That would be great if that happened in all districts. The district I just retired from has a new administration. Last year a new basal was adopted; the chairman is now the district superintendent. Teachers were promised they would be able to modify the basal and continue using reading workshop, writing workshop, lit circles, and etc. Unfortunately, that is not happening. The teachers were told they needed to use the basal exclusively; even tho every teacher on the committee choosing the basal expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the writing portion. They had a nice little note from the superintendent when they returned from Xmas break, basically stating that they are lucky to have a job and their attitudes might need adjusting. Change is difficult, blah, blah, blah. Those teachers who are serving on the language arts committee bring up problems they want put on the agenda, but when the meeting occurs, those items are conveniently removed from the agenda. I am very happy I am retired, but very sad for the teachers who feel they are between a rock and a hard place. Carol ----- Original Message ----- From: "Renee" <[email protected]> To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 10:33:40 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Fluency
With all due respect (and Pat, I am not criticizing you personally so please do not take this personally), a district is made up of teachers. "The district" is teachers. Every district I have worked in (three) has had an assessment committee that makes these decisions. When I begged to be on the assessment committee a few years ago, I fought tooth and nail to have the fluency "speed numbers" balanced with prosidy. What happened is that the numbers were lowered and the ranges of proficient, etc. were made larger, to take prosidy into account. It is TEACHERS who need to argue and fight and beg for these changes. If EVERY primary teacher in a district argued about this, certainly it would at least be looked at. Renee..... waving another pink slip. On Mar 14, 2010, at 6:55 PM, Patricia Kimathi wrote: > While, I agree with you, I find that my district test for speed and > we must report these test results, they stay on the children's > records (sadly). > Pat Kimathit > On Mar 14, 2010, at 10:43 AM, jan sanders wrote: > >> >> >> >> Why do people (is it the "program makers") link speed with >> fluency? To me, fluency is cadence, and reading so it sounds like >> we talk. Have you ever had a conversation with someone who talks >> fast? They make me tired. It is not normal. I never used any >> bought program, but rather had children read like we talk. They >> would tape themselves and listen, then reread the same passage if >> it needed more work. Also, many times students struggle with >> fluency because they are reading above their independent level, >> usually their instructional level, and they have "work" to do with >> the text. >> Another point... there are times when I read aloud when I don't >> have a clue what I read. My brain was not engaged in the meaning >> of the words, I just read them out loud. >> Jan >> "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about >> learning how to dance in the rain." BJ Gallagher >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>> From: [email protected] >>> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:22:10 -0500 >>> To: [email protected] >>> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Fluency >>> >>> >>> >>> In a message dated 3/10/2010 11:59:22 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, >>> [email protected] writes: >>> >>> Could you give me a reference for that research? >>> So I'm behind on email, but don't see a response. I find often that >>> something that is supposedly "supported by lots of research," is >>> kind of like the >>> telephone game. Everyone has heard that there is, but no one >>> quite can >>> pinpoint it. Just the fact that people say there is research >>> makes it so? I >>> agree with Maureen. I have seen a lot of evidence that often >>> students who read >>> slowly and methodically with prosidy, rereading and thinking >>> carefully, >>> are way better at comprehension than those who are trying to >>> beat the egg >>> timer. >>> >>> Nancy >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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. >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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. >> > > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > Visit my website: http://www.share2learn.com _______________________________________________ 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. _______________________________________________ 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.
