Notes
Reba Mathew and I met for the first coaching session on Friday, January 30. at 2:15 PM. We are in the Verify Perspective section of the Vector model and so the primary purpose of the meeting was to build relationships and to begin thinking about a goal for this course. To build relationships we used the central focus and potential strategic questions listed on the Verify Perspective document of the Vector Model.
Reba is originally from the Chicago area and moved to the Olathe area after she married. She has a 2 year old son who keeps them busy. She said that she and her husband are “outdoorsy” people and love to hike when possible, and they also enjoy playing volleyball.
Professionally, I learned that Reba has been teaching for 10 years and that all of her experience has been in Special Education. She currently works with 3rd, 4th and 5th grade resource students at Forest View Elementary in the Olathe District. She is taking this course to earn the Literacy Seal required by the state of Kansas, but is also eager to learn strategies to assist her students. Coming from the Special Education world, she is familiar with many of the strategies used to help struggling readers, but was not familiar with the Quadrant model presented in the course site.
One of Reba’s biggest challenges is preparing her students for the grade level state tests. She indicated that there no longer are many accommodations for Special Education students, so children need to be ready to take the grade level tests with the Gen. Ed., students. So, while she might be working on CVC words with 3rd graders, on the tests they may be required to comprehend a short passage of reading. Currently in her classroom she uses the U-Fly curriculum for younger children and the Wilson curriculum for her older students.
Reba will continue to look at the resources in the course site and together we will formulate a goal at our next meeting.