I came across the blog post below that I wrote on “The Big Idea” blog in 2007. Have things changed in 4 years? Read the post below and let me know what you think. Have we gotten better at collaboration?
I've so often heard teachers say, "I just go in my room and close my door and teach the way I want to teach." Is this because they would rather not discuss best practices, standards, and teaching for understanding? Is it because they are uncomfortable when people disagree? Perhaps they do not know how to engage in discourse with other educators.
It’s hard to believe that there are still teachers teaching like they were taught: standing alone and behind closed doors. People in the business world do a much better job of collaborating and engaging in professional discourse than we do as educators. Many businesses now outsource significant portions of work to external companies so it is important to them to increase the success of their employees’ ability to communicate and collaborate and to use the expertise of their co-workers. But it should be just as important to us as educators to jointly develop and agree to goals, essential questions, and to work together to develop authentic assessments and curriculum that enable students to demonstrate understanding.
“Seasoned” teachers are more comfortable “doing their own thing” while new teachers are used to working together and communicating with each other. Young teachers grew up collaborating at school and in their education courses. We taught them that! We teach students to work in collaborative groups yet some teachers fail to be comfortable with collaboration with their peers.
Our young teachers need for us to communicate and collaborate with them. I’ve read a lot about new teachers and the reasons that some of them give up before they’ve even taught for 5 years. They are changing professions because they find themselves in a climate of “stand alone” teaching.
Schools should have a climate where teachers as well as students are constantly learning and growing together. Teachers need to be talking about standards, best practices, and goals for our students and ourselves. When we as educators work together we can improve teaching and learning beyond what any one person can do alone.
One of my favorite quotes is by Alfie Kohn. “People do not resist change. They resist being changed.” Working alone and behind closed doors is a longstanding habit that needs to be changed. How can we change this mindset? Can change be mandated? It is up to us as professionals to challenge this habit and learn to engage in professional discourse.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Clutter-Free Classroom: CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION
Clutter-Free Classroom: CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION: "Click here to purchase my Clutter-Free Classroom Guide to Organization and Management DECLUTTERING YOUR CLASSROOM SERIES: Preparing to ..."
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Literacy Learning in Young Children: Implications for Parents and Educators
Research indicates that children who have many literacy experiences are often early readers. Learning can occur in a natural way when parents serve as models to their child, demonstrating how to learn. Within the context of home and community, young children construct ideas about print through meaningful experiences with print. These experiences include reading books aloud to children, attempting to write, and noticing letters and words in the environment.
To foster print awareness, teachers, parents and caregivers should provide opportunities for children to observe adults writing and to discuss with children what has been written. Children need to see adults and older children writing for real purposes and thinking aloud as they write. Parents and caregivers should give provide paper, notebooks, notepads, pencils, markers, crayons, etc. for children to use and explore. This will encourage children to develop as writers while refining their knowledge of written language. Children's attempts at writing should be accepted unconditionally by parents. The interest and respect that parents and teachers show to a child's writing demonstrates to children the importance of the writing process.
Reading to children gives them the idea of what reading is all about and introduces them to the concepts of print and literacy conventions. Children should have the opportunity to observe and follow along as adults track print from left to right while reading aloud. Parents can point out specific words of interests and find letters like the ones in their children's names. Hearing repeated readings of the same text allows children to begin to notice rhyming words, letter-sound relationships, and increase vocabulary development.
Environmental print captures the attention of young children at a very early age, teachers, parents and caregivers can use this kind of print for educational purposes. Parents can point out labels to children while in the grocery store. They can read road signs, billboards, and signs on windows while traveling in the car. This is a good time to point out letters of the alphabet. Teachers often encourage children to bring logos and other environmental print to the classroom for literacy learning activities.
When children enter school, teachers need to encourage parents to continue to read aloud to their children and to continue to provide new literacy experiences. Teachers can provide parents with suggested reading lists so that parents can look for these titles in the library and bookstore. Make sure the reading lists include a variety of literature including informational texts and books that will stimulate conversations about ideas and concepts.
Children know a lot about literacy before they enter school. It is up to educators and parents to assess what children already know and to build on that knowledge. Teachers should not look at children as "empty vessels that need to be filled."
To foster print awareness, teachers, parents and caregivers should provide opportunities for children to observe adults writing and to discuss with children what has been written. Children need to see adults and older children writing for real purposes and thinking aloud as they write. Parents and caregivers should give provide paper, notebooks, notepads, pencils, markers, crayons, etc. for children to use and explore. This will encourage children to develop as writers while refining their knowledge of written language. Children's attempts at writing should be accepted unconditionally by parents. The interest and respect that parents and teachers show to a child's writing demonstrates to children the importance of the writing process.
