EDHD5008 Blog #2

I enjoyed reading the Fisher, Frey and Ross article this week, “Comprehension is More Than a Strategy” (2009). It was interesting to begin with the example of a student who is clearly comprehending the text, and then try to suss out why she is successful in her comprehension. I’m guessing my experience of this might be similar to the other teacher candidates. As a former high school student who tended to have good reading comprehension, it’s not that easy for me to identify exactly what I’m doing when successfully comprehending a text – and that’s exactly what I need to do to be a good teacher of comprehension! Again, I see a clear parallel here to language teaching. As a person for whom language learning comes easily, I might miss the cues that lead to good language teaching, simply because I don’t need to see them to be successful. However, a teacher needs to know the trouble spots and the different combinations of variables present in their students’ learning. A teacher needs to make sure the lesson is focused, purposeful, and fun so that students don’t have trouble paying attention (Fisher, Frey & Ross 2009, p. 331).

I really loved the example of the science teacher modeling her thinking with the class about segmented worms (Fisher, Frey & Ross 2009, p. 334-335). Reading through this section and following along with the lesson, I’m amazed by the purpose in her pedagogical approach. It may seem to the students as if she’s casually talking them through this process. In reality, I’m sure that for myself as a student teacher, and as a first year teacher, creating a lesson like this takes a lot of preparation. Each word needs to be accounted for, and variables like classroom behavior can’t flap the process. Because of their teacher’s delivery, the students can focus on the content and the strategies she’s modeling. Because they’re being engaged learners in this moment, they know exactly what the thinking strategy for reading comprehension looks like, and they’ll have a better chance of recreating it on their own. After this example, the authors remind us as readers that part of the magic here is to “Be interesting!” (Fisher, Frey & Ross 2009, p. 337). I think part of what this means is to create a natural environment in which the reading strategies can live within the classroom. If this kind of learning is only happening once in a while, it can’t become habitual practice to which students can contribute on their own. As in the reptiles example, if students are familiar with “think, pair, share,” then each time they practice it they will get more out of the process – IF they feel that they are offering something special to the conversation. Part of that “buy-in” comes from a classroom environment, created by the teacher, that embraces and promotes student input as valuable. This is what I understood to be Palincsar’s “Reciprocal Teaching” method (Fisher, Frey & Ross 2009, p. 338).

To wrap up my thoughts this week, I wanted to share an anecdote that came to mind when I was listening to the mini-lecture “Comprehension Processes.” The example the professor used for prior knowledge was the mental schema of a grocery store and everything in it. The idea was that many who were reading a text about an event at a grocery store would have the grocery store schema in place and could make inferences and mental images based on this prior knowledge. I immediately thought of going to the grocery store with my friend Usman Buba, who was visiting from Cameroon for the first time to work at summer camp, and was staying with me for a few days. As we walked the aisles, everything seemed fine – until he came up and tapped me on the shoulder to ask, “What is this?” Usman had a shrink-wrapped Styrofoam tray of boneless skinless chicken breast in his hand. When I told him what it was, he got the weirdest look on his face. “But… how does it get… like this?” He was stupefied by the extreme processing that chicken breast undergoes to look the way it does when most of us eat it in the US. Not only was the shape and texture strange, but even the size was unimaginable to him. Remembering this experience helped solidify for me that our students are probably operating under many different schemas than we are. If we can build respect and trust into our classrooms, I hope that, like Usman and I did, this can produce not isolation or exclusivity but instead connection and a hearty laugh.

Blog #1

I have worked as an educational support professional for 5 years. As I begin this initial licensure program, I feel most excited about gaining the background of knowledge and skills that will help me best serve students in the classroom as their teacher. Reading through these initial materials, I learned more specific information about disciplinary reading, and my role in it as a content area teacher. As a future language teacher, I feel especially connected to the concept of the interdisciplinary necessity of reading comprehension. Reading skills and second language skills are similar in that they open up a whole new world to students, not just in language classes but in the application of language to other topics. I see this as a potentially strong motivating factor if a teacher is able to make the connection for a student between the skill and its practical use in their life.

I appreciate the focus on motivation and engagement in Module 1 Reading: “(d) and a focus on motivation and engagement which acknowledges that it is just as important that students choose to engage with reading because they feel confident and have personally relevant goals for reading as it is that they know how to read texts in various content areas.” This is a tribute to the importance of the inner voice of the student. To be successful in new learning, a student needs the ability to engage with their own thoughts and personal reflections, as well as engaging with their outside environment & social interactions in the classroom. At the risk of sounding too abstract, the inner voice is where students tell themselves the “stories of themselves,” about who they are and who they can become. As teachers, we can support positive self-determination stories in our students, building their self-trust in their capacity for learning.

The Standards in Foreign Language Education document established the importance of connections: “Just as reading cannot be limited to a particular segment of the school day, so too can foreign language build upon the knowledge that students acquire in other subject areas … as [students] become more proficient users of the target language, they can seek out materials of interest to them, analyze the content, compare it to information available in their own language, and assess the linguistic and cultural differences.” I think this concept is equally important as we think about the structures of reading. An interdisciplinary approach helps make language, or reading, relevant for students. It’s a two-way street: if teachers can attach real-world meaning to classroom experiences, students can more easily connect their classroom experiences to the world that surrounds them when they go home. Blurring the lines between “home time” and “school time” creates a mental continuum, so that students can more successfully navigate their diverse worlds. I think this is true for interdisciplinary reading practices in diverse classroom settings and content areas as well.

For me, the above two points regarding confidence and connections speak to the teaching practice of building strong relationships. It is important to me to create a space of trust between myself as the teacher and each of my students. I am interested in continuing to explore how to build trusting relationships with students that support their success through best practices – practices that help students build the confidence to support themselves, and to ask for help as they do so.

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