Clinical Field Experience A: The Role of the Reading/Literacy Specialist

I am doing part one for the interview and just need Part 2 and reflection done. Ill add the interview portion in myself. Thank you. Reading/Literacy specialists have two primary roles. Their first responsibility is working directly with students to assess their skills and provide them with appropriate materials and instruction to improve their literacy skills. Secondly, reading/literacy specialists provide training and coaching for classroom teachers who are working to support the diverse literacy needs of students in their classrooms, including English language learners and students with exceptionalities such as dyslexia. Understanding the key skills associated with conducting research, communicating and collaborating effectively, and selecting instructional approaches that support student learning in reading and writing is essential to effective professional practice. Part 2: Reading/Literacy Specialist Observation To gain a greater understanding of how you will apply the Science of Reading when instructing students, observe your mentor teaching at least one reading/literacy lesson in the classroom. You will submit a copy of your observation notes. Record information related to the following: Student engagement strategies Instructional strategies and activities Differentiating instruction Student grouping during instruction Reading materials and genres Informal and formal assessment activities and data collection Collaboration with other teachers or paraprofessionals Use any remaining field experience hours to provide support or assistance to the class as directed by your mentor. In 250 words, reflect on what you learned from your interview and classroom observation by addressing the following: Describe how you expect to apply your knowledge of the Science of Reading and the Skill, Will, Thrill comprehension instruction model directly when working with students and as you support and coach teachers in meeting the literacy needs of ELLs and students with exceptionalities such as dyslexia. Provide a real-world example to illustrate your role as a teacher and as a coach. Skill: This aspect focuses on the development of the skills necessary for students to comprehend. As we have noted, this includes both constrained and unconstrained skills that are taught to the point of automaticity. This area is probably the most comfortable for most of us, as we have spent decades learning how to teach students the component parts of comprehending texts. Will: This aspect concerns motivation and engagement. We all know people who can read but don’t. They have developed the skills necessary to read yet not the will to do so. There is a lot of evidence for the value of attending to the will of reading as well as evidence about how to develop this aspect. Thrill: The final aspect focuses on what readers do with the information that they gain from reading. To our thinking, understanding a text should be exciting, especially when there are consequential things that you can do with the knowledge you have gained. Unfortunately, this is rare for most students. They do not find reading to be a thrill, and they see little relevance in reading, as evidenced by the decline in out-of-school reading all of us, students and adults alike, are doing.