Scripts that choke and gag…

July13

wordsinmouth.jpg
Are scripted programs just putting words in our mouths? When is there too much control of teaching?Let me share a story from my prior year in a third year program improvement school. We were at that stage where we had “consultants” coming in. One was an expert in differentiating instruction, but really she has been an expert in behavior and classroom management and retooled her routine to make it fit NCLB. She was one of the few willing to do side-by-side teaching with us in our classrooms, but was a real control freak. She was upset that the overhead projector could not easily be moved off my teacher table at the front of the room, and actually wanted the whole table moved, etc. But, enough of that, onto the script…

To start, she spent a whole 40 minutes on vocabulary including at fifth grade, phonically blending each word. I pointed out that we had asked for assistance on vocabulary because they were being tested on meaning of common roots and prefixes, and were bombing on this. Her answer was to look at the questions and “teach to the skill” but provided no other help. This to me seemed like useless advice because this was NOT going to make our students proficient since it was teaching them a lower grade-level skill. She pointed out that they needed to be able to do this basic skill (decoding/phonics) to be able to move on to vocabulary. I knew that was complete horse apples because most of my vocabulary development (and that of other friends of mine) came from silent reading, so I had many words I know and cannot pronounce/decode correctly at all. But there was something else wrong, of the four teachers she was working with only ONE had a class of students that were in the lower quatrile (I had some, but most of mine were right below grade level), so we were learning how to teach a skill most of our students had mastered 2-3 grade-levels ago.

She also wasted a lot of time for us by trying to “sneak” in her usual training on behavior management (once again, useful for only one teacher — and it didn’t work very long in her class either). I still have her cue cards for how to manage transitions. Her entire program was premised on the idea that you need to use specific language and directions in a particular order for students to “hear” and “follow” your directions (operational language. She kept insisting that it was easy to pick up. Since I had spent three years teaching in a behavior school before coming to that school, I knew that was horse apples too. I pointed out I had been through training like this before, and contrary to her claims, changing your script as a teacher is a very difficult task. Let me give you an example:

“Thank you for sitting nicely!” – Too vague, what is nicely, don’t start with thank you
“You’re sitting up straight, your chair is under your table, you’re not tapping your pencil, you’re eyes are on my mouth” – notes the specific points that the students are doing that are on task behavior.

I’ll just note, if I am having issues with students lining up, etc. I will try to be precise in what I’m requesting (please stand up straight, hands to yourself, on your head, at your sides, behind your back), but that took it to a WHOLE new level.

She was very fond of “Dales Cone of Knowledge” (they remember 10% of what they are told, etc.) Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t know that was horse apples too as this shows: Will at Work Learning: People remember 10%, 20%…Oh Really hmm, wondering if she got her “research” on “operational” language from the same place?

Now, before you feel sorry for me, let me point out that $15,000 of YOUR tax dollars paid this woman to “help” my school. Painful thought, no? Thanks for your assistance!

by posted under politics/policy | 5 Comments »    
5 Comments to

“Scripts that choke and gag…”

  1. July 14th, 2007 at 7:40 pm      Reply Simon Says:

    This is a monumental waste of time and money. Unfortunately it is happening the world over- People brought in, trying to be ‘experts’ in something they are not.
    When trainers come in and deliver ‘stuff’ the stuff needs to be what the school has requested, none of this ‘sneaking’ you were talking about. If we considered the L.O. (Learning objective) for your school and the success criteria by which it is measured I would say that this thraining has failed in meeting the objective set. Sad, very,very,sad.


  2. July 14th, 2007 at 11:54 pm      Reply alicemercer Says:

    Sad, but remember this is your tax dollars at workfolks.
    It got MUCH worse than that, too. During side-by-side teaching with a colleague, she broke the first commandment of teaching, and starting correcting that teacher’s instructional delivery IN FRONT OF HER CLASS!
    She was big on visual organizers (although most of them were very linear, IMHO). I did like her two-column organizers for use as a set/into before reading a story. They are great for helping students connect with the story. She loved that I and a colleague could crank out these and other organizers (she had to hire a graphic artist to do it for her manual).
    Her next conflict was with that other colleague. She was trying to get a copy of an organizer that he had made. He told her that she could not use it for her manuals/trainings because it was his work. She then argued with him that it was based on her ideas. Since he was a pre-law in undergrad, he told her there was no way to copyright an idea, so she was floating on thin ice, and told her to get the heck out of his classroom. She probably ripped off some of the stuff I did.


  3. July 15th, 2007 at 1:39 am      Reply Glenn Moses Says:

    Thanks for the link to 10% -20% article. I’ve seen that so many times and I’ve never, not once not for a second, questioned it. It seemed to make sense, and I think my mind kind of works that way, so I totally bought it. I makes me think of all of the other things that I just buy into. It makes me wonder how many educators just by into things like scripting, six-trait writing, Madeline Hunter, Avid etc. and how much money consultants are making selling these products to schools.


  4. July 16th, 2007 at 11:51 pm      Reply Doug Noon Says:

    Stories about scripted learning “solutions” grab my attention because I fear that my school may eventually be engulfed by this abomination. I am not one to have words put in my mouth, no matter what they say. Every mentor, consultant, whatever they want to be called, whose presence has graced my classroom has demonstrated the worst of what teaching can be.

    I do appreciate your treatment of the subject here. Am I biased? Of course. I have lots of experience, and am not inclined to use behavioral techniques. They have never worked for, or on, me.

    I know that the critics say that “It isn’t about the teacher,” but the last time I checked, they also say that a quality teacher is the most important variable in determining student achievement. Both of those statements are arguable, separately, but together they are meaningless.


  5. July 16th, 2007 at 11:58 pm      Reply alicemercer Says:

    Doug, I am inclined to use behavioral techniques (I’m a pragmatist, so I’ll use what works), so if I thought it was a little much, it must of have been way too much.


Email will not be published

Website example

Your Comment:

rssrss
rssrss

Links of Interest


License

Creative Commons License
All of Ms. Mercer's work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.


Skip to toolbar