----- Original Message ----- From: "Sharon Gault" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Can we do this thread in private?????? I am tired of reading all of the > whining! There is not a lot you can do about it so get over it! Can we > get back on topics that this list serve was set up to discuss???? > Sharon > 8th grade > I understand the frustration of reading all these emails especially when it seems only 2 people are actually involved, so I only sample most of the threads and really only read a few. But I teach 8th grade also, and I hate to say it, but this thread has quite a bit to do with the topics we are here to discuss. I've had too many kids (especially in the past few years) tell me they didn't learn anything before they got to me. I've had kids tell me that their previous teacher called them "stupid." I've had teachers "teach" kids the same way they have taught kids since the stone age, and the kids didn't learn a thing. But most importantly as far as this listserve, I have had to UNLEARN the students because they were taught sloppy, antiquated, lazy strategies and couldn't read. I've had teachers who were too lazy to teach and had them read so much that the kids hated reading. I've had kids whose only concept of Fluency was to read as fast as they can and not worry about prosody and meaning. Kids who were never taught to visualize while reading. Kids who still read (and write) the same way they wrote when they were in 4th grade! Or they couldn't make a connection because they had virtually no background knowledge in the topic. Or had all sense of wonder and questioning drummed from them so they are afraid to ask anything. Every Reading teacher in my school know the strategies, but many of the kids don't show any knowledge of it. Bad students? Or lazy teachers? There is a difference in TEACHING a subject and PRESENTING a subject, but not all teachers care to teach. I asked a coworker whose fault it was if most of the kids failed one of her tests, and she told me it was the kids' fault...after all, she did present the information to them. If they couldn't pay attention, it wasn't her fault. My only comment to her was "You're the teacher. If they didn't LEARN it, it was because you didn't TEACH it." I don't think it's extreme to say there are a lot of teachers out there who are burned out, lazy, or ignorant of what good teaching entails. Many are doing what they think is a great job, but they aren't; while others are doing the best job possible and having a difficult time of it due to the neglect of previous teachers. Most of us are out for summer, so we don't really have classroom examples to discuss, but we do have concerns. I think, for the most part, the topics discussed this summer have been expressing those concerns. I've been with this group for a loooong time, but I think we live in a time where the pressures and constraints are almost unbearable, and if a few members want to vent, then go for it! That's why this group was formed....not for the venting (or whining, as you put it), but for THE SUPPORT OF THE GROUP. Each email is like a mini AA meeting and we are all addicted to being good teachers, if not the best teachers, for our kids. "Hi, I'm Bill and I'm a teachaholic...." If we weren't addicted to it, we would be lying around on a beach reading a cheap novel and sipping rum and cokes; but we keep coming here to discuss, help one another, and, occassionally, whine. There are many threads I delete without reading. I don't have the time or the patience to read each and every email, but I do sample a few just to see what's up. I haven't kept up on all this email....it's like visiting with people at a large gathering....YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR EVERYTHING! But you do want to appear sociable, so you listen in to tidbits of conversation and if one sounds interesting enough, you join in. If not, you just keep on truckin'...... Bill _______________________________________________ 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.
