Catching Readers Before They Fall Chapters 1-3

Chapter 1 was a great introduction to how our textbook for this class is layed out and how we can specifically use it in this classroom, our field experiences, and throughout the rest of our paths as future OR current teachers. One part that stood out to me while reading is the "We Believe" area that the authors wrote. One bullet point reads as follows; "Classrooms should be incredibly safe places where every student feels respected and valued; where its okay to make a mistake; and where its acceptable by all to have strengths and weaknesses that may be different from other students in the classroom community" (Johnson & Keier, 3). This quote took me as something that EVERY teacher should keep in mind through every aspect of their classroom, whether it be reading or not. Student success, in my mind, can flourish only in an environment such as this quote lays out that the teacher needs to establish. This quote meant a lot to me and makes me excited to continue learning throughout this book.

I was not surprised to be introduced to Vygotsky's teaching theories within the first couple of chapters in this book. I have learned about him before, and it is clear that he is one of the main resources teachers pull from while planning their literacy blocks and theories. Teaching through the zone of proximal development (ZPD) by using techniques like scaffolding and the gradual release of responsibility is a key way to move information to the zone of actual development. One of the main points of his theory, the gradual release of responsibility, got me thinking a lot throughout the reading of how I could apply this and the ideas of ZPD to something that is very personal to me, which is dancing. As a dancer, I have taken classes my whole life. The choreographer, which in these cases would act as a teacher, would usually start a class modeling whatever dance or routine she would like us to do for that day. After her modeling, we usually start to interact with the teaching by individually practicing the movements on our own with the help of the choreographer beside us or in front of us. At this point we would be in our own ZPDs, since we can do the skill with the help of the teacher. This would be where her main teaching points would be of most importance to us. Eventually we would be able to move our of the ZPD to be able to do it completely on our own. The choreographer models the gradual release of responsibility by at first modeling completely on her own, then giving us a little bit of freedom to practice with her guidance, and eventually giving us full control by doing the movements on our own without any of her help.