Chapter 3: Changing Learning Narratives
"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." -Albert Einstein
This chapter was short but it tied in perfectly with chapter 2 (see below). One thing I loved in the beginning of the chapter (besides the quote above) was a discussion between a teacher and student about a Martin Luther King book. The teacher began by saying " This is not a really long book but it has got really big ideas inside of it. So it's important to read it every year I think. Because are you the same person, exactly the same as you were in kindergarten?" This goes along great with the fact that students need to understand that CHANGE IN LEARNING IS GOOD and that they should expect change.
Casual process is another topic in this chapter. Casual process comments are the most effective way of promoting the belief that they important information is how someone did (or could do) something,because that is what we can learn from. Another great suggestion made in this chapter was to give students a comment that positions them powerfully such as "Thanks for teaching us that" rather than praising them.
A chapter reminder: How we give children feedback is probably the most difficult for us to change, but it is probably the point of most leverage. -I am glad someone said this because I know it is hard to change how you give feedback. Last year I always told my students "good job", "keep up the good work", and many other praises but none were specific so they obviously had no idea what I was talking about because they can't read my mind so it was something that I had to work on once my collaborating teacher and partnership resource teacher brought it to my attention. I worked on it last year and I am doing better this year but this book is also helping and I am very happy that I am a part of this book study because I have the opportunity to work on my feedback (as well as other things) and perfect it to the best of my ability before I enter a classroom on my own.
Chapter 2-Learning Worlds: People, Performing, and Learning
"Language has the power to shape our consciousness; and it does so for each human child, by providing the theory that he or she uses to interpret and manipulate their environment." -Michael Halliday
The quote above is right under the chapter title and really sums up the chapter perfectly. This chapter talked about fixed-performance frame and dynamic-learning frame. Fixed-performance theorist thinks "I'm not a good writer." A dynamic-learning theorist thinks "I'm not very good at writing yet."
Children who adopt the fixed-performance frame often become helpless when they encounter trouble. When they come across something difficult they look to place the blame on anything or anyone but themselves. They try to avoid challenging tasks in which they may make mistakes or struggle and stick with tasks that they know they will succeed with. Often children who develop the fixed-performance frame can't solve problems they were once able to solve. Encountering failure affects how they feel about themselves, about their experience, and about their future.
Children who adopt the dynamic theory behave the exact opposite. They are confident that they can solve problems multiple times and they enjoy challenging themselves. They know that in order to get smarter they need to work harder and take every opportunity they come across to learn something new.
In the chapter I learned that vocabulary and language are very important. I learned this last year from my collaborating teacher (CT) and partnership resource teacher (PRT). They taught me that you cannot just give students positive feedback or praise, it needs to be specific feedback and praise. So basically you shouldn't tell a student "good job" because that means that they did good and opens up the door that someone could have done a "bad job"-there shouldn't be any good and bad-or smart and dumb- in a classroom. Instead, you should focus on saying "I can tell you put a lot of work into gathering your answer" or "you are such a hard worker." The simple change in language and vocabulary can make a huge difference and if you want your classroom to be set up as a dynamic learning environment then that is something that should be practiced. Students should never think that they can't do anything or they aren't good at something-but they do and it is our job as teachers to change their way of thinking for the better!
I really enjoyed this chapter and there was a lot more information within the book but I don't want to give it all away. This is a really great read and is extremely helpful because it makes you take a step back and look at what your beliefs are and helps you to reflect on how you are teaching and speaking within the classroom to the students.
Chapter 1-(Choosing Words, Choosing Worlds):
This chapter talks about building a classroom dialogue within your classroom and learning how to speak to your students. I think that a classroom dialogue is important and will come once it is taught and once a community is built. The dialogue between Manny and Sergio on page 5 was a great example of students being able to have a discussion about a book and being able to disagree and prove their points without a teacher present. I have heard my students do this several times and it makes me so happy being able to hear them talk-they sound like little adults. However, that only happened once we built our classroom community and they had worked together for awhile. Another thing that really got my attention was the last paragraph on page 7
“We open our mouths and our parents or our previous teachers come out. Changing our talk requires gaining a sense of what we are doing, our options, their consequences, and why we make the choices we make. In this book, I show you that our language choices have serious consequences for children’s learning and for who they become as individuals and as a community. I help you make productive choices, because the language we choose in our teaching changes the worlds children's inhabit now and those they will build in the future. Make no mistake, when we are teaching for today, we are teaching into tomorrow.”
This really sums up the entire chapter perfectly. We as teachers need to be careful to what we say to our students because we don’t want them to take it the wrong way. I know it is easy to be sarcastic but it should not be anything specifically directed at a student-you don’t want to come across as rude or like you don’t care. I know I still remember things certain teachers said to me when I was in school and it will probably stick with me the rest of my life. Their is a difference with negative comments because they haunt children (which a couple of mine were) but we should want our positive comments to stick with them a lifetime. On that note I also believe that it is important when making phone calls home to not only make them when something is wrong but you should make them just to say how well a student did in some aspect of their day or week. I still remember my kindergarten teacher calling my mom because I wasn’t following directions in class and colored my house coloring sheet the wrong color-sorry I was creative! Everything that has happened to me I try to remember so that I can change it and not do it to my students!
My favorite quote: "Children seldom misquote you. They usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said." So always choose your words wisely and maybe think before speaking...if this were my kid would I want someone talking to them like I am about to talk to this child? If this answer is no then I advise you reword it and make better choices!
