Posted on Monday, December 7, 2009
Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, ¾¨Ó㴫ý professor of education, and Pam Redfoot, second-grade teacher at New Wilmington Elementary School, presented ther collaborative research project at the National Council of Teachers of English annual conference Nov. 21 in Philadelphia.
"Family Literacy Journals: Conversations that Connect Home and School Reading Lives" was part of roundtable presentations on "literate Lives of Children: Topics and Trends in Elementary Education." The presentation centered on Klassen Endrizzi's and Redfoot's continuing inquiry with the families of Redfoot's students.
¾¨Ó㴫ý senior elementary education and intercultural studies major Emileigh Drylie, a student teacher in Redfoot's classroom, helped organize the weekly written exchanges between families and children that became the focus of the presentation.
"I have found that I look at my students differently by being more sensitive to their home environments," Drylie said. "I consider how to build connections to the home so that learning can be a continual process. It is not the teacher's sole job to teach, but to welcome and support a working relationship with the home of each student, so that every child has the opportunity to succeed in learning."
Drylie is a daughter of Robert and Deanna Drylie of Oakmont and a graduate of Riverview High School.
Klassen Endrizzi, who joined the ¾¨Ó㴫ý faculty in 1993, earned undergraduate and master's degrees from Fresno Pacific College and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.
Contact Klassen Endrizzi at (724) 946-7189 or e-mail endrizck@westminster.edu for more information.
