Intellectual Autobiography

What do you believe about learning to Read and Write?

What do I believe about learning to read and write?

After two years of teaching upper-level elementary students I have several overall believes about how students learn to read and write, and why some students struggle to learn while others seem to follow our grade level expectations. My four main beliefs are:

1. All students can learn how to read and write, but different paces.

2. Students who are encouraged and exposed to reading and writing at an early age will find it easier to succeed when they enter school.

3. It is imperative that students associate reading and writing with positive feelings.

4. I believe a systematic phonics approach along with comprehension instruction is ideal when teaching children to read.

What influenced my beliefs?

My first belief is that all students can learn how to read and write, but not at the same pace. My college experiences opened my eyes to the fact that in classrooms the children read successfully at many different levels. I can remember two students who really stuck out as below grade level readers. The girls struggled to finish assignments that a teacher gave in Science and Social Studies. These students could read, but not on grade level. I felt like they were being blamed for their lack of reading ability. If they could not read something, they were scolded. During the classes silent reading time I decided to read with them. I found that both girls really liked to read and when they were successful. They also enjoyed reading together, and they could not wait to tell me what they had read the night before. The books we read were at a third grade level, and at that level, they could read. At that point, I knew they would improve if they were able to read on their level for a while. However, since I was a college student I did not have much control over instruction and the only level appropriate work they received was during silent reading.

My first year of teaching I taught fourth grade, and if there was one subject I was not comfortable teaching it was reading. (This was the reason I chose to get my Masters in Reading.) I was unsure about my teaching so I followed the basal text most of the year. Occasionally I would organize a novel unit. However, I forgot the need to diversify the level of reading materials for my students. However, another experience opened my eyes and solidified my belief that all students can learn when given the chance to learn at their own pace.

Last Spring I took a Reading Assessment course. The first big assignment we had was to assess a student in our class using and IRI. I tested one of my struggling students. On the oral reading section, she read the first passage (Primer) acceptably. After that passage, her mistakes were frequent and she stumbled through the reading. This was a passage on first grade level. Halfway through the second grade passage she began to cry. She was frustrated and embarrassed. Again, the thoughts of the two girls came back to me and I felt ashamed of my previous years teaching. My belief in the need for students to be instructed at their pace and level was still not solidified. However, as the semester progressed it became clearer that if a student was reading material that was above their level they would never learn to read and would never learn to enjoy reading.

The second belief about reading was influenced by the interactions I had with my students and my students’ parents over the last two years. At the beginning of each year, it became clear after the second week of school who needed more support from both the parent(s) and me. After identifying these students, I would ask to have a parent conference. In almost every case, the students who were having the most trouble in school academically were the students who had the least support from their parents. These parents would not come in for parent conferences, rarely sent notes back signed, and usually were not fond of school when they attended. I began to ask the students about how their parent or parents helped them with their homework. The students said they did not. I asked if they had chances to read at home or go to the library. Several responses were similar; they did not have any quiet time to read or they did not like to read. It became obvious that students were not encouraged to read were facing an uphill battle when they entered school.

My second year of teaching I taught fifth grade Writing. At the beginning of the year, I had 40 out of 82 students who failed the fourth grade writing test. By the end of the year, every one of the 82 students not only made progress in their writing ability, but also passed the fifth grade local writing test. Looking back on the year there was one major theme to my class: writing does not have to be perfect. I spent the first quarter letting students write without editing or revision. I took my time to model writing for the students and show them that even I make mistakes. Most of the students who struggled thought that writing was more about grammar and spelling than expressing ideas. Letting my students express their ideas was refreshing to them. They stopped fearing spelling or grammar mistakes and they began to feel good about their writing. The fact that writing was now something they enjoyed changed everything. The students who came in as good writers began to explore new ways to improve their writing and the students who came in with poorer writing skills were now ready to learn about writing. It became something they took pride in and decided that they wanted to improve. In my experience, the same applies to reading. If a student does not enjoy or find a purpose for reading, they will not progress. Students who enjoy reading and writing will read and write. It does not matter if they passed or failed the EOG test the previous year, if they enjoy reading and writing, they will make progress. On the other hand, if they hate to read or write and they think they are terrible at one or both, they will fight instruction on either subject. I always think back to my roller skating days. The first time I tried to skate I fell. Then I broke my wrist. After those two failures, I was not interested in or motivated to learn how to skate better, so I stopped skating. I feel the same happens with students who struggle to read. If a student has been frustrated and failed at reading, it takes someone who will ensure they can succeed to get the motivated to try reading again.

The Reading Assessment class I took last spring influenced another belief I have about learning to read. The main reason I came to this belief so late in life is that I had never been introduced to phonics. I learned to read using whole word memorization, and in my Undergraduate program, there was only a one-day discussion on phonics. In Dr. Morris’s class, I realized phonics is essential to success in reading and writing. Learning to read is based on learning to put sounds, words, and meanings together. Systematic phonics instruction gives students the foundational blocks for learning how to read. They can put the information from their phonics lessons together to figure out how to say the words in their reading. Of course, that is only half of what they need to succeed at in Reading. Along with teaching phonics, I also believe reading program should incorporate comprehension instruction so that students understand the words they have read.

How do my beliefs affect my teaching?

This year I am teaching fifth grade Writing and Math. These four beliefs guide my teaching everyday. As I continue to grow as a teacher, I find that my patience for students’ different learning paces has increased. I have several students in my classes this year who struggle. At times, they ask the same questions repeatedly, they need the same types of examples several times, and they take twice as long to figure out problems or write a paper, but now I know this is not a reflection on the effort they are putting forth nor is it a way to aggravate me as a teacher. Through my experiences, I know I need to take more time with them, but with my extra time and patience will be rewarded with the look on his/her face when they finally understand.

My belief that students need to have positive feelings about Reading and Writing guides the words that I say in my classroom. I have learned to praise students for every little success. I have found that with each piece of praise the student is motivated to show just how much more they are able to learn.

Finally, now I find materials on the lesson I am teaching on different levels. I try to meet students where they are and then move them up. Since I do not directly teach reading this year, I have made an effort to look for students who need help with reading. I will begin to meet with them in October after school. My focus is finding material for them to read on their level. My hope is they will feel successful while we are reading after school, and that feeling of success will get them through the frustration they feel when they are reading fifth grade material in the Reading class.