Bang for Your Buck
When we got this assignment I started to look through my old school papers and found the book below. As I looked at it and thought about it I realized how many curricular things were taken care of through this book. We learned science (about the fish), numbers (1-10), colors (white, gray, green, purple, red, black, blue, yellow, brown and pink), writing/ handwriting (the type of fish), drawing, and reading (being able to know what to draw). There are six curricular aspects to this one, seemingly simple assignment.
Having so many aspects of education wrapped up into one assignment has so many benefits, the most important being the end product is something meaningful to me as a student. I was not asked to memorize and recite different types of fish that live under the sea. I was not asked to write my numbers one through ten for the simple fact of writing them. I was not asked to recognize colors by sight. I was not asked to write things that meant little to me. I was not asked to draw for the sake of drawing. I was not asked to read to measure if I had the ability or not. I was asked to do something much more difficult that required the coordination of skills.
These are the types of assignments that mean something to students. It isn't meaningless, it isn't just for practice of skills. There is a finished product that could, more or less, be "published" and go out into the world. These are the types of assignments students need, not pages out of workbooks.
Having so many aspects of education wrapped up into one assignment has so many benefits, the most important being the end product is something meaningful to me as a student. I was not asked to memorize and recite different types of fish that live under the sea. I was not asked to write my numbers one through ten for the simple fact of writing them. I was not asked to recognize colors by sight. I was not asked to write things that meant little to me. I was not asked to draw for the sake of drawing. I was not asked to read to measure if I had the ability or not. I was asked to do something much more difficult that required the coordination of skills.
These are the types of assignments that mean something to students. It isn't meaningless, it isn't just for practice of skills. There is a finished product that could, more or less, be "published" and go out into the world. These are the types of assignments students need, not pages out of workbooks.
Teacher Makes the Difference
In first grade I was assigned to a self-contained classroom. This class was taught by the former art teacher who had been placed into a regular classroom. She taught all subjects by herself and our class was of mixed ability levels. There were three other first grades that shared the teachers so groups could be broken up into ability levels. These teachers were also primarily elementary classroom teachers.
In my class we always had our English reading/ writing lessons in the morning and math, science and social studies after lunch. My teacher had a policy that if your morning work was not finished you would eat lunch and spend recess time in the classroom to finish your work, it was not to be sent home. I was a good student, but worked at a slower pace to make sure I did everything correctly. This was not the best combination for me, I spent almost every day in the classroom during the first week of school. I was not doing poorly on my work but was being punished for the way I worked. I also believe my teacher thought I was a dumb kid because I didn't move as fast as some of the other students. I began working as fast as I could and my work was suffering so I could get recess time with my friends.
A few weeks into school my parents had a meeting with the principal and I was moved to the classrooms where groups were broken into abilities and were taught by the different teachers. Within the first month of being there I was placed in the top math group and worked my way up to the top reading/ writing group. I was not the dumb, slow student as my other teacher had painted the picture. I was never forced to stay inside during recess to finish work, it became homework or free time work to finish when I was done with other assignments.
As much of a problem I have with "tracking" students I believe the move to the other classroom was for the better. I believe the quality of the teacher was more important than the group in which I received the instruction. If I had stayed in the other classroom I am sure my education would have turned out differently. I am sure I would have learned that it didn't matter how well the work was done as long as it was done quickly. Instead, I learned it was important to do my work well. I believe it is important for teachers to recognize that not every student works the same way, especially when reading and writing and do not need to be punished for working at a slower pace. It is important for all students to be treated as individuals and for the teacher to foster that individuality.
In my class we always had our English reading/ writing lessons in the morning and math, science and social studies after lunch. My teacher had a policy that if your morning work was not finished you would eat lunch and spend recess time in the classroom to finish your work, it was not to be sent home. I was a good student, but worked at a slower pace to make sure I did everything correctly. This was not the best combination for me, I spent almost every day in the classroom during the first week of school. I was not doing poorly on my work but was being punished for the way I worked. I also believe my teacher thought I was a dumb kid because I didn't move as fast as some of the other students. I began working as fast as I could and my work was suffering so I could get recess time with my friends.
A few weeks into school my parents had a meeting with the principal and I was moved to the classrooms where groups were broken into abilities and were taught by the different teachers. Within the first month of being there I was placed in the top math group and worked my way up to the top reading/ writing group. I was not the dumb, slow student as my other teacher had painted the picture. I was never forced to stay inside during recess to finish work, it became homework or free time work to finish when I was done with other assignments.
