Observational Analysis Research Paper

Context:

In this course, we were given an overview of how literacy instruction has changed and developed over time. In Freeman & Freeman's book, Teaching Reading in Multilingual Classrooms, the authors provide a checklist for effective reading instruction. For this assignment, we were asked to use this checklist to observe and evaluate a classroom to see if it had all the items on the checklist, including factors about the environment, culture and resources in the classroom.

Reflection:

At the time, I was working as a one-to-one teaching assistant in a second grade Integrated Co-teaching classroom. Using this checklist, I was able to identify what routines my current classroom teachers were using to support reading and writing instruction, and some areas in which they needed to improve. Now, as a classroom teacher myself, I want to ensure that I have a balanced literacy program, by using the checklist to observe my own practice, and make sure that students value reading and and have time to connect with what they've read.