Readers, I am resending this with a new subject. Some people may not have opened it under the previous subject of end of year year. I am sorry if you get it twice. Some people are asking for the information. > >Dear Lori, > >I took lots of notes because I knew I might need to go back for clarity, and I >have his hand-outs. I will attempt to briefly summarize, but it humbles me to >try to do it justice. I have taken every opportunity to hear him speak over >the years. He is brilliant. > >Cambourne started with the conditions for all learning. He next spoke of the >work of Ellen Langer, and her book. THE POWER OF MINDFUL LEARNING. I wrote >down that he translated her work as work that is engaging and makes sense to >learners. Students are deeply engaged in literacy, not just motivated. He >spoke of teaching strategies that were mindful & contextualized. He noted that >drill and repetition for automaticity leads to "mindless" learning. > >His next really big point was that in his observations of effective teachers >and effective classrooms the product will be substantial "incidental >learning;" learning that is "unintentional, unplanned & is situated, >contextual, social and mindful." "Students will display skills and knowledge >about aspects of literacy that they never have been formally or deliberately >taught." >(I used quotes on this, but I am not certain it is an exact quote. It's what I >wrote down, and I know it didn't originate from my mind!) > >He then made a visual of two "pools" literally, and spoke of the linguistic >"spill-over" from the small pool into the main pool. The small, "side-data >pool" would be the skills and knowledge associated with the explicit focus of >the activity-for example whatever the component of the Reader's theatre the >students might have been working on in any given day, and the spillover would >be all the other literacy related skills and knowledge not explicitly taught. > >Cambourne then spoke about the guiding principles of effective classrooms & >teachers for this learning. > >#1 Valid & Reliable Theory of Learning (Conditions for how complex human >learning works) >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >#2. Teaching & Learning Structures: regular, reliable, organized patterns to >support student learning. These included predictable schedules, routines & >expectations, teaching episodes or mini-lessons (guided reading, shared rdg. >modeled writing, etc), Teaching-learning Activities, and rich tasks >(retelling, narrative writing, lit circles, reader's theatre, etc.), and >Things or objects used or acted upon-which he called Literacy Learning >Activities (journals, independent rdg. read to someone, SSR, etc.) > >#3 Meaning Making Behaviors and Learning Processes. He listed these under two >headings: Overt & Covert. The overt are of course visible: talking, listening, >reading, writing, drawing, and performing. The covert are more complex and >subconscious, or behind the scenes. Students might paraphrase via multiple >tellings; studetns transform to oral, visual, written & 3-D versions; students >construct metaphors; students' metacognition of their own learning. The >teacher might be heard to ask, "How did you figure that out," or "How do you >know that?" > >#4 Language-in-Use: He called this principle the "glue that binds the learning >theory structures and processes together, and at the same time provides the >'lubricant' to enable the bits to run smoothly." There were 3 types of >language in use: language that created trusting & supportive relationships; >language that supported classroom management (calm assertive tone), and >"learner friendly talk that established learning expectations. > >To summarize this effective teaching and learning he drew a 3-part model with >arrows running both ways. You would need to picture it in an oval or circle. >The three parts were: Meaning Making, Demonstrations, and Opportunities to >Transform Learning. > >The man is certainly a "gem" in our profession! > >John > >[email protected] wrote: >>Brian is a gem. > >_______________________________________________________ >Sent through e-mol. E-mail, Anywhere, Anytime. http://www.e-mol.com
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