Thank you Jill Fisch at My Primary Passion for hosting this week's #CyberPD conversation about Peter Johnston's book, Opening Minds.
I made a couple of connections to the section titled, Uncertainty, Inquiry, and Meaning Making (p. 59). "Most conversations about school work from the assumption that a curriculum is a bunch of certain facts to be efficiently delivered to the students, and that a teacher's problem is to deliver the true facts so that they stick, are well organized, and can be assessed" (p. 59). When thinking about this quote, my mind immediately began thinking about the current testing climate in schools. I feel like as long as student learning is based on a test, then to some degree "teaching to the test" is going to take place. In doing so, often times teachers are delivering facts only for the test and to improve test scores, not for the good of students.
A second connection I had to the section came from the following quotes, "The unfortunate problem with facts is they are generally inert and thus uninteresting" (p. 59). "it's true we find unusual facts interesting...."(p. 59) "But the reason these facts are interesting is that they raise so many new questions" (p. 59). I began thinking about Wonderopolis. Kids seem to be naturally drawn to the website and remember so many facts, because the Wonders posed are of high interest to them. I then thought about many of the great discussions we had last year after reading over the Wonders. The discussions were usually centered around questions the students had about the Wonders. Often times while reading over the Wonder, students would blurt out new questions and wonders.
On a side note, I have downloaded Carol Dweck's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success to my Kindle. It is a great companion to Opening Minds.
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteThe section on uncertainty and inquiry really made an impact on me, too. I will be trying to work on adding/highlighting uncertainty in my classroom this year.
Regarding your side note, I learned so much from Carol Dweck's book. I think you will enjoy it.
Thank you for your comments and hosting this week, Jill.
DeleteBarbara,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is hard to mesh all of this PROCESS information with the CERTAINTY of...The Test.
I think the message we need to give kids is that standards are not inherently bad...they name the basic skills that people need to be a functioning member of a democracy. And the test is not even inherently bad because we are going to teach them to think their way through it. But we also need to notice and name all the AMAZING things our kids do that cannot be measured on a test, AND let them know that all those other amazing things (like having great conversations and learning to understand how others are feeling) are growing their brains, too!
Wow, I'm just going to think about that for awhile, "But we also need to notice and name all the AMAZING things our kids do that cannot be measured on a test, AND let them know that all those other amazing things (like having great conversations and learning to understand how others are feeling) are growing their brains, too!"
DeleteThank you for your comments, Mary Lee. So well said. I will be referring back to your comment during the school year.
DeleteI have also noticed that teachers tend to focus on specific facts that might be helpful for "the test". I was going to tag my thinking onto yours, but after reading MaryLee's comment, I'd just like to say, "ditto!"
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments, Karen. Mary Lee's words are wonderful to read.
DeletePerhaps if we'd spend more time wondering and dabbling in uncertainty, our classroom communities would become stronger places of conversation and learning. Looking at learning through the lens of wonder certainly has its advantages.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting, Cathy. I agree we do need to be more transparent and model our own wondering and uncertainty.
DeleteI couldn't agree more with your observations on the testing culture of today. It's a maddening cycle! You've put the emphasis on what I believe to be what's most important, and that is what's best for kids.
ReplyDelete~Laura
I agree that unfortunately our testing culture does not promote a sense of inquiry and wonder in our classrooms. However, that can give us even more incentive to instill asking questions and having deep conversations with our students. Not only are our students growing, but so are we.
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