Brandy

Brandy Moody

June 15th In the text __Smart Answers__ I was fascinated by the question about worksheets and homework. I began my current teaching position in the middle of the 2009-2010 school year. At first, I continued following the basal and doing what the previous teacher had done. The number of workbooks the students were completing blew me away. It did not take me long to realize that they were not getting much from these worksheets and I began using more effective, hands-on activities with my students. I'm amazed at the number of teachers in my building who rely on them and the number of parents who think worksheets are necessary for success.

As for homework, I have always wondered what was appropriate. My students work hard in school and I don’t want to take the joy out of learning by giving them homework that takes up their family time. Many of my students are in so many different activities they literally don’t have time to complete the simplest assignments. I find this topic frustrating because I have some parents that don’t like their kids having homework and other parents who think I never give enough (even when I give them the extra assignments that they request). On page 41 they say that there is no research that shows homework helps! I agree with Alfie Kohn’s quote about the disadvantages of homework.

I’m interested in how other teachers feel about homework.

5/16 Brandy, I agree with your thinking on homework. I struggle with giving it to my kids as well. I teach students who have learning disabilities so my biggest struggle is that they need the extra practice but half the time they can't complete something completely independently. A lot of times I felt to when I would assign homework I would also have one or two students who didn't complete it out of my 5 students in reading.A lot of times they'd say they didn't have time to do it, their parents couldn't help them, etc. So I would take a point off because all I ever really graded it for was completion since I didn't know if it was their true work. That is the stance my principal took on homework was to use it as extra practice and to not weigh it heavily in their overall grade scale. I'm surprised that no research shows homework helps because I was always told the opposite. That helps me in my thinking quite a bit as well. My biggest fear was with my 8th graders who were heading to the high school because I knew their teachers up there wouldn't have the same view on homework and they would be bumbarded. In fact, one of my 8th grade students parents would complete some of her science homework for her because the student couldn't read the content alone and I suppose her parent thought it would be faster that way. That was very frustrating for me as well! Thanks for your ideas! Bethany Lepley 5/16

Brandy, I am often torn by the concept of homework as well. I feel the same way about homework as I do about quality reading instruction- there needs to be a balance. When it comes to homework, I don't believe that either end of the pendulum is highly effective. Eliminating homework altogether for the sake of family time, although I agree family time is important, may not provide certain students with the extra practice that they need to cement their learning. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I do not agree with bombarding already busy students with homework just for the sake of giving it. I feel that there should be a happy medium between no homework and and excessive amount of busywork.

I feel that homework in moderation, if distributed selectively with a clear purpose in mind, can be effective. For example, if a student is working hard in class to master the concept of long division, and has finally begun to understand the process towards the end of class, I feel that assigning three or four practice problems for that student is helpful in cementing their knowledge of that process. Notice that I mention only three or four practice problems, because I completely agree with your ideas of the importance of family time and understand that many students have extracurricular activities after school. Still, if no homework is given on the subject, I feel that by the next day the teacher and student could end up back at square one again. (I can speak from experience on that one!)

On the other hand, students who demonstrate mastery of the skill in class do not, in my opinion, need to complete more problems at home just for the sake of having homework that night. I feel as though the "busywork" idea may be where some of the harshest criticism from parents and students stems from. I understand that it would take more time for teachers to keep track of which specific students receive certain assignments as homework on a daily basis, but the pros may outweigh the cons. Students and parents will hopefully begin to understand that homework is a means towards mastery, and homework is only given when the teacher deems it necessary. Once mastery is reached, I do not see much purpose in assigning busywork. Perhaps though, it may be beneficial to provide more advanced students with an alternative assignment that touches upon one of Bloom's higher order thinking skills if that is an area that seems to sometimes get pushed aside in order to keep up the vigorous pace in the classroom.

Reading your posting made me begin challenging the ways that I have traditionally assigned homework, and I will definitely be implementing more of the methodology that I posted above. Thanks for your thought-provoking post! Rachael Berger

6/17 I really liked the section about analogy charting in __Classroom Strategies__. In my classroom we spend a lot of time learning about the different types of connections. I realize the importance of making connections to understand new concepts. I like how it is a visual representation of the connection they are making. It is also a great way to compare and contrast. I would like to try a simplified version of this for my second graders.

In __Smart Answers__ they talk about the benefits of read alouds. I use read alouds for many different purposes in my classroom. They are great for modeling strategies and think alouds. I also use them as mentor texts to model different writing traits. I think it is also important to remember there are two kinds of read alouds. There should be a balance of read alouds for modeling and teaching, and read alouds for enjoyment. Almost everyday I read aloud a picture book or from a chapter book just for the kids to enjoy it and not have to think about what strategies we are using.

Brandy – You are making some great connections between your reading and your background knowledge. Your comments about homework seemed to really resonate with your peers. Dr. P.

6/20 In __Classroom Strategies__, the part about character quotes was really interesting. This strategy is a fun way to introduce students to a character. I would think that using this activity would make students eager to read the book and find out more about the character. I used character quotes with one of my second grade reading groups. They each had to find a quote that showed what kind of person their character was. They enjoyed finding quotes and sharing them with their group. I would like to try the activity described in this section with my class next year.

