Reading+Apprenticeship+Collaboration

==== This presentation is a combination of several initiatives to complete with students at the beginning of the school year. Teachers are constantly looking for ways to get established at the beginning of the year. We try to get to know our students, to create a comfortable learning environment, and to understand students' strengths and weaknesses. Understanding students' backgrounds both personally and academically helps tremendously when it comes to working with students during the school year. When students can share information with each other, this helps build partnerships and teams in the classroom. ====

==== Heather and I have been teaching together for three years. We teach two different levels of 10th grade English. We begin each semester with an introduction podcast, a writing unit, and our Reading Apprenticeship (RA) unit. The first component of the RA unit is a reading history from each student. This helps us tremendously when identifying students who need extra attention. We make this reading history part of the introduction podcast assignment. We both watch each podcast to get to know our students. The students (divided into teams of four) then watch their teammates' podcasts in order to create a comfortable, open learning atmosphere in the classroom. We have to establish this early in the year so students can work together throughout the school year. ====