I have been pondering for the past week or so this social studies curriculum--what should we be teaching our children. At the same time I have been working my way through the second chapter of John Dewey's Democracy and Education....in my estimation a monumental work. But it is difficult, not that I don't understand it but rather I read a paragraph and then have to think of the ramifications that that paragraph suggests. There is no question that John saw schools and schooling at a mandatory requirement of society. Without schools our civilization would slowly take a turn for the worst.
I had also forgotten from my last reading of this tome that Dewey was probably an instigator of the field of sociology, that is, the study of humans within society or a group. Charles H. Cooley who I consider one of the founders of sociology in the United States was with John Dewey at the University of Michigan. I suspect they had some interesting discussions over coffee. I like the field of sociology, the study of us in groups. The reason I say this is that Dewey (in chapter two) makes a point that we as humans learn from the groups that we are in, religious groups, neighborhoods, work groups, recreational groups and so on. Each group adds to our learning. But because there are groups beyond our presence or surroundings we need schools to formally bring the learning of those groups to our attention. Schools are charged with bringing the cultural learning that needs to be passed down from one generation to the next.
Which brings me back to the subject of social studies and just what should it include that our children need to know so that our society can go further along its path of knowledge. "What social studies is of most worth?"
I know I wrote sometime in the past about my meeting with a colleague from a Russian university. I'm sorry I have forgotten his name but I had troubles saying it much less remembering it. We met at a conference in Paris and both of us were teaching instructional technology to teachers. It was an interesting conversation as he spoke some English but I spoke no Russian. But we managed.
I remember asking him what was the biggest problem facing the Russian schools and he replied, "History." "Which history do we teach our children?" And then he explained that for the moment, they were not teaching anything about Stalin except that he was in charge when "...they (Russia) won World War II." The mass killings that followed were entirely left out of the textbooks. I remember him saying, "It is too soon in history to teach that." Fascinating statement.
Since conversing with my Russian colleague, I have thought much about what we teach in history here in the United States. Do we teach about the Korean War or the Vietnamese conflict or is "...too soon in history to teach that." Recently a friend of mine wrote me about the blog and this thread of what to teach in social studies. She commented about my thoughts and questions on what do they teach in Germany about them losing World War I and World War II. How do you do social studies in Germany? My friend explained that she had met a woman in a yoga class that had come here from Germany as an adult. The lady explained to my friend that when she first read about the holocaust here in the United States, she was afraid to leave her house because she was sure the Americans would all hate her. She had not been taught about the holocaust in her school in Germany. In one sense this incident shows the power of the schools and education.
But what have we in the United States left out of our social studies curriculum over the years? I suspect our history of the native Americans (American Indians) have been biased in favor of the white American in that era. Do we tell the known history of events? What about slavery? Have we told the entire story? If you've read about the social studies review board in Texas that recently has reviewed their social studies textbooks and voted to leave out certain leaders of the past and to include others, then you know that our history is being presented to the school children in a certain way. Perhaps we should not think too poorly of Germany and its exception of the holocaust.
I once lived on "Smugglers' Cove Road" near "Chinamen Point." Do you think there are like names of places in Arizona? My how social studies becomes complex. What should we teach in the public schools?
John Dewey suggests that schools have the power to massage the content and leave out both ends of the knowledge base that may yet need validation...and perhaps a motivation to teach. I think teachers have been doing this for years, finding the importance to pass on to our children...the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly.
My thanks to all those teachers who "massage the content" but make sure the students learn. You do a difficult job. Thank you.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Social Studies--a scary subject.
I have been writing notes, pondering, talking to myself, and in general, wondering how to approach this subject of what should be taught in Social Studies. Before we get all tangled up in the subject, let's agree that social studies is made up of history, geography, civics, psychology, health, sociology, anthropology, and economics. Yes, religions (note the "s" on the end of that word) is also included in social studies however because of the separation of church and state in this country it is somewhat removed. When I say somewhat, we do study the pilgrims, and some of the early settlers who came to this country for religious freedom. Sort of hard to study early United States history without getting into religion. But the teachers I have known and watched certainly stay away from the actualities of religions in their classes.
So the question in front of us today is what social studies should we be teaching our kids in the K-12 classrooms? It is interesting that the State of Texas has elected officials (a board) who are charged with deciding which social studies is to be taught. I disagree with this board but since I don't live in Texas I shall refrain from commenting upon their decisions. It's their problem.
Most teachers who teach some form of the social studies areas that I have outlined use some textbook which in most if not all cases has been approved by the local school board. A school district's curriculum committee generally comprised of parents and teachers and perhaps one or two administrators will look at textbooks, workbooks, and general courses of study for each grade and high school subject areas. Most of this is based upon the agreed statewide curriculum proposed by the State Office of Public Instruction. I would say that in most school districts social studies starts broadly in the early grades and becomes more specific and detailed in the secondary schools. Makes sense. These courses of study are generally reviewed every ten years or so.
As an example, most primary classrooms generally start with studying the local neighborhood. Who are our neighborhood helpers? (firemen, policemen, grocer, mailmen, doctors and nurses, etc.) Some of the primers in reading will have stories that will help with this concept.
