Learning to Read

In my new job as a stay-at-home mom, I am amazed daily at how fast my daughter (now 1) learns new things, repeats the sounds I make, analyzes her toys, and every other little thing she does.

One of her favorite pastimes is reading. One might think that a 1 year-old couldn't possibly know how to read yet, and I know she doesn't, but it's amazing to watch her as she pretends to read. She has a few activities with books. The one that came first was to take all the books off the shelves and bury herself in them. She then learned to turn the pages as I read books to her. Now that she's more mobile, she will grab books and bring them to me with a grunting "please read this to me" sound and gesture. When we finish, the pattern repeats. Go get book. Bring to mommy. Grunt and hand her the book. Mommy reads the book and puts her down to get another. With books that she has read many times, she points to pictures. In exciting books with busy pages, she squeals and squeaks and points (usually to dogs, her animal of choice). Lastly, before and after she naps, she reads in her crib, turning the pages and talking to herself.

It seems to me that she is on her way to become an avid reader. When she's upset, reading calms her down. When we go to storytime at the local library, she becomes lost in the books. I wonder what crazy thing she'll learn next that will amaze me.

Changing Directions

I originally wanted to flesh out my research on tracking here, but in the last two years I've changed my topic. I'm still interested in tracking and will come back to it from time to time, but my current focus is on teacher education programs. The issue in my head is that the first year of teaching is hard for everyone and the second year is exponentially easier. First year teachers spend way too many hours outside the classroom and don't feel adequately prepared once they're there. Students take advantage of first year teachers. Parents don't want their children to be taught by first year teachers. Principals know that along with hiring a first year teacher comes a higher level of need for direct supervision and coaching along with difficult conversations around every corner. So I'm going to take a look at what teacher preparation programs actually prepare teachers for and figure out what should they be doing so first year teachers are more prepared. There should be some lessons that teachers learn in their first year that are learned during their own education. Some of it needs to be learned on the job, as with every job, experience is key, but there are key standards for effective teaching that just aren't being addressed in teacher preparation programs.

And we're off...