Response to Intervention (RTI)

Using the weekly reading as a resource (RTI Book), create a Blog entry that explains the basic process of RTI as if you were explaining it to a parent.  What happens in Tier 1, 2, and 3?  How do students move back and forth between tiers?  What is the goal of RTI?  Other things you think would be important for parents to know?

Response to Intervention, or RTI, is the process in which school make effort to aid children who are struggling in their reading or math instruction.  The process addresses the ideas that are inadequacies instruction or curriculum.   Below you will find a generalization about how it works.

Tier 1 is where the general education curriculum is given and where students are identified as struggling.  It is in this tier that the teacher will offer group strategies that will help the student with the area that they are struggling in.  If the student continues to struggle with the applied interventions, after a certain amount of time, they will be moved to Tier 2.

In Tier 2, students who were previously identified in Tier 1, will receive more specialized interventions to help them in their weak areas.  This might be small group time with the teacher in the specific subject area where learning is not progressing, such as reading.  This will occur to a specific amount of time, typically longer than Tier 1 all while being monitored by the teacher as to the student’s progress.  If, after several intervention strategies, the child is still struggling, then they will be referred to Tier 3.

In Tier 3, the student will receive more individualized, specific interventions.  Typically, it is at this Tier that the student will be referred to the school diagnostician for an evaluation, using the intervention documentation as a support.  Tier 3 could also be referred to as the Special Education tier, as special education teacher are tier 3 teachers.

RTI is important to education because it allows students to get extra help without being labeled with a disability prematurely.  Many times, through RTI, students are able to get the support the need and return to Tier 1.  If they struggle, again, in later years, they could return back to Tier 2, as the Tiers are fluid to address each students needs.  What is important to know about RTI is that it is designed to help struggling students before they fall too far behind.

Parental Involvement in the High School Classroom

Using the weekly reading as a resource (K&H 11 and D&G 8), describe how you would involve and work with parents and families in your ideal classroom.  What supports would you want to provide parents?  How would you improve communication?  How would you help parents learn how to support their student's literacy?  How would you facilitate student, teacher, parent interactions?  Other ideas?

While I agree that parental involvement in education is the keystone to building a successful student, I am torn at how involved a parent should be when their child is in high school.  I say this because I want parents that advocate and support their students, parents that assist and reinforce positive learning skills, but I want these same parents to teach students to advocate for themselves.  As a high school teacher, one of my goals is to teach the students to be independent learners and speak up for themselves when they have needs that are not being met.  I feel that this is a critical skill for them to learn as they will soon be independent adults and will require this skill to become successful in the adult world.

That being said, I still greatly value the input and participation of adults in my classroom and with my advisory students.  To involve parents I do several things throughout the year to check in with parents.  First of all, I make phone calls when a student is being successful in my classroom, and when they are not.  I do this so that they students can know that I value the positive as well as will report the negative.  I also call parents will am concerned about the student, such as they are not working at their normal capacity or have been missing too many classes. 

Because parents are always concerned about grades, I send home a progress report for students in my classes midway through each grading period.  I do this so that the progress report and the final grade are not a shock to the parent and so they know that I am open and willing to work with their student regarding their grade.  It also gives the students some control over their destiny, you might say, in my class.

What I do not do to involve parents is have them participate in the classroom.  I find great value in this for the younger grades, but am not too sure how it would work for secondary students.  Would they appreciate parents in the room assisting them in their lessons?  I find myself doubting that this would be a successful tactic in getting them to read! I feel that it is better to have a good open line of communication with parents and let the students know that I am constant contact with their parent so that they know they cannot get “away” with things in my class.  While this is something that I value, it is also something that I need to improve on.

Parental involvement in the classroom is essential to a successful student.  No teacher will dispute that.  But teacher are not perfect, and I certainly have a long way to go in improving my parent communication.  It is something that I strive to improve each school year.

D & G Chapters 3 & 5

In the selected reading there were two suggestions that I felt would help my high school students in increasing their vocabulary, their comprehension and in their fluency.  The first two ideas discussed teaching vocabulary in the context that it occurs in, such as, have the students define economic terms from their economy textbook, but also have them exposed to the same terms in other readings that would reinforce the definition of the word in the way that it applies to the topic that you are teaching.  This will help the students learn the word and increase understanding, but also help them to understand its uses and give them an advantage as they expand their learning further in their topic.

Another idea that was given in the book, which I really connected with, was the age-old idea of having students read what interests them!  When they do this, they gain fluency, vocabulary, and they will comprehend what they read about.  It is a good way to encourage reluctant readers to read and improve upon themselves personally, as well as academically.  This will help them in all problem areas of vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

In my classes I typically have my students do a vocabulary assignment with each unit, where they write the definition, find a relevant example, and write a sentence to show their understanding.  This is traditionally the first lesson in a new unit.  I do this so that as we progress through out the chapters/unit they know the words that are used to explain the themes or concepts that they are learning.  When my students are doing their vocabulary, I remind them they will find a more accurate, context specific answer to they search if they use the definition that is listed in the chapter that we are studying versus the glossary in the back. 

The biggest concern that I have regarding fluency is that while you can encourage and provided opportunities for your students to read and discover literature, and in topic or subjects that interest them, you cannot ultimately force them to read.  They have to find intrinsic value in reading to create a fluent reader.  This is something that cannot be made by a teacher.  I believe that this is a problem that many teachers and parents have, and unfortunately there has not yet been a proven answer to solve this dilemma.  Since active reading assists students in the vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency, until parents and teachers are able to build both intrinsic and extrinsic in students in reading, we will always have discussion as how to build these key areas of reading.