I love this discussion! Yes, it is process vs. product...but the bigger question that we all struggle with is "What is important to teach?" We are not alone in this struggle...remember that series of books out a few years back, that attempted to list what every third grader (or second or fifth) should know? And then there is that new TV show "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" which focuses mainly on factual knowledge that we assume a fifth grader should know. And then of course there are those late night show clips where the talk show hosts go out on the street and ask things like who the vice president is, and how many stars are on the American flag. The humor comes from the fact that there are things we 'should' know as adults and these people look foolish because they don't know. And of course, Ellin jumps into the game with her list of what is essential to teach...and even there, there are some things you just have to know---like sight words and letter sounds. I wonder if we, in education, (not we on the list) are asking the wrong question. It isn't process vs product. Rather it is "what do we need to know as raw materials for what we want to think about?" We need to have something in our schema in order to apply it to our reading to understand, right? When I come across this dilemma in my own teaching, I ask myself "How often will my students need this factual knowledge?" For example, they will regularly need to know who the president is and how he/she is elected and what the president does. These things are needed to be able to make intelligent decisions when it comes time to vote. But students also need thinking skills to be able to analyze the candidates messages, to be able to think about the impact proposed policies might have on many aspects of their daily lives and the lives of others. Will my students need to memorize textbooks full of facts like the names of all the presidents in order and how many were assassinated in office? While those things might be interesting to some and even important in their line of work, the average adult will rarely need those facts and if he or she does, we simply go online and look it up. Those are the facts I decide to leave out of my teaching. When I hear some of the parents in my community talking about 'rigor' ...they often are talking about having more to read, at higher levels and more facts or vocabulary definitions to memorize. The rigor is all about content...not process. I think we need to educate folks about Ellin's idea of rigor. That might eliminate some of this either/or mentality. Jennifer In a message dated 7/18/2008 11:19:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Am I crippling them as learners by focusing on process? Is it enough to give them strategies to solve problems if they need to be reminded how many days are in each month? I swear I will never go back to the "old way" of teaching, but I am concerned. What do you think? I hope my concern is clear, Judy **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020) _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
