Re: No Child Left Glued to the Table

["PRISCILLA GUTIERREZ" <pgutpgut@msn.com>]

Keep up the good fight, Joe.  And uh, sorry about the geography 
snafu...didn't realize the Mohawk Valley was above Albany.  And yes, it is 
God's country...


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 11:53:30 -0500
>
> Priscilla:
>
> Amen.
>
> Understand that across the country would mean an NEA driven effort with
> state teacher organizations joining in.
>
> Something has to spark a movement and it will take a nation-wide
> organization with some clout to do it.
>
> I have spoken out locally and lobbied Albany (capitol) for four years.
> I have written a once monthly guest column for our local daily (Utica
> Observer-Dispatch) on education issues often attacking NCLB and its
> programs.
> I presently sit on a local school board and thru our School Board's
> Institute (tri-county organization) trying to encourage action.
>
> I am really to old for it all, but until someone locally takes up the 
> banner
> I am stuck with it.
>
> Uh, I think you don't realize I live closer to Canada than New York City.
> I mean, this is God's country.
>
> Joe Bo
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: arn-l-owner@interversity.org [mailto:arn-l-owner@interversity.org] On
> Behalf Of PRISCILLA GUTIERREZ
> Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 11:16 AM
> To: arn-l@interversity.org
> Subject: Re: [arn-l] 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...
> > >
> > >
> > >   _____
> > >
> > >size=2 width="100%" align=center>
> > >
> > >
> >
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