APS Lucy Calkins- how does this happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please read “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler. Lucy Calkins is HORRIBLE. I can’t believe teachers go along with this.

Omg don’t blame the curriculum a whole district buys and says teachers have to use on the teachers. How much say do you have over how your leadership tells you to do elements of your job?

If I didn't follow my district's curriculum, I would be put on probation and then fired. Why do people think teachers get to make such big decisions like what they teach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if this should be here or general education but how does a large school district adopt a standard of learning that is not evidence based? Now you have years of kids that haven’t really learned to read or spell. I thought teachers had autonomy but it sounds like the method of instruction and curriculum is decided by the administrators/ county.

Teacher having autonomy is an oxymoron. We do what we are told. We've been screaming that the three cueing method is not effective for years. Thankfully the science of reading has proven this to be true. Even my mom who has been helping out in schools with a tutoring program was shocked that kids weren't being taught phonics. The tutoring program wanted her to just read the text to the student and then have them read it together. When it came time for the student to read it himself, he couldn't so she tried to point out different features like "sh" makes the /sh/ sound. She said the kid had no idea. Her script told her to have the student use the pictures and the context to figure out the words.

One size fits all seems reductive.
Approaches to teaching and learning must include a variety so when a child doesn’t get it a teacher can pivot - like the mom supporting in classroom try reading together without pictures, then phonics. And, it requires paying attention, flexibility,and knowledge of various approaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if this should be here or general education but how does a large school district adopt a standard of learning that is not evidence based? Now you have years of kids that haven’t really learned to read or spell. I thought teachers had autonomy but it sounds like the method of instruction and curriculum is decided by the administrators/ county.

Teacher having autonomy is an oxymoron. We do what we are told. We've been screaming that the three cueing method is not effective for years. Thankfully the science of reading has proven this to be true. Even my mom who has been helping out in schools with a tutoring program was shocked that kids weren't being taught phonics. The tutoring program wanted her to just read the text to the student and then have them read it together. When it came time for the student to read it himself, he couldn't so she tried to point out different features like "sh" makes the /sh/ sound. She said the kid had no idea. Her script told her to have the student use the pictures and the context to figure out the words.

One size fits all seems reductive.
Approaches to teaching and learning must include a variety so when a child doesn’t get it a teacher can pivot - like the mom supporting in classroom try reading together without pictures, then phonics. And, it requires paying attention, flexibility,and knowledge of various approaches.

I agree with you but I would be fired for stepping away from our curriculum. We are on a pacing schedule and we get written up if we more than a few days off of it. Complain to the people who have authority to make changes. It's not teachers.

[Anonymous]

If you look at all reading books in the English language dating back to when the first was published, they are all phonics based until about 1990 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if this should be here or general education but how does a large school district adopt a standard of learning that is not evidence based? Now you have years of kids that haven’t really learned to read or spell. I thought teachers had autonomy but it sounds like the method of instruction and curriculum is decided by the administrators/ county.

Teacher having autonomy is an oxymoron. We do what we are told. We've been screaming that the three cueing method is not effective for years. Thankfully the science of reading has proven this to be true. Even my mom who has been helping out in schools with a tutoring program was shocked that kids weren't being taught phonics. The tutoring program wanted her to just read the text to the student and then have them read it together. When it came time for the student to read it himself, he couldn't so she tried to point out different features like "sh" makes the /sh/ sound. She said the kid had no idea. Her script told her to have the student use the pictures and the context to figure out the words.

One size fits all seems reductive.
Approaches to teaching and learning must include a variety so when a child doesn’t get it a teacher can pivot - like the mom supporting in classroom try reading together without pictures, then phonics. And, it requires paying attention, flexibility,and knowledge of various approaches.

I agree with you but I would be fired for stepping away from our curriculum. We are on a pacing schedule and we get written up if we more than a few days off of it. Complain to the people who have authority to make changes. It's not teachers.