But by the time we reach the intermediate grades, the study focusses on the beginnings of the United States and the western expansion. The war of independence and the civil war are studied. In some districts (and textbooks) the Mexican war and the Spanish American war are also included. But for the most part it is the western expansion that occupies much of the social studies period in the classroom. Lewis and Clark, the gold rush, the pony express are all included. And let's not forget wagon trains. All interesting stuff to fourth and fifth graders and most of this "stuff" is history and geography.
I did get a replication of the Declaration of Independence from the local Coca-Cola Company one year, full size and put it up on my bulletin board. It was quite impressive and we read it together in class. But it was the handwriting that caught their eye and for a time it seemed like everyone was trying to improve on their handwriting. So much for social studies.
Shortly after the computers were introduced to the public schools a software program called "Oregon Trails" was published. It was a simulation program in which the student at the computer had to make decisions as to what she/he were going to be, how many oxen to take, how much food to put in the wagon, etc. Lots of decision. Then you start out and have to cross the first river, depending upon the time of year will determine the deepness and danger level of the river. Some of your party may be killed. But you forge on.
One of my complaints with Oregon Trails which by the way became extremely popular in the schools, was that as your party entered the plains, you are attacked by indians. I argued at one conference that that put an unfair light on our "native Americans." I live near the great Lummi nation and knew when this program was offered in the local schools that unless the Lummi children could wipe out the entire wagon train they were unhappy. I still wonder why the authors of Oregon Trails left it in the program. I tell this story to illustrate the many complexities that we have in social studies. Plato's question, "which knowledge is of most worth," is still valid today.
However, to be fair, the Oregon Trails software was one of the first materials for teaching that allowed the student to "own" their learning. They had to make the decisions and decide what to do--it wasn't just reading from a textbook or having a teacher tell them something. It was history, anthropology, geography, sociology, civics, psychology all rolled up in one teaching package in which the student had to participate. And they did with gusto. Who could made it to Oregon became the prize.
There are still many, many potholes in the road to the successful social studies curriculum. I have heard recently that veteran groups want all the wars that the United States has been in to be studied. And one chamber of commerce wants all the successful business men from their area included in the curriculum. The asian community wants their celebrations included and the study of the holocaust is now mandated by law in this state. As each ethnic group comes of age, they want their history to be studied.
When I first started teaching most teachers that I knew were very much opposed to letting their students know which political party they favored. Even today I think many teachers still remain secretive about their political outlook since they know that their thinking could influence the students....and it is the students making up their own minds that it critical to teaching social studies in the upper grades. I've talked to a few high school teachers who teach history and civics and they say they are keeping their heads down. They do not want to get into arguments with the parents. It's a tough road. How to teach political science without being political. Hmmmm?
Bet you don't know the rules for flying the American Flag! Let me know and I'll grade your e-mail.
And thanks to all those teachers who teach something without letting the students know their feelings and values. "I want you to make up your own mind." Bravo, teachers. Bravo. You are good.
So the question in front of us today is what social studies should we be teaching our kids in the K-12 classrooms? It is interesting that the State of Texas has elected officials (a board) who are charged with deciding which social studies is to be taught. I disagree with this board but since I don't live in Texas I shall refrain from commenting upon their decisions. It's their problem.
Most teachers who teach some form of the social studies areas that I have outlined use some textbook which in most if not all cases has been approved by the local school board. A school district's curriculum committee generally comprised of parents and teachers and perhaps one or two administrators will look at textbooks, workbooks, and general courses of study for each grade and high school subject areas. Most of this is based upon the agreed statewide curriculum proposed by the State Office of Public Instruction. I would say that in most school districts social studies starts broadly in the early grades and becomes more specific and detailed in the secondary schools. Makes sense. These courses of study are generally reviewed every ten years or so.
As an example, most primary classrooms generally start with studying the local neighborhood. Who are our neighborhood helpers? (firemen, policemen, grocer, mailmen, doctors and nurses, etc.) Some of the primers in reading will have stories that will help with this concept.
But by the time we reach the intermediate grades, the study focusses on the beginnings of the United States and the western expansion. The war of independence and the civil war are studied. In some districts (and textbooks) the Mexican war and the Spanish American war are also included. But for the most part it is the western expansion that occupies much of the social studies period in the classroom. Lewis and Clark, the gold rush, the pony express are all included. And let's not forget wagon trains. All interesting stuff to fourth and fifth graders and most of this "stuff" is history and geography.
I did get a replication of the Declaration of Independence from the local Coca-Cola Company one year, full size and put it up on my bulletin board. It was quite impressive and we read it together in class. But it was the handwriting that caught their eye and for a time it seemed like everyone was trying to improve on their handwriting. So much for social studies.
Shortly after the computers were introduced to the public schools a software program called "Oregon Trails" was published. It was a simulation program in which the student at the computer had to make decisions as to what she/he were going to be, how many oxen to take, how much food to put in the wagon, etc. Lots of decision. Then you start out and have to cross the first river, depending upon the time of year will determine the deepness and danger level of the river. Some of your party may be killed. But you forge on.
