Control Of Error, Pouring

One of my favorite things within Montessori is the built in control of error.  For my little tots, it's most prevalent now in Practical Life.  They adore anything involving water, as all little ones do, so the pull towards water pouring is strong.  The control of error for water pouring is water on the tray (or in the picture here, on the floor, on the sleeves, on the table).  The key here is to teach the lesson carefully. Also, keep in mind that exploration happens and spills are okay and need to be handled with love, care, and kindness.  Teaching the child how to handle their own messes effectively is one of the main aims of practical life.

From my album..............NAME OF ACTIVITY:  WATER POURING

AREA
General:       Practical Life

Specific:        Physical Skills- Pouring

MATERIALS:

  Tray

  2 glass pitchers of equal size

  Colored water (on left, filled ¼ way)

  Little Towel

AIMS

Direct:            Coordination, Concentration, Independence, and Order

Indirect:         Mastering pouring from one pitcher to the next.  (one to one pouring)

Preparation: Tray carrying, dry pouring.

AGE:              First year Montessori student.

PRESENTATION OF LESSON: 

  Grasp pitcher on the left with the dominant hand.  

  Place subdominant hand under the spout.

  Looking into the center of the pitcher, pour slowly and steadily

  Wait for the very last drop to go in.

  Wipe the spout with cloth.

  Repeat several times, depending on the child/children to decide how many times.

  Tidy the work.  (Check for spills, and wipe.)

WORK OF THE TEACHER

Points of Emphasis:

  Placement of hand on pitcher, with fingers under the handle and thumb on top.

  Be sure to wait for the last drop.

  Pour with the spout.

  Wipe spout.

  Pour slowly and steadily.

  Lift pitcher above empty pitcher for pouring.

Language:

  Spout

  Idea of Full and Empty

  Idea of Slow and Steady

  Color of the water

POINTS OF INTEREST:  Attractive materials, sound of water.

WORK OF THE CHILD:

Points of Consciousness:  The arms, wrist, and hand control the pitcher.  The spout makes it easier to pour water.

CONTROL OF ERROR:  The amount of water the teacher prepares the work with is geared toward the success of the child.  Spilled water on the tray can be wiped up with the little towel or sponge. 

VARIATIONS:  Changing the tray, water colors, or pitcher.

EXTENSIONS:  Change pitcher size, or add more water.   Pouring can be done in cooking and snack preparation, garden care, and science experiments.  Pouring can be done between vessels varying in size and shape.  Adding more vessels can make pouring more challenging.

Notes:

Talk about the ground rules for the colored water, and also how the teacher created it.

What Happened to Joel Klein?

I've been thinking all day:


What is up with Joel Klein becoming Darth Vader? What happened to that guy? How does someone go from being a nice Jewish boy from Queens, a Supreme Court clerk, and a Department of Justice anti-trust lawyer to being the grim reaper of public education? 


Anyone? (Please comment.)

Goldman Sachs Gets Serious About (profiting from) Charter Schools

Well, well, well, if it isn't Goldman Sachs getting into the public, I mean private, I mean charter school business:


From a press release on Market Watch (I found this thanks to a post on Schools Matter):

"Providing financing for charter school facilities that benefit low- and moderate-income families is a critical component of the firm's commitment to comprehensive community development," said Alicia Glen, Managing Director and Head of the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs. "To date, the Urban Investment Group has committed approximately $150 million for charter school facilities in New York and New Jersey, and we are thrilled to partner with LISC, who has been a leader in charter school finance."

Just a few weeks ago, Dana Goldstein reported on the Teach for America-Goldman Sachs Summer Internship Program. So much for encouraging those brand new teachers to learn and reflect about, say, quality teaching during the summer.


Too bad this, or now any, analogy won't show up on the SATs:


Goldman Sachs is to quality education for low and moderate income kids as BP is to a healthy eco-system in the Gulf of Mexico.

Will Fox News Soon Embrace Education Reform?

So, as I wrote yesterday,


Joel Klein resigned from his position as Chancellor of NYC public schools. Bloomberg intends to replace Mr. Klein with Cathie Black, a publishing executive with no education experience. Bloomberg's move is breathtaking in its stupidity, but given past appointments of his and his general approach, it's hardly surprising.


In this astute take on this series of events, education journalist Dana Goldstein asks, "Why on Earth" Bloomberg would appoint someone with Black's lack of qualification, and even lack of stated interest in education reform? Well, maybe because Bloomberg thinks the business model can successfully apply to running public institutions and that market-based solutions will bring success in education reform? I don't know, though, it could be that he is just an idiot. Goldstein points out the "irony" of Bloomberg appointing someone who will ostensibly help NYCPS graduates gain the skills they need to attain jobs when the industry from which Black hails is "hemorrhaging" jobs.


According to this, even parents who supported Klein are questioning this appointment. The founder of New York Charter Parents Association, Mona Davids, sounds skeptical here, as well (the expansion of charter schools was a huge part of the Klein/Bloomberg agenda): "She was surprised by Black’s appointment." As to the NYC charter school where Black sits on the board: "And, the board meetings are not public. Black sits on a board that is not accountable, that is not transparent, so for me it doesn’t bode well." 


