Comments on: Principle-based Practice http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/ (bôr'dər-lănd') n. Located on or near a frontier. An indeterminate area or condition. Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:08:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Brian http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32881 Brian Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:53:26 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32881 Get real. That's a little advanced for a sixth grader. Well... Maybe not a home schooled sixth grader. The only thing thought provoking about that piece is that it causes one to wonder why teachers are more concerned with teaching morals when their students are barely literate, and trailing most of the world in math. Don't even tell me I'm wrong. I interact with kids all the time. The fact that teachers even ponder this crap in a serious manner is an indication of where the system is broken. Get real. That’s a little advanced for a sixth grader.

Well… Maybe not a home schooled sixth grader.

The only thing thought provoking about that piece is that it causes one to wonder why teachers are more concerned with teaching morals when their students are barely literate, and trailing most of the world in math.

Don’t even tell me I’m wrong. I interact with kids all the time. The fact that teachers even ponder this crap in a serious manner is an indication of where the system is broken.

]]> By: Sarah Puglisi http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32876 Sarah Puglisi Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:17:34 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32876 I never made it to teach in middle school but if a 6th grader had handed me those three sentences I'd fall down and thank the universe for small miracles. I found the piece thought provoking... I never made it to teach in middle school but if a 6th grader had handed me those three sentences I’d fall down and thank the universe for small miracles.

I found the piece thought provoking…

]]> By: Brian http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32840 Brian Thu, 26 Apr 2007 07:09:30 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32840 Read it quick before it gets deleted: Concerning the Elizabeth Campbell quote: 3 sentences. 100 words. 100 words of babble. Had a middle school student written this nonsense it would have been handed back with a note to shorten the sentences to be more succinct. How can you hold this crap up as thought provoking? Read it quick before it gets deleted:

Concerning the Elizabeth Campbell quote:

3 sentences. 100 words.

100 words of babble.

Had a middle school student written this nonsense it would have been handed back with a note to shorten the sentences to be more succinct.

How can you hold this crap up as thought provoking?

]]> By: Wesley Fryer http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32763 Wesley Fryer Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:16:52 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32763 Elizabeth Campbell has some excellent ideas and insights to share about educational ethics, that is for sure. We used her textbook and videoconferenced with her a couple of years ago for a graduate class I took on educational ethics at Texas Tech, taught by Dr. Doug Simpson. GREAT class, one of the best I've ever taken. I am so glad that this Reading First stuff is coming into light. I've heard about much of this from teachers and administrators involved in some of these grants in Texas previously, and from some who were closely tied to some of the companies that wrote the grants and got the dollars. Dishonest work that certainly didn't have the best interest of kids in mind, or actual research about what makes a difference to improve literacy in classrooms. Sadly, as a result of the Voyager reading program that is mentioned in the Washington Post article you linked to, most of the reading/writing workshop and other effective literacy work being done in Lubbock ISD (where I just moved from) has stopped. Some of the faculty at Texas Tech in the College of Education had to stop the work and research they were doing in Lubbock ISD classrooms, because the teachers were no longer permitted by the district to do any type of reading instruction other than the scripted training required by the Voyager program. I could go on, but I'll stop... Thanks for posting on this. I hope all the deeds that were done in the dark with these Reading First grants will come to light and those who perpetuated and supported them (or hid them) will be held accountable. That is some educational accountability I'd really like to see, and the U.S. public deserves to see. Elizabeth Campbell has some excellent ideas and insights to share about educational ethics, that is for sure. We used her textbook and videoconferenced with her a couple of years ago for a graduate class I took on educational ethics at Texas Tech, taught by Dr. Doug Simpson. GREAT class, one of the best I’ve ever taken. I am so glad that this Reading First stuff is coming into light. I’ve heard about much of this from teachers and administrators involved in some of these grants in Texas previously, and from some who were closely tied to some of the companies that wrote the grants and got the dollars. Dishonest work that certainly didn’t have the best interest of kids in mind, or actual research about what makes a difference to improve literacy in classrooms.

Sadly, as a result of the Voyager reading program that is mentioned in the Washington Post article you linked to, most of the reading/writing workshop and other effective literacy work being done in Lubbock ISD (where I just moved from) has stopped. Some of the faculty at Texas Tech in the College of Education had to stop the work and research they were doing in Lubbock ISD classrooms, because the teachers were no longer permitted by the district to do any type of reading instruction other than the scripted training required by the Voyager program. I could go on, but I’ll stop… Thanks for posting on this. I hope all the deeds that were done in the dark with these Reading First grants will come to light and those who perpetuated and supported them (or hid them) will be held accountable. That is some educational accountability I’d really like to see, and the U.S. public deserves to see.

]]> By: Artichoke http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32732 Artichoke Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:06:37 +0000 http://borderland.northernattitude.org/2007/04/24/principle-based-practice/#comment-32732 And the link to Downes seems to have fallen off - try http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2007/04/new-green.html And the link to Downes seems to have fallen off - try http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2007/04/new-green.html

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