TEACHER COMMENTS
ABOUT THE SILVER BULLET APPROACH

"The target children...are delighted because they're getting to talk more, and they are more enthusiastic about class. Because of the pairing, they have new friendships. They tend to pay attention more, and they see the purpose behind it... This is the first year I've seen all the children retaining some of the facts that are intensively practiced through the pairing method. One thing that has changed is my way of thinking and analyzing and doing a task analysis. When I see a 'glitch' it's much easier for me now to go back and figure out a systematic way to approach it, so that each child can become successful."

--Judy Vavrek, bi-lingual first grade.

"Children with lower skills...have been wonderful, a lot more positive. They are just as successful as the other children, with the listening and remembering what they've heard from other children. I think it's been wonderful for their self-confidence... We have certain skills that they need to remember, and I think if we use this method it will help them retain the information that they need to retain. I'm very consistent with my rules, and therefore the kids know what the expectations are. If you teach this method the same way and they get the gist of it, then I think that they'll just fly. They'll be great."

--Mary Champagne, first grade.

"The tension that the children had surrounding each other just started to dissipate because of the connections that they were making, and because of the real life stuff that they were talking about. It was just something you could literally feel within the classroom... "I don't think I'm overstating it when I say that of all the post-graduate work, of all the in-service staff development classes and courses that I've taken through the school district, through WEA and other places, that this program is the most comprehensive, sound, dramatic program that I've ever seen. It can take a class which a teacher thinks is already perfect, it can take a class which the teacher or school thinks is just the most hostile and aggressive class that they've ever seen, and make almost immediate, and indelible, and lasting changes."

--Leonard Dawson, Jr., fourth grade

"With the learning feat activity, I used that in my content area, and I see a much greater retention toward the learning of content material... I think it's from the students not only reading the information, but then simply verbalizing it back so they not only read it, but they practice it right after they read it, and then they hear it, and then they sit and listen to somebody else share it with them. So they actually get the material three times within a short period of time, as opposed to just one time... If it's used frequently, I can see where it can really help transfer information from short term store to long term store, which is what we really want to do. I was really impressed with how powerful that was in order to get a large amount of material retained in a short amount of time... The communication piece is an excellent way to teach cooperative writing."

--Marcia Strang, sixth grade.

"I was amazed at how immediately they reacted to that particular technique (communication skills check sheet), putting it on the board and having them see immediate, tangible results. In fact, when I stopped using it because I moved into some other areas and I wasn't using it as often, they would remind me to use it. They'd start complimenting each other like a game, in a way that was not meant to be sincere, yet as they used it, it became sincere. The feelings in the room felt good... The learning feats really make it possible to go deeper into the subjects without spending a lot of time on it, by letting the kids get self-motivated..., going into depth on what they've already learned."

--Heidi Bennett, high school.