Judy...I know Ellin will appreciate your honesty. She really wanted the discussion to be honest... I think a lot of us may have had some trouble with the flow...I know I did...BUT perhaps that is for those of us that are global learners---to get the big picture first before delving into the details.
I am wondering about the renaming part too...but what I inferred is that Ellin wants us to be totally refocused---we are not just teaching reading, we are teaching thinking and "introducing children to the capacity of their own minds". It occurs to me that we are once again talking about language...about naming things. Names are powerful...they categorize, provide the mental hooks from which we build our understanding. Maybe, just maybe, if we kept the same names, we would be tempted to keep things the same way and not push to this deeper level. What is it Peter posted??? "Good is the enemy of great, great is the enemy of possible and possible is what we should be shooting for" We have writer's workshop in my district but not reader's workshop and so the strategies are all taught in a more traditional model of whole group-small group lessons with SSR time and conferences built in. I would love to see us go to this studio model as it would build in more reading time and individual attention for kids. I wonder if we are caught up in 'good' and need to consider what is 'possible' when we think about how we structure our literacy time. Just some random thoughts...and What do all the rest of you think? Jennifer Palmer Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the adventure. Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge. It is thinking that makes what we read ours. -John Locke From: Judy Mazur Sent: Tue 4/1/2008 3:37 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Understand] Chapter 2 Okay, deep breath, I finished Chapter 2. Now I know what many of you were talking about: it requires a lot of thought! When I introduced myself I didn't say that I am an avowed Ellin Keene groupie; I've read MOT many times and have seen her speak 4 times. I start with this information because I was shocked to find there are a couple of things in this chapter I'm not crazy about: 1. The flow is difficult. I disliked being constantly reminded that something would be further discussed later in the text. I kept wondering what I was missing. 2. I think (JMO) it was unnecessary to rename workshop, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading/writing, and sharing. For the first time since I opened MOT, I find myself unwilling to buy into one of Keene's suggestions. HOWEVER, I LOVE the big ideas: 1. Hooray for: high expectations, capacity of minds, intellectual engagement, and deep and critical thinking as habit 2. pp. 24-25 chart is thrilling--I mean, I am seriously excited about these 2 pages. They are going to move my teaching forward immeasurably! 3. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reminding us what's really important (essential)! Sorry to be at all negative; let me finish by saying the good enormously outweighs the tiny bit I disliked. I remain an avowed Ellin Keene groupie. Judy _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
