You will reading this blog after we have spent all day Saturday together. Beginning this week, you will be responding to my blog before you read the chapters for the week. I'll try to target some key vocabulary that you need to pay attention to as well as to help focus your reading and your own blog discussions. Some weeks I'll also tell you how to jigsaw read the readings for the week (on weeks that there is lots to read).
Since we have just finished a face to face class, I'd like for you to reflect on what we did in class. What are your key take-aways from class? why are they important to you? What are you hoping to learn about comprehensive reading literacy programs?
As you read, make connections to your own school and the comprehensive literacy program there. You will be finding out about what needs the the teachers in your school have to make changes in the literacy program through professional development. Think about these terms and what they might mean for you as a literacy leader: standards, curriculum, teacher beliefs, teacher knowledge, change, CBAM, stages of concern, assessment. Think about these questions as possible starters for your blog posts and discussions: B8 has guidelines for choosing a core reading program. Compare those guidelines to what you remember happening in your district the last time you adopted a core reading program. How did that affect your comprehensive literacy program? How does assessment fit in a comprehensive reading program? in WSQ on page 162, respond to #3 in the reflection questions. Choose one of the "Think about This" questions in the Bean chapters to discuss.
Remember to let me know if you want me to address something in your blog. I"ll be reading twice a week, and will make a few comments.
Have a good week, stay healthy!
My key take-aways from class were the top five important qualities of a literacy leader, how my fellow classmates are leaders in their school, and going over parts of the syllabus. The five qualities are important to me because there are qualities I need to work on or gain to become a better literacy leader. I can use them to improve myself! Seeing my classmates as literacy leaders is important because not only do I get to know a different side of them, I get some ideas on how to be a leader in my school. Going over the syllabus was of course important. Hearing certain parts of the syllabus I was confused about explained helped clear some things up and made some projects seem less daunting. I'm hoping to learn how comprehensive reading literacy programs can best help students. This includes the program having the best assessments, books, and activities.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I was unable to make it to class I am so glad I was able to Skype in so I did not completely miss it and still got t be involved. Thanks again Dr. Beach for being so accommodating!
ReplyDeleteOne of my key take-aways from class is that whether they realize it or not, all teachers are literacy leaders. There are many in our class who before stated that they did not see themselves as literacy leaders, including myself. After viewing everyone's Self as a Literacy Leader posters, it was clear that all of us are. There were many things that others included in their posters that I realized I should have included on mine as well. I am much more of a literacy leader already than I originally thought. This is important to me as it makes me feel more confident. I am not attempting to become a literacy leader, I am attempting to improve the literacy leader I already am.
Another key take-away was a realization of the amount of work that goes into the planning of professional development. I don't think I realized how much is actually involved in the process. I am glad that we are starting with a needs assessment, it will be very interesting to see what other teachers in my school feel they need in professional development as compared to the types of professional development we currently receive.
I am hoping to learn about the decision making processes involved in designing a comprehensive literacy programs. I have helped select reading curriculum before, but I want to know more.
My key take-aways from class yesterday are as follows: First from the personal digital poster. We share many of the same qualities that an effective literacy leader is responsible for having. Whether a person has just begun the Master’s program or is near the end and whether a person is in the classroom or not, teachers have many of the qualities already developed for a leadership position because of the tasks they perform daily. Another take away for me was when Bean talks about shared leadership with everyone working together for a common goal. Our peer learning groups is an example of shared leadership in which we each get to take turns with the responsibility of being the blog leader. I appreciate the opportunity to put into practice what I have read about. The creation of my own learning plan has,so far, been a difficult task for me. Having to sit down and determine what are my attainable goals and the action steps I need to achieve them is something I have not put much thought into besides my overall goal of graduating with my Master’s in Reading. I need to sit down and determine the action steps I need to take to get to that point and also think about the other areas in my life that I need to work on such as active listening and self-reflection. I appreciate Dr. Beach saying that at the end of each year, to go and reevaluate the personal learning plan and adjust where needed – this way I won’t look at the plan as I failed at meeting a goal but I need to refocus or readjust how to reach it. Lastly, I am excited to see the results of my school’s survey of our comprehensive literacy program. I know there are many literacy areas we need improvement in. Through the survey I hope to be able to identify some key areas and provide assistance in helping those areas become successful. At the same time working to improve my communication, active listening and effective literacy leadership skills!
ReplyDeleteOne important take-away for me from Saturday is that all of us in the class, and most of the teachers we work with, are already literacy leaders in our buildings. We are already collaborating with colleagues, effectively working with students, and influencing the literacy climate of our building. Through this class, I think we will refine our leadership abilities to become even better leaders in our teams, schools, and districts. Another takeaway I had from class was thinking and negotiating the characteristics of effective literacy leaders. It was important to me to reflect on which of those qualities I already possess and which ones I need to improve upon. I enjoyed having the time to work on our personal learning plan and be self-reflective.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was ready about the comprehensive reading/literacy program in Ch. 8 in Bean’s book, I was extremely overwhelmed! The task of evaluating my school’s reading program and enact change through meaningful professional development seemed daunting. But after working on the initial survey and brainstorming the elements of a comprehensive reading program was a class, I feel more confident. One thing I would like to learn about comprehensive literacy programs is how to implement it in an upper elementary and middle school setting where most teachers are departmentalized, where getting content-area teachers on board may be difficult.
