Re: [Understand] Sarah, Audrey and the Hopper painting

[suzie herb]

and 'luxury of the struggle'...Jennifer, just think about it!!!
--- 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
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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