October 15, 2010

Provisions for the Journey

The Reading Lab Provided:

Our reading Specialist, Dorothy Kennedy had the advantage. Her program was funded by the Distrct via the Feds. She had all the equipment that she needed: listening posts, visual and auditory reading machines. computers, software, copy machine. video monitor and camera, Television/VHS player, Tape recorders/ players/ phonograph, books of worksheets, shared with the classroom teacher, and her no nonsense approach to learning, the latter, at no cost.
She was an organizer. A no nonsense person. She set up schedules for the thirty students that she would work with on a daily basis.She assigned them their time.
Everyday the students came to her in groups of six. They knew what to do, where to sit, what machine to work with. She spent time with the students personally in a groups of three. She meant business, they meant business.

The Classroom Provided:

This classroom teacher managed to free up some district funding for an electric pencil sharpener. Can you beleive that? A special one that could accommodate various size pencils. (The classroom had the old grind away type. Totally a waste of wood and time. It was removed.) Some of the children had poorly developed small muscle control which necessitated the large diameter pencil. Further funds were allowed for individual chalk boards (out of the federally funded Reading Specialist budget. More about this later. And chalk erasers, one for every student. A three hole paper punch. Three large posters of the printed alphabet posted on the walls above the chalkboards.

The Teacher Provided:

Books of work sheets scrounged from every teacher Kintergarden, first grade. Large alphabet cards. Every student had to began at the absolute beginning. The recognition of the letters in the alphabet, upper and lower case in and out of order;  Once a skill was mastered, then and only then would the next level begin. Oral repitition daily for all to mastery for all.

Thanks to the entire staff, primary reading books were provided from discards from years back. Back meant, to Dick and Jane. We cared not that they were politically correct, the words were the same. Content was irrevelant. Who cared. Content barely matched the life they were living. It was the words, the recognition that counted. This is a blasphemy for some but please not to worry.

Large flash cards with the Dolch sight words, beginning with the Pre-primer list of 39. The next level Primer with 52, First 40, Second 46. If we were on track 3rd grade of 41.

Large flash cards of the basic math combinations. One poor skill tumbled into another.

Students Provided:

Each student had to have a three ring notebook, dividers, a package of wide lined and no lined paper, six #2 pencils with eracers, one large pink eraser, box of 16 color crayons, one pair of primary scissors, a school library card.

Parents Provided:

Support! One hour an afternoon or evening reviewing all work that was sent home, signing papers to be returned daily.

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