Teaching Elementary, My Dear Watson

5 - Home Visits

5

Home Visits

Monday, September 12

Kevin was up at five and on his Honda by six. The wind cut into him, but he thought of yesterday's hike instead. He made a brief purchase before he parked in the school lot. He was the first to arrive. Mr. Smith, you probably won't notice, but I'll persist so that you'll see that I'm an all-star.

Kevin finished organizing his class for the day. When Cassie knocked, he felt excited and hopeful that she could help him improve. He poured coffee from a thermos. She carried her own java.

Kevin said, "I promise these doughnuts aren't leftovers from what I brought to the staff meeting."

"Better be fresh!" She smiled, stuffed part of a powdered one into her mouth, wiped the extra sugar off with a napkin, then took a swig of her coffee. "What is it you want to learn first from me?"

"How can I best help students who are still challenged with beginning to learn how to read?"

Cassie nodded, taking a moment before answering. Her long hair hung loosely behind her light blue blouse and navy blue maxi skirt. "Well, we use basal readers here, meaning there are groups at different levels. I know it sucks that they see who is better and worse, but the students learn that about each other anyway. We've found that discerning their current ability and then guiding them up from there works best for kids at all levels."
"That makes sense to me. My own training is about providing support by helping all kids move from where they are. But I've never used basals or reading groups before."

"We start with the language arts results from the test we gave all students on Friday."

"So I get their current reading level. Then what's next?"

"I organized your students over the weekend based on their scores. Here's how they fit into groups, and which readers each will use." Cassie showed Kevin the clusters. "You can go to the school's book storage room later and get the exact number of copies you'll need at each level, both for texts and workbooks. Each day before the reading period, you'll assign about an hour's worth of workbook activities, then rotate among the six groups. They read aloud with you for ten minutes each. Don't let them correct each other. You want to let them try to sound out the words solo, helping them only as they need. That's the support you were talking about."

"Thanks, Cassie. You're the best!"

"Here are the math results, too. We don't use groups for math, but last Friday you said you felt more comfortable with that subject."

"Yeah, I've always loved math. I have some ways to work with all kids that I feel good about. It's reading where I had more questions, and you've got me started on solutions. Thanks again."

"Anything else you need?"

"Well, we finished fast, and I'm already prepared for today. Do you have time to tell me how you ended up in Southern California?"

"Sure," she said, taking another sip of coffee. She sat back in her chair. Cassie touched the large turquoise pendant hanging from her neck, a gem often found in the Southwest. Her eyes glazed over a bit like she was traveling back in time. "I was a pretty good student and went to boarding school in a town called Tuba City on the Navajo Reservation. There I met my future husband, Dan. He was two years older than me and had graduated in 1941, so when war broke out, he enlisted in the army. He was gone for four years. I finished high school, then worked and lived with my family in Arizona. I learned later that Dan was used as a "windtalker", what they called a translator, because the army needed some Navajos to send messages in our native tongue."