Now, turning to Klein, he is taking a job as an executive vice-president at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, you know, the same News Corp that owns Fox News. According to a blog at Education Week:

"He will join News Corp., the media company founded by Rupert Murdoch, as an executive vice president reporting directly to Murdoch. He also will join the company's board of directors. In a press release, the company said that Klein would advise on a number of issues, including development of business strategies for the 'emerging educational marketplace.' "

Somehow the "development of business strategies for the 'emerging educational marketplace'" at the home of Fox News doesn't sit well with me. Will the likes of Glen Beck and Sean Hannity of Fox News take a break from bashing climate change science to embrace teacher bashing and the market-based, privatizing education reforms advocated by the Obama administration, but more importantly by conservative ideologues like Broad and Walton, and libertarian-leaning (it seems to me) billionaire Gates?  But Fox News doesn't promote market-based, right-wing ideology, does it? Fox News doesn't promote reducing the government's role (though not government dollars, of course) in American institutions and life, does it? Fox News doesn't have any influence, does it? If we thought bleeding-heart hack Nicholas Kristof got education wrong, we'd better just wait and see.


I realize that I probably sound like a conspiracy theory-crazed lunatic. Believe me, in this case I'd much rather be crazy than right.




UPDATE 1: Here's Juan Gonzalez's (of the NY Daily News) take on Joel Klein's tenure and departure.




UPDATE 2: I've been thinking all day: What is up with Joel Klein becoming Darth Vader? What happened to that guy? How does someone go from being an anti-trust lawyer at the Justice Department to being the grim reaper of public education? Anyone? (If you have a theory, please comment on my next post dedicated to the topic.)

A Corporate Executive for Corporate-style Reforms

In case you haven't heard the news. . .


Name of the New York City Chancellor who resigned:  Joel Klein


Job he's going to take: Executive vice-president for News Corp


His replacement: Cathie Black, a publishing executive/ oligarch


Process by which she was chosen: A public search was conducted, in some public somewhere. Gotham Schools says they know nothing of this.


Black's experience with education: Zero, except her own children were educated at Connecticut boarding schools and she sits on the board of an NYC charter school.


My reaction: Sarah Palin is starting to look reeaaally qualified.


So much for Bloomberg's being subtle about what his real agenda is.


Wow.


UPDATE I: For Dana Goldstein's thoughts, go here.

Race to Remedial Classes

I've been hard at work on pieces and posts about TFA, corporate influence in public education, the Obamas' choice of school for their children, charter schools, and teacher quality. I've got credit recovery on the brain, as well.


In the meantime, this article in Richmond Magazine by Richmond-based education journalist Chris Dovi about the toxic impact of the S.O.L.s (Standards of Learning) on the quality of public education in Virginia is definitely worth a read. It is of particular interest to me given my past experience teaching in public schools in Virginia and current one of parenting two Virginia public schoolers, but no matter where you live or work, it's a must read. Dovi's central point is that the S.O.L.s are preparing the students for the test, but only the tests. Many students who perform well on these tests get to college unprepared for the rigors of the college curriculum. These aren't struggling students he's describing; they're good students who are going to colleges like V.C.U. (Virginia Commonwealth University).


When I was in ed school at George Washington University in the late 1990s, pre-N.C.L.B. (No Child Left Behind), we often discussed the impending arrival of high-stakes standardized testing. I can't think of one professor I had who wasn't against them. They weren't against standardized tests per se, but against using them as they are currently being used, i.e., for accountability purposes, or in layman's terms, as the primary evaluator of  student learning and teacher effectiveness. Because G.W. is in D.C., we looked closely at the S.O.L.s. What Dovi describes happening in this article with the S.O.L.s  under N.C.L.B. is exactly what my professors predicted would happen and what I saw happening when I was a VA teacher.


Virginia's public education system and the S.O.L.s are held up as a model for other states. Furthermore, with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's push to renew E.S.E.A. (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which became N.C.L.B.) and the narrow focus in his Race to the Top bribery scheme on using standardized tests as the ultimate tool to evaluate student learning and teacher performance, and then tying test scores to teacher pay (and I no longer care if they're value-added since that's also problematic), we can only expect more of what Dovi describes.


Well, what's the alternative? you might ask. How about evaluating student and teacher performance this way? Or this way? In the meantime, at the very least, Dovi reports that there's talk at the Virginia Department of Education of making the standards and curriculum more rigorous and moving away from using tests with multiple-choice questions.


I used to call N.C.L.B. No Child Left Untested. In honor of Chris Dovi's account, I think I'll call it: No Child Left Behind Until They Get to College and Have to Drop Out Because They're So Unprepared. With Obama and Duncan urging a renewal of N.C.L.B. and the standardized-test accountability measures in Race to the Top, I 'm starting to run out of hope that things will change.

Sandpaper Letters, extensions

We are still using our sandpaper letters, but to keep it interesting we are adding some extensions.  As a busy Mom of 3 and teacher of 40, it's easiest for me to post pictures.  The chalkboard is left over from a Handwriting Without Tears Training, she uses a small cut sponge to make the M disappear.  Sandpaper Letter (or Number) rubbing is a common extension on this material.  I simply peeled the paper off of a crayon and let her rub it over the letter.  Later, we brainstormed words with the M sound.  Please feel free to ask any questions, as sharing is what this is all about :)