Judy Maybe what your principal is saying is that you are noticing and naming what children are thinking about. That is just being a good teacher...kids need to know what they have done well... like ..."Joey, when you say that this part of the book reminded you of _____, you made a connection. Connections are something we can use to help us to understand our reading. Tell me what you understand now that you didn't understand before you made the connection." It isn't tinkering with their thinking, it is just helping kids to know what kind of thinking they are doing and then guiding them to realize what that thinking has helped them to understand. Does this sound right to you? I just recently read a manuscript (I was privileged to be asked to review new books for Corwin Press...being the girl who can't say no, I do it, and they feed my addiction to professional books by paying me in free books!) that talked a lot about fostering engagement. One of the things the text reminded me of was wait time. There is wait time one- which is how long you wait to call on someone, and wait time two--which is how long you wait before you as teacher respond to your student's responses. In light of what Ellin is teaching us about the importance of time to think...the need for silence, I found this an important point. My teacher brain worries about what happens when I dwell so long on an idea with one student...will I lose all the others? Yet, I can see the potential power here in teaching for depth. I hope that if I increase the amount of time to turn and talk, I will still have the student engagement I desperately want so that when I call on someone who is an "unusual suspect", I will get the depth I want. AND the others will be hanging on every word. Jennifer In a message dated 7/6/2008 2:24:23 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I'm big on drawing kids out and giving them LOADS of time to think. In fact, when my principal was doing a formal observation this year, she actually timed me giving a child 22 seconds (total silence, most eyes fixed attentively on him awaiting a response)...and he came up with a great insight. She also said my strength is helping kids interpret their own thinking--or something like that--which offended me at first because I DO NOT want to tinker with others' thinking, but then... **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list Understand@literacyworkshop.org http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
