10.01.2007
What Kindergarteners Need To Know
I thought the article was interesting. I understand that teachers need to have guidelines but really do they need to have a 90 page guide? After all of the training teachers receive and experiences that they have they still need to have this manual that tells them what they probably already know. I think that having some sort of guide with all of the expectations that kindergartners need to know and be able to do is a good idea but I don't think that it needs to be 90 pages. I think all references are great and are there to help and support teachers and keep them more organized, but the one discussed in the article is a little extreme.
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4 comments:
I agree with your opinion on the length of the guide given to teachers about the new standards. I think that they should have been given a smaller guide with the areas to cover with examples on different ideas on how to cover each topic. By having this guide they will be able to know exactly what they need to cover and will allow them to plan accordingly based on the new criteria. I think that teachers will have an easier time covering everything that each kindergartener needs to know because they now know what is expected out of them.
Kacie,
Your post was really interesting. I have really only been looking at how these standards affect the students, I did not really consider how it affects the teacher. I can see how frustrating it is to have more paperwork and people to answer too, but I think it can be helpful. These standards can make it easier to organize the lessons for the year and the units of study a teacher will go over. As much as we don't like it, we will have to deal with changing standards and policies for the rest of out careers. This was a really great post!
I agree with you that the standards do seem a little extreme, but I think the fact that they are so specific may help teachers. I also feel that the guide could come in handy if it is used just as a guide. I do not think teachers should use the guide as the only way to teach. Teachers can still implement creative ways to teach these standards and I think originality and creativity are important in a kindergarten class.
Kacie,
I agree completely with what you are saying. I think it is a great idea and it is a really good support tool for teachers, but at the same time it is a little extreme. I think that having such strict guidelines and benchmarks for teachers limit them to what they can teach, what they can, and it limits their creativity. I feel that there is not much of an open mind to anything anymore, and everything always has to be so specific and specified and if it is not, then it is not right. I think it is a good idea to have certain things to make sure things are taught, but then I think there should be a list of mainly suggestions of things to do and for it not to be a list that you HAVE to abide by. I know this is not the same, but I kind of think of it as writing a paper. We have to do this and this and it has to be in this font and this size and this specific structure. What ever happen to being creative and doing things your way, wouldn’t you think it would me more interesting for teachers because each paper would be completely different? I understand the size of the font and things like that because then you would have students make the font big to act like the paper is big, but as teachers shouldn’t we acknowledge that, and just not give them a limit to the paper etc. I do not know if you understand this, and I am just kind of saying it how it is on my mind but that is what I also thought about when reading this article. Some things are just way too structured anymore. I love the idea of having suggestions on ways to teach things and a list of things as a guideline but I do not think that a 90 page guideline should be memorized and reached by every teacher.
-Kaitlyn Imbus
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