Ron!!! Thank you for your thoughtful post to the listserv. Your words have helped me develop an "agentive narrative" about my work on the listserv and I truly appreciate it! ;-) The chapter on praise, for me, was the place when I started beating up on myself as a teacher. I was always liberal with my praise...trying to make it specific...but often it was personal. "You reread that ! That's what good readers do!! Good job!!" Now I understand personal praise has a dark underbelly. Other students hearing that might think, "so I don't reread and that makes me a bad reader." I also understand that when we focus feedback on HOW rather than what...that we are helping students become strategic.
Now as to your last wonderful question (love it!!) I have found it challenging to try to develop prompts that: 1) apply to a world-wide audience (This listserv does have a world-wide membership) 2) help people think and dig into the text and 3) are open-ended enough so that multiple perspectives are both possible and useful. As I look back, I might think about asking folks to share more about their own classroom experiences in relation to the text. An example... can you think of a student in your class that has a fixed performance frame or a dynamic learning frame? How do you know that a child has one or the other and what have you done in the past? What will you do now that you know what you know?? So, Ron, or anyone else...feel free to take THAT prompt and run with it if you wish! :-) Jennifer -----Original Message----- From: Mosaic [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ron Heady Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 7:01 AM To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Chapter four of Opening Minds I am finding all the ideas in the book--as you just described this one, Jennifer--"powerful." I have to admit that in the opening pages I was dismayed by some of what I considered jargon and "made up" words ("agentive," "dialogic," etc.). However, I have moved past that response because so much of the book resonates very (again) powerfully. Some have reacted strongly to Johnston's "criticism" of praise, emphasizing he process rather than the product or the producer when examining "work" has helped me understand the rationale behind some of our "best practices" that have not always worked very effectively for me. I think the kind of training and preparation he describes in the chapter will give things like "reciprocal teaching" and paired reading activities greater depth and meaning. The long-term value he posits I found very moving and inspiring. (PS: You have phrased your prompts very clearly and effectively; as you reflected on them, which ones would you change?) ________________________________________ _______________________________________________ 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
