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This week had a few eye openers for me. I never really thought of spelling as being that big of a deal, nor did I realize there were so many strategies to help our students become better spellers. As Gipe (2014) states, 'The goal of spelling instruction is to increase knowledge about how words are spelled and the range of spelling strategies, as opposed to moving students to the next spelling stage," (p. 181). My experience with spelling has always been to get a list of words, memorize them, and reproduce them on a test on Fridays.

The other part of this week that really stood out to me was when we all role played students with different issues. As a teacher it is easy to get comfortable and into a routine and forget that our students come from a multitude of different backgrounds and are carrying many emotional issues around with them that we may not be aware of. I have to remember that for some students learning about simple machines in my science class may be the least of their worries. While it is not an excuse, it is something i need to be aware of.

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I think the biggest realization I came to in this week's Seminar was when we were doing the Role Play as a student assignment. I have worked with students with so many physical, psychological, and environmental factors over the years, yet, I have never stopped to sit and write about every single factor just one student could have. After I wrote my Role Play I read it over and thought "Man, these types of kids I see daily and they are up against a lot! I can't even believe they come to school every day and manage as well as they do!" It really has made me think about the pressure we put on our students to behave and perform EVERY day when they are dealing with SO MANY other factors beyond our control. In addition, these are young students that have not learned yet how to deal with such factors. I can definitely say, the Role Play assignment was a real eye opener for me. Thank you!

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This week I was reminded again that the purpose behind assessment is to determine what Lev Vygotsky called "the zone of proximal development" (as cited by Gipe, 2010, p.60). This is what I like to call the "sweet spot" for teaching; it's the point at which the concept is within the student's grasp and all they need is the coaching of the teacher to get them to full understanding. As we conducted the spelling assessments this week and the running records the last week, I'm reminded of the fact that the information we glean from assessments is as good as gold. At times the beginning of the year can seem "assessment heavy," but it is invaluable when it comes to informing our instruction.

I've also been reminded this week of the importance of gathering different types of assessment data. For example, when looking at a student's literacy ability, it is important to look not only at the reading assessments, but writing samples in other subject areas as well to see if the student has made the transfer of knowledge.

I look forward to moving forward and using the assessment data we've gathered to form a literacy plan that teaches to the student's "sweet spot."

Gipe, J.P. (2010). Multiple Paths to Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, K – 12 (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

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Stephanie- Journal
The past few years I have had a handful of speech/language students in my classroom. They always leave my room twice or sometimes three times a week to work with our speech teacher.  Unfortunately I do not have much contact with her and what she does with my students from week to week until  I see her at an IEP meeting.  During the meeting she is always spouting off terms and practices that I have no idea what she is talking about  and I am not about to have a deep conversation with her while a parent is sitting there even though I am pretty sure the parents may be wondering the same thing.  However, it was very informational this week reading chapter 3 because it dealt with mainly linguistic perspectives in literacy. In this chapter they explain syntax and lexicon terms, which are two terms that I hear our speech teacher, say repetitively with assessments. As explained in Gripe “syntactic system consists of the structure and process of sentence formation; and the lexicon is the language system of vocabulary and word meaning”(p.49).  I would like to continue to explore what goes into speech and language assessments especially when assessing a student for Special Education services.

Last year I was in an IEP meeting while our speech teacher was going over her results of a student in order to certify them for Special Ed services. I became very interested on how things were assessed on her end in order to certify this student. She tried to explain briefly to me what her results concluded but she used a lot of the phonics terminology that I am not comfortable with. I was curious not only to know more about the process of what it takes for a student to get certified but because I would like to continue my education towards a Masters degree. Now that I know a little bit more by reading this week Speech could be an avenue that I consider for a Master Degree.

