The Six T's

In chapters one and two of Classrooms That Work and the article, What I've Learned About Effective Reading Instruction there is an underlying theme. This theme is that we need good and effective teachers. Effective teachers matter much more than any program. Another theme is that children need to spend more time on reading and writing throughout the school day.

In the article, What I've Learned About Effective Reading the author talks about the six T's. These six T's are:

1. Time

2. Texts

3. Teaching

4.Talk

5. Tasks

6. Testing

Time is listed because the teachers that were observed had a very well balanced ratio of reading and writing to "stuff." These teachers had the children reading or writing for as much as half of the school day. When I was in elementary school I do not remember reading or writing for that long. We had many other activities that took place besides reading and writing.

The texts section talks about if children are going to be reading during that much of their day, they need good books that they can read. The children need books that they can actually read, but books that aren't too easy. They also need a lot of choices. Children need books that will keep them engaged in what they are reading. I've read plenty of books to children at work and some start to doze off because they are uninterested.

Part of being good at teaching is being able to plan reading times and choose the right books. A good teacher doesn't just throw the book at the child and tell them to read it. A good teacher gives instruction and demonstrates what the child should be doing. I personally think it is more effective if you show a child what to do, and don't just tell them.

Talking in classrooms should be encouraged. There should be talk between students and teacher as well as student and student. The article talks about the talk being purposeful. We don't want children  just chit chatting, but talking about ideas and helping one another out, asking questions, this is the kind of talk that should be happening in all classrooms. Not silence.

Longer tasks is what needs to be happening in classrooms. Teachers should not be trying to fill the day with lots of short tasks. Longer tasks helps the children to stay engaged in what they are doing versus a task that is 15 minutes. By the time they are finally engaged in something it is time to move on. Instead of reading part of a book and finishing it the next day, the whole book should be read, even if it is a long book that takes up a lot of time.

The last T is testing. The teachers in this article did something that I really liked, instead of grading the students off of achievement they gave them their grades based off of effort and improvement as well. I personally really like that idea. Some children may not completely understand the work, but if you can tell that they are trying to understand, and putting in the effort to learn they shouldn't fail.

I believe the these six T's are good things to follow. I think that if some teachers followed these they could have a successful classroom full of children who enjoyed being there.