How do we Compare?

     After reading Gallagher's fifth chapter, I am even more adamant that the public school system here is headed in the wrong direction.Ironically, countries that used to be behind our ingenuity (China and Finland) have adopted our OLD ways of teaching by not over testing their students, directing them to multi tract options and more. On the other hand, our country is headed it the opposite direction. With the future core curriculum standards rolling out now across the nation, all states will adopt the same standards. So what's good for a rural Alabama child is what's good for a child in the Connecticut suburbs- is that not a form of socialism? Where is the freedom or the choice for teachers, schools, parents to simply teach and educate without standardizing all aspects. The standardization stifles creativity and prevents certain students from success. Every year there is a new way to teach, a new acronym for a new method, a new forum we have to attend to teach us the latest technology, blah,blah, blah- just let us teach to the whole child we have in our rooms every day and leave us the hell alone!!!,

Reading is "Sweet"

   Teaching reading is tough. Older students are exceptionally stubborn when it comes to analyzing a text- they just want to read what they want to read and be done with it. It is often hard to excite students who are not encouraged to read, to read. It is difficult to excite children who do not see reading being done in their homes to read in their homes. It is a challenge to get students to read when they believe reading is for"geeks". It is my passion to energize students about reading- I tell them to read movie reviews and tell me what new good scary movies are coming out. Yes, it is a trick, but it gets them excited about reading and they are able to comprehend, summarize and recall information from the reviews. I ask them to read me the directions on the back of my new Reading Horizons program box  - I act confused and unsure about the directions. Yes, another trick to get them to read expository texts without being so overt. It is amazing how technologically advanced these students are and their ability to identify the procedures outlined in the program's directions. It may take two or three students to work it out, but they work it out. I try to perform small tricks weekly on each student in my class- "Hey, someone is letting me borrow this book. Do you mind reading the back and tell me what it's about?" OR "Y'all , look at what my son wrote. What do you see funny in it?" Although reading for information in content areas can be a bit sour, allowing students to taste the sweetness of everyday reading may encourage more reading.

The Reading Flow

   I choose to read to my students the majority of the time... I model the reading process. I read with fluency and with inflection while changing my voice for different characters. I do not want a lull in the story's unraveling. Although I read aloud to my students most of the time, I encourage my students to read as much as they can on their own. I was so thrilled when I saw a student of mine looking up a book on the electronic card catalog. I asked her what she was looking up. She said, " You told us the more we read, the more we will know and want to read, so that's what I'm doing." REALLY??? A student listened to me and followed my advice - I knew at least one out of 100 would get it! I love it when students choose books they want to read- it is about their personal interest and choice- she chose two books dealing with slavery.
   Although I am told to teach the test- the dreaded CRCT- I tragically have witnessed a decline in reading for fun. Gallagher states, "When students read books soley through the lens of test preparation, they miss out on the oportunity to read books through the lens of life preparation. As a result, the imaginative rehearsals are lost, and when that happens, readicide sets in." As I have taught over the past 6 years, I have seen a decline in reading ability. Tests rule, books drool. If I can change just one student's reading habits, then I guess that will have to suffice- not good enough, but at least it gives me a glimmer of hope.

SSR - "Students are Supposed to Read"???

   Gallagher promotes Sustained Silent Reading among his students, as well as he should. It is imperative that students read silently and aloud. In fact, one of the GPS's is to read aloud at least 98% of the time during a lesson. However, as Gallagher suggests students should read silently half the time for enjoyment to gain reading flow and the other part of reading is to be just beyond their reach for the building of vocabulary, knowledge and academic purposes. Again, Gallagher involves techniques that will engage the secondary student as he helps students identify texts that may be beyond their scope in order to make connections in their everyday lives. We must do this in order to make our students want to read and more importantly, desire to read.

Standardized Testing and the Readicide Connection

      Gallagher expresses the same frustration I feel - test scores have overtaken the importance of true learning. According to Gallagher, the government's wish to have high test scores has put pressure on states and districts to "win" with the highest scores. Educators are encouraged to attend workshops so they can be trained on how to improve test scores, teach the standards to meet those scores and give sample tests to prepare their students for the tests. This type of environment does not foster deep cognitive understanding of concepts or ideas. It does not provide students with the abilities needed to become active and informed citizens of our communities. It kills the passion to want to read.
     I have seen how testing can affect students' learning and the teacher's inability to help those students due to testing. Let me explain. Bibb County recently purchased a testing program through AimsWeb. Currently, all elementary and middle schools must perform three testing sessions three times a year to see how our students are perfoming in math and reading. I am a teacher who helps students who need remediation in reading and comprehension as well as writing. I was prevented from teaching these critical skills to my students because I had to administer one of the standardized reading tests three days this past month. Testing kept me from teaching -how can I encourage reading and writing when I'm testing, not teaching?
    Gallagher nailed it when he stated that when we force students to learn and memorize facts for a test we are "sacrificing deep, rich teaching" which in turn chips away our "students' motivation." Students are becoming desensitized to learning and more focused on passing state or national tests -it is our fault. Teachers are rewarded or admonished based on their classes' scores. What are educators to do? Well, as Gallagher suggests WE must encourage reading, provide reading material of high interest and find a happy medium in teaching the concepts of reading. Maybe we can help some of our students... classroom by classroom.