I will be graduating this August with my Masters degree of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. My hope and desire is to be able to create a curriculum that is literacy centered where students are made to read day in and day out in all subjects from the time they learn to read in Kindergarten and 1st grade. The statistics are impressively awful...they will knock the breath out of you.
For example:
Did you know that based on the 4th grade reading levels of the students within each state, the state government determines how many more or less jail/prison cells they will need in the future for that particular group/generation of children. SHOCKING! It makes me so sad, that someone that cannot read well, is that much more likely to be in our prisons.
Now, this fix is NOT easy. Students have to have a STRONG ORAL language base. Most children, especially those coming from low socio-economic homes, do not have this base. Linguistically "poor" first graders know approximately 5,000 words; whereas, they should be closer to 20,000 words like the linguistically "rich" children. Unfortunately the words rich and poor here generally translate into their actual monetary lifestyles too, not just their linguistic abilities.
We as educators need to help this growing trend of inefficiency come to a screeching halt. As I said, it will be harder than it really seems. BUT....if the students have to read day in and day out all different types of literature in ALL of their classes, they will have a better chance of learning to read properly and learning to enjoy SOME TYPE of reading. This could more easily translate into them WANTING to read at home.
Therefore, as a Master of Education, ;) I want to be able to create this literacy based program starting with the early years, and walked it up with the kids. We cannot just start EVERY grade level doing this program when the children in those grades have NO IDEA what to do with all of this reading that they have NEVER been able to do or enjoy. They will fail and I do not want that. So we will start with Kindergarten and then move to 1st grade, then 2nd and 3rd and so on....until every level of students is doing the literacy centered programs in school.
Of course, I do not want to send the kids that have not had this training to failure, so there will be a change in their curriculum as well, but it will not be so crammed with literature. If they cannot read, we need to make sure they graduate high school with that ability, which MAY mean that the students need to stop and learn to read in the 7th or 8th or 10th grades. The teachers would have to sell it like a bill of goods and they would have to make it fun....Learning to read at the grade is seemingly impossible. There are too many walls and frustrations of failure blocking any possible progress.
Anyway, enough blabbing. This is what I want to be able to do with my degree. I certainly hope that I can make this happen. I cannot do it alone; I will need a team, but I have to be able to do the research and presentations somewhere.
Please keep this idea in your thoughts and prayers along with my influence and abilities.
As my heading says....May I have all the LOVE and WISDOM I need.......to be the best I can be for these children! THIS DESIRE IS WHY I TEACH!
Sincerely,
Mrs. ABC
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Bittersweet
Today will forever be remembered as bittersweet. The last day of school is always filled with emotion and excitement, but this year, it really hurt. This group of kids is special! I have NEVER had a group like them, and it will be hard for any group to fill their shoes or match their awesomeness.
It still has not hit that school is over, but seeing the kids dressed up today for the awards ceremony really made me reflect on how much they have grown with me this year. They were such babies when they came to me in August, and now they are nearly grown.
This group has taught me more than I believe I will ever completely realize! They have made me a better teacher, and the kids coming behind them will be forever bettered because of this group.
This year, I focused on GROWTH instead of passing or failing skills/objective/assignments. This group of students came to me as 18 Dyslexic students, 26 Special Education students, 6 Limited English Proficient students (which is a lower number than normal), 6 complete turds (also a MUCH lower number than usual), and the rest "regular" education students.
My students came to me, almost all of them, regardless of their educational label, writing Zeros and Ones for their essay scores. The essay scores are based on a holistic rubric ranging from 0-4. Zero and One are failing scores, 2 is equivalent to about a 75, a 3 is about 85 and the lowest score one can get to be commended on the TAKS test, and 4 is the best paper, but, as I tell my students, there is no way to have a "perfect" paper so the highest grade is equal to a 95. As for the perfect paper, I say they don't exist because their is ALWAYS a way to better it through revision and editing.
By the time my TAKS test came around on March 1st, my students were worn out from writing, and I was beginning to wonder if they had listened to anything I had taught and modeled from August to February 28. We had to wait until May 23rd for our scores to be returned, and then it was the 24th before we could see their scores broken down, and I could see what grade they made on the grammar questions and what score they made on the essay. They must PASS BOTH sections of my test in order to PASS the test.
Many of my Dyslexic students and Special Education students did not pass the TAKS test, and they were distraught when they found out. I was heartbroken to tell them. BUT when I told them....I focused in on the GROWTH they have had this year. They were asked to look back at their first essays of the year, and compare the early scores with the TAKS scores...ALL of them....ALL OF THEM....improved by 2 scores!!!!!!! They came to me writing zeros and they wrote a 2 on the TAKS essay. I cannot even begin to tell you how impressive an improvement this is for these children.
They finally bought the goods I was selling and began to be excited for their accomplishments this year.
