Hittin' the Wall

Day 18 of NaBloPoMo.

I don't know what to write.  There.  I said it. I didn't want to say it, but I did.

In lieu of actual content, I will tell you about this cool software application I found.  It is called Live Ink.  It is designed to increase reading rate and comprehension and ease eye strain for online reading.

It is pretty cool.  It cascades text according to meaningful phrases and in a pattern that is easier on the eye.

Look at this:

Kind of cool, isn't it?  You just click on the arrow to read the next page.  It does feel surprisingly comfortable on the eye.  You just open the reader, highlight the text you want, click on the parse-y thing, and there you go.

I downloaded a 30 day trial and have been using it. It really is easier to read online text. The best part? I decided to use it with Marley as a fluency exercise. Fluency is essentially 1) accuracy in decoding; 2) automatic processing; and 3) expression during reading.  Fluent readers are more likely to be good comprehenders.  

Anyway... Marley's teacher has been working with her on her fluency.  I downloaded the Live Ink reader with some grade appropriate text from the Time for Kids website.  I asked Marley to read some of the text without Live Ink.  It sounded like her usual oral reading.  I had her read more of the text on the Live Ink reader.  There was a distinct difference in her pace and expression.  I think it might be good practice for her, similar to another fluency exercise called Fry's Phrases. Having students read these phrases, not sentences, has been shown to improve their fluency.

Um... so now you know about Live Ink.  I am considering paying for a subscription, which isn't inexpensive.  However, I think I'd like to have it available for Marley and myself (eye strain relief sounds great to me) and I bet it would come in handy for all the tutoring I will be doing next semester at the community college level.

So, there is my product placement, reading lesson.  I hope to have a more interesting post for you tomorrow. Although when I think about it, my paper is due at midnight.  You might be getting my plan for a college reading and learning program!

18 down, 12 to go 

Theory to Practice

This semester I am taking a class called The Diagnostic-Prescriptive Model of Teaching Reading. Its premise is that the appropriate assessment of students with reading difficulties (diagnostics) can then allow the teacher to address reading problems more precisely (prescription).

The class is a lot of work. At the beginning of the semester, I was assigned a student. Each week I spend time administering assessments and tutoring her in areas of word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, etc. I then spend two to three hours in lecture and discussion. During the week, there are chapters to read, lessons to prepare, and theory to practice cards to write.

Theory to practice. This is a difficulty for me. Not the actual theory to practice cards. Those are really still theoretical in nature. Pick a topic (sight words, meaning vocabulary, etc.), write down the research and some practical classroom applications for both large and small groups.

No, it is the actual theory to practice that is distressing me. Each week as I prepare my lesson plan, I worry and fret over the choices I am making. Will this work? Will that work? Am I helping her? Almost every week in my reflection journal (oh yeah, more work), I express my lack of confidence.

Ironically, as I have been reading my chapters today, I was comforted by the text itself. There were two main ideas which helped. One directed at students and one directed at teachers. First, there was the idea that self-concept (the educational term for what most of us would call self-esteem) is not improved through praise but through self-efficacy. As students have success and make progress, their self-concept increases, which in turn increases their motivation, and so on and so on. I think it is good that I am concerned about my ability to tutor a struggling reader. I have no practical experience to this point. I am going to make mistakes. It is supposed to be difficult. Yet, as I get feedback from my instructor, make mistakes, have successes, I will get better at it and feel better about how I am doing.  It's why I am in school... to learn something.

Next, there were these words written to the reader:

Academic courses and texts can merely set one on the path to professional competence. Becoming a "strategic teacher" is a lifelong developmental process. in time, veteran teachers reflect wisdom as well as academic knowledge in their instructional and management decisions. (Manzo, Manzo & Albee)

It is helpful for me to be reminded that what I am trying to do is difficult, is worth doing well, and that it does not happen overnight. And if they are writing this in the textbook, I am obviously not the sole student who needs to know this.  I know more and can do more now than I could at the beginning of the semester. In five years, I will know more and be able to do more as an instructor than I can do now.  

The problem I often have in life is the same as I am having in this class.  Theory to practice.  I can analyze life, the universe and everything, but living it and experiencing it is another matter.  I may not always feel good about myself, but as I take risks and challenge myself, I feel better.  And, hopefully, my learning how to live well will be a lifelong process.  A process in which, with time, I will gain the experience to make wise and knowledgeable decisions.

