I hear ya, Tracy. My mom teaches middle school and she often feels the same way. I think there has got to be a push in training and from administration that lets ALL teachers bear the weight of the teaching responsibility. I also think part of why non-ELA teachers aren't adapting is a lack of training. It isn't that they are bad teachers, they just aren't seeing the big picture of what ELA means. Elementary schools tend to work a little more closely with colobaration, even if they are departmentalized. Maybe one way to help would be to develop some units together. The ELA teacher could, for example, read Out Of the Dust, while the science or social studies teacher discuss weather, terrain, or economics. Another help might be something like our PLT where we meet across grade levels and read research, explore student evidence, and set a school-wide goal to disseminate among our teams. I think it is certainly going to take a mind-shift to get everyone on board!
I hear ya, Tracy. My mom teaches middle school and she often feels the same way. I think there has got to be a push in training and from administration that lets ALL teachers bear the weight of the teaching responsibility. I also think part of why non-ELA teachers aren't adapting is a lack of training. It isn't that they are bad teachers, they just aren't seeing the big picture of what ELA means. Elementary schools tend to work a little more closely with colobaration, even if they are departmentalized. Maybe one way to help would be to develop some units together. The ELA teacher could, for example, read Out Of the Dust, while the science or social studies teacher discuss weather, terrain, or economics. Another help might be something like our PLT where we meet across grade levels and read research, explore student evidence, and set a school-wide goal to disseminate among our teams. I think it is certainly going to take a mind-shift to get everyone on board!