One of my complaints with Oregon Trails which by the way became extremely popular in the schools, was that as your party entered the plains, you are attacked by indians. I argued at one conference that that put an unfair light on our "native Americans." I live near the great Lummi nation and knew when this program was offered in the local schools that unless the Lummi children could wipe out the entire wagon train they were unhappy. I still wonder why the authors of Oregon Trails left it in the program. I tell this story to illustrate the many complexities that we have in social studies. Plato's question, "which knowledge is of most worth," is still valid today.
However, to be fair, the Oregon Trails software was one of the first materials for teaching that allowed the student to "own" their learning. They had to make the decisions and decide what to do--it wasn't just reading from a textbook or having a teacher tell them something. It was history, anthropology, geography, sociology, civics, psychology all rolled up in one teaching package in which the student had to participate. And they did with gusto. Who could made it to Oregon became the prize.
There are still many, many potholes in the road to the successful social studies curriculum. I have heard recently that veteran groups want all the wars that the United States has been in to be studied. And one chamber of commerce wants all the successful business men from their area included in the curriculum. The asian community wants their celebrations included and the study of the holocaust is now mandated by law in this state. As each ethnic group comes of age, they want their history to be studied.
When I first started teaching most teachers that I knew were very much opposed to letting their students know which political party they favored. Even today I think many teachers still remain secretive about their political outlook since they know that their thinking could influence the students....and it is the students making up their own minds that it critical to teaching social studies in the upper grades. I've talked to a few high school teachers who teach history and civics and they say they are keeping their heads down. They do not want to get into arguments with the parents. It's a tough road. How to teach political science without being political. Hmmmm?
Bet you don't know the rules for flying the American Flag! Let me know and I'll grade your e-mail.
And thanks to all those teachers who teach something without letting the students know their feelings and values. "I want you to make up your own mind." Bravo, teachers. Bravo. You are good.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Our kids are our most precious resource....
First, I was written to by a woman who writes an excellent blog on colleges on line. She asked me to peruse her blog and I did. Much good information to high school students who are about to go to college as well as those already in college. However, it also gave good information about colleges on-line. I do think the future of college education may well be a combination of campus work as well as on-line courses. Our lives are quite complex these days with family chores and responsibilities, work (with sometimes odd hours) and education. How to manage all this is difficult at best. So if you fit this window, take a look at bestcollegesonline.com. Stacy Young has much good information and advice. (http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2010/07/12/top-10-college-lessons-from-community/).
I am forever wondering when we will get some good news on education. Mr. Obama has been talking about the country about how we have to make teachers accountable and that unions must get in line. Then I read that the District of Columbia has fired 276 teachers "who were not performing." How sad. But on the flip side, that school district in Rhode Island that had fired all of its high school teachers has hired them all back with the statement that the teachers have agreed to work harder and do tutorial work after school. I wish I knew the whole story--something doesn't seem correct here.
I know I have written about Linda Perlstein's very excellent book, Tested: One American School Struggles To Make The Grade (copyright 2007). While there are many variables in measuring how a school is doing, one has to measure the quality of the community, the desires of the local society, the morale of the teaching force, the support of the administration, particularly the principal and the support of the parents. There are still other variables that need to be measured such as the up-to-dateness of the textbooks, the number of computers and technology available to the students and faculty, and the quality of the school itself. I'll tell you what! I will volunteer to "test" the Bellevue High Schools (all of them) and I bet I get a high test school from each of them. Why? Because the community wants good schools, they want good teachers and respect them, and they have much in the way of technology. Their school buildings are enjoyable to look at and to enter. And I suspect in some cases they make the students design and create their own textbooks so that they can stay up-to-date. But Bellevue has money and it passes bonds to support their schools. You don't hear anyone in that city saying we need to "reform" our schools. What you do hear is the realtors saying, "move here, we have good schools."
I'm sorry Mr. President but you are entirely wrong about how to address the educational needs in this country. I'm sorry. You graduated from a private (and exclusive ) school in Hawaii, you put your children in a private (and exclusive) school in Washington, DC and then you criticizes the K-12 schools for not doing their work. Not cool. Our teachers are working hard to teach our children.
A lot of elementary schools do not have a suitable library for the kids to use. When I started teaching fifth grade we had NO library. Books were placed in the classrooms and each couple of months were taken back and exchanged with other rooms. We did not have more then sixty books in the room. So I talked the County Book Mobile to come to our school to serve the neighborhood and by chance my classroom. I made arrangements that my class would come down at a certain time so as not to get in the way of adults who would be using the mobile library bus. My kids thought this was the greatest thing--bringing them books to read. And I being a con man at heart would check out not only books for me but I would select some young adult books that I thought looked interesting. I remember one titled "The Blue Grotto," about a family on the isle of Capri which I enjoyed but had to share with the class as well.
