A Fy in the Pavilion

Yesterday I was like a fly on the wall... well, more like a fly in the pavilion.

I was sitting in a pavilion during my children's swimming class busily getting work done on my laptop. But I guess I wasn't as absorbed in my work as I thought I was since I overheard a small portion of a conversation between two waiting mothers.

"... she (nodding towards her daughter) has reached book three in her reading books. But I don't understand her teacher. She is keeping her back from reading!"

"Uh huh," the other mother responded knowingly.

"But every evening she reads three pages easily for me. I just don't understand."

"I know what you mean because..."

Their conversation trailed off and my focus had returned to my work, as I glanced up at regular intervals to observe my children in the pool with their classmates and swimming instructors.

But the discussion between the two mothers was not the least bit unusual. Why do we promote mediocrity in reading by 'keeping back' individual children's desire to progress?

**********************************************************************************

"Oh no dear, WE haven't reached that page yet. We'll get there eventually. Have patience."

'C' Stream of Tears

There was a young girl in Trinidad,
She had just turned six and was so glad.
Soon she would be in second year,
And with friends by her side she would have no fear.

But suddenly out of the blue one day,
Her teacher told her family, "We have to say,
her work could be better
so to 'C' stream we'll send her."
Now with tears her face is much wetter.

Subconscious Behaviour

I visited a school about a year ago to show the teacher my Hop Along Reading Programme, however she was in the process of listening to one of her second year infant students read for her.

She directed me to a chair next to her desk and asked me if I could kindly wait until she was finished. I obliged but couldn't help but notice the reading activity that ensued. It went something like this...

TEACHER: Go ahead and read the page.
STUDENT: (Tentatively reading) The boy and the dog ...(silence)
TEACHER: went...
STUDENT: went up the...(silence)
TEACHER: tree...
STUDENT: tree and they....(silence)
TEACHER: saw...
STUDENT: saw a very big...(silence)
TEACHER: river...
STUDENT: river. Then they...(silence)
TEACHER: climbed...
STUDENT: climbed...(silence)
TEACHER: down...
STUDENT: down and got in a...(silence)
TEACHER: boat...
STUDENT: boat on the...(silence)
TEACHER: river...
STUDENT: river.
TEACHER: Good. Now learn the next page to read for me tomorrow.

Evidently the teacher behaved subconsciously. I wonder if she has ever thought about what she is actually doing?!

Write Out Loud

Yesterday afternoon I picked up my children from school, "How was your day?" I asked them.

"Great!" my seven year old son unhesitatingly blurted out happily.

"Not good," was his younger sister's response. This was unusual for her since she often enjoys her time in school.

She explained that she had a substitute teacher for the day and was told off quite strongly for having such BIG (and I assume) messy handwriting. Now don't get me wrong, I have only my daughter's words regarding what happened but I cannot ignore the impression that the event left on my child's mind...Big writing is bad; small writing is good; neatness is the only thing that matters.

"But mummy," my five year old continued, "I can't write small!"

Do we as teachers put too much emphasis on penmanship and not enough on the content being written?

Well think of this, I began helping my husband's young cousin with his school work when he was about ten years old. I couldn't help admiring the level of neatness in his books and the beauty of his penmanship. But admiration turned to concern when I began giving him work to do. It seemed to be a monumental task to get him to complete anything that was given, even when he fully understood the work or when I lessened the amount.

The problem? His efforts to maintain the all important level of masterful penmanship that was treasured by his various teachers over the years almost crippled any efforts in speed and efficiency.

I always remember a fellow teacher made an astute comment during a staff meeting one afternoon. At the time she taught a class of 'post-primary' students who were so weak in their academics that they had 'failed' their high school entrance exam (Common Entrance) and had to remain in primary school to try to bring them up to scratch. Some of her students couldn't even read although averaging 13 years of age.

"These students have the BEST handwriting of students that I have ever taught and most can barely read what they write (or copy)."

In fact it is near lunacy when a neighbour of mine comes to me with concern on her face upon learning that her young, barely five year old daughter who had just started a private primary school has been given homework to practice her cursive writing!!!!!

(Fortunately she was smart enough to take her child out of that school.)

So what do I tell my disappointed five year old? Get your thoughts on paper honey, the neatness will follow with practice one day.

Write out loud, write out big, write out loud!

To Learn or Not To Learn - That Is the Question

How often has your child come home and you looked in their reading books only to see that the teacher has marked the word 'learn'. Now have you ever wondered what 'learn' actually means? Here are some possibilities...

