Dear Editor:
Thank you for your work in providing interviews with and information of candidates for mayor and for school board. In an article in another medium regarding introverts versus extroverts I came across this quote from Dr. Joel F. Wade, a psychologist, that made me think of the school board's responsibilities. "Introverts also remind us that not everything worth doing is worth doing in a group. We have become culturally so enamored of working together in teams or groups that it's easy to forget that much of the best productive work people do is done on their own."
Candidates for school board should consider this as it pertains to classroom structure in the primary grades. Apparently, the teaching profession, or at least school administration, has bought into the concept of group learning to the point where all students are now seated in groups of four to six where they are looking at one another rather than at the teacher.
Group projects and activities can indeed add much to the learning experience and can help students in middle and high school to prepare for the working world where collaboration leads to professional advancement as well as a positive workplace atmosphere.
But, I am concerned that using this group seating method in the primary grades, at least in first and second grades, is counterproductive. Children in these grades do not have well developed abilities to concentrate on a single topic. Sitting where they face one another, in close proximity, creates an unfair environment that leads to distractions such as talking to or touching one another instead of listening to and absorbing the lesson being presented.
The old-school method of having desks lined up with all students looking at the teacher is still valid for our younger students who should be absorbing the basics of readin', writin' and "rithmatic individually, so that they will be knowledgeable enough to contribute to group projects later in their schooling and careers. They can still have group or class discussions when appropriate.
I hope that current and future school board members will regard review of teaching methods, as well facility adequacy and curriculum content, as a key responsibility.