Post by diavelasquez on Oct 1, 2015 15:20:49 GMT
In the first chapter Gallagher debates that there are too many mandated standardized tests. Educators are cramming material in one or two semesters for a State test, and kids merely memorize facts and information. There is no critical thinking. This can be exhausting and effect students as well as teachers. Both lose inspiration and ambition. Think about it... memorizing facts for a test as opposed to learning how to understand them. Just reflecting on it gives me anxiety. We as educators should choose how to evaluate our students and work from there.
Something else that Gallagher considers in the second chapter of the book that has me wondering. He argues "Kids without prior knowledge are at a disadvantage regardless of reading ability". So, if kids do not have prior knowledge/exposure to books... you can forget about them building on this knowledge at school. I am not sure how I feel about this. I have had my two daughters in the Chicago Public School system and when I think about my kids school, this is True. Many teachers (at CPS) are not motivated or prepared to build knowledge. Here is an example, I remember when my daughter was in kindergarten and I asked the teacher if she would send books home to read. She sent one book home a week. When I asked her for more she then sent two a week. It was pulling teeth to have a kindergarten teacher send books home to read. When I asked my daughter why she is not brining more books home from school she said "the teacher said no". Maybe the teacher did not have enough books in her classroom? Maybe the teacher felt it was the parents responsibility to provide books? This is a reality in certain schools, and it does not have to be.