As I sit here and reflect about my practice over the past few years, I realize I have been in education through many educational fads, a few different curriculum adoptions and a few administrators with different perspectives as to what is the best way of approaching the learning of our students. Yet, what has been consistent for me is the district and school site in which I work. I have been a part of the same community for all of my educational career and this has allowed me to get to know the families and the students quite well.
The SITE Model, is a learner- centered model. After reading this article, it has helped me reflect on different aspects of my students’ learning. This model strongly considers student perspective. It reminds us to acknowledge our learners’ background knowledge as well as their cultural environment. It asks us to consider what motivates and interests them and what tools will enable them to learn them better. As teachers we should all be utilizing the SITE model in our teaching and consider the learner a whole. Teachers must use what we know about our students to adapt our teaching for what best suits their learning. This makes me think about my everyday practice, when I was in a regular classroom set up and now, in my intervention position as well. I always try to prepare everything I can ahead of time, especially when it is a lesson that worked very well. Yet, I never stop to think that even though it worked great with one group of students it may not work the same because of the simple fact that each student is different and each cohort of students is different. Even though I was thinking that by planning ahead I was doing everything I could in order to provide the best learning environment/ outcome possible for my students; I was not truly considering all of what my students bring to the table. Reading this article has reminded me that even though pre-planning does wonder for teachers, it is important to be mindful of each and every one of my students and use what I know about them to create a lesson that is student centered and truly authentic for them. There is yet another thing that continues to pop into my head when I reflect on my reading of the SITE model. Most, if not all districts have a pacing guide that teachers must follow. Many are told to follow this pacing guide with fidelity, but is that the best option, when we must take all of our students’ learning styles into consideration and view each learner as a whole?
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The audience I want to address the remaining two semesters are my colleagues, particularly those in the lower primary grades. I feel like the teachers who are delivering guided reading lesson every day in their own classrooms, will benefit a great deal from the research I have completed so far in our program.
I continue to struggle a bit with knowing and fully understanding how my Capstone project is supposed to look. Yet, even though I am not completely sure of what I want my end “resource”/ Capstone project to look like I now that it might involve the use of different strategies and possibly guided reading lesson formats. I’m not sure if I would be able to directly link the guided reading curriculum that I researched. When considering the past reading, I know my Capstone must include visuals and tools for teachers to use with students in order to assist them in bridging the gaps in their learning. I must also consider how adults learn and the different components of an Instructional System Design. |
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May 2018
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