When I’m planning a new implementation, the
question I get asked most frequently starts with “How can BrightFish Reading fit into
our…” From there,
you can fill in your choice of blended learning, flipped instruction,
rotational models, push-in, pull-out, response to intervention, expanded
learning, and so on. Despite what we often hear about stagnation in schools, there
is a lot of innovation going on and a willingness among educational leaders to
try different approaches to find an instructional mix that matches the needs of
their students and teachers.
With a plethora
of pedagogy (sorry, I couldn’t resist), it’s critical for instructional tools
to fit into whatever, whenever. Few schools still ask for blocking schedules
anymore – the software
just needs to fit into the many things that are already going on in the school
day.
Take pull-out
and push-in models. In a traditional pull-out, students go to a lab for a dedicated
period of work for anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. A reading interventionist or instructional coach
facilitates the class, offering support and additional instructional on missed
learning objectives, either individually or in small groups.
In the
push-in model, co-teaching enables the interventionist collaborate with the lead
instructor in the class environment. Class management is more challenging, but students
don’t lose any time
transferring classes, and teachers can work together to make sure the instruction
and intervention are well-integrated. Having common tools that co-teachers can
use to monitor the progress of their students is critical to information sharing
and effective instruction.
Flexible tools
Below is an
example of how flexible instructional components can be used for pull-out or
push-in instruction. (Despite saying I never provide schedule blocking anymore, here goes):
1.
Whole or small group mini-lesson (10 minutes)
While
BrightFish is designed to be self-paced and student-centered, the tools can be
used as part of small group or whole group lessons. For example, teachers can model
a reading comprehension strategy based on missed learning objectives in the students’
training reports. For younger students in a pull-out reading lab, teachers
could model the program on an interactive whiteboard using a sample story to
introduce each activity.
2.Self-paced
student practice (30-45 minutes)
During
reading practice, students work independently on their chosen stories and
activities. The interventionist or instructional coach can walk around and
observe, as well as check her dashboard for any notifications to provide
one-on-one support to anyone struggling with an activity. BrightFish Reading is self-paced, so students can log into their workstations or laptops and pick up where they left off. It takes students 60 minutes on average to complete a story with all of the fluency, vocabulary and comprehension activities. Self-paced practice
can happen anywhere, giving students more reading practice outside of the
reading class.
3.
Re-reading and reflection (5-10 minutes)
A
short summary session can be used for read-aloud, where students can use the
passages from their current story to read aloud to the group. Teachers can also
use the reflection period to facilitate discussion on the learning objectives
and activities.
Teacher collaborationIn
the BrightFish system, teachers can “subscribe” to monitor different classes, to
get notifications and review assessment and training data. Reports can be
printed for teacher discussions and error data can be used to identify common
areas of weakness for group instruction. Open response questions can be scored
and comments can be added by both teachers to provide more feedback to students.
Pull-out
and push-in models are just two examples of instructional approaches being used
in schools. Learning can (and should) happen anywhere, and instructional tools
have to be flexible and adaptable to different environments while promoting easy
communication and collaboration among teachers.
