Here We Go Again...

I recently heard from a former coworker who taught with me for a number of years. She mentioned that in her new district they are always reinventing the wheel with educational practices. That seems to happen often. Sometimes I chuckle at the 'latest' teaching method or curriculum because often it is an old technique reorganized. I have been working on a workshop highlighting the RTI (Response to Intervention) teaching methods. Although founded in special needs, it is an organized way for the classroom teacher to provide support for all children, particularly those who need extra help. The first tier requires the teacher to have clear-cut goals/guidelines and an organized way of tracking the progress of each child. When we wrote POCET (Preschool Outcomes Checklist and Evaluation Tool) several years ago, that was exactly the philosophy. Give preschool teachers a clear roadmap of skills that is easy to understand, in developmental order, and provide a way to track each child's progress in mastering those skills. So, I'm reinventing my POCET workshop to the first tier of RTI. The good news is that great teachers can adjust to the new label and still perform their good teaching practices. Ya gotta satisfy the boss. :-)