Where are the teacher unions and "advocacy groups" when it comes to doing the one thing that their name actual states that they should be doing: teaching? I understand that individual teachers should be wary of job security but all that these umbrella groups talk about is everything except teaching proper, effective curriculum. You'd think these groups would spend some of their own collected dues on doing some research about the actual professon tather than spending time dabbling in politics and other things peripheral to why people actually chose the profession. After all, we're not talking about less educated laborers or blue collar workers who maybe had no other options in life. Teachers need to treat education like a real profession and maybe this will bring back the respect that the good teachers truly deserve. Maybe these groups advocating for efficiencies in education would reduce the workload of their members and improve morale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if this should be here or general education but how does a large school district adopt a standard of learning that is not evidence based? Now you have years of kids that haven’t really learned to read or spell. I thought teachers had autonomy but it sounds like the method of instruction and curriculum is decided by the administrators/ county.

Teacher having autonomy is an oxymoron. We do what we are told. We've been screaming that the three cueing method is not effective for years. Thankfully the science of reading has proven this to be true. Even my mom who has been helping out in schools with a tutoring program was shocked that kids weren't being taught phonics. The tutoring program wanted her to just read the text to the student and then have them read it together. When it came time for the student to read it himself, he couldn't so she tried to point out different features like "sh" makes the /sh/ sound. She said the kid had no idea. Her script told her to have the student use the pictures and the context to figure out the words.

One size fits all seems reductive.
Approaches to teaching and learning must include a variety so when a child doesn’t get it a teacher can pivot - like the mom supporting in classroom try reading together without pictures, then phonics. And, it requires paying attention, flexibility,and knowledge of various approaches.

I agree with you but I would be fired for stepping away from our curriculum. We are on a pacing schedule and we get written up if we more than a few days off of it. Complain to the people who have authority to make changes. It's not teachers.

Where are the teacher unions and "advocacy groups" when it comes to doing the one thing that their name actual states that they should be doing: teaching? I understand that individual teachers should be wary of job security but all that these umbrella groups talk about is everything except teaching proper, effective curriculum. You'd think these groups would spend some of their own collected dues on doing some research about the actual professon tather than spending time dabbling in politics and other things peripheral to why people actually chose the profession. After all, we're not talking about less educated laborers or blue collar workers who maybe had no other options in life. Teachers need to treat education like a real profession and maybe this will bring back the respect that the good teachers truly deserve. Maybe these groups advocating for efficiencies in education would reduce the workload of their members and improve morale.

VA doesn’t have teachers unions. The professional organizations have zero power.

Legacies of being a good-ole-boy state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if this should be here or general education but how does a large school district adopt a standard of learning that is not evidence based? Now you have years of kids that haven’t really learned to read or spell. I thought teachers had autonomy but it sounds like the method of instruction and curriculum is decided by the administrators/ county.

Teacher having autonomy is an oxymoron. We do what we are told. We've been screaming that the three cueing method is not effective for years. Thankfully the science of reading has proven this to be true. Even my mom who has been helping out in schools with a tutoring program was shocked that kids weren't being taught phonics. The tutoring program wanted her to just read the text to the student and then have them read it together. When it came time for the student to read it himself, he couldn't so she tried to point out different features like "sh" makes the /sh/ sound. She said the kid had no idea. Her script told her to have the student use the pictures and the context to figure out the words.

One size fits all seems reductive.
Approaches to teaching and learning must include a variety so when a child doesn’t get it a teacher can pivot - like the mom supporting in classroom try reading together without pictures, then phonics. And, it requires paying attention, flexibility,and knowledge of various approaches.

I agree with you but I would be fired for stepping away from our curriculum. We are on a pacing schedule and we get written up if we more than a few days off of it. Complain to the people who have authority to make changes. It's not teachers.

Where are the teacher unions and "advocacy groups" when it comes to doing the one thing that their name actual states that they should be doing: teaching? I understand that individual teachers should be wary of job security but all that these umbrella groups talk about is everything except teaching proper, effective curriculum. You'd think these groups would spend some of their own collected dues on doing some research about the actual professon tather than spending time dabbling in politics and other things peripheral to why people actually chose the profession. After all, we're not talking about less educated laborers or blue collar workers who maybe had no other options in life. Teachers need to treat education like a real profession and maybe this will bring back the respect that the good teachers truly deserve. Maybe these groups advocating for efficiencies in education would reduce the workload of their members and improve morale.

