Well. I tried writing something different. Turns out that I am really not interested in my own aging process. Suffice to say that it goes on. So don't look for anymore on Still Spry blog. (How do I get it off Facebook?)
What I am always interested in is the usual stuff: politics, education and life in our nature preserve.
On Common Core! This school year I am doing a daily read aloud to a third grade. This is going very well and the kids love it. At first I was given a ten minute slot and it has now segued into about twenty-five minutes. I have always beaten the drum about how research shows that if you read to kids, especially from when they are very small, it pays more dividends educationally than anything else you can do.
So, I made the promise that I would go in every day and read to kids. We have already finished a Roald Dahl book and we are now about halfway through "The Trumpet of the Swan". This isn't easy for a lot of the kids in the group. Some of them are unfamiliar with English and struggle every day. Many of them have no background knowledge, no velcro on which to hang new ideas in their minds. They do not know what Canada is, or where it might be located on the globe. There is no map in the classroom, just one pre-school type globe. They have never been to a zoo or listened to an orchestra.
These kids in this particular classroom have a great teacher who keeps order and pays attention.
When I arrive, the kids are ready, eager and attentive. A few of them are clearly following the story and love my infrequent asides about bird imprinting or how cold it is in Canada. Most of the others are willing to try but they can't always follow.
But this is a process, and before we know it, those kids will all be on board with the read aloud time.
Today, the regular teacher was not there. There was a substitute. (Not going there.) While I was waiting for the few minutes until my group arrived, I observed the training seminar that was going on about Common Core teaching of the standards. My heart sank as I listened to a woman telling the teachers in attendance that they should consider the two cultures, European and Native American and how each group responded. Then, have the kids read the texts in the textbook (courtesy of major publishing houses) and tell in two paragraphs, with evidence! what happened.
I am thinking of the kids I know at this school. They have no idea where Europe is, let alone how Europeans got here, and they see no reason to care about this.
I am thinking that if you give kids mostly experiential education, they will take away a lot of cultural knowledge. I remember how compelling it was for my students to excavate and find Indian artifacts, and then try their hand at chipping stone axes with flint. I remember how compelling it was for my students to try and live like pioneers for a few days.
I think that a one size-fits-all plan such as the Common Core is a misguided notion for our very non-heterogenous society. This is just another panacea and in a few years of more crippling testing, another scheme will appear as the white knight on the horizon.
I take such comfort in growing our school garden. A kid catches and holds in her hands a tiny lizard and we all look at it. What kind of animal is this? It lays eggs- here's one just under the mulch- but clearly it is not a bird. So you take the moment to briefly explain and some kids will retain the science of it and pass it on. We plant bean seeds and come back to see how they have sprouted, marveling at the twin first leaves of a cotyledon. Later, we'll pick our vegetables, cook them, and relish the fresh deliciousness of our hard work. Probably, there is a Common Core textbook with desiccated text about seeds. (test coming up!)
The last hummingbird left right on schedule on September 4th. I miss those busy little creatures who have entertained us all summer. The goldenrod and the blue curls are in abundance, and in the markets there are beautiful chrysanthemums to replace the dwindling pentas and vincas of summer. The moon is full, and if I watched long enough, I would see the fall migration, flying free, drafting each other on their way south.
If only it would cool off!
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