LATOCHA READ 6360 Final Portfolio

Standard 5 Literate Environment  Understand the role of routines in creating and maintaining positive learning environments for reading and writing instruction using traditional print, digital, and online resources. During my experience student teaching in the eighth-grade, my student teacher did a great job of showing me the best way to structure a classroom and use all instructional time to my advantage. When working with students of all ages, I quickly realized that only doing one activity the entire class period is not a beneficial way to keep students engaged the entire time. Instead, teachers should break the lesson into different activities to make sure students have an equal balance of interacting with each other, reading, writing, and participating in creative and critical thinking skills. I also found that when students’ minds are kept busy trying and doing different things, classroom management as a whole becomes much easier to manage. Students who are busy wo...

Standard 4 Diversity ·          Provide differentiated instruction and instructional materials, including traditional print, digital, and online resources, that capitalize on diversity. How does a reading or experience challenge you socially, culturally, or emotionally? Why does it challenge you or capture your attention? Before explaining my personal experience in teaching differentiated instruction with an online resource, I want to first comment on the importance of reading and how it has broadened both myself and my students’ cultural, social, and emotional perspectives. During my time in the classroom, my students have been introduced to a variety of projects and readings that include, but are not limited to, Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue,” which discusses the importance of how language shapes and defines a person, short stories such as “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of an Hour,” which discusses feminism and society’s rol...

Standard 3 Assessment and Evaluation Administer and interpret appropriate assessments for students, especially those who struggle with reading and writing. Analyze and use assessment data to examine the effectiveness of specific intervention practices and students responses to instruction.        While completing courses in the Reading Specialist Program, many projects, assignments, and student interactions have focused on how to differentiate instruction, find engaging content, learn the theories behind reading instruction, and assess student development. Teachers can conduct student assessment in a wide array of ways, from simple observations and teacher journals to standardized testing. During a research assignment, I found an article from Edutopia that provided a lot of insight on how teachers should view and interpret data. Rebecca Adler, in her article “Three Ways Student Data Can Inform Your Teaching,” argues that teachers should create a ...

Standard 2 Curriculum and Instruction Provide appropriate in-depth instruction for all readers and writers, especially those who struggle with reading and writing. Before developing a more in depth understanding about instruction for students who struggle with reading in writing, I had to practice following several different IEPS in my general 11 th grade English classroom. Many of these IEPs instructed general educators to complete simple tasks, such as “give the student more time to complete work.” “Allow the student preferential seating.” “Break assignments down into smaller steps,” and “read assessments out loud.” Although these are all beneficial accommodations, anyone who has experienced teaching in a classroom with a variety of learners knows that differentiation is more difficult than just checking off the guidelines on an IEP. In many cases, I found myself monitoring the students that struggled by giving the class bell ringers about a topic we covered in the prev...

Reflection #1 Standard 1: Foundational Knowledge Analyze classroom environment quality for fostering individual motivation to read and write (e.g., access to print, choice, challenge, and interests). Prior to my experience in the Reading Specialist program, my knowledge of student engagement and motivation was rooted in personal experiences with students, field experiences guided by the Fairmont State University Education Program, seminars that I have attended through the National Writing Project, advice from veteran teachers, and my own literacy development. When stepping into my first classroom as the certified teacher, one of my biggest goals was to engage students in a way that made them enjoy reading and writing. I did this by cleaning out my room of all clutter and re-organizing it to look new, fresh, clean, and comfortable. Even though I teach 11th grade, I added a carpet and decorations that made the classroom feel more welcoming. I also read through the Collectio...