Challenges of the Reading Specialist

Have we considered what we may encounter when we have left these hallowed walls of UWI, St Augustine and entered into the world of work as Reading Specialists? Well I considered a few of the challenges and listed them below. Feel free to blog or add any that I may have overlooked.

• Sourcing appropriate and effective resources to execute the programme.
• Dealing with misconceptions as to what exactly our role as Reading
Specialists actually is
• Acceptance – coming in after a history of ineffective professional
development programmes, teachers may be unwilling to unlearn before they
can apply the new ideas we may bring forth
• Support from fellow colleagues
• Building a culture that encourages ‘receptivity to constructive criticism’
• Proving that we are not here to dictate changes to the curriculum or
enforce extra work without consultation with teachers.

The Beauty of Collaboration

If there is one term that resounded throughout this course is that of COLLABORATION. As we explored the collaborative tools; Wikis, Concept Mapping and other social networking devices, I felt the growing need to work together with my fellow colleagues in reading, to design programs that would meet the requirements demanded by our changing society. Usually this level of collaboration would be among teachers or reading specialists, but today I read an article that shared the success story of a charter school and an urban school district in Rhode Island that “forged an unusual partnership to share best teaching practices and collectively support early reading proficiency”

Pivotal to their concept of school success was the task of working collaboratively. Teachers of both the district and the charter school visited each others’ classrooms and developed lesson plans together during the school day and after school. The charter school was able to rank among the top 10 highest scoring urban elementary schools in the state with 59% proficiency in reading, although a large number of the school’s family live in chronic poverty. I invite you to read this article which portrays the result of teachers coming together to rise above the challenges that could easily beset us.

Article: http://www.annenberginstitute.org/VUE/wp-content/pdf/VUE27.pdf
Wiltshire,C.,Gallo, F., & Connolly K., (2010), Collective Practice Quality Teaching.,Annenberg Institute for school Reform.,Voices in Urban Education.

Rising to the challenge

Bernice Johnson Reagan stated that “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyse you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”
Was this course a challenge for you?
Were there times when you felt overwhelmed?
Did it test your resilience as a teacher-student, demanding time and resources that you were not even aware that you had?

Well hats off to those who did not struggle as I did, although I must admit it got less challenging as the weeks passed by.

My advice is – Do not let the demands temper your enthusiasm, but allow this exposure to Web 2.0 tools to revolutionize your pedagogical and technological skills.

However, I urge you, not to take in the new at the expense of the old. Our challenge is to blend both literacies; digital and traditional, within our social context and tailor it to suit our needs.

Technology in Education

As I come to the end of this Mega-course, I thought of putting what I think of technology in education in verse.

Teaching would be fun for
Each and everyone
Collaborating and participating in
Highly-motivated planning.
Nothing should prevent us from
Online applications that
Lead our struggling students to higher-level education.
O may we never rest
Growing every chance we get
Yearning for the very best.

Let us rise to the challenge of providing our students with the necessary skills to'navigate the sea of information that surrounds them … for the ability to work with information may well be the most important skill of the 21st century.” William Badke (2008) Research Strategies: Finding your way through the information fog .

Accepting the challenge

Have you ever created an Electronic book or E-book as it is commonly called? Well, for the first time since I have been exposed to the interactive, explosive and innovative Web tools of literacy have I felt so confident that I COULD and WOULD use a device with my students with almost immediate effect. I am so excited about this E-book that I called two of my co workers after the lab session to share my experience of creating E-books. I have been exposed to Power Point Presentations for years and have never realized that it could be so interactive.

What I love about Teacher created E-books is just that – the teacher can create the reading material to suit not only his/her class but also the individual student or small interactive instructional group found within. One major problem I had experienced working with adolescent struggling readers in the senior department is sourcing suitable books at their independent reading level that are not embarrassing for them to be seen with. Now the time I would have taken to source, I can now CREATE. Since these books are specially designed for them, it would motivate them to become more engaged readers.

E-books are definitely a “MUST TRY”.

Bookmarking - the safety tool

The Internet, as effective a tool of learning as it is, is well known for being a den for predators, frauds and sometimes inept writers. As such all would agree that as teachers we need to teach our students the skills needed to be ‘web wise’. At times, however, even the web-wise students can become distracted or so overly consumed with searching the web that a lot of instructional time is lost.

The questions for most ICT teachers are:
• How can I control what my students view on the internet?
• How can I get my students to search the web efficiently without losing valuable instructional time?

One possible solution is Web based bookmarking
I read an article in which Leighann S Forbes (2004) demonstrated how Bookmarking can support reading instruction and provide structure and content for students with special needs. She describes this Bookmarking as a tool that increases time on task and decreases frustration among struggling readers. This is mainly because the teacher would have previewed the material before it was made available to the students.

This is basically what Bookmarking is about, collecting and storing the websites that you believe are relevant to your class or your lessons.
I invite you to read this article. It also gives you information on web based bookmarking services and an excellent lesson for Infant One students using web based bookmarks. This article can be found in the journal International Reading Associations (pp 148-153) doi 101598/ RT.58 2.3

Facing our challenges

One of my colleagues, in response to my blog ‘Overcoming the red tape’ highlighted the fact that many teachers are ‘stuck in a quagmire because they have a defeatist approach when it comes to technology’. This comment, brought to the surface, the memory of my grandmother sharing with me, her fears of lighting the stove when she first got one and how often she would revert to using the coal pot even though it was the same fire. Of greater concern is the fact that many of our senior citizens still prefer to stand in line at the banks rather than use a debit card. It is not just that old habits are difficult to break, it goes beyond that, into the realm of our fears of the unknown.

