Kids InSight
Subtitle: Reconsidering How to Meet the Literacy Needs of All Students (Kids Insight Series)
Edition: 1st edition
Publisher: International Reading Association
Published: April 2000
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9780872072657
Subjects: English language; Teaching of a specific subject; Education; Education / Teaching; English; Secondary; Teaching Methods & Materials - General; Case studies; Effective teaching; Language arts (Secondary); United States
Description: I really care about these kids-I'm concerned about getting to know them-showing them that I want them to learn & do certain things but also that I care about who they are. I try to communicate that verbally, nonverbally, whatever. I teach kids-because they're all unique in a way & I like that. (Rick Umpleby, teacher of high school low-track English/Reading) Kids InSight is a new book series that brings to the fore stories about children & adolescents as the basis for K-12 teachers' instructional decisions. Kids InSight: Reconsidering How to Meet the Literacy Needs of All Students is the first book in the series, the foundation on which the future volumes will build. Author Deborah Dillon begins by explaining the goals of the Kids InSight series, then highlights the threads that will run throughout all books in the series.^

Next she presents the goals of the book: to encourage teachers to reflect on & reconsider their instruction, to change their focus to their students, to view their students' actions in light of new data, & to renew their teaching efforts. The chapters discuss in detail the different requirements of being an insightful teacher; report the author's experiences conducting research in two classrooms; & detail the interactions of the teachers & students in these classrooms, explaining what makes these teachers insightful. Interspersed throughout this book & others in the Kids InSight series are Reflection Points, which ask the reader to reflect on his or her own practice, allowing for consideration of personal philosophies & strategies for teaching literacy. This book and others in the Kids InSight series will challenge teachers to focus on students as individuals & as learners.^

When students are placed in the foreground, teachers are able to glean insights about who their students are, what they know, how they learn & what can be done to support them. Deborah R. Dillon is Professor of Literacy and Language Education & Qualitative Methodology in the School of Education, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.