Home
Log in / Sign Up
    Private Messages   Advanced Search   Rules   New User Guide   FAQ   Advertise   Contact Us  
Forum -> Working Women -> Teachers' Room
Attention recent ed/special ed graduates



Post new topic   Reply to topic View latest: 24h 48h 72h

seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 25 2022, 2:22 pm
Can you please help me out a teeny, tiny bit? It'll only take a couple of minutes.

I graduated redacted years ago and I'm trying to get/stay up to date on current trends. I think I've done OK with learning new ideas and strategies, but I'm a little out of it when it comes to dropping the right buzzwords in professional communication. Can you please share the general terms or names of programs that were trending when you were recently in education/special ed grad school?

For example, when I was in school one buzzword was Balanced Literacy. Bloom's Taxonomy was all over the place, too.

A trending program was Teacher's College Reading/Writing Workshop (I believe this is still standard, but isn't it getting old? Has it not been usurped?)

A buzzword that I'm currently seeing but did not exist when I was in school is UDL or Universal Design for Learning. As far as I can tell, it's basically a lot of stuff we would have been doing anyway, but now it has a buzzword and if you try to pass someone a cover letter or job application without it, you are probably looking out of it. Since I didn't do THAT good of a job keeping up with the currents since my school days, I might not have known it was a Thing.

So I'm asking you young 'uns, what else is a Thing now that I might not know about? If I want to update my skills and resume, what should I be looking into?

Thanks for humoring an old lady.
Back to top

amother
Cerise


 

Post Wed, May 25 2022, 2:49 pm
Balanced literacy is on its way out. Lucy Calkins is passe--she recently had to issue a mea culpa of sorts as she repackaged her units of learning. Guided reading is in for now, so is Fountas and Pinnell. Phonics is big. Not sure if there are specific programs that are being pushed but you can't go wrong with Open Court. Conscious Discipline is in. Learning targets + success criteria is a must, it's not just regular plain objectives anymore.
The latest buzzword I hear is SoR .
This is just a smattering off the top of my head, you can research if you'd like deeper knowledge.
ETA I'm not a recent graduate either....graduated around 20 years ago.
Back to top

amother
DarkRed


 

Post Wed, May 25 2022, 3:55 pm
(just btw as a parent.of SN kids, this is already a very depressing thread)
Back to top

amother
Cerise


 

Post Wed, May 25 2022, 4:03 pm
amother [ DarkRed ] wrote:
(just btw as a parent.of SN kids, this is already a very depressing thread)

Why? Genuinely curious. (I'm a regular Ed teacher as it happens.) Mine is the only reply so far...hope I didn't touch any sensitive nerves or cause you hurt.
Back to top

amother
Yolk


 

Post Wed, May 25 2022, 6:15 pm
Why depressing?
Back to top

seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 5:42 pm
amother [ Cerise ] wrote:
Balanced literacy is on its way out. Lucy Calkins is passe--she recently had to issue a mea culpa of sorts as she repackaged her units of learning. Guided reading is in for now, so is Fountas and Pinnell. Phonics is big. Not sure if there are specific programs that are being pushed but you can't go wrong with Open Court. Conscious Discipline is in. Learning targets + success criteria is a must, it's not just regular plain objectives anymore.
The latest buzzword I hear is SoR .
This is just a smattering off the top of my head, you can research if you'd like deeper knowledge.
ETA I'm not a recent graduate either....graduated around 20 years ago.

What's SoR? Google has way too many results, and the top few don't seem relevant.
If you graduated 20 years ago, how do you stay up to date? I try to keep an eye out but curious what resources other people are using.

Thanks!
Back to top

seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 5:49 pm
amother [ DarkRed ] wrote:
(just btw as a parent.of SN kids, this is already a very depressing thread)

I'm not sure what's depressing but maybe you can reframe it - I would think it's a good thing that professionals are constantly trying to learn new things to make sure they are doing the best they can for our kids, and that new research and methods are evolving to do the same.
Back to top

seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 5:52 pm
As for me personally I have put quite a bit of effort into continued development since I graduated, but since I'm on my own to seek learning opportunities, it's easy to miss things and I'm asking what I might have missed out on. Also, the learning I do is often based on issues I'm facing with a particular student, so if I've searched for answers to their issues I may not be finding out about recent developments in other areas. Some of my employers provide professional development but I find it very insufficient.
Back to top

amother
Seagreen


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 6:03 pm
amother [ Cerise ] wrote:
Balanced literacy is on its way out. Lucy Calkins is passe--she recently had to issue a mea culpa of sorts as she repackaged her units of learning. Guided reading is in for now, so is Fountas and Pinnell. Phonics is big. Not sure if there are specific programs that are being pushed but you can't go wrong with Open Court. Conscious Discipline is in. Learning targets + success criteria is a must, it's not just regular plain objectives anymore.
The latest buzzword I hear is SoR .
This is just a smattering off the top of my head, you can research if you'd like deeper knowledge.
ETA I'm not a recent graduate either....graduated around 20 years ago.


What is SoR?

Also, why is balanced literacy on its way out?
Back to top

amother
Cerise


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 6:08 pm
seeker wrote:
What's SoR? Google has way too many results, and the top few don't seem relevant.
If you graduated 20 years ago, how do you stay up to date? I try to keep an eye out but curious what resources other people are using.

Thanks!

