Wilhelm Chapters 1 and 2

The first two chapters of Strategic Reading by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Tanya N. Baker, and Julie Dube discuss different theories of teaching in general and different theories of teaching reading. Wilhem, Baker, and Dube argue that Vygotsky's theory of teaching is the best model for a teacher who's goal is to have their students develop new skills as well as master content. Right from the beginning I was struck by their student-centered approach, "what kids would know when they were done with the unit, and what they would know how to do that they didn't already know" (2). I think that this quote from the beginning of chapter two perfectly sums up the challenge they pose to teachers in Strategic Reading. Do you just want your students to get good grades (because you gave them work in their zone of actual development)? Or, do you want to challenge your students to actually grow, learn, and become more competent in learning and reading strategies so that they can master the next challenge. This is already a daunting task and then they add to it that learning needs to be fun (14)- oh man! Personally I do not think that making my class fun will be my biggest challenge, but I do think that it will be a very specific triumph to achieve a classroom where students are given a lot of the reins, where I am a helpful guide, and where they have fun without missing the whole point of a lesson. In the second chapter, Wilhelm describes a unit around irony which seems to hit all these marks- how can we as teachers get this formula right everytime? As his other personal anecdotes reflect, sometimes you will not get the formula right. When he writes about stooping to the level of a "teacher run, information-transmission model," I believe he is describing an experience that no person can completely avoid in all their years of teaching (41). What I believe makes him a good teacher, however, was his ability to recognize that what he was doing wasn't working, despite being able to transmit content knowledge to his students. I really like the strategy of guided reading and what it can lead to. Wilhelm laments that funding and attention by teachers for teaching reading evaporates by middle school; as a (hopeful) future middle school teacher, I will try to breathe life back into teaching reading, especially because Social Studies requires so much reading. This discussion reminded my of a lesson that Dr. Kraus modeled for us on indirect instruction. The topic was the Crimean War and the celebration of war and heroism in memory and propaganda- pretty big ideas. He set up stations with primary and secondary sources on a battle in the war and posed the question to us: what really happened? He went around our small groups and helped us look at the sources the right way and in the end the class had a very thoughtful discussion. While this activity isn't exactly described by Wilhelm, I feel like he would see that this fits into his ideal.

I like this sketch of ZPD because it puts it on the students' terms: Anxiety/Learning/Comfort. It gives the student more agency in its quantification of their development.