Craft/write a written response to our assigned readings as if you are responding a parent or administrator. This will allow you to practice synthesizing your learning and articulating it to a variety of audiences. Your original post will:
- Be around 250 -350 words is the “sweet spot” for length–enough to engage, but not so long that it can’t be read quickly.
- Include references to a variety of readings and resources, rather than just about one reading. (e.g., class discussion, articles, etc.)
- Also include personal and professional connections.
Discussion Prompt:
You are interviewing for a primary (Kinder-2nd grade) position at a school district and you’ve made it through the preliminary screening. Now, you are preparing for your in person interview with human resources (HR). If you pass this interview, then you get to interview with campus principals that have openings. The head of HR gives you some questions to reflect upon before you meet together tomorrow. How would you respond to the following questions? *Please choose at least two of the following topics making at least 3 references to a combination of a) our course slides, b) readings, and c) class discussion. You can also include personal connections to make it relatable. *I put my resources and personal connections in bold so you could see me explicitly addressing them.
- How does fluency relate to comprehension? Give some examples of how you would build students’ fluency that leads to comprehension.
- What are the different types of comprehension and why does it matter? Describe a scenario of how you would help a student build their comprehension.
- How can you include language and literacy supports in your interactive read alouds? Give some examples. (Hint: Refer to our Teaching Strategies link.)
- How can you honor your students’ whole linguistic repertoire in an inclusive way that also builds “standardized English”?
Here is my example on another topic:
That’s a good question. One of the most helpful frameworks for me as a teacher has been thinking and planning with the gradual release of responsibility. As a new teacher, I thought the learning intention was pedantic; it was just something we had to do, but I didn’t really see how it was helpful. Then, as I continued in my first several years, it helped me to not over teach and focus my entire lesson on introducing one major standard. I also learned that when I am in a rush teaching or planning my teaching, I skip the modeling. In my teacher preparation classes I learned that when we’re in a hurry, we forget to model. In my later years in the classroom to meet everyone’s needs when it came to independent practice, I would ask students to reflect and let me know if they wanted to work by themselves, with a partner, or with me. This helped me to differentiate and give the “just right” level of support (not too much and not too little), so students could develop confidence to eventually work independently.
From these experiences, I’ve learned that people never outgrow the gradual release of responsibility–whether it is my students or other adults! I wish eduction systems gave more space for adults to receive this normal support; it’s just a natural part of learning. In relation to the textbook, I especially appreciated the quick tips it pointed out for modeling: focusing on naming it, explaining it, showing it, and pointing out errors. The article also mentioned examples across content areas to show us what it looked it. This is a super helpful mental checklist I can have as a teacher so I don’t “over teach”, which is my tendency.
My Post Highlights
- My post focuses on TWO of the questions.
