Coby's Reflection to Taberski Chapter 8

In this chapter Taberski talks about the importance of matching children together to form a group and matching that group with an appropriately leveled book during a guided reading. She asserts that it does not always come out perfectly and that there are many time when even she has to make adjustments to her matchings. Sometimes she will notice that a student is not keeping up with the rest of his or her group or the book that she gave a group to read is not appropriate for them. Sometimes she even has to change the guided reading into a read aloud and look for a different book.

The poignant thing that I found in this chapter was when Taberski said that no matter what you do you will never get it perfect and you will continue to make mistakes. She asserts that the most important thing is whether or not you learn from the mistakes that you made.

This lesson is something that is good for everyone. Last semester I felt like I made more mistakes in the field than anyone else in the College of Education and it made me feel like a failure. Eventually I had to learn that I'll never get it perfectly but the main thing is whether or not I learn from the mistakes that I have made. I can use that lesson when doing guided readings. I can see myself getting flustered if something goes wrong the first time I try one but I guess I have to remember to stay calm, do the best I can, learn from my mistakes, and "cut my loses." It will be an interesting journey.