Last week I attended a meeting around early literacy. Like most teachers, I enjoyed the time we had to share resources the best. There was some converstaion around the use of Jolly Phonics. Here is my interpretation of two teachers sharing the same resource.
Teacher 1: I bought the Jolly Phonics kit and it is amazing. I got a number of posters to put in my class, a DVD about how to run the program, and lots of worksheets for students to do. I also got a template that allows me to track my student's work easily. It's around $250 but well worth it. I can't imagine running my class without it.
Teacher 2: The Jolly Phonics program is around $250 which is quite expensive. It comes with a number of resources like posters, worksheets and a DVD. What's nice about it, is that the sounds help students to write on their own. It's funny to see students using the actions from the cards to sound out sounds and make words. I can see how it's helped my students write independently and helped their literacy.
Do you see the difference? Believe it or not, both teachers love the program and both were advocating its use across our district. The difference to me was that the first teachers' enthusiasm was feulled by the resources the program gave them to give to their students. While the second teacher did not seem to have the same enthusiasm. I think they better understood the role the program plays in their student's learning and overall literacy development.
I think that we need to re-evaluate the resources in our classroom and what they have students doing. Too often we judge the quality of a resource by its breadth and quite possilby its fun factor. When this is our criteria, what students are doing is complying and keeping busy. Sure, they might be having fun and enjoying the work, but where is the learning? If however, we evaluate resources by asking how doing an activity from a resource fits with student learning, we put the learner and their needs first. We then connect the doing with the learning so students can see how what they are doing connects to their learning.
For the record, this blog is not about whether Jolly Phonics is a worth the expense. I believe it is a great program as PART of an early literacy program. I am also not saying we should do away with all worksheets whatsoever. The point is, we teach kids, not programs and so the work we have kids 'DO' has to be relevant and meaningful. If you are not clear on how the resource or program you are having students 'DO' empowers them as learners, then it is likely not a valuable resource. If the resource empowers students to 'DO' work that can be applied to a variety of experiences and clearly fits into meeting the needs of students, then it is a resource you must share.
Teacher 1: I bought the Jolly Phonics kit and it is amazing. I got a number of posters to put in my class, a DVD about how to run the program, and lots of worksheets for students to do. I also got a template that allows me to track my student's work easily. It's around $250 but well worth it. I can't imagine running my class without it.
Teacher 2: The Jolly Phonics program is around $250 which is quite expensive. It comes with a number of resources like posters, worksheets and a DVD. What's nice about it, is that the sounds help students to write on their own. It's funny to see students using the actions from the cards to sound out sounds and make words. I can see how it's helped my students write independently and helped their literacy.
Do you see the difference? Believe it or not, both teachers love the program and both were advocating its use across our district. The difference to me was that the first teachers' enthusiasm was feulled by the resources the program gave them to give to their students. While the second teacher did not seem to have the same enthusiasm. I think they better understood the role the program plays in their student's learning and overall literacy development.
I think that we need to re-evaluate the resources in our classroom and what they have students doing. Too often we judge the quality of a resource by its breadth and quite possilby its fun factor. When this is our criteria, what students are doing is complying and keeping busy. Sure, they might be having fun and enjoying the work, but where is the learning? If however, we evaluate resources by asking how doing an activity from a resource fits with student learning, we put the learner and their needs first. We then connect the doing with the learning so students can see how what they are doing connects to their learning.
For the record, this blog is not about whether Jolly Phonics is a worth the expense. I believe it is a great program as PART of an early literacy program. I am also not saying we should do away with all worksheets whatsoever. The point is, we teach kids, not programs and so the work we have kids 'DO' has to be relevant and meaningful. If you are not clear on how the resource or program you are having students 'DO' empowers them as learners, then it is likely not a valuable resource. If the resource empowers students to 'DO' work that can be applied to a variety of experiences and clearly fits into meeting the needs of students, then it is a resource you must share.