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Of course phonics are critical, but it doesn't exclude other methods that are all designed to reinforce the same basic goal of literacy. If you're doing a space unit, there's no reason the children can't learn the planet names along with basic alphabet recognition, for example.
Now, if you're going to teach in the public system, be aware of the approach that youre not going to teach according to what your boss demands, whether you agree or not. If you knew that she expected it, it was wrong to disregard based on your beliefs. She should have been on you months ago if that was her expectation. Hierarchies in public schools are even more rigid and observations will be very critical with the goal of improvement.
I've read a number of your threads and I see a bit of an attitude of someone withhout a great depth of experience who seems to know everything. Experienced teachers see this a mile away - I know that your "seven years" are not as a post-teacher's college pre-K teacher, you said you worked with your parents. You're going to have a lot of trouble in our license school with this way of teaching. You would be a candidate for firing had this happened in public. Take that as you wish, but there's no room in K-12 for teachers who have nothing to learn.
Bounced checks are unacceptable and quiting is fine. That doesn't mean you have nothing to learn. Her being a lousy boss doesn't mean she's 100% wrong.
Just because I worked with my parents does not mean I have any experience with educating children. I am not setting these children up for failure by dumping sight words on them when they were very below average. I taught beginning letter sounds with using words with picture cards to show them what that letter begin with. Early reading does not develop until they have grasped these concepts. I took tons of training, and I am currently in higher ed.
Not only did I quit because the boss was lousy, but the place as a whole was depressing. They were always finding things to poke on me about. I secretly believed it was because I was the only one with an education. I feel as if taking a job at a public school I will be around more professional people with the same goals I have.
I also know for sure that any public school would require sight words as a standard for pre K. I teach based on the georgia standards for Pre K children.
Of course phonics are critical, but it doesn't exclude other methods that are all designed to reinforce the same basic goal of literacy. If you're doing a space unit, there's no reason the children can't learn the planet names along with basic alphabet recognition, for example.
Now, if you're going to teach in the public system, be aware of the approach that youre not going to teach according to what your boss demands, whether you agree or not. If you knew that she expected it, it was wrong to disregard based on your beliefs. She should have been on you months ago if that was her expectation. Hierarchies in public schools are even more rigid and observations will be very critical with the goal of improvement.
I've read a number of your threads and I see a bit of an attitude of someone withhout a great depth of experience who seems to know everything.
Experienced teachers see this a mile away - I know that your "seven years" are not as a post-teacher's college pre-K teacher, you said you worked with your parents. You're going to have a lot of trouble in our license school with this way of teaching. You would be a candidate for firing had this happened in public. Take that as you wish, but there's no room in K-12 for teachers who have nothing to learn.
Bounced checks are unacceptable and quiting is fine. That doesn't mean you have nothing to learn. Her being a lousy boss doesn't mean she's 100% wrong.
Bingo!
Frankly, from your arrogant, know-it-all posts I had pegged you as a completely new graduate on her very, very first job (BTW, I have 40 years of teaching experience).
Frankly, from your arrogant, know-it-all posts I had pegged you as a completely new graduate on her very, very first job (BTW, I have 40 years of teaching experience).
I know I may come off that way, however that does not defer that this woman does not know what she's doing. Elementary education is far different from Early Childhood education. 50 SIGHT WORDS BY KINDERGARTEN? Many of the students in my classroom are diverse learners and many are not even on the same level, but she wants all of them to be reading!? come on now! Secondly I have students in m classroom that needs to be screened. They are ESE learners. I do not have a certification in Special Education. She blames me for almost everything and never praise the positives or how well the children are learning. She's so much focused on sight words that she's lost. These children are already learning over the standards for Pre K.
I will disagree with you about sight words. Literacy skills can develop in different areas at different rates. It is normal, as you say, for children at 4 to struggle with crayon grip. Maybe they don't know how to turn a book or even speak English. Beginning sounds, end sounds, whatever. That has nothing to do with teaching or at least displaying sight words. With respect, I think you need to study more about literacy principles.
I have a child in Kindergarten. They were not expected to learn 50 sight words before they entered school, nor did my child learn 50 sight words even though she was enrolled in a top notch, accredited daycare. That requirement for children to learn 50 sight words is not correct.
That doesn't mean they shouldn't be available, but posting them on the wall does not teach the children sight words. They can learn sight words from a variety of sources (i.e, books).
