Highest Rated Comments


squishmaster306 karma

I was a teacher for six years. At the end of year five I thought, "I'm in this for the long haul." Halfway through year six, I thought, "I can't work for these morons any longer." How do you cope with administrators being the least competent educators in the building, yet getting twice the pay and all the power?

squishmaster118 karma

I applaud your attempt to help children read, but I find the reasoning disingenuous.

I went to early elementary school in LAUSD in the late 1980's (Wilbur Avenue Elementary in Tarzana) for K-1. I would be surprised to learn that they actually changed how they teach reading. I believe they simply haven't. We learned to sound out words, like "c-c-c-cat."

I am currently a secondary school teacher who has encountered the massive reduction in reading skills (most of my juniors last year read at a 5th-7th grade reading level. However, I believe this literacy epidemic is due to a number of factors like increased class size, high turnaround in elementary teaching, a focus on "engagement" instead of "rigor" in schools, and changes in parenting. I do not believe that "phonemic awareness" has actually fallen to the wayside in instructional practices, but that "hard" subjects that make kids "sad" piss parents off in the short term and lead to teachers focusing less on the essentials in favor of more "engaging" instructional practices (which often are far less rigorous and less dependent on reading skills).

squishmaster23 karma

The teacher may have thought you were referencing a real war.

squishmaster22 karma

Then maybe they need home schooling the same as bubble boys.

squishmaster9 karma

Are you in a charter school?