Reverting from the traditional approach to teaching reading means coming out of our comfort zone and entering that unfamiliar zone. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. stated that "the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of a challenge." Challenge here being ‘the test of one's abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking’ (Webster’s Dictionary). It will be a challenge for us as Reading Specialists to train this technologically diverse group of teachers to this non traditional approach to reading . What we must keep in mind is that this upgrading of both content and pedagogical skills is inself a challenge to our trainees.

The challenge of finding the balance

One of the many challenges facing teachers, both senior and junior alike, is how to balance the pre-digital world of communication with the present or expected future world, that is; How do we teach a nation of ‘texters’ to curl up in a chair with a good novel and appreciate the written language?

It is true that the technological explosion of literary devices such as Facebook and chat rooms have transformed the process of learning in such a way that it motivates many of our young struggling readers to overcome their fears of communicating publicly with others. Instant messaging promotes instant gratification but does not truly reduce the frustration encountered by these struggling readers as they experience difficulty in keeping up with classroom assignments. Since the natural human tendency is to avoid adverse situations, can we truly accomplish the goal of having our struggling readers gain interest in physical books when the convenience of technology is ever so present? I do hope so.

Overcoming the Red Tape

Last class we discussed to some extent, the relevance of attempting to introduce new technologies in an environment covered in red tape. For years schools have struggled with unnecessary mandates regarding the use and maintenance of computers. At present many of the computer labs in the schools (especially Primary schools) are controlled from outside the physical environment of the school. The computers cannot be fixed, programmes cannot be added nor information stored, by anyone not assigned or given permission to do the job. This may appear to be a wise decision had it not been for the fact that the whole process sometimes takes more than six (6) months each time.

To add insult to injury, many times only a small percentage of the students’ computers present in the lab actually have internet access. How then can we be expected to leverage literacy 2.0 practices in the classroom. As Dana Wilbur puts it ‘ Literacy 2.0 is not about using Microsoft Word for processing, using PowerPoint for a presentation or projecting a computer screen on the wall of a room. It’s about making the most of online resources and staying true to the ‘ethos of the web 2.0’; a challenge facing not only the senior teacher but every graduate of this M Ed in Reading.

Wilbur,D. (2007). My literacies: Understanding the Net generation through Live Journals and literacy practices. Innovate Journal of Online Education.

The challenge of becoming network-wise

Although I consider myself to be quite computer literate, terms such as blogs, facebook, wikis or myspace were never in my speaking vocabulary. I did not need it – or so I thought – to function effectively in this present world as a teacher or parent. I have prided myself on being able to deliver an effective curriculum without having to become ‘network-wise’ apart from being able to surf the net to glean information for specific content areas or curriculum planning.

This was until the Masters Degree in Reading plummetted me headfirst into an ICT Course with its daunting yet explosive connective online technologies. Suddenly my teaching world as I knew it shifted into high gear. As a senior teacher, I must now shape up or ship out. Literacy 2.0 is here and whether we as senior teachers realize it or not, computers are becoming a more present feature of the school’s resources in Trinidad and Tobago and it is not just in the Science areas. I fully agree with Will Richardson as he puts forward the view that ‘learning is no longer primarily fixed in time and space; it can happen anytime, anywhere…we are connected in a virtual, asynchronous classroom.’

Will Richardson,(2006) Blogs, wikis, Podcasts and other powerful tools for the classrooms. Corwin Press

What is wrong with the way I teach reading?

Another senior teacher came to me with this question a few days ago. After trying to figure out the answer to 'Why me?' I would soon come to realise that she asked me this question with reference to me being a 'Reading Specialist'. She continued that she was quite passionate about reading and have always tried strategies that she considered comprehensive and productive for her students. In fact, as far as she could remember she always produced very good readers that would eventually be promoted to the A class of the school. Now at this closing hours of her career, the administrators are demanding that she adopt the new Jolly Phonics programme. Not only does she not see the need to change her methodology but since it demands such great effort, she does not see the need. if it is the end result they are looking at, she believes that she far exceeds the qualifications.

This Jolly Phonics Programme has been implemented in the Primary schools of Trinidad and Tobago within the last five years. it is a thorough set of materials for teaching reading and writing to a class of children in their first year at the Primary School. It introduces all the letter sounds (not just the alphabet) with an action to give the sound. According to me senior teaching co worker - 'You have to be a full fledged clown to be effective at this Jolly Phonics.'

From what I have seen however I think that the Jolly Phonics is a self discovery method of teaching students the skill of decoding words to read. It is a great multifaceted method that encorporates visual, auditory and kinesthetic modes. This very structured method, though proven to be effective and fun for children is not often embraced by many teachers because this approach is very different from teachers' traditional method of teaching reading. This apathetic approach to the new programme should be discouraged since there is empirical evidence to prove the worth of the programme.

Challenges of senior teachers

My name is Junette Wiltshire and I have taught the Senior Classes of the primary school for approximately twenty years. My major teaching task is preparing students for the Secondary Entrance Examination. Over the years I have had a few struggling readers who were faced with the challenge of having to read materials that were levels higher than they were at. These pupils were at a serious disadvantage on two grounds. Firstly the packed curriculum of the examination class did not allow me to work individually with very weak readers. Secondly, I have never worked at the Infant or Junior levels where the major skill taught is word identification strategies, as such, I was truly at a loss at how to help these senior students with beginning reading.

I looked at my situation with a sense of hopelessness, knowing that these students will fall through the cracks because there was no intervention designed to assist them. I figured that I needed to get some form of training in reading. Of course, I was overjoyed when this Masters in Reading Programme was advertised. Here I saw the opportunity to receive specialized training in the area of reading that could help me to help myself and other teachers faced with this dilemma. Honestly,I have not found the time to implement this vast repertoire of skills and strategies that I have been exposed to thus far, but I know that at the end of it all many persons apart from me would benefit