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Re: No Child Left Glued to the Table
As a person who was willing to stand up for what they knew was good practice
with their students, you can understand the ridiculous dilemna facing many
school districts across the nation. The bottom line is that administrators,
teachers, and parents need to say BASTA! to the Department of Education and
collectively go back to appropriate practice for students that will provide
them with the critical thinking skills and literacy skills to fully
participate in our society. Virtually all of the programs approved by
Reading First focus on low-level rote skills that inhibit thinking skills,
and which place sophisticated levels of comprehension on the backburner.
You have to ask yourself why...
As for the invite to the Mohawk Valley - I know it well. My aunt and
grandmother lived for many years in Dutchess County and so I can attest to
its beauty, having spent many a summer there...
Priscilla Gutierrez
Outreach Specialist
New Mexico School for the Deaf
....change is inevitable, growth is optional...
From: "Joseph Bottini" <jpbottini@adelphia.net>
Reply-To: arn-l@interversity.org
To: <arn-l@interversity.org>
Subject: Re: [arn-l] No Child Left Glued to the Table
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 07:25:55 -0500
Priscilla:
First, I found fault with Art's reply, not your post.
I was often cited for not following a prescribed course of action in my
classroom.
Fortunately, it never came to - do "this" or get out.
A colleague faced this situation and was monitored so closely that he got
disgusted and left.
He was an excellent teacher but a bit too structured and demanding for our
district.
Poor little Johnny was busy with all his sports and activities so the HW
assigned was too much.
Was the spoiled brat told to make choices with his out of class activities?
No, the teacher was told to reduce the HW demands.
I was around when Madeline Hunter was the fad du jour. We were told later
that we must use group activities in our lesson planning so the children
would learn "collaborative thinking" or something. It was one of our
"standards" to address.
Groups always lend themselves to socializing, especially at the 8th grade
level and my requirements were designed to reduce this, and one or two in
the group doing all of the work. I was told I was too tight and should
give
the students more latitude. Yeah, right.
The day I did do "groupies" (as I called them) for the first time was
interesting.
Every teacher on that hallway knew of my resistance to the new-old
approach.
After I set the students to the task, I stepped out into the hall and
screamed, "I am doing groupies." Some teachers chuckled; others were
ticked
off at me for disrupting their classes. It was a joyous moment for me.
It will continue to go down the road to prescribed methods and approaches
until the folks making the most money see the harm being done to teacher
creativity; or they realize we all learn at different speeds and in
different ways thus a good teacher will present multiple learning modules.
Everybody is scrambling to find the cure for a decrease in learning (I
don't
buy into this premise a whole lot).
There has been a decrease in structure, discipline and seriousness-of-
purpose, thus a perceived drop in learning.
How do we "fix" this?
Small schools, small classes, contract of expectations signed by the
students, parents and educators would go a long way to this end.
Part of the problem is we are living in a period of emphasis on trash
entertainment, disgusting sexual exploitation and violence, and a lessened
emphasis on learning; although I have adhered to the adage, "To blame the
times is but to excuse ourselves."
Your question, arising out of a nation-wide problem of education scrambling
to fine the magic bullet for the woes of NCLB's driven perception of
learning failures, will not be answered with a fad du jour approach.
To answer your question directly: Do as much of their demands as you need
to
do to satisfy them, and not so much as to frustrate your teaching
sensibilities. If that doesn't work, leave if you can. Go to another
district, community or state.
We need math and science teachers in this area of New York (north central
New York where it is beautiful - four hours from New York City. We have
lakes, mountains, ocean, and big cities all within easy driving distance;
yet we live in a rural area with a few smaller cities and lots of open
spaces.
We are the Mohawk Valley between Rochester and Albany right on interstate
90. Come visit and stay with Mary and I this summer and see if you like
it.
If you wish, send me your resume and I will circulate it to the districts
around here. Within 30 miles we have many school districts to choose from.
I will eagerly wait for your response to my above thinking about the
problem, and my solutions suggestions.
Art, you may chime in if you wish. I love to read your views even if they
upset me at times.
Joe Bo
-----Original Message-----
From: arn-l-owner@interversity.org [mailto:arn-l-owner@interversity.org] On
Behalf Of PRISCILLA GUTIERREZ
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 6:15 PM
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Subject: Re: [arn-l] No Child Left Glued to the Table
Joe, what do you do if you are a principal and your district tells you that
your teachers MUST follow the script exactly, and that they cannot use any
materials other than the Reading First "scientific" materials or you will
lose funding?
