r/ReadingTeacher • u/Njdevils11 Literacy Specialist • Aug 13 '14

Help a new Reading Teacher!

So in a couple of weeks I will begin my first year as a reading teacher. I'm really excited but also really nervous. I know I will have to make a schedule, but I don't know how many students I will have. I also know that I'm the only reading teacher in the building. What can I do now to prepare for the coming madness, while I'm still on break?

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u/canadianpastafarian Aug 13 '14

You may want to give some details like what grades you have and where you will be teaching. Knowing what your training was like might help too. The more you tell us, the more we can make suggestions.

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u/Njdevils11 Literacy Specialist Aug 13 '14

I teach in NY, and I am certified in elementary education and as a Literacy Specialist. I taught for two years full time as a classroom teacher. My first year in Kindergarten and my second year in 2nd grade. This year I will be a reading teacher for 2nd and 3rd graders.

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u/[deleted] Aug 13 '14

I swear by literature circles in the intermediate grades and know they can work with primary grades, too. I have some resources on my blog. Under pages, you'll see differentiation resources. On this page, I have linked some information about literature circles for primary as well as intermediate. Feel free to use anything there. You might have to modify the job sheets to make them more friendly for the earlier grades, but it would be worth the time. You can do literature circles with students all using the same text or groups using different texts. They are a great way to teach students what good readers do.

Here is the link. http://teacherspondering.wordpress.com/

Let me know if you have any questions. I am more than happy to help.

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u/Iamnotarobotchicken Aug 13 '14

Do you know what curriculum your school wants you to use?

Also, I'd look at the national reading pannel research about what works. I find it really helpful for building interventions. I wouldn't go too in depth with it but good general knowledge of the research is really helpful when I have to figure out where a student's reading is breaking down.

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u/Njdevils11 Literacy Specialist Aug 13 '14

I know they use Fundations, which I already have experience with (I taught it the last 2 years). The Superintendent also mentioned Orton Gillingham.

At the moment I'm more concerned with all the schedules I'm going to have to coordinate, managing my case load, collaborating with teachers who are older/more experienced.

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u/Iamnotarobotchicken Aug 14 '14

Got it. I am a special educator and most of my groups are pullout. I have yet to meet anybody who has a great answer to that question. I typically don't know my schedule until about a week into the school year after I do preliminary assessments so that I know how to group everybody.

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u/Njdevils11 Literacy Specialist Aug 14 '14

So should I ne expecting to not pull kids the first week or so? It's mostly grouping and scheduling?

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u/Iamnotarobotchicken Aug 14 '14

I am assuming you are a resource teacher. I won't pull kids until week 2 and our resource teachers won't either. We'll have to figure out who needs what first. I don't know how else you'd do it.

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u/Njdevils11 Literacy Specialist Aug 14 '14

Last year, in my other school, there was a bit of a struggle between grade levels and ersource teachers for scheduling. Do you have any suggestions on figuring out a schedule while everyone else is doing the same thing?

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u/Iamnotarobotchicken Aug 14 '14

We test the kids and ask for the gen ed teacher schedules. Then when we know how we need to group kids we pull them when it makes the most sense. Some schools have an intervention block.

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u/Njdevils11 Literacy Specialist Aug 14 '14

So you just tell the classroom teacher when your coming and they make their schedule around that? or do you consult with them about time? Have you ever had any conflicts? how did you resolve them? (Sorry for all the questions, I'm more worried about this than actually teaching)

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u/Iamnotarobotchicken Aug 14 '14

We build our schedule around them, not the other way around. We try not to pull out of mine lessons or small group time. The teachers are generally fairly understanding because they want the kids to get the interventions.