Case Study Reflection Paper

1. Beginning educators, as well as those who would like to become specialists in literacy work, should employ a broad range of assessment practices and tools to promote students in the complex activities including reading, especially the struggling students. In addition, educators should be in a position to deduce the information assembled from those different assessments with a significant eye and create instructional decisions that promote both typically advancing and struggling readers. Coursework that employs case method instruction offers an opportunity for learners to learn to think like the educator. It offers a crucial explicit experience through the discussion and reading of cases. In addition to studying an individual, it assists the child educators to better understand psychology of the struggling reader.

Our minds function basically by analogy, and that is when we come across new things we tend to inquire who or what we know that is related. A case has the ability to involve us in experiences that reflect real life situations, therefore, it provides more reliable preparation for teaching than most traditional instruction methods. If we have a mental compilation of cases we have studied, our work is then simplified when we come across struggling readers. Case-based instructions prepare educators to react with more confidence and knowledge we are faced with teaching and assessing real learners. Educators who have trained how to employ case-based instructions have the ability to involve learners in the critical thinking process, analysis and reflection. Well-written cases can signify the complex and messy, this is where neither solutions nor problems are immediately clear. They need to get down below the surface of a situation and wrestle with the nuanced and multiple problems involved in an effort to imagine what might be taking place and what might be done.

2. Effective assessment assists educators to discover how learners approach the reading of texts and tasks that are inclusive of their grade-level instruction. The learner who is in the position to willingly read recreational texts and classroom materials and negotiate instructional-level materials is not viewed to have a reading problem. The assessments employed for the learners in the project undertaken were selected in an effort to expose solid understanding of the learners’ strategies, abilities and reading skills. In addition, the project has assisted the educator to collect information related to the learners’ community and home, their attitudes in regards to writing and reading, the classroom environment, and their level of engagement and motivation. Several instructional cases the educator can employ can assist him or her to be aware of the assessment tools, and sharpen decision-making and analytical skills thereby assisting struggling learners.

3. Each of the preceding goals for studying an individual learner’s depth is crucial if the instructor wishes to learn about his or her learners thereby improving the quality of their teaching. However, instructors believe that one of these objectives is relevant for collecting information in an effort to engage high-level conversations with learners concerning their attitudes, theories and assessments that can encourage and extend their learning in breadth and depth. If the educator truly requires high-level conversations with the learners concerning their expectations, beliefs, and assumptions about how things work or why something takes place, he or she is supposed to engage them closely and establish warm relationships. By discovering the interests of the learners, the instructor will be in a position to prepare for a better environment. Realizing the learners’ level of development might assist the instructor to forecast what questions they may answer. Discovering something about psychology and personality of the learner assists the educator to be sensitive to the tone and assist to decide which topics to avoid.

4. The college has enabled the instructor to gain knowledge and skills to carry out an assessment and instructions that make a change in the lives of learners. Well-organized written response and thoughtful reading are important. Sustained group discussions are very beneficial in that they assist the instructor to have a better understanding in regards to the literacy instruction and assessment and their role in creating writing and reading abilities in children at all levels. The role of the instructor is to make it possible for discussion, therefore his or her active engagement with is significant. The educator’s participation in discussion groups enables him or her to acquire practical solutions that improve the motivation of struggling learners. The educator will be able to use specific learning strategies, present the learners with choices and options, thereby realizing success. These tactics can reinforce the struggling learners’ perception in their academics and improve their willingness to engage and cooperate in academic tasks.

5. In order to improve performance in the case study assignment the instructor is expected to focus on short intensive periods of tuition and maximize the frequency of teaching. He or she is supposed to select major skill areas for growth. By employing pre and post methods the instructor will be in a position to monitor progress and build the existing level of performance. The educator should be in a position to connect reading and writing in meaningful and purposeful contexts, and at the same time provide involving, motivating and accessible reading materials. He or she is expected to access the learners carefully and monitor them individually, in pairs or in groups not exceeding three, while emphasizing intensive and short-term interventions. The instructor should also ensure monitoring and reviewing his or her work.

In conclusion, the act of reading is extremely multifaceted. It is a developmental, interactive process that requires engagement of the heart and mind of the learners. Several factors influence reading success. These include psychological, environmental, and physiological factors, which must be taken into consideration when assessing struggling learners, so that suitable interventions can be utilized. Suitable instructional interventions are those that target the needs of learners while establishing their strengths and promoting their desire for reading. As the instructor discovers their stories, he or she will deepen knowledge in regards to the instruction and assessment of struggling readers.