Uh oh. My bad dream is coming true. One of my greatest concerns about teaching ancient history was born when I first saw the standards many months ago. Early humans, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hebrews, India, China, Greece and Rome... What? Are you serious? You could take one of those a month and still not get through anything of importance. Early on I knew I wanted to spend most of the time on Egypt, Greece and Rome. I've had a sinking feeling that I was running a little behind but I really thought I was doing OK until I looked at the pacing guide this morning. Yikes! I need to finish India and cover China in the next 4 weeks just to allow 6 weeks each for Greece and Rome. This is not going to be a pretty sight. It might be time to find some very informative DVDs.
This is slightly humorous knowing my education history. I received my credential at that crossing point between Back to Basics and Whole Language. This means we had to do all our lesson plans according to the 6 points of Madeline Hunter but you couldn't dare mention the word phonics. I quickly learned that the best way to "cover" a textbook was to sit on it. The text was only a resource. Back in those days, I created my own curriculum based almost completely on observational records. At the end of the day I evaluated the reading and writing that was accomplished and the next steps for tomorrow. It seemed so easy back then before the age of standards. I was also extremely lucky to work with someone who shared my great love of the workshop model. Well if Nancy could see me today she would not believe I am the same teacher who was the curriculum coordinator of a small Catholic school and would go head to head with the principal on a regular basis and even won a few battles from time to time. Now, the social studies textbook is one of my best friends. I wouldn't have had the first clue about how to teach Judaism without getting into trouble. So here I am stuck between India and China refusing to let any of it go. My kids deserve the best I have to offer. So somehow we will muddle through and hopefully all the pieces will fall into place in their brains. I will definitely need to make some changes the second time around.
1 comment:
How funny to find my name in this! Those were good days---watching kids, building on what they knew and nudging them forward. I think we should be proud of ourselves. I am. There's a whole bunch of young adults out there that we taught to read using that workshop model and guess what? They not only CAN read and write, they CHOOSE to do so! Even today! Good job, Tere! You rocked then, and I'm sure you're rocking now!
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