Response to Chapters 6 and 7

While reading the assigned chapters, I was particularly struck by some of the information that I read about in Chapter 6 on page 209, more specifically the reasons that are suggested for why some students become dysfluent readers. I've always valued the knowledge of what not to do as much as what should be done because it gives me some more information that can help me self-monitor myself so that I don't end up falling into any of these traps.

I actually remember the last method mentioned happening to me during my own education and I hated it. I don't doubt for an instant that my teachers believed that they were being helpful, but it was frustrating and often unsettling to always be interrupted and then corrected as though I could never have figured it out myself and it never really helped me as it basically would go in one ear and out the other unless I played some role in deciphering the word. On top of that, it can be very embarrassing for the student to have to constantly be told the correct answer, especially if it is being done in a group reading session with their peers. In my experience, if a child is given time, then most students can work out the answers for themselves and they will likely remember the answers better because they worked for them.

It is, of course, also important to be certain that students are usually reading books that are on their reading level, as the author of our textbook mentions as the first reason for why some students suffer with fluency. Fluency is best gained through practice, especially by having the student practice on already familiar material as is mentioned on page 210 of the text because this will allow the students to focus less energy on decoding words and more energy on their fluency. Plus, if students are constantly reading books that are far too difficult for them then they are likely to become frustrated, which can lead to the second method mentioned in the textbook, which is that students might do less reading and, for this reason, might not show much improvement.

Of course, that the books might be too difficult for the students is only one reason why students might be resistant to practice. There are many, many reasons why a student might not wish to read and, since practice is so vital to improving fluency, this can be a serious barrier to overcome. As a result, I feel as though, when this issue is encountered, our first job as teachers should be to try to identify the cause by talking to the student and, if it really becomes necessary, by asking the parents for the reasons why their child might be unwilling to read. Once the reason is identified, then it can be confronted head on and hopefully solved so that the student is no longer so resistant to the idea of reading. Despite how simple the concept sounds on paper, I very much doubt that the process itself will be simple, but I think that it would be worth it if it would help the student in the long run.

This website appears to have some handy looking strategies to aid in improving a student's fluency and this link to the Reading Rockets website, which I've mentioned previously, has a number of links to fascinating articles on the topic of fluency.