I have learned so much during my time in this program. I got so many new ideas and tools to use in my classroom. With my schedule changing a little bit for next year, I will be able to implement more of the resources into my classes to help my students. I am hopeful for where my Read 180 classes will be going. With my research on how to expand on the activities that already exist in the Read 180 program, and proven results, I am ready to take on another year, and utilize my new strategies at the start. I am excited to see my students learn and grow.
My name is Meaghan Brownell. I am an avid bookworm and am passionate about helping students learn and grow.
I received my BA in English and my Single Subject Teaching Credential from Sonoma State, and I am currently getting my MA in Innovative Learning from Touro University. I am going into my second year of teaching at American Canyon Middle School. I have been teaching Scholastic's Read 180 reading intervention program to 6-8 graders, which is where my research takes place. I focused on the importance of how we teach vocabulary to students, because of its relation to reading comprehension. This week I'm thinking about leadership in general, not just transformational leadership. We have many leadership positions at our school, and I have applied to be the 7th grade level lead. When thinking about why I wanted this position, I had to think about how I could improve anything and everything at our school with our students, staff, and parents.
While chatting with the current grade level lead who is moving, we discussed the RTI processes we have in place. We have SST meetings with students, their parents, and their teachers. We discuss the concerns we have for the student in the classes, and work together with the student to come up with goals. That about ends the process. I want to incorporate new RTI procedures where we can check back with the student and teachers to see how students are progressing with their goals, and what we can do to continue supporting them. This is just one thing I want to bring change. To be able to have an impact as a leader in the ways I want, I would have to make sure my organizational skills are up because the amount of communication with parents and setting up meetings is high. I also would have to make sure I am confident in myself and my ideas, and collaborate with my team to make the best things happen. My goals for completing this program mainly include producing a final product that shows the process I went through, and the outcomes of the entire project. My project on teaching vocabulary has changed the way I teach in my classroom. The correlation between vocabulary and comprehension is huge and obvious, and the way we teach vocabulary directly affects students' comprehension. Though I don't say much in class, I have enjoyed and appreciated the thoughts of my cohort members. I have listened to the ideas that bounce around, and I spend time reading their blogs to see how what they are working on impacts their classroom and their students. I have been very thankful to have Rose at my school as well as in the program. Having her on campus makes her an easy accountability partner and someone right there to talk to about classwork and ideas. As far as the cohort as a whole, it is important that we are here to constructively support each other. Each of us brings so much to the table in terms of who we are, and there is a strong power behind having a collaborative group to support. |
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