The example from Buffalo is just one of many. In Long Beach, CA, districts
were forced by the state department of ed to adopt Open Court, and then
were
forced to accept Open Court monitors who roamed the halls to ensure
everyone
was on the same page at the same time.
At Downer Elementary in CA, teachers had to accept the surprise visits from
CTB McGraw Hill reps who are the publishers of Open Court, who were there
to ensure that teachers were only using Open Court and were strictly
adhering to the script. Teachers who complained were involuntarily
transferred out of the school and are now barred from entering Downer since
they've been labeled as adversive.
In another school which will go unnamed, teachers are forced to agree to a
gag order. They are not allowed to talk to anyone outside the classroom
(e.g. the media) and if they complain about the narrow restrictive nature
of
scripted programs, they are labeled troublemakers. And in yet another
school where a colleague works, when she questioned the research behind
DIBELS testing, she was silenced by the staff and administration who told
her it was rude for her to challenge the wisdom of adopting the test. She
was subsequently involuntarily transferred as well for trying to advocate
for her students - her attempts to show what best practice was based on
scads of research and 20 years of experience was rewarded with a 24 hour
notice to vacate her classroom...
Priscilla Gutierrez
Outreach Specialist
New Mexico School for the Deaf
....change is inevitable, growth is optional...
>From: "Joseph Bottini" <jpbottini@adelphia.net>
>Reply-To: arn-l@interversity.org
>To: <arn-l@interversity.org>
>Subject: Re: [arn-l] No Child Left Glued to the Table
>Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:37:01 -0500
>
>Art:
>
>
>
>You are way off base on this one.
>
>The point is rigid scrip for instruction leaves little room for teacher
>decision-making, as too what is deemed an emergency.
>
>My 5 year old granddaughter should expect to have the teacher's attention
>if
>she is "all glued" due to an accident as described.
>
>
>
>The Principal needs to take Common Sense 101 over again, I think.
>
>
>
>Joe Bo
>
>
>
> _____
>
>From: arn-l-owner@interversity.org [mailto:arn-l-owner@interversity.org]
On
>Behalf Of aburke5054@aol.com
>Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 11:01 AM
>To: arn-l@interversity.org
>Subject: Re: [arn-l] No Child Left Glued to the Table
>
>
>
>This silliness has nothing to do with scientific reading instruction
>(whatever that is) and everything to do with the poor judgment of people
>working in the schools. When schools can't cope with little kids
handling
>bottles of glue, blaming NCLB is quite a stretch.
>
>Art
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: pgutpgut@msn.com
>To: arn-l@interversity.org; LiteracyForAll@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 7:37 AM
>Subject: [arn-l] No Child Left Glued to the Table
>
>Susan Ohanian posted this on her announcements today, and it is one more
>painful example of scientific reading instruction run amok. Highly
>qualified
>teachers under Reading First mandates mean following the script, even if
it
>makes no sense to do so...
>
>"We are being instructed that during SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION, teachers
are
>NOT to interact with other students. Now last year kindergarten teachers
>tried to explain how difficult it was to keep 5-year-olds quietly busy
with
>only Harcourt materials while we teachers worked with a small group.
>
>Let's say you have 24 children, with 7 in a group. This means 17 kids are
>sitting for up to 40 minutes. . . quietly and NOT DISTURBING THE TEACHER.
>
>The principal was observing one of the kindergarten teachers during small
>group time and a little 5-year-old with special needs using glue had the
>horrific experience of the top coming off of the bottle. Understandably,
>that child went up to the teacher--THE ADULT IN CHARGE. Also
>understandably--and professionally--the teacher got up to help this
child.
>
>That evening, the teacher got an email from the principal telling her SHE
>IS
>NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO ENGAGE WITH OTHER STUDENTS during small
>group
>instruction (unless there is a real emergency)!
>
>Here was a 5-year-old, covered in glue. What was he/she to do--get STUCK
TO
>THE TABLE waiting for 20 minutes until the teacher finished with that one
>group?
>
>GROWN-UPS, EDUCATED PEOPLE, ARE LOSING THEIR MINDS HERE IN BUFFALO, and
we
>are supposed to condone this form of child abuse! "
>
>- teacher
>Buffalo School System
>2007-01-10
>
>
>
>Priscilla Gutierrez
>Outreach Specialist
>New Mexico School for the Deaf
>
>....change is inevitable, growth is optional...
>
>
> _____
>
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>
>
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