Hi Deidra,
I agree with you and whoever said that it is also due to parents'
expectations. I recall two years ago when I was working in a
Kindergarten classroom and we had a certain student who was VERY bright
but who sometimes just seemed to really lack confidence. Then one day
we were making "stone soup" and his mom came in to help with the
vegetable preparation, etc. She and I were working at a table together,
calling each student over to cut up the particular vegetable he/she had
brought. While I was guiding each child in the use of a knife, watching
carefully while he or she did the cutting, this mom was doing ALL the
cutting FOR the child while the child watched her. I kid you not. I got
a huge insight that day.
Renee
On Jun 14, 2009, at 5:04 AM, djchan wrote:
Renee,
I am a retired teacher and I found these same problems when I taught.
I think it comes from adults in the child's life who are controlling
and do not allow the child to learn by mistakes. I once had a child
(boy) in my first grade classroom who was held back because of failure
to perform. Trying to get him to put anything on paper was a
nightmare. He was so scared of making a mistake that he refused to try
to do anything. I later found out his previous teacher stood over him
while working and pointed out every mistake he made and he had to do
it all over. It took over half the school year for him to relax and
gain confidence in himself before he could write anything other than
his name on a piece of paper. He ended the year well but had lots more
'trauma' to overcome from that year with the controlling teacher.
Children who have issues with self confidence ie "Is this right?" have
not been allowed to feel successful after a mistake and fear being
wrong and punished. They don't understand that it's ok to make
mistakes and that mistakes are normal parts of learning.
I hope you have a very successful school year next year.
Deidra Chandler
MA Reading
MA Early Childhood Ed.
ps. I teach adult education now and still find this same mentality
among them.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Renee" <[email protected]>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2009 10:32 PM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Do we really need to teach explicit strategies?
I teach Art to Kindergarten, first, and second graders. I have many,
many, many students who constantly ask, "Is this right?" and "Can I
(whatever)?" and "What do I do?" and many, many, many students who
say, "I don't know how to (whatever)" and.... the most disconcerting
of all.... many students who, right after I give directions for
whatever we are doing and send them off to the tables to get started,
will just sit there. Just sit, and sit, waiting for me to tell them
to start, even though the paper and/or other materials is sitting
right there in the middle of their table. I walk by and say, "I'm not
sure what you are waiting for" and they look at me.
This is all AFTER I give directions, perhaps model the use of a new
tool or show a couple of techniques or show a few examples (which I
then put away) to spark some ideas. I always end my introduction
(which takes place as a whole group, sitting on the floor), with
directions to go find a seat and get started.
I really think this is a direct result of way too much direct
instruction and focus on "the right thing" and "the right answer" and
not enough discovery and/or inquiry. I base this, of course, on my
own deductions relating to the degree of "is this right?" behavior
among different classes (I taught 24 classes last year) and my
impressions of their regular classroom teachers' teaching styles.
Very unscientific, to be sure. :-)
A story:
I had one little boy this year, a first grader, who in the beginning
of the year REALLY wanted me to tell him he was doing the right
thing. Early on, I said to him, "This is art class. If you are
following directions and taking care of the materials, whatever you
put on the paper is going to be the right thing!" and after that, if
other students asked if they were doing the right thing (which they
did, often), I referred them to the first boy. On the last day of
school, when we were charting what they had learned in Art class, my
young man offered, "that anything you make in art class is the right
thing." :-)
Renee
On Jun 13, 2009, at 6:02 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Renee
........
I am very interested in your comment about kids getting into that
place
where they can't function without modeling. Can you talk a little
more about
that idea for me? I tend to think that my kids ALREADY come to me
like
that...even the K kids. Maybe what we need to model is independent
thought and
problem solving.
Jennifer
"The important thing is not to stop questioning."
~ Albert Einstein
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"The reward of a thing well done is to have done it."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life, 'Fate,' 1860
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