tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post2658202579110423709..comments2023-12-19T16:54:31.953-05:00Comments on SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: A Call For Principals And Administrators That Advocate Balanced Literacy To Be Terminated ImmediatelyPete Zuckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16708676684946013529noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-75016410817687932192012-09-09T12:54:35.503-04:002012-09-09T12:54:35.503-04:00Lisa Delpit addresses this issue in her work, here...Lisa Delpit addresses this issue in her work, here’s a link to one of her best:<br /><br />http://faculty.washington.edu/rikitiki/tcxg464sp08/Silenced%20Dialogue%20by%20L%20Delpit.pdf<br /><br />There are some worthy instructional approaches in the TC model, but it is irresponsible to use it without modifications that are responsive to diverse students' needs. If NYC administration is using the TC approach to bully teachers and perpetuate illiteracy by insisting on robotic application, shame on them.<br /><br /> NYC teachers should have the professional freedom to utilize the good in the approach: love of literacy, exposure to the authentic process of writers and readers, exposure to ACTUAL BOOKS instead of abridged stories in textbooks, advocating use of leveled text so no child is put in front of text that they cannot access or have outgrown. Teachers should also be supported to modify the approach to support SKILLS instruction, to support ELLs (this includes kids, in my mind, who speak English at home that is not Standard Academic English), to use contrastive analysis and critical analysis of how (and which) language is valued by our dominant culture. <br /><br />Our kids who are not succeeding and who come from marginalized communities are not stupid, they don’t come to school with limited intellectual capacity. In fact, they are often not succeeding precisely because they are smart enough to see that school is NOT for them. They are not supposed to be successful and feel that they belong there. They are supposed to fail, to become imprisoned or part of the underclass. Why? Because that is the status quo and the status quo serves many people well. It serves those of us that have achieved moderate success, this means you if you are able to read my post because you are literate and have access to a computer and the internet. And the status quo serves the oligarchy, the puppeteers that are yanking our strings. Cut the strings, radicalize your students, teach them to think critically about the what is the TRUTH and how many TRUTHS there are. As much as you are able, close your door and forget about the mandates from the puppets and do the work your kids need.<br /><br />Love from California where we face similar issues to those you face in NYC but we don’t freeze our asses off.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14339928611275286944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-67609647380108131602012-09-09T11:56:53.893-04:002012-09-09T11:56:53.893-04:00The fact of the matter is that this workshop model...The fact of the matter is that this workshop model, scripted curricula, Danielson's rubrics, differentiation, data, etc are ALL being using not to SUPPORT teachers, but to TARGET them. <br /><br />It allows administrators, even inept ones, to target a teacher much more easily.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-73098215312424835332012-09-09T08:29:22.439-04:002012-09-09T08:29:22.439-04:00TC and LC need to go. Stop telling me what to teac...TC and LC need to go. Stop telling me what to teach and how to teach in my own classroom. LC doesn't even represent balanced literacy because it's...BALANCED which means that whole language (aka osmosis if done in isolation) and phonics are equally used. The issue isn't even the quality of the program itself. It's the imposition of ”teaching strategies” created by gurus like Caulkins and.Danielson and Fontinus and Pinnell that sites the gross lack of trust in teachers to implement their own strategies with their own students. Why would I want to use the teaching methods of someone I've never met, someone who doesn't know my kids, sometime who maybe even has never taught, forced down my throat? some of the techniques might be ok but please leave me the fuck alone and let me do my job.Chalk Dusterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08983784261421373401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515738343772337569.post-13195025301658142332012-09-09T04:20:16.457-04:002012-09-09T04:20:16.457-04:00I entered nursery school knowing how to read.
I h...I entered nursery school knowing how to read.<br /><br />I had learned from looking at all the lettering that appears during TV shows and commercials, listening to what announcers and actors were saying, and having my parents read store names and signage to me during shopping trips.<br /><br />I was also a big fan of comic books and MAD Magazine. I started out by looking at the pictures, and then my parents would read the dialog to me. (Where else could you come across characters such as Mr. Mxyzptlk or Calderham Y. Squeeb in the 1960s?)<br /><br />In first grade, I liked the "Fun With Dick and Jane" series, and breezed right through the books. I was probably reading at a fifth or sixth grade level at the time, having previously encountered words such as "amoeba" and "Metropolis" in comics, and "hexachlorophene" in TV commercials.<br /><br />It sounds as if Lucy Calkins and her disciples have taken all the joy out of reading. What's happened to the simpler days of Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot, Puff, and all their friends?<br /><br />http://books.google.com/books/about/Fun_With_Dick_and_Jane.html?id=vK8NAAAACAAJ<br /><br />Why aren't TV and movie scripts, along with the accompanying tapes or DVDs, being used as resource material in reading programs?<br /><br />Here is a great website for acquiring free reading material in the area of film and television:<br /><br />http://www.script-o-rama.com/snazzy/dircut.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com