Alabama Reading Association - 46th Annual Conference - 11/13/2014

Last week we were at the ARA Conference and the first session I went to was “Teaching Reading to the English Language Learner” held by a professor of the University of North Alabama. I decided to go to this session, because I will have to cope with this issue – in my case with non-German speaker - later in my life as a teacher. We have a lot of children from other countries in Germany, especially in the type of school I will teach. And I’ll also have to deal with non-English speakers when I teach ESL classes. I liked that she not only gave tips how to teach the students in an appropriate way, but also how to “survive” as a teacher in an ESL class or a class with non-native speakers, and what makes it easier for students as well as for teachers. I really liked the idea to give the non-native speakers books, stories etc. in their native language as well as in the foreign language, so you can make sure they understand it and can follow your lessons. But she also spoke about cultural awareness and that a teacher should be familiar with customs and traditions of other countries and that we always should be open-minded.

During Lunch they had a teacher from an elementary school in Birmingham speaking. I really liked her point of view that teacher should stop talking, though this is the main part of our job. But we should stop talking now and then and listen to our students, because they have a lot to say and more profound as we sometimes think. Another thing I really liked was that she said that she always tells her students that failure isn’t something bad but the birthplace of brilliance. I can totally agree with that and it is something we have to tell ourselves as well as our students more often…failure doesn’t mean to fail and be stupid etc. but that we can learn from our failures and thus we can transform our weaknesses to our strengths.
The next session I picked was “Following Einstein through the Brain’s Backdoor for Access to the hardest Reading Skills” held by Katie Garner. I really liked her way and passion to talk about this topic, though she unfortunately ran out of time and couldn’t finish the session. She said that teachers always should have an explanation why a letter makes a specific sound, because students always ask why and you shouldn’t just say “It is just as it is.”. So she gave some examples like “au” or “aw” who are in love and therefore make these noises they make. I think you can translate that to different topics, not just reading, as a teacher you always should be able to tell why something is how it is. Students learn better and can memorize better if they get the answer why something is how it is.

All in all I really enjoyed the conference, because it gave me some new insights for teaching reading but also for teaching in general.