I am looking forward in getting started in setting up a Reading Program at my school.The school is in need of a school's reading program as our students are not performing well. If you have any suggestions on what I can do, you can make a comment on my blog.

Frustrated Lesson Planner

I am truly facing my true test in this course which is the writing of the lesson plans. I am trying to write my lesson plan and it seem like I am not getting anywhere with my lessons.
I am sure about the content of reading but I am not sure about all the things I can do with the different Web2.0 tools. I have several problems. I am not sure about what the different tools can do and also what I can do with the different tools. The only tool that I seem to be sure about is the e-book.
I am frustrated in planning my lessons. I have never felt so worn-out by anything in my life. It is probably a good thing because I am praying a little harder to get through this last stage of the course successfully. I would like to get some suggestion on the usage of the various web2.0 tools.

A Feeling of Success

I must say that my favorite class for the entire course was when we had to make an E-book. It did capture me and sustain my interest throughout. In the other sessions, at times I was frustrated because I did not quite grasp the use of the technology .But in the session on E-books; I understood what I had to do. I was so eager that I decided to start it at home. To my realization I did not have many pictures in my clipart. I eventually create my E- book which to me was my greatest accomplishment in this course.
I must say I feel that it can be a good tool for working with Struggling Readers. Students who Struggle with Reading need to feel a sense of accomplishment in reading, in order for them to persevere at reading. I feel the use of e-books in the teaching of reading will help them feel that sense of accomplishment that will in turn motivate them to read

Thanks UWI !

I would like to thank the University of the West Indies for having Dr. Conrad lecture on it takes a village to raise a reader and a writer. Many at times when children do not succeed in reading and writing, no one wants to take the blame for their failures.
But, aren’t we all responsible for kids success or failure? Therefore we all need to be responsible, and fulfil our duties to our nation kids. Because when they fail the blame will not be one person’s shoulder. We all will have to shoulder the responsibility. So in the words of Dr. Conrad it takes a village to raise “A reader and a writer.” We are all villagers in that village and we need to fulfil our role as villagers in that village. We all have to collaborate to ensure all kids become capable reader and writer.

The Way Forward

Many have been debating whether it was a good move by the Government that all the children who sat the Secondary examination and pass should be given a laptop. I am happy that our students will be joining student in other countries who have been using their lap tops at school to support instruction for a number years.
But, I have a couple questions that I would like to get your views on concerning the use of laptops in the classroom. Will there be training for teachers who lack the technological and pedagogical knowledge in implementing programmes that infuse technology in teaching and learning? Will there be technical support staffs attach to schools to guide the teachers along the way? What role the leadership of the school will play in planning and implementing such programme? Will assessments match new literacies expectations so as to motivate our teachers in the frequent use of the technology?
I would like to get your views.

Ebooks and the Struggling Reader

Ms. John is trying so hard to help Jaston with his reading. All that she tried seem to be in vain as Jaston still struggle with his reading. She was about to have tea when she heard a knock on the door.
Ms. John: Who it is?
Betsy: It’s Betsy.
Ms. John: Oh gosh! She muttered to herself as she open the door.
Betsy: Girl, let me tell you this. I was reading this article on eBooks and I said to myself that this can help Jaston with his reading. The article said that e book is great for students to create their own story which will definitely motivate them to want to read. It will help the child in learning skills such as main ideas and sequencing. They will be able to have a greater connection to the text as the text is prepared by them. Ebooks also utilise animation in the story and sound effects which makes the story more interesting and thus motivate the struggling reader to read. The child can better tract the print and get visual representation of the story.
The fabulous thing about it you can make use of PowerPoint. I know that just using power point will peak your interest as your school do not have internet. I know by the way your eyes are open that you are definitely interested but you will have to read up on it to get more information. I recommend that you read the article in the reading teacher2007 –Created electronics books: Integrated technology to support readers with disabilities. Also you need to check the web for other information on eBooks. Remember to bookmark any useful information that you get on the web.
Bye.
Ms. John: Thanks Betsy and see you later.

