Chapter 12: Moving the Field Forward as Leaders and Literacy Advocates (youtube)

I used PowerPoint, converted it, and uploaded it to YouTube.  The timings were set more appropriately but during the conversion, each slide was shortened in length significantly (most slides were set for 20 seconds in length in the original format).  Please pause at each slide to read through and then proceed through the video. 

Chapter 1: Examining the Historical Context for Teaching Reading

A poem

Reading,

A complex task,

A never ending debate,

Which is best?

What must go?

Early on,

Children of the elite,

Learned of the alphabet and sound-symbol relationships,

Read educational texts.

Tick tock, tick tock,

Time goes on,

And change again happens,

Analytic and synthetic phonics approaches came about,

But are they effective?

Tick tock, tick tock,

Time continues on,

Basal reading series,

Ability grouping,

Reading level grouping.

Do these truly work?

More holistic,

More integrated methods came about,

The years I was schooled,

Tick tock,

Again those methods have gone away.

Time continues ticking along,

Federally funded research is done,

National panel recommendations given,

Controversial,

Critically reviewed,

Needs more explicit teaching,

more of the big five.

Reading,

A complex task,

Integration of,

Thoughtful application of,

 many skills and strategies,

Must consider a variety of,

Social, political, cultural, and educational contexts.

Tick tock,

What's to come next?

Tick tock,

What's to come next?

Reflection:  I started kindergarten in 1983 and went to a small suburban school in western New York State.  Phonics were definitely stressed when I was learning to read.  I had excellent teachers who pushed me to excel, and reading seemed to come easy for me.  I was encouraged at home and at school.  I have many books, read every day, and was read to every night.  I also have two brothers.  One is just two years younger than me, and he struggled in school.  He struggled to learn to read and write.  He had the same teachers as I had.  That type of reading program simply did not work for him.  But it wasn't just him.  I know others struggled learning to read as well.  So I can understand the desire to try to find the best, research based methods to teach children how to read.  With education constantly changing, it is so vitally important for teachers to have professional development available to them.  This makes reading specialists and coaches even more valuable.  I know how hard it can be to adapt to and learn different things.  I lived in Alaska from 2006 to 2012.  2012 was the year I moved back to Florida.  Common core, what's that?  I was clueless.  So much had changed, and I was desperately trying to play catch up.  I don't think there will ever been only one right answer in regards to reading education.  I think it's one of those fields that will also be changing and evolving as people change and evolve as well.

Referencs
Vogt, M., & Shear, B. (2011). Reading specialists and reading coaches in the real world. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Chapter 7: Language and Literacy Development for English Learners

     English learners (ELs) need additional instruction and practice to develop oral fluency in addition to explicit reading instruction in the five core reading components.  It is important for teachers to carefully assess EL's literacy and language development and proficiency, ideally in both the L1 and English.  Conversational English is acquired prior to academic English.  Reading specialists and coaches need to help classroom teachers identify and explicitly teach academic language.  Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model was designed to develop English proficiency, academic language, and content knowledge simultaneously.  To enhance their teaching of all students, teachers must be sensitive and aware of their own and their students' cultural and linguistic backgrounds (Vogt & Shearer, 2011).
      My experiences with working with English learners is very limited.  In addition, I have not taken any ESOL  workshops or classes.  While all these ideas make perfect sense to me, providing the modifications seems overwhelming at the moment.  I would imagine many classroom teachers feel the same way, and that leads itself towards the importance of the reading coaches role in helping assist teachers to implement these modifications for ELs.  
     I took five years of French in middle school, high school, and college.  Having fluent (or at least semi fluent) conversations was always a struggle for me and others in my class.  I could not imagine the struggle to try to learn academic language in a school setting in which only French was spoken.
     I have had several friends over the years who are from very different cultural and linguistic backgrounds compared to myself (typical white, European American, English speaking).  One was from Peru; another from Germany; another from Russia; another from Ghana, and yet another from Ecuador.  Through our friendships, I can testify to the increased acceptance and appreciation I have gained by becoming good friends with them.  Simple conversations and comments they have made has lead me to believe that they realize I appreciate and honor their differences.  As people, we have more similarities than differences.  The differences can sometimes be what makes us feel distant from others around us.  A feeling of acceptance and knowing ones culture is honored goes a long way of breaking down any walls and barriers, both in the classroom and out.

References
Vogt, M. & Shearer, B. (2011). Reading Specialists and Reading Coaches in the Real World. Boston, MA: Pearson.