Oct 2 1999

So chapter 6 talks about individual assessment and planning. I walk by other teacher’s rooms and I see them sitting in the doorway of their classroom working on one student while watching the others. I see that and wonder if I could do that. With me I think that it would be easier to hold a certain number of students every day after school or before. I need to go over each on my students individually subject by subject to better understand where they are and what way might best speed them on their course towards development. Better yet I could go through with each student, their reading and writing inventory and other such assessments and then reflect on how best to elicit increased progression through the five frames of literacy.

 I know that I need to do it but it just seems like so overwhelming a task. I feel swamped, over my head and under the table at the same time. I shouldn’t complain really since probably every other teacher has at least as challenging a time of it as me.

 Sometimes what I do is try to anticipate where I’ll be in five weeks, five months or five years, and then use those solutions to better serve my goals.

 When I think about where I might be in five months, that is what ideas I might have for my present problems- I realize that many of the assessments which would give me insight to individual students could be derived by simple class projects wherein I make and take those mental notes talked about in an earlier chapter.

 I still need to plan more; it seems that the more I get to plan the better things go.

Justin Olmanson

One of my weaknesses is definitely assessment. I get so caught up in the development or discourse of the class either of that present day or the next day or week that I get home and it is already 8pm, I’m tired, I try to study a little bit and when I finally get around to assessing there is little energy with which to do it. So in-class assessment is the way to go.

 I have started journals.

 An aside, one thing that I have to work on is keeping the pace fast and meaningful when some of my students go to other classes. I have about 5 student who go to reading intervention. Tell me if this makes sense Everyday for two hours and fifteen minutes all students who failed the TAAS reading portion of the test gather in groups of 18-20 students for time with a reading intervention teacher. Quite often we are into math or science by the time they come back and thereby they miss some of our class instruction. But that is not the part with which I have the most problem.

 Most of the students who go to reading intervention are not the students who need the most help. By and large they have matured and are now ready for the rigors of third and then fourth grade. Meanwhile some of the children who struggle are not allowed entry. It’s as if they have to fail initially in order to get to the second reading help option.

 I could conceive of the possibility that some of those who were held back last year will plateau without the extra help. But is it extra help to be grouped together with all the other students who were held back for over 30% of the instructional day?

 I do my best to stay upbeat about the time they spend there, however some days I just want to keep them in the room and let then be part of my class, leaders even, as it is their second time with a good portion of the material.

 So that was about a one act aside

 I have been doing journal work in the classroom now for a little while. The problem that keeps coming up is that I want my kids to be in the classroom for ALL of my instruction and often have less enthusiasm for projects that move forward without the benefit of the entire class. I know that I should just go ahead and push forward. But I hate having them miss out on the journals. I’m thinking about how to set up the class so that they get double reading and MY writing as well as that of the reading intervention teacher.

Justin Olmanson

Oct 7 1999

I heard a third grader from another room talking about his class and school in general saying, school is not so good sometimes because they make you do things you can’t. 

 My own school experience was so different than his. I imagine that most teachers were fairly above average in school and consequently did well. In some ways it might be nice to have some teachers who struggled in early academia. Some times I forget that things don’t just come naturally to some students in some areas.

 I need to work on empathy and understanding. N is now going to reading intervention and a program called host. I need to set up a program that will allow me to work with him and perhaps two other students after school or before.  I have found a second grade book that N is interested in reading. Some would balk at the notion that the best way to guide him through the year is with an off level book. But that’s where Krashen comes in. Citing studies in which readers were given high interest books within their ability range regardless of age or grade level. What was shown was that their improvement increased at a rapid rate, probably due to the fact that as they found that they could negotiate meaning they discovered a newfound sense of accomplishment thus increased self-efficacy which lead to more book reading allowing the entire process to escalate.

 I’ve taken the second grade reading adoption basils and let him chose stories and units from a variety of stories and articles. I know when I plan sufficiently when I also set things up for N. actually I need to remember to use it as my self-assessment when it comes to planning.

