OMG...Sally I always refer to the early 90's when I heard Yetta and Kenneth Goodman speak at a whole language conference as a "born again" teacher moment! Mena
Philomena Marinaccio-Eckel, Ph.D. Florida Atlantic University Dept. of Teaching and Learning College of Education 2912 College Ave. ES 214 Davie, FL 33314 Phone: 954-236-1070 Fax: 954-236-1050 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group <[email protected]> Sent: Sun, May 22, 2011 10:06 pm Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Common Core - response to feeling the standards arealways helpful I want to second Sally's invitation. I hope many of you will be able to make it. Elisa Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry -----Original Message----- From: Sally Thomas <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 14:11:41 To: mosaic listserve<[email protected]> Reply-To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Common Core - response to feeling the standards are always helpful Kaui, You actually prove my point in your reply. I hear that you defer to the "powers that be" instead of trusting your own professional knowledge about teaching and learning. I understand that you believe you have to do this for the kids so they will pass the test. But what if the test is not worthwhile? What if it is not helping your kids be the best they can be? I can hear how much you want to be there for your students and are searching for answers that will help them, so I offer the following as a possible path to take in that search. I well remember MANY TIMES along the way in my own general when I had to start intensive inquiries into my educational beliefs and practices. I call them my "born again" times (with no disrespect intended for those to whom is this strictly a religious matter!). The teachers I network with, the research and informed education news and current educational books that I read regularly AND just as important what I've learned from and with children in my many classrooms over the years - all that tells me that the powers that be don't know very much about teaching. And they haven't even tried. For one thing, they've never even taught by and large. They haven't included our best educational leaders and our best teachers in their planning. And the tests measure only a superficial layer of what children need to know to be truly successful throughout their schooling and lives. This not to even mention the dreadful consequences of the constant testing time used up and pressures and stress felt by all. Standards and testing are going hand and hand in creating this situation. The standards are leading to school experiences that are more and more fragmented (almost because teachers want them to be more and more specific sadly - I do understand this urge). Problem is children do not remember information which is not experienced in meaningful contexts. They can learn it briefly sometimes (the spelling test on Friday is a great example - they forget it in their writing the next week! The kids that don't forget it by Monday usually had the words in the first place so the testing didn't really teach them anything - just gave them a privilege over the others.) Learning has to really hook to prior schema and hook deep to stay there. So they will not actually learn all the separate standards lessons for the test anyway. I'd like to invite you to participate in a list serve discussion next week on email. It happens 6 - 7:30 pm each day Eastern standard time - adjust in different time zones. We will be discussing Ken and Yetta Goodman's Declaration of Professional Conscience. This is part II of a previous discussion a month ago. That was rich and wide ranging and has led to many of us joining the challenge of gaining back respect for teachers and educators who have actually lived their work through the years, committed to what is best for their students, committed to life long learning and so on. http://www.rcowen.com/rcoprfdv.htm The invitation is open to anyone who would like to be included. It's asked that you read the Declaration (on the web page announcement) before joining in. Even if you won't be home or at your computer, you can sign up and you will get home to a plethora of emails all discussing back and forth implications of different issues dealt with in the Declaration. And you can add to the discussion your ideas later in the evening, tho some won't be responded to till the next day. TLN listserve by the way stands for The Learning Network. We have great discussions all the time but these focused discussion are giving all of us courage and more courage to stand up to those "powers that be" that think they know more than we do about children and teaching and learning. In solidarity, Sally On 5/22/11 11:41 AM, "kaui norton" <[email protected]> wrote: > Thank you for your thoughts. I do see your point. I suppose I should say that, > although standards teaching may not be the best solution to our ongoing > struggles to educate, it is, nevertheless, here to stay. At least, till the > powers that be change their minds again! > When I say I like it, it is because I am tired of teaching a gadzillion > standards and benchmarks that are vague to say the least. In Hawai'i we have > a ridiculous number of standards to teach. It has always been a guessing game > for many teachers as to how to apply the standards mandated by our state. > Many teachers, old and new, are totally lost because there is no direction in > how to go about teaching to the standards, thus, we have teachers who don't > teach them resulting in students who move on without the knowledge that they > are expected to learn. > Unfortunately, testing is always going to "drive" how we teach and what we > teach. I don't see it changing any time soon. So...if that is so, then I > believe I need to do the best, for my students, with what I am given. Of > course, I will make every effort to fill the holes that appear. Honestly, I > feel we are fighting a losing battle and need to cut our losses. I do know, > they can't mandate, yet, how I teach the standards or what else I teach with > them. THerefore, it is my responsibility to ensure my students get more than > what they need to pass a test. > > On 5/22/11 11:41 AM, "kaui norton" <[email protected]> wrote: > Thank you for your thoughts. I do see your point. I suppose I should say that, > although standards teaching may not be the best solution to our ongoing > struggles to educate, it is, nevertheless, here to stay. At least, till the > powers that be change their minds again! > When I say I like it, it is because I am tired of teaching a gadzillion > standards and benchmarks that are vague to say the least. In Hawai'i we have > a ridiculous number of standards to teach. It has always been a guessing game > for many teachers as to how to apply the standards mandated by our state. > Many teachers, old and new, are totally lost because there is no direction in > how to go about teaching to the standards, thus, we have teachers who don't > teach them resulting in students who move on without the knowledge that they > are expected to learn. > Unfortunately, testing is always going to "drive" how we teach and what we > teach. I don't see it changing any time soon. So...if that is so, then I > believe I need to do the best, for my students, with what I am given. Of > course, I will make every effort to fill the holes that appear. Honestly, I > feel we are fighting a losing battle and need to cut our losses. I do know, > they can't mandate, yet, how I teach the standards or what else I teach with > them. THerefore, it is my responsibility to ensure my students get more than > what they need to pass a test. > _______________________________________________ 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.
