Jennifer, I have witnessed the phenomena of struggling readers who exhibit amazing thinking and problem solving skills. I've often wondered about this, and my thinking runs alonside yours. Perhaps the repeating decoding, word estimation/substitution, etc. serves as practice? I had a student this year who reads at a first grade level, at best. Yet he is the quickest at finding elegant solutions to problems of all kinds. They are unique, succinct, simple, and easily understood. He can find solutions to most math problems without using a pencil (he has dysgraphia, and writing is a major struggle as well.) I put him in charge of a small group of struggling second grade students who were reading at a slightly lower level that him. We called it Boys Book Club. He and I would work on a picture book together, and plan lessons for "his boys." It was amazing to observe him teaching them. Not only was he extremely patient and gentle, but he actulally started learning some of the concepts for the first time! The 2 boys he was working with were very motivated, they wanted to be associated with him at any cost. Their teacher reported greater gains than when they worked with the reading specialist!
I agree with you about teachers fearing criticism from their peers. Teaching has become a very competitive profession, what with the high stakes tests. We really need to collaborate more and learn from each other, practice what we preach, so to speak. We also need to be willing to accept incremental change, and allow time for change to happen. Joy/NC/4 How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
