And in a bit hotter hell on earth as a literacy coach or coach supervisor. On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 7:03 AM, Ljackson <[email protected]> wrote:
> That would be nice except...our teachers of literacy have all had (or are > having) the opportunity to participate in a year-long literacy class > focusing on balanced instruction. Our teachers have unbelievable summer > training opportunities. We have coaching support available in all > buildings. Teachers are supported in opportunities to observe. These > opportunities are carefully undertaken, with an opportunity to visit before > and after with the teacher they will observe. The visits are facilitated by > our coaching staff. Lack of training is not the issue for most of our staff. > > I realize how gloom and doom these two posts sound, and I don't mean for > them to be so. We have a number of teachers, a significant number, who are > simply doing amazing work with students. But after seeing Regie Routman at > N CTE this year, I am pondering her comments. She said, basically, for an > underperforming school impacted by poverty to see systemic change, 90% of > staff members need to be 'on board' with changes in literacy instruction. > That remark hit so deeply home with me, as we are so far from that 90% mark > in nearly all of our buildings. > > This year, under new leadership at the district level, the district is > exploring that issue of who is responsible for implementation and for the > first time, that conversation is going beyond the teacher level. All of > this makes me potentially giddy and terrified--I know that under different > circumstances, as in replace balanced literacy with a prescribed same-page > literacy program, this could be my own idea of hell on earth as a teacher. > > Lori Jackson > District Literacy Coach and Mentor > Todd County School District > Box 87 > Mission SD 5755 > > ----- Original message ----- > From: djchan <[email protected]> > To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group < > [email protected]> > Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 7:50 AM > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] RTI > > > Lori, > > > > To me, that sounds like insufficient training in literacy. A teacher may > not > > need to be 'on board' with the program, but they should definitely be > using > > appropriate and research supported teaching methods for literacy. If they > > don't, then whose responsible for the training that they should have > > received to make them effective literacy teachers? I have seen this in > the > > school system I retired from and it was a lack of training. However, that > is > > not to say that there aren't teachers who will deliberately sabotage a > > schools program because it requires them to move from their comfort zone > and > > they don't want to. I think your key phrase was 'effective teachers' and > my > > question becomes how did they become effective teachers and the others > > didn't? And what needs to happen to help the other teachers become more > > effective in their literacy methods? > > > > > > Deidra Chandler, NC > > MA Early Childhood Ed > > MA Reading > > MultiSensory Structured Language Intervention Tutor > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Ljackson" <[email protected]> > > To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" > > <[email protected]> > > Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 8:23 AM > > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] RTI > > > > > > > The 80% mentioned here probably refers to the RtI pyramid, in > > > which--ideally--80% of the student population have their needs met > within > > > the regular classroom and are performing within acceptable ranges in > terms > > > of grade level expectations. To me, this implies that the first step in > > > beginning an RtI program is to carefully examine curricular practices > but > > > it does not follow that there is necessarily a prescribed or correct > > > single means of doing this. Like Kelly, our district feels that > balanced > > > literacy and a general pacing guide for unit study will support > teachers > > > in attaining this goal. I do see, however, a danger in my own district > in > > > seeing this approach damned and dumped because we are not seeing the > kinds > > > of results one would hope to see. As much as I am nervous about the > > > bantying of the term fidelity, I think Kelly has hit the nail on the > head. > > > We have ample evidence to show that children in classrooms where > balanced > > > literacy practices are honored under the orchestration of effective > > > teachers, children are making excellent progress. The issue we have to > > > grapple with is this. How do we begin to address the issue of teachers > who > > > aren't, for lack of a better term, on board? I can say that the > majority > > > of these teachers are implementing their own brand of instruction that > > > looks much more like traditional basal instruction than any direct > > > instruction program I have reviewed. > > > > > > > > > > > > Lori Jackson > > > District Literacy Coach and Mentor > > > Todd County School District > > > Box 87 > > > Mission SD 5755 > > > > > > ----- Original message ----- > > > From: Kelly Andrews-Babcock <[email protected]> > > > To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group > > > <[email protected]> > > > Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 6:56 AM > > > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] RTI > > > > > >> Oh my, how scary! I'm not sure what you mean by 80% requirement for > RtI, > > >> are you talking about implementing RtI up to 80%? Anyway, we were told > > >> that if you do not have a "program" that whatever your core curriculum > is > > >> will be fine as long as it's being implemented with integrity and > > >> fidelity. Our core curriculum consists of guided reading, shared > reading > > >> and independent reading. However it does not look the same in every > > >> classroom nor the same at each grade level. > > >> As a coach my job has become interesting in assisting grade levels to > > >> meet expectations. We also formulated some pacing guides for reading > last > > >> year which has helped us stay on track. I'm not sure I'm answering > your > > >> question here... > > >> Kelly AB > > >> > > >> On 12/16/08 5:05 PM, "Beverlee Paul" <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> > > >> Help!! I've been told that the only way a district can meet the 80% > > >> requirement for RTI is to adopt a direct instruction program as its > core > > >> curriculum. Please--those of you out there that still use balanced > > >> literacy, how do you fulfill the RTI requirement? Thanks. BP > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Mosaic mailing list > > >> [email protected] > > >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > >> > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > >> > > >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Mosaic mailing list > > >> [email protected] > > >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > >> > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > >> > > >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Mosaic mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > [email protected] > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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