What we'd do when we got our books from the bus was to return back to our classroom and I had scheduled forty or fifty minutes of silent reading. It gave the kids time to skim through the books or to actually start one of them. I would walk around the classroom asking different kids what books they had chosen. As a bunch they had a wide interest from motorcycles to pets to travels. After about ten minutes or so, I stopped the class and ask some of them to share what books they had chosen. You could hear a lot of.... "Can I borrow that when you're done?" I enjoyed hearing about what they had as much as the other kids did as well. Yes, I did borrow some of their books when they were done with them too. Some had found interesting books.
I worried about the book mobile librarians (two) that we were taking too much of their time but they said this was their highlight of their week. The kids were excited and were looking forward to seeing them and it turned out in a number of cases, the librarians brought special books for some of my kids.
But some years later when talking to some of my ex-students they mentioned that those book days with the book mobile were exciting times and that they learned to appreciate recreational reading. Most of the reading in class was to "learn" something but this was one special time when you read for fun. It made learning to read more valuable. Wellwhatdoyouknow? That's the Affective Domain. A value.
Having about sixty books in the classroom was not exciting. My fast readers would be through that in no time. A year or so after I had arranged for the book mobile to come to our school, the district built a library across from the office. Not very large but useable. And we hired a librarian who made sure we got the books back on time. Somehow the excitement of the book mobile went missing.
My sincere thanks to the bookmobile librarians who helped teach my kids. And to all those teachers who make learning exciting as well as making it a value to our children. You're a great bunch of teachers.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Things to learn in the affective domain
In our last blog we agreed that learning to read was an essential skill for our young children. It helps if Mom and/or Dad read to their children before they entered school....but still, learning to read is very important. And learning to write is right up there too. I've watched youngsters learn to print their name and the delight they have when they get one example that everyone can read. "That's Me!"
Then there are numbers and what they mean. Children have a sense of numbers when they come to school but we teachers have to get that concept organized and in a useable format. Adding and subtracting is a skill that needs teaching.
But we have a lot of children now in the schools from foreign lands who do not speak English. Most kids pick up a second language quickly and pretty soon sound like natives. But English needs to taught to some children. I was teaching music in an elementary school when a family from Italy came to our town. Their Dad had come to work at Boeings. They had six children, five of which entered the elementary school that I was teaching at. The sixth grader could speak some English and became the de facto interpreter. The chatter in the Teachers' room was that while the children were learning English, the teachers were learning a smattering of Italian.
Except in Kindergarten. That little guy was a holy terror. He didn't listen and in general ran havoc through the room taking toys away from others, ripping paper up, turning chairs over and throwing things across the room. I forgot the kindergarten teacher's name but she had lovely blond hair and she was in danger of losing that in bunches. She was doing her best.
Every so often this little squirt would start crying and his crying was at the top of his lunges. He was loud! You could hear him throughout the wing of that school when he cried and someone would have to go and get his sixth grade brother to come down and explain why he was crying. This happened at least twice a day.
One day he had one of his special crying sprees and the Kindergarten teacher had had enough. She took him by the hand and marched him to the school office. She told me later that she had other children to teach and she was spending most of her time with "him." She sat him on a chair in the outer office and left.
He continued to cry although not as loud. But if anyone came into the office he'd let out another bellow at top volume. Finally the secretary who had raised four children of her own had also had enough and got up and started to put the little tyke across her knee. I suspect he knew what was about to happen for he suddenly said in English, "I be good. I be good." And he was. He returned to the Kindergarten room and behaved quite well and he learned to speak English.
But as we teach reading, the numbers, speaking, writing....oops, I forgot spelling. If we're going to write words we should know how to spell them correctly wunt u tnk so?? But we teach other things in our schools besides cognition. We teach community values--the affective domain.
Recently I read about a school that made a major effort to teach friendliness, helpfulness, being nice to others as a major goal of that school. And if I remember correctly problems between the students dropped by over half. Kids learned to get along...better?
In recent years I've heard from teachers in the elementary schools say that kids are more aggressive these days. I think I have the answer why. We now hire playground aids who supervise the playgrounds. And I think they let a lot more aggressive behavior happen then when teachers were on playground duty. I disliked playground duty as it meant that I didn't get my morning coffee break but I did understand the importance of "being on duty." As I walked around my section of the playground, I'd spot some kids picking on another and just by walking over toward them would stop the unwanted behavior. Those doing the picking on knew what good behavior was and would quit before I got there. Sometimes you could do it just with a stare--the teacher would look over at some kids and frown and then everything would be okay. But sometimes I had to break up a fight and I quickly learned not to ask who started it but to make both parties go to their room and sit down. Probably unfair, but it also made an impression on the rest of the kids.
Now a special announcement for this fall's beginning teachers Learn to get angry or mad before you get angry or mad. Yup. When you're at home, go into the bathroom and look into the mirror and shout, "I DON'T WANT ANY MORE OF THIS, DO YOU HEAR!" Really shout. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH--NO MORE!" Do this several times. Come on you can act. Make it real. And watch your face. Make it look upset. I want you to practice this for at least ten minutes. And whatever you do, don't laugh. I'm serious. It is silly and you'll want to giggle or laugh but remain tough!
Then when something happens in class you'll have the behavior ready to go. You'll surprise your self. Also practice standing with your arms across your chest and just look--really stare. That's another good technique. Use this one with the words, "I'm waiting." Say that softly.
