I am going to play Devil's Advocate: On Jul 19, 2007, at 5:25 PM, Debbie Goodis wrote:
> You know how I know? The students. The conversations go like > this....What did you do in Social Studies today?...We watched a > movie... Johnny Tremaine? A documentary on the Gold Rush? the building of the Transcontinental Railroad? Manifest Destiny? the Revolutionary War? > What did you do in ELD today? We played games...(when the curriculum > was a unit from our book) It's very appropriate for ELD students to be playing games. Perhaps they were vocabulary games. Perhaps while playing the games they were developing vocabulary. > One teacher just let's the kid do page after page in their math > book..... I've done this.... > doesn't teach ...... How do you know? > and the kids are all on different pages of the book, so when you ask > what are you doing in math they either don't know or you get three > different answers. I am not surprised by this. I ran a completely independently paced math program for three years in which students did a lot of working with manipulatives and I did my teaching individually and/or in small groups. > When I made fossils with my kids, another teacher didn't do those > fossils until THE DAY of Open House and her kids complained because > mine had fossils to share. (We also share kids so some of mine know > what is happening in the other classes) Perhaps they ran out of time for making fossils because they were doing something else. > That's how I know....the students tell me!! I used to ask my own children what they did at school and they never said much. My daughter actually told me once that it was none of my business (she was 7). > And don't think it feels good when they say to me.... I wish I was in > your class....I'm not flattered...I'm heartbroken because they should > all be getting what I'm giving. Another thought...I'm not a super, > hyper, type A personality..I'm old and a little tired..I don't run on > the playground with the students or have abundant energy, but I TEACH > with enthusiasm because I love students AND teaching. I think it's the > best gig in the world. Also, I connect with my students. I know and > care about each one, I have meaningful conversations with them and we > have lot's of eye to eye contact. You don't have to be a young, hyper, > overachieving bundle of energy to be a good teacher. I don't think I'm > expecting too much of anyone. I just want them to give the students > all the opportunity possible to learn the standards. And do just > minimal things to make it fun so that they (the students) care enough > about school to pay attention and think > school is important. It's not too much to ask. It's what they signed > up for when they interviewed and accepted the job. We can only do what we do in our own classes. Plus, some teachers are more fun than others. That doesn't make one better than another, just different. I know what you are trying to say and on many points I would agree with you, but I just think it's important to not make too many assumptions, even when information comes from the students' mouths. More of my two cents.... Renee "We are here to infiltrate space with ideas." ~ Ramtha _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
