This field experience for my Reading Disabilities class was unique in the fact that each of us were assigned a student who was receiving Title I intervention for reading. Throughout the semester, we would come in twice a week for half an hour each session and work on reading skills with these students. In class, we would discusses successes and challenges we faced and would help one another to come up with a game plan to help each of our students. This field experience truly stretched me to get to know my student on a deeper level. Through establishing this relationship, I was able to figure out where the student was experience disconnect while reading.
According to diagnostic assessments I was given, my student had difficulty with comprehension. Upon meeting my student, I found that this was not the case. My reader was actually having difficulty tracking while reading. This led to skipping lines, losing their spot, and making up words on the page. Through a series of games and through the creation of their very own reading tracker, the student was able to increase their fluency, comprehension, and overall success while reading.
Throughout the semester, I created a binder that organized the data I collected on the student, as well as kept track of their reading progress each week. I especially found keeping record of their success in hot and cold reads of a fluency passage to be extremely helpful. I took this data further and created a chart for the student to see and track their word count per minute (WCPM) each week. The student would fill in the chart and was able to visually see their progress each week. This helped to motivate them to read with more accuracy, as well as to really listen to what they were saying aloud. Often times, I would have to repeat what was said aloud and ask the student if it made sense or not. By doing this, the student was able to realize their mistakes and correct it before moving on. I also used the Neurological Impress strategy to help build my reader's confidence while reading aloud. By reading aloud along with them, they were able to feel more confident because I acted as their safety net.
Overall, this field experience challenged me to really find the root of the reading problem the student was experiencing. It also allowed me to create my own curriculum. I decided what we did eat week, which allowed me to tailor my instruction to what interested my reader. I also learned from this that keeping accurate records helped me as an educator to monitor student progress and see if what I was implementing was successful or not. Finally, I learned that at times success is not instantaneous. For these readers, their problems were not easily solved in a couple sessions with a pre-service teacher, but rather slowly and steadily over time through rich, meaningful instruction.
According to diagnostic assessments I was given, my student had difficulty with comprehension. Upon meeting my student, I found that this was not the case. My reader was actually having difficulty tracking while reading. This led to skipping lines, losing their spot, and making up words on the page. Through a series of games and through the creation of their very own reading tracker, the student was able to increase their fluency, comprehension, and overall success while reading.
Throughout the semester, I created a binder that organized the data I collected on the student, as well as kept track of their reading progress each week. I especially found keeping record of their success in hot and cold reads of a fluency passage to be extremely helpful. I took this data further and created a chart for the student to see and track their word count per minute (WCPM) each week. The student would fill in the chart and was able to visually see their progress each week. This helped to motivate them to read with more accuracy, as well as to really listen to what they were saying aloud. Often times, I would have to repeat what was said aloud and ask the student if it made sense or not. By doing this, the student was able to realize their mistakes and correct it before moving on. I also used the Neurological Impress strategy to help build my reader's confidence while reading aloud. By reading aloud along with them, they were able to feel more confident because I acted as their safety net.
Overall, this field experience challenged me to really find the root of the reading problem the student was experiencing. It also allowed me to create my own curriculum. I decided what we did eat week, which allowed me to tailor my instruction to what interested my reader. I also learned from this that keeping accurate records helped me as an educator to monitor student progress and see if what I was implementing was successful or not. Finally, I learned that at times success is not instantaneous. For these readers, their problems were not easily solved in a couple sessions with a pre-service teacher, but rather slowly and steadily over time through rich, meaningful instruction.