Learning journey, play, idea-catchers, articulation, creativity

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March 22, 2013

I found a quote somewhere in my studies of the past year and wrote it onto the bottom of my quote collection. Google search returned no connection to a source; I do not know who wrote it but I can so thoroughly connect with their sentiments that I am devoting a page to reflections on this quote.

“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.

A bit of a rant! Assessment, factory vs agricultural model

 “A thing cannot be weighed in a scale

scale incapable of containing it.” –Thomas B. Aldrich

This quote is weighing heavily on my mind; is my mind able to contain it? Human potential cannot be accurately predicted by even the most ‘advanced’ techniques. Intelligence is not finite or stationary; this moment’s assessment is valid only for this moment.

I have summarized some comments from Sir Ken Robinson; I agree with his sentiments; “We must change the metaphor of education. Eliminate the manufacturing or industrial or factory model that promotes linearity/conforming/batching of people. We must change to an agricultural model. Human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it is organic. “You cannot predict the outcome of human development, all you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.” Reform and transform education by customizing it to your circumstances. Personalize education to the people you are actually teaching, create a movement in education in which people develop their own solutions with external help based on a personalized curriculum.”

I read the latest educational research and attend the conferences and hear the rhetoric and statistics supporting the move away from the industrial model but, after more than three decades as an educator, I have seen miniscule movement in the right direction that actually reaches the children. