There were a few key points that I want to remember:
- Any assessment is only as good as the instruction that comes from it.
- We are all required to grade assignments and calculate cumulative grades for report cards. I just don't want grades to be the focus. I want my students to see that they each have strengths and weaknesses as readers, that they are all growing. We don't have "good readers" and "bad readers". I want them to have more of an intrinsic motivation and a growth mindset.
- Don't teach curriculum. Teach Kids.
- Okay, I'm not throwing my curriculum out the window here. I'm actually blessed to teach a really great literacy curriculum, Good Habits, Great Readers. What I do want is to assess my students' reading more often and to focus my energy on what they truly need. These sound great in theory but as it turns out, can also work in practice.
- Use curriculum goals/strategies, but put them under CAFE headings. If something is not on the menu, add it.
- Let your assessment drive your instruction.
- I will continue to teach my Shared Reading lessons the same, but I want to put my kids into strategy groups, instead of traditional Guided Reading Groups because:
- Strategy groups can be truly fluid and flexible. Kids don't have to read with other kids who are at their level but can be grouped with anyone else working on the same skill. They don't have to wait till we finish a book to change groups.
- Students are more engaged because they are reading a book of their choosing.
- I can teach what they need, when they need it. I can use my assessments to help me decide what to teach, instead of using the curriculum to decide when to teach things.
- Kids anchor their learning when they help create things. If I fill out the CAFE Menu cards and hang them up, I'm the one who will remember the CAFE. If the students do it they remember it, and you can write their names on it so that they each are an expert at a strategy and can teach it to others.
- Students need short bursts of instruction (no more than 10 minutes) regularly. According to research, this is the longest that they can successfully use the top part of their brains.
Again, these are things I had learned, but I had no idea how to put them in place. Now I do! I can't wait to get started!
If you haven't read these books yet, you really need to!
http://www.the2sisters.com/
Any CAFE advice? This is so new to me! Do you still do Literature Studies or read a novel as a class together? After this conference, I feel pretty convinced that those things are not best teaching practice, but I've always enjoyed them. However, my enjoying something does not mean I should do it with my class. I need to look at best teaching practices and methods. What works?
