The quote at the end of the article from veteran teacher Veronica Rieck sums it all up for me. I agree that having standards is a good way to keep teachers in check. I believe that teachers need to be addressing important curriculum, but if it was not laid out in standards, then teachers would not teach it and those students would miss out.
I do not agree with how high the standards are for the kindergarteners. If these standards were in place when I was a kindergartener, I probably would have been held back. I came out of kindergarten not knowing how to read and sometimes I couldn't even tell my numbers from my letters. In today's society, it would not be ok for a kindergartener to be that far behind. The amazing part is that I became and excellent reader and was in all the advanced courses through middle school and high school. I was just a little slower than others at first, but once I was ready I picked up on the idea. I turned out just fine and I was not held back and did not know everything that the students of today are expected to know.
I feel that it is unfair to expect such high expectations from kids that are so young. If they are developmentally ready, then yes give them a challenge, but do not punish them if they are not quite there yet. Overall, I feel that the standards are a good idea to give some guidance to teachers in what direction to point the students, but I do not believe in forcing them to stick strictly to the standards. Teachers need some room for flexibility!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Actually I never looked at the article from the students persepective. I think that that's a great way to look at it. I agree with you on the high standards that are set for the kindergarteners and how much pressure they are under at such a young age. Also I agree with what you said about how they shouldn't be punished for being behind because it may not be the students fault. I thought you post was great and shined a different light on the article!
Post a Comment