I totally agree with what you are saying!! We aren't teaching children to learn but how to take tests. I long for the day when I can get back to those teachable moments and the have the ability to roll lwith it! Lisa ---- Renee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In the good old days, long before NCLB and when teachers were treated > more like people who actually knew what they were doing, we used to > have what were called "teachable moments." When my son, (now age 32) > was in third grade, he had a fantastic teacher who lived well outside > the box. I was helping in class one day during reading time when there > was a big racket up on the roof. The teacher sent out a child to find > out what was going on. The student came back to say that there were men > working on the roof. Soon after that, the electricity went off. The > teacher asked the kids why they thought that happened. Lots of > responses, all over the board. So the teacher suggested they call the > electric company. He sent a child to the office to make the call (in > those days, we did not have phones in our classrooms). Of course, the > child came back with a note from the secretary wanting clarification, > yadda yadda, but in the end the child made the call. What did kids > learn here? Problem solving. Inferencing. Cause and effect. etc etc > etc. > > I shudder to think what happens these days when teachers are mandated > to get *this* much done in *this* amount of time, and to teach *this* > skill on *this* day. > > Frankly, I long for the days when we weren't so nit-picky about > discrete things and looked at education with a larger view. In general. > > Just thinking on a Saturday morning.... > Renee > > On Sep 27, 2008, at 8:11 AM, jan sanders wrote: > > > Hi Mary- > > If the mini-lessons aren't mini, then perhaps they have more than one > > teaching point? Too much at once? Could the lesson be broken down in > > parts over two or three days? .... > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Mary Manges<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Hi everyone, > > I'm wondering how long most of you have each day for teaching > > language > > arts? > > > "The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in > a thing makes it happen." > ~ Frank Lloyd Wright > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >
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