A Flower for Angela by Sandra Leesmith

Author:Sandra Leesmith [Leesmith, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amber Press
Published: 2014-11-21T00:00:00+00:00

ON FRIDAY MORNING, Angela was less tense than she had been for a while. That was good because with the professors coming at one o'clock, she needed to be calm. They deserved her best efforts in return for the time and energy they had contributed to the development of the whole language program.

Looking around the conference room that afternoon, Angela was filled with satisfaction. Confident that Ricardo would now fully understand her goals, she introduced the university staff.

"Each professor represents a part of the curriculum," she explained to Ricardo. "But Math, Science, and Social Studies are all integrated with the reading and writing processes in a holistic approach.

"We don't teach each subject separately—you know, math for an hour, science for an hour, and so on." She began pacing at the head of the table, her high heels clicking on the hardwood floor. "We try to integrate all of the subjects into a meaningful whole."

"You need to clarify what exactly you mean by ‘whole,’" Ricardo interjected.

Angela studied him, staring into his jet black eyes. His relaxed expression didn't waver but held firm. For a moment, she envied him his calm demeanor. Could she maintain her own composure?

"Take, for example, the concept of environment we're studying." She gestured broadly with her hands as enthusiasm for her subject built. "That has usually been either a science or a social studies unit. We've used it as both."

"But as you've seen from the students’ work,” Dr. Wheeler spoke up, "Miss Stuart has also included math, writing and reading within the unit."

"Remember the girls measuring their plants?" Angela jumped back into the discussion. Surely he would relate to this. "They also wrote their data in their notebooks and they read books and magazine articles about plant life because they wanted to understand what was happening."

"Traditional classes read articles, write answers and measure," Ricardo pointed out. "I don't see much difference."

Puzzled, Angela studied him. Surely he'd observed the process. They'd even discussed it at length. "These students do it individually. They search the information for their own use rather than following a forced reading assignment."

"If the teacher doesn't assign the work, how do they know if their students have read the necessary material?"

Willing herself to be calm, Angela took a deep breath. Again Ricardo's attitude baffled her. For someone who had insisted he possessed an open mind and a willingness to be objective, he was acting annoyingly obtuse. What kind of game was he playing?

"If you noticed, in our library there are at least a hundred books, magazines and pamphlets available on the different aspects of environment that we're studying. The students use them to find answers to their questions."

"That still doesn't mean a child of this age will be able to read them."

For a brief moment, when he rubbed his fingers against his forehead, Angela thought Ricardo might be suffering from a headache. Maybe that was why he seemed to question every practice she’d described. But the cool stare he leveled at her made it clear he knew exactly what he was doing.

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