NAME:
Stephanie Stoebe
SCHOOL:
Round Rock High School
CLASS:
Read 180
SCHOOL PHONE:
(512) 464-6213
After working for several years with young offenders in Texas, I realized
that state services to improve their education were too little help, at a
time much too late in their lives. A common regret expressed by nearly every
one of the over 2,000 clients who sat across from my desk was that they did
not work hard in school. One boy admitted to me that he was allowed to go
through school on "cruise control", not trying, and therefore, not
succeeding, as success can only be measured when effort is part of the
equation. I decided to earn my Master's in Education as a Reading
Specialist, because all higher level occupations are dependent on the mastery
of reading. If I could teach a child to read and write well at an early age,
then I am, in effect, helping prepare him to be an architect, an astronaut,
or any thing else he desires to become.
1. Teach skills as a way to gain meaning. Skills are not ends in themselves.
2. Guided instruction and independent work are equally important. Students
will never internalize skills unless they are given proper instruction on
their use and then allowed the freedom to work with them.
3. Avoid teaching your child as if he were just there to receive knowledge.
Instead, allow him to build knowledge through different processes and
discoveries.
4. Integrate all types of print and electronic materials into your child's
reading and writing practice. Our world is saturated with different forms of
media and a child needs to become comfortable with each form.
5. Standardized test scores are not everything. Informal assessment
(portfolios, running records, journals, student responses) are just as
valuable in interpreting learning goals.
-Adapted from the work of Dorothy S. Strickland, a renowned reading expert
and professor of education at Rutgers University. She has also served as
president of the International Reading Association.