The technique I read about that I tried to use often in my 30-minute transition lesson was technique 48, Explain Everything. I can remember being in school and my teachers giving me short answers like "put your hand down", or "don't do that", which made me feel they didn't value what I had to say or that they didn't like me (I think 5 years olds feelings are very sensitive and they can pick up on negative energy). By explaining everything students learn what behavior is appropriate, what is not, and WHY. As Lemov says, "students understand the logic behind decision making and will be more likely to both believe that the systems are in their best interests and make rational choices on their own."
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Monday, October 18, 2010
Observing Running Records
This week I was given the opportunity to see my professor perform running records with some of her students. We haven't talked about them too much in our classes, so it was really nice to see how it is done (or have a refresher) because it is something that all teachers do. I saw this done last year in a first grade class, but I found it very interesting to see how it was done in Kindergarten when the majority of the class can read very few words. From what I could see at this point in the year, the teacher is really looking for the students' understanding of concept of word and the decoding skill of looking at the illustrations to help identify words. Mrs. Patterson explained that most of her students currently are at a level one, some are at the very beginning stage of level 2. By the end of kindergarten, all students are "supposed" to be reading at a level 3. What she told us next shocked me... at the beginning of first grade students are suppose to be reading at a level 8! So somehow between the end of one school year and the start of another, the students reading ability is suppose to rise by 5 levels. There seems to be a loop-hole here. Many of these kids regress during the summer too. I selected Kindergarten as my grade level for clinical practice in the Spring. Although I will be be other students, I feel it will be very useful to me to see what students start off knowing at the beginning of the school year and what they know by the end.
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Allison, I too would like to see how the students perform by using running records. Also, I can remember when my teachers would simply ask students to put their hands down without much explanation as to why. I too remember feeling as if the teacher did not like me when they said this abruptly. Lemov is correct when he says that teachers need to thoroughly explain reasons for and expectations of patterns of expected behavior within their classrooms.
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