After every ending, comes a new beginning...

As I reach the end of this book, I feel that I've gained a lot of useful tips that Tovani shares with her readers, and which I think are special to her and those that she's shared with. I've titled my last blog After every ending, comes a new beginning…, because obviously I've concluded the reading of the book, but thanks to this book I feel like I've grown as a future teacher through the experiences of Tovani, her suggestions, and passion for her teaching. This final point has made me realize that besides impacting students in the subject that I love, I will also serve a big purpose in the help I could give them when they are found a struggling situation.

 Just as we are infatuated with the various subjects we all seek to teach, Tovani also reminds her readers that she doesn’t “…see how we can be teachers of this content without spending at least some of our time with students helping them learn how to read about it” (121). It is a basic aspect for us to aid our students in the way to read about our subjects, which will therefore have an impact in the rest of the classes our students will take.

Thanks to this book I have been gifted a glance to real classroom experiences that many teachers have had, and from which I’ve learned about many possible ways I could respond to similar situations in my future classrooms.

I felt in this final chapter, that Tovani wanted to thank her readers for the read, but what is most important she wanted to state her passion and belief in every teacher that truly has a love for the art of teaching.  She then states that her book "...will help you in your teaching only if you trust yourself enough..." (122), about knowing what you know, and looking for methods that will serve the purpose you wish to use them for.

I’m very glad I choose this book, it contains very useful information that future and current teachers can find of use. The main point that I’ll take from this book and hope to always remember when I find myself struggling to help a struggling student will be, to breathe, have patience, remember what it is to find myself struggling with a reading, remember my purpose as a teacher, and as Tovani states that “we’ll never have all the answers” but it is a duty for us to try to find as much answers as possible. Now, I end this reading, by promising that I will start a new beginning with what I have learn from it. 

Assessments...

Chapter 8 of Tovani’s book talks about Assessment. Honestly, being this one of the first times that I’ve had to really read and try to understand what an assessment is and what use it has for teachers and students, created some confusion, even though somehow it makes some sense with some of the readings aspects that Tovani talks about. The book seems to be forming a fun circle, as it makes connections to topics that were spoken about in the previous chapters.

The importance of allowing students to progressively achieve their proposed goal for their reading, keeping in mind that assessment can be done in more than just one way in the classroom, giving “…students multiple opportunities to demonstrate their thinking” (103), are basic important aspects that the author describes must be addressed within the teachers lesson plans. Throughout the book, Tovani has given her readers many examples of what has worked for her in her classroom, providing in the appendix section templates of sheets that she has utilized in her class.

Tovani also advices teachers about the importance of getting to know our students a bit more in a setting other than the classroom, because she believes that this would let our students know that we truly do care about them; this will make them feel important to us. But this is also a useful method by which teachers could also find out a bit more about their background, their interests and possible hints for the way they could be taught more easily for a better understanding of topics the read. Assessments that she speaks about in this chapter that serve this purpose are “Conversation Calendars” and “Quick Conferences”, which I feel that both will be a useful tool for me when I become a teacher; I like the idea of communicating with my students both in writing and personally, like these methods work like respectfully.

A connection that both Tovani and I make, regard the Standardized assessments that are given to students at a district and statewide level. I agree with her in the aspect that these types of assessments “…aren’t helpful…because they rarely inform daily instruction” (103), but rather serve simply to compare student to student and school to school. But she advises that “assessment…is about showing kids how to recognize when they are confused and when they are understanding text…” (114) because to her this is a more approachable way that assessments can truly “…test what [students] learned about themselves as readers” (114).

I’ve always been a student that likes to see the progress I’ve made in every class, from year to year, etc. This was one of the points that really interested me from the reading of this chapter. Tovani explains that she creates and keeps a “File folder Collection of Work Samples” of each of her students. These serve great purpose for the teachers and students alike, because besides being a tool for teachers to “…use the folder as a way to demonstrate proficiency or recommend remediation” (113), it also gives students like me something to really feel good about when looking back at the progress I’ve done. 