Some of my colleagues in the academic world will say this might work with the elementary kids but not in high school. I disagree. When I was filling in for the high school music teacher who was ill, I bought a dozen or so batons from a music store for a couple of bucks. They were cheap. Made of bamboo, they were fairly long with a cork end to them. I would be in the process of having the band play a particular passage and something would not go correctly and I would tell them how it should be played. But band at eleven in the morning right before lunch is a hard one sometimes to get the kids attention. And we'd play that particular section over and over. Finally, I'd say in a loud voice, 'No. That is not correct!" and I crack the baton over the music stand and break it. Very effective. Then I would make a show of going into the office and getting a new baton. The pause was good, for when I'd get back and raise the baton, and say, "same section" and we'd play it and it would be correct this time. Later on I talk on how to focus would sometimes be worth my time with the older kids. They were learning things beyond reading and writing. It's an attitude to learn.
Thanks to all those teachers who ponce on poor student behavior before it gets out of hand. Nice going...teach.
Then there are numbers and what they mean. Children have a sense of numbers when they come to school but we teachers have to get that concept organized and in a useable format. Adding and subtracting is a skill that needs teaching.
But we have a lot of children now in the schools from foreign lands who do not speak English. Most kids pick up a second language quickly and pretty soon sound like natives. But English needs to taught to some children. I was teaching music in an elementary school when a family from Italy came to our town. Their Dad had come to work at Boeings. They had six children, five of which entered the elementary school that I was teaching at. The sixth grader could speak some English and became the de facto interpreter. The chatter in the Teachers' room was that while the children were learning English, the teachers were learning a smattering of Italian.
Except in Kindergarten. That little guy was a holy terror. He didn't listen and in general ran havoc through the room taking toys away from others, ripping paper up, turning chairs over and throwing things across the room. I forgot the kindergarten teacher's name but she had lovely blond hair and she was in danger of losing that in bunches. She was doing her best.
Every so often this little squirt would start crying and his crying was at the top of his lunges. He was loud! You could hear him throughout the wing of that school when he cried and someone would have to go and get his sixth grade brother to come down and explain why he was crying. This happened at least twice a day.
One day he had one of his special crying sprees and the Kindergarten teacher had had enough. She took him by the hand and marched him to the school office. She told me later that she had other children to teach and she was spending most of her time with "him." She sat him on a chair in the outer office and left.
He continued to cry although not as loud. But if anyone came into the office he'd let out another bellow at top volume. Finally the secretary who had raised four children of her own had also had enough and got up and started to put the little tyke across her knee. I suspect he knew what was about to happen for he suddenly said in English, "I be good. I be good." And he was. He returned to the Kindergarten room and behaved quite well and he learned to speak English.
But as we teach reading, the numbers, speaking, writing....oops, I forgot spelling. If we're going to write words we should know how to spell them correctly wunt u tnk so?? But we teach other things in our schools besides cognition. We teach community values--the affective domain.
Recently I read about a school that made a major effort to teach friendliness, helpfulness, being nice to others as a major goal of that school. And if I remember correctly problems between the students dropped by over half. Kids learned to get along...better?
In recent years I've heard from teachers in the elementary schools say that kids are more aggressive these days. I think I have the answer why. We now hire playground aids who supervise the playgrounds. And I think they let a lot more aggressive behavior happen then when teachers were on playground duty. I disliked playground duty as it meant that I didn't get my morning coffee break but I did understand the importance of "being on duty." As I walked around my section of the playground, I'd spot some kids picking on another and just by walking over toward them would stop the unwanted behavior. Those doing the picking on knew what good behavior was and would quit before I got there. Sometimes you could do it just with a stare--the teacher would look over at some kids and frown and then everything would be okay. But sometimes I had to break up a fight and I quickly learned not to ask who started it but to make both parties go to their room and sit down. Probably unfair, but it also made an impression on the rest of the kids.
Now a special announcement for this fall's beginning teachers Learn to get angry or mad before you get angry or mad. Yup. When you're at home, go into the bathroom and look into the mirror and shout, "I DON'T WANT ANY MORE OF THIS, DO YOU HEAR!" Really shout. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH--NO MORE!" Do this several times. Come on you can act. Make it real. And watch your face. Make it look upset. I want you to practice this for at least ten minutes. And whatever you do, don't laugh. I'm serious. It is silly and you'll want to giggle or laugh but remain tough!
Then when something happens in class you'll have the behavior ready to go. You'll surprise your self. Also practice standing with your arms across your chest and just look--really stare. That's another good technique. Use this one with the words, "I'm waiting." Say that softly.
Some of my colleagues in the academic world will say this might work with the elementary kids but not in high school. I disagree. When I was filling in for the high school music teacher who was ill, I bought a dozen or so batons from a music store for a couple of bucks. They were cheap. Made of bamboo, they were fairly long with a cork end to them. I would be in the process of having the band play a particular passage and something would not go correctly and I would tell them how it should be played. But band at eleven in the morning right before lunch is a hard one sometimes to get the kids attention. And we'd play that particular section over and over. Finally, I'd say in a loud voice, 'No. That is not correct!" and I crack the baton over the music stand and break it. Very effective. Then I would make a show of going into the office and getting a new baton. The pause was good, for when I'd get back and raise the baton, and say, "same section" and we'd play it and it would be correct this time. Later on I talk on how to focus would sometimes be worth my time with the older kids. They were learning things beyond reading and writing. It's an attitude to learn.
