Part 1 Mrs. J’s Musings today: October 25, 2013
Remember
the Learning Journey?
How well
do you understand your place in it?
A quick review: a learner has a
question, (right now I am interested in learning how to make sweet relish); they
seek out resources that may provide an answer (I turn to the convenience of the
internet), they ‘play’ (work, make, experiment-I haven’t yet taken the
opportunity) with the answer to prove its accuracy (or error). They articulate
(apply words to) (… or… I will spread my creation on a sandwich) what they have
learned; finally, they ‘publish’ their words. Publish? (I will munch it down
and hope it is as good as the sample I had last week)
‘Publish’ means putting the
words into the sentence FORMS that communicate the learner’s desired meaning
and deciding who needs to read the words and why and what place or venue this
can best be accomplished. (It may also mean putting my new understanding into
other FORMS-media of choice; creating the relish, for instance and sharing it
with others.
All writing is words ordered in
sentence FORMS. FORMS are limited and learnable. Content – what is
articulated in those FORMS – is individual and infinite.
LEARN FORMS BEFORE CONTENT!!
We are ultimately responsible for
our own words, but they are disjointed bits without the FORMS (patterns) that
determine meaning. Words contained in FORMS generate meaning. (Ingredients
according to order produce relish.) Understanding FORMS well gives you creative
control over your content (words). Meaningful content generates
understanding, for yourself and your readers. Your questions can be well and
thoroughly answered, by you!
Learning
Journey Part 2
What
follows is a bit of a rant I published last spring. It adds to the discussion
of the Learning Journey above; it still works for me and is reprinted below for
your thoughtful consideration:
“Teachers
are overworked and underpaid,
What energy
it takes to turn a torrent into a trickle;
Then to
direct that trickle down narrow,
Well-marked
channels.”
This is the perfect metaphor for
all I have learned in many decades of working in the teaching profession. If I
can leave anything profound to the rising generation of teachers it is this:
the children arriving at my first grade classroom door knew how to learn and
were full of 6 years of doing it brilliantly! And no two of them were alike in
their learning; their interests; their genius. Let them teach you their different ways of knowing.
Stop expending effort turning
this torrent of learning into the trickle of conformity demanded by workbooks
and standardized tests and bells ringing. Instead, step into the flood by
following their natural learning journey. Remember you are their resource not their reason, find out
their background knowledge before presenting your ‘great’ (curriculum) idea.
Let them ask the questions that indicate personal gaps between knowing and
understanding; let them re-arrange and play with the new information until it
works through their bodies and into their minds to filling understanding gaps.
Provide opportunities for them
to explore all the media, all the different ways of showing how
their understanding can be articulated; articulation is the best assessment.
Imagination and creativity are
expected of our learners; frequently demanded in workbook pages, no less! Until
prior knowledge and present learning connect in understanding (and is
articulated) there is no framework on which to hang the power of imagining. And
the habit of recording thoughts and ideas assists in this development.
Creativity feeds on the power of imaginative connections, examining
possibilities and turning them into visible products or services; every learner
can make a difference in this world if we learn to follow the natural learning
journey in their world.