Gipe, J. P. (2014).Multiple Paths to Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, K-12 (Eighth Edition).Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

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Melissa: Journal 3                                                                                           This seminar really highlighted the various factors impacting literacy development. The categories discussed were physical, psychological and environmental factors. In addition, the linguistic diversity of English Language Learners (ELL). As a teacher it is crucial to be informed to meet the range of learning needs in each class and support students with strategies (Gipe, 2014, p. 69).                                                                     The area I spent a lot of time reviewing was visual acuity.  I have a couple of students in my classroom that have been complaining about vision problems and blurry words. The assessment in our textbook was a great observation tool to use and report to parents. This tool provides parents with substantial information to bring to their ophthalmologists. After completing the assessment I began implementing accommodations in the classroom to help these students such as preferential seating, assistive technology, reading guide, and bold print. I plan to continue to use the observational tool in this textbook to best meet my student’s needs.                                                                                         I particularly liked how chapter four was organized. It provided fantastic teacher responsibilities and ideas to support students depending on the factors impacting their education. The environmental factors are all very important for teachers to be well aware of. Sometimes school is the only safe place students have in their lives and is the only meal they can count on. I would like to explore more about various differentiation techniques to help students with environmental factors impacting their literacy development.                                     Reference                                   Gipe, J. P. (2014). Multiple Paths to Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, K-12 (Eighth Edition). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

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Melissa: Journal 3                                                                                           This seminar really highlighted the various factors impacting literacy development. The categories discussed were physical, psychological and environmental factors. In addition, the linguistic diversity of English Language Learners (ELL). As a teacher it is crucial to be informed to meet the range of learning needs in each class and support students with strategies (Gipe, 2014, p. 69).                                                                     The area I spent a lot of time reviewing was visual acuity.  I have a couple of students in my classroom that have been complaining about vision problems and blurry words. The assessment in our textbook was a great observation tool to use and report to parents. This tool provides parents with substantial information to bring to their ophthalmologists. After completing the assessment I began implementing accommodations in the classroom to help these students such as preferential seating, assistive technology, reading guide, and bold print. I plan to continue to use the observational tool in this textbook to best meet my student’s needs.                                                                                         I particularly liked how chapter four was organized. It provided fantastic teacher responsibilities and ideas to support students depending on the factors impacting their education. The environmental factors are all very important for teachers to be well aware of. Sometimes school is the only safe place students have in their lives and is the only meal they can count on. I would like to explore more about various differentiation techniques to help students with environmental factors impacting their literacy development.                                     Reference                                   Gipe, J. P. (2014). Multiple Paths to Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, K-12 (Eighth Edition). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

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My big take away this week was that we need to really analyze our assessments and to provide a variety of assessments when determining literacy levels for students.  I found out that my student was placed at early fifth grade mainly due to her comprehension, which I didn't realize.  Furthermore, she was originally placed using a section of a novel, which could cause some lack of understanding since she had never read the whole book and was only given a brief synopsis of what the novel was about before reading her excerpt.  She did ok for me on comprehension when it was non-fiction and she had an entire document.

My other big take away from this week relates to the entire chapter of "Physical, Psychological, and Environmental Factors Affecting Literacy Development" (Gipe p. 68-93).  There was not one part of this chapter that I feel was most important, instead I think it really made me realize that there are so many factors that impact a students' literacy development and that all of them have to be taken into account when analyzing and coming up with a plan to improve their literacy level.

Gipe, J. P. (2014).Multiple Paths to Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, K-12 (Eighth Edition).Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

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This week, I learned that, when giving assessments, it is very important to dive deeply into the results and data in order to obtain valuable information that can be used to make instructional decisions. I have been giving spelling tests since I began teaching 8 years ago. However, I never analyzed the scores of those assessments any further than correct or incorrect. A student got a score, and that was it. After giving the Words Their Way assessment to my case study student, I was able to really understand where she is making her mistakes and therefore plan how to help her. As Gipe (2014) states, "Any assessment system should be used to support improved instruction and provide useful information for students, teachers, parents, and policymakers" (p. 97). In my classroom, I could administer this assessment to all of my students to gain a deeper perspective into what I should be focusing on in future spelling instruction. As a part of a literacy grant, our district has a literacy coach that will be working with us. She actually suggested this exact assessment at our meeting to begin a word study unit.
One thing I would like to explore further is how to adapt assignments and assessments for students with diagnosed and undiagnosed ADD and ADHD. The text offers many suggestions on page 80-81, and I intend to try out a few of them. For example, Gipe (2014) suggests to "add color to focus student attention" (p. 81). I have 2 students in mind that this might be helpful for.

