STRUGGLING READERS: What is your position?
Secondary school teachers perpetually complain that many students cannot read and write adequately to respond to the core curriculum subjects. The primary school teachers also complain that they are unable to teach some of their students to read because of learning disabilities, lack of family involvement, a crowded curriculum, to name a few of the reasons. However, this blame game does not eradicate a very present problem involving students who have withdrawn from instruction and display inappropriate behaviour in the classroom.
Earlier this year the Ministry of Education through the University of the West Indies, embarked on a six-day Reading Workshop for Standard One teachers from approximately fifty-five schools. The purpose was to assist these teachers to deal with the problem of struggling readers at an early age. The digital structures of the twenty-first century formed part of this professional development; and teachers were encouraged to make use of cell phones, computer games and e-story books in their instructional practices. They were also exposed to a variety of ways in which they could digitally connect reading and writing for their students, such as using student keypals to send e-mail messages to each other and publishing students' work on the Internet on a school home page.
The technology allows teachers to create new learning experiences for their students, through audio and electronic books that can help develop in them that passion for reading. These books promote phonemic awareness as a way to introduce letters and sounds, while bolstering fluency, the ability to follow print. By building reading comprehension, this technology becomes an especially useful tool for struggling readers. Therefore, what every teacher needs to do now is resolve to become a teacher leader in technology and create opportunities of hope and possibility in every teaching situation.
References:
http://www.reading-strategies-hrlp.com/teaching-reading.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5823997_use-audio=books-classroom.html
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ReplyDeleteHi Gwyn,
ReplyDeleteI too, believe in the importance of using technology in the classroom. I believe that all teachers should be exposed to the use of technology in the classroom. Don’t you think that it’s a pity that this EDRL course doesn’t really focus on the applications of the technology for literacy in the classroom? We sometimes find ourselves merely speculating about their imagined uses. I feel that this flaw limits the potential of a course of this nature. I think that someone like Dr. Conrod, a professional in literacy, would have done us well with a few guest lectures. Anyway ten points go to the Ministry of Education for their efforts.
No one will dispute that we need to become a teacher leader of technology but many of us are still grappling to understand the technology. We first must be able to use it before we can implement it for our charges and other member of staff. Although this course is providing us with some training, I personally feel that I need more training in using the technology. I am practicing what I learnt but there is so much more about technologies that I need to know. I do try out new things with my kids and I definitely will use what I learnt in this course in implementing my lessons.
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