I really enjoyed this reading! Tovani's writing really resonated with me!
It was new for me to consider the different content-specific types of reading skills that teachers ought to teach to their students. I know, for example, that I would not be a very skilled math reader or science reader. Numbers that are mixed in with words intimidate me, and charts and graphs make me want to skip to the end! However, it made me think specifically of how I read a Spanish-related text and the skills that I can model mentally for my students as they learn a new language. As I reflected on this, I realized a lot of this has to do with (especially in the first years of Spanish) breaking down the grammar in a sentence to understand the different types of words and what they mean. I was encouraged to think of ways that I'm already trying to do this as I teach my students grammar and as we diagram sentences and have quizzes with scaffolded and increasingly complicated grammar and translations. I think this has genuinely helped my students in their learning.
I was really impacted by the analogy of fitness and as compared to keeping all students at the same level of "rigor". It makes so much sense that some need different things than others, but, alas, (and it seriously feels like this is the conclusion of every discussion or reading I've done so far!) it is SO DIFFICULT to meet students "where they're at" and provide such a a wide variety of texts for students at different reading and comprehension levels. Again, (and I'll probably say it again and again!) differentiation is HARD! I want to continue to try to grow in it, though.
I also really enjoyed reading "Di Tri Berres" and even made my boyfriend try to read it out loud! I love this "simulation" of sorts, and that it helps me to know the frustration that some of my lower-level students probably feel when I ask them to read a text or even a sentence in Spanish! They immediately struggle for context and feel rising panic, probably, when they don't understand it at first. (Like I did!) This helps me know how to better break down the text to help them know how to take it slowly and read it.
I like the idea of text sets, but it sounds very time-consuming. I really want to experiment more to know how to do this well!
It was new for me to consider the different content-specific types of reading skills that teachers ought to teach to their students. I know, for example, that I would not be a very skilled math reader or science reader. Numbers that are mixed in with words intimidate me, and charts and graphs make me want to skip to the end! However, it made me think specifically of how I read a Spanish-related text and the skills that I can model mentally for my students as they learn a new language. As I reflected on this, I realized a lot of this has to do with (especially in the first years of Spanish) breaking down the grammar in a sentence to understand the different types of words and what they mean. I was encouraged to think of ways that I'm already trying to do this as I teach my students grammar and as we diagram sentences and have quizzes with scaffolded and increasingly complicated grammar and translations. I think this has genuinely helped my students in their learning.
I was really impacted by the analogy of fitness and as compared to keeping all students at the same level of "rigor". It makes so much sense that some need different things than others, but, alas, (and it seriously feels like this is the conclusion of every discussion or reading I've done so far!) it is SO DIFFICULT to meet students "where they're at" and provide such a a wide variety of texts for students at different reading and comprehension levels. Again, (and I'll probably say it again and again!) differentiation is HARD! I want to continue to try to grow in it, though.
I also really enjoyed reading "Di Tri Berres" and even made my boyfriend try to read it out loud! I love this "simulation" of sorts, and that it helps me to know the frustration that some of my lower-level students probably feel when I ask them to read a text or even a sentence in Spanish! They immediately struggle for context and feel rising panic, probably, when they don't understand it at first. (Like I did!) This helps me know how to better break down the text to help them know how to take it slowly and read it.
I like the idea of text sets, but it sounds very time-consuming. I really want to experiment more to know how to do this well!
Somthing I've noticed teachers get into the rut of doing is assuming that each student knows exactly as much as you do, even though you're teaching them. Something my french teacher explained during intermediate french 2 (4th semester UT French) is this: "You all are now at about a 5 year olds comprehension level." I couldn't believe it. I'd been taking french for 2 years by then and I could now duke words with a 5 year old?! It really hit home to me learning another language, because I struggled every semester to memorize the vocabulary, have my translations, write the journals, pass the quizzes and tests. Really, *really* struggled.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you noticed how difficult it is for you to differentiate away from your knowledge and bring it down to their level because a *lot* of teachers don't do that, or choose not to, and personally, having been treated that way by many teachers, I don't think it's good practice at all. I'm excited to read that you're refusing to be that way even though it's the easiest way out!