Yet children with Autism acquire sight words through PECS at this age. Nobody is talking about drilling (your affluent literate public school parents aren't going to help with that either), it's about creating a literacy-rich environment where they are bombarded by sight words, letters, phonics, strategies, and so on. I also think you have a very unrealistic idea of public school accountability - your attitude will get you fired in K-12. You won't have any business telling your P that you think your kids are too poor or low-level for sight words on a wall in pre-K. Are you here to learn and improve?
I think you should quit because you are unhappy. However....
Sight words are called sight words for a reason, learning them should occur independent of phonetics, although either can assist in mastery of the other. Really it is one of those chicken & egg things, as to which should taught first, and "the experts" switch which they want first it seems about every 5 years. Regardless, I assume you are as unlikely to have a room of homogeneous learners as any other teacher, so you should be introducing a new words and displaying them for your students who are more advanced. It is not unheard of for three year-olds to possess the decoding skills needed to read - even in a classroom of underprivileged children whose parents aren't teaching any academic skills, to include colors or shapes, at home.
Do I think expecting those children to get the sight words as well as the director's child? No. But, the reason they don't shouldn't be because you are not willing to consider that some of them can indeed learn at a different pace than you expect. Ever hear of the term 'the soft bigotry of low expectations'? Despite the legislation that saying is attached to being awful, it is accurate and a true disservice to students.
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I have a child in Kindergarten. They were not expected to learn 50 sight words before they entered school, nor did my child learn 50 sight words even though she was enrolled in a top notch, accredited daycare. That requirement for children to learn 50 sight words is not correct.
That doesn't mean they shouldn't be available, but posting them on the wall does not teach the children sight words. They can learn sight words from a variety of sources (i.e, books).
I think you should quit because you are unhappy. However....
Sight words are called sight words for a reason, learning them should occur independent of phonetics, although either can assist in mastery of the other. Really it is one of those chicken & egg things, as to which should taught first, and "the experts" switch which they want first it seems about every 5 years. Regardless, I assume you are as unlikely to have homogeneous learners as any other teacher, so you should be introducing a new words and displaying them for your students who are more advanced. It is not unheard of for three year-olds to possess the decoding skills needed to read - even in a classroom of underprivileged children whose parents aren't teaching any academic skills, to include colors or shapes, at home.
Do I think expecting those children to get the sight words as well as the director's child? No. But, the reason they don't shouldn't be because you are not willing to consider that some of them can indeed learn at a different pace than you expect. Ever hear of the term 'the soft bigotry of low expectations'? Despite the legislation that saying is attached to being awful, it is accurate and a true disservice to students.
Have you even read that I pushed the idea of sight words and August, and did an assessment and none of the children knew the sight word on print? Many of the advanced learners are learning sight words and my progressive learners are now identifying the difference between letters and words.
It is a gradual pace. I was going to heavily implement sight words in January, but I will not be there. Most of them now know letter sounds and has an expansive vocabulary. I also use rhyme words that are three letter words and a picture to go to it. I am not against the idea of sight words. I was more against the idea of them learning sight words before they even learned letters and sounds. Teaching sight words before phonics is a failure. Many of them will have poor spelling skills.
Yet children with Autism acquire sight words through PECS at this age. Nobody is talking about drilling (your affluent literate public school parents aren't going to help with that either), it's about creating a literacy-rich environment where they are bombarded by sight words, letters, phonics, strategies, and so on. I also think you have a very unrealistic idea of public school accountability - your attitude will get you fired in K-12. You won't have any business telling your P that you think your kids are too poor or low-level for sight words on a wall in pre-K. Are you here to learn and improve?
They were bombarded by those things. Everyday during my morning meetings we have a word of the day, and also learn alphabets along with numbers shapes and counting. I am in no way saying they can not learn because they are economically disadvantaged. I am simply saying that because of their socioeconomic background the curriculum must also match their environment. I am teaching these children on the pace that would benefit them.
I know I may come off that way, however that does not defer that this woman does not know what she's doing. Elementary education is far different from Early Childhood education. 50 SIGHT WORDS BY KINDERGARTEN? Many of the students in my classroom are diverse learners and many are not even on the same level, but she wants all of them to be reading!? come on now! Secondly I have students in m classroom that needs to be screened. They are ESE learners. I do not have a certification in Special Education. She blames me for almost everything and never praise the positives or how well the children are learning. She's so much focused on sight words that she's lost. These children are already learning over the standards for Pre K.
How do you know they are ESE (special education?) What the heck does the bolded mean. It is not good English.
Your boss might be wrong, but you should be doing things her way because she is the boss.
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