I've recently worked on the area in which I have felt most deficient - reading. I have always been a reader, and I never felt like I had to learn how to read; it seemed to develop naturally for me. I suppose it's a reverse of the old saying: those who can do, can't teach. I've felt like I've developed of my teaching skills, in regards to reading, mostly during the last couple of years. I know how odd that sounds.
This year, I have constructed some "universal" worksheets to help guide students to find such things as main idea, theme, and structure. These have been helpful especially because they can be used with any text. Done repeatedly, with varying texts, these sheets may also display a student's improvement.
But I do not like isolating skills.
It's not the way I "learned" to read.
I don't remember what Mrs. Williamson or Mrs. Young, my kindergarten and first grade teachers, did to teach the class how to read. At best, I remember them pointing to some words on a big piece of paper, something like "See Dick. See Dick run. Run, Dick, run." And fourth, fifth, and sixth grades happened to be the years I was turned off of reading: the push at that time (the 1970s) was to encourage speed reading. To this date I do not, will not, and cannot silently read faster than I read aloud.
Nor do I want to.
In short, I did not learn comprehension strategies. I was not encouraged to stop and ask myself for the author's purpose, inferences, and predictions. I did my share of book reports, but I relied on my natural abilities (and a bit of blowing smoke) to summarize the books and give my own recommendations. In retrospect, I probably learned more about plot, characterization, and point of view by writing (another subject that came to me naturally) than I ever did in reading.
As a result, it has taken this long to put together some of my own methods. That's OK. I actually prefer developing my own materials and methods. I guess I've never taken instruction from other sources; call it bullheaded or stubborn if you would like (You only have to look at previous generations in my family to see that it comes naturally.).
Now the challenge comes to develop some teaching skills in the area of Mathematics, as well.
I've not felt that I needed to develop those skills as much. I had my share of struggles in Math when I was in elementary school, and I feel like I actually experienced learning. I struggled against teachers, algorithms, and my parents. I couldn't stand my third grade teacher, but my fourth grade teacher pushed me until I succeeded. My fifth and sixth grade teachers had horrendous class management skills, and I was more interested in girls than in learning fractions.
I was able to get decent grades without really understanding the concepts.
It was in a college course called Math for Elementary Teachers that I finally understood fractions!
I think those growing pains helped me become a pretty good Math teacher. Those who can't do, teach, right?
But now I may have become stagnant (for lack of a better word). I've changed my teaching to accommodate someone else's pattern, and that's not what works for me. I've tried to break up Math skills to the point that I'm teaching them in such isolation that my students have trouble applying the strategies I've given them. Somewhere along the way, I deviated from the methods that work for me, and I need to return to my roots.
Recently, during my free time, I've done a bit of reading on my own in regards to a number of logical approaches, methods, and belief systems. Happily, I am finding that they often match my own way of thinking. Some of these include:
|
|
I'll continue to explore these and other educational topics as we move forward. Ultimately the goal is to be the best teacher I can be. Our school's target statement applies to students, teachers, parents, and community members:
who are compassionate, productive citizens.