Nathaniel responds below to some verbage from somewhere. We don’t need to know where, just some sad educational factory place where people write stuff that they don’t really understand but do it because it sounds good. File this line here in the Intellectual Bullying file:
…we are designed to teach the whole language of reading comprehension, writing conventions, and oral delivery of language acquisition….
Having read it, let’s enjoy watching Nathaniel tear it apart:
“What is “oral delivery of language acquisition”? Is the model one of teaching the whole language at once? It looks like a cobbling together of buzz words that reveal an attempt to sound informed without have the time or energy to fully understand the matter.
“So there is a double bubble problem here. One bubble is the impenetrable incoherence of the words. As Ben suggests, it will do no good to try to pierce through this layer. Beneath it is a lack of will to hear and understand.
“I was told last year that everyone was happy with our new “curriculum maps” (read, transferring the ink-and-paper textbook scope and sequence to a digital curriculum map form). This was not a commentary on the happiness of everyone. It was an order to not bring up the subject again. Case closed.
“So yes, we cannot convince the positionally invincible, but we can step back and reflect.
“What are the steps of TPRS? 1) Establish meaning of sounds 2) Interact and create meaningfully 3) Read for meaning. . Speak and interact with whole sentences. Read paragraphs and chapters and novellas. Write to convey meaning. Sounds like whole language. As for me, I need to work at doing these things more effectively, and in such a way that my students are convinced that they made progress this year.”