Discussion for Jen M., Lauren B., Adama K., Megan Z. and Analie H.

In reading the two pieces by Allington, two particular parts stuck out at me, one from each piece and they were tied together by the fact that both involved a reflection back upon the practice of adults and the modeling that they provide to the young people around them or lack thereof.

Allington introduces the contradiction of asking students to read at a 98% accuracy level but then contrasting it with the reading habits of adults in the piece titled: What Really Matters When Working With Struggling Readers. Although he does not use a reference to back up his assertion, it is something to think about. We as teachers ask our students to do a lot of things that we are ourselves are sometimes not willing to do in our own daily lives. This creates a kind of stratification or separation, between new learners (the students) and continuing learners (the teachers) in my mind.

In Allington's other piece, Proven Programs, Profits and Practice, he lists ten strategies that can be categorized by the fact that they make little to- no profit, one of these among them, is the idea of reading aloud. During this read aloud time, the teacher is instructed to ask questions out-loud that one might think about as they read along in the story. While I see value in this methodology, could the teacher not go one step further? Is that teacher truly engaged in the story at or following a prescriptive script in order to achieve a desired result from his/her students?

My question is this, we speak a lot about motivation or engagement in regard to our students. However do we truly model it for our students? And not in a "one-size-fits-all way" as Bartoleme talks about? Do we provide them with enough examples of adults engaging in literacy in a personal and dynamic way? What does your modelling of engagement look like and does it look the same to, or for, all your students?

Is our engagement in reading, for example, in the classroom a means-to-an-end or is it clear to our students how reading impacts us, as adults or teachers, beyond our classroom? Do we distinguish ourselves from the profit-based, test taking culture that dominates our curriculum and society at large or do we serve as an alternative model?