EDEL 1010: Blog 5.2 Another teacher interview

I visited with Mrs. P today about her teaching experience and how the various federal/state mandates in recent years have changed education at the elementary level. 1. We talked about NCLB (No Child Left Behind) which is federal guidelines that came out in about 2003. NCLB required states to develop standards for each grade, or adopt national standards for what should be taught in each grade/ the skills students "should" have before moving on to the next grade. NCLB also mandated more testing of students and graded schools (and teachers indirectly) based on the students' performance. Mrs. P stated, "I have always believed students should learn certain skills before they move on, and NCLB along with the Core Standards developed help all teachers 'be on the same page.' However, NCLB also requires one year's students to be compared to another year's students and these different groups can't be fairly compared. She felt NCLB was a "businessman's approach to education" and didn't address the needs of students who need special help OR the students that are gifted. 2. The new All Students Succeed Program is less business-oriented and is moving in the right direction. We do want all students to succeed! and that means different things for different students. 3. We talked about the changing focus in early elementary grades, especially kindergarten, to more academics, sight-reading, and use of technology in place of writing: Mrs. P feels like the most important thing she can give her students is self esteem: when they know they are loved, they WILL learn, and they will reach for the stars/their dreams. She feels some classrooms spend too much time on memorization and technology. She emphasizes "the right way to hold a pencil" and legible writing, because students need fine motor skills! Some come to her classroom unable to write any legible letters and also unable to tie their shoes--simply because their fine motor skills have not been exercised. Another big emphasis in her teaching is phonics. Kids who take time to learn to sound out words and learn their meanings are functionally FAR ahead of students who can "read" by sight but can't tell context. Mrs. P does feel like there is an important place for technology in the classroom, but "not all the time!". She uses technology(laptops mostly) to allow students to work at their own level in many skill areas including individual multi-subject projects.