2019-2020 Impact Literacy Achievement - Grade 5: Course 9
Section: INST20200105Summary
Commnets
Strengths:
Responses: 19"There was some great learning happening. I feel I understand more where some of the gals are in my class."
"Lots of encouragement to start the process... realistic, humble honestly regarding phasing in... not made to feel inadequate because one is just beginning the process and not eating the whole elephant at once! Excellent presentation style(s)."
"The PD was perfect in the sense that the district is using best practices and NOT a curriculum. "
"Great to know and “see” what research says is an effective way for students to learn to read. "
"The information was great and I can implemented in my class. "
"Will be good to have this in k-2. "
"Some great ideas were presented "
"--This session brought learning similar to the K-3 sessions, bringing some consistency across the grades --The opportunity to process material with my team --The opportunity to see some of the routines in action "
"Instructors were passionate about their subject. Great job! "
"The instructors' knowledge was fantastic. Staci and Amber did an amazing job."
"Good background information."
"The instructor was very passionate about the content and presented it in an engaging manner."
"Good background and overview. Thorough knowledge of content. Specific practice with routine."
"N/A"
"95%!!!!!!"
"There were good strategies presented to be used with our students."
"Good opportunities to share thoughts/ ideas/ and how this will apply in our classroom. Good information on the background behind this. I appreciated how the instructor modeled the routine and then had us practice it as a group. Great job!"
"Reading is first!"
"Instructor was upbeat and positive. "
Suggestions:
Responses: 14"Less time on complaints... That seems like it could have been individual rather than whole group. I really wanted to get to morphology. Also possibly make videos of the routine in each grade level group to show how the routine could be used with the wonders curriculum. That would be so helpful."
"This was very overwhelming in the time that 5th grade was given. Since 5th grade is not used to "teaching" reading but we focus more on "learning from Reading", it would be helpful to have more than one day. "
"Would have liked to have gotten into the actual strategies to teach a little quicker so we had time to learn more and practice more. It felt like a lot of material for the amount of time we had."
"Another day of training will be very beneficial."
"Understanding that many teachers what a balanced literacy approach in our school system and not just a science approach. This is not in your wheel house necessarily but as a district, we need to find a way to help our pre-k students become more prepared for kindergarten. Young kids need to be read to everyday and this does not happen for a variety of reasons. Let's also try tackling this issue as well."
" --Show us the big picture and then the parts. We need to see what phonology, orthography and morphology are, need to see what each routine can look like in our daily instruction and we need to see how teaching those foundational skills fit into the bigger picture of reading and pacing of instruction. We seemed to run out of time at the end and don't have a clear picture of all three areas for our intermediate students look like and have a clear understanding of what we are being required to do. --Please make sure there is time to practice the routines as a learner experiencing them and as a teacher using them. You talk at us so much that we run out of time to see it in action, experience it and then practice with colleagues. --PLEASE make sure the handouts include EVERYTHING, including the daily pacing and especially the scripted routines. We need that scaffolding as we are learning this new way of teaching! --If we are going to use direct instruction routines at all levels, all levels need to see the same Anita Archer videos and hear about the different kinds of practice. We don't have anything to hang our understanding on--why these routines look so "primary" and why this methodology is a way to teach. "
"I think this was a good introduction, but I feel like I need more information. I would like to learn more about the connection to the purpose of what we were learning. For example, sentence segmenting...I know how to do it, but I don't really understand why. I am not clear on what the students are learning at a 5th grade level. How is it affecting the brain? Knowing these things would help me to implement it in the way it is intended. With so much emphasis on decoding, I can definitely see the value K-2, but worry that this is a step backwards for our strong readers. I would like to see the decoding part in the older grades be more about meaning- understanding roots and affixes in addition to pointing to a vowel and saying the word. I can see how decoding words can help all students to become better spellers and readers- I would just love to see the meaning of words being emphasized. "
"Although it was good to hear what some teachers thought of using the subject matter in their classrooms, I would have preferred to stick to the agenda and learn about the morphology subject. We were told at the beginning that it was the most applicable to our grade level but it only got about 10 minutes at the end. I feel like we got shorted because of some people. It seems they could have been held for a conversation after the class."