1. Try to read the story, including words that you don't know (assuming that there's someone at home who is able or even willing to help you with the new words).

2. Read the story again and again so that you practically know it off by heart (a weekly recital perhaps?).

3. Get someone to read it to you until you can recite it from memory (again assuming that there's someone at home who is able or even willing to help you with the new words).

I'm not trying to be cynical but truly, can anyone explain to me what 'learn' on the page of a reading book really means?

And while we're on this topic...what does it really mean when an infant child is given a Social Studies note and also told to 'learn' it. I personally have found it quite a difficult task to get a five or six year old to actually learn a note! What's the real value of it any way?

To learn or not to learn - that is the question. Any teacher cares to explain?

The Driven Subjects

On Friday I said that Science (including Mathematics) and Social Studies are actually the leading subjects or the drivers. These subjects drive or inspire reading and writing. But they also inspire the arts such as music, dance and fine art.

We respond to the world around us. Language and the arts are different means of communicating that response.

Think about it.

Science and Social Studies - Subjects of a Lesser God

Have you ever heard people make the argument that it makes no sense to teach Science and Social Studies to infant level students since we have to focus on teaching them to read and write first?

Indeed I've heard a few infant teachers passionately make that argument and often they are very dedicated towards teaching their young charges the fundamentals of reading.

Very early on in my teaching career I met such a teacher and every day, for most of the day you could hear her drilling her students in phonics. I never did check since I was only at that school for one term but I'm certain that many of her students became readers. (She later left teaching to promote her own phonics programme.)

As a young teacher I often thought about the notion of the need for Science and Social Studies when teaching five and six year olds. Surely it made sense to dedicate ones time to reading and when that has been mastered time can then be spent on 'less important' subjects. However, if that were the case why would the Ministry of Education insist that Science and Social Studies be on the schools' curriculum for infant students. Could curriculum developers be on such a wrong track?

Then I thought about it...if students are going to learn to read and write the question is just what are they going to read and write about? Naturally it would be about what interests or intrigues them. And what interests a child?

- games, family, animals, friends, funny stories -

Basically, the world around them. And what subjects naturally explore the world around us? Science and Social Studies of course!

Furthermore, how would you describe an educated person? If one were to say a fluent reader then that response is undoubtedly one-dimensional. A truly educated person goes beyond, to include an articulate individual who is able to function well in society by analyzing, evaluating and positively responding to the world around. And to delay the child's opportunities to reason and explore life is to delay or hinder their mental development and consequently their ability to function at a higher level intellectually. Particularly at a stage in their lives when their brains are like sponges.

So is it really fair to exclude those subjects?

I argue that the subjects of Science (including Mathematics) and Social Studies are actually the fundamental subjects that indeed drive reading and writing. So rather than being subjects of a lesser god I propose that Science and Social Studies are the core subjects that allow genuine learning to flourish.

The REAL Neverending Story

A number of years ago I was assigned to teach some 'weak' students who had definite difficulties with reading. One girl specifically stands out in my mind. Out of her school bag she pulled a tattered, well-worn reading book. It was a locally produced book that was meant for introductory reading. This was a book that most of her peers had completed up to a year and a half before.

Now keep in mind this student was classed as weak but upon speaking with her it was clear that she was quite intelligent. However she was definitely left to her own devises at home.

Upon noticing her reading book I asked her whether the book was hers.

"Yes," she responded quietly.

'Wow!' I thought, 'This little girl has been stuck on this one book for almost two years!'

It didn't take very long to realize that there were students even higher up in the other standards who were still unable to read the introductory book...years in the SAME book!!!

**********************************************************************************
Just last week I asked a group of teachers this...

I just read a fantastic novel. You've got to read it! An exciting ending! Do you want to take a look?
Oh by the way before you answer, it'll take you TWO years to finish. Now anyone still interested?

What are we doing to our children?

Individuals Among Many

That's another great benefit that I noticed when my students began making decisions about their own work. They suddenly began to become individuals among many.

I got to better understand each child's...

likes and dislikes
strengths and weaknesses.

I even found myself better able to give students individual attention.

Yes, which teacher doesn't long for smaller classes? "Then I can really give my students individual attention!"

Well just imagine, with the right teaching approach you can actually give each student individual attention. Uhhh! Individuals in a class of many! Just imagine.

Are You Crazy? - Negotiate With a Child?!

