Monday, November 28, 2011

My Students Made Me Proud Today

Today I started my official student bench marking in reading by administering the Fountas & Pinnell reading assessment.  I feel as though I have a pretty good idea of where my students are reading at because of the reading I do with them, the books they are taking home for home reading, and the many conversations I've had with them.  But there are still things I'm curious about despite having all this data.  By administering this "official" assessment I feel as though I gain "authentic" data which can be compared across all grade levels in our school (we all have access to this assessment kit).   It also helps confirm for me, what I think I already know.

Today I worked with five students.  I was not surprised to see that they tested out pretty much exactly where I thought they would test out. What did surprise me was the number of strategies that I've taught them this year that they are using while reading.  One student made a prediction about the story as soon as I read her the title.  Another was inferring as she was reading, showing me that she was obviously using her brain.  One of my English Language Learner (ELL) students understood everything she read in her story, until the story pattern changed because a skunk entered the picture.  She has no prior knowledge on skunks but instead of reading on, she stopped and asked me to tell her about skunks.

It's moments like these that make me really proud to be a teacher.  Have you ever experienced moments like this? I'm curious to hear how your students have made you proud.

1 comment:

  1. I was googling about education and stuffs and I ended up here in your blog. Even though this was written years back but I am inspired by your blog. I am a very young teacher but I love teaching alot and my students often inspire me to be a better teacher. :) good luck in your teaching life!

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