Literacy is a vague term that is often misapplied by politicians and academic pundits, without forgetting students who falsely believe that the ability to decode letters on a written page is the equivalent skill. We teachers often criticize the new generation’s reluctance to read “good” books; or any book for that matter, for I have visited quite a few homes completely bereft of written text, save for the occasional newspaper. I much prefer the term, for the last example, of functional illiterate people; that is, humans who have learned how to speak, read and write (in that order), but who simply “forget” their lessons and stop polishing their literate skills.
Tag Archives: learning skills
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The best in education and society
- Democratic Education May 18, 2013Rousseau wrote in his book Emile that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so (Wikipedia, Philosophy of Education) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the famous philosopher born in Geneva, Switzerland (as […]jcsprenger
- My Future, Which One? May 14, 2013The next Einstein may well be an illegal immigrant already living amongst us I was just discussing with a fellow teacher our most important role in helping teens become independent as adults; I told him that I had met an ex-student, a special education one, working in a supermarket packing goods for customers. It was […]jcsprenger
- My Top Five Websites On Self-Improvement May 12, 2013Top Five Websites “We are all close neighbors in today’s shrinking world” http://mecwrites25.wordpress.com/ A good friend who presents delightful insights and photos from her travels http://dougsboomerrants.wordpress.com/ He has helped me reflect on several aspects of education through his very accurate comments http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org/ We can al […]jcsprenger
- Courage Under Fire May 9, 2013“If you are afraid of the heat, don’t go to the kitchen“ It takes guts to become a teacher, not just knowledge and how to communicate effectively. Few people realize that facing 25 or more kids or teens is indeed a terrifying experience. I have seen novel teachers use the revolving door, that is, they […]jcsprenger
- Ruining a Kid’s Life? May 6, 2013“Everybody is entitled to make a stupid mistake from time to time” Schools overall are overreacting to innocent pranks and/or innocuous objects brought to the classroom; the kid who had a ‘pistol’ made of cardboard was expelled: he was only 9 years old. The zero-tolerance policies are hurting students beyond reason, as happened to […]jcsprenger
- I Was Nominated For The Liebster Award May 5, 2013My Duties Are: 1. Thank the Liebster Blog presenter who nominated you and link back to their blog. http://middleagedcoed.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/i-won-the-liebster-award/ My sincere thanks to Sharon, the middleagedcoed in question, for nominating my humble effort for the Liebster (from the German LOVER) award. 2. Post 11 facts about yourself, answer the […]jcsprenger
- The Paper Trail May 2, 2013For the students, by the students, to the students Only two concepts should motivate teachers to act: 1) It benefits the student 2) It causes no harm to the student; everything else is secondary, especially the immense accumulation of paperwork. One teacher who trained to become a principal confessed in a moment of frankness that […]jcsprenger
- I’m Rich, I Quit April 28, 2013Title: I’m Rich, I Quit “Being a teacher is a vocation, not a job” (The author) As an informal experiment, I asked 10 teachers in my school to answer the following question: “If you won the lottery biggest prize, what would you do?” Only 2 instructors answered that they would continue to teach for at […]jcsprenger
- Let’s Hire Robots Instead of Human Teachers April 20, 2013“A superior teacher is born, not made” (The author) 1. “The push for high test scores undermines the very essence of teachers’ creativity and their ability to be responsive to the particular needs of their students, varying as they do from student to student, year to year, and classroom to classroom,” Milner writes. “Their ability […]jcsprenger
- Tailor Made Curriculum April 11, 2013We buy shoes that fit the individual, why not offer a curriculum the same way A recent comment by one of my readers made me think and reflect on a ‘O so common’ criticism that seems to repeat itself in each generation, namely decrying the terrible state of our public education system and, as a […]jcsprenger
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