ONE of my severely dyslexic students was writing zeros when he came to me, this year. On TAKS day, he stayed until he was done which was 6:30p.m. The next day, he came to me and said that he looked up EVERY word that he wrote, to make sure that it was spelled correctly, so the essay graders would be able to read his essay without struggling. My heart broke! I was so worried. I stopped right then and there and prayed that God would allow him to pass. Silly prayer? Maybe....but IT WORKED, as well as my teaching and his learning. HE PASSED!!! Not only did he pass, but he was COMMENDED!!!!!!! I cried when I saw his score, and I am NOT a crier. When he heard that he passed and was commended, he thought that I was joking. He didn't even think he was capable of passing, and this broke my heart all over again. I thought, "What did I do wrong this year? He has NO confidence in his abilities." BUT when he realized that I was serious, he up so high I believe he could have touched the hallway ceiling, and then lunged toward me in a full-on frontal hug....we do not give front hugs! But he was just so happy.....he teared up and had to call his mom and dad to tell them the news.
The irony in his story, is that, the ONE word that he COULD NOT find in the dictionary was dyslexia and he was writing about the challenging of learning with the challenge of dyslexia! He said I was looking in the DIs and then the DEs and he couldn't find it, SO he asked his dad when he got in the car after turning in his test, and his dad helped him see that is was spelled DYslexia....he laughed and laughed about that.....
After looking at ALL the scores and improvements overall, I got even happier. This year, as challenging as it was, was SPECTACULAR! My kiddos DID listen and learn from what I taught, and growth and learning took place!
I could not be a more proud mama! Without this group I would not have found all of the wonderful ways to teach Writing to ANY learner, ANY seventh grader, ANY "labeled" or not labeled child. I cannot wait to see what next year brings.
I wish the best of luck to my sweet lovelies! I miss you all already! Good Luck in 8th grade!
~Mrs. ABC
It still has not hit that school is over, but seeing the kids dressed up today for the awards ceremony really made me reflect on how much they have grown with me this year. They were such babies when they came to me in August, and now they are nearly grown.
This group has taught me more than I believe I will ever completely realize! They have made me a better teacher, and the kids coming behind them will be forever bettered because of this group.
This year, I focused on GROWTH instead of passing or failing skills/objective/assignments. This group of students came to me as 18 Dyslexic students, 26 Special Education students, 6 Limited English Proficient students (which is a lower number than normal), 6 complete turds (also a MUCH lower number than usual), and the rest "regular" education students.
My students came to me, almost all of them, regardless of their educational label, writing Zeros and Ones for their essay scores. The essay scores are based on a holistic rubric ranging from 0-4. Zero and One are failing scores, 2 is equivalent to about a 75, a 3 is about 85 and the lowest score one can get to be commended on the TAKS test, and 4 is the best paper, but, as I tell my students, there is no way to have a "perfect" paper so the highest grade is equal to a 95. As for the perfect paper, I say they don't exist because their is ALWAYS a way to better it through revision and editing.
By the time my TAKS test came around on March 1st, my students were worn out from writing, and I was beginning to wonder if they had listened to anything I had taught and modeled from August to February 28. We had to wait until May 23rd for our scores to be returned, and then it was the 24th before we could see their scores broken down, and I could see what grade they made on the grammar questions and what score they made on the essay. They must PASS BOTH sections of my test in order to PASS the test.
Many of my Dyslexic students and Special Education students did not pass the TAKS test, and they were distraught when they found out. I was heartbroken to tell them. BUT when I told them....I focused in on the GROWTH they have had this year. They were asked to look back at their first essays of the year, and compare the early scores with the TAKS scores...ALL of them....ALL OF THEM....improved by 2 scores!!!!!!! They came to me writing zeros and they wrote a 2 on the TAKS essay. I cannot even begin to tell you how impressive an improvement this is for these children.
They finally bought the goods I was selling and began to be excited for their accomplishments this year.
ONE of my severely dyslexic students was writing zeros when he came to me, this year. On TAKS day, he stayed until he was done which was 6:30p.m. The next day, he came to me and said that he looked up EVERY word that he wrote, to make sure that it was spelled correctly, so the essay graders would be able to read his essay without struggling. My heart broke! I was so worried. I stopped right then and there and prayed that God would allow him to pass. Silly prayer? Maybe....but IT WORKED, as well as my teaching and his learning. HE PASSED!!! Not only did he pass, but he was COMMENDED!!!!!!! I cried when I saw his score, and I am NOT a crier. When he heard that he passed and was commended, he thought that I was joking. He didn't even think he was capable of passing, and this broke my heart all over again. I thought, "What did I do wrong this year? He has NO confidence in his abilities." BUT when he realized that I was serious, he up so high I believe he could have touched the hallway ceiling, and then lunged toward me in a full-on frontal hug....we do not give front hugs! But he was just so happy.....he teared up and had to call his mom and dad to tell them the news.
The irony in his story, is that, the ONE word that he COULD NOT find in the dictionary was dyslexia and he was writing about the challenging of learning with the challenge of dyslexia! He said I was looking in the DIs and then the DEs and he couldn't find it, SO he asked his dad when he got in the car after turning in his test, and his dad helped him see that is was spelled DYslexia....he laughed and laughed about that.....
After looking at ALL the scores and improvements overall, I got even happier. This year, as challenging as it was, was SPECTACULAR! My kiddos DID listen and learn from what I taught, and growth and learning took place!
I could not be a more proud mama! Without this group I would not have found all of the wonderful ways to teach Writing to ANY learner, ANY seventh grader, ANY "labeled" or not labeled child. I cannot wait to see what next year brings.
I wish the best of luck to my sweet lovelies! I miss you all already! Good Luck in 8th grade!
~Mrs. ABC
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