November 13, 2006
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I have about 7 students who I am supporting for 6th gr. English…I’m working on developing goals and instruction for these students:
#1: Often truant, especially during english. This was believed to be because of literacy issues, but he actually reads at a fairly high level. Loves cars and street racing, and when put on the internet, spends all his time on car pages downloading photos of cars. I am trying to create with this student a list of things he wants to know about cars, which he has begun to come up with. This will drive his own learning, and culminate with some sort of demonstration of learning. If done right, this student will read many articles and books, write about his learning, and delve into math/physics, history, and other academic subjects.
#2: Quiet, a non-self starting student. Often needs things read to him, although he can read. Appears to have low-self esteem and a history of not doing work, likely the result of being bullied in younger grades. Has only expressed interest in video games, but only in playing them. Answers many questions with, “I don’t know,” either because he doesn’t, or he’s not motivated. Trying to engage this student often, reading to him, presenting him with ideas on readings.
#3: Strong imagination, strong in logic activities like chess. Acts childish at times and often has difficult interacting with his peers. Need to assess his reading more.
#4-7: Still getting to know
I’m just now reaping the benefits of all these course packets I purchased about literacy. It’s reminding me of the big picture, and certainly I can help student immediately in finding books that are at their level and of their interest. That is one of the most important parts of being an English teacher, simply getting kids to do sustained reading and writing everyday.
Comments (3)
If you can put them on a computer, test out their reading skills as they “listen on their own” using Microsoft Reader (which is free – you need to download the text-to-speech engine to make it talk and the RMR tool to do instant conversions from MS Word – and you can add the Encarta Dictionary to give “right-click definitions”). Anyway, convert stuff of interest, let them listen, ask for responses every paragraph or so (they can make notes right in the software). It will help you to see how much is a decoding issue and how much is a comprehension-strategy issue, while letting them try this on their own. You can even include any pictures you can put into Word – but make sure you assign some kind of “alt.text” under the web tab in “format picture.”
This has proven to be an invaluable tool (among free stuff) for us, because it (a) trains reading independence, and (b) lets you decide how best to focus remedial energy – based on the results.
(Just a suggestion)
What a wonderful teacher you must be. No burnout detectable yet.
Intriguing…I’ll be curious to see how #3 pans out.