I didn't realize how difficult it is for teachers to get in everything that needs to be taught in one full day. There is so much that needs to be done and it seems like the day flys by so fast. Especially with recess, lunch and RTI time, there are only a couple of hours for everything else. I can see how frustrating this is for my teacher.
The past two weeks, the teachers had to test their student's reading accuracy in order to strategically place them in guided reading groups. Whenever my teacher had a free chance, she would pull a student to test. Because of this, the students had to complete busy work independently. This seemed crazy to me because there is no way to make sure that everyone is completing their work and behaving while she is testing. She was lucky to have me there to monitor the class and also test some of the students as well.
Additionally, I have yet to see formal science or social studies teaching. There are times that she will try and integrate information into literacy, but there is never a time for direct instruction in the area. Honestly, I can't even think of a time during the day that they would have time for a lesson in those two subjects. However, I wonder if this is an issue and will cause the students to be behind in the future. Does anyone else in a full general class see this too?
This doesn't directly apply to me since I am in a 6th grade social studies only classroom right now, but I saw this last year in my self-contained first grade classroom. My teacher's goal was to hit on (and I mean loosely) the science/social study topic twice a week. That seems like nothing! But when RTI was increased from 30 minutes to 1 hour a day during the middle of the school year, that was her only option if she wanted to keep progressing the kids in their reading and writing skills. I do think that especially for the lower grades the ELA and math blocks are far more important. However, it makes me sad that just because subjects aren't considered "core subjects" they are often completely ignored or at least neglected. And, it makes me worry about the students who aren't getting much exposure to science and social studies now who will be thrown into bigger blocks or entire classes in those subjects in later grades and middle school. I think the best solution could be working on integrating social studies as much as possible into the ELA block and science as much as possible into the math block.
ReplyDeleteGAH yes I agree with all of this! My FM has commented to other teachers how convenient it is to have me there so she can actually get stuff done while I'm teaching (like yesterday she was doing running records with a new student during my lesson). Not to mention, I feel like I spend just as much time preparing for lessons l as I do actually teaching them--I'm sure that won't be forever, but I think I've been a little naive about how much time I'm going to spend working outside of school hours. Eeekkk.
ReplyDeleteAs far as science and social studies, my teacher used to integrate them into reading as much as possible, but after the whole "Common Core is dead to me" fiasco, science and social studies have become pretty much the lowest of the low priorities for the 4th grade team here. They're not being tested on it, and TCAP scores are what they need to save the school. In the team meeting yesterday, someone mentioned something about a social studies-related field trip and whether they should still do it, and one of the other teachers said, "Well, honestly... I hate to say it, but social studies doesn't count, so..." :( Sad reality over here.
I am in the same school as Dana and we have the same problem. Our students never see Science or Social Studies. This week we finally got the science kit. It took forever to come but I was so excited when it came. We actually did science. We described what weather felt like, what it sounded like, what it looked like etc...... Why did we wait for a kit to do this? There was nothing in the kit that they used for their science instruction. I was so angry. They made this kit sound like it would answer all the students questions about weather than they didn't even use it. I asked my teacher why and she said it's because they didn't have enough time and since the days we did science we didn't get to Math she decided that Math was more important. This broke my hear because my student LOVED the science. They were reading and questioning and really working hard. They were motivated and entertained and excited about learning.
ReplyDeleteI understand. These teachers are slammed with so much to do in so little time. I tried to plan out my solo week and even with re-arranging our day I still felt I couldn't fit everything in. I am stressed about how it will all work. My teacher got rid of science and social studies but I just don't think that is the answer. I really wish we could find a way to give students every thing they need but also every thing they want. The test isn't everything. Motivation to learn is.
Here's a quick thought to add to the conversation. I did not have any significant science education until about 8th grade. (I mean we had science--but it was boring and mostly reading from the book and I think I forgot almost all of it). And yet I LOVE science, and I am good at it. So, I totally disapprove of neglecting science, but hopefully it will not be lethal. It can be made up for in later grades.
ReplyDeleteBUT life is more important than testing, and if we take that attitude now it will help our schools and citizens in the future. (And normally doing good at life results in doing good at testing--you do not need 6 hours a day to teach elementary reading and math, no matter how behind a student is).