I interviewed Linda Hughes, a Second Grade teacher at the Pinnacle Charter School. I was interested in finding out if her views of teaching literacy were different than my own because she has been teaching for over twenty years.
Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: 23 years
Q: What are your philosophies about teaching literacy?
A: I believe that kids need a strong foundation in reading. Kids need to learn what works for them. It is a teachers job to help kids find out what their learning style is and how they learn best. I believe each student needs to develop skills to become a successful reader (decoding and comprehension.)
(Linda points to a poster on a wall in her classroom) That is my philosophy, that is what I believe. Practice, Practice, Practice. I believe that providing an environment that shows a love for learning is very important.
Q: What is a challenge you face when teaching literacy?
A: Getting students to gain confidence when reading. Readers make mistakes all the time, and it is my job to show them how to reread and try again. I explain to my students that I have to reread when something is confusing to me in order to understand it.
Q: What is you philosophy for teaching ELL students?
A: I've noticed that I have to repeat directions. After I have explained directions I will have students tell me what they are supposed to do. I try to get all of my students to answer questions in complete sentences. I like ECAR (our new reading program) because I have to pick out vocabulary from the text we are going to read that may not be familiar to their culture. It forces me to look at vocabulary in a new way and think of words that may be unknown and confusing to my students. For example one of my students last week thought that a farm and a barn were the same thing.
Q: What are some challenges you have when teaching ELL students?
A: My biggest challenge is that the kids look like they are with you but they are really not catching on. I've realized that it is important to make sure that they understand the whole lesson instead of bits and pieces.
Q: How do you differentiate for your ELL student?
A: Not much this year. I don't have the materials. This has been really difficult for me. I have been experimenting, but I am finding out that I am still teaching too high. I try something and I find out that it is still too hard. I need to teach kids how to work independently instead of relying on their neighbor or the teacher.
I found this interview interesting because Linda became very frustrated when I asked about working with ELLs. She doesn't feel confident that she has enough resources to teach them appropriately. I told her I would make copies of the charts in our book to help her with tiered questioning techniques and ideas for differentiating instruction.
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