Katelin Mills

E401
Teaching Reading Philosophy Statement
Spring 2017

My primary goal in my instruction of reading is to construct a classroom environment in which

students take agency over their own learning and the bedrock for this environment is choice,
differentiation, and accountability. The combination of these yields another defining element of
my teaching philosophy: the growth mindset. Once we destigmatize failure, we can see
everything as process. If I can instill in my students a sense of resiliency then I will have
succeeded.

Every day my class will start with a book talk where a pitch for a book will be given by myself or
a student. Choice will be a driving factor in my classroom and this consistent exposure to new
texts is key. If I can get my students to enjoy reading, I will have greater leverage to enable
learning. Readers need books that carry them along, compelling them to read. Readers need
goals for the quarter, for the year, and we need to pay attention to quantity as well as quality in
their reading lives. We can keep kids accountable with sustained pressure and encouragement,
cultivating engagement with a wide variety of books (Kittle 8). I have come to realize that a
huge part of my teaching philosophy is the establishment of goals. Learning targets hold us, as
teachers, accountable to our students learning for the day. Similarly, goals that students create
for themselves make them accountable for their own learning. In her description of goal-setting
for reading, Kittle also gives a reading rate formula (28) which can better differentiate between
goals so that they are manageable for each reader individually.

Another area of differentiation is the conferencing that follows in order to track students process
with their goals. In order for goal setting and scaffolding to take place, Its my responsibility to
check in with students on an individual basis. I think this has a tendency to appear as a lofty
and idealistic approach. However, in structuring my class after the workshop model, with front-
loading of direct instruction and the majority of class given to group scaffolding and/or individual
practice, much of my time is then made available conference with students individually. I can
check in on their goals, their successes, and most importantly their struggles. I will especially
assist students who struggle with comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, automaticity, spelling,
and/or responding to literature and finding books that interest them (Beers). If I identify a
concept that the majority of the class is struggling with, then this can be addressed via a lesson
or mini-lesson.

The key element to all of this is my relationship with students; my knowledge of where they are
in achieving their goals and what my role is in helping them get there. This relationship is
indispensable to the success of all of the above. I will take ample time in the beginning of the
year to structure classroom culture and routine and develop my relationship with students via
conferencing and showing my investment in their learning and in their lives.

Works Cited
 Kittle, Penny. Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent

Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2013. Print.

Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can't Read: What Teacher's Can Do. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann, 2003. Print.