Learning from the Pros: How to Teach Reading Effectively

Funded Aug 1, 2018

I was so heartbroken when my original professional development was canceled, but Donor's Choose gave me the opportunity to transfer my funds to a different professional development for the same cost! How INCREDIBLY excited I was to be able to attend the Get Your Teach On (GYTO) conference to learn from THE very best in the education world! I could not have had this amazing experience without your help!

The weeks leading up to GYTO were so exciting, but arriving in Charlotte on Sunday, October 8, and checking in to the event was so surreal! After check-in, I waited in line for a meet and greet with Wade and Hope King, authors of one of my favorite books (The Wild Card) and a dynamic teaching duo at Ron Clark Academy (RCA). Before the conference started on Monday, October 9, I happened to run into Deanna Jump who had fueled my passion for teaching first grade and when I turned around, I bumped into Amy Lemons who is an AMAZING second grade educator and dear friend of Hope and Wade King. I had recently purchased Amy's "Magic of Math" for my second grade students in order to hype up our math time, but she also has several reading tools available! I was also able to meet Lanesha Tabb, who recently rocked my world in regards to integrating cultural and global studies into my reading lessons.

The conference was FULL of: Ideas for engagement strategies such as room transformations; transitions songs and attention-getting chants; ways to incorporate meaningful technology to keep students who are absent up to date on material learned at school - as well as helping parents better understand how content is being taught; meaningful STEM connected to content areas; how to address multiple intelligences within the classroom through arts (music, art activities, etc.); and engaging activities for vocabulary, literacy comprehension, and math computation. Amazing ideas for teaching social/emotional well-being and brain breaks were all brought to the table as well.

I knew going back to my classroom, I wanted to do "all the things," but baby steps are important. Choosing one or two things and doing them well before incorporating additional things is key, so I chose the two easiest things: Morning Choice and attention-getters:

Day One back in the classroom, I ditched daily Morning Work and surprised kids with tubs of Legos, dominoes, and Play Doh and told them to "play" (a strategy explained by Adam Dovico, a principal in Winston-Salem, NC and former RCA employee). My students were so incredibly excited (as pictured)! They couldn't believe I was just letting them PLAY! Afterward, I surprised them: "You WERE learning..." They stared at me, shocked. "Huh? How were we learning, Mrs. Webb?" One student, bravely, spoke up and said, "We weren't arguing. We learned how to share and take turns." Another student said, "We used manners and said, 'please' and 'thank you.'" I smiled and said, "You learned how to collaborate - work together - and communicate - talk to each other. Those are BIG things that grown people still have a hard time doing." One student said she was going to start getting out of bed earlier so she can come and play with her friends first thing in the morning! I can see that attendance will be affected by this one small change in our day!

Additionally, I implemented only two attention-getters my first day back. One was a call and response: "Shark bait! (Ooh, ha ha!)" (from "Finding Nemo") and a rhythm clap they had to listen to in order to respond. They LOVED it! It took several tries, but listening skills improved and by the end of the day, they had both almost perfected. They knew when they heard either one, they had to stop and listen -- and they DID! Classroom management has never really been an issue for me; however, this was a FUN way to show expectations.

I look forward to implementing the vocabulary strategies gleaned from Amy Lemons and Hope King next week and I'll continue to teach Social Studies through Reading, but with a little more gusto thanks to Lanesha Tabb. I will be forever grateful for this opportunity. Thank you for investing in the lives of my second graders -- and all the students I'll have in the future!”

With gratitude,

Dr. Webb