When I first heard about the concept of negotiating with a student as to what work they wanted to cover in the classroom it seemed like an almost insane idea! What?! Negotiate with a child? This seemed to be another liberal, impractical idea. Surely as the teacher I knew what was best for the students to learn and when it had to be done.

But then was my current approach really that great?

At that point I decided..."you know what, why not give it a chance?" And that's exactly what I did. I began to negotiate. I created a chart in the form of a table displaying a few subject areas that I wanted them to complete on a daily basis. Their decision? They got to choose when they wanted to do each subject and what aspect of the subject they felt like doing. Of course this was a negotiation process so at times I needed to discuss with the individuals as to what was better suited for them at the time.

The results were genuinely amazing! My nine and ten year olds suddenly took a greater interest and even pride in their work.

Friendly competitions developed as peers tried to keep abreast of each other. "I did three activities already." "I'm on my third."

Confidence grew. "I like having control of my own work. I like not having to wait on Miss."

Collaborations flourished. "I did that activity last week, let me explain to you how to do it."

Class control became easier. "Miss Powell, if you stepped out no one will ever know. Your students seem to always know what work to do and just get on with it!" It felt good to hear those words from a fellow teacher.

Well after a few years at University and then being reassigned to a class of five year olds surely the negotiation concept would have to be shelved. But you know what?...I just couldn't shelve it. It had worked before, surely it will work again. And lo-and-behold it seemed even easier to implement. Maybe because they knew no other approach in the classroom.

Negotiate with a child? Go ahead, you just might like it. After all... 'child is people too!'

Reading? Stop!!!

Almost three years ago I visited one of our havens of enlightenment called a government primary school. It was a boy's school and when I met with the school principal to show him my Hop Along Reading Programme he excitedly told me to share the information with his infant teachers.

The librarian/remedial reading teacher called the infant teachers together. They looked through the books, flashcards and other material. "Nice books." "Love the phonics and sight words together." "My kids would love the stories." "Creative writing in the workbooks - good idea."

My anticipation grew. Was this going to be the first group of teachers that would encourage their principal to try using my reading programme in their classrooms?

Anticipation - premature.

"Well...we love your programme but you know that the Ministry of Education has sent a phonics programme." The remedial reading teacher was one of the privileged few to get to meet with the promoters of the phonics programme and was instructed to return to various schools to implement it. I was too late. I was speaking to converts who rather than blending the two methods of look-and-say with phonics had been sold into the notion of total phonics. Indeed, they happily explained to me that absolutely NO reading must be done by the students until they master every single 40 plus sound.

"In fact," one male teacher proudly announced, "we have even gone back to teaching our second year infant students all their phonics!"

"So you're teaching phonics while they continue reading their books?" I asked...the idea seemed fair.

"Oh no!" he responded confidently, "We've taken away the books that they were reading."

I paused to drink this in. "Were they actually reading already?"

"Yes," confidence waning?

"And you've stopped them from reading to teach phonics?"

"Yes," confidence definitely waning. A few wrinkled brows.

"Uh huh...interesting..." I scanned the now perplexed group. "So you stopped them from reading to teach them reading?"

The government primary school...a haven of enlightenment indeed.

Comprehension?

Last night I came across this cartoon image and I thought that it showed in a very clever way one major issue that arises when children are taught purely phonetically with very little awareness of the whole-word approach.

Comprehension surely suffers - well at least initially!

The poor chap.

All Hail King Phonics!

Within recent years there has been a very definite drive in the education system of Trinidad and Tobago to teach reading at the early stages with phonics. Suddenly phrases such as whole word approach, look and say and sight words seem to be curse words.

I believe this trend has been a direct result of such a high illiteracy rate within not just Trinidad and Tobago but much of the Caribbean. And these countries used phonics within the classroom as almost an after thought. Oh yes, please don't believe the official figures of over 98% literacy! If that were the case then I guess one of the last primary schools that I taught in was actually located in No-Man's-Land!

Be that as it may, this trend is not one that I believe should continue. In my next blog I will explain my position further but just consider this...

I was speaking to a very concerned friend of mine who was spending a great deal of money to send her daughter to a reputable private school that taught reading strictly phonetically.

"I don't know what's going on with my daughter! She is seven years old has learnt to read but she's going backwards. She can't even spell the word 'talk'. The remedial reading teacher and I tried to get her to spell it using her phonics and she still couldn't spell it."

I simply asked my concerned friend, "well have you tried spelling 'talk' phonetically?"

Silence...All hail King Phonics!

Notes on a Board

Here's something that happened one day in my Science class.

