Learning From What Doesn’t Work
Getting to the bottom of adolescent readers' comprehension and motivation difficulties requires careful, ongoing assessment of instructional practices and students' literacy needs. In the article “Learning from What Doesn’t Work” in the October 2005 edition of Educational Leadership, Gay Ivey and Douglas Fisher believe that real engagement in reading is not the product of strategies alone but a fusion of self-efficacy, interest and strategic knowledge. There are common practices that create barriers to engaged reading and comprehension development. The article describes five ineffective strategies for developing reading comprehension in older students. Before asking “What works?” it might help to ask, “What doesn't work?”
Ineffective Reading Strategies:
#1 - Don't let students read.
#2 - Make students read what they don't know about and don't care about.
#3 - Make students read difficult books.
#4 - Interrogate students about what they read.
#5 - Buy a computer program and let it do all the work.
You can read about each ineffective strategy in more detail by going to Learning From What Doesn't Work.
ISN Live
After a long absence, we would like to begin preparations for another “ISN Live” statewide meeting. We hope to introduce the new Commissioner of Education at this meeting. We would like to ask your input about the scheduling of this session. Our thought is sometime in September or early October. We know October is fall break time and late September is state content conferences. With CATS scores due to be released earlier this year than in the past, we thought mid-September might work for a day to day and a half meeting. Please respond to David Cook and let him know your thoughts on the scheduling of the next ISN Live.
Arts Toolkit
Kentucky teachers may now place advance orders for the Music Arts Toolkit. It will include more than 12 hours of instructional and performance video in 150 classroom-friendly segments, a CD-ROM entitled A World of Music that introduces styles and instruments from around the globe and a wealth of lesson plans and other teaching ideas. Reserve your copy now! Shipping will begin in late June. See the ordering information at KET Arts Toolkit Ordering Information.
Minority Leadership Conference Scholarship
The Kentucky Department of Education has eight reimbursement award scholarships for local school district employees (administrators, principals, teachers, coordinators and others) to attend the 17th Annual Leadership Conference for Minority Administrators and the 6th Annual Southern Regional Minority Leadership Conference, being held in Tunica, Mississippi, from May 28 through June 1.
The $750 reimbursement will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. The total estimated cost for the conference is $1,500. Local school districts that apply for this grant must be willing to support the additional cost of the conference for their staff. Districts will be required to submit to the Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of Federal Programs and Instructional Equity an invoice detailing conference expenditures. The district finance officer must sign the invoice. For more information about the scholarship, please contact Dawn CheNeen Offutt in the Division of Federal Programs and Instructional Equity, by calling (502) 564-3791 or e-mailing Dawn Offutt.
Additional information regarding the conference can be found at Southern Minority Leadership Council.
Quotable Quotes
“You will never know something unless you teach it to someone else.”
John C. Maxwell