As a teacher-researcher, I have realized the importance of including student’s opinions on the topics I am researching. In the future, when I conduct research on various ideas and concepts that involve my students, I plan to ask students for their perspective. I will take their comments into strong consideration when I as I create hypotheses and draw conclusions. I want to formulate questions to help guide my research, but I also want my students to raise questions to drive my research as well.

This process has completely influenced my outlook on teaching reading and writing regarding staying up to date on the latest best practice. As a teacher-researcher, it is my job to research new techniques and determine if they are best practice; however, the research does not end there. It is then up to me to then implement these new ideas and best practice into my classroom. Then, I will monitor my students progress and process. I will see if the techniques, that I have integrated, are working affectively and positively impacting my students in reading and writing. It is my job to teach my students using best practice and that is done through being a teacher-researcher.

Regarding my personal identity as a reader and writer, I have seen the importance of setting aside time to read and write every day. I also need to model this behavior to my students. If I am going to expect my students to read and write every day, I need to model this behavior myself. My students will be more open to this task if I am doing it as well. I can achieve this by completing a reading or writing assignment with them or reading a book for pleasure, while they are reading a book of their choice. I can also take notes in a journal throughout the day to show them how natural writing can be. There are so many ways to model this behavior, but it is ultimately up to the teacher to model this identity as a reader and writer.

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