DavontaeSingleton

Dr.Styslinger
EDRD600
ReadersProfileFinalReflection
Asthispracticumexperiencehascometoanend,therearemanythingsthatI
havelearnedaboutstudentsandliteracy.OneofthemostimportantlessonsI'velearned
isthatnotallstudentswhoareidentifiedasatriskareatriskintheiracademics.
WorkingwiththestudentsatDJJ,Ihavegainedinagreaterappreciationforteachers
whospecializeinliteracy.Uponmyfinalmeetingwithmystudents,Ihavecometoa
finalconclusionregardingtheirliteracylives.Thisconclusionhasbeenmadethrough
variousmeetingsinwhichIworkedtounderstandthewaythattheyread,write,andthink
aboutliterature.Mystudentsareveryuniquereaders,neitherofthemgrewuplikingto
readbutnowtheyareatthestagewheretheyaregainingagreaterappreciationfor
literature.Idobelievethatbecauseoftheirbackgroundsandnothavingaconsistent
literacycoachtohelpguidethem,theyhavefellbehindincomparisontootherstudents
whoareintheirgradelevel.AsIhavestatedvariousothertimes,Idonotbelievethat
eitherofmystudentsshouldbeidentifiedasstrugglingreaders.Idobelievethatbothof
themstrugglewithbeingabletoidentifyandconceptualizewordsthattheyhavenotbeen
exposedtohowever.Thisisamajorobstacleforthemtogetover,andonethatoften
hindersthemfromwantingtoreadmore.Bothstudentshaveadeepfearofreadingout
loudorinfrontofotherstudentsforthesheerfactthattheyfeelthattheywillbejudged
becausetheyarenotthebestatit.Fromthefirstday,bothstudentsstatedthattheywould

trytogettoaplacewheretheyaremorecomfortablereadingoutloud,andthroughour
interactionswithinthispracticum,Ihaveseentremendousgrowthinbothofthem.Qand
Rareverybrightstudentswhoareabletoconceptualize,theorize,understand,and
analyzeliteratureontheirownaccordbutonlywhentheyareabletorelatetoit.
Throughoutmymeetingswitheachofthestudents,Iplannedmylessonssothat
theywouldbeengaging,butalsoindividualizedtoeachofmystudents.Foreachofmy
lessons,Imadesurethattherewasanumberofstandardsthatwewouldcoverwhich
werecoherentandrelevanttotheworkthattheyweredoingintheirspecificgradelevel.
EmbeddedinthelessonswerealsowaysthatIcouldengagewithmystudentspersonally.
Itisoneofmybeliefsthatinorderforstudentstoengageinatext,theymustbeableto
relatetoit.ThebooksthatIchosetoworkwithwerebooksthatbothofthemcouldrelate
toeitherbecauseoftheircircumstancesthattheywereincurrently,orbecauseoftheir
past.
Ialsotriedmybesttomakesurethatmylessonsreflectedcurrenttheoriesand
researchabouttheteachingandlearningofreading.Ioftentriedtoincorporatenumerous
strategiesthatliteracygurusdeemedasmosteffective.Personally,mostofthestrategies
thatIusedemployedanaspectinwhichstudentswouldbeabletoreflectontheirown
experiencesinordertoconnectwiththetext.Thistypeofreaderreflectionwasmost
importantwithmystudentsbecausetheystatedthatoneofthemainreasonswhythey
neverenjoyedreadingwasbecausetheydidnotfeelliketheycouldconnectwiththetext.
Forexample,oneoftheactivitiesthatIhadmystudentsdowaslistentoasongthatIfelt
couldrelatetothem,butalsotothebookthattheywerereading.Studentswereaskedto

