Why Teachers Should Read Children's Books

Teachers who read for pleasure have better book knowledge...thus are stress-free in the classroom. There is value in teachers becoming reading role models. Teachers' knowledge of children's literature contributes to a child's enjoyment of reading.
In order for reading to become"bibliotherapy" readers should identify with characters met in a strory and form emotional connections with them...via writing-in-role, hot-seating activities.
Reading can induce well-being and a sense of joy. But our teachers need support. They need knowledge on good books available, know how to access these books, have indepth knowledge of various reading skills and strategies, and informal sharing sessions via book clubs.
This is a movement that needs immediate attention by policy makers, educators and community members.

Adapted from Jo Bowers and Dr Susan Davis, 2013

Teaching of Phonics

Reflections on the training session attended at ELTC  on The Teaching of Phonics

Phonic Segmentation Skills
- ability to break words down into individual sounds
- an example of a phonological awareness skills
- supports the aqcuisition of literacy skills

Sample goal for phoneme segmentation skills
The learner will
- listen to a target sound (phoneme) presented orally
- determine the word that begins with the target phoneme
- indicate the word by saying it out loud, signing it, and selecting the appropriate picture.

Instructional Task

* The teacher says
                              the sound /m/ (only the sound)

* The learner
                      Listens to the sound
                      Looks at each picture / symbol
                      Segments the initial sound of the words
                      Determines the word that starts with the target sound
                      Says the word out loud, signs it and selects the correct picture.

Instructional Procedure
                       - model
                       - guided practice
                       - independent practice

Andragogy - Man-leading

Six Principles of Adult Learning

1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed.
2. They bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences.
3. They are goal-oriented.
4. They are practical - relevancy -oriented.
5. They like to be respected.

This is what I learned during my training in Teaching Phonics at ELTC Bandar Enstek.

What Reading Means to Me and my Children

Reading meant shared time with my father. Reading meant time allocated to my inner self. Reading means joy. Rereading selected books means reliving my childhood, redrafting the journey of my life, revaluing judgements made, and redesigning the rest of my life. But mostly, reading means shared moments with my children.
Reading has made my children critical. They do not take anything at face value. They always ask first..." So what Amma?" They then go further and ponder.... "What if?" I believe the reason they adore Dr Who (the TV series) is because they are not bound and limited in their ability to imagine and think beyond the box formal schooling has drawn them into. They can watch the current BBC version of Sherlock and appreciate the wit and the characterizations of the protagonists. They are
selective of the movies they watch. They appreciated what was put in the trilogy Lord of the Rings movie yet disagree with the inclusions of characters not in The Hobbit book.
My children grew up with the best of idols, imaginary they may have been, and could relate their experiences with these characters. I did not dictate moral values to them. They know what their
mother expects of them. They introduce books to me now, books I had not had time to discover.
We do not have a TV set in our living room. We have books. The living room is our personal corner...where we cozy up with cups of steaming hot coffee (and tea...) and books. We talk about the characters like we know them personally. Sherlock, Watson, Atticus, Elizabeth, Darcy, and even Hamlet and Iago join in our conversations. It is great company that we keep.
These are treasured times. These are the most precious memories.

The Magic of Storytelling

"If there is one universal thread that binds all people together, it is their need for stories." - Lisa Lipkin

Bedtime storytelling could feel like a chore, but here are three great reasons to do so:
1. It provides your own imagination a workout - more so when you include sensory details, setting, conflict, twists and dialogue.
2. It forces you to turn off your inner editor - please improvise and let the character lead you forward.
3. You have a captive and honest audience.

Ref: Creative Storytelling: Choosing, Inventing, and Sharing Tales for Children by Jack Maguire.

My Coaching Reflections

Lesson1: Teachers need to know and trust me. Together we have to build relationships and plan with an end in mind.

Lesson 2: The development process has to be collaborative and actively sustained, with a regular cycle of trying, reflecting and adjusting.

SISC+ ... Am I relevant?

I have learnt that the following are BAD PRACTICES:
1. forcing teachers to abide by a list of so-called best practices,
2. generously handing out tips and tricks to teaching,
3. fixating on structures for lessons,
4. parroting pre-prepared lesson plans.

What I should be doing is:
1. identifying teacher development needs based on learning needs,
2. focusing on ways for the teacher to help students,
3. collaborating with and supporting teachers,
4. ensuring coaching process is sustained and following cycles of trying, reflecting, and adjusting

All of the above with focus on improved STUDENT LEARNING - NOT TEACHER BEHAVIOUR!!!!

EMPOWERING QUESTIONS

Sometimes, when people are acting in unempowered ways that diminish their ability to act, you can help them get their life back with empowering questions.

Challenging limiting belief

Many of us have limiting beliefs which stop us from thinking and acting in ways that could help us achieve our potential. Questions that can help here should highlight the belief and offer challenges to help the person consider limitations and alternative.

Why do you think that?

Do you really believe that?

Who else believes that?

What else could you believe?

What if you believed something different?

What's the worst thing that could happen if you did? What's the best thing?

Exceptions to extremism

When people do not want to argue about something they tend to use comments that push everything to extremes. This is in order to

Everybody's got one.

