I now have a better grasp of some of the challenges that struggling readers face
I now have a better grasp of some of the challenges that struggling readers face as they learn after finishing the case study of working with a specific child. I came to understand that struggling readers are not just sluggish learners; there is a medical reason for their condition. According to Cortiella & Horowitz (2015), a kid with dyslexia has trouble reading quickly and ends up skipping most of the words in a sentence, making it difficult for them to explain what they have read. Furthermore, I understood that some of the children who experienced reading difficulties were a result of minimal brain dysfunction (Heward, 2012). Struggling readers face several issues as I came to realize after working with an individual child. One of the primary problems of these children is the inability to fluently and accurately recognize printed words (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2013). Another issue that I evaluated was that these students face problems in recognizing pronunciation patterns hence they are unable to pronounce words in a sentence.
Influence to Future Practices as a Teacher
My understanding of the problems of the struggling reader enhanced my view of the teaching practices that are currently being used. I identified some shortcoming which makes it difficult for struggling reader to progress together with other students. First, I noted that unlike the belief, reading difficulties is a major problem affecting up to 10 million children which accounts to 10 percent of the total number of children in the United States (Drummond, 2012). As a result, in my future practices as a teacher, I will introduce different teaching methods so that I can accommodate the learning process for a struggling reader. Therefore, I propose that future practices of teachers should involve personalized interaction with the students to understand their reading behavior and ways to help them.
New Strategies to Implement as a Teacher
My working with the individual students provided me with new strategies to implement as a teacher that would benefit struggling readers. The first approach that I would implement is creating a learning environment which will make the students feel relaxed and comfortable. Creating a friendly environment will enable me to help the students to reduce anxiety and fear which at times contributes to poor reading behavior. Additionally, I would implement strategies that would motivate students by focusing on the issues and areas which the reader will be interested in learning. A motivating learning setting will act as an incentive to ensure that the readers are constantly interested in the reading materials provided and that distractions in the environment are eliminated. Lastly, a new strategy that I would implement as a teacher is the multi-sensory program which involves the use of more than one sense in learning (Trezek & Meyer, 2015)
Resources to Use as a Literacy Teacher for Students with Reading Problems
As a literacy teacher for students with reading problems, this case study provided me with an opportunity to understand the various problems faced by these students and how they influence their reading ability. As a result, I found some new resources which I believe would be helpful in teaching students who struggle with reading. One such resource is the Informal Reading Inventory. It creates an informal setting for the learning process which makes the students feel more relaxed and comfortable. The Informal Reading Inventory can be in the form of games which provide the student with a prize for completing a certain task. Such a resource will give the students the incentives that will help them to be more motivated to improve their reading abilities so that they can get the prize and move to the next level. According to Lapkin (2014), involving play in the learning process is a key in enabling the creation of brain pattern and pathways which facilitate recollection processes. Therefore, the project aided me in finding new resources by understanding the main issues that these students face.
Enhance to Teaching
By studying an individual student in-depth my teaching abilities were enhanced in that I identified the specific problems that the students encounter during the learning process. While working with an individual student, my understanding of the different learning processes among students was improved. Moreover, I learned that there were different types of students in every learning environment, i.e. those who understand and learn reading quickly and the struggling readers. As a result of this in-depth understanding of children learning processes and behavior by studying the individual students, my teaching abilities were better enhanced in that I was able to know various ways to deal with the different types of students.
Avoiding Grouping all Struggling Readers in One
After working with the individual student, I realized that every child is unique and their cognitive abilities differ. While struggling learners may have the same issues, I believe that the differences in the cause of reading problems make it difficult to determine the group which a struggling reader belongs. Therefore, placing students in one classroom is counter-productive because the teacher can't fully address the individualized needs of a student hence particular children might seem to remain behind in the class. An ordinary class groups all students in one box while in reality the classroom contains various students with various needs (Weaver, 2015).
Need for Differentiated Instruction
The different learning process by the student that I observed made me think on the need to have differentiated instruction for various students. The cognitive abilities of children differ, as teachers we should be able to acknowledge this fact and provide each student with instruction sets that are at par with their cognitive strength. According to Common Reading Problems (2015), by providing the same set of instructions to children with reading disabilities and those that do not make the struggling readers feel inferior and affect their learning. Therefore, I think that children with reading problems should be provided with a different curriculum that suits their needs and abilities.
College Preparation to Effectively Conduct and Write the Case Study
My coursework in school helped me in my preparation to conduct and write the case study in two major ways. Firstly, my coursework provided me with the relevant teaching theories and information which helped me in analyzing and understanding the learning process. Consequently, by employing the various teaching theories that I had learned as part of my coursework, I made observations on the student which helped me to conduct the case study effectively. Secondly, through my coursework, I was able to gain critical analysis techniques which help me in critically analyzing the case study and the various teaching methods available. As a result, I wrote up my analysis of the case study effectively.
What to Do Differently?
Following my reflection on the work that I did on the case study, I think there are several situations which I will handle differently. Firstly, before conducting the case study, I will observe the individual student and determine the things which he seems to be interested in such as games. Another thing that I would do differently is the type of subjects which I would engage the student in reading. In my initial case study, I provided the student with various subjects according to the curriculum. The student seemed interested in some particular subjects while he would pretend to be tired and quickly lost his interest and concentration on other subjects. Therefore, I would focus on subjects which are interesting for the student for helping him remain focused while he is developing his reading abilities. Lastly, I would provide the student with flexible time so that he does not remain in a learning environment for a long period such that his interest begins to dwindle. Therefore, this reflection paper has provided me with insights on how to handle the case study effectively and to produce the best-desired outcome.
References
Common Reading Problems in Children. (2016). Gemm Learning. Retrieved 14 November 2017, from http://www.gemmlearning.com/can-help/reading/programs/reading-problems-age
Cortiella, C. & Horowitz, S. (2014). The state of Learning Disabilities (1st ed., pp. 43-50). New York: National Center for Learning Disabilities.
Drummond, K. (2012). About Reading Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, and Reading Difficulties. Reading Rockets. Retrieved 14 November 2017, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/about-reading-disabilities-learning-disabilities-and-reading-difficulties
Heward, W. (2012). Characteristics of Learning Disabilities in Students. Education.com. Retrieved 14 November 2017, from https://www.education.com/reference/article/characteristics-learning-disabilities/
Lapkin, E. (2014). Understanding Your Child’s Trouble With Reading. Understood.org. Retrieved 14 November 2017, from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/reading-issues/understanding-your-childs-trouble-with-reading
Rosenberg, M., Westling, D., & McLeskey, J. (2013). Primary Characteristics of Students with Learning Disabilities. Education.com. Retrieved 14 November 2017, from https://www.education.com/reference/article/primary-characteristics-students/
Trezek, B. & Mayer, C. (2015). Using an Informal Reading Inventory to Differentiate Instruction: Case Studies of Three Deaf Learners. American Annals Of The Deaf, 160(3), 289-302.
Weaver, B. (2015). Informal Reading and Writing Assessment Ideas. Scholastic. Retrieved 14 November 2017, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/informal-reading-and-writing-assessment-ideas/
