GrreatTeacher

Joined

• started 32 topics
• posted 2,671 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by GrreatTeacher

• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  LUHE, the camel. I'm thinking maybe it says something like, "Please clean up after your pet," and they post it in the park?

  Diogenesister, I think that might be where we are heading. After a few years of this, I am seeing kids who have little writing stamina. And now suddenly writing skills are very poor and we are to focus on them. The organization and elaboration, not the spelling and grammar, though. I just keep thinking how much more exposure they would have to words and writing if we could still teach spelling.
• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Sparky, I think it is very reasonable to assume that cursive handwriting vs block printing use different parts of the brain/neuronal pathways.

  I had always used it, then dropped it when I was teaching younger students. It was a bit challenging to pick up again and it took a few months for it to be automatic again.

  Sadly, cursive was taught to my son as an afterthought, mostly for children who finished their work early and he never did. He doesn't even have a cursive signature!

  But, of course, they all have laptops that the school board lends them. So, all their work is digital now except for the rogue geography teacher who makes them label maps.

  They no longer have to take notes: they're just given copies of the PowerPoint.
• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  LUHE, I love that! What does it mean?

  Road to Nowhere, that is partially how I get buy in for learning cursive: I tell them they can write faster and 'get it done with quicker .'

  Of course, I am still struggling with legible block printing with some of them. It's not fashionable in education right now to spend time on learning any process of handwriting. Nor spelling. Because we now have spell-check. Not even kidding. The solution is keyboarding and spell-check with the powers that be currently.

  By the way, parents nearly rioted when we told them at the beginning of the school year that there would be no spelling homework this year and it would be folded into the daily curriculum (cough, cough). I don't blame them. I wish they would call the Board of Ed. Maybe they'll listen to them because they certainly don't listen to us.
• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Simon, I'm worried that eventually no one will care about original song lyrics because they won't be able to read them!
• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Sorry. Tried to paste an example, but it disappeared!
• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  LUHE, in the US, the joined up letters are slightly slanted and this is considered cursive. The only other option are the block type manuscript letters that are individual and neither joined nor slanted. It's kindergarten printing or bust!
• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Girl next door, I hear you on the Arts. Fortunately my school has visual arts, general music, chorus, media/ library and physical education. STEM has taken the place of technology where they used to learn keyboarding. So they really aren't getting much instruction on any kind of letter formation, digital or handwritten.
• 
  37

  Should kids learn cursive handwriting?

  by GrreatTeacher in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am an elementary school teacher of the fourth grade.

  in times past, students would start learning cursive handwriting in third grade and by fourth should be transitioning to writing in cursive at all times.

  as you might be aware, this has all but been taken out of the curriculum.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Oppostate, that is a good point regarding choosing the right font. I had never considered it because academic writing is typically specified as Times New Roman or Arial. But, choosing a specific font could be seen as personal expression. Interesting.
• 
  39

  Concealed carry Dubs

  by scruffmcbuff in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i spent a considerable length of time living and working in america (would love to imigrate one day).. almost everyone i worked with and made friends with carried a concealed firearm of somesort.

  i found this pretty interesting and as an avid firearm fan even more so.. so to our american members here... .

  as a jw did you or did you know any practising dubs who carried or if not had firearms for home defence?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  To be clear, Bat Signals are acceptable to Christians in the US.

  Your mileage may vary.
• 
  39

  Concealed carry Dubs

  by scruffmcbuff in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i spent a considerable length of time living and working in america (would love to imigrate one day).. almost everyone i worked with and made friends with carried a concealed firearm of somesort.

  i found this pretty interesting and as an avid firearm fan even more so.. so to our american members here... .

  as a jw did you or did you know any practising dubs who carried or if not had firearms for home defence?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  I remember a big kerfuffle over this back in the '80s. There was something printed that was pretty absolute. 'Guns are not for Christians' or similar.

  The issue was with hunters who used shotguns or rifles for hunting. They were threatened or lost privileges for this. I think they were eventually accepted for hunting purposes only. It was viewed as providing for your family.

  But, handguns were a definite no no. Cops or others who carried weapons for work had to find new employment.

  I don't know how or if the issue evolved from there.