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synthesis Blog #2

Chapter eleven does a great job of explaining the role we have as teachers to promote reading in our individual content areas. As a future math teacher, I was starting to doubt my ability to teach difficult math concepts along with reading skills to my students. After reading this chapter, I started to realize that there are many things I can practically incorporate into my classroom to help struggling readers. The article explains that one of the first steps to helping develop reading skills is developing students trust. “If students experiencing difficulty are going to take the risk and give math or science or foreign language a new try, they need to know that you’ll be there to help, and that they’re in a safe place where they won’t suffer further hurt if they don’t succeed on the first attempt” (Subjects Matter, 280). This quote sparked my attention when reading because as a student, I was very shy when it came to participating in class. I can only recall a few teachers that created an atmosphere where I felt safe to share and try even though I might fail. It was in these classes that I felt like I learned and improved the most. In a math class, this could practically look like having students participate in low stakes activities when it comes to word problems or reading the text book. I think it is important to show students that we all fail and that is the only way to learn. When students do attempt a problem and get it wrong or show that they don’t understand something, it is our job to appreciate their efforts and then shepherd them in the right direction.  



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Comments

  1. Autumn BSeptember 4, 2018 at 6:07 PM

    Hey Lillie! I also connected to this part of the reading as well. I think it’s an important aspect of teaching. If we as teachers don’t have the trust of our students, it will make learning for them more difficult. Creating an environment where students feel comfortable with sharing and answering questions will be vital. I agree that students should understand everyone fails and we won’t know everything but that is fine as long as they are actively thinking and participating. We want to establish a setting where students feel comfortable sharing their answers even if it’s wrong and lead them in the right direction without telling them they are wrong or giving them the answer.
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  2. Kaylie HerbertSeptember 5, 2018 at 3:28 PM

    Hi Lillie! I think the quote that you highlighted is a very important aspect of teaching. I want to be a math teacher as well and have been doubting my ability to incorporate reading in my math classroom. I like the idea you brought up about allowing students to participate in low stakes activities while reading word problems. I think this would allow students to be more comfortable with talking through the steps of the problem and flesh out any confusion one student might have. I also think read-alouds with word problems would be a good strategy to use!

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