Forming small-group discussions

Chapter 7 was very straightforward in concise with for the topic of small group work. Tovani mentions that group work is a great mechanism by which our students can interact, deepen their understanding, clarify some points, and listen to each other’s opinions on a the subject in matter. She also emphasizes the need for these groups to be “small” because otherwise they can become too big for their discussions to go anywhere, and for everyone to have a chance to be heard. She also points out that “small-group settings also allow [teachers] to meet more of the individual needs in [our] classroom” (pg: 93). She explains that she could “group struggling readers…for a while and help them with a decoding strategy” (93) and this to me also rang as useful way to detect students that might have a learning disability which we discussed in class this week.

But along with all of these great benefits in group work, just like Tovani, I have had these questions in mind:

1) “How does a group work [succeed] with someone who monopolizes the conversation?”

2) “What does the group need to do to make sure everyone’s voice is heard?"

3) “How do people in the group hold their thinking when they read, so that they remember what to talk about in groups?”

4) “Is a facilitator necessary, and if so, what is his or her role?” (pg: 91)

The input that students can give us regarding their needs within a group work assignment, are a useful tool that Tovani suggests for teachers to utilize to answer questions such as the ones above. I must say that I also believe this point is a very important one for these types of assignments; we have all probably been a situation where group work is simply annoying and a waste of time. Students can let their teachers know what they like and dislike of group work activities, and then with the help of the teacher, formulate “norms” that they all agree to do, setting then fair responsibilities for all.

For the topics to be discussed in group, Tovani also suggest for them to be “powerful pieces…many times short and provocative pieces encourage students to read and discuss” (pg 99), which will spark in each student thoughts and questions that they wish to share and answer respectfully. After sharing their thoughts about their reading with their members of the group, students might not agree other members of their group, taking them onto a great start for a discussion.

Tovani once again adds the importance of modeling what an assignment should look like, and again the art of drama come in handy to engage students to observe “good and bad” behaviors. To demonstrate a small group work, she invited a coworker of hers to interpret the “good” students, and she interpreted the “bad student. The good student exemplified what it was to be a good member of a group; she had the material ready the class, she had done her reading and placed her thoughts on sticky notes in the book. Mean while, Tovani as the bad member of the group, modeled the behavior of a student that wasn’t doing their part of the work for the group; she didn’t even have her book. These behaviors were observed by the students before they began to work on their assignment together, and it helped them realize that the attitude of the first “student” was one that would take them to succeed in the assignment.

What are your thoughts??

In chapter 6, Tovani emphasizes the importance of helping our students find the correct method(s) for them to put their thoughts onto a paper. She does speak about the traditional stick notes and highlighter methods, which at the beginning of their used don’t tend to be completely effective, but she does state that the more they are used and modeled by the teacher for their correct used, they often succeed for their purpose. For Tovani, the importance of students writing down their thoughts and or questions is a fundamental key to see the progress a student has gotten in their reading and writing skills, because “…asking questions is a signal that you are constructing meaning. Readers who don’t ask questions are often disengaged and unable to remember what they’ve read” (pg: 80).

But besides these useful methods, Tovani also integrates other methods that she believes are just as good as the good ol’ highlighter. The first method she talks about was that of “whole-group thinking” which is the placing of student’s individual work on a “public” chart. This posting Tovani says will begin the stepping stone process that students need to learn how to mark important text in their reading for future reference; “when some students are having difficulty seeing a strategy in use, I chart other students’ thinking” (pg: 75). I do believe this is a useful tool for students understanding of the options they have to mark down their reading thoughts; it is a really good way of creating a good class environment where this allows peer support. But from my perspective her “comprehension constructor” method directs much more of the students thinking process, it “…help[s] students name their thinking and make it visible” (pg: 76) as the teacher develops these sheets with in mind “…how [he/she/] would read the piece and what [he/she] would need to do as a reader to get through it” (76).

I would have to say that the “double-entry diary” is one of my favorite forms for students to put down their thoughts on paper, especially because it easily can be used for any class’ subject. I like that students can extract the quotes that provoked them thoughts or questions and write them down onto a table, where then they would write down their “connection” or question in the adjacent box. From this step, students could get together and discuss their thoughts and findings, “all readers can benefit from the talk of others…they will have the support of the group and can try ideas with others” (pg: 84). On a final thought, I must say that reading this reminded me of these methods being taught to me during my grade school education; I was gaining lifelong skills without really knowing, which is very impressive, and proves that these methods do in fact work.