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/to/ /ma/ /to/ /ta/ /mah/ /to/

another mini rant.



There's A and there's Z. One could always meet somewhere around M or N...but that would mean you aren't right and since that's clearly impossible, you stay at A and the other at Z. It can be quite ridiculous.


Ill elaborate a little, though Im so tired it may not even make sense right now.

There is not one pedagogies. There are many. Some are die hard fans of their selected or learned pedagogy. Some don't really remember one in particular and just do what is fun or feels right. Some slide into whatever the school is doing by choice or because its mandatory. Some mix a few of them and change what they do based on the students.

There are so many trains of thought here about the right way. And Ill be one of the last to argue a point when I know it wont change another's point of view. To take it even further, I can be a little apprehensive to discuss a point without going back to look at the information to make sure Im not behind the research or just completely off. The last thing I want to do as come across as a know-it-all or someone who is too rigid in my belief to think about something outside of what is currently in my brain.

I kind of approach it like this...and Ill bullet this because (as I said before) IM TIRED:

  • with so many teachers from around the world, its very likely the next teacher wont teach like me. So when Im teaching, I want my kids to know letter sounds and letter names. Theyre smart and catch on quickly. It was nothing for them to learn it and did extremely well. It didnt take a lot out of me to do so.
  • the debate rages on about upper or lowercase letters. which one to teach? while we read in lowercase letters most often, half of the letters in the alphabet have matching upper/lower case letters. ie Ww,Pp,etc. In addition, writing in uppercase tends to be developmentally easier for children to write based on their fine motor skills. Do I have enough time to teach them both upper and lower?yes and I have.
  • Something where time isnt on my side with is reading (sounding out words) versus comprehension. And I cant allow myself to focus on a child sounding out words with little comprehension.When a group of children can draw or explain beginning/middle/end  and can draw details about stories, I feel they have a wonderful grasp of what it takes to be a great reader.If they have that along with a solid foundation in phonics, the first grade teacher can do a LOT with them. Not everyone would agree but I believe that those things are higher order thinking and something that i wouldnt trade for kg2 kids.
  •  idk, but on paper it looks pretty good. (1) knows upper and lower case letters and sounds, able to read stories with the teacher and discuss (2) knows lowercase letter sounds, can put together words but may not have comprehension

maybe its because of the half day but its hard to do everything. balanced approach.whats wrong with that?????

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