One of the most important things that children learn in school is how to read. Teaching reading strategies to young students can help prepare them for the rest of their academic career, and depending on the effectiveness of the reading strategies, it can set students up to succeed (or not). Teacher professional development for teaching reading strategies is critical to equip students with the skills they need in all areas of their education.

There are a few different types of students that teachers will have to learn to teach reading strategies to. First, there are the students that are behind in their reading skills. In our society it is so important to be literate, and you cannot get an advanced education unless you master reading skills. The ability to read is inherent in all people, so it is possible to teach anyone to read – those that are struggling probably just need some extra attention, extra patience, and extra motivation. You need to let these students know that you have high expectations of them and that you will help them to succeed.

For students that are reading at their grade level, you can still help them to improve. Often teachers focus too much on the students that are behind and they neglect the students that are performing at the average level – but if teachers spent more time with those at the average level, they could become more advanced! Always make sure to push yourself to help all of your students to improve, not just those that need it most.

For all students, the best way to improve is to read more frequently. Reading fluently only comes with practice. Those who struggle will have to read more to get better – even though it’s difficult. Teacher professional development courses can help you to learn methods to encourage your students to read more and get past the hard times. The students that are ahead of their grade level are often the ones that read for fun. They just keep reading and improving and it gets easier and easier for them to succeed.

One more tip for teachers is to get the parents involved with the students and reading. Try alternating reading sentences (for young kids) or paragraphs between the parent and the child. Maybe have the student read to his younger sibling, if he has one. Kids should always have access to a variety of books so they can find what they enjoy. Maybe a child is not bad at reading, but they don’t like what they are reading in school. In that case, if you can help them find something they enjoy reading, they will be more motivated to get better at reading so they can learn more about this thing they are passionate about.

In summary, teachers should absolutely invest in learning teaching reading strategies, and this can often be done through teacher professional development. There are numerous techniques and tips for teaching reading, so teachers should be exposed to as many as possible so that they can be better equipped to help their students succeed.

Author Bio: Vince Welsh is CEO of Teacher Education Institute. TEI offers rigorous, graduate-level professional development courses for K-12 classroom teachers. For more about TEI, teacher professional development, teaching reading strategies visit http://www.teachereducation.com

Category: Education
Keywords: teacher professional development, teaching reading strategies