Sunday, November 13, 2011
The schools we have. The schools we need.
Allington spoke of some revolutionary changes that would be essential in order for schools to meet the rising standards of society. I found it interesting to consider what he mentions about standards in previous years expecting a low number of students to meet advanced literacy, while society now expects every student to meet advanced literacy. I agree with him that schools can meet the more recent and more substantial expectations that challenge the profession today, however, in order to do so many changes must occur. Teachers must realize that many students come to school with little experience with literacy. Rather than accepting that they will never catch up, it is our duty to go over and beyond with these students in order to provide instructional interventions expanding their opportunities to read, write, and listen to stories. With the right focus and support teachers have the potential to lead all students to academic success.
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In my other class (Elementary Ed 445- Teaching Kindergarten), we call these rising standards accountability shovedown. Children are expected to be able to read much earlier in their educational careers. This puts a lot of extra pressure on the teachers and the students, especially those children who don't come from involved homes. It is our job as teachers to really push through the pressures and find ways to meet the needs of every student.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think if we can go in understand that the major of the students will be starting from scratch we are ahead of the game; we can adapt for those who are advance or above their grade level (or below) but we need to realize that we need to help develop these early skills because there are many kids who do not have the support at home that others do. I see this all the time at my daughter's school; we live in a rural area and because I worked with her before she started kindergarten she could spell her name (and write it), knew letters, colors, numbers, etc... however when I talk to her teacher my daughter is the exception, most kids in her class could not even tell the teacher what letter their name started with. It definitely makes it very challenging for the teacher to have to accomodate for so many levels.
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