When they adopt curriculum they go through a whole process and present the choices and ask teachers to review and pick. Then they always pick what they’re going to pick anyway. You think of us wanted Schoology or Calkins or any of these textbooks or whatever, it is not up to us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My APS ES kid has phonics instruction every day. I'm not sure about in K because it was just a "language arts" block, but in 1st had both phonemic awareness and phonics, and in 2nd phonics. DC is a strong reader so admittedly haven't paid much attention, but now I'm curious if it's not really phonics, or if there are differences between schools?

It varies with the school. Most APS schools choose Calkin but there are a few that don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if this should be here or general education but how does a large school district adopt a standard of learning that is not evidence based? Now you have years of kids that haven’t really learned to read or spell. I thought teachers had autonomy but it sounds like the method of instruction and curriculum is decided by the administrators/ county.

Teacher having autonomy is an oxymoron. We do what we are told. We've been screaming that the three cueing method is not effective for years. Thankfully the science of reading has proven this to be true. Even my mom who has been helping out in schools with a tutoring program was shocked that kids weren't being taught phonics. The tutoring program wanted her to just read the text to the student and then have them read it together. When it came time for the student to read it himself, he couldn't so she tried to point out different features like "sh" makes the /sh/ sound. She said the kid had no idea. Her script told her to have the student use the pictures and the context to figure out the words.

One size fits all seems reductive.
Approaches to teaching and learning must include a variety so when a child doesn’t get it a teacher can pivot - like the mom supporting in classroom try reading together without pictures, then phonics. And, it requires paying attention, flexibility,and knowledge of various approaches.

I agree with you but I would be fired for stepping away from our curriculum. We are on a pacing schedule and we get written up if we more than a few days off of it. Complain to the people who have authority to make changes. It's not teachers.

Where are the teacher unions and "advocacy groups" when it comes to doing the one thing that their name actual states that they should be doing: teaching? I understand that individual teachers should be wary of job security but all that these umbrella groups talk about is everything except teaching proper, effective curriculum. You'd think these groups would spend some of their own collected dues on doing some research about the actual professon tather than spending time dabbling in politics and other things peripheral to why people actually chose the profession. After all, we're not talking about less educated laborers or blue collar workers who maybe had no other options in life. Teachers need to treat education like a real profession and maybe this will bring back the respect that the good teachers truly deserve. Maybe these groups advocating for efficiencies in education would reduce the workload of their members and improve morale.

VA doesn’t have teachers unions. The professional organizations have zero power.

Legacies of being a good-ole-boy state.

So all those threats by teacher "advocacy" groups in NOVA to strike or quit or call in sick for covid didn't happen? No one put caskets on their car roof to say how much they cared about their students? No teachers in Facebook forums bullying parents about hybrid? Come on, teachers apparently aren't afraid of speaking up about issues they think are important. They can't write up every teacher if every teacher speaks out. Face it, teaching is not a chosen profession to actually teach for student learning. It's for people to feel good about themselves trying to help only a specific type of child and then blaming and finger pointing after quitting because of low morale and burnout. The system hasn't worked for years. What I'm saying is if teachers as a collective voice spoke out about this as an advocacy group or union, even in one of the 50 states + DC, parents would understand why public schools are garbage and there would be a real national debate. Ultimately the kids would be smarter and hopefully teachers would be paid more - if not, at least they would be happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please read “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler. Lucy Calkins is HORRIBLE. I can’t believe teachers go along with this.

Every teacher and school administrator should read this book. I doubt many of them have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if this should be here or general education but how does a large school district adopt a standard of learning that is not evidence based? Now you have years of kids that haven’t really learned to read or spell. I thought teachers had autonomy but it sounds like the method of instruction and curriculum is decided by the administrators/ county.

Teacher having autonomy is an oxymoron. We do what we are told. We've been screaming that the three cueing method is not effective for years. Thankfully the science of reading has proven this to be true. Even my mom who has been helping out in schools with a tutoring program was shocked that kids weren't being taught phonics. The tutoring program wanted her to just read the text to the student and then have them read it together. When it came time for the student to read it himself, he couldn't so she tried to point out different features like "sh" makes the /sh/ sound. She said the kid had no idea. Her script told her to have the student use the pictures and the context to figure out the words.

