Blog # 1 Teaching Literacy: A Shift in Philosophy
I spoke with a teacher who has
taught at my school for about twenty years.
She has seen literacy instruction move from being developed almost
completely by the teacher to being tightly scheduled and often times
scripted. She has adopted elements of
both in her philosophy of teaching literacy.
When she began, there were no curricula
used for literacy. Teachers used the
reader’s workshop and writer’s workshop formats and created their own lesson
plans based on students’ needs. Literacy
instruction was also heavily integrated into other content areas. There was no schedule to follow, beyond
arriving to lunch and specials at an appointed time. There was even recess!
By seven years ago, instruction had
changed tremendously. Reading was taught
in a ninety minute block. A detailed
schedule, developed by a consultant of the district, outlined what was to be
taught from the reading curriculum each day.
Students also received an additional forty-five minute reading
intervention. All of these were scripted
programs, to be followed exactly.
Teachers, including the teacher
with whom I spoke, balked at the restrictive nature of the new schedule. They disliked and disagreed with the absence
of teacher-made decisions, the constant data meetings, and lack of freedom to
focus on student interests…But our CSAP scores went up. Dramatically.
We went from a school on the brink of being closed down or taken over by
a charter to being considered a school of average performance in three years.
Both of
these teaching experiences have influenced her philosophy of teaching literacy.
Our students are almost all English
language learners and over ninety-five percent come from a background of
poverty. They start school at a
disadvantage. It is essential that we utilize
the time we have with them effectively.
She has come to appreciate the scope and sequences used to ensure
teachers are meeting the state standards for each grade level. The scripted interventions have been
successful. The scripted, consistent,
language helps our English language learners more easily focus on the content
of the lessons. Instruction that is
guided more by student interests and observed student needs is used during
writer’s workshop. This is when teachers
and students get to show their creativity.
The teacher I spoke with believes in doing what works for children. The children she works with are more
successful in a highly structured environment.
