Anyone read this?

JOEBunny

New York Times Article on kindergarten teachers

What do you think?  How do you make sure your child's teacher is "good"?

Read2Me

I personally like the idea that good K teachers should be paid 320K!  I'd go back to teaching in a heartbeat if that were the case!

But seriously, I think it's wonderful that there is positive news about teachers.  So many factors impact how a child does in school and so often teachers are cast as the reason children fail.  It's nice to see us cast as the reason children succeed.  The first years of schooling are extremely important and if a child doesn't receive a good start they tend to spend the rest of their academic career playing catch-up (often resulting in giving up and dropping out).  The district I worked in prior to having Eva spent a lot of money on reducing class sizes in the primary grades (my first grade class had 13 students) and providing extra support for students who needed it (we had a K-camp to jump start in-coming Ks who needed it, an hour long daily K lab where struggling Ks received extra literacy lessons with trained reading specialists and one-on-one daily 30 minute literacy lessons for first graders who still needed the support after K).  But it does all come down to the teacher.  I've seen children lose entires years because of a crappy teacher who either didn't know what he/she was doing or was just not a big fan of kids and the little ones picked up on it and shut down.  There are also good teachers who just don't mesh with certain kids (although I think they truly aren't good teachers because a good teacher would realize this and adapt to meet the needs of his/her students).  If you are concerned about placement talk to members of the PTA, other parents and the administrator- all will be able to give you a good idea of which teacher would make the best match for your child.

amazingkel

Wow, interesting article! I just forwarded it to my friend, who is a K teacher at the school I work at.  Kindergarten is overlooked so badly these days.  Parents come into conferences at my school and are literally blown away and are in for an eye opening shock when they see how MUCH their kids actually learn in K.  Gone are the days of naptime, playtime, and learning to count.  Kids are learning to read inKindergarten, and have a full day of knowledge being taught to them.  They come into K knowing very little, and leave knowing ten times more than I ever did when I was in K.