Reflection 1: There’s Too Much to Teach: Cultural Wealth in an Age of Scarcity By Jane Roland Martin Despite being written in 1996, the worry Martin address is still very relevant today. A (likely exhausted) teacher was heard at a conference saying “We can’t do everything we’re supposed to, and you’re telling us to do more,” (Pg 4). I believe I’ve said those exact words myself just this year when talking about curriculum. The education system is faced with the issue of abundance, too much to teach and not enough time. Even on Facebook, parents can be seen posting about why teachers no longer teach kids to tie their shoes, to write in cursive, or to type on a keyboard. They do not understand the curricular time restraint and the wealth of knowledge it faces. Martin outlines the difficult tasks of determining what is relevant to teach in today’s society. While we may never agree completely, there is one subject I fear losing as we move through the 21st century. In Grade One students are beginning to use reading strategies, learn letter sounds, and develop phonemic awareness. Spelling is one subject that is intertwined throughout the reading process. Students use inventive or phonetic spelling to help sound out words and build their writing skills. It is believed that this phonetic spelling at an early age should not be corrected for dictionary spelling (Shubitz, 2017). While I believe strongly with this idea of building confidence through writing, it does make me wonder how important proper spelling will actually be in the future. With spell check and autocorrect being so common and popular today, will there come a point when proper spelling is no longer taught, expected, or required? If curriculum creators believe that spelling is no longer valuable when compared to the many other topics available could it be removed from the education system all together? If it is how will that impact the success of our future readers? Martin, J.R. (1996). There’s too much to teach: Cultural wealth in an age of scarcity. Educational Researcher, 25(2), 4–16. doi: 10.3102/0013189X025002004 Why Invented Spelling Matters Stacey Shubitz - https://www.weareteachers.com/invented-spelling/
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7/13/2018 11:18:27 am
Very interesting question Chelsey. “With spell check and autocorrect being so common and popular today, will there come a point when proper spelling is no longer taught, expected, or required? “ I have always asked myself this question so many times!!! And never got a convincing answer throughout my discussions with my colleagues. Its not only auto spell check that concerns me now, it’s almost everything with technology that does. I mean my 14-year-old tells me there’s no need to memories any phone numbers, because it’s all saved on my phone! No need to memorizes the multiplication tables, because we have calculators and we are allowed to use! No need and much more No needs for them at this age really concerns me! I mean how can we make sure that the use and development of technology that is integrated with education, does not harm kids and would be useful and successful rather then being useful! Your question made me think about so many other similar matters nowadays with the use of technology! Just thinking out loud!
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