Reading: Assessing Reading 

I found this class, and the accompanying reading, to be of particular use to me. I have had the opportunity to see Running Records being done in my last placement, in a grade 1 class. My AT had a binder in which she had organized all her data about each student. She used this information to create her groups for guided reading, which was done on a semi-daily basis. While on placement, I observed a Reading Recovery session with a grade 1 student. After watching the teacher with the student, and making copious notes, I was a bit confused about what she was doing, and how she was doing the assessment. After the session, the teacher sat with me for over half and hour and reviewed what she had done with me. I was really impressed with the session, and felt that it was a very valuable experience for a beginning teacher. I think that doing Running Records will require a great deal of practice on my part before I feel confident in doing them.

   The advantages of doing Running Records, and other assessments of students, are abundant. It allows teachers to know the level that the student is reading at. It also allows teachers to tailor their instruction to the needs of their students. For example, a teacher could discover that she needs to work with students to build such things as reading fluency, or comprehension. The article entitled "Running Records: Every Day" was an excellent resource for this topic. I especially liked the explanation of the method of scoring. It helped to answer some of the remaining questions that I had about it. It made me see the value that Running Records have, and that it doesn't have to be time consuming, if done on a daily basis.

Christine McGoveran

I have been fortunate enough to have administered a running record in my own classroom.  While teaching in Korea, I often used running records, or a version of them, to determine at what level my students were able to read.  For me, having this valuable information allowed me to alter my instruction in a positive way for my students and truly understand and cater to their needs.  I have not seen the use of running records in my placement classrooms this year which I feel is quite unfortunate.  They are a valuable source of information that allows a teacher insight into their students instructional needs. 

Finally, although the reading helped clear up some of my questions on the subject, I think the only way for me to truly understand the scoring of them will be to do one on my own.  I will certainly fine the website used in class a great resource for hands on application of a running record.

Stephanie Knutson