Ryan+Hurley's Work+Page


 * Internship School:** Northside Elementary School (Warren County, NC)


 * Teaching Background:** I taught English at Warren County High School and Warren Early College high school. The past few years I worked hard to extend my use of instructional technology and project based learning units.


 * Other areas of interest**: When I'm not teaching, I enjoy running, coaching track and field, listening to music, and spending time with my family. I don't consider myself to be an expert in anything, but I did just successfully complete the Krispy Kreme Challenge.

I define literacy as the ability to communicate effectively through a variety of mediums, but it also involves choosing modes of communication appropriate for a given context.

The discussion of new literacies encompass the increasingly wide variety of ways in which people communication in our digital age. However, new literacies are not limited to digital mediums. Art for example, embraces older, sometimes archaic forms of communication.


 * Day 1 Wrap-UP**


 * **Take-aways**
 * There is no such thing as a "silver bullett" reading program. However, there are principles and practices that are proven to increase reading proficiency if implemented systematically.
 * Pushing fluency in first grade is misguided.


 * **Big Ideas**
 * Doing a running record is the best way to identify and address student reading needs.
 * There are a number of great resources to help guide us as administrators who seek to guide groups of teachers through the process of improving instruction.


 * **Questions**:
 * if you had a group of teachers (5-6) able and willing to attend professional development that would improve their practice dramatically, where would you send them? (We should assume here that it will be implemented with fidelity when they return.)

**Day 2**

I left yesterday feeling much more confident about addressing some of the literacy concerns in my internship school. I'm not going to lie, yesterday also made me want to jump right back into the classroom. I absolutely loved teaching tenth grade writing and the video brought back some very fond memories. Still, I again was encouraged by yesterday's session because I was reminded of how important it is now for me as an administrator (intern) to openly share ideas with teachers.


 * Day 3 **

Research and Education Institute || [] || This site is owned and operated by Standford University. It contains the text of all MLK's significant speeches as well as a few lesser know works. The site also audio and video related to the life of MLK. ||
 * **Site Name** || **Address** || **Response** ||
 * The Martin Luther King, Jr.
 * The King Center || [] ||  ||