#2: Who am I and where do I want to go?
This is a topic that I have become interested in during my short time thus far as a student teacher. That topic is how to teach literacy to students who have fallen substantially behind according to grade level expectations.
My current position is in an English class that teaches 11th grade students at Obama school for career and technical education. I have mentioned this in this weeks discussion post, but most of my students are substantially behind their expected literacy grade level. I cannot say for sure what level they are currently at, suffice to say it is not even in the ballpark of what I had expected (expectations that I do not believe were unreasonably high). I will not assume what the cause(s) of these literacy levels to be or generalize that all students face the same issues. I have worked with multiple students that seem genuinely interested in trying to learn the topics and assignments required of them, but struggle with even the initial phases that could eventually lead to any sort of actual understanding.
There are a number of journal articles on how to teach students who have fallen behind on multiple subjects. Many of these articles look specifically at primary and intermediate school students, which, as a high school teacher, I am slightly less interested in, although they likely still contain useful information.
Also, due to Covid and the year(s) of virtual schooling during the pandemic there are a number of relatively recent articles and sources about teaching children who have fallen behind post pandemic. I am not sure the impact that Covid specifically has had on my particular group of students, but I do believe that instruction based on helping students catch up to their supposed proficiency level would be beneficial regardless of the initial reason.
Just a few examples:
Bernard: Impact of Teaching Attitudes
Chall/Jacobs/Baldwin: "The Reading Crisis: Why Poor Children Fall Behind"
Kallenberger: Covid 19 Learning Shock
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