  Make sure your home is "book friendly."  Young children really love to "re-visit" their favorite books over and over again.  This is a good thing as we all know that "practice makes perfect."  Reading is a skill and should be practiced.

Read to and with you children.  Teaching reading is difficult at best.  So start young, even before the child is born.  After they are born you should read to children as much as possible, but not to the point that they lose interest.  A young child does not have the attention span to last for much longer than an excellent picture book.  Even middle school children have a difficult time with reading over a period of one hour.  If the student is entrenched into the "I hate reading" mode, you will have to go slower and search out high interest books.