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.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, August 2, 2010
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 .
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 .
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