Thanks to all those teachers who ponce on poor student behavior before it gets out of hand. Nice going...teach.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
How Much is Nothing?
[First some housekeeping issues and an apology. A couple of you wrote that you did not like the white on black background. I was trying to emulate a blackboard type of presentation. Apparently blackboards work best in classrooms and not on blogs. But my apology is for the changing fonts that happens at times in the blogs. I don't know what is causing it and at times I seem to not be able to fix it. I've looked at Google help section and it doesn't help me. So for the moment, let us try a new setting and see how that goes. Thanks for your patients]
If I remember correctly I was in a first grade classroom teaching some music to the kids and was attempting to show beats in a measure of a song. Now that i think of it, I was probably over their head--too soon for this type of instruction. But I remember explaining the beats and counting through several measures. At one point I came to a rest and said that there is no music on a rest. It is nothing. A hand went up and someone asked me, "How much is a nothing?" I had misspoken and implied that a rest was nothing when indeed it does have a value. I don't remember how I got out of this mess but we ended up singing which is what they liked to do.
But I have thought of that question over the years. "How much is nothing?" I was enamored to find in an early philosophy class that there was quite a to-do when philosophers and mathematicians (not much difference between the two long ago) agreed that nothing had value and a place. What an interesting concept.
I tell you this little tale by way of an introduction of a suggestion that along with learning to read we need to teach the numbers--from nothing to a gadzillion to our children. It is another way to communicate which our children need to learn. And many do learn elements of numbers. "How old are you? I'm five." "No you may not have a fourth cookie!" "When you're sixteen and that's final." Yes, we do pass on the rudiments of numbers, counting, time, and some calculations before the child gets to school. We need to teach our children at an early age the value of numbers and arithmetic.
LIke the teaching of reading, the teaching of numbers is the process of putting meaning to an abstraction. What does the symbol "5" mean to a five year old? That little one doesn't remember five distinct years but she/he has been told that they are "five" years old. And we count on their fingers until we get to five and the pinky. They can now make an association with one hand and their age when the question comes at them. It is a beginning.
I propose that teaching reading and numbers (or arithmetic) should be the initial subjects taught to our children. Both are abstractions that have to be taught by association unlike speaking and listening which are acquired by association alone. We may need to teach new words to our kids but they first come to school with an established vocabulary already.
Hmmmm. I'm making an assumption here that may not be correct. What if a child comes to school and only knows Spanish. Now what? So I guess we have to first teach listening and speaking words and forming associations of what those words mean. Major mistake in my thinking here.....
Okay, so now we have to teach reading, writing, numbers and arithmetic and speaking and listening in English. There is good research that suggests that perhaps teaching in the family language at first is better for the child as they learn learning skills. I've not had experience with that problem--all my kids spoke English, sometimes at the same time!
I tell my readers that there are a number of methods of teaching reading, each method touts itself as the proper way. And believe me, I don't want to get into the quagmire of how to teach arithmetic.....although much of that discussion tends to be directed at the more advance subjects in mathematics. I've already ticked off several professors of mathematics who favor either the rote method or the other method of discovery. I hope you will bare with me and just agree that we need to teach our children some form of mathematics that will give them good confidence in later life. Agree?
The more I write of what subject to teach our children, the more I want to thank the primary teachers (kindergarten, first and second grades) for the work that they do. Amazing. My life as a fourth and fifth grade teacher was made much easier because of the work of these primary teachers. Thank you all.
If I remember correctly I was in a first grade classroom teaching some music to the kids and was attempting to show beats in a measure of a song. Now that i think of it, I was probably over their head--too soon for this type of instruction. But I remember explaining the beats and counting through several measures. At one point I came to a rest and said that there is no music on a rest. It is nothing. A hand went up and someone asked me, "How much is a nothing?" I had misspoken and implied that a rest was nothing when indeed it does have a value. I don't remember how I got out of this mess but we ended up singing which is what they liked to do.
But I have thought of that question over the years. "How much is nothing?" I was enamored to find in an early philosophy class that there was quite a to-do when philosophers and mathematicians (not much difference between the two long ago) agreed that nothing had value and a place. What an interesting concept.
I tell you this little tale by way of an introduction of a suggestion that along with learning to read we need to teach the numbers--from nothing to a gadzillion to our children. It is another way to communicate which our children need to learn. And many do learn elements of numbers. "How old are you? I'm five." "No you may not have a fourth cookie!" "When you're sixteen and that's final." Yes, we do pass on the rudiments of numbers, counting, time, and some calculations before the child gets to school. We need to teach our children at an early age the value of numbers and arithmetic.
