Hi again, Charles,
More old messages for you...I know, I know, and you thought the whole
language/spelling issue threads were over.....   ;)
 CB>We have just one elementary school, but there are 1400 children in
  >it, grades K-5.
How many classes would you have of grade one children in such a large
school?
 We have two teachers certified in Reading Recovery
  >and each spends about half-a-day working in the program.  Both were
  >trained at a university, though I am not sure which one - I don't
  >believe we have training locally.
With a school as large as yours it doesn't sound like you have enough RR
teachers...however, maybe you have few children that need it?
The school that I have been working in all week, has a room on the
second floor where, in the afternoons and evenings, have RR teachers in
doing their training. It has a observation room inside where you can
observe a lesson, etc. through a one way mirror/window.
  >to add.  We've spent a lot of time discussing what whole language is
  >and what it isn't, but the truth seems to be that it just doesn't
  >work when applied to the general population.  Whether it is being
  >misinterpreted or mis-applied or whether it is a bad teaching
  >strategy, schools all across the U.S. and Great Britain are
  >abandoning the practice as reading scores plummet.
I would say that it is being mis applied and that most teachers do not
see Whole Language for what it really is. A Language program that
teaches not only all strands in context but the "whole" child. I think
if you watched a good Whole Language teacher in action you would
recognize many of the traditional strategies of teaching certain skills
and many new ones. They just are used a little differently. In my
opinion, a Whole Language teacher uses everything s/he can that will
help the students in her/his class learn.
                                        -Ruth
CB>If the program were working well, children would be reading better,
  >not worse.  How can we deny these facts?
CB>Chuck Beams
  >Fidonet - 1:2608/70
  >cbeams@future.dreamscape.com
  >___
  >* UniQWK #5290* Whew! Only 1 min left of this 40 min. downlo#$%NO CARRIER
CB>--- Maximus 2.01wb
CB>
 1.53 þ Artificial Intelligence: The other guy's opinion.
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