Planning Ahead

Whoa! It's mid-April. Time does fly when one is having fun. I can't believe that I'm almost wrapping up another school year. I need to take stock of the situation [in my professional life] and plan ahead so I can face the next batch of students with the same [or even renewed] enthusiasm I had when I first began teaching. That being said, the essay that follows is what I propose to do while I rest and rejuvenate [should I say resuscitate?]
The development of effective reading abilities is a lifelong process. To encourage students to become mature readers, school literacy programs must foster situations/environments that promote comprehension and critical thinking skills. These skills must be introduced at the preschool level and reinforced even in college classrooms. A child’s reading ability is based, to a large extent, on parental influences and social background. However, it is primarily the role of the school teacher to model effective learning techniques to the student.
School teachers and other reading professionals are, thus, faced with a huge responsibility. In order to effectively apply their expertise towards the development of literacy amongst their students, they need to possess enough knowledge about literacy standards and processes. I am very interested in knowing about these standards and processes. I would like to do my research assignment on national reading standards in the US. This will help me get a better understanding of the overall situation.
I want to particularly stress on the aspect of Teacher Education. What is the government doing to promote awareness among teachers and reading professionals? Are there standards that are set up to verify the credentials of people entrusted with the task of teaching students how to read? What are the strategies teachers need to follow if they want to promote literacy through the instruction of reading and writing with the help of literature?
I often feel that as a teacher I’m muddling through a maze while trying to teach my students comprehension skills. A lot of the assignments I have come up with and the teaching strategies I use are all a result of trial and error. More often than not, senior colleagues have helped me in my endeavors. However, there is nothing scientific or standard about their approaches either. They have also arrived at certain conclusions after years of experimentation. I also find that teaching strategies vary from state to state, school to school, department to department and even individual to individual. The age, the cultural biases and personal beliefs of teachers influence their teaching philosophies in a major way. That is the reason why I want to learn more about national standards and approaches.
I plan to use the internet, refer to journals brought out by organizations like the International Reading Association, and talk with colleagues who are reading specialists in my quest for information during the next few weeks. Hopefully, by the end of the semester, I will have collected enough information on the subject. God willing, by next semester, I can put some of the theories I read about into practice in my classrooms!