"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." -Albert Einstein
This chapter was short but it tied in perfectly with chapter 2 (see below). One thing I loved in the beginning of the chapter (besides the quote above) was a discussion between a teacher and student about a Martin Luther King book. The teacher began by saying " This is not a really long book but it has got really big ideas inside of it. So it's important to read it every year I think. Because are you the same person, exactly the same as you were in kindergarten?" This goes along great with the fact that students need to understand that CHANGE IN LEARNING IS GOOD and that they should expect change.
Casual process is another topic in this chapter. Casual process comments are the most effective way of promoting the belief that they important information is how someone did (or could do) something,because that is what we can learn from. Another great suggestion made in this chapter was to give students a comment that positions them powerfully such as "Thanks for teaching us that" rather than praising them.
A chapter reminder: How we give children feedback is probably the most difficult for us to change, but it is probably the point of most leverage. -I am glad someone said this because I know it is hard to change how you give feedback. Last year I always told my students "good job", "keep up the good work", and many other praises but none were specific so they obviously had no idea what I was talking about because they can't read my mind so it was something that I had to work on once my collaborating teacher and partnership resource teacher brought it to my attention. I worked on it last year and I am doing better this year but this book is also helping and I am very happy that I am a part of this book study because I have the opportunity to work on my feedback (as well as other things) and perfect it to the best of my ability before I enter a classroom on my own.
Chapter 2-Learning Worlds: People, Performing, and Learning
"Language has the power to shape our consciousness; and it does so for each human child, by providing the theory that he or she uses to interpret and manipulate their environment." -Michael Halliday
The quote above is right under the chapter title and really sums up the chapter perfectly. This chapter talked about fixed-performance frame and dynamic-learning frame. Fixed-performance theorist thinks "I'm not a good writer." A dynamic-learning theorist thinks "I'm not very good at writing yet."
Children who adopt the fixed-performance frame often become helpless when they encounter trouble. When they come across something difficult they look to place the blame on anything or anyone but themselves. They try to avoid challenging tasks in which they may make mistakes or struggle and stick with tasks that they know they will succeed with. Often children who develop the fixed-performance frame can't solve problems they were once able to solve. Encountering failure affects how they feel about themselves, about their experience, and about their future.
Children who adopt the dynamic theory behave the exact opposite. They are confident that they can solve problems multiple times and they enjoy challenging themselves. They know that in order to get smarter they need to work harder and take every opportunity they come across to learn something new.
In the chapter I learned that vocabulary and language are very important. I learned this last year from my collaborating teacher (CT) and partnership resource teacher (PRT). They taught me that you cannot just give students positive feedback or praise, it needs to be specific feedback and praise. So basically you shouldn't tell a student "good job" because that means that they did good and opens up the door that someone could have done a "bad job"-there shouldn't be any good and bad-or smart and dumb- in a classroom. Instead, you should focus on saying "I can tell you put a lot of work into gathering your answer" or "you are such a hard worker." The simple change in language and vocabulary can make a huge difference and if you want your classroom to be set up as a dynamic learning environment then that is something that should be practiced. Students should never think that they can't do anything or they aren't good at something-but they do and it is our job as teachers to change their way of thinking for the better!
I really enjoyed this chapter and there was a lot more information within the book but I don't want to give it all away. This is a really great read and is extremely helpful because it makes you take a step back and look at what your beliefs are and helps you to reflect on how you are teaching and speaking within the classroom to the students.
Chapter 1-(Choosing Words, Choosing Worlds):
This chapter talks about building a classroom dialogue within your classroom and learning how to speak to your students. I think that a classroom dialogue is important and will come once it is taught and once a community is built. The dialogue between Manny and Sergio on page 5 was a great example of students being able to have a discussion about a book and being able to disagree and prove their points without a teacher present. I have heard my students do this several times and it makes me so happy being able to hear them talk-they sound like little adults. However, that only happened once we built our classroom community and they had worked together for awhile. Another thing that really got my attention was the last paragraph on page 7
“We open our mouths and our parents or our previous teachers come out. Changing our talk requires gaining a sense of what we are doing, our options, their consequences, and why we make the choices we make. In this book, I show you that our language choices have serious consequences for children’s learning and for who they become as individuals and as a community. I help you make productive choices, because the language we choose in our teaching changes the worlds children's inhabit now and those they will build in the future. Make no mistake, when we are teaching for today, we are teaching into tomorrow.”
This really sums up the entire chapter perfectly. We as teachers need to be careful to what we say to our students because we don’t want them to take it the wrong way. I know it is easy to be sarcastic but it should not be anything specifically directed at a student-you don’t want to come across as rude or like you don’t care. I know I still remember things certain teachers said to me when I was in school and it will probably stick with me the rest of my life. Their is a difference with negative comments because they haunt children (which a couple of mine were) but we should want our positive comments to stick with them a lifetime. On that note I also believe that it is important when making phone calls home to not only make them when something is wrong but you should make them just to say how well a student did in some aspect of their day or week. I still remember my kindergarten teacher calling my mom because I wasn’t following directions in class and colored my house coloring sheet the wrong color-sorry I was creative! Everything that has happened to me I try to remember so that I can change it and not do it to my students!
My favorite quote: "Children seldom misquote you. They usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said." So always choose your words wisely and maybe think before speaking...if this were my kid would I want someone talking to them like I am about to talk to this child? If this answer is no then I advise you reword it and make better choices!