Group,
As time passes, proponents of whole language and “fuzzy” math continue to muster their forces after the defeats of the mid-Nineties. Most colleges of education teach their nonsense (unabated) and the liberal sciences of this country are inundated by the effects of their anti-Western, anti-Reason thinking. LD children and children of poverty are especially vulnerable to their educational philosophies. When the communicate with the public, their writing sounds reasonable; unfortunately, it is very Orwellian in nature - meaning they do not clearly express their intent.
They are recognized because of their refusal to engage in the meaningful teaching of phonics, their disdain of any form of memorization, their refusal to teach the common algorithms of caluculation, and their belief that the child must be guided relatively unfettered in their search for understanding.
Ken Campbell
Re: Post Modernist Nonsense
I think it is best to take meaningful text, and teach the students to find and write the “sound spelling” for any word they are unable to pronounce. Every word should be decodable, and thus should make sense. Then the students will learn to read.
Anita learntoreadnow www.learntoreadnow.blogspot.com
Re: Post Modernist Nonsense
Howdy Susan and Ken!!
I’m out at Parkland College doing a whole lot of tutoring (Full Time “academic development specialist”).A co-worker shows me her daughter’s 3rd grade “Everyday Math” work and vents about how it is making her daughter feel stupid as it breaks just about every pedagogical rule in the book. (E.G.: lattice multiplication, which the worksheet says you’re doing because “it’s historically interesting” and because “some people find it easier.” Of course, you all **have** to do it. Miss Jones is sorry, but your historical interest is interfering with my learning. Let’s toss two *very* different approaches to a task at you at the same time, hope you can sort it out, and say “it’s historically interesting.” Oy.)
Off soap box :)
I’ve decided to try to spend at least half as much time on my “resource room” blog as I do on my bicycling blog, duly noting observations from tutoring and hopefully developing some share-worthy strategies. I just did a powerpoint for some of the faculty that I’m figuring out how to make digestible for the web… off to fiddle with it ‘cause there are no students here right now… I would *love* feedback if you get the chance … http://resourceroom1.blogspot.com/ is where it is and gosh! I posted a “change ppt into accessible html” link not so long ago! If I only had a brain :)
Re: Post Modernist Nonsense
Just signed on to the blog. Will read and keep up. A couple of weeks ago, Everyday Math proponents tried to disrupt my talk in NYC and the NYIDA conference. To put it bluntly, they were rude. Rather than involve themself in discourse, they decicded disruption was the thing to do. Hotel security had to be called. This was stressful. On the Great Leaps Website, I now have a group of about 300 free timings I have taken from adolescent literature. You should check it out and give me input. Best to all, Ken
Re: Post Modernist Nonsense
Bizarre… but I wish I were surprised :( Why the cult approach… now there’s a few psychology PhD theses that would somehow not quite make it to dissertation time: how cultism has become prevalent in our university systems.
Re: Post Modernist Nonsense
It seems the thoroughly discredited “Marxist” group had to go somewhere to spout their hateful venom. Who better to destroy than the children??? PS I am not a right wing fanatic, I’m a Democrat. I just care about kids and cannot stand to see anyone who cannot afford a tutor become educationally marginal.
Hi Ken, It’s Susan Long here. How’s the fluency world?
Yes, I know that teacher preparation in whole language is alive and well—and some kids do actually benefit from it. Sadly, some kids do not and teachers don’t know anything else. I think the trick is going to be teaching teachers how to know when a kid needs intensive phonics and when they don’t. And preparing them for both.
Hope you are doing okay. I’m leaving public school and starting my own tutoring business full-time. I may have to work part-time somewhere while I get it started, but I won’t mind.