Reading #1: Real world applications and reading strategies

               The chapters from the Wilhelm reading brought to mind several concepts I want to strive to include in my own teaching practices. The idea of giving class content a real world application was something introduced in SED 406 and something I think has immense value. As I prepared for Microteaching II last semester, I realized that the unit I had sketched out for the 1960’s Civil Rights movement lent itself to a project which would involve students taking action to change something about their school. The project would probably ruffle some feathers if the students took it past the planning stage, but I like the prospect of using ideas from the content and having students apply them in the real world. Finding real world applications for every unit in a history/social studies class might be difficult, but, much like the Wilhelm reading suggests, they would likely be of more value and promote further learning than the often forgotten names, dates, and historical facts.

               The chapter on teaching reading was interesting and a little concerning, but it was something I had already put some thought into. The topic of my Microteaching I lesson (if we can put aside how well I taught it), was about how to read a primary document. When I set out planning the unit the lesson came from, it was immediately apparent to me that high school students would not be prepared to analyze the primary documents at the core of the unit and lessons to prepare them were absolutely necessary. These kinds of reading strategies I would be comfortable with teaching, but what concerns me would be students who struggle with basic reading. I do not know how likely it is to run into a high school student that far behind, but it is within the realm of possibility and I am not sure how to handle it. A good example of this took place during service learning when I was helping a 5^th grade student read and take notes. While he could get through the sentences, he was struggling with comprehension. I could help him with how to structure his notes and approve of information he thought was important, but often he would invert or distort a paragraph he had just read when he wanted to transfer it into his notebook. All I could do was ask if he was sure or say I did not think that was what he wanted and try to direct him to where he made his error. I wanted to help him improve his reading skills, but I was not (and am still not) sure if I was helping in this instance.