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Old 04-10-2009, 10:57 PM   #140
kazbates
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenophon View Post
'scuse me? I seem to be not getting something here. If there's not time to teach those basics, how is there time to teach anything else? Without the basics behind the words the kids won't get anything other than rote memorization. With the basics they won't need the rote memorization.

Or is the issue "tyranny of the wrong-headed-but-mandated syllabus?"

Xenophon
You misunderstood, or I misrepresented. Sorry. We teach as much of the basics of the language as we can. We just don't have time to hit the finer points of Latin, Greek, German, etc. I taught elementary school grades K-5. At one end we were trying to teach them to hold a pencil properly and use it to form a letter on paper. At the other, I was trying to get them to string words together to coherently express their thoughts. Perhaps at a higher level, they would have more time to get into all that, but honesty, I just didn't have the time nor was it a priority of my administation. When I taught 5th grade, I had to fit 5 subjects, specials, lunch and recess into a 6.5 hour day. It wasn't easy.

And on that note, I'm off to bed...
Kaz
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