We were doing a project about different animals and had just discussed mammals. Now keep in mind that in a traditional West Indian classroom I would have written a note about mammals on the blackboard and all students would have to obediently copy my note exactly as given.

However, since I am a firm believer in NOT giving notes on a blackboard, I instructed all students to create their own summary of what we had explored. I placed some keys words on the board that they could use in their summaries and left them to it. The students created notes and drew and stuck pictures As I was walking around observing the students at work I noted one of my student's notes. Part of it read...'mammals are all females.' Well I was quite surprised by such a statement, especially since this student was one of my bright sparks.

"Why do you think that all mammals are female?" I inquired, a little confused.

''Well Miss, you said that they feed their babies milk."

He needn't say more. If I had just placed a note about mammals on the blackboard for them to unquestioningly copy I would probably have written as part of my note that 'mammals suckle their young' and would NEVER have realised that one of my students might interpret that statement to mean that they are all female!

I am aware that there are many advocates for note copying at the primary school level of our West Indian classrooms and I have met many who will debate with great fervour against students creating their own notes. Feel free to let me know your views on this topic but until then I leave you with one thought...

Yesterday, I found myself having to explain to my seven year old son about plagiarism. Later on that day my son asked me an intriguing question..."Mummy, if plagiarism is against the law why does my teacher make us copy her notes from the blackboard?"

Ummm...intriguing indeed!

The Budding Author

Here's a little food for thought - well at least it was for me.

One afternoon, one of my second year infant students had written a story. Over the months he had been 'attempting' to put his thoughts down in writing. Much of what he wrote however was gibberish to me. I would often find myself having to ask him to read his stories to me since I could barely make sense of them without the aid of one of his drawings.

That afternoon however I was able to actually begin to make sense of his story. Granted it was full of spelling, grammar and punctuation errors but applying the word knowledge that he possessed, the fluency of his stories was finally coming together. As I read his short story to myself I smiled. Now we were finally getting somewhere!

I excitedly turned towards him and said encouragingly, "Sean, you're becoming a writer!"

He looked at me with the most matter-of-fact expression on his face and pointedly said, "I've always been a writer." And with that he sat down to move on to one of his other class activities.

Now take that Lorraine!

The Gift (Part 2)

It was mid-morning and most of the students were heading out to their various religious instruction classes or at least supposed to. I was upstairs looking around at the students trying in some small way to ensure that students moved along speedily when I saw a crowd of students a few feet away.

There were little arms shaking wildly as their standard one owners shouted out instructions to their fellow students who were heading to their classrooms. "Don't pass here gal!" "Go round dat way!" "Miss say to pass round!" The students that received those clear instructions looked most confused and many of them chose to ignore the orders. Some students tried to plead their case, "But de class is right there. Let me pass boy!" Others began to argue with the young security guards, "I passing dis way. You can't tell me what to do!" Most of the students however just peeped curiously over the heads of those in front of them, trying in vain to catch a glimpse of what they were being prevented from seeing.

I briskly walked across towards the brewing confusion. I was beginning to get quite annoyed that so many students were still in the corridors and that with all the escalating noise not one teacher even glanced out to see what was happening. As I parted the group of onlookers I also wanted to know what these self-appointed hall monitors were so eager to keep others from seeing. It was fairly easy to part the crowd - after all an average eight year old is not that large. As I passed through them I ordered each child to go the long route, "you all should have been in your classes a long time ago." By this time it was not a very difficult task to say this firmly.

The little feet obediently scurried along and remaining, facing me was a line of about five seven and eight year olds. Their no-nonsense stares clearly meant business. They were leaning against a desk that had been placed to block the entire corridor. It was surprising to see a desk so strategically placed in the corridor. Certainly this was nothing a typical standard one child would do without permission. "What is going on here?" I asked.

The children were more than willing to forward the answer. "Look Miss. Over there Miss!" There it was... we had had a visitor and a gift was left. Although the visitor remained faceless it was clear that it was man's best friend but the gift certainly wasn't. The load was soft, brown, large and did not leave a pleasant odour (I can safely assume this since I did not wish to go any closer). Someone had seen the gift and decided to protect the precious load. 'Put up a desk...keep away the crowd...the gift must remain in tact at all costs'...well that's the impression this sight left with me!

"Who put you here to guard something like this?" I asked, still trying to come to terms with this surreal situation but I didn't need an answer. By their classroom door the familiar head of one of my fellow teachers popped out and she took a seat in a chair by the entrance. She seemed to be guarding the gift from her end while making sure that her little guards were protecting the load from their end. "Hello Mrs. Powell,' she said casually as though guarding a load from a dog was the most natural thing in the world to do.