With time and effort.

~~~~~ooOoo~~~~~

Today is November 1st--the first day of National Blog Posting Month (one post per day, each day in November).  I participated a couple of years ago.  It was very challenging and I stressed myself out, but I also tried some creative writing that I never would have tried if it weren't for the pressue of writing something every day.  I skipped last year because of school.  On an impulse... and I mean an impulse I had one hour ago, I decided to participate this year.  Maybe I'm crazy.  Maybe I'm not.  Either way, I have...

1 down, 29 to go

 

Chatting About Books: A LUE PSA

As with most fields, reading educators have professional organizations. With my plan to focus on postsecondary reading, I have joined the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) and the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). I've also joined the International Reading Association (IRA). The IRA publishes several reading journals, hosts conferences each year and publishes Reading Today six times a year with news for reading professionals.

In my most recent copy of Reading Today, there was a piece about Chatting About Books, a free podcast which reviews the best children's literature and includes discussion with parents and children, as well as reading experts. I went to ReadWriteThink.org** to check out these podcasts hosted by Emily Manning. Although the entire website is geared toward teachers and other educators, I think parents will find them a great resource for finding new books and hearing ideas about how best to engage your children in reading. The podcasts focus on grades K through 5 and are thematic. Each is approximately 15 minutes long. You can subscribe to them using an RSS feed or iTunes (Just go to the iTunes store on your computer and type in "Chatting about Books" and you can hit subscribe). There are also notes for each episode on the website.

I listened to the poetry episode and loved it. In this particular episode, the guest was Sylvia Vardell, a professor at Texas Woman's University. She has authored POETRY ALOUD HERE, POETRY PEOPLE, and CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN ACTION. She also has her own blog, Poetry for Children.

The Chatting About Books podcasts are located in the Beyond the Classroom section of ReadWriteThink.org under podcasts. Also located on the Beyond the Classroom section of the website is Text Messages, podcasts geared toward reading recommendations for teens.

**ReadWriteThink.org is maintained by the IRA and NCTE (the National Council of Teachers of English). It is a non-profit site designed to provide access to the best research-based practices and resources in language arts.

In this in between space. . .

No. You're right. This is not a picture of me in my blue M&M costume. Why it is so difficult for me to get to this, I don't know. But it is coming. I promise!

Last night I turned in my research paper on the impact of Proposition 227** for my linguisitics class. So, as is my usual practice on Fridays, I am metaphorically horizontal for the rest of the day. I should be studying for my big test in my Monday class and preparing my tutoring log for that same class. But I'm not.

I thought I'd finally give the answers to my reading quiz. Here goes:

What is a diphthong?

Diphthongs are types of vowels where two vowel sounds are connected in a continuous, gliding motion. They are often referred to as gliding vowels. Examples: oil, hour, toy.

What is a schawa?

Represented by that funny, upside "e" symbol, the schwa is that "uh" sound. It is the sound a vowel makes on an unaccented syllable. All the vowels can make this sound and it is the most common sound in English. Examples: apart, secretary, population.

What is the Control R?

Your kids might know this at the Bossy R. Essentially it means that the "r" controls the sound of the vowel. Examples: store, start, flower.

What is a digraph and what makes it regular or variant?

This is really a four part answer, not a two part one. There are vowel digraphs and consonant digraphs.

A consonant regular digraph is two letters that make a sound that isn't produced somewhere else. Examples: chair, share, there.

A consonant variant digraph is two letters that make a sound already produced in the language. Examples: phone, laugh.

A vowel regular digraph is when two vowels make one sound and it is a long sound. Your children might know this as "When two vowels do the walking, the first one does the talking." Examples: knead, breed, cleave.

Finally, a vowel variant digraph is when to vowls make one sound that isn't long, but isn't necessarily short. Examples: bread, blue, shoe.

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I have to tell you that this class, Teaching Reading to Elementary Students makes my head spin. It is tons and tons of information, most of which I will not need teaching reading to community college students. It is really an entirely different thing.

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Does anyone know of a good source to get some page divider icons for a blog post? You know, those cute little scrolly looking things so I don't have to use asterisks? (I suspect Alpha DogMa might be able to help me here.)

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This week has been the kids' spring break. A total bummer for them. Why? Because Paul is out of town, the banking account is running on fumes, I've had tons of school work, and almost everyone of their friends is out of town. Most years, we take part of the break and head up to Vegas (one of my least favorite places) to spend a few days with Paul while he is at a trade show. There's always next year.

Marley has been doing some charting: How many days is Daddy gone? What time did I find my towel? and so on. She also wrote some information about her house and about her. She posted it on her very own blog. It is a private blog, so I can't direct you there, but I will quote it here:

It is dirty.
My room is dirty.
My brother's room is clean.
My mom and dad's room is clean.
The living room is clean.
The bonus room is clean.
The bathroom is dirty.
The dining room table is dirty.
The kitchen is dirty.

This is a little piece called "Marley."

I live in a dirty house.
Very, very dirty.
This is a picture of me:



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Well, I'm back off to my black hole of case studies, Discourse analysis, the reading wars, etc. Five more weeks until school is out!!!!!!

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**Proposition 227 was passed in 1998 by 61% of California voters. It made bilingual education illegal. Waivers allowing exceptions are allowed, but only 7-9 percent of English language learners use those waivers to get primary language instruction. It was a very heated issue. After the first year of implementation, the proponents of the proposition declared it a resounding success based on improvements in test scores. Ten years later, there are some overall improvements but the gap between English learners and English only students is still large. A host of reforms enacted around the same time may be the reason for the actual improvements: ELD standards, standardized testing, reduced class size, etc. I could go on and on, but then I might as well just post my paper!!!!