Elementary school teachers throughout the district are being
presented with a problem. They have to give a grade in a subject they either aren’t or
are barely teaching and that’s social studies.
The district seems to have thrown in the towel with getting children a well rounded education and now it is teach to the test all the time as elementary school teachers are being told to
only teach social studies for four out of nine weeks and then when they do to make
sure it reinforces their reading lessons.
Then think about this, we are a district with a reading problem and in addition to above to solve the problem, we have gotten rid of most of our librarians, gone away from books and are working off of handouts. I have to say it seems like our strategy to fix the problem is going to make things worse not better.
First the district got rid of recess to squeeze in a few
more minutes of reading and now social studies is paying the price too.
I think that social studies is very necessary in elementary school! For example, take fourth grade. This is where students are supposed to learn Florida history. I believe that students learning about their state's heritage and culture should not be considered superfluous or deemed a luxury. Our state's history is something that is not offered except as an elective in high school. And that is just one grade level. We need to treat all core subjects with respect in elementary school. Period.
ReplyDeleteThe district needs to trust the teachers to know the best about education. I don't think people who have never been in the classroom or haven't been there for years are capable of knowing the best for education.
ReplyDeleteOh Mr. Guerrieri...it is much worse in the elementary that you could ever imagine...the micromanagement from the down town bullies is overwhelming right now. We have people coming in to observe and look for artifacts...and not one of them has ever implemented any of it......
ReplyDeleteAnd right there is the biggest problem I see in education today. These "experts" seem to think that charts, artifacts, and data notebooks provide evidence of effective teaching taking place. I would argue that those things only take away time I can spend getting to know my students as individuals, not data sets. It is time someone gets up the nerve to tell these "experts" that they need to get out of our way and let us do what we intuitively know works best for our students. I have learned a lot more about my kids by reading their responses to questions than by looking at the "data" spit out by some computer program.
DeleteTHANK YOU FOR ACKNOWLEDGING THE FACT THAT OUR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS ARE NOT GETTING RECESS EVERY DAY!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs a parent and educator, this horrifies me! These are, first and foremost, children! It's absurd!
Yes, me too. At open house my first grader's schedule was posted on the board - there was no recess time built into the schedule. I had a little time to talk to his teacher one on one and she said she tries to get them outside more than the minimum time that the school allows but they have to get all their lessons in first. Most days there is no time to go outside and play. Years ago, when I was in first grade we went outside to play and we still learned. What has happened to public education? Play is important!
DeleteSocial Studies should be taught in our schools. Our children should learn about our Florida History, the heritage of our state and its culture. Mr. Meeks, excellent public school teacher, mentioned these same core subjects. The school system is taking so much away from the learning concept of education. People who know very little to nothing about educating our children are making these 'stuck on stupid' decisions about what our children need to learn. Hog wash! Why don't these idiots ask the teachers?
ReplyDeleteWe are all at a loss! The new Duval Reads curriculum is horrific, and now we are told that the mid-unit and end-of-unit assessments are not aligned to the FSA. In 4th grade we have four Social Studies Lessons and they are at the end of the 9-weeks. We have Social Studies standards to teach, and I can't quite figure out why the district feels they can overlook that fact. In addition, there is a Florida Statute that states our elementary children are to have 30 minutes of continual exercise per day. Recess is mandated by the state!
ReplyDelete