Reading through the discussions about to departmentalize or to not departmentalize and what is best for kids the ‘little boxes’ song seems to reverberate. We have boxes to fill in, boxes to tick, assessment boxes, report boxes, boxes to teach, subjects in boxes, teachers in their boxes and children in the very special box. And we are all doing what is the very best for the children because as you know, ‘research’ tells us!!! Everything has become so departmentalized and ‘boxed’ that the very essence of one of the most significant factors in teaching which is the teacher student relationship is somehow overlooked; although you will find a great deal of quality research on the topic. A simple task, think back to your school years and remember. What do you remember? It’s probably your most successful experiences and moments of confidence as a learner don’t your think? And who alerted you to your moment of success, but that smiling, encouraging, teacher who understood your shyness, or your stutter, or you fear of making a mistake. That’s what children remember too. Ask your students what they remember from last month or last year about their ‘school life’ and so often it’s the ‘teacher’…and underlying that, how the teacher’s knowledge of them supported their learning although the child cannot articulate that. As the teachers of young hearts and minds do we teach ‘little boxes’ or do we teach individuals who as the very individuals they are have very different learning styles and needs and home support? The demands of teaching across all subjects in a classroom is not an easy job for any teacher and as the ‘directives’ and paper work expectations rain down upon us we are looking for short cuts and ways to try and do the job we used to do. I see that and I understand it. But, the core of our job is the nurturing and support of our children and their learning. We can’t and don’t teach boxes. We have been ‘directed’ to have the students reach a certain level in the standards and benchmarks box but we don’t teach boxes. We want our children ‘to understand’ and make authentic connections. And that means to comprehend not just what they read and are reading but the discussions and the language and the life around them. The comprehension strategies we are ‘teaching’ in reading are an integral part of every type of instruction/activity we are engaged in. We move from math to social studies to reading, knowing that Johnnie has a real problem with formulating questions. We move in and out of activities knowing that Mary Beth needs work with making connections. It’s integral to our understanding of what we are teaching and the students in our classroom to know these students so well that the continual support and guidance spans everything we do. The reading/learning specialist comes in and we are able to say, well guess what happened in terms of a behavior or a skill that can be built upon in reading but didn’t happen in reading. Yes we can teach boxes in boxed blocks. I have no doubt of that. And yes there is going to be evidence of learning but how can the success or improvement be measured compared to the ‘regular’ classroom growth? What is the quality of interaction with kids that you meet for one hour a day as compared to a whole day? What is the quality of relationship? What is the true quality of your instruction based upon the needs and knowledge of the students in your classroom? The ticking of the boxes is the easy part. The hard part is not becoming a box, teaching a box.
--- On Sat, 14/2/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > From: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Debbie Miller's Teaching with Intention (was > departmentalization) > To: [email protected] > Received: Saturday, 14 February, 2009, 10:54 AM > > Elisa... > What's not to like??? It's Debbie Miller! :-) > Actually, one of the statements near the beginning of the > book really got me > thinking. She wrote about how important it is for each of > us to really think > about what is important for us in reading > instruction...consider what it is > we believe. She encourages each of us to really think about > those things and > commit it to paper. And then, when you are planning, > teaching, and reflecting > upon your teaching, you run everything through that > lens. It makes your > teaching so much more focused and deliberate... (thus the > title Teaching with > Intention.) Debbie actually writes that it isn't as > important to believe certain > things but to have carefully thought through those beliefs > to begin with. > > So, in my journal I am writing and rewriting my belief > statements about > reading. I have been working on this off and on since > Christmas when I got > Teaching with Intention and read it. Some of my struggles > as I try to come up with > my five top beliefs about reading and reading > instruction actually leak out > here in my Mosaic posts from time to time as I try to > reconcile my beliefs > with what I am actually doing and with each other. An > example...I wrote that I > believed that a constructivist approach to reading > was important to develop > readers who are engaged and interested. This is tough > to reconcile with another > belief...that every child learns differently and that > we as teachers are > responsible for helping each child find the right > path to learning. This > internal intellectual struggle makes it hard for me > to develop a strong opinion on > scripted intervention programs. > > This was a harder task for me than I thought it would be. > What is it you all > believe about reading? I would love to hear other people's > top five and > maybe that will help me wordsmith mine. As long as we all > realize that when we > are sharing these belief systems we are sharing our > core values. We are all > very deeply emotional about those things we value so we > need to be aware of > that as we respond to each other. > Jennifer > > > In a message dated 2/13/2009 8:18:08 A.M. Eastern Standard > Time, > [email protected] > writes: > > Hi Jennifer, > That's one of the next books on my growing pile of books > to read. What did > you like about it? > Elisa > > > > > **************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet > at the Grammy > Awards. AOL Music takes you there. > (http://music.aol.com/grammys?ncid=emlcntusmusi00000004) > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > Make Yahoo!7 your homepage and win a trip to the Quiksilver Pro. Find out more _______________________________________________ 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.
