Articles written by Joseph Zavarella

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About me - Joseph Zavarella

I am a retired public school teacher, elementary school principal, and district curriculum director. I taught a graduate class at Fordham University entitled, "Issues and Trends in Education." While working it was difficult for me to find the time in order

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Education > Reading & Writing Skills Which is a better way to teach children to read: Whole language or phonics?: 1 of 21

Phonics is a study of the component parts of words and the sounds made by letters in combination with one another. Hence, sounding out the words as the student speaks by remembering the sounds made when letters are in certain positions is a phonetic approach to learning how to read. The component parts of the word then becom...
Education > Education (Other) Is there a solution to school violence?: 1 of 19

An informed community becomes an informed school population that is willing to discuss behavioral problems caused by anyone in the school setting. The social fabric becomes one of unity and common purpose which is to provide a safe and secure environment for the kids wherever they may be. Educators are able and eager to work...
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Revenge: 9 of 90

A DAY AT THE TRACK Carrie felt the eyes on her as she took short steps in the white spiked heels and yellow mini-skirt she knew would not be comfortable for a day at Saratoga. The white short sleeved blouse with the top two buttons open seemed to be getting the kind of attention she expected. A young woman dressed in tight b...
Parenting & Pregnancy > After School Should parents raise their children without television?: 23 of 228

Television is to today's children what books were to the nineteenth and early twentieth century youngsters. What enlightened parent would have deprived their child of reading the great literature of the times back then? Because book publishers were not as plentiful the material printed was of a high quality, unfortunately so...
Education > Educational Philosophy Is it better for schools to be rigorous or nurturing?: 5 of 32

A school in and of itself is nuts, bolts and concrete. The program provided in that school is developed and mandated by authorities outside the classroom. Hence, school boards and administration are the ones who must be rigorous in making their demands on the students to learn and the teachers to teach the specified programs...
Education > Educational Philosophy Instructional strategies: 3 of 14

Communication as a Basic Skill Children begin to communicate with their environment almost immediately after birth. They point at things and make guttural sounds wishing to know what they are seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling. The child will mimic the sounds made by its mother and will develop a vocabulary long ...
Celebrations & Holidays > Christmas What to serve for Christmas Eve dinner: 15 of 68

Christmas Eve for us was an evening when immediate family gathered for the feast which consisted mainly of seafood dishes. No meat or fowl was allowed, pasta and vegetable side dishes were plentiful and desserts were usually served on a buffet for later if anyone still could eat. Imagine, if you will, seven separate entrees ...
Education > Early Childhood Ed Should school systems move to full-day kindergarten programs?: 9 of 39

An argument used in opposition to adoption of the full-day kindergarten program is that the children are too young to tolerate the longer day. In addition they say that the children's attention span is too short for them to take a full day at school. In my view, although some of the children may tire easily and become fatigu...
Education > Educational Philosophy Does education put too much pressure on teachers and children: 1 of 4

Perhaps one of the most unpopular positions one can take relative to our public schools is the notion that competition is not a necessary element for motivating kids to learn. So imbedded is the concept of competing with others for achieving a goal that those who object are considered possible escapees from the nearest asylu...
Education > Homework & Testing Evaluating high stakes testing: 2 of 5

In my view, any testing that produces an outcome weighing heavily on a student's future is, of course, high stakes. However, the weekly spelling test and math quiz may have similar impacts if they tend to create a niche the student cannot score his way out of. Concerns over the outcomes of these little tests may lead to majo...