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One of the biggest things I learned this week is that when a student is struggling, I should look at causes other than simply academic.  Our text reads, “Teachers, by the very nature of their role and their training, should be held responsible for instructional factors associated with poor literacy achievement and for identifying the possible presence of other factors that might impede literacy development” (Gipe, 2014, p. 69). While I do know this on some level, I realized that it’s not always the first thing that comes to mind when one of my students is struggling. I always tend to look at academic reasons first.

One of my students struggles with listening to and understanding instructions. Her comprehension reading levels are low, as are her skills in other subject areas. I administered the hearing assessment found in our text to her. Although most of her answers were “no,” there were “yeses” as well, which indicated to me that there may be a hearing problem. She clearly has difficulty understanding oral directions. There have been many times in class where I will give directions and she will not know what to do. For example, on several occasions she will ask me why the other children are doing things that I asked them as a large group to do.

She also doesn’t always answer when I address her. Since she does answer sometimes, I am not sure if this is an issue of lack of attention, focus, or daydreaming, or if this really is a hearing problem.  I plan to further assess her, while documenting everything. I will be meeting with her parents shortly and will address this with them.

Work Cited

Gipe, J. P. (n.d.). Multiple paths to literacy: Assessment and differentiated instruction for diverse learners, K-12.

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Although I have never taught an English language learner, there are many factors to consider when trying to help a student that is not only trying to learn the language but also trying to learn the content. Factors that do come in more in my classroom are physical, psychological, and environmental issues that could affect learning. "Teachers, by the very nature of their role and their training, should be held responsible for instructional factors associated with poor literacy achievement and for identifying the possible presence of other factors that might impede literacy development" (Gipe, 2014, p.69). While I feel I have always kept personal and health problems in my mind when trying to understand a student's struggles in the classroom, I feel the reading this week helped open my eyes to other factors I had not considered and possible ways to assess and support those situations. Teachers must fill many roles daily for their students and it is important that we be aware of the different factors that affect them.
After exploring the different kinds of spelling assessments, I am looking to incorporate some new ideas for my students that really struggle with spelling. These new strategies could help me better understand their specific problems with spelling and know where to focus the lessons.

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Students have many struggles during the learning process. Students are at a bigger disadvantage when they do not speak the same language. Using items that are from the community and have connections to their own culture will greatly help them to learn the English language.

All the factors that affect student learning are all so different. From physical to psychological factors they all can hinder students from achieving in reading and writing. On the teachers end we need to observe and report areas that affect the student and might need further follow up. Adjusting assignments if a student is visually impaired might be something that needs to be done. Observing differences in the student’s behavior and other interactions can also open a window to factors that affect their learning.

The biggest thing I learned from these chapters and working with my student this week is just how much outside forces really affect their learning environment.

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This week I learned that the learning process is affected by many factors, ranging from vision and hearing difficulties to emotional maladjustment. Nowadays, more and more students come to school not only to broaden their learning horizon but to find shelter from everyday problems that take place outside their schools. This seminar reminded me of the fact that we, as teachers, are required to fulfill so many tasks in one day other than just being educators. “Yet they do function as substitute parents while school is in session and must be sensitive to the general well-being of each student in their class” (Gipe, 2014, p. 70). We have to play the role of a parent, a sibling, a social worker, a psychologist and at the same time we have to administer new assessments, collect data and instruct our students so they can master the appropriate skills to become better readers and writers.
We have to provide a safe and welcoming atmosphere in our classrooms so each student, despite their struggles, gets a fair chance in everyday learning, “Make special efforts to establish a warm, trusting relationship with students and to listen carefully” (Gipe, 2014, p. 83).

Words Their Way Spelling Inventory helped me gather more specific data about my student and focus on areas where she struggles the most with her spelling. The role of the reading teacher is to create lessons that focus specifically on her student’s target areas, and instruct them on different spelling activities that would facilitate their learning process in literacy.

Work Cited

Gipe, J. P. (2014). Multiple PAths to Literacy Assessment and Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, K-12. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.