I always try to support and promote student thinking, understanding, and engagement in my classroom. One way that I do this is to tell the students in August that everyone is a learner, including me, in our classroom. Whenever anyone shares with the class everyone is expected to be respectful of that person's ideas. A specific example of how I support and promote student thinking and understanding is when we read stories in our Voyager anthology book about Maddie, Foster, Emilio, Virgil and Gerty. I allow the students to share their thoughts about the characters and events in the stories with their pathfinders and then with the class. In one of our stories, the characters were in Africa and saw animal footprints in the mud by the river. The students discussed with their pathfinders what animal could have made the footprints. Then they wrote their ideas on sticky notes. I placed these on an anchor chart titled: What animal could have made the footprints? Then the students shared their thoughts with the entire class. After we finished reading the story, we wrote the names of the animals that did make the footprints on the anchor chart. Also, I always try to stress to my students that we are constantly revising our thinking when reading. I liked the way that the little boy in "Teaching with Intention",Raul,compared revising thinking when reading to a computer. I am going to use that comparison with my class. After reading you simply "delete" from your brain your thinking that was incorrect. Another specific example that I have used in my classroom this year was when I read the book "The Egyptian Cinderella" to my class. There was some fiction and some nonfiction parts of the book. I allowed the students to describe fiction and nonfiction texts. Then I made an anchor chart with the question: Is "The Egyptian Cindrella" a fiction or a nonfiction book? The students had to write their thoughts on a sticky note and share with their pathfinder. The next day, I reread the book, and the children shared with the class if the book was fiction or nonfiction. After much discussion, my class decided that the book was fiction, but it contained several facts which made parts of the book nonfiction. Another example when I have supported student thinking, understanding and engagement was when I allowed my students to work in groups to find and write facts about the grazers, browsers, and predators in Africa. The students had to read the text and find 3 important facts about their type of animal, and write these ideas on a chart to share with the class. These are just a few examples of times when I have allowed my students to be actively engaged in the learning process and to share their thinking. I have always tried to model my thinking to my students, and I have tried to show them that I am a learner too. Especially during my reading lessons, I have always tried to engage my students by allowing them to share their thoughts about their reading with a pathfinder, a small group, or with the class. I admit that I have not always made learning visible in my classroom with sticky notes with students' questions or ideas or with anchor charts. I have engaged the students by allowing them to make their own Venn Diagrams, Story Webs, Character Charts, etc., but I do see the importance of making the students' thinking visible by simply displaying their questions and ideas individually and as a class. I do plan to make my students' learning more visible in my classroom, and I plan to take more time to really listen to my students ideas and questions to better support and promote their thinking.
I believe that students must be actively engaged to ensure the learning process. I encourage sharing and working cooperatively. I can honestly say that I have always used groups with my students, especially during reading. I have experienced many trends and programs in the teaching of reading. I have always found that some students require that extra push or assurance that they can be successful. How can this be accomplished? By pulling and giving extra one on one attention. We as teachers had the choice of more flexibility within our classrooms. I quickly learned to be organized and to set the tone and goals for my students. From the beginning, I realized with organization you can have different groups of children doing different things even different subject areas. I can remember when I first tried graphic organizers with my classroom. Yes, this was even before Voyager. I have always read and tried to keep up with new trends. This was a totally different learning concept and I am proud to say that I could get immediate feedback and see and hear the student's thinking process. I agree that student's ideas and learning should always be visible in the classroom. Thumbs up to the teachers at Knight Enloe for making learning visible!
I always try to support and promote student thinking, understanding, and engagement in my classroom. One way that I do this is to tell the students in August that everyone is a learner, including me, in our classroom. Whenever anyone shares with the class everyone is expected to be respectful of that person's ideas. A specific example of how I support and promote student thinking and understanding is when we read stories in our Voyager anthology book about Maddie, Foster, Emilio, Virgil and Gerty. I allow the students to share their thoughts about the characters and events in the stories with their pathfinders and then with the class. In one of our stories, the characters were in Africa and saw animal footprints in the mud by the river. The students discussed with their pathfinders what animal could have made the footprints. Then they wrote their ideas on sticky notes. I placed these on an anchor chart titled: What animal could have made the footprints? Then the students shared their thoughts with the entire class. After we finished reading the story, we wrote the names of the animals that did make the footprints on the anchor chart. Also, I always try to stress to my students that we are constantly revising our thinking when reading. I liked the way that the little boy in "Teaching with Intention",Raul,compared revising thinking when reading to a computer. I am going to use that comparison with my class. After reading you simply "delete" from your brain your thinking that was incorrect. Another specific example that I have used in my classroom this year was when I read the book "The Egyptian Cinderella" to my class. There was some fiction and some nonfiction parts of the book. I allowed the students to describe fiction and nonfiction texts. Then I made an anchor chart with the question: Is "The Egyptian Cindrella" a fiction or a nonfiction book? The students had to write their thoughts on a sticky note and share with their pathfinder. The next day, I reread the book, and the children shared with the class if the book was fiction or nonfiction. After much discussion, my class decided that the book was fiction, but it contained several facts which made parts of the book nonfiction. Another example when I have supported student thinking, understanding and engagement was when I allowed my students to work in groups to find and write facts about the grazers, browsers, and predators in Africa. The students had to read the text and find 3 important facts about their type of animal, and write these ideas on a chart to share with the class. These are just a few examples of times when I have allowed my students to be actively engaged in the learning process and to share their thinking. I have always tried to model my thinking to my students, and I have tried to show them that I am a learner too. Especially during my reading lessons, I have always tried to engage my students by allowing them to share their thoughts about their reading with a pathfinder, a small group, or with the class. I admit that I have not always made learning visible in my classroom with sticky notes with students' questions or ideas or with anchor charts. I have engaged the students by allowing them to make their own Venn Diagrams, Story Webs, Character Charts, etc., but I do see the importance of making the students' thinking visible by simply displaying their questions and ideas individually and as a class. I do plan to make my students' learning more visible in my classroom, and I plan to take more time to really listen to my students ideas and questions to better support and promote their thinking.
ReplyDeleteI believe that students must be actively engaged to ensure the learning process. I encourage sharing and working cooperatively. I can honestly say that I have always used groups with my students, especially during reading. I have experienced many trends and programs in the teaching of reading. I have always found that some students require that extra push or assurance that they can be successful. How can this be accomplished? By pulling and giving extra one on one attention. We as teachers had the choice of more flexibility within our classrooms. I quickly learned to be organized and to set the tone and goals for my students. From the beginning, I realized with organization you can have different groups of children doing different things even different subject areas. I can remember when I first tried graphic organizers with my classroom. Yes, this was even before Voyager. I have always read and tried to keep up with new trends. This was a totally different learning concept and I am proud to say that I could get immediate feedback and see and hear the student's thinking process. I agree that student's ideas and learning should always be visible in the classroom. Thumbs up to the teachers at Knight Enloe for making learning visible!
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