The Standard VIThe Master Reading Teacher facilitates appropriate, research-based instruction by communicating and collaborating with educational stakeholders; mentoring, coaching, and consulting with colleagues; providing professional development for faculty; and making decisions based on converging evidence from research.
Standard 6 describes the role of the Master Reading Teacher with two groups of people: educational stakeholders and fellow educators. Standard 6 also expands the role of the MRT beyond teaching students to mentoring in the school community. The MRT works together with both populations to facilitate literacy instruction that is founded on sound research and is suitable to the needs of diverse students.
Educational stakeholders include parents, students, teachers and government. With this population, the MRT seeks ways to develop productive two-way communication. The MRT works in partnership with parents and students to achieve full literacy for each student.
As a member of a school�s faculty, the MRT is prepared to design and implement professional development opportunities that will encourage implementation of best practices in literacy across the curriculum. In addition, the MRT can walk alongside co-workers to model and encourage best practices in literacy instruction. The MRT is able to help fellow teachers to identify literacy issues in their classrooms and can help them to address those issues. At the departmental and school level, the MRT is prepared to offer converging research about best practices in literacy to inform decision making.
I developed my skills in communicating with stakeholders by creating a webpage and platform for helping parents overseas to learn about literacy issues and helps. Several activities expanded my vision regarding ways to strengthen the partnership between family and school for promoting literacy in the home. I participated in an article discussion about how to maximize the communication value of class newsletters. I interacted with fellow students in RTeacher ListServe about creating and accessing Blogs, I also reviewed and discussed an article about conducting Family Literacy Workshops. I�ve consolidated my new understanding about literacy development opportunities in the home through email by consulting with my target audience: English speaking families living overseas in a non-English speaking environment.
To develop my ability to promote sound literacy practice within the larger public community, I reviewed an article and made a connection between my current learning in EDUC 5322 and an article I�d skimmed in the early part of this course. Through this reading and connecting of new knowledge in this course with knowledge in another course I�ve increased my ability to read research critically and I have a deeper appreciation for how the discourse has been defined thus far. By reflecting on my reading and discussing the Book Club selection for Session 7, I�ve been encouraged to be more vocal in promotion of best practice, as so much of the discussion has been defined by the extremes.
I�ve expanded my conception of my future role in the professional community as I�ve reflected on the components of Standard 6 in light of discussions, websites, and articles that I�ve read. At the IRA website I noted that the ethics statement includes comment regarding the tone of professional discourse. Through the ListServe discussion I collected ideas for book club study groups with peers and grew in my concept of how to do professional development in a format other than workshops. I've also discovered a new source for collecting converging research about literacy through the Listserve discussions.
I have also grown in my understanding of collaborative learning and mentoring in the professional arena as I�ve shared tech help with fellow students, discussed articles, reflected on the RTeacher ListServe, corresponded with other professionals via email about what I�ve been learning in this course, and used informal meetings to verbally process some of my learning with fellow professionals here in my current community. In the RTeacher ListServe Discussions I�ve also discovered a new source for collecting converging research about literacy.
Global School Bus
Discussion � class newsletters
LSD learning 2 re: Blogs
Article Review & Discussion- Family writing workshop
Email Consultation
Article Review � What to do about Jabbering Parrots
Interactive Exercise Connection
Book Club 7-Achieving Best Practices in Literacy Instruction
Book Club 7 Discussion
Observation about IRA website
ListServe � Learning 2 re: professional development
ListServe � Learning 1 re: technology
Professional Correspondence Article
Article Discussion- professional discourse
Meeting Notes
