Dear Ellin, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my question. As a Title I teacher, former Reading Recovery teacher, and former literacy coordinator I have seen many new teachers confused by college professors, administrators and so called "veteran" teachers. I am baffled by the confusions that exist over "strategies" vs "skills", "instructional methods" vs. "learning practices", and "learning tools" vs "learning practices". You are so right when you say that there is an abundance of confusion between "standards", "curriculum", "learning tools" and "instructional strategies". It boggles my mind that administrators, professional staff developers, and college professors continue to miss the point on these things. As a Title I teacher, I work hard at providing direct services to the student population we serve. I work in grades K-2, and my teaching is grounded in what I learned as a Reading Recovery teacher as well as what I have learned from "Mosaic of Thought". I spend almost an equal amount of time trying to mentor new teachers through study groups. I focus on many of the principles I learned from your work. At times I feel like I am working against the tide because administrators focus solely on high stakes testing, standards, and test scores. Very little is offered in the way of helping teachers understand reading process/reading comprehension instruction, and assessment that allows teachers to measure strategy use as well as their thinking! As I see teachers focus on "curriculum" and "content" I can't help but notice that they lose sight of teaching and facilitating how children learn to think. Add to that the demands of having to follow a "research based" reading program and you can't help but notice that we are merely pushing children through materials. Please know that your work has been inspiring to me, and that I refer to it over and over in the work I do facilitating my K-2 study group. Just last week, I went to my Title I director, and the Asst. Superintendent in charge of Curriculum and asked them if they could send two of our first grade teachers to a conference you will be speaking at in the Boston/RI ( SDR staff development) area. These teachers even offered to pay half the conference fee... but sadly, we were turned down. I will pass on your thoughts to these new teachers, and encourage them to join this listerve. Again, Thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions.... I am very grateful Patrice Bucci Title I Roberts School Medford Public Schools Medford, MA _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
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