As a substitute teacher, I was mainly interested in the practical framework of the Tier I classroom. This chapter provided an overview of a teacher's schedule within a district that is embracing RTI. As I read about the CIM portfolio's components, I was able to picture myself in previous teaching experiences where some of these elements were starting to be implemented.
On page 102, it was very detailed about the emergent language and literacy intervention. I could very easily use some of these guidelines as I have substituted for regular teachers, reading specialists, interventionists, and learning support teachers. Likewise on page 103, in the guided reading section, I found some practical ideas to use during guided reading when a teacher was unable to leave detailed plans for the day. Again, on page 104, I was able to relate to the writing process intervention since I have actually been asked to work with students in such a way. However, the new knowledge to apply would be focusing on applying problem solving strategies when working with words. I am quick to spell out an unknown word rather than having the students think it through. On page 105and 106, I recognized another type of focus intervention that I have had to teach in the higher grades. Key ideas that I will want to use the next time I find myself in these settings, would be:
1. prompting students and focusing on talk about deeper meanings
2.students applying comprehension strategies for regulating their reading purposes
3.provide conferences and self assessments as students write a response from the text
Of cousrse, I never become involved in assessments while I sub. However, for the formative assessments, I could provide some observations or anecdotals for a returning teacher as I work with students.
Finally, I was interested in the Assessment Wall of PM. I have seen this used in a few districts. I especially liked the triage approach for a new student.

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This will be my 2nd year team teaching with the LS teacher in September. I was especially interested in the collaboration section (p. 194) of chapter 8. It was stated during a presentation that once students get to grade (ie) 6, they are already labelled, and little hope may be given to any improvement because of the situation. My hope is to genuinely collaborate and share goals for struggling students, especially in reading and writing. As the classroom teacher, I feel it is my responsibility to establish a plan for students' success - and the strategies from this week will be especially helpful. Page 189 lists 6 factors to use in engagement and assessment. By having these formally posted in my guided reading binder, I will hold myself and the students accountable for the small group instruction time which is so valuable. Finally, having a common spoken language between the LS teacher and myself will benefit the students as well. When referring to the domains of writing or comprehension strategies in reading or even literary elements, students should hear the same language across the board. This chapter was very helpful in guiding me to a plan for a better, richer, classroom learning environment for the upcoming year.

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I was impressed with how different Alysia's role is from mine as an ELL teacher in Lancaster County. I hope she is full time and only spends half her day teaching. She has a very full plate!

Her basic questions on page 164 resonate in my head about each of my students.

I liked how they tried to involve the family. Many of our ELL parents need education to understand how to be a parent of a successful student. Many of them are socially isolated, especially if they speak a language not common to others in the area. I would like to focus more on this area next year.

I still have one question: If Tier 2 is for a short amount of time (4-6 weeks), what about the research that states that ELLs need 5-7 YEARS to be on the level of their peers? Often I think we delude ourselves when we think ELLs are 'fixed'. Only after considering all the facets of reading AND language(listening, speaking, reading, & writing) and watch them for at least a year after they have been dismissed from ESL, can we pronounced them 'fixed'.

I really liked their planned time for constant collaboration and the fact that Alysia was constantly explaning the nuances of teaching English to her collegues. I so wish we could do Professional Learning Communities in our district. We all have so much to learn!

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I finished the chapter ready to implement an assessment wall at my own school much like the one discussed in the chapter. It helped me to see how effective this wall was for a school with needy students who were not making adequate progress. The assessment wall formed in a small room of the school basement was multi-purpose: to monitor individual progress, to monitor subgroup progress, and to monitor school progress overall. Monitoring students in multiple ways in a visual format promoted conversations about student achievement. The wall was labeled with the categories of below, approaching, meeting and exceeding. There were rows for both reading and writing (K-reading, K-writing, etc). To respect student privacy, numbers, not names, were used. Individual teachers and reading specialists had the specific lists student name/number correlation. The cards were moved four times a year, but the educators had scheduled and as-needed meetings to communicate about students. Multiple assessments were used for providing data, for one summative assessment and a reading level would not be a true reflection of progress. The data collection form for student assessment on p. 23 was a helpful visual to see some of the assessments that were used for the data cards (reading conference notes, benchmark performance, independent reading rubric, etc.) As for the portfolio of interventions, teacher expertise is the critical piece, not packaged programs. Reading this chapter really had me reflect on my school’s attempts of an assessment wall. Previously, we had a grade level pocket chart with cards for every student and places to mark their 4Sight scores. There was not a permanent place for these pocket charts with singular assessment data to live and they were not used continuously. Now I have a focus and an energy for creating a true assessment wall in a permanent place in the school where all stakeholders can track and celebrate student progress effectively.

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I chose to read Chapter 10 because I am moving into the role of reading specialist next year for my district. I work in a district that has been talking about RTII on an administrative level, but the school has not adopted a commitment to move forward with the model just yet. As I have been sitting through the session this week the keynote speakers have pointed to research that suggests making some changes in the way my district currently operates. I realize that with a shift in job role I am in a position to advocate for foundational principles that drive RTII. Our district has allowed several teachers from the district to come this week in hopes that we would return and share our knowledge. I began feeling about mid-week that I had all this wonderful knowledge but, not what? I chose to read chapter 10.
I was so glad that I finished the chapter last night and was able to hear Dr. Barbara Marinak speak about a great deal of this chapter today. Her talk helped to bring this chapter to life.
A few key points I took away from this chapter after reflecting on its content:
The six steps Heath and Heath outline to help bring about change that is sustainable
An appreciation that my district is just beginning this process and NINE people from my district attended this session including both K-2 and 3-5 teachers.
An action plan for analyzing our basal series and determining our definition of core instruction
A need for radical change in the way my district provides professional development and fosters collaboration
This chapter is all about creating an RTII team to help implement the process and ensure that research- based practices are being applied as the model rolls-out. I feel lucky to have attending this class and read this chapter to help me prepare to share the research expertise behind best practices in implementing an RTII model.

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