Week 6, Task #1: Reader Response

Andrew Hossack seemed to be a very effective teacher, with a great mind to develop lesson plans! His ability to create a differentiated lesson that tailors to many different learners was obvious in the lesson we viewed.  His instructional procedure for closed reading I found to be interesting. I liked how he said it allows students to work on their perseverance and also have the ability to differentiate on their own.  The students got to decide when it was enough information to digest and when they should continue.  I especially like how he pointed out that some of the students had the text already broken down for them in specific sections.  This is smart, because a lot of students think they can handle a large about of text when it would be more effective to analyze less at a time.  The fact that he used the same text for the whole class, I love, because it gives the classroom as a whole a chance to discuss the assignment as well as smaller groups.

His instructional procedure of  reading, thinking, writing and talking is something I strongly agree with and would use in my own classroom, especially in that order.  I think its important to the learning process for students to have that independent time and direction from the teacher in the beginning of a new task/assignment.  Then allowing the students to reflect on what they've learned, both internally and verbally with writing and speech is a great way to further their understanding of a topic.  If you can read something and understand it, that's one thing.  But if you can read, understand and put forth an explanation or put something in your own words, it only makes the ideas that much more understood.

His assessments were more informal.  I liked how he told the students to read first for "flow" and then go back and circle and underline.  Its important for that first read to be specifically about just the article and the information given.  It sound be read continually so the students don't get confused as to where they left off or sidetracked with finding specific clues.  By going back after completion of the article it also gives the students a more generalized idea of what they read, and therefore allows them to better understand what would be considered "important" or "main" ideas rather than supporting text.  Judging where the students underlined and what notes they jotted down at the end of reading, is a way to assess that the students understood the meaning of the lesson.  Also through conversation at the end of the lesson.