PERSONAL REFLECTION

By engaging in this study I also learned a lot about myself as a teacher and about the students. The most important fact that I learned about myself was that I was a

kidwatcher and responded to the students’ needs. Being a kidwatcher and documenting findings did take time, but it was worth it (Rhodes and Shanklin 1993). I was very cognizant of what the students liked to read as well as how they were reading. Allowing them to choose texts for RMA sessions assisted me in making sure there were books in the classroom that they were willing to read. Keeping a special basket of books near my desk motivated all the students in the class to read. I even had discussions with two other teachers on how we could rotate books within and between our classes to keep them fresh and inviting to the students.

After completing the analysis of the RMA sessions I noticed that on several occasions I led the students into conversations about words. I explained how to replace the words as well as strategies to pronounce the words. This was done most often with KW. When I revisited these conversations, I realized that I was focused on words with him, but I was trying to build his confidence and encourage him in believing he was a good reader. If I was to continue with KW I would focus more on the comprehension skills using Jeffrey Wilhelm’s steps for instructing strategies. Jeffrey Wilhelm (2001) identified six steps of explicit instruction that included the teacher explaining the

strategy, explaining why the strategy was important, when to use the strategy, modeling how to use the strategy within text, guiding the learner’s practice, and finally encouraging

the students to independently use the strategy. As I reviewed the conversations of the other three students, I realized I was only doing five of the steps. The step I most often left out was explaining why the strategy was used and how it helped comprehension. This was something I noted for use as I start a new school year.

By engaging in conversations with the students I also identified a few

misconceptions I had about the students within my school. I originally generalized that they had little interest in reading and parents did not support their reading. I quickly found out the support the students I worked with had from their parents. Two of the students went to the library regularly and checked out books. All the parents wanted their child to read better and be successful. Parents even spent time reading to their child or reading with their child as they got older.

At the end of the study I realized how important books were for these students. At the end of the year the State Department of Education provided books for the students to take home for summer reading. The students who participated in the study were the ones who were most careful about their book selection and selected their books before the other students. In the past, when the students received these books they put them in their cubbies and ignored them until I had them put them in book bags to take home. The four students who I worked with took their books to their desk when they returned to the classroom. They all took one of the books out of their bag and began reading. It was a pleasant sight! They put a few of the books in their book bags to take home, but most importantly they put several in their desks to read at school.

One other observation made after completing the study was how the students interacted with books and with their classmates. Since state testing was completed I

pulled out several sets of books that we had not used in class. The students selected a book to read and formed groups to read together. Each of the students in the study chose a different book. As they read with their groups they became group leaders by engaging the others in conversations about what they were reading. I even heard them say “Don’t interrupt them by saying the word for them, let them read.” This was something I had constantly reinforced in the classroom, but students had difficulty stopping correction of pronunciation when others read aloud.

One additional observation made after the study was done when finalizing report cards. All four students showed a major increase in grades across subjects. KWs grades from third grade had him failing all subjects, but he was not retained. His grades for the fourth quarter were all Cs. Two of the other students made the honor roll for the first time. Assisting them with their reading through RMA not only improved their self- confidence in reading, it helped increase their success in all academic areas. I was excited to see their state testing scores.