I was a reluctant reader of Opening Minds because I tried to read
Choice Words, and I didn't like that book at all. I couldn't finish it.
At Jennifer's urging, I bought Opening Minds. I have started it. I'm
in chapter five.
And... wouldn't it be ironic for me to be closed minded about a book
called opening minds? :)
Either the two books are very different, or I'm at a completely
different place in my understanding. (or both)
Our school's next book group book is How Children Succeed by Paul
Tough. So far I think that book is about what to do. Opening Minds is
more about how to do it. I often need more help on the how.
One thing I've noticed in Opening Minds is that the teachers restate
what the student has said. When I do that in my classroom, my students
(8th graders) tell me that is NOT what they said. I think they
recognize that I polished their words, and they seem to be angry with
me. I think I must be doing something the wrong way, and I'd love to
hear how some of you successfully work with restating with middle
schoolers.
Earlier this year, I had them read some sample dialogues of students
discussing books. I thought that if they could read something more
sophisticated, they could follow the examples. Instead some (not all)
of the students seemed upset that they were expected (1) to stay on
topic (2) to try to discover the meaning of the text.
I am at a mostly middle class school, and I am not asking these
students to do anything beyond their abilities, but this is a school
where everyone is expected to succeed. I think we're a school that
tries to shield the kids from anything that is hard. I'm looking for
ideas from other middle school teachers.
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