Video 3

Toolkit

What to Include in Your Content Literacy Instructional Toolkit

1. Staff/Teacher Professional Development. Teachers must continue to be learners. Teachers must stay up to date with their content area and with how students learn. Teachers must willing to expand out of their own teaching comfort zones in order to reach all students.

2. Use multiple technologies. Books, online software, web-based materials (blogs, discussion groups), and literacy circles can increase student literacy.

3. Content Area Teaching. Teachers should use their own knowledge of their content area to ensure learning by all students. Instructional tools such as word walls, graphic organizers, and technology can increase a students understanding.

4. Foster a positive learning environment. Positive reinforcement, high expectations, and teacher attitude can greatly impact student learning and achievement.

5. Meet the needs of ALL children. Additional instruction time should be put in the schedule for student’s not meeting grade level expectations. Before and after school intervention programs can be put in place along with adding book clubs or lunch time reading circles.

6.The staff must work together. All teachers must be on board with increasing literacy no matter their content area.

Blog video 1

Moje article and Podcast

Dr. Moje’s article and podcast present an approach to literacy that seems to be out of touch with the test-driven climate in today’s classrooms, as well as the current needs of the students in them. As a music teacher, I wholeheartedly agree that authentic literacy within a given discipline is important. However, teaching literacy in the content areas with the hope of transferring those skills to other contexts seems to be a step before what students actually need, and that is basic reading and writing skills. Moje mentions that a student cannot develop literacy skills without a deep base of knowledge, and knowledge in fundamental reading and writing skills seem to be what students at the secondary school level seem to be lacking. In this respect, Moje appears to put the proverbial cart before the horse.

Hello!

Hello! My name is Rochelle Montagne. I am married to Brian Schneckenburger (who is also in this class), and I live in Parkville, MD with my husband, two black labs (Jake and Ella), two cats (Billie and Oliver), and my sister Janelle. I was born and raised in Liverpool, NY (a suburb of Syracuse). I am a HUGE Arizona basketball fan, and I enjoy traveling.
I am a middle school instrumental music teacher at Hazelwood Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore City. This is my fourth year at Hazelwood. I have also taught in New York and Arizona.
I hold a Bachelor of Music in Music Education degree and a French Horn Performance certificate from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York College at Potsdam and an Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona.
I have an Advanced Professional Certificate in Maryland, and am also certified in New York and Arizona. In 2007 I became a Baltimore City Fine Arts LEAD teacher, and I have been the Research Chair for the Maryland Music Educators Association for the past two years.
I am taking this class as a part of my recertification in Maryland. I would like to learn new ways to apply reading and writing skills (outside of writing performance critiques, practice journals and doing research projects) in a class that is traditionally performance based.