I had several big take-aways from class yesterday. First of all I was really impressed with everyone's literacy posters and the which in which everyone is already a literacy leader in their respective jobs. It was also a great representation of how there are many different ways to be a literacy leader! Additionally, I appreciated the support I felt from my classmates after my presentation. I also feel like I gained a lot from discussing as a class what we thought the 5 main characteristics of being a literacy leader were. It was interesting to hear everyone's different opinions, but also to know that we all pretty much agreed in the end. It helped me better identify which of these characteristics I already possessed versus which ones I still needed some work on. Beginning to work on our personal learning plans was also eye opening for me. It really got me thinking about what I really wanted-a few goals came to me instantly, but I can tell I'm really going to have to put some thought into this assignment.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to learn more in general about comprehensive literacy programs since I do not have quite as much knowledge in this area. Going over it yesterday in class helped, but I would especially like to know more about the assessment and parent involvement portions of a comprehension literacy program.
I am signed into my boyfriends google account which is why my comment above is listed as "Unknown," but this is Melinda :)
ReplyDeleteYesterday I left class feeling accomplished and with good sense of direction. I enjoyed working as a team on the School Needs Survey and I appreciate the fact that I can now use Google Forms. We were able to divide and conquer, thus the task was less daunting than I expected it to be.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed learning about each classmate through our Literacy Leader posters and how we are quite alike. Listening
to everyone made me self-reflect on how I need to improve my poster.
At my school, we are discussing adopting a new reading and math program this year. Math will happen for sure, but reading is up in the air. Learning what my other teachers are doing and how they use what we currently have (Storytown, 2008) will help me and could potentially help my school. That idea excites me. Being able to put my knowlege into practice is a good feeling.
One key take away for me in regards to comprehensive reading literacy programs is that there seems to be a lot of components that work together in order to make the program effective as a while. I’m looking forward to learning how I can positively impact a comprehensive reading literacy program and what my role will look like in this as a future reading specialist. Another key take away was learning about all the different platforms that people used to create their posters. I am excited to try some of these out with my students. I also liked how we all worked together to make the survey. Everyone had a role in completing the survey and I felt as if all of our suggestions and input made the survey much more wholesome and better than it would have been had we just made one on our own!
ReplyDeleteOne key take away from class was the diversity of backgrounds we all have but yet, we still have so many shared characteristics and beliefs. Our self reflective posters were incredibly inspiring to know I am surrounded by so many dedicated teachers and leaders. I also really appreciated the divide and conquer situation we had set up to tackle the needs assessment survey. That task sounded so daunting and intimidating but it became manageable and accomplished. I also got to learn a little bit about how to use google forms. Finally, I have a lot that I need to think about when it comes to my personal learning plan. I have goals and ideas and know the general steps that I need to take in order to reach them. I will definitely really need to decide which goals are most important and attainable and really put a lot of thought into what I will actually do to see them through. I appreciated the atmosphere of class and the scaffolding that was put in place to make sure I got started in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI am very grateful that our 6-hour Saturday afternoon class was very interactive and kept me engaged the entire time. It was very inspiring seeing everyone's interactive posters. I learned a lot about my colleagues and am so honored to be surrounded my such motivated and aspiring leaders. Seeing different programs and websites that can be used for presenting interactive presentations was also nice. I definitely want to utilize some of them in my work and classroom sometime.
ReplyDeleteReflecting on the class, I have a more defined understanding of the potential responsibilities a reading specialist. Developing a literacy plan is very intimidating, but I am very excited to approach this assignment. It's nothing that I have ever come close to doing, but just thinking about all of the content that I could include into the program makes me very excited and eager to create it.
I really enjoyed collaborating altogether as a class to accomplish the tasks for the day. As we shared and discussed our ideas of an effective literacy leader and the qualities one should possess, the necessary components of an effective literacy plan, and creating a survey to distribute to our schools, we collaborated and demonstrated the recurring quality of an effective literacy leader. It just goes to show how important and effective collaboration is.
My appologies guys! I have no idea what happened to my post from yesterday but I don’t see it so if I post the same thing twice, please just ignore me...
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful for our face to meeting. I felt much more confident in beginning this see myself as a literacy leader after hearing and seeing all of the hard work and dedication instilled in the other ladies in class. I was amazed by the diversity in our classes. I really appreciated hearing about the various schools, students, and experiences each teacher is provided. More, I’m greatful to be with fellow educators who know the struggle a life in public education can provide, yet are dedicated to growing in the profession for their students.
Another huge benefit of our face to face meeting was working on our google form collaboratively. After Saturday, it is no secret to any of you that technology is one of my life’s biggest struggles. Lol. Now, I feel really confident that I could create and use the google forms effectively in various situations! I’m excited to take my new knowledge and share it with all my colleagues.
I am so sad that I missed Saturday's class. From reading all of your responses, it sounded so informative and helpful. I look forward to meeting again with all of you soon. I look forward to working collaboratively with all of you on future projects, and having the opportunity to grow through sharing ideas with you! I know that all of you have great ideas and are more than willing to share them, which I am very grateful for.
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