The post you're speaking to was actually my second "post" yesterday. I wish I had a dollar for every post I carefully wrote and then lost because of silly tech glitches. I no longer remember all I wanted to say, but the main part was probably dealing with the NAEYC'S model of learning. Through the years I've found it to be true of virtually all learning, no matter the age of the learner or the content. The model purports that all learning begins with awareness and proceeds to exploration, then inquiry, and last utilization. It's not linear, nor clean and neat, nor predictable, nor simple, nor uniform. I believe that model aids and deepens understanding of the release to independence. I also believe Jerry Harste's discussion of like processes, often called "mucking around", is illustrative. It's time we begin to discuss again the differences between teaching and learning. All too often in the last few years, there has been the "unperceived inconsistency" and underlying assumption that everything that is taught is learned and, even sillier, that nothing is learned unless it is taught. Whole class instruction comes from that thinking. Learning is something done by the child, not to the child, and we need to remember that. Often differentiation is a necessary result of teaching large groups in a too-narrow fashion, rather than being open-ended enough to accommodate differences among learners.
You mention anthologies. I believe that publishers, in their attempt to be all things to all people so as to increase sales, have/use inadequate PD on their part as well. That often results in whole-class teaching. If the district doesn't extend the teachers' understandings, or challenge assumptions, release to independence becomes just one more buzz phrase. Hopping down off my soap box now.... Sent from my iPad On Jan 4, 2013, at 6:16 AM, "Palmer, Jennifer" <jennifer.pal...@hcps.org> wrote: > Bev... > What a thoughtful post...it leads to something I have been thinking about, > and that is the structure through which we teach literacy is of grave > importance. My district has Writer's Workshop...but not a Literacy > Studio/Reader's Workshop. For years we taught a whole group lesson followed > by two reading groups...then gave teachers permission to be flexible in how > they teach reading. Without sufficient PD, that has become a LOT of whole > group lessons. We purchased an anthology for teachers to use as a resource > for reading, but for many that resource has become a crutch...and so while we > read Miller and Keene, and teach our comprehension strategies, they don't > always become part of our students' independent repetoire. > > I think that part of the reason for this is that our basal has a strategy > being taught for two weeks...it marches students through the gradual release > model together (or sometimes neglects the "we do" or guided practice > section). We don't work at each student's pace...those kids who have already > mastered the strategy get it again. Those who need more modeling don't get > it. And so... we leave some behind and fail to push others ahead. > > If we put our money into PD to help teachers use a workshop model, the > structure for differentiation is in place, making it more likely to be > implemented. I used to think that the structure for instruction didn't > matter, it was the philosophy behind it that mattered. I am changing my > thinking at this point, now that I am out of the classroom. The structure > supports the good teaching...and allows us to use the gradual release model > that Debbie describes rather than marching students through a "flow chart" > lock step. Got to get Debbie's second edition I think!!! > > > _______________________________________________ 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
