Week 6 Response

Profiles in Comprehension gave a way more in-depth view into comprehension that I was originally aware of. It begins by establishing how important the teacher’s questions are, “The questions that teachers ask help to shape the student understanding and expectations about reading comprehension” and “Teachers who regularly use such higher order questions to engage pupils in discussion are likely to find that their students read more” (CP 161). How that for a challenge to educators?! Like we have been reading throughout this semester, these quotes further illustrate the importance of scaffolding the material for our students.
The article also discusses eight different comprehension profiles: Literalists, Fuzzy Thinkers, Left Fielders, Quiz Contestants, Politicians, Dodgers, Authors, and Minimalists. I had never heard of these before so I was really interested in what the author’s were saying here. I thought the politician one was absolutely hilarious, “Politicians will do their best to tell you what they think you want to hear” (CP 167). I literally laughed out loud when I read that! Some common intervention/helpful strategies amongst the profiles were the ideas of creating concept maps, story maps and group work. I really liked how the authors not only discussed the profiles, but also gave strategies that can be used to help each individual profile/student. I feel like works that actually provide applications are hard to come by in this field! They are all about shelling out definitions but when it comes to applicable ideas/strategies…good luck! I guess they figure since we’re teachers, we can teach ourselves?!
The other reading for this week, How Can I Help Children with Learning Disabilities, really hit a sensitive spot for me. On the first page of the article the author states, “Teachers are responsible for providing educational services appropriate for their needs-a responsibility they share with special educators” (CP 173). While I do agree that this is responsibility to be shared, I feel that all to often teachers rely too much on special educators; basically pawing off these poor students because they don’t want to deal with them. It really saddens me. My brother is a prime example of this instance. Instead of being given a little more patience and attention by the teacher or even experiencing the said shared relationship between teacher and special educator, from a young age he was ‘pawned off’ to a resource room specialist so his elementary teachers could focus on other, less ‘needy’ students. By doing this, his teachers basically labeled him and that label has stuck with him all through his education. The authors also state, “When the different teachers who work with the child stay in touch with each other, the child receives an integrated education” (CP 172). Again, I’m on the fence with this statement as well. While it is crucial to keep the lines of communication open between all parties involved, educators need to be careful that they aren’t labeling the student and passing judgment along the way. If one person sees the student like so and tells the other person involved their feelings, that other person is very likely to have similar feelings initially. While every party should be kept informed of progress and status, the individuals working with the student must take caution and not label and/or pass judgment.