professornana (professornana) wrote,
professornana
professornana

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Context

Context. So much depends upon the context. An article from the NYT asks if my college is a good investment. I automatically think about the context is which this question is framed? Is this asking if I am getting enough bang for my buck? Or if my education will pay for itself once I am out in the world? Or is there some other context that might prompt this question such as the teacher education program bashing brought on by the NCTQ report which basically says most of these programs could be done better by less educated folks with fewer hours and less emphasis on pedagogy and child development.

Yesterday I posted about a claim for a new app that promised it would change the way kids learned to read. Context? Parents need to make sure their kids are further ahead than others by making sure they can read and write before they even dare come to Pre-K. Real context for me? Let's make money from all those parents who are now worried if their kid is not ready for the entrance and exit exams for preschool (and there are plenty of articles out there now about these new batches of tests for 4-5 year olds).

I posted about new professional books guaranteeing results if you just teach kids the magic words for CCSS (draw, explain, summarize, retell, compare, and contrast are just a few of them). I figured that context immediately: make money now while CCSS is still in play.

Someone else could see the same text I see and, if they have a different context, come to a different conclusion. Fact is, we seldom know the entire context. Instead we look for clues to assist us. We work it out, teasing it out a bit at a time. And we bring into this mix our own experiences. The classic example:

Woman without her man is nothing.

This can be punctuated as:

Woman, without her man is nothing. OR
Woman, without her man, is nothing.

How you see that sentence depends on so much.

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens

so much depends
upon
a caring
teacher
armed with great
books
inside her (or his)
classroom

So much depends on YOU.
Tags: context
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