Teacher Testimonials
Teacher Testimonials
1. Middle School Reading Intervention Program: 12 Days; Taught by Remote Conferencing from Beverly MA to Indiana; Done in Conjunction with Local School ELA Teacher.
June 28, 2018
Dear Mr. Adams,
I truly enjoyed working with you this summer using the Proportional Reading program via videoconferencing! My class, composed of sixteen middle school level readers with a wide range of abilities, was energized with each conference we participated in. Through videoconferencing, we were able to provide direct instruction and improve test scores in just twelve sessions. Eleven of the sixteen students who participated showed growth via pre- and post-testing using the STAR Reading Test by Renaissance Learning.
In reflection, there are a few things that I believe make your program unique. Each lecture provided students with a “chunk” of learning. These included a focus on how to take a sentence apart and how to put it back together again with meaning. New vocabulary such as punctuation intervals emerged and students began using it to talk about reading. Most of my students can decode with automaticity. Comprehending their reading was another story. Through your sessions they began to understand how many sentences pose a question in one part and answer it in another part. These are just a few of the skills they learned.
Independent practice with text and voice was an important component. Students learned to use audio files and choose the pace of the audio to match their reading needs. Text files were also presented in several different formats to match the reader’s needs. As reading fluency increased, the students were able to increase the pace of the audio. As I continue with this approach this fall, I will increase time within the program to do this as many struggling readers do not make time to read at home, and practice is vital!
Your program also provides a wonderful phonetic reference tool. When students lack proper phonetic understanding, they have gaps. This tool helped to address this. In addition, my students read in pairs with you where you were able to identify bad reading habits as they read aloud and help them to overcome them. The final component of your program addressed vocabulary. Having a minimal vocabulary inhibits many student’s reading progress. This structured program, focusing on root words, prefixes and affixes was reasonably priced, self-paced, and provided a variety of test-taking strategies.
My students learned much this summer, as did I! I plan to use the terminology and methods you demonstrated in my classroom this fall. Our combined efforts are what made this program so effective. Being able to manage the classroom and note when a point needed to be clarified or re-explained was vital. This approach provided professional development for me as it helped me to look at reading in a whole new way. Every school has readers at all levels of the spectrum. Your approach, which many might look at as being remedial in nature, actually allowed me to reach readers throughout the reading spectrum. I had truly struggling readers as well as advanced students who had not applied themselves during the regular school year, and I found a match for every single one with your program! Thank you again for your thoughtful insights and debriefing after each conference. I look forward to our continued work together!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Stacey Atwood
Middle School English Teacher
Indiana Milken Educator
Christa McAuliffe Fellow