TRICK OR READ!

I just wanted to wish my Inner Circle a safe and happy halloween. I'll let all of you decide which one is who. Have a great weekend and see all of you soon!

Sesssion Number......Three!

My session today, post Parent-Teacher Conference, was kind of odd. I didn't have the one room to myself and my student, Charlene. I had a big room which I shared with Kate and Nathaniel. I kept telling Kate beforehand that my school didn't look like Camelot (DoDea-McCool).

I know it wasn't a "busy" classroom. Because of the Direct Instruction program, I didn't put too much resources on my walls. I normally put up many things but why do it? Some of the teacher resource posters have info that we does not apply to DI.

Today's session was filled with reading two narratives with pre-concept questions from Level three. During the pre-concept questioning, I could already tell where this was leading to. I have this great feeling that Charlene and I will have to work closely with comprehension and how to answer the 5 W's. Overall, she's a real trooper. As we get closer to the end of the semester, I am narrowing down what the plan will be. See you all in two weeks!

Image source: www.telusplanet.net/~boxcars/dice5ws.jpg

Happy Tuesday everyone! I really enjoyed myself at today's session with Nathaniel. We met in Lucille's classroom after school. He seemed much more relaxed today which could be a combination of meeting on his 'home turf' and his getting to know me better. He smiled a lot today. We worked on some more retelling and I tried the San Diego Quick Reading Assessment. He did well on everything but is definitely reading below grade level.

I liked getting to see Lucille's classroom too, it gives me ideas of what I'd like to do in my own classroom someday. I am visiting Lorna's classroom tomorrow and Thursday to practice shared reading. I really appreciate all the help the sisters have given me this semester!

Have a great week!

Kate

Another session with Ahrian

Hi everyone! I hope that everyone had a pleasant Parent Teacher Conference. Mine went pretty well and quiet. As for my session #4 with Ahrian, it went well. He was excited as usual, but wanted to go to the reading lab. I did three listening comprehension activities with him. He frustrated in all three of them. I know that I need to focus on more listening activities with him on my next session as well as in the spring.

He's going to start at Machananao Elementary School tomorrow (Tuesday, 10/28/08). I convinced his mother to transfer him over so I can work more with him since he will be in my reading class. Miss you guys and I will see you all in two weeks. Have fun and take the time to do something that you have been putting off doing.

Session #2

Charlene is quite an interesting girl. I see her physical form as an older fourth grader but her soft-spoken voice can almost sound like that of a younger child. She seems confident when she reads to me but is unaware that she made a few errors.

I know her mother very well. She ensures that Charlene is prepared with things that will keep her from being bored on the ride to UOG with crayons and a coloring book. I am beginning to wonder if she's treated like that at home. I know that after she completes this course with me, she'll be a little more confident in her reading and writing. She may even want to read chapter books.

Session #3

Tonight's session was great. I'm getting the hang of things with my student. He seems more confident than ever, but he still needs help in many areas. I like my quote for tonight.

"If you don't paddle your own canoe, you don't move." Katherine Hepburn

From my interpretation, if I want to get things done then I have to do things myself diligently and not rely on anyone else to do the job for me. So true! And if you don't like what you have done, you have only but yourself to blame.

Puddles...

This is a late entry-had some trouble with my server...Last class session was a little hectic with having to shift kids....finally I have a reading buddy....my own son, Andrew. It may work out for both of us. I do have a personal goal in choosing my child as my reading buddy. According to some school assessments, it has shown that Andrew had dropped in his reading level. I wanted to work with my own son to see which areas he was struggling in and I would like to close that gap.
From a parent's viewpoint, Andrew is a good reader. He is able to attack words with strategies that he has learned from his primary grades so it puzzled me that he scored lower than expected. After Monday's session, I realized what areas he neede to work on. Since his accuracy and fluency were on grade level, we will be working on comprehension and retelling of stories. I hope to share strategies that Andrew can work with when reading passages. With my personal goal of seeing my child succeed, I hope to go through my "puddle" this semester and find success in Andrew's reading skills.

This is a puddle in my reading clinic path...and I hope to use this experience with my students...to have personal goals for each child to achieve success in reading...