Working in a public school is really what has kept me up to date--you are exposed to the latest and get trained in specific new programs/methods. Also, continuing education to keep up my certification. In my state, that's 6 graduate level credits every 5 years. (I know different states have different requirements.)
SoR is science of reading...looking into heavily researched teaching methods that are backed up by strong data. That's why phonics is coming back in so heavily and balanced literacy/Lucy Calkins is going out. She was figuratively ripped to shreds in a recent New York Times article. Balanced literacy is on its way out because it didn't emphasize phonics enough. I think we are looking at going back "old school" with teaching reading...I've seen it coming the past few years, so really not a surprise. That's the pendulum of education. It always swings from one extreme to the other. Hey, even teaching cursive is coming back in, which plenty of people thought was gone forever.
Another thing I meant to add is that Growth Mindset is not completely out but it's getting to be passe, too. Same thing with flexible seating (mainly yoga balls and hoki stools, from what I recall.) It's fine if you utilize it or talk about it in interviews but it doesn't generate the "latest trend" vibe.
Back to top

amother
Teal


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 6:25 pm
SEL (student emotional learning) and SCL (student centered learning). I’m sure there’s a lot of info on the internet about both, but I’d recommend Maryellen Weimer’s book Learner Centered Teaching to learn more about SCL.
Back to top

amother
Cerise


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 6:49 pm
Yes, student centered learning is very big. That's why small group teaching is paramount, both for reading and math.
Back to top

amother
Offwhite


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 7:27 pm
amother [ Cerise ] wrote:
Hey, even teaching cursive is coming back in, which plenty of people thought was gone forever.
Is it? I’m shook.
Back to top

amother
Cerise


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 7:40 pm
amother [ Offwhite ] wrote:
Is it? I’m shook.

Yes. It's been brewing for at least 3-4 years. Several states have added it into their state standards, there may be close to 25 states now. There is a lot of research that shows students retain information better when they handwrite it vs typing it, and even better when they use cursive vs printing. If you google it, there is a ton of information out there. It went to the backburner the last couple years with covid and remote learning but now that all schools are reopened, I expect to to come back to the forefront fairly soon.
Back to top

amother
Seagreen


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 8:03 pm
amother [ Cerise ] wrote:
Working in a public school is really what has kept me up to date--you are exposed to the latest and get trained in specific new programs/methods. Also, continuing education to keep up my certification. In my state, that's 6 graduate level credits every 5 years. (I know different states have different requirements.)
SoR is science of reading...looking into heavily researched teaching methods that are backed up by strong data. That's why phonics is coming back in so heavily and balanced literacy/Lucy Calkins is going out. She was figuratively ripped to shreds in a recent New York Times article. Balanced literacy is on its way out because it didn't emphasize phonics enough. I think we are looking at going back "old school" with teaching reading...I've seen it coming the past few years, so really not a surprise. That's the pendulum of education. It always swings from one extreme to the other. Hey, even teaching cursive is coming back in, which plenty of people thought was gone forever.
Another thing I meant to add is that Growth Mindset is not completely out but it's getting to be passe, too. Same thing with flexible seating (mainly yoga balls and hoki stools, from what I recall.) It's fine if you utilize it or talk about it in interviews but it doesn't generate the "latest trend" vibe.


Interesting. Can you link the NYT article?
Back to top

seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 8:26 pm
amother [ Cerise ] wrote:
Yes. It's been brewing for at least 3-4 years. Several states have added it into their state standards, there may be close to 25 states now. There is a lot of research that shows students retain information better when they handwrite it vs typing it, and even better when they use cursive vs printing. If you google it, there is a ton of information out there. It went to the backburner the last couple years with covid and remote learning but now that all schools are reopened, I expect to to come back to the forefront fairly soon.

That's so interesting because it's been pretty much known for years but seemed certain to never catch on in widespread practice. There are just so many other things to work on.
Back to top

amother
Offwhite


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 8:37 pm
amother [ Cerise ] wrote:
Yes. It's been brewing for at least 3-4 years. Several states have added it into their state standards, there may be close to 25 states now. There is a lot of research that shows students retain information better when they handwrite it vs typing it, and even better when they use cursive vs printing. If you google it, there is a ton of information out there. It went to the backburner the last couple years with covid and remote learning but now that all schools are reopened, I expect to to come back to the forefront fairly soon.
Weird. I left education a few years ago so I haven’t kept up. But I never thought they'd go back to cursive.
Back to top

amother
Cerise


 

Post Thu, May 26 2022, 9:29 pm
amother [ Seagreen ] wrote:
Interesting. Can you link the NYT article?

Sorry, on my phone and can't link. But if you Google her name+nyt I'm sure it will pop up. It was published maybe a week ago.
It's behind a pay wall, though, probably, just FYI. If you can read it, though, check out the comments. Those were more interesting and telling than the actual article imo.
Back to top
Page 1 of 1 Recent Topics




Post new topic   Reply to topic    Forum -> Working Women -> Teachers' Room

Related Topics Replies Last Post
I search Weekly Link every Wednesday at midnight for special
by amother
3 Wed, Mar 20 2024, 1:26 am View last post
How to juggle giving attention to everyone? 2 Wed, Mar 13 2024, 11:15 am View last post
Special Instructor- what do you think?
by amother
5 Wed, Mar 06 2024, 11:07 pm View last post
Attention phoenix imas! Hairstylist for girls
by amother
4 Tue, Mar 05 2024, 5:25 pm View last post
Anything special for Purim Koton?
by corolla
0 Thu, Feb 22 2024, 9:06 am View last post