Kaulbach's Modern World

I admit becoming a parent made me more aware of what I loved and feared in education.  I went through an intense stage of self awareness when my daughter entered kindergarten.  I was so impressed by her excitement to learn.  Her teacher of 30+ years experience was engaging, entertaining and very organized.  Her mentoring led to my transformation  and a decision to improve upon a few things. This teacher communicated with parents.  Parents were not afraid or put aside.  Every interested parent found a role to play in education (at least while their children are involved).   It is difficult to organize but I will not give up on the idea that parents want to be involved in education in a positive way.  If I don't give parents a role it isn't surprising to find them airing frustrations on Facebook or in other public forums. First, I need to improve how schools acknowledge the role that parents play in the home. In the Journal for the Educati...

There is no doubt that education and learning are integral to building community.  Community is integral to a strong, democratic society.  All students do not learn the same and there are various influences that change the formula for best practices or best learning.  There are pieces of education that both parents and schools can agree upon to improve the chances for improvements in education and progress for all children. I am going to list some of my findings in hopes that I can use peoples' reactions and comments for my literacy research. Here is what I discovered, read it over and then leave your comments. I really need them. I recently read Daniel T. Willingham's, Why Don't Students Like School? . Although it left out a few ideas that are important to me as a teacher, I was impressed with his view as a cognitive scientist and his research supporting the idea that the brain was designed to fulfill automatized processes, not difficult thinking. While educ...

How does this success transfer to a rural Vermont high school? In December I will return from my sabbatical to teach high school history at the public school that I have been teaching in for sixteen years. There are a few big ideas that I definitely need to bring from this literacy program in New Mexico to both my own teaching and the newly shaped literacy program in the high school. I have never worked with someone as organized as the director of this program.  She has to be.  She constantly updates changes in a daily school schedule and her volunteers' schedules in order to guarantee consistent student contact with reading and writing. Every lesson has to be organized so that students and mentors can follow simple directions without misinterpretation.  Each day must follow specified routine.  This is the foundation for building a supportive community between school and everyone else. I see a great value in bringing organization to my class curricula that will e...

In order to finish my masters in literacy and my endorsement as an administrator of reading programs I would need to immerse myself in a reading program.  There is nothing in Vermont that compares to the HOSTS program in Santa Fe at a public elementary school.  My grandmother volunteered for this program for her 15 years in Santa Fe. I volunteered twice and was in awe of its accomplishments.   The organization of one to one volunteer reading mentors to each student is unmatched. The organization of the lessons, assessment of student progress and development of individualized education plans for 92 students  has been successfully run by one literacy teacher since1998.  Nowhere in Vermont is there a successful model literacy program that serves a bilingual population.  65% of the population at this school isEnglish Second Language.  Many students have yet to communicate in English at all. The entire school has implemented a dual lang...

Pet parade, Desfile de Los ninos. Any and all are welcome. Costumes optional

The most elaborate homes of Santa Fe have humble beginnings.  The living style is best served by its communal relationship with wind, water and earth.  Whereas early Puebloeans established means of securing water for sizeable populations, the Spanish introduced the aquifer and acequeia systems once brought to them by the Arabs.  The Arabic irrigation ditches channeled water from the Santa Fe River and the water shed of the Sangre de Cristo into the city.  Sheep herders and farmers established ranches above the city. Trees of apples, peaches  and other fruits hung over the ditches and courtyards. Adobe walls of earth and straw kept families cool in the summer and warm against the arid winds of winter.  This simple mix of earth and straw gave people bricks and cement or plaster to shape a home as they saw fit.  Most designs followed a pattern of square rooms connected by halls and passage ways. But anything is and was possible....

Organization is sooooo important in teaching.

These road signs are commonplace names that roll off the tongue for locals. As a Vermonter, I feel like a fish out of water. At my new school, I realized I couldn't pronounce Ximenes, nor spell it without aid. Wow, what it must be like for families struggling with English and dialect on top of keeping up in school. I have a great respect for learning the nuances of our diverse American culture. Many Santa Feans took the time to help me improves pronunciation, they take pride in this vibrant culture and anyone willing to learn something new  

I didn't realize that I looked so intense. What I have learned out here in Santa Fe is that tradition and culture is very much a prominent part of peoples' daily lives.  Everyone embraces art, experiments, practices and creates.  I see things I hold in awe and projects that are down right goofy.  But there is no right or wrong, only practice. When Spanish colonials moved to New Mexico, fresh flowers for the home were difficult to come by. Not to forgo tradition, colonists took scraps of paper, cloth, anything and fashioned them into flowers to decorate a mantel, a table, a woman's rebozo or the hair.   shiny paper added gave it a sparkly effect. we did not have this handy.   But one could quickly fill a room with flowers. Once the process is mastered.  And the end result is... stunning. Traditions give people a sense of style. A sense of identity to embrace at any age. see this story of this young artist at Spanish Market & ...

Rapport is everything. In this literacy program it was initiated during the one on one testing.  It began with a hello and a show of interest in the student; a request for the student's participation in the test, not a command.  As the administrator of the test I showed the student the scoring guide, the word lists and the readings.  The student was aware of their role and mine.  It was necessary to tell each student that the information written during their participation was to be used in order to to design instruction specific to him or her.  The score is neither good nor bad. It only highlights what skills and strategies will become the focus of the program. Any answer given was met with approval.  A wrong answer is actually viewed as excellent data.  It highlights exactly what deficit or need that student will focus on in order to progress. The student knows if they are selected for this program, it is not for remedial needs but for students...