Miscue learning

     My OTSMA went very well overall. I performed the miscue on a girl in my first grade classroom that I visit on a daily basis for practicum. After the miscue I learned that she is also an ELL student, which gave some perspective for the data that I found during the process. My student has a solid understanding of the importance of making meaning out of reading which is a major focus in Miller's text and many of the course readings we have read thus far.

     Through the post-miscue conversation I learned more about my reader's vocabulary. In discussion of "drawer" I learned that the barrier that held my reader back from this word was pronunciation, not the basic knowledge of the word. To address this I would focus more time on the correct pronunciations of words, based on this miscue I could tell my reader has a sufficient vocabulary for the grade she is in, however fine tuning her spoken language will benefit her greatly.

     As for my teacher toolkit I think the main lesson I took away from this experience was to have a back up plan. In the instance where she self corrected a miscue I really wanted to teach her about, I had to quickly implement my plan B by turning her attention to why she thinks readers might make that miscue. This turned out to be a productive conversation, but if I had not been prepared with a back up plan I would have simply breezed over this teachable moment and moved on.

     I also learned not to under estimate your readers. Thinking I knew my readers ability I initially flipped through the book and thought that she would miscue every other word! To my surprise she only miscued 13% of the text (which came out to only 13 words total), and proved me wrong! I embrace a lot of the positive and optimistic outlooks on student reading as seen in Miller and Tovani's books so when she proved me wrong I thought how could I have been so pessimistic about her ability? However during my initial look at the book I took for granted the context clues and illustrations that proved to help out my reader significantly. I also think I was almost hoping for some miscues to work with just because I had heard horror stories about classmates doing miscues and having excellent readers who wouldn't make a single miscue.

     In reflection of me being nervous there wouldn't be any miscues I thought about the readings for this course and Literacy Learning & Teaching I & II. After all of these readings they all still mention that all readers from the best to worst will make miscues eventually, the quality of miscues will vary of course, showing me that I shouldn't be nervous of that for future miscues. If a reader is proficient I could even read certain sentences and have a discussion about how that sentence could use different words and still maintain the same meaning.

     Keeping in mind all I have learned (in this class and previous ones) about miscues I think they are something I would like to have in my classroom. Just as a checkpoint for all the readers in my class to see what meanings they are making, what types of miscues they are making, and to discuss their individual reading process. The beautiful thing is that I think this could be meshed with reading conferences and flow very smoothly, killing two birds with one stone!

Classroom Spaces

     I believe that the classroom environment is an ever-changing location that needs to be welcoming, comfortable, safe, friendly, and accepting. Miller supports this claim that the classroom will grow with the students and that depending on the students, the classroom environment one year may be dramatically different than the previous year. I think that at the beginning of the year the walls of the classroom should be ready to display student work, but also have decorations right off the bat. With 4 blank white walls the students will have no excitement or desire to be in that room.
     The role of the teacher in this ideal type of classroom environment is to be a facilitator and guide. A passage in Miller describes how when a stranger walks in the room it is hard for them to pick out the teacher because they blend in so well exemplifies inquiry learning at work. Obviously for some instances formal instruction is necessary, but blending in with the students will enhance that feeling of an environment free from intimidation in which the students can express their ideas without fear of being embarrassed.
     The Waldorf approach really compliments my belief of the what the ideal classroom environment should be. With the first stage of his learning pedagogy mainly focused on learning through play, hands on activities, practicality, and tapping into the creative side of the students' mind I think this type of learning should definitely be embraced in elementary classrooms. Going back to one of my teaching beliefs, children learn by doing, with this type of curriculum students will grow and learn much more than the students who are subject to lecture formatted classrooms day in and day out.
     Another point that adds to my idea of the perfect classroom environment is the routines and rapport teachers must build with students. Supported in Miller's work and other educational literature, routines establish a much needed structure within the classrooms that students so desperately need. And having good rapport with your students will only further strengthen their feelings of comfortability in the classroom making them more open to your teaching.
     Combining all of these points together evenly and effectively will create the classroom environment that will promote life long learning for all the students. I believe that this cannot be achieved with a quick fix, to facilitate this kind of environment the teacher needs to balance all of these aspects while still ensuring that curriculum is being taught. With enough experience and knowledge about how students learn under my belt I hope to achieve this classroom environment with my own students one day.

Teaching Beliefs (February 2014)

• Students learn by doing.

Not only does my own personal experience support this belief, but from what I have seen up to this point in classrooms supports it as well. Students can memorize, recite, and mindlessly learn anything if teachers are persistent enough. But I believe that even one activity in which students do something, make something, or have any kind of interaction with each other or the assignment is far more beneficial than trying to memorize a list of facts.

• Making meaning out of what students are learning is essential.

Some students may be able to get by without making meaning of their learning, just doing whatever the teacher says because they believe they have to or they will get into trouble, but students really thrive in classrooms that make meaning of the learning. Same goes for any interest the student has outside of school. For example, what inspires a student to practice to get better at basketball? They like to play it, so they want to get better. Any student who is able to make meaning of their learning and relate it to an interest will be more open to learning.

• Establishing a classroom community.

Not only does a classroom community facilitate a sense of belonging in which students can exchange thoughts and ideas freely, but it will also satisfy a basic need all students require to learn efficiently, a sense of safety. No student will learn to their potential if they are too afraid to participate or do not feel welcome in the classroom. A community would break down those walls so even the shyest student can openly converse with the class free from any stress or worrying.

• All students can learn.

No matter what background your students come from or what barriers they must overcome, all students have the inherent ability to learn. I think people who don't agree with this think of learning as strictly academic, which for some students might be very difficult. But learning does not have to take place within academics to be learning. A student who knows extensive bus routes so they can make it home after school, an ELL student who uses symbols to communicate until they have a firm grasp on english,  or a student who knows the difference between right and wrong are all valid examples of learning.

• Student centered learning is very effective.

Giving students more control over their own learning in the classroom setting can be terrifying and extremely rewarding. Going along with learning by doing, by centering the learning around the student instead of the teacher the limits are endless, as opposed to a routine worksheet on the topic that some students breeze through and others struggle with. I think that students will benefit more than they would have thought through student centered learning.