What Matters? Part 1: Reflection

Synchronicity? 

Background info: I write blog posts in my mind all the time. I'm a much better thinker-writer than a real, sit down and type on the keys writer. One of my recent "mind posts" has been about what really matters in education. Typical of these free-flowing thought-posts (they are QUITE brilliant by the way), the ideas follow a winding path with many tangents and dead-ends. 

Funny that as I was reading some blogs tonight, also a long and winding road what with all the hyperlinks to click, I stumbled upon David Warlick's recent posts "Should it Matter?" and "More on What Matters," reflections of his after Educon2.1. 

I also recently read Clay Burell's spot-on post on change.org, "Reading Despite Teaching or How the Hulk led me to Hamlet."  Reading is high on my list of what matters, and Clay has a way of sharing his stories that helps you see clearly the silliness of schooliness.                                                   

Both of these pieces intersected in many places with the thoughts I've been thinking. 

I  feel compelled to add a disclaimer here lest you imagine that I am comparing myself as a writer or thinker to the likes of Warlick or Burell. No, I'm most certainly not. 

But isn't that the beauty of asking what matters? Isn't what matters to me, an ordinary teacher, as important as what matters to those who have risen to the ranks of leaders in education? Isn't that the very essence of web2.0? 

I start with my thoughts about education, based largely on my own experience. I explore my thoughts as I attempt to write a coherent post. As I try to communicate, I find myself in a different place. I never know, when I start writing, where the path will lead. Others can read and respond, draw me out, question me, challenge me, help me along.... I can read the blogs of others, too. It's a different type of experience than reading a book. It's immediate, accessible. I can leave a comment!

These early-stage thoughts that I refer to as my mind-blog-post can be compared to a spring that is hidden underground. As the spring bubbles to the surface, it meets with greater bodies of water, at which point it becomes visible, yet changed as it merges with the river. 

That, to me, is the learning process that I find taking place through this process of writing, reading and interacting through blogs and other networks. 

Now I'm nowhere near where I thought I'd be when I started this post. What do I do? Do I leave it here and write part 2 later? Do I keep going, trying to get back to what I thought I wanted to say about what matters? 

I think I'll opt for Part 2. In the meantime, I want to ask you to think about what matters. What really, truly matters about learning, going to school, educating kids, even being human? There are, of course, no right or wrong answers- just the conversation.

 

Image: "Spring Water" from Atemzeit's photostream 

Can you spell W-H-Y? (Please write it 5 times and use it in a sentence.)

This post is a little bit about teaching spelling. It is really about the ludicriousness of the way some things are taught, without looking at the whole -I think this is what Clay Burell calls "schooliness." Spelling just provides an easy example.

Skipping over the cute example of why spell check doesn't work for every situation- you've probably already seen it- how is spelling taught in your corner of the world?
You know the little vignette, so often dragged out to illustrate how schools are bastions of a time gone by, where the person wakes up after 100-year nap and doesn't recognize anything until he steps into a school? I'm sure the napper in the story walked in on a "spelling lesson."

When I first started teaching, I taught spelling the way I had been taught spelling in school. I devised lists of words I thought my students should know how to spell, gave assignments based on the words and then a Friday spelling test. My students generally did pretty well on the tests, but their spelling in their written work never reflected the fact that they had supposedly learned how to spell the words. It didn't take me too long to come to the conclusion that memorizing a list of words did not equal learning.

So, two questions.
1. What is the best way to teach spelling?
2. How come I learned how to spell? Remember, this is how I was taught spelling...I'm a pretty good speller. Did this approach work for me? If so, why?

I'll answer #2 first. I think that I became a good speller because I was (and still am) an avid reader. I was the kid who always had a book in front of my face. My favorite outing was the library (my idea of heaven on earth) or the bookstore (my parents would drop me off at the bookstore and go shopping, coming back an hour or so later to pick me up). I think that looking at so many words spelled correctly built my visual memory for correct spelling. I am the type who writes the word to look at it to see if it is spelled correctly. Of course, this was only one gift that being a reader gave me.

As for #1: There is a program I like called "Words Their Way" that approaches spelling from a developmental standpoint. It uses the term "word study" rather than spelling or phonics. This appeals to me because I think it is appropriate for students to spend some time deconstructing words to find patterns. It uses various centers and activities and is differentiated, based on stages of spelling development. Of course, it takes a lot of work, on the part of the teacher, to implement a program like this in the classroom. It is much easier to follow a spelling book or use a workbook, have students memorize and give weekly tests.

When I first did away with spelling tests, I found that parents were understanding once I explained my reasoning and approach. It was colleagues that were stunned. "You don't give spelling tests?" It was said with disbelief, even anger, as if I was depriving my students.

Ok? So what...I guess I should get to "the point." Now that I'm a parent, I find myself battling against the tide as my child comes home with homework to memorize a list of words and use them in sentences or occasionally in a story. My daughter is only 7 and yet she already claims to "hate school" and "doesn't like reading." This is extremely painful for me to hear, as you can imagine. My daughter spends 7.5 hours a day in school and often comes home with 30 minutes or more of homework consisting of math worksheets and the aforementioned spelling. I am a strong believer that children need down-time, time for playing and relaxing, time to play sports, time to eat dinner as a family, time to go to sleep early, TIME TO READ FOR PLEASURE. I really believe that the best homework, especially for the early elementary grades, is to read for 30 minutes a night. That's it. I could cite a bunch of research, too, to back me up, but this is just my opinion piece...so take it for that.

Tweet Cloud Poetry Meme

As usual, I am a few days/weeks/months....years??? behind the wave, but I am joining the fun of the found word poetry with my tweetcloud. Can you tell that I am completely burnt out? There are so many important thoughts being articulated and discussed in blog-land, and I desperately want to be part of it. I really do. 

Clay Burell calls it fluff. Well, maybe for him it is...

Tried blogging interesting, useful thoughts. Come comment. Thanks!

Teachers sure talk.

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