When I first read the title to chapter four I couldn't help but think about what I call "Testing Season"! It takes place in the second semester. My district wants us to complete DRA testing, NMSBA and then we turn around and the students are taking the MAPS test again! I really make a concentrated effort to not teach to the test (NMSBA), but about a month before the test I feel like I have to start sharing the format and the expectations of the the test with my students. This is when I start feeling a sense of urgency. I always second guess myself about if I should have started sooner, should I have been teaching to the test?
Really this chapter does not cover "Testing Season". It looks more at using your time within the classroom wisely and making sure that you are taking every opportunity to instruct, assess and look at what the students are able to do. She starts out by asking teachers, "What are the top five things we do ensure students become excellent readers?" This is an opportunity for teachers to reflect on what they do in the classroom to help their students in reading.
Here are the top five things Routman (pg. 43) says we should be doing:
1. Demonstrate that I am a reader.
2. Provide an excellent classroom library.
3. Let students choose books they want to read and give them time to read them.
4. Teach strategies students need to know to process and understand text.
5. Evaluate students regularly, giving them feedback and helping them set goals.
Routman then introduces the four phases of learning, which heavily relies on Don Holdaway's principles of developmental and social learning. In each phase the teacher and students are involved. At the beginning the teacher is the "expert" who assists and encourages the students. As the learning process goes on students move from dependence to independence.
The four phases include:
1. Demonstration - "The task or skill being modeled is authentic;that is, it has meaning for and is useful to the learners and its purpose is explained and understood." (pg. 45)
2. Shared Demonstration - "This is the "hand holding" stage; the teacher invites participation while providing explicit demonstrations of and scaffolds fro the skills or tasks being employed." (pg. 45)
3. Guided Practice - "The learners now hold the book or pen and are expected to take charge of their learning, using and applying what was previously demonstrated and practiced with direct support of the teacher and the group." (pg. 46)
4. Independent Practice - "The learners have developed a level of competence and confidence enabling them to do the task successfully with minimal assistance." (pg. 46)
The rest of the chapter goes through each phase and explains how teachers can use their own judgement and expertise to guide students to success. I found this section extremely helpful and refreshing. So much of what we hear in trainings is that we must follow the curriculum as it is laid out and we must not stray or supplement. I find this hard to do! It is too hard to be aware of great strategies and ideas that I have learned from my fellow educators to just read and instruct based off of what my Teacher's Guide tells me to do.
I really like this blog!! It is very interesting to me that they use the four phases. I haven't started teaching yet, so this is all very helpful and insightful for me. I have heard that it is really hard to teach around the tests and to use outside information from the curriculum. I went to a private school which was much less focussed on the standardized testing. It was more of a waste of time than it was a chore for our teachers. The concept of them being so central to our schools is a little foreign to me, but I hear it from every teacher at public schools.
ReplyDeleteTeaching with a sense of urgency does initially make us think of "testing season" and the urgency we feel to cram in all the things we haven't yet covered in the curriculum that might show up on the test. After thinking through this chapter, I understand that Routman was addressing the idea that we not waste any time with teaching activities that will not produce the best results. We need to teach with efficiency and productivity in mind, doing what we know our students need.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate Routman's top five things to be doing and the four phases of learning...important strategies for teachers...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you brought up "Testing Season"...I also try not to teach to the test (NMSBA). Like you I also give students prep time and explanations and expectations. I also feel a sense of urgency. This school year I'm going to try to be more realistic with my backward planning to allow time.
Speaking of tests, a chapter in my book "Illuminating Texts" by Jim Burke devotes an entire chapter to Reading Tests. You've inspired me to post on that chapter.
I'd love to hear from other teachers about test prep and teaching to the tests as well...
As a PE teacher I don't have to worry about teaching to the test and the SBA's. But I see the stress the other teachers go through. I wonder is there a way to teach our curriculum for the test but not focus on the test?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. I found your analysis of the four phases of learning very enlightening. I find in my own teaching that I might be focusing too much on one aspect and not emphasizing others. Finding a balance among these certainly could make my life as a teacher more rewarding (and maybe even easier!).
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