D & Z Chapters 6 & 7

First of all I thought it was a bit ironic how the textbook we are reading says "[the teacher] then assign[s] those six or seven pages every day to 'get it done.' (177)" We are reading the whole textbook in this class, Lol!  Actually, this textbook is one of the best textbooks I've ever read, so it's okay... I'll let this one slide.

Some points that really stuck out were how textbooks can be used in classrooms but that the ideas should be uncovered rather than just going over them.  Chapter 6 has a set of questions that teachers can ask themselves before they go over the material - to see if it really is that important to go over.  I thought this was especially important for history, math and science concentrations.  Since, we all know that it would probably be impossible to go over the whole entire textbook in one school year.  Do I hear a challenge being made?

Vocabulary is also a point in this chapter where it points out that Tier 2 words (which cover multiple disciplines and meanings).  Should be taught to our future students.  Vocabulary was always easy for me because I would derive a lot of the English word meanings from Spanish vocabulary.  I think vocabulary is one of the most important yet most forgotten tools in our units.

What I did not like about this chapter was how it hit me with a harsh reality.  Many state tests will dictate what kinds of texts we need to train our students to be prepared for.  In the section "Find out what's really on the big test" it says explicitly that teachers need to see what kinds of texts are in the tests.  Later on in these chapters it says "The Common Core Standards focus pretty much on learning outcomes rather than classroom processes but not entirely. (206)"  This is contradictory because on one hand Common Core only shows the outcomes teachers should get but the tests want to test students on certain texts.... so basically I need to teach what the government wants me to teach... Cool.  Slowly but surely I can see classrooms turning into the novel 1984 by Orwell.

Don't get me wrong, I think that there should be a set of standards every teacher needs to follow.  But, I do not agree with children missing time in class to do a test.  Maybe I will agree with the test later on in my career but for now I will give it a exagerated eye roll.

On a brighter note I loved how chapter 7 reinforced the community of learners outlook on teaching.  As a high school student I remember one of my favorite teachers being Mr. Occhi.  He really inspired me to become an English teacher.  One thing I remembered was he would nickname his students slowly as the year would progress.  My nickname was "Mighty" while this seems like such a random thing to do I felt like I had a connection to him.  While this does not exactly connect to what the text says about creating a community of learners, it put a lot of the students at ease.  The text says "Make the classroom a place where students trust the teacher and believe it's safe to take risks, a place where it's OK to ask questions when they don't understand something, and they can expect to receive the support they need to handle challenges. (206)"  Part of creating a community of learners is to accept children for WHO THEY ARE - This is something Dr. Cook also encouraged.  Hopefully our class as a whole as well.