Karen Parker:  Blog Post 4:   Teach with a Sense of Ungency
     This chapter was motivating because it discussed what we need to do ensure that our instruction moves students ahead.  I think sometimes teachers can get caught up in what it cute, what the parents think we should be teaching or how we should be teaching, or what is easy or has worked in the past.  We need to always look ahead and find the ways to challenge our students.  Every year's plans cannot be the same, because every year we have new students with new needs.
     The author listed five things that she does to ensure she is planning for optimal growth for her students.  They are demonstrating her love of reading, providing an excellent library, letting students have choice in their reading, teaching strategies, and evaluating students regularly.  She included a literacy model based on instruction rather than just the components of a literacy program.  The model begins with teachers demonstration (modeling reading strategies) and slowly releases control to the students to use the reading strategies independently.
   The suthor also discussed how a traditional model of teaching skills in isolation can actually harm students that are behind academically or English Language Learners.  Students fail to see how that skill relates to the big picture.  I have always been interested in how language acquisition relates to reading ability.  The author states that the understanding of story comes before concepts of print.  She also connected the fourth grade slump to poor oral language development.
     Some suggestions the author gave were interactive reading.  This means not waiting until a student is finished reading to ask questions, but to discuss it throughout.  As I conference with students each week, I jot down notes about what they are reading so that I can ask questions about it at the next conference.  I also like her suggestions of welcome brochures and class books.