Bonita I think this speaks volumes for the constructivist approach...and for the thinking classroom that Ellin is describing. We need, too, to be thinking teachers. This list is full of thinking teachers. We come here to think, to listen, to dialogue with others. We disagree with each other, support each other , and are passionate about what we do. That is why, in spite of the emphasis on "research-based programs" (which means, in my district, they come in a box) and the continual assault on public schooling by policy makers, I have hope. Lots of hope. Bev speaks of our "hearts cracking"...and I can relate to this feeling, especially lately...but all is not lost. This listserv has touched upon the idea of literacy leadership. We need to all take up that mantle...in every way we can. We teach for thinking, share our ideas with colleagues and support them in their professional growth, and advocate for what we know is best for kids. Then when our kids succeed...we need to sing it to the world! Bring administrators and politicians into our classrooms, write articles and letters to the editor. Let folks see that it is the quality of the teacher that makes for excellence...it isn't a program. It is only by sharing what we know works with the world...with bringing positive light on our schools that we can change things. So...I am thinking about what I can do next year to create a thinking classroom and a thinking school....and maybe even move toward a thinking district! I am thinking big here...there is no time to waste! I want to bring willing colleagues in on some lesson study...perhaps planning lessons together using the ideas in To Understand. Let's suppose we are teaching inferences. We all teach those lessons each year. Next year, how do we infuse in our lessons on making inferences the nature of understanding? Definitely food for thought... 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: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 6/8/2008 10:27 AM To: [email protected] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Understand] Understand Digest, Vol 4, Issue 4 > > ...before we move on to chapter six! > . One person noted that perhaps > lesson study has not taken off in the US because teachers are uncomfortable > making mistakes in front of colleagues. I am wondering if this is part of > the US culture that is holding us back in education. I wonder the same thing. We are a culture that does not seem to appreciate the mistake-making that must occur along the path of learning. It makes me think of many teachers that do all the set up for their young charges because it is cleaner and neater that way--not realizing they are stifling student growth and responsibility. A short story, jennifer. I went to a Japanese School in Connecticut to see lesson study in action--lesson followed by teacher observation-discussion. One teacher had taught a lesson on angles where students came up and picked different angles to use to make a triangle. Then, once they started to see the pattern of which angles would work--she showed them how all the angles of a triangle add up to a line. Then she passed out paper triangles for the students to "cut" the corners and line up the angles to see the line.... After the lesson I went up and asked why she did not have the students rip the corners off the triangles ( as we in the US are wont to do). I explained to her we do this because then the students recognize which of the three angles needed to be lined up. Her response? She said the Japanese teachers had discussed this and realized that if they taught the students that way, it would indeed be easier, but then the students would not learn how to take responsibility for tracking the angles themselves. The teachers felt that would be an important responsibility to practice. So instead, they made lots of paper triangles so the students could try again and again until they figured it out. Bam! That felt like such a learning moment for me. These teachers stop to consider the amount of learning responsibility they were releasing to the students! That would be a huge change in teacher thinking here, I think....no? I have more thoughts to share on chapter five too, but I am off to a conference with teachers from all over the world! Very excited! Talk more later. Bonita
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