I love this!! Those are my favorite two sentences of the whole book!! At
first, I thought the first sentence was brilliant because it pulled out
everything I was needing and wanting (and reading the book for), and I LOVED
the spot on word choice Be Present. But, for the reader, that would be exactly
the wrong place to stop and think "I GET it." Because it's the second sentence
that's truly brilliant if you reflect further. "AND WHAT THIS MIGHT MEAN FOR
DAYS AHEAD."
Debbie slips in oh-so-gently the basic, core difference between good teachers
and great teachers. And even greater teachers! It's the teacher that
considers this sentence as she lives and breathes that truly GETS IT. If we're
to do the job we're being asked to do, we stop too short even if we do the
formidable tasks Debbie articulates in sentence one.
It's as though we, the teachers, follow exactly the process she describes in
the Shark lesson design. Or should. Every day we teach, she asks us to
reflect, to synthesize our new learning gained that day, and to record our
learning. But what a mountain of opportunity lost if we don't stop and think
"what that might mean for the days ahead."
And I, personally, really love being a work in process. I love that you can do
a not-so-hot job, learn, and do a better one the next day. But I really,
really love that you can do an inspired, state-of-the-art, over-the-top job,
and STILL there is the unspoken promise that there is even more to come in the
days ahead. That's one of the reasons I love reading Jennifer's Lesson Study
posts. Those lessons she describes are awe-inspiring, but within this process,
the next one might be even more so. It's easy to remember why Bonnie and
Jennifer both mention the mind-boggling professional development potential of
Lesson Study. This concept of "what that might mean for the days ahead" is how
Michael Phelps lives, but what whomever was in second place each time, might
not have. And think of how talented the #2 in the world is!
So I agree with this post so much that these two are perfect companion books,
even though they are very, very different. Debbie Miller sets out a Lesson
Design plan that is brilliant and makes Teaching with Intention seem at first
to be a "how to" book. Well, I guess, I mean "very practical"--which it is.
But the process Debbie describes in parallel fashion for teacher and student,
and what Ellin describes when she probes, "I know you don't know, but if you
did know....?" are really identical at the core. If you put the two together,
what you get is - Slow down. Be present. Listen. Provide the time to think
about and develop their ideas. Take the time for you to think about and
develop ideas. Help the children synthesize new learning. SYNTHESIZE YOUR OWN
NEW LEARNING. Ask kids to write about what they learned about themselves as
investigators that day. You do the same.
But, WOW, here's the reason I believe the second sentence is the real
deal-maker: When we explicitly think about "what this might mean for the days
ahead," it is only then, I believe, that we begin To Understand about ourselves
as teachers. That's what we find out about ourselves as teachers when Ellin
tells us "but if you did know. . ."
And that's the difference between doing a great job with our kids and an even
greater job. That's really what makes it best job in the world. Ultimate
optimism. The potential to grow as a teacher each and every hour and day.
Contrast this to reading scripted Direct Instruction "with fidelity."
Bev
******************************************************************************************
Debbie Miller continues, "Most of all, I learned the importance of slowing down
and being present, of taking the time to think about and develop ideas,
synthesize new learning, and write about what I learned about my kids or myself
as a teacher that day. And what that might mean for the days ahead."
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