Today’s Subject: What does ‘getting back to basics’ look like?
Diane Getchell
When I was teaching the upper grades (4th to 8th grade), my students came to me with many, many deficits…. In writing pieces, those deficits made it difficult to glean each student’s best work. The problem? A new ‘strategy’: technology. I went round and round with two administrators who refused to support me when I requested printing orders for grammar workbooks. Why? The administrators said they weren’t necessary. “The computer will correct grammar errors. The computer will correct the spelling errors.”
That’s when I had to explain the merits of ‘old school’ practices with my administrators who, incidentally, never were elementary teachers nor English teachers prior to their administration tenures. I explained building writers begins with the building blocks of sentence construction; what it was composed of (subject/verbs); punctuation functions; and later, how to bridge transitions. Later, topics built into paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details. Tons of discussions were had on writing rules called ‘conventions.’ My students excelled once they had the foundation of grammar in their knowledge toolboxes. Bottom line: I paid for the grammar workbooks on my own every year; I was that committed to their effectiveness. Fifteen minutes a day on grammar was the greatest yield academically.
A few years later, I encountered another principal who was truly surprised I was ‘wasting my time’ teaching spelling…. “Forget about it…The computer has spell check….” Well, that’s fine and dandy but those 15 minutes every day were a foundational piece on how to DECODE multi-syllabic words that would become more challenging starting in middle school and beyond. Students learned prefixes such as ‘re’, ‘de’, ‘neo’ along with suffixes and how their attachments could morph a base-word’s meaning. Spelling included exploring the synonyms and the antonyms of words that expanded students’ vocabulary exposure. When national STAR testing results came out in the spring one particular year, my students ranked 76% NATIONALLY in vocabulary, well above the district’s scores. At the time I thought: If vocabulary was a critical state assessment benchmark, then why was the subject of teaching spelling patterns and rules shoved under the rug???
My vocabulary assessment ‘success’ was such a big deal, I was brought into the principal’s office to explain how I did it…. I felt like I was in trouble. I had to explain that I assessed for specific generalized holes in my students’ skills. After all, I sought out post credential courses that would address very specific academic gaps my students had; in this case taking a 3-unit college course on spelling. From there, I devised my own strategies on how to draw out that skill in my students.
For myself, I still use the prefix skill today when trying to decode multi-syllabic medical words.
Old school mathematics….
I reverted to my childhood upbringing in which everyone had to learn their times tables (to 12) rotely. Again, it was a ‘technology-is-the-answer-to-all’ response from administration. “Calculators will do it.” Nevertheless, I used warm up time to hone those necessary skills. Recently, I spent a semester running a parttime adult ed class for high school diploma hopefuls; I was stunned to see adults counting on their fingers during testing!
One last surprise to many…
Some students aren’t being taught how to tell analog time—with clock hands. Once I was floored when an 8th grader asked me for a hall pass. I asked him to fill it out and I would sign it. He asked me what time the wall clock said as it was analog and he could ‘only read digital.’ I told him I’d work with him on learning time if he came in at lunch. (Yes, I signed his pass and no, he didn’t want to learn time from me.)
There are many ‘old’ skills that are being shelved due to the ‘advancement’ of technology. Cursive writing is endangered. (Don’t get me started on its importance.) Another area, U.S. and World History, are largely being ignored in the 5th and 6th grades which have important fundamentals that are rushed through so “computer time” can usurp these subjects.
In closing, these events were my personal teaching experiences and I’m certain I have not been alone in championing back-to-basics components.