"More support with the daily routine that is expected to be used in the classroom. Time to coordinate Wonders with this kind of instructional routine."
"The material is better suited for an intervention or remedial model rather than a one-size-fits-all literacy program. The content was entry-level nuts and bolts with no scaffolding or differentiation included to work toward higher level thinking or to accommodate the needs of advanced and gifted learners. I asked the presenter how the program can be modified to differentiate and did not receive any helpful feedback."
"The support offered will be good. Perhaps posting a video or two of how this occurs in the classrooms or videos of routine being modeled would help some of us."
"N/A"
"This is such a huge topic, that one day doesn't really do it justice. I think (and imagine and hope) that there is more training coming, and this isn't just a fly by training. This is so broad, that teachers will need much more training and support to implement effectively. "
"The curriculum needs to be finished before trying to get everyone in the district to implement it in their classrooms."
Questions:
Responses: 10"What words are we to use? Are the coaches going to align this best practice with wonders? How will this connect with Unit plans if Wonders is NOT the only resources we use? "
"Can Valley teachers have an opportunity to train for the K-1 info?"
"Wondering how important it is for all teachers to use the same tpr with the routine. It didn't seem as intentional with 5th grade as with the younger grades and I wonder if this was intentional."
" None"
"Exactly what are we supposed to begin with in our classrooms?"
"--Why are we only hearing two or three researchers' perspectives? --What is the big picture for where this foundational skills piece of the puzzle fits in with the other 4 areas of reading instruction? I know we are working to get many holes filled for our students, but what also should instruction look like across the board with all the pieces? If we spend so much time on this, we have to give up something else. --Emergent, beginning readers look very different from readers who have developed or are developing proficiency. A k-2 reader has different needs. I recognize the importance of orthography and morphology at the intermediate level, however those readers need MORE, especially at SBA tested grade levels. "
"I am highly concerned that impACT is going to kill the joy of reading for those students who are already reading at a high level. The presenter said she wishes to eradicate all "read to self" literacy stations across the country. My question is why the district is being forced to adopt a program that does not meet the needs of all our learners and is in fact discouraging reading for fun based on students' free choice?"
"About how to differentiate for students who get things after 1 or 2 exposures."
"N/A"
"What are our next steps? I feel a little overwhelmed on where to start. "
Comments:
Responses: 15"I appreciated the teaching and positive talk."
"Pace of the day and the team teaching approach went very smoothly and made the entire day enjoyable. Looking forward to more time together!"
"I left feeling overwhelmed. Im not sure how this fits into my day. I like the concept but now I have to plan for wonders, my school unit plan and now figure out what words to use. "
"Thanks for doing an engaging class using humor."
"Thank you!!"
"I was surprised at how much of the material seemed familiar from work we did in the 80's. I was a bit put off right from the start when we instructed not to share this--made it seem like the goal is to have it be a money-maker eventually. It seems hard to imagine differentiating when it is whole-group instruction. "
"See above"
"Would like to see this woven into the curriculum rather than a 30-60 minute stand alone block. I would also like to have strategies to differentiate at the 5th grade level. "
"It would have been nice to have all the handouts in one packet rather than scattered throughout three of them. I also felt like we should have gotten some concrete material to use with our class. It seems like I need to create things to use and it would be nice if it was created for us. I'm don't think I have the time to dig deeper and create a sequence of how to teach this. The background information was amazing tho!"
"I left this training discouraged, angry, and wondering how to fight the institution of the impACT learning initiative. I feel that many of the pieces of the program can be used as useful tools for the tool belt when interventions are called for, but do not think this is a positive direction to go to encourage excitement and celebrate the success of competent and higher level readers. I'm sad to see our district focus on the lowest rung of entry level skills when so many students are ready to soar. This is a step in the wrong direction in my opinion."
"One of the underlying assumptions seems to be that everyone's brain is the same, and although brain processes occur in the same fashion usually, brains still are all different. "
"N/A"
"I felt disrespected by the way the instructor spoke to me. Additional materials are needed in order to feel that we have what we need to teach this content effectively in the classroom."
"We spent so little time on what many of felt was the most useful for 5th grade students....the morphology of words. I can see that being the most beneficial to the majority of proficient readers"
"I'm disappointed that 5th grade teachers were so reluctant..."