createtheirownsonglyricsthatcouldalsoserveasathemetotheirownlives,butalso
theirlyricsmustberelatabletothebookthattheyhavereadtoo.Notonlywasthis
assignmenthelpfulandusefulforstudentsinthefactthatithadthemtaketwodifferent
mediansandconnectthetwo,butitalsoaskedhimtoreflectonitpersonallyandthentie
allthreetogether.Thistypeofreadingstrategyincorporatednumerousexperiencesthat
allowedstudentstoconnectwiththebooks,butitwashelpfulformesothatIcouldable
gagewheretheywereinthereliteracylives.Iwasabletoassesstheirreadingandwriting
skillsinadditiontotheirabilitytoanalyzetextallwhiletheywerefocusingon
connectingwiththetext.
Besidesreadingstrategiesthatallowedstudentstoincorporatetheirpersonal
experiences,Iutilizedteachingstrategiesthatalsorequiredstudentstoshowbasic
understandingoftheliteraturethattheywerereading.Thestrategiesincludedrecalling
informationfromthetexttheyread,bothfictionalandnonfictional,sothatIcouldgage
whetherornotstudentswereabletoconceptualizeinformationwithoutputtingtheirown
opinionintotheirprocessing.Throughoutthesevariousteachingstrategies,Ibecamealot
moreflexibleandopentochanginghowIwasanalyzingmystudentssothatIcouldfit
theirindividuallearningneeds.WhereIhadonestudentwhowasalotmorevisual,Ihad
anotherstudentwhoarticulatedhispointsbywritingthemdown.Ifoundforeachactivity
thatIwasplanning,IneededtomadesurethatIcouldincorporatemultiplelearning
stylesintothemsothatIcouldsatisfybothstudents.FrommyinitialBurkeinterviewI
didwithmystudents,Igatherednotonlyliteracyprofilesoneachstudent,butIalso
gatheredalearningprofileformyself.InthislearningprofileIcameupwithwaysto

engageeachstudentbasedoffoftheirlikesanddislikesforexample,Rdoesnotlike
writing,soItrytouseactivitiesthathewouldfindengaging,butstillallowedhimtofeel
asthoughhewerenotdoingsomethingthathedidn'tliketodo(meanwhileIwasstill
abletogethimtowriteformyownassessments).Myinstructionalplanningrelatedto
mystudentsidentitiesinthebookchoicesthatIchoseforthem.Bothofthemstatedthat
theylikebooksthattheyfeltrelatedtotheirownpersonallives,soeventhoughIhada
verylimitedselection,Iwasabletofindthosespecificbooksthattheyrelatedto,and
finished!Iwasabletoutilizemultipleurbanliteratureauthorstoengagemystudents.
IknowforafactthatIwasabletohelpmystudentsmakemeaningofthetext
theywerereading.Iknowthisduetotheconversationsthatwehadregardingthetext.I
noticedthatthroughoutourmeetings,bothstudentswouldbemuchmoreopento
expressingyourthoughtsaboutthebookstheywerereading.Theywereveryexcited
whentheycameacrossdifferentthemesthatwediscussed.OneexampleiswhenQcame
inthefirstthingthathesaidwas,Mypredictionwasabsolutelycorrect!Iknewthis
wasgoingtohappen,andnowIjustwanttokeepreadingtoseehowthisbookends.
Throughthevariousactivitiesinwhichstudentswereaskedtodiscussthenovel,aswell
asactivitiesinwhichtheywereaskedtowrite,Iamabletodeterminethattheywerevery
muchengagedinthetextandwereabletomakemeaning.
IwasabletomodelliterateandpracticesinELAteachingbasedoffofmystylein
questioningandanswering.Iwouldoftenhavetotakeanyquestionsthattheyhadand
turnthemaroundonthestudentsIwouldaskthemtothinkabouttheanswerthatthey
wouldgiveifIansweredthatspecificquestion.OnethingthatIalsolearnedtovalueas

anELAteacheristheuseofwaittime.Oftenitisuncomfortablewhenworkingwith
studentstousewaittimebecauseoftheawkwardsilence,butthroughmyutilizationof
waiting,Iwasabletomakesurethatstudentsunderstoodthattheydidnotneedtorush
intoansweringforthesakeofgettingananswercorrect.Thisstrategyprovedtobe
effectivenotonlydidstudentstakethetimetothinkbeforetheyresponded,butthey
alsodevelopedmuchmorethoughtfulandconciseanswers.
ThroughoutthislearningexperienceIcanhonestlysaythatIwasabletolearna
greatdealofhowtounderstandtheprocessofdeterminingwhetherornotastudentisa
strugglingreader.Justasmuchasmystudentswereabletolearnfromme,Iwasableto
learnfromthemandIamveryconfidentthatIwilltaketheseexperienceswithmeasI
transitionintomyownclassroomsoon.