Competency # 3 Podcast

The International Reading Association is a not-for-profit organization with more than 70,000 members, founded in 1956; the association “supports literacy professionals through a wide range of resources, advocacy efforts, volunteerism, and professional development activities.” (Website-About Us Section) This site pertains to my blog, because it supports and educates the reading teachers who provide literacy to students with disabilities, etc. Their podcast section has different ideas and professional advice for the subject and grade level the teacher is working with. This site brings innovative approaches to the classroom, to support struggling readers. I found this site by searching Google with keywords such as "reading strategies podcasts" or "reading skills podcasts," without quotation marks. I subscribed to several podcasts along the way.

http://www.reading.org/General/Publications/Podcasts.aspx

Competency #2 Related Blog

It is not as easy as I imagine to find a blog that both educates teachers and promotes inclusive techniques in reading and learning for their students. I believe that this is because although librarians and special education teachers work together, their roles are always thought of as seperate. The school librarian is rarely thought ever to be a source for the kind of information that informs the struggling reader and opens teachers' eyes to new technology. Since I want to be that type of librarian in the public school setting, I found the following blog and I identify with it.

http://thankyourteachers.blogspot.com/2010/01/integration-of-learning-disabled.html


One post dated February 2, 2009, titled "Integration of Special Education Students" caught my eye.


"Many teachers are unaware of the special needs of special students. Many have personal biases that confound their abilities to teach those less intellectually abled." (Jilks)

The author of this blog like myself believes that more can be done to teach students with different reading abilities.

1a. Introduction

This blog was created to fullfill the requirements to complete Information Storage and Retrieval LS 5013-20 and to make a virtual record of my learning. I am interested in working in a public school library where resources (assitive technology, book series etc) are available that permit struggling readers (ex. learning disabilites) to improve reading success.