I am just a small-town country girl through and through. I grew up on a farm near Broadview, Saskatchewan. It was there that I learned the importance of determination, perseverance, and hard work. Upon graduating from high school, I moved to Saskatoon to begin studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Like many typical university students, I took Arts classes my first year with no clue of "what I wanted to be when I grew up". An old band camp friend introduced me to the Department of Music and an idea was born. I would be a band teacher! Although I graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, I only taught band for 1/2 a year. Since then I have taught at several different schools in a variety of different classrooms. My last five years was with Grade One students. I can't believe I'm admitting this so publicly, but in the beginning, I was a horrible teacher! It wasn't until after I was able to participate in some very intense professional development that I grew to be a reflective practitioner and a really fantastic teacher (even if I do say so myself). For two years I was able to participate in Balanced Literacy Training with the Edmonton Public School Board. As a result I began reading more widely and actually reflecting on my practice. To make a long story short, I would have to say that is the reason I am back at university pursuing my Master's Degree. I started asking questions and looking for answers, finally feeling like I too am a learner. This is my 9th of 10 classes. I have taken the course-based Curriculum and Instruction route with a focus on Reading. Wanting to share all I've been learning, I accepted a position as a Reading Consultant with the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council. The majority of my time is taken up by Balanced Literacy training. Following a two-year professional development model, I inservice, demo and coach in seven First Nation Schools.
If I had to pick one distinguishing characteristic of the serious professional it would be self-reflection. I don't know what balanced literacy is . Our division is using a "guided reading" program which attempts to have students on individualized reading programs at a level that optimizes their learning and satisfaction. It sounds good, but the jury is still out. How does the balanced literacy work and has it proven effective?
ReplyDeleteAlan Bishoff
I was obliged to choose a profile and have no idea of the correctness or significance of my choice.
Balanced Literacy is a spin-off from Cunningham's four block model. The broad components are Working With Words, Reading, and Writing. In each of these areas, children move from supported to independent learning. For example, Read Aloud offers complete reading support, Shared Reading offers scaffolded support, Guided Reading ensures that students are reading at their instructional levels, and during Independent Reading, the teacher provides materials the children can choose and read on their own. So you can see, Guided Reading is only one small part of a Balanced Literacy Program.
ReplyDeleteOne really important tenet of Balanced Literacy is that students will receive direct, explicit instruction that is multi-level to meet the needs of all students. Modeling, think-alouds, mini-lessons and demonstrations, are vital to this approach.
They key to the success of the program lies in its Professional Development model. The teachers participate in two years of intensive training where a consultant provides monthly inservices, demos, and coaching. I can't say enough about how important this component is. How many inservices have you been to where you are so excited to try a new strategy you have learned, get back to the classroom and attempt to give it a go, and cannot remember a thing? In this model, an inservice is followed by the consultant demonstrating the strategy in your classroom with your students. The consultant comes back the next month to "coach" the teacher through a similar lesson. It's fantastic!
Proven success? From personal experience in my classroom and in the schools I work in, I'd have to say yes. The last year I was in the classroom and collected data from the Grade 1, 2, and 3 classrooms, more than 80% of the students were reading at, or above Grade Level. That's huge considering the challenges that these students have. I believe the results of Balanced Literacy practices are also showing up in our "Division" wide WIAT II testing. If you really want "hard" evidence the Edmonton Public School Board keeps great stats that show the effectiveness of the programming for more than the past 10 years.
(not sure about choosing a profile either-I chose the only one that didn't prompt me for user account info)
I like the consistency between the method for teaching students to read and the method for teaching teachers to teach students to read.
ReplyDeleteMe too! ...and I believe that is what makes the program so successful.
ReplyDelete