You always do that.

I'm totally depressed.

It is as if they are

Finding the exception

A way to address extreme statements is to find one or more exceptions. This is best done by asking questions:

Is there anybody (other than you) you who hasn't got one?

Do I always do it? Every time? Can you remember me not doing it?

Could you be even more depressed? Might there be someone more depressed than you?

From possibility to action

Sometimes people deal in impossibilities. Perhaps because they are afraid or failure or maybe due to other limiting beliefs or maybe even laziness, they just declare things impossible.

Jeff wouldn't like that at all.

We just don't have the time.

It'll cost far too much.

I'm not good enough for that.

I just don't know.

A simple way of breaking this mindset is to inch forward into possibilities.

What if we could find another person to help?

How can we do it for less money?

What if you just did it anyway?

If you did know, what would you say?

KIPLING QUESTIONS

Rudyard Kipling wrote a short poem outlining a powerful set of questions:

I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

Whenever in doubt as to what to ask, just dip into these questions.

What

'What?' often asks for noun responses, seeking things that are or will be. They may also prompt for verbs when they seek actions.

'What' questions include:

What are you doing?
What shall we do next?
What happened?
What is stopping you from succeeding?
What is the most important thing to do now?

Three 'Whats' that may be asked in sequence to solve problems are:

What are you trying to achieve?
What is the real problem?
What is the solution?

Why

Asking 'why' seeks cause-and-effect. If you know the reason why people have done something, then you gain a deeper understanding of them. If you know how the world works, then you may be able to affect how it changes in the future.

Asking 'why' seeks logical connections and shows you to be rational in your thinking. It can also be a good way of creating a pause or distraction in a conversation, as many people make assertive statements but without knowing the real 'why' behind those assertions.

A reversal of 'Why' is to ask 'Why not', which is a wonderful creative challenge for stimulating people to think 'outside the box'.

Why questions include:

Why did you do that?
Why did that happen?
Why is it important for us to try it again?
Why not give it a try?

When

'When' seeks location in time and can imply two different types of time. 'When', first of all, can ask for a specific single time, for example when a person will arrive at a given place or when an action will be completed. 'When' may also seek a duration, a period of time, such as when a person will take a holiday.

When will you be finished?
When will you give me the money?
When are you taking your holiday? (next Summer)

How

'How' seeks verbs of process. They are hence good for probing into deeper detail of what has happened or what will happen.

How did you achieve that?
How shall we get there?
How will you know she likes you?

'How' may also be used with other words to probe into time and quantity.

How often will you see me?
How much do you owe him?

This can be quite effective for diverting attention away from the real question. For example in the first question above, the attention is on 'how often' and 'seeing me' is assumed.

Where

'Where' seeks to locate an action or event in three-dimensional space. This can be simple space, such as on, above, under, below. It can be regional space, such as next door or in the other building. It can be geographic space, such as New York, London or Paris.

If something is going to be delivered or done, then asking 'Where' is a very good companion to asking 'When', in order to clarify exactly what delivery will take place.

Where will you put it?
Where will they be delivered?

Who

The question 'Who' brings people into the frame, connecting them with actions and things. The 'Who' of many situations includes 'stakeholders', who are all the people with an interest in the action. Key people to identify are those who will pay for and receive the benefits of the action. Of course, you also may want to know who is going to do the work and whose neck is on the line -- that is who is ultimately responsible.

Who is this work for?
Who will benefit most from what you propose?
Who else would be interested?

Assumptive questions

Kipling questions provide a simple method of using assumptive questions that act as if something is true, then hide it in a question:

How much do you care? (assumption: you care)
How will you persuade her? (assumption: you will seek to persuade her)
Where will you buy it? (assumption: you will buy it)
When will you make the change? (assumption: you will make the change)

Solving problems

A simple framework for solving problems may be defined by combining What, Why and How, as follows:

1. What is the problem?
2. Why is it happening?
3. How can you fix it?
4. – Fix it! –
5. Why did it work or not work?
6. What next?

QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES

Asking questions is a fundamental part of finding information and for subtle (and otherwise) persuasion. Here are various pages on questioning:

• Closed Questions: That seek short answers.
• Chunking Questions: Chunk up and down for more or less detail.
• Clear Questions: That are simple and unambiguous.
• Columbo Technique: Asking stupid questions that get the answers you want.
• Double Bind Questions: Whichever way you answer, the result is the same.
• Echo Questions: Repeat what they say as a question.
• Empowering Questions: That release limits on people.
• Funnel Questioning: Seeking more detail or more general information.
• Group Questioning: Tips for asking questions of many people at once.
• Interrogation Questions: Questions that lead to answers.
• Kipling Questions: Rudyard Kipling's six servants.
• Leading Questions: That may or may not be a good thing for you.
• Open Questions: For long and detailed answers.
• Open and Closed Questions: yes/no or long answer.
• Positive Questions: Deliberately leading the other person.
• Probing: Digging for more detail.
• Probing Questions: Specific questions for finding detail.
• Rhetorical Questions: Questions without answers.
• Socratic Questioning: Socrates' method of questioning in order to elicit learning.
• Tag Questions: Some questions encourage agreement, don't they?