COMM. AND COLAB.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

On January 19, 2018, Mrs. Hermann taught a lesson on reading a nonfiction “stretch”

article called “Problems by the Sea.” She modeled how to read a difficult text by doing a “read

aloud-think aloud” for the whole class. This modeling took up a large portion of the block and

afterword she asked me if I thought it went well. I shared that I thought by the end of the reading

aloud it seemed like about half of the students were disengaged and off task but that for the other

half of the class the modeling was helpful. Together we decided to break up the read aloud and

have students work in pairs using cooperative learning and then come back together to complete

the read aloud.

For the class that afternoon and next day Mrs. Hermann used this new plan of reading

aloud and allowing the students to work in pairs to keep up engagement. After the afternoon

class she asked how I thought it went and if student were able to follow along. She mentioned

that I had helped her modify the lesson to make it more helpful and keep the attention of the

students to the classes. This experience was the first of many opportunities where Mrs. Hermann

has given me a chance to voice my opinion and allow me to be involved in the planning process.