Specialized Literacy Role

Currently, I am embarking on a captivating journey through the valley of literacy coaching. Before, enrolling in this program, I was apprehensive and unsure of how I would balance work, school, and home, but somehow I managed. I am roughly, two semesters away from my goal and anxiously awaiting everything to come in to fruition. Over the past two years, I have gained a great deal of knowledge and I have expanded my teacher tool-box. Focusing on adult learning, organizational change, professional development and school culture; I have learned the roles of a literacy coach and reading specialist and how they should contribute to schools.

In the primary grades, children should have a well-designed phonics program that promotes knowledge of letters, sounds, words, and phonological units (Dorn, Soffos. 2001. P. 21). The literacy coach should help the classroom teachers prepare for their literacy lessons by providing literary resources needed, modeling to show how certain components of the literacy block should look and making sure the teacher understands how to teach the skills they are working on at the time. For example, if a teacher is unsure how to effectively teach reading groups to beginner kindergarten readers, the literacy coach can model how to do so, provide the teacher with additional help and support, and even let the teacher observe other teachers teach. The literacy coach should also make sure the teachers have everything they need to assess students and that the teachers understand the importance of the assessments and how to get information from them to lead new

This is a very important component in education to be aware of and when you are a teacher. I interviewed a first-grade teacher at my local elementary school to gain more information about the processes that our local schools go through for professional training, interventions, and in the classroom to ensure that students are developing their abilities in reading. My main focus was on what our school’s process was, how support is given, professional training offered, and what more is needed to be done to increase success for students.

L. Ms. L told me that her job is to supports, supplements and extends classroom teaching, and works collaboratively with other teachers to implement a quality reading program that is research-based and meets the needs of students. She also performs assessment and diagnosis that is vital for developing, implementing, and evaluating the literacy program in general. She is instrumental assessing the reading strengths and needs of students and provide that information to classroom teachers, parents, and specialized personnel such as psychologists, special educators, or speech teachers, in order to provide an effective reading program. Ms. L also acts in the capacity of providing leadership as a resource

Creating and implementing effective lessons for a literacy learner who is struggling with reading and writing takes much effort and appropriate resources. Throughout the Literacy Development course, I have gained much insight and resources that have become valuable tools in addressing students’ literacy needs. Each week, I conducted lessons and activities that targeted the needs of many students, but my initial focus on was on one particular student. His individual reading level, spelling development, and writing abilities were analyzed and the recorded data was used

reading to children, the teaching assistant will be showing them how to read fluently and how their

As an early childhood educator, my mission is to encourage, inspire, support and motivate students while providing a fun, safe, and affectionate environment which builds friendships and lays the foundation for students to become life-long learners.

The Literacy Collaborative program strives to utilize purposeful, explicit, and guided instruction designed to ensure learner independence. The program provides opportunities for students to engage in authentic, collaborative, and holistic language acquisition through the use of high quality rigorous cross circular instruction. The program is structured within a framework that allows educators to create a dynamic learning environment that allows for flexible grouping, collaboration, and actively involving students in the learning process. Moreover, “teachers engage students in a selection of specified activities, including interactive read-aloud, shared-reading experiences, targeted vocabulary and phonics lessons, guided reading and writing

For the past five years, I’ve been lucky enough to be mentored by Dr. Loretta Harvey, who is the epitome of a student centered educator. When I was a sophmore in the education program, she alone noticed the trouble I had contacting my education advisor and vowed to keep me out of the proverbial “crack” I was about to slip into. Since that day, she has made it her mission to help me succeed. This is not a small accomplishment as I’m a soon to be language arts educator, and, being a science methods saint, she knows little about the content requirements. Most individuals in her position would have shrugged this responsibility. This only adds an underscore to her level of dedication as she’s had to expand her horizons and make connections with others on my behalf. As I write this letter, I’m weeks from my bachelors degree in English education; this would be a feat impossible without the continued guidance of Dr. Harvey.

Following by determining child’s strengths and weaknesses to work on an adequate instructional program, as well as finding reading topics of the student’s interest and resources to advocate the student’s learning

In reflecting on collecting information to create the graphic organizer the realization of the role or variety of roles of a reading specialist/literacy coach became very evident. There are descriptions or outline of the duties and responsibilities of what the position entails, but the responsibilities are constantly in flux and change. The one constant however while comparing and contrasting the classroom teacher and reading specialist/literacy coach or interventionist is their primary goal is to teach children how to read. While in the process of doing this the classroom teachers and reading specialist/literacy coaches share similar type of interactions with other teachers, administrators, parents, students and community but there are

Educating when all is said in done is an ethical endeavor. An educator's obligation is to improve the educational world of their students (Borah, 2012). One way this is conveyed is through teaching reading. Reading is one of the most important skills an individual can possess and requires many resources to promote success. Although an educator main goal is to provide reading excellence among their students, this cannot be completed without the assistance of a reading coach. A reading coach job is specialized in identifying reading challenges and aiding direction to classroom educators (IRA, 2000). Below I have created a graphic organizer that will compare and contrast the roles that a teacher and reading coach projects in implementing successful

In Skyline Elementary School, there are many individuals that are involved in implementing the reading program. Core instruction begins within the students’ classroom. Throughout the year, the principal observes the teacher’s techniques and style when implementing the school literacy program. Within the classroom, the teacher uses Basal reading programs. Basal is grade leveled textbooks that has an emphasis on phonemic awareness, decoding, and reading for understanding (comprehension). When intervention is needed, tier 2 is implemented. Together as a team, the classroom teacher, title teachers, principal, and literacy coach create a plan. The literacy coach meets with grade level teachers once a week and plan with teachers to help improve

At the Reading Partners organization has visualize that all children have the right gain of reading skills necessary to reach their potential needs. In addition, the mission is to help children constant reading skill by providing individuals with need help with. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses,

My philosophy of literacy is centered on providing a learning environment rich in authentic literature, instruction that is engaging, fun, and balanced, collaborative, and also involving families in the child’s education. My ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to help children become lifelong readers and writers by providing the skills necessary to comprehend, construct, and make meaning of text, speak, and write. (Torgesen, 2002). According to the National Reading Panel, there are five essential components that must be taught in effective reading programs: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (Reading Horizons). According to Konza (2014), reading instruction should be changed to six foundational reading elements, adding oral language and early literacy. I also believe that early literacy should be