The Benefits of Using Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking as an educational tool in the classroom will help teachers in the planning of instructions as less time will be spent navigating the web to teach a particular lesson. Also Forbes (2004) has noted that web based book marking as a component of instruction allows teachers to provide and present students with high interest meaningful reading material from the internet.
Social Bookmarking also help in internet safety because the teacher will preview the link before students are given access to the given links. Because of the quick save access to site, teachers can design lessons that meet multiple standards and multiple students using one activity. The students have more time to work on given projects and homework as sites are book mark so they will not have to spend time searching for sites to help them get their work done. Pupils and teachers can even switch computers and still gain access to their bookmarks.
Social Bookmarking helps pupils to collaborate with each other as they share bookmarks. Social Bookmarking sites can also help students get updated information on site.

Reference: Forbes, L. S.(2004) Using web -based bookmarks in k-8 settings: linking the internet to instruction.The ReadingTeacher58(3)p148-153. doi:10.1598/RT.58.2.3

Leading Our Kids

Our kids are living in a world of online interaction for which they currently have few learning context or models. It is up to us as educators to prepare them for the challenges of using new technologies. In order for us to prepare students to use technologies effectively, we first need to embrace these new technologies in our practices.
We can do so by preparing our students to read, write and edit their way through online networks by making these literacy’s part of the way teaching and learning take place in the classroom.

Good Teaching Practice

It is great to have lecturers who are willing to have students evaluate the course to see what improvement that they can make in order to better the course in the future and also how best they can deal with problems face by us as students. I congratulate you all on being model teachers for us as classroom teachers. Such evaluation help in making you better teachers because you are better able to meet the need of the set of diverse learners in the Information Communication Technology course.
I also ask myself how many of us as classroom teachers ask our students for feedback on how we can better deliver the curriculum to meet the diverse needs of learners in the classroom. If we do the percentage may be relatively small. I see the use of some of the Web2.0 technology as helping us to get our students evaluates us as teachers. It gives them the opportunity to share things that they will not feel free to do so in front of us as their classroom teachers.
It could definitely work to our advantage in the way we prepare to meet the needs of some of our students. How many of us consider that the problem that some of our students may be having is due to our teaching styles? How many of us evaluate ourselves as teachers, ask our colleagues to evaluate us or even our students so that we can improve as teachers. I will really like to get your views on this topic.

Using Concept Mapping To Teach Literacy

I am happy to say from the group presentations I was able to see how concept Mapping can be used to teach various aspects of reading. Thanks to the group which did Concept Mapping in Literacy in Mrs. Mahabir-Cletus class which did a remarkable job in presenting the use of Concept Mapping in the teaching of Literacy.
They were able to cover many areas in which teachers can use Concept Mapping to teach Literacy such as Vocabulary, Comprehension, Phonics, Writing etc. I like how they were able to give suggestion in the use of Information Communication Technology in teaching the various stages of reading. The presentation thus gives me a better understanding of the use of Information Communication Technology in the teaching of reading.
I just want to thank the group on literacy and all other groups because all presentations were meaningful and I did learn a lot from all the group presentations.

Parental Involvement

As a teacher I find that parents seldom visit the school to find out how their children are doing academically or otherwise. I will find them visiting the school at the end of the term to collect students’ report books. Fifty percent of the time they are busy on these occasions because they have to go to work, visit the grocery or some other errant that they have to do.
As a school we need our parents to be fully involved in their kids’ performance and therefore we need to create avenues to encourage parental involvement. In the article strategies for engaging parents in home support of reading acquisition by Sharon Darling from International Reading Association (2005) she dealt with research that shows where parents and teachers partner together to support their children reading and academic performance and in such partnership students who performed below standard did exhibit demonstrable gains.
As teachers we want our students to strive to be their best. We always need to seek out ways to get our parents involve in students academic performance at school. I see the use of blogs and Wikis as tools which can be use by teachers in helping parents to be active in their children school life without having to make frequent visit to the school. Such web2.0 tools open avenues for parents to receive correspondences from school, projects that students have to do, know when students have home work and other related activities that will help them better understand what is taken place in the classroom.
The only problem with this is that all parties must have internet access and be willing to use it for such purpose.

