C4T #2

Breaking Education Barriers
A Better Workshop: Jim Knight's Partnership Approach 
June 18th, 2012 
In this post, Annie Palmer talks about what she learned from Jim Knight’s Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach for Dramatically Improving Instruction. The partnership approach helps to make the workshops more interactive and keeps the listeners entertained.   It's purpose is to make memorable connections between all of the people in the meeting. There are six training strategies for Partnership Learning. They are: Thinking Devices, Question Recipes, Cooperative Learning, Experimental Learning, Reflection Learning, and Stories. Some Thinking Devices would be a film, audio clip, artwork, photograph, concept. Teachers would use this type of stimuli to help instigate students to think and visualize the subject matter. Question Recipes are open-ended and nonjudgmental questions that require students to engage in discussions and debates. Cooperative Learning is basically a form of group work. Teams are formed and each member has a certain part to contribute. Experimental Learning involves structured learning activities that simulate the instructional method or other content about which participants are learning. Reflection Learning helps students relate what the have learned to their personal experiences. Finally, Stories are to provide examples and further descriptions for the learning content. This post was full of helpful information. Most of it was meant for trainers who teach training courses and meetings, but it can easily be applied to teaching. It is a wonderful process!
Inspire the Desire to Read, Year Two of Transforming Readers: Basic Reading Block Structure
May 25, 2012
Ms. Palmer's basic reading block is one hour (separated into two 30 minute sections) of guided reading. For the first 30 minutes, Palmer teaches a lesson from Lesson by Design; a mandated district wide reading lesson plan. This plan is modified to fit what her students need to know and what they already know. For the next 30 minutes, students engage in independent reading or small group instruction with Ms. Palmer. The small groups rotate weekly and are used to reinforce the lesson. They are also based on reading levels. Each student has a reading goal of 40 books per year. It's not mandatory that they reach 40 books, but it is pushed as an important goal. Ms. Palmer suggest that students keep books that they are reading or want to read in a bin. This way they spend less time roaming around the class library and more time reading. Each student has a Readers Notebook; a binder that they use to keep track of their reading. They are also required to complete a Reading Response after reading. This keeps them responsible for what they have and makes sure that they are not just mindlessly reading through their book. Her goal is to create life-long readers.
I wish that I had this program in my elementary school. According to Ms. Palmer, her students love this class. She really is contributing to our future by guiding these students to the magic of books. I was never pushed to read as a child. Because of that, I'm not an active reader. If all schools implemented this type of learning, more and more students would grow to love reading. Children are our future. We as teachers, need to make sure that the light that they shine is at its brightest. Students who read more, learn more.