Professional Development for Teachers
“The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher
demonstrates. The great
teacher inspires.”
William Arthur Ward
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Many teachers in international
schools are risk takers……
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Few teachers in international
schools have all the knowledge
they need to teach reading and
writing in a differentiated
classroom…
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For example…
A commonly used reading methodology in reading
is Round Robin Reading & yet it is not a valid
methodology:
It can hamper listening
comprehension
It can work against all students
working to their full potential
It can potentially cause faulty reading
habits
It can be a source of anxiety and
embarrassment for students
It can cause unnecessary subvocalization
Source: Michael F. Optiz and Timothy V. Rasinski
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For example…
Teachers often
assume students
know how to
write appropriate
genres…
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For example…
Teachers often think
they are teaching
comprehension
when they are
actually testing it…
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Kids need to read a lot (1988 Wilson & Fielding)
• Kids need books they can read
• Kids need to learn to read
fluently
Achievement %
90th
50th
10th
Mins. reading/day
40.4
12.9
1.6
Words per year
2,357,000
601,000
51,000
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“Kids need to develop thoughtful literacy”
Source: “What Really Matters for Struggling Readers” Richard Allington
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For example…
A commonly used methodology with children
with difficulties in reading is to teach children to
sound out words…
“Children need to learn to read fluently”
[Allington et al.]
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The struggling readers are:
• More likely to be reading material
that is too difficult for them
• More likely to be asked to read aloud
• More likely to be interrupted when they
miscall a word
• More likely to be interrupted more quickly
• More likely to pause and wait for a
teacher to prompt
•More likely to be told to sound out a word
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While better readers are:
• More likely to be reading material of
appropriate difficulty
• More likely to be asked to read silently
• More likely to be expected to self-monitor
and self-correct
• More likely to be interrupted only after a
wait period or at the end of a sentence
• More likely to be asked to reread or
cross-check when interrupted
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The Balanced Literacy Program:
provides training to ensure teachers are
experts in teaching literacy.
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Brian Cambourne’s
research shows that the
most effective method for
improving student
learning outcomes is
though providing quality
professional development.
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Balanced Literacy
The Balanced Literacy Program is
custom designed to meet the specific
professional development needs of
individual schools.
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The company has been operating
since 1999 in the United States
and Australia.
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Genre
•Narrative
•Exposition
•Reports
•Procedure
•Recount
•Explanation
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Writing
Guided writing
Interactive writing
Grammar
Shared writing
Language experience
Spelling
Model writing
Independent writing
Punctuation
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Reading comprehension
Prior knowledge
Visualization
Questioning
Making connections
Inferring
Summarizing
Synthesizing
Fluency
Vocabulary extension
Self-monitoring
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Reading
•
•
•
•
•
•
Shared reading
Guided reading
Literature circles
Language experience
Learning centres
Independent reading
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Assessment in reading, writing &
spelling
• Running records &analysis
• Observation Survey –
Marie Clay
• Phonological awareness
• Writing analysis
• Strategies with struggling
readers & writer
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Early Childhood
• Developing sound, letter, word knowledge
• Developing comprehension strategies with young
children
• Engineering writing activities to engage all children
• Oral language as a spring-board for developing
reading and writing
• Gain insights into talking to parents about children’s
literacy development
• Gain an understanding of literacy expectations from
birth to 5 year olds
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Parent workshops
• Helping your child
with reading
• Helping your child
with writing
• Helping your child
with spelling
• Helping when your
child struggles with
reading and writing
•
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Training
Training can be provided through:
• Whole school workshops
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Training
• Coaching and demonstration programs
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The Balanced Literacy Program is
effective because:
• We tailor instruction to meet the
individual needs of teachers
• We build relationships with teacher
• We practice what we preach
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“The person who can make hard things easy
is the educator.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Costs
• The program would be tailored to suit
the needs of the school
• Cost per day for a consultant is $1800
USD + expenses
• This equates to $60USD per person
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Example Budget 1
• Two days training
• $3600 USD + expenses
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Example Budget 2
•
•
•
•
•
•
One day of training
One after-school training session
½ day training with Upper Primary teachers
½ day training with Middle Primary teachers
½ day training with Junior Primary Teachers
two days of coaching and demonstration
lessons
• $9000 USD + expenses
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Barriers
• We don’t know what we
don’t know
• Cost
• Transient teacher
population
• Availability of substitute
teachers
• Integrated curriculum
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School Outcomes:
Increased literacy skills
Increased student confidence and self-esteem
Satisfied/happy parent body
Improved teacher methodology
Increased teacher self-esteem and confidence
Greater retention rate of teachers
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Margaret Menner
Advance Teacher Training
Ph: 8354 0801
Fax: 8354 0260
Mobile: 043 976 8163
margaret@menner.com.au
www.advanceteachertraining.com.au
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