Monday, 4-11-11. Children are children.

Lissa and I met with the principal, assistant principal, and teachers to discuss their professional development needs for our visit with them on Tuesday. We asked them to share some of the writing activities/strategies they were doing in the classrooms. I could tell they were a bit hesitant to share at first. I kept in mind what Dr. K said at our meeting last night and kept things in a very positive light. Soon, they were all sharing. We acknowledged the good ideas and strategies they were already using. Then we asked them what they felt like they needed in terms of professional development in writing and reading. They were quite specific. These are some of their major concerns: 1. The children have problems because many of them speak two to three languages but don't speak any of them using correct words or grammar. This hinders their ability to transfer their ideas to paper and as a result don't produce writing of any length-just a few sentences or maybe a paragraph. The children hear correct English at school, but when they go home, they hear Creole, Spanish, or broken English. 2. The few students who do write more, have problems with focus and organizing ideas. 3. Students have problems with mechanics. 4. Students don't want to read for pleasure. 4. Students have problems with inference and comprehension.
I told them that other than the issue with the languages, American students have the same problems. I told them that children are children. After the teachers left, the principal and assistant principal remained with us for further conversation. They began to discuss how their students don't think about school when they go home. They only think about television, videos games, etc. I laughed and told them this was like having a discussion with American educators. Again I said, "Children are children."