One of the first things we read in
this chapter was how families should provide a “literacy-rich environment and
literary experiences at home to help children acquire skills.” Did anyone else
chuckle at that bullet point? I do not want to be Debby Downer because I
believe that reading should be one of the biggest priorities in school and
ideally, I would like to believe that every child is read a bed time story
every night. However, after volunteering at schools for a year or two, that is
just not something I see happening. Going into your classroom in the future,
are you prepared to tackle this obstacle?
For those who have already taken
EdPysch 260, these theories and philosophies are recognizable. Even those who
have not taken the class yet can recognize psychologists like Jean Piaget and
B.F. Skinner and can apply their ideas to our previous experiences in the
classroom. Simple behavioral management plans connect to Skinner and his
behaviorism approach. Think back to your
elementary classrooms, what behavior plans did your teachers use? Did they
follow Skinner’s approach? When looking at Froebe’s idea of play in
kindergarten, is this still used in today’s society? Some kindergartners are
coming to school already knowing the alphabet and how to write their names. Is
the kindergarten standard being bumped down to preschool? In previous
classrooms do you recall seeing more center time? Having the students rotate
centers so that the teacher is able to spend more one-on-one time with
students? What about reading materials, such as books, being organized based on
difficulty in the classroom library in their own containers, on their own
shelves? In the school you attended, did most of the teachers have an abundance
of reading sources available in the classroom that fit every child’s needs?
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| Consider this cart of books for three different reading levels. Not the most ideal way to represent reading levels because it is apparent what students are the lower readers. What is a better way to categorize readers? |
Later on
when discussing reading practices it argues when a child should learn to read.
This relates to when I mentioned kindergarteners arriving at elementary school
already being ahead of their peers. I think that in today’s society there is
even more differentiation when it comes to reading because of limited resources
and materials. Those who do not have the positive role models at home or no
books being read to them are going to be further behind. Do you think
that reading readiness is essential for those who are in these positions? That
these students should be taught on the assumption that all children are at a
similar level of development?
As an
English as a Secondary Language concentration I also cannot help but consider
those who arrive at the school later on and have to begin learning phonics at a
later age. Today (1/7/15) when we were learning how to read using the
“Confusabet” we all agreed that the stress and fear of being called on weighed
down the classroom. Not only is it difficult for native speakers to learn how
to read, it is even harder for those new to the language. If this were
occurring in your classroom, would you know how to handle it?
I never really looked into Montessori schools. After reading the section over Montessori schools I think they are essential and promote learning. Children are able to educate themselves by using the manipulative that the teacher has modeled. The children area able to work on the floor or on a table which is great because they are not stuck in a desk all day instead they are able to move around freely. I think that most teachers consider Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Piagets stages of cognitive development are like a pyramid. You build off of what you know, and experiment with your senses, which is what Montessori school use as a foundation also. Children in Montessori schools use hands-on activities to learn which is great for the different types of learners.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up excellent points. Your last question really stood out to me. I am not sure at all how to handle that. Hopefully during this class we learn techniques to use to avoid that from happening. The stress and embarrassment I felt on Wednesday I would not want any child in my classroom feeling! I felt dumb. I felt like when I got an answer wrong everyone in the class was judging me. When you ask about play in kindergarten, I don't see that as much as I used to. I think everything is so pushed because of standardized testing that teachers just jump into the material and forget that cognitively, play time might be good at kindergarteners. When my youngest sister was in kindergarten she had an economics learning celebration. They were learning econ in kindergarten! I am sure if the social studies standards are already that hard, it's across the board. The literacy standards are probably a lot harder now than they were when I was in school. A good classroom discussion would be to try to answer your question: how do we handle it when we are teaching struggling readers how to read in a whole group instruction setting?
ReplyDeleteI think that you brought a lot of great points into your article. When you were talking about the standards of kindergarten being pushed down into Pre-k really made me think about my personal experiences. I worked in a daycare that offered a pre-k and kindergarten classrooms as well. I don't necessarily feel that the standards are being pushed onto the pre-k kids, more so that they are trying to help prepare the kids of their next step and get them into the routine of kindergarten. I would say that stations are used a lot in kindergarten, this allows the teacher to work with small groups and be more 1 on 1 with the students. I think that everyone has their own ideas of how they plan to run their classroom. After reading this article about the different methods of teaching, a question I would ask my peers is what method of teaching will you use? Why would you choose that method?
ReplyDeleteVery well written, thought out post Kayleigh! You have me questioning what approach I should use for my classroom. I have come to the conclusion that the different approaches work best for certain grades. If I was a pre school or kindergarten teacher I would definitely incorporate Montessori’s discovery learning into my classroom. I feel like by doing so my students warm up to school and enjoy discovering the answers to their curiosities about life. For first through fifth grade I would use a combination of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development and Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation theories. The zone of proximal development is an important tool to use because all children work and learn at different levels. One child who is in first grade may be doing second grade math while another child in first grade is struggling. The Zone of Proximal development can be used to distinguish what children need to learn next. Children are always reorganizing their thinking when something does not make sense. Therefore, I would explain these differences in class using Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation techniques. Lastly, I would use the Behaviorist approach in dealing with classroom management. This way I can model and reinforce the attitude I want my students to display.
ReplyDeleteI love how you included an image with it too!