There are a lot of things that are important to me as a person and as an educator. As I think back through my teaching experiences, I have pondered over everything I have learned about what is important to me as an educator. I have realized how much education truly does matter to me. I understand more now than I ever have, and I honestly can say that concepts that would not have mattered to me before, matter now more than ever. It is important to me to approach teaching with intentionality because the young minds who I will be educating are the future. I have found meaning and importance in teaching theories when before, this was not a topic I thought a lot about.  I have also found meaning and importance in strategies, which is a skill that I hope to teach my students as well. It is important for me to put emphasis not just on reading in my classroom, but also on writing and then connect reading and writing together for my students. I have learned, there is a primitive connection between reading and writing. Taberski (2011) says that she’s, “convinced our children’s literacy gets stronger when we push our own thinking on how writing impacts reading” (p. 72).

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    Learning about how theory affects my student’s learning has become important to me. Where once theories were not something that I ever thought about affecting student learning, now I understand their importance. The three theories that have really affected my teacher research the most are associationism, schema, and transactional/reader’s response theory. Associationism is important to my teaching because I need to remember that every student I will teach will have associations that are unique to that individual. In Lenses on Reading, Tracey & Morrow (2017) write that, “Although Aristotle focused on internal connections needed for learning to occur and Locke stressed the importance of external information in learning, both philosophers are considered associationists because their primary interest was in how knowledge is constructed through connections in the mind” (p. 22). All of my students whether they are reading, writing, working on math problems, etc. will learn through their background knowledge.

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    Background knowledge or prior knowledge is an important part of the Schema Theory as well which is the idea that “People have schemata for everything in their lives including people, places, things, language, processes, and skills” (Tracey & Morrow, 2017, p.60).  This theory is important and matters to my teaching because every child has a very individualized schema which makes knowing each student so important. Just as the Associationism theory says that learning happens through connections, a child’s schema is the connection aspect of that learning. Lastly, my favorite theory and one that matters the most to my teaching, as of right now, is the transactional/reader’s response theory which is entirely based on Rosenblatt’s idea that “every individual is unique with regard to what constitutes his or her schema in any particular area, Rosenblatt argues that every reading experience is therefore unique to each individual as well” (Tracey & Morrow, 2017, p. 63). It is important and it matters to me that I know my student’s backgrounds so that I can support what they already know and give them strategies in their quest to gain new knowledge.

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    It is important to me as an educator that my students arrive at meaning whenever they are reading. Constance Weaver (2002) says, “We cannot know what a word means until we see it in context...it is only when the word is used in context that one or more of these meanings is actualized” (p. 17). There are many different meanings behind a single word, regardless of the word being used. It is important that students see words used in context so that they can develop schema. Weaver (2002) writes that “Without knowledge in our heads, our schemas, we could not make use of the information provided by other kinds of context.” This is why it matters to me to know my student’s background knowledge and their schema going into any topic I teach in the classroom. It matters that I know how my students comprehend what they are reading.

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    It is important to know how good readers read and not put the emphasis where it is not needed. This is true for phonics and the idea that we must teach phonics rules explicitly for students to learn how to read. Weaver (2002) writes that, “The time spent on learning phonics terms would be better spent reading, which, among other benefits, would give children the opportunity to read more words by analogy with the parts of words they already know, to come to recognize many of these words automatically after several exposures, and to internalize more and more of the frequently occurring letter-sound patterns in our language” (p. 103).  It matters to not put emphasis on the “rules” instead put emphasis on the strategies or skills that students will need when they are reading. It is important in my own classroom that my students are reading and that they are utilizing the strategies they have been taught in order to help them navigate through more difficult texts. It matters to me that my students are reading and comprehending and not just focusing on the phonics rules.

It matters to me that I learn from what other educators and researchers are doing in their classrooms and profession. Weaver (2002) writes about a particular teacher, Anne, who is teaching a focused lesson over making connections, using background knowledge. It matters to me that Anne, “doesn’t “give” them words; she “gives” them strategies by helping them use an appropriate strategy” (Weaver, 2002, p. 328). It is important to me in my own classroom that I do not just give my students answers to their questions without giving them opportunities to think for themselves.  It is also important to me that my students use strategies in order to have power over their thinking and learning.

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    It is important to me that I give my students opportunities as Ellin Keene articulates to, “create the context for them (students) to discuss, ponder, argue, restate reflect, persuade, relate, write about, or otherwise work with the information we consider critical for them to recall” (Weaver, 2002, p. 333). It matters than that I give my students the opportunities to infer and make connections using their own constructive struggles. In the same way, Taberski (2011) writes that “If comprehension is our goal, then we need to create “talking” classrooms, not silent ones.” Students should have opportunities for talking, discussing, and questioning their learning. My idea of what a classroom should look like has changed because of the way that Taberski’s classrooms looked like. I want to give my students opportunities to support each other in their learning. There cannot be true collaborative learning if my classroom is filled with silence. It matters to me to have a balance within my teaching and to not only help my students with strategies when they are struggling with their reading but also helping them learn to read successfully.

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    It matters to me to grow in the way I have been taught, through my own educational experience, and to view learning as a valuable resource. Taberski (2011) writes that “We have to change our mindset so that so-called off-task behavior is valued more favorably as processing time” (p. 38). This is the hardest concept but one of the most important for me as an educator. I need to put value into what I have always viewed as being off-task. It matters to me to meet with my students and talk about their reading and what they are learning. It matters to me to conference with my students both individually as well as in small groups. Taberski (2011) says that her “primary goal during reading conferences is to have children leave the conference with new insight and knowledge of how to read the books in their book bag” (p. 49). Reading conferences should be a time in which students are learning, not just reading to their teacher. Reading conferences matter to me in my classroom. It matters that I do not make the same mistakes with reading conferences that I have in the past. It is important that my reading conferences do not turn into data-driven tasks but instead they are times that are enriching to my students.

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    In conclusion, the most surprising topic that has really begun to matter to me in my teaching is phonics, phonological awareness, and phonemic awareness. Taberski (2011) writes that “we need to build in abundant opportunities for them (students) to acquire language, life experiences, and background knowledge, and not simply immerse them in heavy-duty phonics programs at the expense of more meaningful and integrated instruction” (p. 125).  It is important to me that I immerse my students into reading and using their schema and giving them opportunities to talk and interact with their learning. I believe that it is important for students to use what they know to strengthen what they are learning. It matters to me that I give my students strategies to aid them when they are struggling and guide them through difficult text. Lastly, it is important to me to use what I know about theory to support my teaching because I truly believe that reading is the fundamental building block that all students need in order to be successful in the classroom. 

 

 

 

 

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References:

Taberski, S., & Kurstedt, R. L. (2011). Comprehension from the ground up: Students guide.

    Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Tracey, D. H., & Morrow, L. M. (2017). Lenses on reading: An introduction to theories and models.

    New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Weaver, C. (2002). Reading process and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.