Hi and welcome to our course! Please remember that one of the benefits of a blogging course is to have communication between participants. Remember to read and respond to other participants' comments each week. We look forward to working and learning with you. Please try to keep your responses within one allotted "comment" space to ensure that the blog remains manageable for all participants.
Also, you may want to type your comments in a Word Document and either copy from Word and paste onto the blog or save it in a folder on your computer and then post it to the blog. I have written a couple of lengthy comments that I lost before I was able to post it to the blog. This extra step may save you some frustration later on this term.
Last of all, we will write our comments to your posts on the blog, so you will need to check back to the corresponding week for feedback (and to make additional comments if you wish.)
Let us know if you have any questions. You can email us, but please put the words "Question for Classroom Instruction" in the subject line so that we can respond in a timely fashion.
Assignment #1: Introductory paragraph. Please post your introduction to the course blog in the blog archive under the posting: Week One: Introduction - Please tell us a little about yourself. Where do you teach? What grade and how long have you been teaching? How many students are in your class and do you have instructional support? What does your current literacy program look like? (If you aren’t currently teaching let us know what your educational background and experiences are.) What is your knowledge/training in the area of literacy? Does your district provide literacy training? If so, what exactly have they offered? Also, let us know a little about you outside the classroom: Interests/ Hobbies/ Family Life.
Also please read: Classroom Instruction that Works - Chapter 1 – Applying the Research on Instruction: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Sign in to the blog (follow directions below)
o Click on the comment link below. If you do not have a Google account you will need to create a free one. Underneath the “leave your comment” box – click where it says “no Google account? Sign up here.” Then follow the direction to create an account.
o After you create your account you can just type in your user name and password from when you created the account and then click the button “publish your comment” and it will be posted. You should post Assignment # 1 explained below as your first comment.
(Please Note: In addition to posting your first assignment (Introduction) to the blog, please email it to us. This is to enable us to contact you individually should the need occur. Please also make sure that you label your assignment with your name when posting to the blog to ensure that you receive proper credit for your work.)
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4 comments:
Hi!
My name is Amy Cleveland. I am a first grade teacher in the Hillsboro School District (west of Portland, OR). This is my third year as a first grade teacher and my fifth year as an educator. I work at Rosedale Elementary. We are a newer school (our fourth year open) and we are Title 1. Our focus for the last four years has been on literacy development. Our first grade classrooms have been a part of the University of Oregon's ECRI (Enhancing Core Reading Instruction) Grant/Study (http://ctl.uoregon.edu/research/projects/ecri) for the last three years. My district does offer literacy training. We use Houghton Mifflin for our reading instruction. I have been trained in the Jennifer Ashlock's "Enhancements" for HM as well as the ECRI model for teaching HM. I have also been trained in Read Well, Read Naturally, and DIBELS. Our literacy block is 90 minutes of uninterrupted instruction. We follow a walk-to-read model where students are ability grouped and split into the two groups (Benchmark & Advanced) and then (Strategic/Intensive). A few of our students are pulled for ERC reading instruction during this time based on their IEP's. We also have two small groups (6 kids each) that pull students for 30 minutes a day for Title 1 reading intervention. Prior to this year, our reading block was 120 minutes. However, our school has begun the implementation of English Language Development (ELD) for all students which is 30 minutes a day. This has taken over 30 of our previous 120 minutes for literacy. As for my personal life, I am married and we are expecting our first child in January! My husband and I are also alums of the University of Oregon, so we are avid Duck football fans and have season tickets. We spend our time with friends and family. We love to camp, hike, go wine tasting, and travel. I also love to read and cook!
Hi Amy!
Welcome to class. Fall is our lowest enrollment and at this point you are the only one registered for the course. This can change as students have until Nov. to register, but just wanted to let you know. People look forward to the discourse that a class blog allows; so if you want to look back at last terms comments you can do that by scrolling to the bottom of the blog page and clicking older posts. We keep one past term up on the blog and the assignments will be listed as they are for this terms.
Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your first child. I have three children. (Mary) My daughter is 16 months old and my boys are 7 & 8.
We look forward to working with you this term!
Hello! My name is Sarah Greywall. I teach mostly 10th grade English and an OAKS Intervention class at Westview HS in Beaverton; however, I was at Beaverton HS for nine years before I got transferred this year. I hate to admit it, but this is my 13th year teaching. How did the time go by so quickly?
My class sizes are enormous. They range from 38 to 47. I know! It’s so wrong. I’m pretty tired by the end of the day. Most of my effort during the school day is spent managing all the bodies in my classroom. So, the new high school and the large class sizes have made this fall busy. Hence, my first post on October 25!
Hmmmm . . . teaching literacy at the high school varies teacher by teacher. We have a core group of skills that we all agree on, but teaching students how to read and write varies. I feel like we (by “we” I mean HS English teachers) put a lot of focus on writing skills, but expect that students already know how to read well by the time they get to us. I’ve found that teaching someone how to read better is harder than teaching someone how to write better.
I have a 5 year old who is just off to kindergarten this year. I’m SO EXCITED for him. He’s really a little sponge. I hope that his seemingly never-ending enthusiasm for learning will last forever. My 2 ½ year old is a busy little boy as well. My husband and I enjoy his stories – they’re told with feeling and suspense! So, in addition to teaching, I try to keep these kiddos entertained and get them soccer practice on time. An occasional date with my husband is a nice treat!
The rest of my fall is clearing up a bit. I’m a late addition to this class, but I’ll have time to dedicate to it now. I already own the Classroom Instruction that Works text; a principal of mine liked it so much, she gave all of us a copy one year! Sad to say, I glanced at it and added it to the growing pile on my bookshelf.
Hi Sarah,
We're happy to have you join us. It boggles my mind how there continues to be cuts in Oregon. I've heard about the reductions happening in Beaverton and am sorry that you are dealing with the results. Hopefully, this is rock bottom and things will start to improve.
I know what you mean about having a shelf of books you intend to get to. :D I have my own pile going and we are fortunate to hear about other great books in our classes, so those are added to the list.
We look forward to working with you this term.
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