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
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