Final

In response to 'creating the culture' in my room, I feel very strongly about projecting a positive atmosphere. I want my students to feel confident and capable of doing the work. I have a poster in my room that says "Think you can...Think you can't...Either way you're right." Next to it is a poster that says "I think I can!" I've talked with my students about "can't" being a word we don't say. In order to achieve this, I regularly let my students know that I am there to support them. If they are showing signs of distress because of struggling with a skill or something we are reading, I have them stop for a moment and remind them that we will work it through together.
I am interested in the comments made by Robert Marzano (p. 114) about giving students your BEST (Belief, Encouragement, Support, Time). All of the students I am working with are struggling readers. I know that some of them are self-conscious about their difficulties with reading. I try every day to build each of them up. I point out things that they are doing well, and help them work on things that they are having problems with. I make sure that each of my students get multiple opportunities to answer questions. I expect all of them to work and participate in our groups. If any of them have difficulty with something we are working on, I may have another student help them with the answer, but I always come back to that student later in the lesson to review.
I have some strategies that I would like to try very soon with my reading groups. First, I will write a letter for myself to envision what I would like to have accomplished throughout this year. Then I would like to have my students write vision letters to imagine what the school year has been like for them. I think this will be a very positive goal-setting experience for all of us. I know that it will take quite a bit of support since almost half of my students are in the first grade, but I think that even at six years old, these students have goals they would like to accomplish. Writing the goals down should make students more likely to focus on achieving those goals.
I would also like to utilize the RAFT strategy. We have reading programs that we use, but I think that this could be incorporated into the writing portion. Giving struggling readers and writers a specific purpose and audience should help them narrow their focus. If students practice writing this way, hopefully they can transfer the skills they learn to other writing assignments.
I wish I had heard of the Guide-O-Rama when I was a classroom teacher because I think it is such a fantastic idea. I still plan to use it in my small reading groups. My students can really benefit from the modeling of the thought processes. I like the fact that you can take readers through a selection step by step, while giving them some independence. It is a great way to encourage metacognition. I am excited about the ideas I have gotten from this book. I think that I can take these and really make a difference with my students.