Sunday, September 30, 2007
Blog #5
I thought the article was interesting, but I don't completely agree with what's being done. I think that it's good to have standards and goals for what should be learned, but it shouldn't be rigid. As a teacher, I should know the skills kindergarters need to learn and it's good to be reminded of those skills, but to have 90-page manual on how to teach these skills is somewhat unnecessary. Learning should be fun and creative! Children aren't machines who we need to have manuals for on how to get them to learn skills properly. We need to be flexible on how children learn and adapt how we teach skills depending on the needs of each child and how they learn best. Plus, I'm sorry but I'm not sure how much I could read or retain from reading a 90-page manual. That's why I'm in college now to learn effective ways of teaching skills so I can know how to adapt to learning needs and not have to read a 90-page manual later. However, don't think that I'm completely against or hostile towards this idea, I think it's good to have such a reference from which to possibly get ideas and reforcement that useful skills are being taught. =)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I agree with you completely. I think that there definitely should be standards for what kindergarteners need to know, but I don't think it should limit what the teacher does with her students or classroom. Also, did you think about the different needs from different students? If the standards are so strict that it leaves certain students behind, then that is another negative aspect of having such a tedious standard guide.
I thought the exact way that you did when reading this article. I agree with how you said children aren't machines. I wrote in my blog post that all children are different and that the teacher has to be able to accommodate to their needs and the individual way that they learn. I also do think that a 90 page guide is a bit too much. However, I do see how it could be useful as a backup for all teachers to have just in case they need to glance over it or maybe get some ideas from it.
Students are not machines! I feel lately that schools are expecting a little much in the early grades! Kids need to have time to be kids and I feel that some of the standards are a little much for these Kindergartners to handle. All students are different and for some the first year of Kindergarten may be their first year in a school setting and this alone is an adjustment.
I agree with you 100%! The way you expressed your opinion is exactly how I feel. You made so many amazing points, especially when you pointed out that children are not machines, and that there does not need to be manuals on how to teach a child “properly.” I think that is such a great point! Every child learns and understands things differently and having such restrictive standards in place causes the teacher to lose their flexibility in just about every aspect of their teaching. Another point you made that I felt strongly about is when you said that retaining information from a 90 page manual is not very productive and that is why we are in college now. I do not believe that it is fair to us, as college students, to take classes that teach us to be creative, and introduce us to all these amazing ideas on how we can teach each child to meet their particular needs, then all the sudden when we get into our career, the government takes away what we have learned and shoves strict (this is the only right way to do it) standards down our throat. Overall, I do believe that standards can be a benefit for both the teacher and students, but like you said, they should be there as “references and guidelines.”
Rosie,
From what I read from others post, most of us feel the same way about this article. I really liked how you said that children aren’t machines who need to have manuals for on how to get them to learn skills properly. I think that is a great metaphor and a good way to look at it. I think that having a 90 page guideline would be a helpful tool for teachers (the ones who tend to miss things or forget things) but at the same time I feel like it limits us as teachers as to what we can and can not teach. We as teachers go through four years of education classes to learn all of these things and I understand that each grade level needs guidelines as to what the students need to know at the end of the school year and their objectives and goals. If we were in a district or a state that gives us these guidelines and limits our teaching, what do you think that we can do to object to this and maybe get them to change? But overall good post and good ideas, again I think we all pretty much feel the same way towards this article.
-Kaitlyn Imbus
Post a Comment