Friday, March 20, 2009

Where We Were When We Started in Fall '08

When we started our literacy program in the fall of 2008, our Kindergarten teachers described their new kids as a bit more developmentally delayed and lacked the readiness of the kids they had experienced the year before.   This is not unusual as Kindergarten classes go.  Sometimes a group is exceptional (like the Kindergarten class of SY '07-'08  class, but more on that later) sometimes a group is average and other times we have a group that makes you wonder what was in the water supply the year they were conceived. 

Our First Graders (the Kindergarteners of SY '07-'08)  as I stated above were quite an exceptional group of kids.  They were physically coordinated, emotionally stable, and developmentally and academically 'in their zone'. 

Just to back up a little, my school is considered a poverty school.  I beg to differ.  We do live in an area of the country that has a lower than average cost of living, so therefore, our average household income is less than the national average.  Due to this, it is easy to qualify as a 'poverty' school.  Our makeup of kids is, however very diverse.  We do have some extreme poverty, but we also have a very strong middle class representation.  Our parents are involved, of course, as a teacher, I would love to see more involvement, but I really can't complain.

Our teachers are among the most professional people I have ever had the privilege with which to work.  I have worked in both public and private schools in my 15 year career as a teacher.  (The least professional group of teachers I worked with, were in a private school setting.)  I have never had the pleasure to work with a more dedicated group of professionals than I do now.   I truly believe that this is one of the reasons for the results we are getting with our literacy model.



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