As with every chapter in this book, I find that i agree with a lot of the points that Gallagher is making. There are some points that I have a problem with as well however. I especially like the part about the standards: that the sheer overwhelming abundance of standards inhibits the students from learning. This is something that I have noticed many teachers are aware of. There are often so many standards and questions that are associated with those standards that understanding the content becomes difficult. Not only is it difficult for the students to learn, it is also difficult for the teacher to teach. We want these children to learn the content but with so many standards it is hard.
I understand the point that he is trying to make when he says that we over analyze books and make them boring. However, I think that he overestimates the importance and existence of the "flow". There are many kids, who is we did not stop and have them analyze the reading, would not participate. While getting into the zone of reading is important and fun, it does not work for every student. I think that some analyzation is called for in the class because there are students that need to have the content broken down. The slow readers and the ones that are not developmentally on the same level as the good readers need to have the book broken down in my opinion.
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Great critical thinking, Geoff! I am fine with a late post if you are being so thoughtful about your reading.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction is that I agree with both you and Gallagher. Follow my train... I think you notice that students can not comprehend the text they are given to read b/c they do not have the strategies to make sense of this challenging text. Therefore, if left to their own devises, they would not read - or, perhaps worse yet, read and get frustrated, accomplishing nothing.
Gallagher's point is for kids to be independent we have to allow them to experience the "flow" which is really exhilarating and will really boost motivation to read.
My position is that we need to get to his 50-50. Connect kids with many interesting books that are at their level so they can experience flow, but also - for those more challenged and struggling readers, spend time helping them with strategies so they can eventually access challenging text. It means bringing a range of text about your subject area to your classroom so they can get a "just right" book while you also work from the grade level material.
Let me know what you think?
If I only had a dollar for every time I heard a teacher say they hated standards teaching...let's just say that no getting paid a lot for teaching would no longer be an issue. I seriously do not understand why the teachers have no ability to change educational legislation. I feel as though they spend the time in the classroom, not the politicians. Yet, our decisions are made by somebody who I feel doesn't fully understand the implications of standards teaching. In my humble opinion, standards teaching will always teach a mile wide and an inch deep. This is a disservice to our students. Our students will develop as shallow as our teaching, thus what kind of individuals are we creating for the next generation??
ReplyDeleteI agree Geoff, while overteaching is potentially harmful, underteaching is not effective either. Without guidance, students may become more discouraged about reading. I also feel the tension from the teachers around me who are trying to and want to be effective, but are exhausted by "meeting the stanards" and "EOCT Prep". It is disheartening to listen to teachers who have taught for 20+ years discuss how impossible the standards are to meet.
ReplyDeleteI understand about the standards. I'm sure that is extremely hard for those of you with academic classes to meet all those standards. Thankfully with art I have a little bit more wiggle room. Though I'm still learning how to incorporate what the students need to learn into projects that will teach them and be fun for them. I try to gear my projects to what I think my students will enjoy and also teach them the other aspects of art that don't deal with creating, ex. art history and art criticism, media, etc. The students seem to dislike this part so it is challanging to make this fun and interesting too.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me the most is that while all the standards are important, it seems like it takes so much more to satisfy them than if we just had to do them on our own. It's overwhelming to be responsible for so much especially with the way the economy is, it feels like if you don't do everything right in the classroom, you've doomed yourself and your students.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure as long as these standards are present there will always be debate about them. It's discouraging that a teacher really can't take the time to address any material that is not under the standards. Some of the best learning comes from spur of the moment questions but we can't take alot of time to address some of the questions our students have because they dont fall under any standards.
ReplyDeleteI mean i understand the logic behind standards, they want to make sure that students are essentially receiving the same education across the board in a US History class or biology class but is there really a need for all of them? I'm sure if they read through them there are at least a couple dozen they could cut out(that realistically are being left out anyway) and then there wouldn't be so much pressure on the teachers and students. But maybe that's what they want, for everyone involved in education to feel the pressure so we will all perform to our highest potential everyday.
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