Finley S. @PrepMaster

#Tutor & #Teacher offering personalized tutoring for test prep, study skills, English, history, humanities, math, and Biology facebook.com/PrepMasterFinl… Joined June 2017

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

9 months ago

@Eduventuring04 @teachbk 250% agree! Teachers need support and consistency to teach foundational skills for all subjects. But literature is like an onion. There are so many ways to approach it and differentiate. Scripts are like playing piano scales instead of music.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

9 months ago

@karenvaites Nearly every state requires a year of U.S history in high school and many require it in 5th and 8th grade based on state standards. However, Harvard isn't representative of K-12 graduates: 25-30% private school grades; 1/11 come from 21 feeder schools.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@MarcusLuther6 I personally prefer Much Ado About Nothing for 9th.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@GraziaXuereb @karenvaites This report is for remedial math (Math 2) placement, so I believe international students from China, particularly those whose families can afford to pay tuition, are much less likely than US student to need remedial math.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@karenvaites I'm a bit confused about how thus relates to writing. That graph is referring to a remedial math course and is part of a larger report on math skills not writing skills.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@karenvaites @ReadingShanahan The rise of the Internet and the dizzying array of digital texts correlates with the rise in shorter texts and excerpts. Therefore, I believe that he is overlooking both the impact of the Internet as well as other factors (testing, standards, textbook bloat).

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@karenvaites @ReadingShanahan Another question to consider. According to Shanahan, "Whole books have never been a large part of K-5 ELA curricula." I imagine it would be difficult to get data for 90s ELA curricula, but I think we might see some differences and change over time. 1/2

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@MmeLockhartLDS Straight lines are always written left to right for print letters, but the top down orientation supercedes left to right especially for curved letters or letters with more than one stroke.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@karenvaites @lexingtonsuper @mass_potential @mmoriarty61 @MASchoolsK12 @s_e_schwartz KG and you can tab through to see 1st and 2nd bpsearlylearning.org/focus-on-k2

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

11 months ago

@karenvaites @lexingtonsuper @mass_potential @mmoriarty61 @MASchoolsK12 @s_e_schwartz One point of contention, BPS has a pretty impressive district designed curriculum combined with some foundational materials that are most definitely not balanced literacy. It's worth a look: bpsearlylearning.org/prek-foundatio…

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@karenvaites I am all for drastically reducing individual screen time and cell phones in schools. But I am opposed to any initiatives that attempts to do this at the federal level. It's like using a pick ax to split a single ice cube.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@mpershan The claims about overemphasizing arithmetic don't hold up to state standards or state exams. Even struggling students with learning gaps are expected to solve algebra problems in 7th and 8th grade.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@justinskycak It also seems you are ignoring the dramatic shift that has taken place in 8th grade math and to some extent 7th grade math over the last 13 years. 8th graders learn functions, irrational numbers, Pythagorean Theorum, and systems of equations.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@justinskycak Have you taken a look at any of the math state standards or assessments in these grades? It's quite clear that the standards emphasize proportional reasoning, algebraic thinking, and operations with rational numbers. Arithmetic is not the focus.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@stuffthings1100 @hilarym99 It isn't supposed to be used exclusively. In K-2 it is supposed to be 30 minutes a day that is part of a larger literacy block with a Tier 1 ELA program. It can be used above 2nd grade for intervention with foundational skills.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@MarcusLuther6 and maybe making rubrics. But I would personally prefer a teacher or department designed rubric that you can choose to edit. Randomizing seating charts or groups is also fine. But I think there is something lost when we have it do real thinking tasks.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@MarcusLuther6 Here is what I consider to be ethical use of AI: using free or low cost problem generators designed by math teachers to generate differentiated problem sets for math practice. I will also consider teachers generating personalized decodable texts 1/2

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

12 months ago

@JamesAFurey @karenvaites My opinion is that after training in EBLI, I would only use EBLI or another Speech to Print approach. So far EBLI has worked amazingly for any teens with baseline skills at or above 1st grade level. It also helps teens closer to grade level with smaller gaps.

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

a year ago

@MrZachG I could see how this could be an issue on the extreme end with some wordy problems. But is it ever truely possible to reduce or eliminate the impact of reading fluency on solving word problems?

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Finley S. @PrepMaster

a year ago

@karenvaites I think this is a generalization. If by flow, you mean they are appropriated in block grants to the state, how do we know Superintendents of Education/state DOEs will have the skills to organize and distribute these funds appropriately?