Reply to Anyone observe math or reading in elementary this year?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Maybe it depends on the teacher.

I've observed my 3rd grader last year in math, and while they did work in groups, the teacher walked around and interacted with all the groups, and sometimes would pause to address the whole class about something.

It is a bit disappointing sometimes because my DC is very good at math, and DC told me that often times, the teacher would pair DC with a child who was weaker in math on purpose, and DC would end up explaining a lot to this other kid.  Now, this can also benefit DC as well - having to explain something to someone makes DC really think about that subject.  But at times, DC was bored.  DC in now in compacted math, and they still work in groups.

I agree that if you want your kids to have a lot of differentiation, that is not going to happen in a large public school.

I once read an article on BBC News about how UK educators wanted to observe how the Chinese math teachers taught their kids.  What they noticed was that in the UK, and here, the kids work in groups, while in China, it's the teacher dealing with the whole class, the way they used to teach math here, the way I grew up.  In the Chinese class, the teacher would ask a math question, and the children had to raise a card up with the right answer.  The teacher could see immediately which kid was having difficulty and could work with that kid earlier on; vs. in small groups, it takes the teacher longer to figure out who is having difficulty.  I could see this as a valid argument.
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I don't know when and why educators here decided to have small groups.[/quote][/b]

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Please do not assume that teachers have this kind of say in what goes on in their own classroom.  In most cases, they don't decide.[/b][/quote]

This.  I became very close with DD's first grade teacher last year, and this is SO true.  They don't have much control over how/what is taught.  Which can be a good thing, because it keeps things uniform.  But, it can also be a bad thing when teachers aren't allowed to use their creativity anymore.

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Teachers have no say about what goes on in our own classrooms. We are told what the day will look like. This year, the county's focus is small group instruction. Next year it may be something different. There is no time to figure out ways to make it work and by the time you've figured out a way to make it work the county is on to the next newest initiative.

Admin tells you what your day should look like and touts the county's latest initiative at preservice week. Then you'd better have it up and running by the 2nd week of school. Some people drink the koolaid. The others who know what works best for their students are told to fall in line if they dare to do something different than what they were told to do.

The people who make these decisions haven't been in a classroom in years, if ever. It's beyond frustrating and I'm getting to the point where I don't want to be a puppet anymore. 
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