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About the Author
In my 14 years of teaching experience in the beautiful Napa Valley, I have taught a range of age levels including a 4th/5th/6th bilingual classroom teacher, Intervention teacher and Academic Specialist. While working with the diversity of learners found in every classroom in California, I found myself drawn to supporting students with special needs. Our neighborhood Northwood Elementary School consists of approximately 41% Hispanic, 51% White, 19% English Learners and 41% Socio-Economically Disadvantaged students so we definitely have a diverse population.
When Northwood began implementing a new reading intervention program called “Read 180” in 2009, I knew I had found my true calling. My class is unique because it consists entirely of upper elementary age students who are at least 2 years below grade level in reading. This amazing program combines my passion for reading, helping students clarify and attain their goals while helping them realize their full potential. Now 8 years later, I realized that students in intensive reading intervention programs for more than 2 years can become very frustrated with their lack of progress and ability to “catch up” to their peers. I desperately wanted to find a better way to help them become self motivated readers. This ultimately led me to my driving question of how to use their own personal reading scores, presented in a kid friendly easy to view format, to help provide more effective feedback.
When Northwood began implementing a new reading intervention program called “Read 180” in 2009, I knew I had found my true calling. My class is unique because it consists entirely of upper elementary age students who are at least 2 years below grade level in reading. This amazing program combines my passion for reading, helping students clarify and attain their goals while helping them realize their full potential. Now 8 years later, I realized that students in intensive reading intervention programs for more than 2 years can become very frustrated with their lack of progress and ability to “catch up” to their peers. I desperately wanted to find a better way to help them become self motivated readers. This ultimately led me to my driving question of how to use their own personal reading scores, presented in a kid friendly easy to view format, to help provide more effective feedback.
Reflections on My Journey
TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) was just another unfamiliar acronym to me that we educators love to use. As I learned that it was actually an educational framework to understanding technological integration into our classrooms, I was still confused as exactly how to find that “sweet spot” of an overlap between all 3 areas that I kept hearing about. Wasn’t it enough that my Read 180 students received 20 minutes a day of individualized reading support on the computer? Wasn’t an occasional You Tube video to spice up my lessons enough? I had honestly never felt compelled to keep up with the rapid pace of changing technology because many of the tech tools I had seen just seemed like fancy “bells and whistles” that my students and I just didn’t have time for. It wasn’t until I learned about the SAMR model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redesign) that I could see the impact that technology should have. I have always felt comfortable with the Pedagogical/Content piece of my teaching, but I see now that I was stuck in the Substitution/Augmentation phase of my technology use. As my thinking developed about my capstone project, I wanted to stretch to the next level of how to redesign my goal setting and feedback process using a digital tool. While I still believe that I have not ultimately found that “sweet spot”, at least I am now aware of where my weaknesses lie so that I can continually strive to improve and innovate.
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning Program
I cannot count the number of times over this past year that I thought to myself, “So this is what my students must feel like!” Whether I was grappling with understanding challenging texts (Dervin!!), or spending hours learning about new technological tools, I was constantly amazed at how intense the learning process can be. I feel as though I have definitely walked a few miles in my students shoes because there were many times when a bit of negative self-talk snuck it’s way into my brain, “You can’t do this!” “Why is this so hard for you and so easy for everyone else?” It was only through the positive friendships of my Cohort and the continual positive assertions from our professors that each one of us was on a path that I was able to persevere. I have definitely discovered that my relationship with my students, as well as their peers, is critical. Becoming a student this year has cemented my teaching philosophy statement:
I believe that ALL students deserve a supportive environment where they are encouraged to always continue to grow.
I believe that ALL students deserve a supportive environment where they are encouraged to always continue to grow.
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To read more about my journey, please read my blog or visit my personal website.
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