LIke the teaching of reading, the teaching of numbers is the process of putting meaning to an abstraction. What does the symbol "5" mean to a five year old? That little one doesn't remember five distinct years but she/he has been told that they are "five" years old. And we count on their fingers until we get to five and the pinky. They can now make an association with one hand and their age when the question comes at them. It is a beginning.
I propose that teaching reading and numbers (or arithmetic) should be the initial subjects taught to our children. Both are abstractions that have to be taught by association unlike speaking and listening which are acquired by association alone. We may need to teach new words to our kids but they first come to school with an established vocabulary already.
Hmmmm. I'm making an assumption here that may not be correct. What if a child comes to school and only knows Spanish. Now what? So I guess we have to first teach listening and speaking words and forming associations of what those words mean. Major mistake in my thinking here.....
Okay, so now we have to teach reading, writing, numbers and arithmetic and speaking and listening in English. There is good research that suggests that perhaps teaching in the family language at first is better for the child as they learn learning skills. I've not had experience with that problem--all my kids spoke English, sometimes at the same time!
I tell my readers that there are a number of methods of teaching reading, each method touts itself as the proper way. And believe me, I don't want to get into the quagmire of how to teach arithmetic.....although much of that discussion tends to be directed at the more advance subjects in mathematics. I've already ticked off several professors of mathematics who favor either the rote method or the other method of discovery. I hope you will bare with me and just agree that we need to teach our children some form of mathematics that will give them good confidence in later life. Agree?
The more I write of what subject to teach our children, the more I want to thank the primary teachers (kindergarten, first and second grades) for the work that they do. Amazing. My life as a fourth and fifth grade teacher was made much easier because of the work of these primary teachers. Thank you all.
Friday, July 16, 2010
What Is The First Thing We Should Teach In A School?
Following John Dewey's thinking about how we transfer knowledge from one generation to another--from the older to the young, we might start at the very beginning and examine what should we teach our children? Let's fantasy play like they do in sports. Let's say you have five six year olds who have never had any schooling. Perhaps you are home schooling for the neighborhood or maybe you're a teacher in a remote school somewheres. Where do you start?
What should we teach our children first? Reading comes to mind because with the knowledge of how to read one can then learn about other subjects. I could teach farming or fishing but once learned we come to a stopping point. We could learn music or painting but the same thing happens. Once we achieve success in THAT subject we find our way stymied in other areas. Arithmetic could be a beginning subject and lord knows one could study mathematics for years, but reading is a part of arithmetic as well so we're back to reading an the initial subject. As a society we use reading as the tool to learn other subjects. So how do we start to teach reading?
I would suspect most trained teachers would gather the flock around her and then would read a story. Any childrens' story would do that has pictures. I would hope that these five children have been read to at home by their parents or siblings. But never-the-less, the teacher needs to establish a reason for learning. Why learn to read? Perhaps to enjoy other books like the teacher just read, to be able to emulate the teacher, to feel smart.
Reading is primarily a cognitive objective (do you remember my discussion of the three types of objectives in learning?). At first it is a skill to recognize those strange shapes called "letters." But then the skill is to put those letters together to form "words." And from words come sentences and from sentences comes paragraphs. There are psycho-motor skills in reading--knowing how to hold a book, or be able to make our eyes go back to the beginning of the next sentence. And there are affective objectives as well that one has to acquire--the feeling of satisfaction of completing a story or finding the right sign while traveling. "I got it!"
There was a private school in Bellevue (Washington) that use to hire only teachers who could speak not only English but another language as well and that fifty percent of the students' learning had to be in that other language. So one day one might teaching reading in English and the next day in French. I've always wonder how that worked out. The school maintained very small classes, ten to fifteen students per class so it might have worked out well.
I also wonder about learning to read on computer screens. Have today's children who have had the advantage of computers in the home become faster learners? I would love to study this some more.
Here is another interesting facet of learning how to read. Let's take the letter "T". Or the letter "t". Or the letter "t". Or the letter "T". My point being that the beginning learner has to understand (cognition) that the letter "T" comes in different sizes and shapes. Have you ever seen a small child who suddenly understands this concept? Oh my what a delight. Then they want to point out every letter that is the same and different. It is a beautiful thing to behold.....watching a child learn something. This is what teachers live for. And in the teacher's mind, she/he is already selecting the next objective needed in that learning sequence. And we want to move that learning from "immediate memory" to "long term memory." So we start... "Do you remember what we learned yesterday? Who can find a letter "T" on this page?" And we move on. Such little baby steps of learning until we reach the giant steps of Plato and Dewey.
So do we agree that learning to read should be among the first things we teach our children? It is a good start.
And thanks to all those reading teachers who started so many of us on the exciting world of knowledge. You have much patience and deserve our thanks.
What should we teach our children first? Reading comes to mind because with the knowledge of how to read one can then learn about other subjects. I could teach farming or fishing but once learned we come to a stopping point. We could learn music or painting but the same thing happens. Once we achieve success in THAT subject we find our way stymied in other areas. Arithmetic could be a beginning subject and lord knows one could study mathematics for years, but reading is a part of arithmetic as well so we're back to reading an the initial subject. As a society we use reading as the tool to learn other subjects. So how do we start to teach reading?
