Chapter 10

"No longer will the one-day workshop with no follow-up be sufficient (International Reading Association, 2005)." P.161


Thank Goodness for that statement!! I'm so glad the reading association finally declared this and realized the importance of teachers working together to help our children become more literate. Teachers need time to discuss, reflect, develop and implement ideas from these workshops. A one day deal has never been sufficient and I'm thrilled that they are finally realizing it. I think the importance of literacy development has been highlighted in most school districts over the past couple of years and they are trying to make necessary changes. Unfortunately this continues to happen too slowly! At first I think it was because of administrator’s lack of knowledge about literacy but now I think it is lack of funding. Districts need to have several reading specialist/reading coaches in their building to work closely with teachers to close the gap for these struggling readers.

"As literacy coaches visit teachers' classrooms, they establish themselves as part of the classroom milieu." P.162

I would embrace the idea of having a reading coach in my classroom, unfortunately not all teachers will. I think MANY teachers would be reluctant to have someone coming into their classrooms observing and suggesting changes. I think the administrators could ease the tensions amongst the reading coaches and teachers by selecting a coach that is an experienced, exemplary teacher. Someone who is a natural leader and can be extremely flexible and can work well with many personalities. I think the reading coach position can be a huge asset to a school if the administrators find the right fit for their building.

"According to Neufeld and Roper (2003), besides student learning, a feature of teacher development includes forming collaborative groups that share their knowledge and practice with each other." P.164

I agree with this statement. Unfortunately there never seems to be enough time to do this with other teachers, unless its a scheduled contractual meeting that is only two times per month. Which just isn't enough time to share and extract expertise from others teachers for development. The increasing demands put upon today’s teachers make it very difficult to meet with your grade level during school hours. That leaves meeting after school, which creates many obstacles for teachers because of commitments to committees, meetings, workshops, and family obligations.