Catherine, I just have to respond to your post. Especially the part where you talk of process versus product. It is so eery because I have been noodling over process versus product for a long time now, but especially intensely these last few weeks since I started reading To Understand. I have to go back over my reading to see if Ellin talks specifically of process versus product or if it just seems to be a natural digression of thinking that occurs as a result of reading and thinking about the nature of understanding...I found it so interesting that you are noodling over the same thing.
My noodling is a far digression from To Understand, I think, because it is taking me down the road of thinking about teaching through the disciplines--something that is advocated in GATE instruction and has also been emphasized/addressed in Howard Gardner's writings and other project-based programs. I love project-based and inquiry based learning, but I also love process. I am grappling with whether teaching strategies can be anything but process-based instruction. Anyone? :)Bonita--in the middle of chapter three PS. Jennifer--cool conference story. This book is important, but without book groups and discussion I think many readers will not appreciate just how important the ideas in this book are. The idea that we are encouraging that type of dialogue is most satisfying to me. > > Though I have not posted recently, I continue to read this listserve daily. > I guess it's my "professional fix". > Last week I attended a National Conference on Service Learning. They > presented sobering statistics on high school graduation rates in larger > cities. > It's amazing how mentally overloaded one can get just by attending > invigorating sessions. > Though this was not a literacy conference, it had everything to do with > learning. > At the last minute a friend was able to attend. How much richer my learning > became because we could bounce ideas off each other. > I continue to witness the immense power of talk, even with very young > children. > With only 2 1/2 chapters into To Understand, I continued asking the > fundamental question, "What's essential in our schools today?" > This is a question that encompasses all academic areas (I'm a big picture > person). > I realized most of us here are "process orientated" while much of education > today is "product orientated". > Reading Ellin's conversations with kids allows us to witness the process. > The postings from the past few weeks celebrate the process the students and > the teachers go through. > While the product may be unpredictable and varied, we celebrate the > learning that occurred along the way. > This cannot be measured on standardized tests (we are in our 2nd week of > testing). > To Understand does include a framework but it is not a "How to teach > literacy manual". > It has us thinking, discussing, wondering, questioning, confirming, > celebrating, learning and understanding. > This is what education should be about. Unfortunately, so much has gotten > lost with NCLB. > I'm encouraged to hear that this book is being sold off the shelves. We are > ready for the big shift in literacy instruction. > >Catherine _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