One size fits all seems reductive.
Approaches to teaching and learning must include a variety so when a child doesn’t get it a teacher can pivot - like the mom supporting in classroom try reading together without pictures, then phonics. And, it requires paying attention, flexibility,and knowledge of various approaches.

I agree with you but I would be fired for stepping away from our curriculum. We are on a pacing schedule and we get written up if we more than a few days off of it. Complain to the people who have authority to make changes. It's not teachers.

Where are the teacher unions and "advocacy groups" when it comes to doing the one thing that their name actual states that they should be doing: teaching? I understand that individual teachers should be wary of job security but all that these umbrella groups talk about is everything except teaching proper, effective curriculum. You'd think these groups would spend some of their own collected dues on doing some research about the actual professon tather than spending time dabbling in politics and other things peripheral to why people actually chose the profession. After all, we're not talking about less educated laborers or blue collar workers who maybe had no other options in life. Teachers need to treat education like a real profession and maybe this will bring back the respect that the good teachers truly deserve. Maybe these groups advocating for efficiencies in education would reduce the workload of their members and improve morale.

VA doesn’t have teachers unions. The professional organizations have zero power.

Legacies of being a good-ole-boy state.

So all those threats by teacher "advocacy" groups in NOVA to strike or quit or call in sick for covid didn't happen? No one put caskets on their car roof to say how much they cared about their students? No teachers in Facebook forums bullying parents about hybrid? Come on, teachers apparently aren't afraid of speaking up about issues they think are important. They can't write up every teacher if every teacher speaks out. Face it, teaching is not a chosen profession to actually teach for student learning. It's for people to feel good about themselves trying to help only a specific type of child and then blaming and finger pointing after quitting because of low morale and burnout. The system hasn't worked for years. What I'm saying is if teachers as a collective voice spoke out about this as an advocacy group or union, even in one of the 50 states + DC, parents would understand why public schools are garbage and there would be a real national debate. Ultimately the kids would be smarter and hopefully teachers would be paid more - if not, at least they would be happier.

Oh. It’s the mentally-ill teacher hater. Please go private and leave the nice public school teachers alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My APS ES kid has phonics instruction every day. I'm not sure about in K because it was just a "language arts" block, but in 1st had both phonemic awareness and phonics, and in 2nd phonics. DC is a strong reader so admittedly haven't paid much attention, but now I'm curious if it's not really phonics, or if there are differences between schools?

It varies with the school. Most APS schools choose Calkin but there are a few that don’t.

Mi thought all of APS switched. We are at nottingham and they are using Orrin Gilligham this year thank goodness. Mynolder kids has one heck of a time leading to read, and one is still struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My APS ES kid has phonics instruction every day. I'm not sure about in K because it was just a "language arts" block, but in 1st had both phonemic awareness and phonics, and in 2nd phonics. DC is a strong reader so admittedly haven't paid much attention, but now I'm curious if it's not really phonics, or if there are differences between schools?

It varies with the school. Most APS schools choose Calkin but there are a few that don’t.

PP here. Interesting. I'm pretty sure our school uses Lucy Calkins for the writing, at least in 1st grade. But have no idea in terms of reading, only that they do phonics instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please read “The Knowledge Gap” by Natalie Wexler. Lucy Calkins is HORRIBLE. I can’t believe teachers go along with this.

Every teacher and school administrator should read this book. I doubt many of them have.

It’s basically an opinion piece. All of my kids learned to read by me via whole language. All were reading at a 3rd grade level upon entering K. Head sprout (if it’s still around) was also part of my mom curriculum. Re phonics - You are teaching kids to read laugh and write it as laf. Why would anyone want their child to learn phonics in K? I still remember the K teacher “correcting” my DCs spelling/phonics test. Laugh was marked wrong and corrected as Laf. School was Skool. My poor DC came home crying. I had to schedule a conference and explain that DC DRA was a 36 and to stop teaching DC phonics.

[Anonymous]

I keep asking - who makes the curriculum decisions? Is it at the principal or district level?

And now the Calkins is getting lots of negative attention from parents who are seeing the lack of instruction first hand, her organization is talking about “rebalancing”. They have been denying the science of reading for years. This is just a craven attempt to keep market share.