I would suspect most trained teachers would gather the flock around her and then would read a story. Any childrens' story would do that has pictures. I would hope that these five children have been read to at home by their parents or siblings. But never-the-less, the teacher needs to establish a reason for learning. Why learn to read? Perhaps to enjoy other books like the teacher just read, to be able to emulate the teacher, to feel smart.
Reading is primarily a cognitive objective (do you remember my discussion of the three types of objectives in learning?). At first it is a skill to recognize those strange shapes called "letters." But then the skill is to put those letters together to form "words." And from words come sentences and from sentences comes paragraphs. There are psycho-motor skills in reading--knowing how to hold a book, or be able to make our eyes go back to the beginning of the next sentence. And there are affective objectives as well that one has to acquire--the feeling of satisfaction of completing a story or finding the right sign while traveling. "I got it!"
There was a private school in Bellevue (Washington) that use to hire only teachers who could speak not only English but another language as well and that fifty percent of the students' learning had to be in that other language. So one day one might teaching reading in English and the next day in French. I've always wonder how that worked out. The school maintained very small classes, ten to fifteen students per class so it might have worked out well.
I also wonder about learning to read on computer screens. Have today's children who have had the advantage of computers in the home become faster learners? I would love to study this some more.
Here is another interesting facet of learning how to read. Let's take the letter "T". Or the letter "t". Or the letter "t". Or the letter "T". My point being that the beginning learner has to understand (cognition) that the letter "T" comes in different sizes and shapes. Have you ever seen a small child who suddenly understands this concept? Oh my what a delight. Then they want to point out every letter that is the same and different. It is a beautiful thing to behold.....watching a child learn something. This is what teachers live for. And in the teacher's mind, she/he is already selecting the next objective needed in that learning sequence. And we want to move that learning from "immediate memory" to "long term memory." So we start... "Do you remember what we learned yesterday? Who can find a letter "T" on this page?" And we move on. Such little baby steps of learning until we reach the giant steps of Plato and Dewey.
So do we agree that learning to read should be among the first things we teach our children? It is a good start.
And thanks to all those reading teachers who started so many of us on the exciting world of knowledge. You have much patience and deserve our thanks.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A Special Announcement
Each summer the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers hold separate delegate conventions to plan lobbying efforts for the coming year. They listen to speakers, hold panels and the best part, talk to other teachers. The southern states tend to have the same representatives and state presidents year after year while the northern and western states have different teachers occupying the leadership roles.
I was the co-chair of the NEA convention when it came to Seattle in 1964. One of the traditions of the convention is that there was alway some local university or college where teachers could go after the convention to take classes and look to the future. It was their vacation. In 1964 we picked Western Washington State College (now university) to be that place. That was my first introduction to this institution that resides in the far northwest of the State of Washington. About an hour from the great cities of Seattle and Vancouver, BC, it is a beautiful place situated between the snow capped peak of Mount Baker and the enticing San Juan and Gulf Islands and the Salish Sea (look it up). Don't come.
The (Paul) Woodring College of Education (WWU) has the honor of having Dr. Lorraine Kasprisin, professor of education in Foundations. She is a wonderful colleague and a good friend who has her own blog titled: The Journal of Educational Controversy (goto: http://jounalofeducationalcontroversy.blogspot.com/). She left a message on this blog that she had just published Diane Ravitch's speech to this year's NEA convention. I just read it. Professor Ravitch and I have been on opposite sides of the educational forums for years but I have to admit with this speech, we're on the same page.
Both Lorraine Kasprisin and Diane Ravitch are better writers than I am but we all agree that K-12 teachers are a backbone of American society. I hope you will read the more recent blog in The Journal of Educational controversy. It's good.
And thanks to Lorraine for ever pushing me to learn and understand. You're a great teacher.
I was the co-chair of the NEA convention when it came to Seattle in 1964. One of the traditions of the convention is that there was alway some local university or college where teachers could go after the convention to take classes and look to the future. It was their vacation. In 1964 we picked Western Washington State College (now university) to be that place. That was my first introduction to this institution that resides in the far northwest of the State of Washington. About an hour from the great cities of Seattle and Vancouver, BC, it is a beautiful place situated between the snow capped peak of Mount Baker and the enticing San Juan and Gulf Islands and the Salish Sea (look it up). Don't come.
The (Paul) Woodring College of Education (WWU) has the honor of having Dr. Lorraine Kasprisin, professor of education in Foundations. She is a wonderful colleague and a good friend who has her own blog titled: The Journal of Educational Controversy (goto: http://jounalofeducationalcontroversy.blogspot.com/). She left a message on this blog that she had just published Diane Ravitch's speech to this year's NEA convention. I just read it. Professor Ravitch and I have been on opposite sides of the educational forums for years but I have to admit with this speech, we're on the same page.
Both Lorraine Kasprisin and Diane Ravitch are better writers than I am but we all agree that K-12 teachers are a backbone of American society. I hope you will read the more recent blog in The Journal of Educational controversy. It's good.
And thanks to Lorraine for ever pushing me to learn and understand. You're a great teacher.
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