As some of my colleagues know, I am married to a kindergarten teacher; in my opinion, the best kindergarten teacher in the district. His students consistently demonstrate above average literacy skills as assessed by standardized tests and bodies of classroom evidence. It is rare that a student is on an ILP at the end of a year spent with him. He has helped me so much in my quest to become an effective literacy teacher, always at the ready with new strategies for me to try and a nonjudgmental ear for me to fill with my struggles and successes. Therefore, when the opportunity to have a philosophical discussion about literacy instruction arose, I immediately knew which teacher I was going to talk with: my phenomenal husband and mentor, Shane.
I teach fifth grade, which is fundamentally different than kindergarten in the area of literacy instruction. We upper grade teachers tend to focus more on the instruction of vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. However, because I teach the fifth graders who struggle greatly in reading (two years or more below grade level), Shane's expertise in the area of phonics, phonemic awareness, and language acquisition has definitely helped me to meet the instructional needs of these students in ways I never have before. I now find myself teaching phoneme manipulation and rudimentary aspects of phonics because these students so desperately need these skills in order to find success in reading. In that way, my philosophy of literacy instruction has been forever altered: I now see that, in order for students to become competent readers, they need direct instruction in all five components of reading, regardless of their age.
This is also the core philosophy of my husband; furthermore, he believes that a comprehensive literacy program must also include whole language aspects as well as a focus on oral language development. He believes that students must be immersed in literature from day one of school. Students must be read to, read with, and encouraged to engage in reading behaviors from the moment they walk in the door in order to fully develop a love of literature. He believes students must first see the value of the written word before they will "buy into" the explicit instruction he will provide during the year. A focus on oral language is key also, Shane states. If children do not enter his classroom with a strong language background, whether they are ELLs or from a language-deprived household, Shane will provide this for them. He accomplishes this through consistent social interaction, modeling appropriate speech and reading behavior, and through constant conversations.
This is not to say that Shane spends most of his instructional time developing these literacy and oral language behaviors. He believes in striking a balance between whole language and systematic, scaffolded, fast-paced reading instruction in all five components. He believes in providing multiple exposures each day, and he does so in such an engaging and fast-paced manner that students receive much more than the recommended number of repetitions without realizing it! Shane also firmly believes in scaffolding; his approach follows the To, With, By framework recommended by noted reading experts. His modeling is deliberate, as he "thinks aloud" to demonstrate comprehension strategies until they can do this independently and his read alouds also model appropriate thinking skills for his students as they listen.
Shane's belief that social interaction is a must for oral language development as well as strengthening reading skills is evident in his thoughtful use of centers. Each student participates in centers daily, providing the social interaction and multiple repetitions he believes will give them the best literacy instruction in the shortest time. The students are also encouraged to play with words, by participating in repeated choral readings of poetry and reader's theater. It is his belief that this will strengthen their phonemic awareness as they experience rhymes and chants.
I could certainly continue to elaborate on Shane's philosophy of education, as he is inspiring to me and to so many others who have come to observe him. However, I will conclude by saying that by discussing his educational philosophy with me, he has now inspired me to go into my classroom tomorrow and adopt some of his methods for engagement and scaffolding!
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