6/21/11 I also liked the idea of character quotes. This seems like a powerful strategy to get children excited about the characters and reading the text in general to learn more. I can imagine this being fun to do especially for characters like Amelia Bedelia or texts involving animals, etc. I can see this being great to use in small groups or even in a partnered paired group during a shared reading. I will definitely try this in my small groups in the fall. Again, this is one powerful strategy that I never even thought about using! Julie

6-22 In __Smart Answers__ I was interested in the section about decodable texts. I thought I understood what these types of texts were until I read this book. Decodable texts are great for helping students feel successful but there are far more disadvantages to using them. The biggest disadvantage is that they tend to be "stories" that do not make any sense! Children need authentic literature to become successful readers. Unfortunetly, it seems that many struggling readers never get past these decodable books and never experience authentic literature that shows the beauty of the English language. (page 98) As I was reading this section, I realized that I use decodable texts in my classroom! I tend to use them with my beginning readers. Now I realize that I may be doing them a disservice. I'm wondering what the alternative is. How do I help my struggling readers without using decodable texts that don't make sense. It seems that decodable texts may be to blame for students who struggle with comprehension. I'm interested in how others feel about decodable texts and what alternatives they use.

6/23/11 Brandy, I use decodable texts in one of my reading classes and I hate it! I was told to use SRA Comprehension, and I face many of the problems that you were discussing above. In the SRA Comprehension, many of the lessons include nonsense words. It drives me crazy because it does nothing but confuse the kids. Every time we get to a nonsense word, the students lose focus because they want to know the meaning of the word and why they are learning about a word that does not even exist. I think that these are a reason why many students struggle with comprehension. How can you comprehend a word that doesn't even exist? While I do not have many alternatives for you, I can tell you that I started using a mixture of other materials in my reading class (Rewards, Rewards Plus, read alouds, graphic organizers, etc.). Now I only use the SRA Comprehension when my superviser comes to visit! Caitlin

6/24/11 In __Literacy Lessons__, I liked the idea of using a comprehension beach ball. I have not used these in the past because the ones I've seen only have the basic character, setting, problem, ect. options. The books suggested making one that goes beyond the literal interpretations of texts. I plan on trying this for next year! I am also very interested in chapter 5 //Enhancing the Reader's Vocabulary Development//. As a first and second grade teacher I feel like I've put vocabulary on the back burner. I've recently started doing research on vocabulary instruction and looking for ideas I can implement next year. I love the ideas in this chapter for making vocabulary fun and meaningful!

Brandy – Glad you are finding vocabulary strategies for your own classroom. Dr. P.

6/23/2011 Brandy~ I think the comprehension beach balls are neat too! However, I feel the same way, they have low level thinking questions. We can start with those questions but need to challenge our students more. You could have a clear plastic sleeve that new questions could be inserted for variation and differentiation. I just bought a beach ball at Target for $1.00. I may just make a comprehension beach ball with it!

6/27/11 In __Literacy Lessons__, they give several ideas for vocabulary development. I really like the idea of taking games kids already know and adapting them into vocabulary games. I've used Go Fish in my classroom to practice lots of things (synonyms, anyonyms, inflectional endings, homophones, etc). I make a lot of board games for word study centers as well. I also like the idea of getting parents involved. My parents always ask me what they can be doing at home to help. Chapter 5 is a great source of ideas! Association games are one of my favorites. This chapter brought up at good point about technology and vocabulary development. Advances in technology lead to new vocabulary that students should know. I admit that I'm not a very techno person. I need to make more of an effort to stay on top of technology and the new vocabulary that comes with it. I don't even know what a widget is! But I'm sure many of my kids do!

Brandy, I was very interested in the games aspect as well. The games are fabulous to get them involved. We have to keep thier attention and really entertain them while they are learning. I didnt think about the fact that new technology brings new vocabulary for them. In order for them to be trained for the future jobs we really need to be prepared for that. I thought that i was good with technology until i started working with the kids and they definitely know more than I do. I also agree that I need to get more into the techno world. I also do not know what a widget is but im gooling it right now ha. :) Amanda

6/29/11 I was really interested in chapter 6 of __Literacy Lessons__. One of my goals for next year is to explicitly model and teach what fluent reading sounds like. Many of my students believe that in order to be a good, fluent reader they have to read super fast. This chapter talks about how the teacher needs to model and think aloud to reinforce fluent reading behaviors. I like the chart 6.2 that helps you assess your fluent reading instruction. It made me think about some things I can be doing better. I like the ideas the chapter gives for practicing fluent reading. I use readers theatre a lot in my classroom. This strategy has shown to be the most successful with my students!

6/30/11 I like your idea on modeling fluency! I definitely believe I need to model and teach what fluent reading sounds like. My students also think good reading means fast reading. I try my best to model fluent reading during our shared readings and read alouds but I also need to model think alouds more. I, too, would like to work on modeling fluency for the upcoming school year. I liked the strategies mentioned in the chapter that help students to practice fluency. I use Echo reading a lot but I would also like to try the radio reading where students can record and listen to their text. Julie Baker

June 30, 2011 I have the same problem with my students and fluency. We do AIMSweb, so my students are so focused on the number of words they read in the minute. It's a challenge to make them realize that fluent reading includes many other parts. I have used radio reading in my classroom as a center, and my students really liked it. It was a great center because the students could easily run it themselves and they really enjoyed playing the tape back and critiquing themselves and the other students in their group. It was also a great way to have them practice giving verbal feedback in a positive way. Although a common complaint was rereading a text, I never had any students complain about rereading at this center. They were always excited to try to improve! Hope you find it helpful for your classroom, as well! - Kelly

7/1/11 I love the idea of students recording and listening to themselves read!

In __Classroom Strategies__ on page 160, there is a Taxonomy Self-Questioning Chart for Literary Fiction. I like how this chart models different types of questions. It's easy to see how the questions get more challenging from the bottom to the top. I think it's important for students to know that different levels of thinking require different kinds of questions. This chart is a great resource for showing kids the kinds of questions they can ask, instead of them always coming up with the "remembering" questions!