In what ways can reading specialists communicate and collaborate with classroom teachers?
"Reading specialist must communicate and collaborate with teachers who are providing the "first line" of instruction to students." (Bean, p.21) In order for students to get the help they need both the reading specialist and teacher need to work together to guide instruction. The chapter discusses different types of communication and collaboration. Written Communication which are forms completed by both the teachers and the reading specialist to keep them updated as to what is being taught. Oral Communication seems to be the easiest form of communication if both the reading specialist and teacher work in the same school. Scheduled meetings to discuss data results are effective in my school, once a month we give planning time "prep" in order to meet with a coach or reading specialist to discuss different types of instruction. Informal Conversations tend to happen often, when teachers talk briefly during lunch or in class while the students work independently. The three ways of collaboration and communications only work if there is support from administration.
What possible approaches for collaborative teaching between reading specialists and classroom teachers are available, and what advantages or disadvantages are there to each?
There are five approaches to collaboration that Bean discusses in this chapter. Station or Center Teaching, with this approach, students are able to work with both teachers in a small group setting. Each center provides differentiated instruction and promotes independent work. The disadvantages to station or center teaching is that it can be time- consuming for a teacher to create, thinking about ways to manage each center, the amount of noise appropriate for each center and making sure the students know the rules. Target Teaching focuses on a specific instruction to target student’s needs. Students who need further instruction on a skill can get that with targeted teaching. Reading specialist, or the teacher, can work with students on a reading book to focus on certain skills, like fluency, working on words, comprehension, and so on. Disadvantage for target teaching is deciding on the groups, which students need to be grouped into a skill. Parallel Instruction is having both the reading specialist and teacher teach the same lesson to different groups of students. The teacher chooses the type of scaffolding needed for the group of students they have. This can be difficult when done in the same room, students might be distracted by the noise level or listen to the other lesson rather than their own. Teach and Monitor, with this approach a one teacher completes the instruction while the other moves around the room for monitoring and support to those students who need it. This can benefit teachers who need an extra hand in the classroom but can be hard for teachers who fringe at the fact of having another adult in the room with them. The teacher who is doing the monitoring can give students quick reinforcement, but might feel like their status is being reduced due to the fact that they are not giving the instruction. Team Teaching is a great way to collaborate, in order for team teaching to occur the teacher and the reading specialist must plan out the lessons. Each can get an idea of individual students needs and work with them as a whole or small group. Disadvantages can be the lack of philosophy or approach to instruction. (Bean, p. 31)
What do reading specialists need to know in order to work in schools that use an RTI framework?
In order for reading specialist to work in schools that use an RTI they need to know the student data and how it leads the instruction. There is an importance to reading specialists and teacher collaboration when it comes to the RTI framework. In order for instruction to happen during Tier 2 reading specialist needs to be in the loop with what has been taught and what skills a students is struggling with. Further more, a reading specialist needs to communicate with the teacher on which approach to meet student needs and show progress. This can only be effective if the teacher and the reading specialist communicate and collaborate.
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