Week 3

I only got to do one day of guided reading this week due to the holiday. I introduced these cards to him that I was really excited about. I found them in poster sizes on another teaching blog and then shrunk them down to be laminated and put on a ring as cards. They are different animals describing characteristics that "good readers" do. The main two that I am focusing on are "Rocky the Raccoon" and "Jabber the Reteller", who is a parrot. Rocky the Raccoon visualizes as he reads (he has black markings around his eyes making him look like he has on a mask) so that he can be like Jabber and retell the story to me when we're through. He really likes the cards. I'm going to give them to him to keep after our tutoring is finished. They've been really great reminders for him as he is reading; I can see myself implementing them in my own future classroom. We also have made it through all of the second grade Dolch Sight Words. He is no longer struggling with any of them. I will begin with the third grade Dolch Sight Words next week. We completed an anticipation guide for the guided reading book on Tuesday. I had four statements from the book that he reviewed and marked as true or false. Then, as he read the book, he would stop and say "Hey! That's true! I was right!" I was so happy that he was making the connection that he had just read that statement. 


We had a little milestone in RTI as well this week. I had Campbell attempt to complete his story map on his own on Wednesday. He did it all on his own! I was so proud of him. I don't think that there is anything that I would change at this time. I was so fortunate to be placed with Campbell for tutoring. My lessons are intriguing to him; I never have to do anything drastic to draw him back in. And, on top of everything, I can see his improvements. He is more of a risk-taker when deciphering strange words, and he is more confident in his answers to questions.


As a future teacher, I find that one of my strengths is being able to form a connection with the student(s) that I work with. I enjoy being able to form some sort of a bond with Campbell and know what sorts of things appeal to him so that I can plan the most effective lessons for him. I think that I am calm when explaining things, as well as good at talking to him in a way that makes him feel comfortable to take risks when learning new skills. As far as my weaknesses go, I think that one would be my pacing and attention to time. I understand that is something that I will master over time, but it seems to be a difficulty in some of my guided lessons. I can never tell if he will need a lot or a little amount of time to read the book for the day, which is the cause of most of our time constraints. Luckily, the RTI days go a little faster, so I have extra time there to complete the cumulative project pages that we didn't get to on Monday and Tuesday. 

Week 2

My guided reading lessons are going so well. My student is always in good spirits each morning. It makes me happy to see his willingness and readiness to learn. I have been much better with timing activities for our lessons. Sometimes what gets us hung up is the actual reading of the book. When it's the first time reading it, he gets nervous and gets hung up on more words. He also takes lots of time analyzing the pictures on every page before he begins reading, which I think is so great (especially because he does it on his own). When I "quiz" him on our vocabulary words when we're walking down at the end of each day, he gets nearly all of them correct. The ones he doesn't remember are easily recalled once I give him an idea that reminds him.

I still haven't needed to make any changes to my lessons based on my student's need. He is gradually improving, and I am seeing the sense of pride in his face every day. RTI days are going well also. He is nearly at the point where I don't even need to assist him when completing his story map for the day. The graded passage is going better. He is getting more and more words correct while reading, and his comprehension is improving as well. I'm excited to begin another week with my student!

Week 1 Reflection

Something that I need to work on during the rest of the semester to improve my ability to teach reading would be to pace myself during lessons. I need to master the task of knowing when to move on to the next task. My plan is to set aside an amount of time to spend on each particular activity. When I do that, I will know how quickly or slowly I need to go through certain things. My first day doing this in my guided reading lesson went alright, but it seems that during my RTI lessons I finish quickly. However, this allows me to get caught up on the cumulative project.

So far, I haven't needed to make any changes based on my student's performance. I need to work better at making notes as the lesson progresses. When I begin writing notes, I find that sometimes my student has to wait on me to finish. I don't like to keep him waiting. I need to make sure that I write in shorthand and then go back at the end of the lesson later. I'm feeling pretty satisfied with the way this week went.