"Ms. --, don't you think that we should call a cleaner?" I tried to say this as respectfully as possible considering that she was almost as old as my mother and I really liked her as a person.

No response.

"Well... maybe we should send your students to class and I'll get someone to clean it up."

She had no objection to this suggestion. I guess it was because the corridors were finally cleared of students so the gift was now safe. The students hurried to join their classmates for R.I. since the call of duty was now over while I headed down to the senior teacher who was standing in for the school principal that day. When I explained to her the situation she shook her head quite unsurprised and within ten minutes the offending gift was removed.

I often think of this story over the years and I have come to understand more and more why something like this could have happened. In a later blog I will discuss the issues that this event raises so keep tuning in.

The Gift (Part 1)

A dog, a gift the dog left the school and some 7 and 8 year olds who became very avid security guards. Hmmm...what could this possibly be all about? Well it was an event that I certainly never expected to see as a teacher.

It all happened one morning. I had been a teacher for about ten years but had been teaching at that specific school for less than two. At that point I had been allowed to set up a classroom on the second floor for remedial reading and I was very enthusiastic about the possibilities that that allowed me. However, that morning, the bell rang announcing that religious instruction was about to begin for the entire school.

For those who don't know, religious instruction or R.I. is a period in most government schools where students gather in various classrooms according to their religious persuasion to be instructed in their beliefs. Some of the religious instructors were volunteers who, needless to say, often struggled if their classrooms were crammed with upwards of thirty students varying in age.

Students loved it - "freedom from my classroom!" Teachers loved it - "freedom for me!" Who doesn't need freedom?

Well, upon hearing that bell I followed my students out of my classroom with clear instructions to head straight to their respective rooms, ..."and remember, I'm watching you!" As I stood in the corridor looking over a banister that gave me a clear view of all the classrooms, including the courtyard I closely monitored each of my students as they one-by-one slid into their rooms - a few of them glancing at me regularly: "I wonder if she still looking boy!"

My students were gone and I shifted my focus. Students were running helter-skelter. Some were on a mission to arrive before their sessions began, others were trying to squeeze out as much 'stretch-your-legs' time as possible before the inevitable 'boof' by a wandering teacher but a fair number were just having the time of their lives: "I love school. We does play pitch, cricket and ketch (a.k.a. catch)."

However, before I could even begin to play the usher I heard the frantic cries of enthusiastic students just a few feet away and could see a cluster of students. "Don't come here!" "Go dat way boy!" "Miss say don't come!" My attention was diverted once again. I had no choice but to create some order to this mayhem. Little did I know what I would see.

The Revolving Door

It was a lovely sunny Caribbean afternoon and it was made even lovelier by the mere fact that I had just finished my last Advanced Level examination. I turned to my friend as we were walking out of our all-girls high school and resolutely stated, "this will be the last time that I will ever step foot in a school again...for the rest of my life!" The eighteen year old who said those words certainly meant it.

I was so convinced that I hated the world of school that a couple of months later, when the results of my exams were released I telephoned my mother (who just happened to work across the road from my former high school) and casually asked her to collect my results. "No need to rush of course."

When I left school that sunny afternoon I never imagined that I had actually walked through a revolving door in disguise. Two years later, after secretarial school (yes those schools existed not that long ago!) and a short stint at sporting classic pumps, making coffee for the boss and typing form letters that I could do in my sleep I found myself back. That's right, back to that dreaded place that I swore I would never enter again... "for the rest of my life!" I was trapped by the revolving door and found myself back.

Yes, I was back in school!

This time however I was on the other side of the desk and actually liking it. No, it wasn't the same school. I had morphed from a disgruntled high school graduate into an enthusiastic primary school teacher and my life has never been the same.

It has been this career choice (or was it a career accident?) that has sent me on an interesting journey. A journey that has awakened in me dormant memories of my own school experiences from both England and Trinidad and has enlightened me about the intriguing psyche of human beings. I will endeavour by means of this blog to not only share with you interesting stories of the world of school but also educational theories that I have explored in light of the unique nature of Caribbean classrooms.

However, the first school story that I will share with you will not be my first day as a teacher but an event that happened a few years later and it involves a dog, a present the dog left the school and some 7 and 8 year olds who became very avid security guards. Curious? Tune in next time for the full story. And yes, ALL my stories are true. It's my life - education from my perspective!