I have found a new appreciation for content literacy. Although, coming into this class I was already excited to learn new things about content literacy, I have learned more than I ever thought I would. Completing the variety of assignments for this class has helped develop a new understand of how to use and teach content area literacy. Through class discussions, continual reflection, self assessment, writing assignments, and reciprocal teaching I have been exposed to many new and useful content area literacy tools. I am looking forward to when I will be able to implement what I have learned in a classroom setting.
As I reflect on the knowledge I have gained I appreciate that there are many areas in which I have grown as a literacy specialist. One area in which I have grown is my knowledge of content strategies. Before participating in this class my knowledge of strategies was limited, and I did not see the importance of preparing students to read, during reading strategies, and reflection or after reading strategies. I have expanded my knowledge of new and old strategies using many resources. For instances, I have updated my knowledge of the K-W-L chart (Szabo, 2006). Although, I have used this chart before I now have knowledge on how to adapt to more appropriately for my students. New strategies that have been introduced to me this semester are the Frayer Model and using a RAFT (Billmeyer & Barton, 1998). All of these strategies will enhance my lessons. I am looking forward to being able to implement these and many other strategies into my profession. The strategies that I have gained knowledge of are great strategies, yet I understand that I will have to modify them to meet the accommodations of my lessons and my students. Szabo, suggests that good readers use strategies to comprehend the important material in a text (2006). As a teacher I am under the impression that many students do not know enough strategies to use them independently, I am glad that I now have the knowledge to pass on to my readers.
Another area in which I feel I have gained an abundant amount of knowledge in is vocabulary. One of my personal theories as a literacy specialist is that I believe that vocabulary acquisition and development play a significant role in being a literate person, without a strong vocabulary base students are unable to comprehend, and therefore unable to understand what they are reading. Creating a vocabulary self-collection strategy assignment during the semester has helped me realize even more so how important vocabulary is. I now have another great strategy to implement to my students to make vocabulary personal and interesting. Also, this assignment as changed my vocabulary knowledge and the way I read. In my everyday life I am looking more closely into what words I am unfamiliar with. Even as I watch television I am interested more so than ever to know what the meanings of new words are. I have found myself using the words that I included in my vocabulary journal, and take personal pride in sharing these words with others. Because word awareness is so important for students, teachers should continue to find new and excited ways of immersing students in vocabulary knowledge (Nagy, 1988).
There are numerous ideas, and suggestions I will take away from this class, many textbooks particularly have helped me to achieve the knowledge I have gained. Billmeyer and Barton’s (1998), Teaching reading in the content areas: If not me, than who, Doty, Cameron and Barton’s (2003), Teaching reading in social studies: A supplement to teaching reading in the content areas, have both helped me significantly throughout this course. I have also suggested both of these books to many of my colleagues, I appreciate the format and explanations of the strategies, which have helped me throughout this semester. Many of the articles presented by my peers during their reciprocal teaching presentations have also impacted my learning. For instance, Gallavan and Kottler’s (2007), Eight types of graphic organizers for empowering social studies students and teachers, have helped me already in my career as a literacy specialist. I have also suggested this article more than once to many of my colleagues. I believe that these texts have given me the understanding to create a balanced literacy approach across content area curriculum and will continue to help me be a better more attentive teacher.
There are many assignments that the class completed during the semester. One of those assignments that impacted my learning in a positive way was the reciprocal teaching assignment. Being able to demonstrate a strategy that my students could possibly use is helpful. Also, focusing on a particular topic such as, before reading strategies was also helpful. My reciprocal teaching assignment demonstrated that although many strategies look great, it is still a important that they are modified to meet the standards of the lesson and accommodate the students. There were many other reciprocal teaching projects presented by my peers that also added to my literacy knowledge.
Another assignment that I felt was vital to my learning in this class was our strategic content area teaching project. This is something that I did struggle with, but it gave me insight into creating a lesson plan as the literacy specialist. In the past I have developed my own unit plans before, yet not to the extent of what we did this semester. This assignment showed that as teachers we must modify information and assignments to accommodate our student’s needs. Also there is a significant about of work to do before creating a lesson. Providing the appropriate and most beneficial textbooks and other resources to our students is very important. Never before had I evaluated textbooks, for readability, but now I see how incredibly important it is. I enjoyed part III the most, creating a podcast was something I had not done before. In its completion I was very proud of how it turned out, and I look forward to using it in the future with my own students. I believe that using a podcast in a classroom is a new and inventive way of teaching and learning and I hope to be able to do complete many of them with my students.
I am confident to say that I have learned many new and important ideas to help me become a better and more efficient literacy specialist. Yet, there is always more information to be learned and new knowledge to gain. For instance, using www.blogger.com was something new I had never done before. I hope to become more internet savvy to help my students learn new technology. I also feel that I am still lacking with my own personal word awareness. I believe that to be an effective teacher I will need to have an immense amount of my own information to challenge my students.
Looking back at the self assessment I feel that I have made enormous strides since the beginning of the semester. I am looking forward to using what I have learned in a classroom and hope to help students become more literate and better readers. The strategies that we learned this semester will help in the future of my career. The textbooks and classroom discussion help to explain in detail why and how these strategies should be used in the classroom. Walking into this class the first day of the semester I was ecstatic to learn how to teach in the content area, I am confident to say that I have learned many useful tools to use with my own classroom.
Resources
Billmeyer, R. & Barton, M.L. (1998). Teaching reading in the content areas: If not me, then who? (2nd ed.). Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
Doty, J. K., Cameron, G. N., & Barton, M. L. (2003). Teaching reading in social studies: A
supplement to teaching reading in the content areas. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
Gallavan,N. & Kottler, E. (2007), Eight types of graphic organizers for empowering social studies students and teachers, The Social Studies. 117-128.
Nagy, W. E. (1988). Teaching vocabulary to Improve reading comprehension. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
Szabo, S. (2006). KWHHL: A student-driven evolution of the KWL, American Secondary Education. 34(3), 57-67.
