Chapter 13 - Creating the Confidence to Respond

I will tie my connection to this chapter to the student I just finished working with. After all the test scores and "present level of performance" assessments were in, the one thing that I felt needed attended to first was her level of confidence. I felt that there would be no use introducing reading strategies, if she didn't believe she could learn to read more fluently.

I did a Confidence Survey prior to starting any intervention strategy. I discovered that she had zero confidence and was embarrassed that she could not read as well as her peers. I felt that Ashleigh was at risk of giving up if we didn't establish a strong foundation of confidence. She needed to learn that she could become a better reader, she needed the opportunity to be successful. Beers tells us "students won't believe us unless we create opportunities for success."

My situation with Ashleigh is actually reversed from what Beers says about confidence. She indicates that once students experience success with fluency skills, they will become more confident. While I completely agree, confidence building skills need to be introduced early on in the teacher/student relationship. With Ashleigh, it meant going back to her independent reading level and independent word lists, so that she could experience success.

I liked Beers suggestion of creating a classroom where students can take risks. The "What if I get it wrong" thought process keeps many students from participating in class. Beers gives us some suggestions on ways we can create this safe-house for our students. Some of them are just common sense, but a couple of the strategies really struck home for me.

1.  Make sure your students know one another's names (same goes for the teacher). When you know someones name, you can actually connect with them at a different level than just their face.

2.  Do not tolerate put-downs. I applaud Beers for taking this stance. Put-downs are a form of bullying and should not be tolerated. Put-downs also go against the idea of creating a safe environment where students feel at ease taking the risk of orally participating. Beers points out that this goes well beyond the classroom, and that we should take our show on the road (cafeteria and hallways).

I never really thought about the aesthetic and efferent stances toward reading. Beers makes a good point, that we need to teach our struggling readers how to read differently throughout the text, making shifts from efferent (answer the questions at the end) into aesthetic (connecting with the emotional side) modes. Good readers use these techniques with both fiction and non-fiction text.

Aliteracy...what a shame. These are not struggling readers who are reluctant to read because it's tough for them. These are good readers who choose not to read. Beers states that this is not only an academic problem but also a societal concern. "One of the greatest tragedies of contemporary education is not so much that many students leave school unable to read and write, but that others graduate with an antipathy to reading...despite the abilities they might have" (278).

It takes some special effort to connect unmotivated readers to books. They need lot's of choices, we need to know what interests them, and we must make books readily available to them.

Chapter 15 - My Final Letter to George

Well, after I dried my tears…I realized the most important thing I know about teaching, Beers writes in this chapter “We must, at all times, remember that we don’t teach a subject, we don’t teach to a test, we teach you--specific children with specific needs.” Teaching is my second career, but more importantly teaching is my dream. I believe that becoming a teacher is a privilege, not a right.

My challenge to every one of us on the course of becoming a “Teacher” is to approach this journey with an open mind and a willingness to learn…only then, will you be able to teach.

In conclusion, I will end with another Beers quote “To be called ‘Teacher’ might indeed be one of the greatest compliments one could ever receive.” 

Chapter 14 - Finding the Right Book

Boy is this important! I don’t like reading something I’m not interested in…why would my students? And, Beers points out that we typically want to share what we enjoy and that just might not be what our students enjoy. Ah Ha!

Beers shares some terrific resources for finding good reading material and points out the value of text features, length of text, pictures/illustrations with text and more. All of her strategies make sense, but I think the “Know Your Authors” could be a real selling point for some students. Students could connect to an author before they connected to one of their books. The “Book Jacket Bulletin Board” is another terrific idea. You could extend this and have students put sticky notes on the jacket after they read the book with comments. And the “Good Books” box was brilliant! I loved the fact that the Librarian really got involved in attracting the students to books…adding the “More Good Books” box.

Finding books, articles, and text that students want to read takes time. Beers shows us that taking the time to find material your students will read is worth it. Taking the time to get to know your students will pay off in the long run; they will see that you care and are willing to make the effort on their behalf. This might be all they need to make the effort for themselves (selfish-readers). 

Chapter 10 - Fluency and Automaticity

This was a particularly meaningful chapter for me. As part of an assignment from another class, I had the opportunity to work with a 7^th grade student who struggled with fluency. I saw first hand the frustration that these students feel. My main focus was building my students confidence (when I started working with her, she considered herself a ‘bad’ reader.) She wanted to be a better reader and was embarrassed that she didn’t read as well as her friends.

Repeated reading was a key part of our work together and really gave her the confidence that she really was a good reader. Becoming familiar with the text through repeated reading resulted in a more fluid reading pattern. We practiced with Fry’s Hundred Word lists, most of which she knew with automaticity. If not, we added them to her Word List. We did Echo Reading and taped reading practice so that she could hear herself read.

In my research, I discovered that fluency is an area that many middle school and secondary school students struggle with. Simple decoding instruction is not necessarily the best approach to improving fluency with these students. Beers gives us five great strategies we can use to help teach older readers who struggle with fluency and automaticity.

From a special education prospective, I think it’s critical for the general education teachers to recognize that many students struggle in this area and need additional help. Don’t just assume they are “bad” readers…give them some tools they can use to improve. Give them a chance to learn!

Report Card: My student improved from approximately 85WPM to approximately 103WPM and her confidence level improved 100%. Even with my limited experience, I think I helped!!!