Justin Olmanson

 Oct 10 1999

Reading the chapter. 8 assessment I just went over the phonemic awareness section. I have a student named M and he has much to learn in the area of phonemic awareness. He is a native Spanish speaker, his problems or areas for development permeate linguistic boundaries. My first focus is on Spanish. He interchanges b’s and p’s and v’s, occasionally d’s also. As most people who have worked with Spanish speakers know, there are serious initial difficulties with the v and b, knowing when to insert the h.

 I started using the phonemic awareness test with M but in the format of a game, though I am still not sure when I will schedule him in the tutoring rotation I know that he needs to enter it. I think that another option that I could use is peer tutoring / peer game playing.

 As for the book handling knowledge task assessment it seems that most of my students are past the information which is tested. Maybe I could gain further insight on N if I would administer the test to him. But then again, he would probably benefit from almost any form of assessment. That is not to say that I have even in small part given up on N. He will probably need two years to get ready for the fourth grade, but in order for that to occur he will need to gain about 1.7 years of instruction per year. This learner has a long way to go. I just hope that I can make it less harrowing, even enjoyable.

Justin Olmanson

 Oct 13 1999

 I brought J and G with me to the library after school during their tutoring time. I told them that it would function the same way that sustained silent reading does. They could get any book they wanted to, read English or Spanish, thick books or thin, read the entire book or simply the front cover or first page. Of course we went over the expectations that I had:

 ·         Everyone has one goal, to read whatever interests him or her.

·         Put books back where you found them so that others might predictably find them as well.

·         Be sure to pick books carefully, respecting the quiet reading environment of others.

·         After you read part of all of a book ask yourself if you understood the book enough to explain it to someone else.

 G went to a section that interested her, she started with a book in English. J followed her and picked a similar book, she brought it over to me and told me in Spanish that she couldn’t read English. I suggested she either pick an easier English book or pick one in Spanish. She bounced around the library as G and I read our books. She came back with a baby-sitter’s club book- I glanced up from my book to see her read the words on the front cover, showing the book to G at the same time. After about 30 seconds she came to me and showed me the book. I just kept reading and reminded her that she could read any book that she wanted to read. Once again she needed another three or four minutes to select a book, this time it seemed that she picked a book more on her level. I think that she read about two books in the 25 minutes we spent in the library. G on the other hand, read 5-7 books in both Spanish and English, of varied difficulty and topic.

 It seemed that J realizes that her reading level is not equal to most of her peers. Also she may be trying to hide it from the others by checking out books similar to theirs.

 In my opinion J needs a little help in locating interesting books and then given opportunity to speak intelligently to others on her grade level who read similar books either topically or cognitively.

Justin Olmanson

Oct 16 1999

 I don’t believe in spelling as a class except for its possibilities to further second language learning. As a child I was an exemplary student with spelling and handwriting woes. I think about certain teachers with whom I have worked and cringe to think of having to be subject to their unbending handwriting edicts.

 Other professors have had vendettas against poor spellers, as if somehow spelling acts as an indicator of intellectual prowess. I am most thankful for the way my instructors have in most part encouraged the abilities that they believe I posses, while evenhandedly encouraging my development in those areas which lag behind.  For myself, the computer has acted as a great equalizer in the area of legibility and spelling. I type almost everything I write, I also have spell check programs for English, Spanish and Norwegian.

 With my own students last year I accepted homework and class work in any state. What I received should have caused my gradual and permanent blindness. This year I know that I need to require each student to improve his or her legibility. Also they need to think about self-assessment in the areas of spelling / grammar and handwriting so as to edit it at least once before handing anything in.

 So when chapter 8 talks about diagnostic spelling tests my bias immediately emerges. I could see such a test as useful in the area of phonemic awareness, how ever I think I would use other means of accomplish those assessment goals.

Justin Olmanson

 Oct 19 1999

The names test seems to be a viable way to assess sound-symbol understanding. However it seems so arbitrary, give a list of names and look at how a student interprets them. Probably good for listening / phonemic links and understanding. I really like miscue analysis, but I understand that there are no catchall assessments.

