At the beginning of the semester, I scored a 68 on the
DeFord TORP. That score placed me in a
Skills approach category. When I
completed the DeFord TORP again last night, my score rose from a 68 to a
106. It was nearly shocking to me to see
that my ideas had changed in less than six weeks. A score of 106 is still within the Skills
approach category. However, it is four
points away from coming closer to a Whole Language approach. These scores make complete sense to me, especially
after admitting that I have not much confidence of experience knowing the rules
of or how to teach phonics. The fact
that my scores did not place me in the Phonics approach was not surprising at
all. But, what does my rise in score
mean to me?
Obviously,
my thinking has changed. In my first
Personal Reading Theory assignment, I spoke of not knowing one specific way to
teach literacy that guaranteed student proficiency. I mentioned a small introduction of reading
skills during my methods courses. Last, I
communicated that from my experience, I believed children learn to read and write
by communicating with others. I still
agree with those beliefs now, but my theory has expanded into a much broader
perspective.
How do
children learn to read? Children learn
to read by communicating verbally with others around them. The build schema through their experiences
and rely on those schema when interpreting words or texts. They are introduced to several literacy
approaches throughout education, and those depend on the type of setting they
are in. Some teachers value a skills,
phonics, or whole language approach.
Many pre-service educators (like me) have been instructed in a skills
approach manner, learning to work with the smallest piece of language and
working upward. From class this
semester, I gathered throughout the Weaver (2002) text that a skills approach
is not as beneficial as a comprehensive literacy approach. I can adamantly say that many educators do
use strategies from a comprehensive literacy program such as reading or writing
workshop or guided reading. However, a
comprehensive literacy program entails so much more than just those methods,
especially an excellent foundation in understanding what is best for one’s
class in terms of whole group, small group, or individual instruction.
What are effective ways to teach
reading? I value Harste’s (2003) theory of inquiry learning as well as
Shannahan’s (1997) idea of integrating reading and writing throughout the
curriculum. I really appreciate Weaver’s
(2002) strategies such as the developing a Reader Profile (p. 185), conducting
a Retrospective Miscue Analysis (p. 221), designing a Comprehensive Literacy
Program (p. 276) , and Phonics instruction strategies (p. 325). Among all of these practices, the CLP is the
most important to me. In addition, I
believe in building rapport and trust with my students, especially students from
diverse cultures.
As I was reading Chapter 14, I
realized how much I do not know about shared reading. I thought all of Mr. Peters’ ideas were
fantastic. I loved his ideas of working
with one text for several days using several engaging activities. He also incorporated phonics instruction into
his lessons in a systematic fashion.
Unfortunately, after I finished the chapter, I felt a little
uncomfortable. I have used some
strategies of a CLP in my last few years of teaching, but not to the degree
that Weaver suggests. I feel that
reflects poorly on me even though this is a learning process. I am also vexed over learning about and
embracing the idea of a CLP’s components to then enter an environment in which
I may not be able to practice those methods.
This could occur in any public school system under any bureaucratic
principal. My experience with Montessori
classrooms is increasing, and I do believe there are whole language elements
embedded, particularly using constructivist approaches. Honestly, I feel that my theory may differ
from my practices depending on the context, which is something I have had to
get used to since I began teaching in the first place.
Nevertheless, I have confidence in
my organizational and philosophical beliefs and practices, even when I am not
in a classroom setting. These beliefs
are a great place to start as transitioning educator and parent. In terms of transitioning as an educator, I
want to be reflective on my practices and develop convictions based on my
beliefs, practices, and research-based strategies. As a parent, I work with my daughter every
day as she develops her literacy skills.
She interacts with technology, a variety of literature, and workbooks to
strengthen her growing foundation. I
look forward to learning more about myself and literacy practices in the field
of education as I move forward in my career and professional development.
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