I agree Jennifer. That's why I wouldn't mind labeling what is going on (okay kids, you've watched me do it, now you give it a try with your reading buddy. Your turn to practice!). I may have an idea of when I want them to give it a focused try individually, but as I circulate and monitor their practice, I need that input to make the decision to move forward. Some children will be ready before others, don' t we know! So I would let them go give it a whirl, and maybe call over a small group that I see is still needing more reinforcement.
So much of what we do is an art and craft. My knowledge, experience, and what children I have are what informs my teaching decisions. Teaching from the brain and the gut. I appreciate all of the leaders in the field who I have turned to over the years (Routman, Rasinsky, Keene, Miller, oh so many!) But we must synthesize it all and apply what we know to our unique teaching situations. I experience my *own* gradual release as a teacher. Have something modeled for me by an expert (sometimes just by reading their examples) practicing and discussing with colleagues, and now on my own. And I refresh my knowledge each year by skimming over books (doing Reading Essentials now) that have guided me before. Now I've got to go teach! Have a great day out there everyone! Maura On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 6:01 AM, Palmer, Jennifer <[email protected]>wrote: > While I had a similar cranky reaction at first, I am rethinking this. > Seriously. If gradual release is an effective way to teach strategies, what > if we enlisted kids input into the process? I could see that announcing the > stage, while making kids metacognitively aware that this is a good way to > learn and asking their input as to whether or not they need more modeling or > guided practice before release might actually help develop independent > learners. > > I think many times professional developers, in an effort to give teachers a > scaffold for their professional learning, say things such as this without > considering how it impacts teachers professional decision making...but the > underlying idea might have some merit when not taken to extreme... > > Jennifer > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 3, 2011, at 11:49 PM, " > >>> I agree with Cranky oops I mean Renee. When will the powers that be > learn > >>> that life is not scripted? There is no canned scripted program that is > > ever > >>> going to be completely successful. What happened to teaching children > to > > be > >>> independent thinkers which includes life lessons about making > appropriate > >>> choices and taking responsibility for ones own actions? What happened > to > >>> spontaneity and teachable moments? Some of the best learning that I > have > >>> ever witnessed was seizing that precious moment in time and building > >>> somethinglong lasting with it. So Renee if you are cranky then I guess > I am the > >>> grouch! > >>> In a message dated 10/3/2011 7:44:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > >>> [email protected] writes: > >>> On Oct 3, 2011, at 2:21 PM, Suzanne Goebert wrote: > >>>> In my District they want us to use the gradual release model but > >>>> they also want us to tell the children (I teach Gr.2) when we are > >>>> changing to the next phase. They want to hear in our lessons that > >>>> we are saying I do, we do together, and you do alone. That way the > >>>> children will know what their job is. > >>> Does your district think children do not know "what their job is" > >>> when you say to them "ok you're going to work in a group now" or > >>> "this one you are doing by yourself"? > >>>> My question is...Do most of you use the words to signal your > >>>> children to change to the next phase? Or do you just make sure that > >>>> your lessons have all of the phases?? > >>> no on both counts > >>> I am not one who believes that *every lesson* needs to include a > >>> prescribed list of certain components decided by somebody who isn't > >>> even in my classroom. > >>> In fact, I think this is silliness. Sounds like a scripted version of > >>> a gradual release model, which is not supposed to be a checklist but > >>> an overall way of doing things. > >>> Call me cranky. > >>> Renee > >>> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
