So Jennifer, this is what jumps out at me, if one of my students said to me, to quote you, 'there has certainly been struggle as I try to undestand, dwelling in ideas, rigorous discourse with classmates and I do find myself looking for patterns' I would be so thrilled. Isn't that what we are now teaching kids to do but we have don't always allow the kids to have the luxury of the struggle....and it is the luxury of the struggle. You also write, 'I like to think about.....' and again, what is it that we want our kids to say? Dwelling in ideas...I want to copyright that for the title of a book. It's so powerful when you think about it and apply it to any aspect of what we want our kids to do, be it in reading and or writing. Jan last year I 'guided', as I cannot say 'taught' a master's credit course in 'Writer's notebook' to teachers. It was twelve weeks of writing for three hours at a time. Can you even begin to imagine the journey we did as writer let alone teachers? I think the most powerful moment for me when a very 'driven' teacher, sat for over an hour unable to get a thought on paper when it usually came so easily to her. Guess what she understood? My year eight daughter had the homework task this week to write a two page story, with a conflict and resolution, at least three characters, with it all taking place in only ONE setting and to ensure that it did not include death, violence nor was it to be, and I quote her teacher, ' a boo hoo' story. Next time I teach my next adult class it is going to be their first writing assignment!!! Happy days. What I love to do is 'dwelling' in all the ideas you all share. I go back to my classroom after every weekend really looking on what I do to build understanding be it at the simplest level. It's taken me off the treadmill of 'get this done, get that done'...which we so easily get caught up in and I'm thinking if my children walk our the door at the end of every day, 'dwelling in ideas'...it's been a great day.
--- On Sun, 30/11/08, Palmer, Jennifer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Palmer, Jennifer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Understand] Sarah, Audrey and the Hopper painting > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Special Chat List for "To Understand: New Horizons in > ReadingComprehension"" <understand@literacyworkshop.org> > Received: Sunday, 30 November, 2008, 7:53 AM > All right, Ellin. How about this one? > > I am taking some very challenging coursework right now. The > course is called Disciplined Inquiry 1 and involves > statistical methods and methods for qualitiative and > quantitative research. I started out completely intimidated > by the math and by the difficulties inherent in the reading > I need to do for this course. The text book is highly > technical and we are reading just reams and reams of > additional research but with a critical eye. We are > analyzing research methodologies, critiquing > researcher's interpretations and completing our own > literature review where we must identify gaps in the > research. > > I haven't worked so hard to understand something in my > life, ever. I decided to pay some special attention to what > it is taking me to understand. > SO... yes, there are many reading/thinking > strategies...rereading, making connections and two column > notetaking figure heavily into my work... > > There has certainly been struggle as I try to undestand, > dwelling in ideas, rigorous discourse with classmates and I > do find myself looking for patterns. But the most > interesting thing I have noticed about my process for > understanding...and I am not sure whether or not it is a > dimension or an outcome of understanding (I really don't > think I get that distinction yet...) ...is a feeling of > efficacy. I feel a sense of power that comes from my > newfound knowledge. That "can do" feeling also > comes from the sense that now know I can tackle and master > something that is inherently difficult for me. I like > reading research now and I like not skipping over the > methodology and the statistical analysis which used to mean > nothing to me. I like being able to see the strengths and > weaknesses in a particular research study and thinking about > how it fits in with the broader spectrum of research on a > particular topic. > I think most of all, I like being able to demonstrate for > my students that yes reading strategies do work for adults > too...and that learning to read continues for adults. We all > get better and learn to understand more by exercising that > muscle in your brain through struggling to understand > challenging material. It is worth the struggle... and it > feels GREAT! (Much to my own surprise!) > > Now I must go and read some more...my literature review for > my final paper will surprise no one who has been on this > list a while...Lesson study! :-) > > > Jennifer Palmer > Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher > FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the > adventure. > "Ancora Imparo." (Translation: I am still > learning.) Michelangelo at 87 years of age > > ________________________________ > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of > Ellin Keene > Sent: Sat 11/29/2008 1:21 PM > To: understand@literacyworkshop.org > Subject: [Understand] Sarah, Audrey and the Hopper painting > > > > Hi everyone; > > I just wanted to underscore the important point Jan has > made here. The > writing example she raises was really the genesis for much > of what we did at > the PEBC in Denver in the early years. We spent time > writing, sharing our > writing and refining it before extrapolating lessons from > our experiences > into the classroom. It not only made the lessons so much > more authentic, it > seemed to build on the real needs writers have rather than > on some > curriculum list that a publisher created. It's not > that some of those > skills aren't important, but are much more easily > taught and applied when > they come from the real experiences of the teacher, first, > and later, of > course, from the children. > > > > The same thing is true in reading, but so much of our > reading experiences > are cognitive and therefore, not visible or audible and > much tougher to > define and describe. As you know, the Dimensions and > Outcomes I describe in > To Understand came directly from observing both teachers > and children in the > process of coming to understand. All I really did was to > apply a set of > descriptors to what I observed-those descriptors became the > Outcomes and > Dimensions. I think the potential that you all bring to > this work is to > continually observe (yourself and your kids) to discover > Dimensions and > Outcomes I may have missed!! What do you observe when you > closely watch > yourself and/or your kids in the process of understanding? > If we can define > and describe those observations, we can increase the > likelihood that more > children will use them! I'd be curious to hear if any > of you have > discovered new Outcomes or Dimensions in your own reading > and/or in your > classrooms. . . . > > > > Very best, > > ellin keene > > > > > > I think it is very important for teachers to experience the > dimensions of > understanding at a conscious level before trying to > implement these ideas in > the classroom. When we have experienced it, the experience > becomes part of > our schema. It helps us to understand what the students > are going through > if we go through it ourselves. The best teacher is > experience. > > I was part of a 7 district collaborative on writing > workshop. One of the > things the leaders had us (coaches who were going to be > training teachers) > do was to try the lesson ourselves -at an adult level. We > experienced what > it felt like to pick a topic, find a great lead that hooks > the reader, how > to observe and take notes, etc... We also were asked to > keep our own > writer's notebook -well, that's what we asking the > students to do. By > experiencing it ourselves, we knew what it was like (at > least for us). It > helps build empathy for the student who has trouble picking > a topic (it > wasn't all that easy for me). > > > > Jan > > > > _______________________________________________ > Understand mailing list > Understand@literacyworkshop.org > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Understand mailing list > Understand@literacyworkshop.org > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org Start your day with Yahoo!7 and win a Sony Bravia TV. Enter now http://au.docs.yahoo.com/homepageset/?p1=other&p2=au&p3=tagline _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list Understand@literacyworkshop.org http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