As much of a problem I have with "tracking" students I believe the move to the other classroom was for the better. I believe the quality of the teacher was more important than the group in which I received the instruction. If I had stayed in the other classroom I am sure my education would have turned out differently. I am sure I would have learned that it didn't matter how well the work was done as long as it was done quickly. Instead, I learned it was important to do my work well. I believe it is important for teachers to recognize that not every student works the same way, especially when reading and writing and do not need to be punished for working at a slower pace. It is important for all students to be treated as individuals and for the teacher to foster that individuality.
Real Letters
My 4th grade teacher was an interesting man to say the very least. We got "gold" (a Worther's candy) when we answered questions correctly. We learned about this great overthrow of the Cuban government (pretty sure he was glorifying Fidel Castro). He praised certain students and their academic achievements and belittled the achievements of others. For the faults he had, one assignment stuck out to me, even today.
Each class in my school had to do a project to show off at our school open house. My teacher always had his classes write to Michigan based companies asking for information that we could do presentations on and/or display for our parents. I had to write to two companies- Birdseye and Pepsi. I was really excited when I was assigned to write to Pepsi because my teacher had told us they usually sent samples of their beverages for the class to show off.
We wrote a letter together on the chalkboard. As a class we decided what we wanted to say and how to word our letters to these companies. I copied down the letter for Birdseye first and it matched the letter on the board exactly. When it came time to copy down the letter for my Pepsi letter, I decided that I wanted to change the letter a little bit because I wanted it to be really special.
Every day students got letters and packages from the companies that we wrote to. I kept waiting and waiting for my package from Pepsi. One day I got a big package and I was really excited. I was sure it was my package from Pepsi. It was from Birdseye. I opened it and felt SO LAME! I got wrappers from frozen vegetables. I hid the box in the classroom behind the coats so I wouldn't have to present my lame vegetable bags. I wanted to help the kid that got CDs, cassettes and posters from Harmony House.
I never did get a package from Pepsi. I was crushed. From everything my teacher had told us, Pepsi ALWAYS sent stuff. I felt like a failure. I felt like I let the class down because I changed the letter. I was really discouraged as a writer because I did not get the "reward" I was looking for.
I really think the excitement and emphasis that my teacher put on getting something back from made not getting something from Pepsi a BIG let down for me. I really think the assignment was a useful and exciting one for the class. I also think that the modeling and collaborative effort was helpful. I did feel like a failure in this project though. I took initiative to make the letter my own and I felt like I got slapped in the face. I lost my love of writing and creativity for a while, it was hard to come back from.
Each class in my school had to do a project to show off at our school open house. My teacher always had his classes write to Michigan based companies asking for information that we could do presentations on and/or display for our parents. I had to write to two companies- Birdseye and Pepsi. I was really excited when I was assigned to write to Pepsi because my teacher had told us they usually sent samples of their beverages for the class to show off.
We wrote a letter together on the chalkboard. As a class we decided what we wanted to say and how to word our letters to these companies. I copied down the letter for Birdseye first and it matched the letter on the board exactly. When it came time to copy down the letter for my Pepsi letter, I decided that I wanted to change the letter a little bit because I wanted it to be really special.
Every day students got letters and packages from the companies that we wrote to. I kept waiting and waiting for my package from Pepsi. One day I got a big package and I was really excited. I was sure it was my package from Pepsi. It was from Birdseye. I opened it and felt SO LAME! I got wrappers from frozen vegetables. I hid the box in the classroom behind the coats so I wouldn't have to present my lame vegetable bags. I wanted to help the kid that got CDs, cassettes and posters from Harmony House.
I never did get a package from Pepsi. I was crushed. From everything my teacher had told us, Pepsi ALWAYS sent stuff. I felt like a failure. I felt like I let the class down because I changed the letter. I was really discouraged as a writer because I did not get the "reward" I was looking for.
I really think the excitement and emphasis that my teacher put on getting something back from made not getting something from Pepsi a BIG let down for me. I really think the assignment was a useful and exciting one for the class. I also think that the modeling and collaborative effort was helpful. I did feel like a failure in this project though. I took initiative to make the letter my own and I felt like I got slapped in the face. I lost my love of writing and creativity for a while, it was hard to come back from.