"If students become invisible, does it mean we no longer have the responsibility to teach them"-Tovani (pg 74). This is a question that I have seen two main responses to through my experiences. I have heard that no matter what you strive to help the student and access him the best resources possible. I have also heard that if you try to help every student, especially the invisible ones that you will burn out; it is not worth it. For me personally I strive to help every student in the classroom. With my subbing experience I found myself at a school with challenging students. I was to hand out the math worksheets and allow the students to work on them. But I didn't stop there; I walked from group to group and glanced at their worksheets. When I found a blank worksheet I would ask if they had any questions. The students would either say yes and I would walk through the problem with them or they would say no. If they said no I would make my rounds and come back to that student to see if they had made any progress. If they hadn't I would go through a problem with them and watch them do the next one. My standing there with the student they realized two things: that they had to do their work even when the teacher wasn't present, and they were able to ask me any question and I would walk through the problem with them judgment free. When I say judgment free I mean not seeing any question as a dumb question. I remember this being my biggest fear when I was a student in middle and high school and I didn't want my peers or teachers to think that I was stupid so I was scared to ask questions. The truth about this, that I later learned, is that more than likely someone else is wondering the same thing.
Tovani tackles this issue by teaching students to ask questions and to respond to texts. This is new for many students since teachers usually ask the questions and the students answer them. To do this it takes a lot of practice on the students part and tangible models from their peers. To improve as a reader and writer one needs to be given an OPPORTUNITY to read and write. All through high school I turned in papers and received a grade and turned in papers and received a grade. It wasn't til my freshman year in college that I met a professor that said all of our papers were horrible but that we were going to go through them sentence by sentence, and we did. This was the first teacher that I had that didn't just hand a paper back but actually took the time and effort to hop off of the curriculum and moved at the students pace. This is called TEACHING students.
Tovani goes on to ask the students to make their own connections, to make their own sensory images with a text. The students first response is what sensory images should I be having. She tells them that they are to make their own connections through the text.
Through these skills she is giving them the essential tools that will allow the students to hold their thinking and allow them to remember and reuse what they have read and learned.
I went attended a training/class for two summers that focused on the "essential question" for each unit of study. the questions were brainstormed by the students and the teacher so that by the end of the unit of study everyone was able to answer that question in their own way. The teachers even learned to write their lessons based on that question.
ReplyDeleteIt sort of fits with this post about asking questions.
Yes it sounds like it does. I think more than not a lot of teachers become narrow minded and forget to be open minded towards their students. We need to encourage these students to be independent and open with their translation of texts and to feel free to express their opinions and questions.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that students can often be afraid to ask questions out of fear of looking dumb. I think this is something that really needs to be explored and, like you said, practiced so students feel comfortable asking questions. I like the idea of the essential question from the comment above. We should definitely brainstorm with our peers more about how to get students to ask more questions.
ReplyDeleteYes, but we have to understand that it will be hard for them at first since they have always been asked the questions. I think by forming an environment where the students ask the questions during lectures and to their text is a great way to start.
DeleteGetting the kids to ask question is sometimes like pulling teeth isn't it? I really enjoyed this post, it made me think about ways I can encourage my students to not be afraid to ask questions as well as providing them with guiding questions that will enhance their learning and ponder the question.
ReplyDeleteYes it is, but it makes sense seeing that we have always asked them the questions, they are used to just supplying us with answers. So to ask student to ask the question for the first time may sound foreign to them at first.
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