Blog Post #1 Christina Cleland -Children’s Success as Readers and Writers: It’s the Teacher’s Beliefs That Make the Difference By Heidi Mills and Jean Anne Clyde

This article was a case study of a student who reacted and responded in two completely different ways in two very different classrooms.  He transferred from the first classroom and moved to the one at a Child Development Center that was based on the whole language philosophy.  When Matt was given the freedom to create and write in a way that made sense to him. 

When his former teacher was approached about his promotion to first grade her description of Matt was the polar opposite of the child they had experienced in the past seven months.  She refused to agree that he could move on to first grade and be successful.  Her structure of how she relayed information in her classroom was very ‘old school’.  The article states ‘What a teacher believes about teaching, learning, and the nature of children will expand or limit the opportunities for his or her children to achieve their potential.’

I agree that each student deserves an individual and integrated approach to learning.  They can grow from so many different ways to approach learning. The challenge as teachers is having the freedom and the time to differentiate instruction and learning for each student.   It was encouraging to see how Matt responded to the whole language approach.  I feel like I give my students many different ways to express themselves but this article definitely encourages me to strive to find more  ways to give each and every student those opportunities.