 When it comes to the assessment of writing I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about how to keep it fresh for both students and myself. I need to find a rotation that allows for varied audience, genre and style that I can assess as we go. So far we begin the process with much excitement and anticipation (especially when I do a good job of modeling the result) and then begin only to stop 40 or 60 minutes later not yet finished.

 I wonder about the use of the writing vocabulary assessment. I wonder if asking students to write all the words they know thinking of my students- some will be mystified as to where to start, others will be deflated because of writer’s block. Maybe if one set it up as a competition or game at the writing station it could accomplish some modest goals. It would also be a decent beginning / middle / and end of year assessment.

 Spelling analysis once again gives me cause for caution. I could see it as an added assessment which could be used when assessing writing assignments or as part of a test battery when a certain student has mystified a teacher or group or teachers.

Justin Olmanson

Oct 22 1999

One of the main pushes in HISD is the teaching of main idea and summaries. It seems that the hardest thing for our students to grasp is the very core of reading comprehension. This possibility is more than just a little disconcerting.

 Retelling as an assessment and an instructional tool appears to be a very real answer to part of HISD’s main idea woes. Retelling first and foremost begins with reading and / or storytelling. This means that learners can also gain story convention exposure (among others types of exposure) simultaneously.

 I have used various activities similar to retelling throughout my short teaching career, however I must admit it was seldom a completely thought out process. We would read a book, I would ask questions about the gist and central ideas contained in the story.  Now I realize that there are a wealth of different ways one can set up a retelling instructional / assessment period. Using writing or pictorial retells, even acting it out. The most important part of the use of retelling in the literacy development curriculum is consistent but diversified use. Research shows that learners need exposure to strategies and methods for a period longer than a few weeks.

 The book Mosaic of Thought stresses the importance of prolonged periods of strategy teaching, modeling the habits of successful readers and encouraging text to self, text to world and text to text connections.

Justin Olmanson

Reading the section in ch. 8 in the Framing Literacy text on miscue analysis really got me thinking about how one could introduce it on the internet. Thinking about how such a page or site should be set up with the goal of increasing dialogue and understanding on the subject.

 What I want to do is secure a domain and web-space for teachers where they can come and gain and contribute knowledge and expertise on various aspects of teaching. For starters: bilingual education and reading assessment followed by some stuff on sequencing and mathematics, and TAAS teaching.

 What I want to do for miscue analysis includes setting up a taped reading, which will be uploaded to the web and accessible to the public in Realplayer format. Giving others the opportunity to look at the text and hear the reading and thus make their own assessment before seeing mine- (there could also be a discussion frame on the bottom or something where one could leave one’s own assessment or critique mine).

 Although I realize the danger of building barriers between new ideas and day to day teaching reality by seeing only the logistical / temporal obstacles, I cannot help but shout once again for more time to do all the things I need to do, also the group good vs. individual development dilemma.

Justin Olmanson

 Oct 29 1999

Reading the section on portfolio development (as reading the other sections) instill in me the need to accomplish more with portfolios than just grabbing a few leftover assignments and stuffing them into a folder with their respective names affixed.

 I need to think about portfolio development in which the students retain ownership over their work. What they work on, what they decide to revise, what they consider their best work i.e. what they consider adequate for publishing.

 I read and hear about other classrooms which use the writing workshop / portfolio and wish those benefits for my students. What has kept me from implementing it so far breaks down to four issues:

 ·         Planning time sufficient to get two or three weeks planned and modeled

·         The circumstance that takes four of my students away from me for 2hrs and 15 minutes per day

·         The use of Success For All (using up 90 minutes of my classroom time)

·         To a lesser extent concern over classroom management issues when dealing with a wide open work on what you want to approach-.

 The list of drawbacks is obviously outnumbered by the advantages of keeping portfolios in a writing workshop format. Good intentions need proper implementation. I need to work on implementation without selling my entire life over to the art of teaching.

Justin Olmanson