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30 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei 17h \ on: Stacker Saloon
It’s apparent that I’m teaching a higher SES (social-economic status) class because some of my kids practically regurgitated many beautiful phrases they had memorised from their tuition classes. Even though they didn’t exactly address the theme, they would probably garner a mid-level pass because they demonstrate strong vocabulary and use the SNT phrases strategically.
This is the tuition advantage that is denied to lower SES kids.
I’m not sure if I would send my kids to enrichment centres to boost their chances of securing top grades. I don’t want to feel culpable in nurturing soulless writers who wax lyrical but remain detached from their words. Then again, I used to learn good phrases from composition books, so what’s the difference between copying from books and learning from a tuition teacher? The verdict is out on this one.
Or in the words of a student: “I was stuck in a dilemma and had to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.” 20 years of illustrious teaching - and I have never come across this idiomatic expression!
I'm actually much more supportive of rote memorization / drilling than I used to be. Especially for lower SES kids.
Pursuit of higher order thinking is good, but higher order thinking is made easier when you have a large knowledge base to work with, that you can call up quickly, evne if you don't fully understand all of it.
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I agree with you. Without a sizeable baseline of knowledge, students cannot hone the ability to analyse information, much less synthesise and create new products. I try to create pockets of time to force even my weak-progress kids to think. Specifically come up with their original Show Not Tell phrases. Their phrases mayn’t garner them as many marks as those bombastic phrases paraded about by tuition centres, but they will do well to boost their self-esteem
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