Collaborative Learning

Recently I read this article in the Annual Edition Critical Reading in the content areas on improving young adolescent literacy through collaboration. The article dealt with how schools can use collaborative learning to get students to share their thinking, engage discussion and solve various types of problems. The writers’ also highlighted research done by Johnson and Johnson (1991) and Slavin (1995) which show that students involve in collaborative learning situations score higher on achievement test than other methods.
The article also dealt with ways in which collaborative learning benefits students such as improving self esteem, motivate students, built positive attitudes and a decrease dependence on students and many more benefits.
I decided to talk a bit about collaborative learning because I am not a strong individual in using the technology so I need the guidance of others to get me along the way. Sometimes it can be a bother to some when you need to constantly ask how to do something even if they may not say so. In the group assignment on creating a concept map I did understand the creation of the concept map better and even learn a little more from my peers who were a little more verse so I felt more at ease in doing the concept map and I felt that I benefited so much more in working with the group than if it was left up to me to create the concept map on my own. The level of accomplishment that I now feel would not have been possible if left to work on my own. I am a strong believer of collaborative learning in various subject areas not only reading so that our students will feel a bit of success.

Don't "fraid" it use it

Many of us as teachers are hesitant to engage in using technology because we are afraid that our kids are more knowledgeable than us in using technology.We shun away from using technology in our teaching so as to make our lessons more meaningful and enjoyable for our students. According to Gee and Levine (2009) teachers must transform their classroom and their teaching but, like the students they serve, they need scaffolding to change and grow.
The Ministry Of Education in the setting up of a number of training programs in Information Communication Technology (ICT) during the holidays have realized that teachers need the relevant training and scaffolding in order to fully implement ICT in the classroom. I do hope after the training that teachers will implement what was taught in the planning of lessons so that they will be some form of transformation in the setting of the classroom for teaching and learning.

The need to blog.

Blogs help students to interact with each other even outside the classroom thus creating opportunities for students to be self motivated and to engage in reading and writing tasks in new and innovative ways. It helps all students to be at ease in performing reading and writing activities as they are given opportunities to express themselves freely. It helps students who are learning new languages to communicate easier with their peers. Students also have time to collaborate with their peers and share their work with each other and such collaboration also leads in the development of positive self esteem and values. Students can be very creative,expressive and responsible in the use of blogs. Blogs also remove the technical issues so students have avenues to put more in the content in writing so as the material when read by the reader will be more meaningful.

Why I am a Reading Specialist?

My name is Lynette Bobb. I have been a primary school teacher for more than ten years. I enjoy working at my school. The atmosphere is welcoming and the children do encourage you to go out everyday to do your best I am also a mother which I feel is one of my greatest accomplishments.

I have been observing the students at my school are not performing as expected in literacy and the problem usually get worse as the children move up in the standards . Many of the teachers do try to assist these students but are unable to do so because they lack the advanced knowledge that will help them to effectively do so. Many of our students as a result of the problems they are facing in literacy are not performing as they should. I felt that I was not equip to help children in the way they needed and as a result I felt that I needed some form of training to do so effectively.

I was truly happy that the then Government of Trinidad and Tobago felt that there was a need to offer a master in reading so as to help teachers to be better able to assist all stakeholders in the advancement of literacy at both the primary and secondary schools. I was happy to be chosen on the programme because the knowledge that I will gain from the programme will not only benefit me in the future but all stakeholders that are involve in the school community as we work together in helping the students move from the level at which they at and advance to new levels in there performance at school.