Blog #4  Catching Readings Before They Fall
Who's to Blame?

   When students walk in our classrooms and they are struggling to achieve or they are grade levels behind, what is our first thought?  We start looking for someone or something to blame.  We want to blame it on the previous teacher, or the child's home life. 
   Johnson and Kier share with us in their book that Carol Lyons asked us to acquire three positive self fulfilling stances instead of faulting others:
-expect that the lowest achieving children can learn to read and write
-support children as they learn how to learn
-BELIEVE that you are the one who will teach this child to read and write
   If we look hard enough and long enough we can find strengths in every student.  As teachers, we have the power to make a difference.  One way to do this is to start them off with a positive attitude about themselves as readers.  Sometimes all it takes is for a student to know that we believe they can do it.  Having those expectations for them, expecting them to learn to read.
   At-risk children who do not get off to a good start, according to Johnston and Kier, "They become embroiled in negative spirals of failure, deepening emotional challenges, and continued failure that often results in behavior problems."
   I feel that we often don't high enough expectations for our at-risk, low achieving students.  We just expect that they will always be low achievers, and that is simply not the case.  They need to know that we believe in them and they we have a vested interest in their achievement.