Sunday Smorgasbord: July 6

Just checking in with a little randomness with Fabulous in First and the...

I hope everyone enjoyed a fun Fourth of July. It's one of my favorite holidays. Every year our best friends come over for a cookout. Some swimming. And fireworks. Our hubbies put on a backyard show with cheap fireworks from Walmart. They ventured into the "big boy" fireworks, but we had a scary close call on New Year's Eve so... sticking with the simple ones is safer. We love our show! 

We will be implementing the FAIR-FS (Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading-Florida Standards) as a beginning of the year reading screening and I'm a trainer for my district this summer (not loving going to work). The part of training I do find most valuable is getting the opportunity to connect with teachers around my county. It's interesting to hear about what is going on at different schools. We've heard everything from "we do every assessment there is" to "my principal doesn't require ANY assessments". How can schools and thinking be so different?

The training covers not only implementing FAIR-FS, but what to do with the data once it's collected. In my opinion, Running Records or an Informal Reading Inventory give me the most information about my readers and it's what I would use after using a screening tool like FAIR-FS. I meet with students to go over the results and to help them set reading goals for themselves. Two questions that start my beginning of the year conferences are "What do you think about yourself as a reader" and "What do you need to improve on as a reader". The kids blow me away with their responses. Nine out of ten times they are right on target. Some of my students seem surprised that I'm asking THEM what they need to work on. It's so important to involve kids in their own learning and to get that "buy in" from them. They are much more motivated to work towards goals they have helped set for themselves. I love conferencing and find the benefits far out weigh small group work. What reading assessments do you find useful in your classroom? Do you conference or teach small groups or a combination?

Social media is just buzzing with talk of the Las Vegas conference. (Are you going?) I won't be attending this year. I waited too long to purchase a plane ticket and then the prices were outrageous. I will be in New York City this time next week and I CAN NOT wait!! I'll keep my eye out for all your pictures and posts about Vegas! You can look for me in NYC!

Be sure to check back for week 6 of The Teaching Tribunes Summer Bloggin' linky. 

Please remember to link up your on going linky parties on my page, Linkys I {heart}. I hope to get a good list going. I think it will help to keep track of all the parties especially when school gets started again.

Have a great week!