Entry 7. Thinking About Fluency

When reading the fluency chapter and article by Rasinski (2014), there were a few major things that stood out to me. One of these things was the concept of reading stamina. Many of the basal reading programs that students are provided with only have short 15-minute stories. While these stories can be great to help students reading experience, students are not being pushed to read for longer periods of time (Tompkins et. al., 2022). This is not only because of their shorter length, but also because students may not be as interested in the topic. Allowing students to choose their own books that they are interested in will help them engage more with the text and want to read more, therefore building their reading stamina. 

A concept from Rasinski (2014) that I found very important was the relationship between comprehension and word recognition. When it comes to reading, there are two essential cognitive tasks that need to happen - word recognition and comprehension (Rasinski, 2014). This is important to recognize because as humans we only have a limited amount of cognitive power, and so if we need to use cognitive energy to recognize and decode words, then there is less cognitive energy to comprehend what those words mean. Therefore, we cannot expect students to be able to comprehend what they read, even if they knew all of the words, if they were unable to read it fluently. I think a lot of times this concept is overlooked and teachers feel as though if a student is able to read a passage they should know what it means. Reading this portion caused me to reflect on my own experience as a reader. There have been several times in my academic journey that I was able to fluently read a passage, and I knew all of the words used, but I still wasn't able to find meaning in what I read. This thought caused me to reflect on Muhammad (2020) and her discussions on background and identity. If students are unable to have background knowledge and connect to the readings, they may struggle to or even be unable to find meaning in what they read. Therefore, we cannot expect students to comprehend and interact with a text if too much of their cognitive energy is being spent on trying to decode the words or find purpose/meaning.

References

Rasinski, T. (2014). Fluency matters. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 7(1), 3–12.

Entry 6. Treating Speech as an Object

Prior to reading chapter 4 from the book by Tompkins (2022), I had a very surface level understanding of phonics, phonological awareness, and ways that it can be taught. While reading how to develop phonological awareness, one quote in particular really stuck out to me. "Phonemic awareness requires that students treat speech as an object, to shift their attention away from the meanings of words to examine the linguistic features of speech" (Tompkins et. al., 2022). This stood out to me because it presented another way to consider and view the steps to literacy and being phonetically aware. When we think of literacy, we often spend a lot of time focusing on the meaning of a word or words in a sentence. While it makes sense, it is a much different way to think that we must first see the word "dig" as its parts, /d/ /i/ /g/, before we can understand it as its meaning, breaking down something and moving it. 

In the Yopp (2000) article, there was another quote that held a lot of meaning. "Furthermore, teachers must recognize that while sensitivity to the sound basis of language supports literacy development, it is also an outcome of literacy experiences. Therefore, to overemphasize this component of literacy instruction in the initial years of schooling is to limit children's opportunities for more comprehensive literacy development" (Yopp, 2022, p.132). This quote caused me to reflect on many of the past articles we have read such as Kucer (2015), Muhammad (2020), and Cline & Neccochea (2003). Each of these readings touched on the importance of considering and acknowledging students' previous experiences. Kucer (2015) also discusses how ignoring students previous literacy experiences limits their literacy development. Muhammad (2020) and Cline & Neccochea (2003) all show the importance of giving students credit where it is due, creating experiences for them to excel in, and how different experiences can cultivate the genius within different minds. All of these points from the different articles helped me reflect on the different experiences of my previous classmates, current students, and even myself. Thinking back I can see where much of the curriculum was based on students with lives similar to mine, whereas some of my classmates may have been left behind by the exclusive material. This quote also relates to many of Tompkins' (2022) points on differentiated and balanced instruction. By incorporating their different methods for these types of instruction, more students will be reflected in the curriculum and reactive to the instruction.

Throughout our class discussions, we each have shared different parts of our literacy journey. While many of us shared similar experiences, others are different. One of our classmates didn't even notice the aspects of CRT she missed out on until we learned about it in class. Our different experiences show the different paths to literacy and how aware we must be of our students' and their identities so that they are not limited. 

References

Cline, Z., & Necochea, J. (2003). My mother never read to me. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 47(2), 122–126.

Kucer, S. (2015). Literacy: Varied, dynamic, and multidimensional. Journal of Family Strengths, 15(2),

Yopp, H. K., & Yopp, R. H. (2000). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom. The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 130–143. https://doi.org/10.1598/rt.54.2.2

Entry 5. Dear Dr. Jones...

 Dear Dr. Jones, 

This year has been off to a great start. I wasn't quite sure what to expect coming into my first semester of grad school, but I now see it is very similar to undergrad but with less class time and more outside work. With that being said, I am really enjoying my classes. I expected my classes to dive into diversity and the importance of having an inclusive classroom, but I never expected for it to be embedded in all of my courses and all of the work. Also, before my time at Naz, I had never heard or culturally/historically responsive teaching, and looking back I'm not too sure a lot of my classes incorporated its aspects. In your class, however, I am able to not only learn about CRT, but also experience it through layered texts and class discussions, along with personal reflections. Since being introduced to Muhammad, I have found a new excitement for teaching and reflected more on what my role means for and to my students.

These self reflections have also caused me to become aware of my own literacy habits. For example, at the beginning of the semester we were introduced to the SQ4R method. The method made me realize how many more ways I could think about and interact with a text. Taking the time to write active notes and develop questions starts a conversation within myself that further dissects the text. Doing this made me realize how little my previous habits encouraged me to dive deeper into material.

I feel like I am in a good place going into the second half of this semester. While there are certainly things that I need to work on, like time management, I am proud of myself for where I am. Can't wait for the second half!

Sincerely, 

Adeline