Reading to children gives them the idea of what reading is all about and introduces them to the concepts of print and literacy conventions. Children should have the opportunity to observe and follow along as adults track print from left to right while reading aloud. Parents can point out specific words of interests and find letters like the ones in their children's names. Hearing repeated readings of the same text allows children to begin to notice rhyming words, letter-sound relationships, and increase vocabulary development.
Environmental print captures the attention of young children at a very early age, teachers, parents and caregivers can use this kind of print for educational purposes. Parents can point out labels to children while in the grocery store. They can read road signs, billboards, and signs on windows while traveling in the car. This is a good time to point out letters of the alphabet. Teachers often encourage children to bring logos and other environmental print to the classroom for literacy learning activities.
When children enter school, teachers need to encourage parents to continue to read aloud to their children and to continue to provide new literacy experiences. Teachers can provide parents with suggested reading lists so that parents can look for these titles in the library and bookstore. Make sure the reading lists include a variety of literature including informational texts and books that will stimulate conversations about ideas and concepts.
Children know a lot about literacy before they enter school. It is up to educators and parents to assess what children already know and to build on that knowledge. Teachers should not look at children as "empty vessels that need to be filled."
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Literacy Learning
Kindergarten teachers are already getting their classrooms ready for the first day of school. They are arranging furniture, decorating bulletin boards, and carefully preparing center activities. Books are being selected to help students on their way to being readers. Teachers are preparing for a classroom of children who they see as needing literacy instruction. But what do children know about literacy before they begin school and why is it important to know?
Emilia Ferreiro and Ann Teberosky, researchers whose work is based on Piagetian theory, conducted a qualitative study on how children come to know written language. They explored the developmental processes of learning to read and write and published their findings in the book Literacy Before Schooling. The researchers focused on print awareness, environmental print, and writing development.
In their early years, children find a variety of ways to express their literacy knowledge. Children draw, write and pretend play to communicate meaning. Children role-play literacy events that they observe in their daily lives. For example, children often play restaurant using a notepad and pen to take orders. Through these efforts to communicate, children are demonstrating their knowledge about reading and writing. Does print in children's environment help them construct knowledge about reading and writing? Ferreiro and Teberosky explored preschoolers' literacy knowledge before receiving formal reading instruction. They found that children had constructed knowledge about print before they came to school and that they continually test that knowledge through interaction with print. The researchers found that the children in the study had precise ideas about the number of characters needed for something to be readable. They also had the idea that repeated letters were not something to read. The researchers found that young children imitated reading behaviors such as holding the book in a certain way, using page turning gestures, and eye movements and body language of reading.
In Ferreiro and Teberosky's study, they found that children reinvent writing for themselves. Children actively model what they see in the adult world. As they experiment with writing, children construct and refine their knowledge of written language. Children's names are a springboard in writing development. Children see their names written frequently and begin to use the letters in their names in their writing. This can be used as the basis for further learning in writing.
The work of Ferreiro and Teberosky is important in the field of education and the implications from their research should empower teachers and parents to help their children in their literacy development. In the next blog post we will look at the implications of this study and offer suggestions for what parents and teachers can do to further children's literacy development.
Emilia Ferreiro and Ann Teberosky, researchers whose work is based on Piagetian theory, conducted a qualitative study on how children come to know written language. They explored the developmental processes of learning to read and write and published their findings in the book Literacy Before Schooling. The researchers focused on print awareness, environmental print, and writing development.
In their early years, children find a variety of ways to express their literacy knowledge. Children draw, write and pretend play to communicate meaning. Children role-play literacy events that they observe in their daily lives. For example, children often play restaurant using a notepad and pen to take orders. Through these efforts to communicate, children are demonstrating their knowledge about reading and writing. Does print in children's environment help them construct knowledge about reading and writing? Ferreiro and Teberosky explored preschoolers' literacy knowledge before receiving formal reading instruction. They found that children had constructed knowledge about print before they came to school and that they continually test that knowledge through interaction with print. The researchers found that the children in the study had precise ideas about the number of characters needed for something to be readable. They also had the idea that repeated letters were not something to read. The researchers found that young children imitated reading behaviors such as holding the book in a certain way, using page turning gestures, and eye movements and body language of reading.
In Ferreiro and Teberosky's study, they found that children reinvent writing for themselves. Children actively model what they see in the adult world. As they experiment with writing, children construct and refine their knowledge of written language. Children's names are a springboard in writing development. Children see their names written frequently and begin to use the letters in their names in their writing. This can be used as the basis for further learning in writing.
The work of Ferreiro and Teberosky is important in the field of education and the implications from their research should empower teachers and parents to help their children in their literacy development. In the next blog post we will look at the implications of this study and offer suggestions for what parents and teachers can do to further children's literacy development.
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