I agree, Renee. Especially in math...but in other areas too. We send our kids a 
vote of confidence in their ability to think when we give them the time and 
expectation that they WILL think.  On the other hand, demonstrating making 
inferences and then telling kids to make inferences on their own and expecting 
them to do it without some coaching might be a bit unrealistic.  I am trying to 
get a picture of some different ways to do "we do" without hand holding. Some 
real doable ways that help kids become independent...not dependent upon us! 
 
I love the idea of kids working in partners or in student led discussion 
groups.  Any other thoughts on what you think some appropriate 'we do' 
activities might be?
 
Jennifer L. Palmer
Instructional Facilitator, National Board Certified Teacher (EC Gen)
 
Magnolia Elementary School (Home School)
901 Trimble Road, Joppa, MD 21085
Phone:  (410) 612-1553
Fax:  (410) 612-1576
In EVERY child...a touch of GREATNESS!!! 
Proud of our Title One School!
 
Norrisville Elementary School
5302 Norrisville Rd
White Hall, MD 21161
Phone: 410-692-7810
Fax: 410-692-7812
Where Bright Futures Begin!!!

________________________________

From: [email protected] on behalf of 
Renee
Sent: Tue 9/27/2011 10:56 AM
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] "we do..."



I would say that anytime you have students working in groups, that
would be a "we do" situation, whether or not the teacher is involved.

Personally, I have a problem with "guided practice" when it gives
students too much help or too much information and they are not allowed
to struggle on their own a bit (no, not to the point of frustration) to
figure something out. I also think it can be a factor in students
becoming less creative and less able to think critically on their own.

I recall one of my evaluation writeups when I was teaching art and my
1st grade students were doing a collage with geometric shapes. There
was a little tricky problem-solving component and some of the students
took a longer time to figure it out and that was ok because I was
interested more in the PROCESS of creating than I was in the END
PRODUCT and the principal wrote on my evaluation that "some guided
practice might have helped" those students. Uh..... no..... I would say
you didn't understand the art process nor the idea of the lesson.

I don't think we should always steer students toward the one right
answer, and I think the wrong kind of guided practice does exactly
that.

My two cents.

On Sep 26, 2011, at 2:05 PM, [email protected] wrote:

> I don't know if this is "we do," but sometimes I have students work
> with a partner or a small group before they work individually.
> Sometimes I use the document camera and have students suggest ideas
> that I write down for everyone to see.
> Are either of those (both of those?) examples of we do?


"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy
to say, 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my
problem.' Then there are those, who see the need and respond. I
consider those people my heroes."
~ Fred Rogers



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