Peter Graffagnino of Bridgeville is a retired educator.
Much has been printed recently regarding Delaware’s schools and poor test results, specifically about literacy and the Science of Reading program now mandated by Delaware’s General Assembly. Likewise, “artificial intelligence” articles proudly proclaim that it can improve teaching, and here’s how. I am sure that both of these approaches have their merits. However, I would like to know what public school grade levels the individuals who take credit for these programs have taught and how many years they did so! I have taught grades one, two, four and five (I skipped grade three, and my mother was so proud!), as well as special education/self-contained and gifted/talented. I have also been a dean of students, an assistant principal and a principal in the public school domain. Likewise, I was an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College’s Graduate School of Education, working with teachers who wished to become administrators in New York state public schools.
Upon retirement from the public domain, I became the principal of AHRC’s first middle school/high school in New York City.
My concern with these one-size-fits-all programs is simply that children and their abilities and learning styles don’t always fit the expectations of either one or both of these programs, especially at elementary levels.
Children must be given the chance to allow their individual strengths to develop using their own learning styles. To do so, teachers must be very diligent in the ways they approach instruction. I like the phrase, “self-motivating instruction,” which simply means designing lessons that allow students to determine their own approach to a given task within reason.
Here is a perfect example of self-motivating instruction: After reading a book to the class, I would send my second graders back to their seats to write their own stories, with the book I read to them as a model. They were not required to “write” with words because most children did not have the confidence to do so at this age. Weeks went by, and then, some of the children tried to write their stories with words, as well as with pictures. My principal was a hands-on type of administrator, who visited new teachers informally without notifications ahead of time. She would just “pop” in! She had seen the aforementioned writing/coloring efforts of my children on more than one occasion. She told me that a couple of educators from a different “district” would like to visit my class during one of these sessions. She asked for a specific day and time for their visit. We worked out same, and everything was a “go.” She made it very clear that she did not want them to see a “pumped-up” horse-and-buggy show but rather let them see exactly what I did with this aspect of teaching.
The book I chose for their visit was about a human nose. The front page had a picture of a nose on a face, and it was obvious that the nose was not happy. He was sick. The text of the book explained how he got sick and what his face was trying to do to make him feel better and so on. So, after I read the story to my second graders, I gave them the pep talk. I told them they could write or draw anything they wanted to, except for a runny nose. That story was already taken by the author of the book. I gave them some ideas. You could write about a hand, a foot, an arm, a leg or even a tushy! Well, two little boys who never wrote a word to date looked at each other, and both faces lit up with big smiles. They went back to their desks and went about the task at hand. While some students drew pictures, others attempted to write text to go along with their drawings. These two little boys were best friends and, to this point, never tried to write any words to go along with their pictures. However, they decided this time would be different! The title for their new book would be “Tushy Tushy, Mushy Tushy”! The point of all this was to simply show how to motivate children to reach for new levels of learning, while making your efforts appropriate to kids of specific ages and abilities. The children who are simply motivated by your effort to set the stage will do the rest of their learning process by themselves! Motivating children with things that will pique their interest levels is required! For the record, these two boys never simply drew pictures during future sessions. They always used their newfound writing skills to explain what their story was about and included written text! Were their writing efforts perfect? Of course not! They were 7 years old! From this humble beginning, they continued to work in tandem with each other for the rest of the school year!
The following is another example of how to motivate both parents and children to become involved in the learning process: I started a monthly newsletter about special events that happened in our school and sent same to a local newspaper for publication. For example, the district’s kindergarten was in a separate building, and its principal decided to do a whole assembly on real or make-believe. She had her stuffed Old English sheepdog on the floor next to her. She asked her 100-plus kindergartners if her “Barkley” was real. The children all called out, “No!” I was waiting in the wings with my very large, very real 100-plus-pound Old English sheepdog, also named Barkley! The principal asked the children to prepare for a special guest. Barkley and I made our entrance, to the delight of all in attendance! Now, what does this have to do with better teaching? My answer to that is simple: What do you think these kindergartners were talking about that evening at the dinner table? Real events with “wow” factors will motivate children to remember and learn! Let’s move on to the beginning of grade one for these kindergartners. About six weeks into their next academic year — remember, this was a new school for these first graders — I invited them to come to school on a Saturday for “Breakfast With Barkley”! Parents were asked to attend, as well, as they were going to be an important part of the event. I read a children’s book to the group (sound familiar?), as my Barkley sat next to me, paying attention to every word! I finished reading and asked the children to write thank-you notes to Barkley for coming to school on a Saturday. Parents helped the children “write” their notes. The event concluded with each child patting Barkley on the head as he or she left the room. So, why was this so important? Very simply, it got the children’s parents directly involved in the learning process. Further, it encouraged young children to “write”! Oh, and by the way, the entire gathering was published in the local paper, pictures and all. Not bad press for the school and the school district, as well! Going to school on a Saturday! Who would ever guess?
In my opinion, if you can’t motivate children to want to learn, then you are not doing your job. Likewise, that means you should be thinking outside of the traditional “box” to motivate them.
The Weekly Reader had a cover story in its grade four edition about an annual “soapbox” derby race. I asked the class if they would like to build their own “soapbox”? “Really?” was their response. I made a deal with them. If we finished all our lessons in any given week, we would use Fridays after lunch to build our own “soapbox” as a class. I warned them that this project would take some time and a lot of working together as a team, as well as multiple Fridays to complete. I did all the preassembly work in my home workshop: precutting the wood, predrilling where screws and nails were needed and writing detailed directions for each section that the children had to follow on their own. It took a very long time to complete. But the children stuck to it, learning how to follow written instructions and, more importantly, how to work together!
I’m not saying that there is no place for Science of Reading or AI in education. In my 35-plus years as an educator, I have seen a multitude of such programs come and go. It is not a good idea to think that they are the be all that ends all in teaching children. The best way to teach children is to find a way to motivate them to want to learn. That burden falls on classroom teachers, as it always has!
For what it’s worth …
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
