Page 123: "As she teaches, the diagnostic teacher adjusts her instruction to the needs of the student. She asks herself these questions: How can I elicit responses so that students can understand the main idea? What does the student know that will help him? How much time do I need to wait before I assist? What kind of assistance (prompting, questioning, or modeling) will be most helpful?"
I feel that this part of the lesson is most important, yet oftentimes overlooked. Questioning during the lesson is as important as the lesson itself. Question helps the student come to his or her own conclusions about what they are learning and encourages them to think deeply about the material. Furthermore, one must be careful not to overwhelm or confuse the student with too many questions. I find that wait time is crucial as well. This is something I practice often with the entire class. Some students will rush to be the first ones with their hands raised, while others are contemplating and putting together their thoughts. I often let the students know that I will be waiting for a few minutes before I call on students, and I include a few techniques to make calling on students as random as possible. When working one on one with students, teachers should also consider giving ample wait time.
Page 125: "After the baseline data have been established, the teacher designs a diagnostic lesson based on her hypothesis about the student's reading. She selects a technique that matches the reader's profile. The second section is use to establish optimal conditions for learning new reading strategies. As she teaches the lesson, her modifications are summarized and become a part of the diagnostic collection."
Diagnostic teachers are record keepers. They are constantly evaluating and creating new ways tom improve reading skills. Multiple reading strategies are often incorporated into a single lesson, with the diagnostic teacher consistently assessing what is effective and what is not.
Page 127: "If mediated instruction produces an independent reading level, the diagnostic teacher carefully evaluates the task modifications and teacher investment, or assistance, to establish the instructional modifications that produced the change. If mediated instruction does not produce reading progress, the diagnostic teacher eliminates those techniques and modifications that were used. She returns to her diagnostic hypotheses, adds any new information collected during the diagnostic lesson and reformulates her new hypothesis."
The diagnostic teacher is constantly evaluating what works and what doesn't for each reader. I think if is also important to recognize the behaviors that occur during the tutoring session. My student, for example, is always rushing through the reading. He wants to get back to his study hall. This makes it difficult for him to focus and comprehends very little. It makes it difficult for me to feel as though I am evaluating him accurately, as the motivation is lacking. He is a willing participant, but forever in a hurry.
Page 128: "To help this passive reader learn more active strategies for comprehension meaning, the diagnostic teacher needed to modify a number of instructional areas. She changed the task from silent to oral reading when Terry could not talk about what he read when he read silently. She segmented the section into sentences when he could not follow the paragraphs that she demonstrated."
It seems to be so important to break down reading into smaller chunks when trying to diagnose a student. It is difficult to detect what a problem could be if the student is reading silently. It seems like a good strategy to start small in this instance, before increasing to a larger segment of reading.
Page 131: "Sometimes the diagnostic teacher needs to combine several techniques to produce the desired change. In these cases, the combined techniques are more effective than using either one of them alone."
As an active reader and teacher, I am aware of some of the strategies used to help struggling readers. I am surprised to see a combination of techniques recommended. However, if developmentally appropriate, I can imagine success with this approach. If the ultimate goal is to make students better readers, they should be armed with a wealth of tools. The tools may change over time, depending on challenge and ability.
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