I would love to hear all your suggestions of things you wish a teacher would do for your child(ren)
I wish teachers would read, and try: Notching Up the Nurtured Heart Approach - The New Inner Wealth Initiative for Educators by Howard Glasser with Melissa Block
My son is very susceptible to getting 'addicted to negative attention' when less than his optimal amount of positive attention is headed his way. And his optimal amount is much higher than I ever imagined anyone's could be.
I hate teachers who are mean or sarcastic to any child in the classroom, or who talk negatively about kids as if the child can't hear while the kid is in earshot.
To me, teaching language arts is a bit of a mystery - clear writing is a reflection of clear thinking and so important, but how to explain to a kid that they aren't building their case?
I think teaching children to write in terms of the sport of debate has a lot of potential.
I wish my middle school teacher had used this system of writing and reading instruction: Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for Middle School (Theory and Practice (Scholastic)) by Ruth Culham (Jan 1, 2010)
I hate it when kids are discouraged from reading ahead in whatever book the class is
torturing studying. I hate it when the whole book gets read aloud. I think providing audio presentations for home use to kids who benefit from listening to a book is a very good idea, so that kids can set aside difficulties in vocabulary and decoding and really engage in analyzing what makes the book live is a good idea, just like some kids aren't ready to memorize their multiplication tables, but they might still need to be learning the ideas of algebra, so we just give them a multiplication chart.
I hate that kids have to prove that they've read the book by annotating at least one highlight per page - but I don't have a better idea!
Smiles,
Grinity
