Joy, you are so kind. You know, I might have thought it was phobia related to drawing , but truly there were just as many struggling to put labels to the diagram based on descriptive writing. We spent much longer talking about this activity than doing it. It was not part of the plan, but there we go again with lesson plans as realistic fiction. The issue of comfort levels came up among those who struggled to draw and my partner--a truly wonderful young teacher--was quick to own up to the issue of not modeling (it was a warm up activity). She then modeled her drawing, letting everyone know that because she is NOT an artist (and she is clearly not kidding), her own students were each safe in the knowledge that they could outdraw their teacher. I talked about my own experience in the classroom--I draw fairly well and am passionate about art instruction. I could not 'pretend' not to draw well, but I could--and did--stress the importance of recognizing that there were times when art supported my learning--like the way my simple sketches and labeled drawings supported my understanding of a text--and there were times when art WAS my learning. I just made it very explicit to my kids if art was to support learning or BE the learning.
I need to find a way to see Karen Ernst again. It is probably time for me to reread her book. It must be here or at the office. She did an amazing job of using art to support writing and I need to rethink her work from the perspective of visual imagery to support comprehension. Ah, so many books, so little time!! Lori On 8/13/07 5:43 PM, "Joy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Lori, > This is very interesting. Behind my wondering about their comfort level is > an experience I had at an Institute for Environmental Education. We were all > gathered together at the beach for a week to learn about integrating > environmental education across the curriculum. All the teachers were > elementary ed, and had a wide variety of talents. We were a very relaxed > group, and bonded well. > > One of the workshops was about nature jounals, maybe it was the great talent > of the woman who taught us, but I've always wondered what it was that made us > feel so self-concious. > > By the way, I'd love to be a fly on the wall at one of your training > meetings! Better yet, I'd love to be a teacher! Do your teachers know how > lucky they are? I'm so jealous of them all! > > > > ljackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am not so certain. It was day four, a great group with only one new to > the district teacher, so trust levels were high. As I noticed the struggle, > we quickly encouraged them to work in groups--which made an observable > difference in terms of stress levels. When we debriefed the strategy, just > a couple talked about being uncomfortable with the idea of drawing. Others > talked a lot about struggling to make a mental image. Know this, we had > worked with visualization with fiction and not met these difficulties. In > all honesty, I believe that we under-estimated the difficulty these teachers > would have transferring a strategy across genre. My partner felt she should > have modeled this more explicitly. There are certainly some lessons to be > learned. > > 1. Strategies have to be taught ACROSS genres and text types. > 2. The ability to use a strategy well can become genre specific. > 3. Model, model, model!! > > Incidentally, this was such a great class to work with! As a fairly new > district level coach coming from a primary classroom in the district, with a > partner who is very young and somewhat worried by how she would be perceived > because of that--I think we would both say we were nervous working with a > local audience. I have presented at regional and national conferences, and > was far more concerned about this class than any national presentation!! It > is easier to be the expert from 40 miles (or more away) that it is to > sometimes work with local teachers. Our own concerns were put to rest--we > had an enjoyable week exploring strategy instruction. > > Lori > > Joy/NC/4 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content > go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Got a little couch potato? > Check out fun summer activities for kids. > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute July 17-20. 2008 Tucson, Arizona _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
