Response Reflection: Engaging Struggling Students

Frymier, A. B., & Houser, M. L. (2000). The teacher student relationship as an interpersonal

The second learning outcome is General Outcome 2, “Comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print and other media texts” (Alberta Education, 2000, p.16). The educational assistant was successful in developing this learning outcome by having the students re-read and pre-read chapters together. Repetition helps improve speed, memory, confidence and understanding. The students are spending a lot of time sharing ideas, discussing, exploring and explaining their understanding with each

When students learn about subjects they are familiar with, it allows the content area being taught to become meaningful. As mentioned in Chapter 6, on page 149, motivation to read can come because they are interested in the content. When students are interested in the content they are reading, their needs are being met, and they will be well prepared for a successful literacy experience.

Motivation will be key for my literacy program. I know that if the students are highly motivated then they will learn more readily. I will build motivation in my classroom by having a positive, warm learning environment. I will have a variety of literature of different genres and of different levels within my classroom. I will also have a variety of areas and centers for the students to participate in.

Shared book reading focuses on developing comprehension, alphabetics, and general reading achievement to enhance student literacy achievement. The teacher selects a text and reads it aloud to a student and/or group of students. The shared book reading program allows the teacher to model reading strategies, increase alphabetic skills, and activate and increase comprehension skills through targeted questions, prompts, and strategies. During the reading the teacher prompts students with strategic prompts and/or questions to engage the students in the text. Moreover, the teacher directs the students to key elements within the pictures, words, and/or text features. The teacher tailors the shared reading experience to meet the needs of the participants (International Reading Association Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Committee, 2012). Hence, educators are able to alter prompts, questions, and strategies to enhance the learning needs of

A focus on relationships. This includes relationships with students, relationships with parents, relationships with other teachers, relationships between students, relationships between content areas, and so on. Building excellent relationships with other individuals, especially students, is vital to being an excellent teacher, no matter the grade level or content area.

To assist students to “read with purpose and anticipation,” Vacca et al. (2014, p. 173) suggests, in their book Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum, that teachers need to “create an instructional context” that activates their students’ “prior knowledge” and helps them to become interested in a lesson. Throughout chapter six, “Activating Prior Knowledge and Interest,” Vacca et al. (2014, pp. 172-173) explain instructional strategies that can lead students to “read with purpose and anticipation.” This chapter presents the reader with a plethora of instructional strategies and means for applying them, along with example for real educators. As I journeyed through this chapter, I discovered many instructional strategies,

From the perspective of students, positive student/teacher relationships are important in their schooling (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 29). These relationships are important because it gives students more motivation to come to school and to try harder in class (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 33). Some example of positive student/teacher relationship includes extra help, encouragement, motivation, learning their identity, how to form and maintain professional relationships, and develop socio-emotional skills (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 2013). Not only do students do well when they have positive relationships, teachers also benefit from them as they are satisfied when students put effort into their work (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 35). It is cited that a lack of connection to caring adults in school is a variable of alienation, failure, and dropout (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 17).

When teaching any grade, it is imperative to know the students you are teaching and where they came from. What I enjoy most about teaching is finding out what motivates my students to learn; I find that once a student is motivated to learn, there is no stopping them. When teaching literacy to Spanish-speaking students, motivation plays a key factor to their academic success. As literacy specialists, we need to understand how important a student’s motivation can affect his or her learning capabilities.

In the past, knowing that motivation was one of the primary concerns for teachers when teaching them to read (Veenamn, 1984) but today it deals more with finding a way to interest students in reading (O’Flahavan, Gambrell, Guthrie, Stahl, & Alvermann, 1992), Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzoni developed a tool to assess student motivation in reading. The Motivation to Read Profile includes a reading survey and a conversational interview. The survey gathers information on reading motivation as it relates to self-concept as a reader and the value of reading. The interview gathers information on books students find most interesting, favorite authors, and where and how students find books. After administering the survey and interview, teachers

In addition, Harrison and Sellwood (2016) identify intensive instruction with shared book readings. This would include making the text relevant, breaking it down into its components, and eventually using it as a basis for writing new stories. In regard to relevance, shared book reading is similar to oral cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

For this assignment, I chose the article Motivating Students to Read in the Content Classroom: Six Evidence-Based Principles by William Brozo and Sutton Flynt. This article first talks about how a survey of motivation to read showed a large majority of fourth graders say reading was not their favorite activity and they did not like to read frequently. The authors proposed six ways to get children more involved in reading, starting with elevating their self-efficiency. Students who possess high, school-related self-efficiency outperform their less-engaged peers. Teachers can create conditions for students that are associated with increased perceptions of competence and the student will consequently sustain an effort to be successful. The next point made in this article is to engage interest in new learning. Basically this means to generate interest in new content, making students more likely to put forth necessary efforts to read and learn the new material. “This realization should lead teachers to incorporate a variety of instructional practices that embrace multiple forms of literacy, multiple sources of information, and student choice

Graves, M. F., Juel, C., & Graves, B. B. (2011). Teaching Reading in the 21st Century. Motivating All Learners (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

In recalling my favorite teacher, I have questioned many times what it is that I remember about this person the most. In my case, it was that this teacher showed a genuine interest, in my work, in my interests and in my being. As Danielson (2007:28), illustrates, it is only when students remember their teacher’s years later, that ‘students find themselves recalling the warmth and care their favorite teachers demonstrated, their high expectations for achievement, and their commitment to students’. Arguably, the exclusive teacher-student relationship is constructed on the central human need of knowing another person cares, which lay at the heart of student’s development and learning. (QUOTE). While I did not recognize the significance of building relationships with students until, almost two years into my role as a voluntary teaching assistant. I now consider the most essential role that educational practitioners can ensure, is to develop relationships with their students. My understanding is confirmed by Noddings (2005:17) who states ‘caring is a way of being in relation’. Suggesting that perhaps it is not what you teach these students, but rather, whether or not you let them know you care.

Ripp points out in this article is the importance of keeping the students interested and engaged in books. For any number of reasons, such as trying to fit in or juggling priorities in general, students often completely give up on reading for enjoyment, and, as Mrs. Ripp mentions, “There is no year that we cannot lose a reader.” In essence, the point she is trying to get across is that students of any age are prone to developing a negative attitude or outlook towards reading. For some students, this might come as a result of being a struggling reader, while for others it may be as simple as not knowing how or what to read for pleasure. Where these issues are concerned, Mrs. Ripp has taken it upon herself to instill a new – or renewed – love and passion for diving into a good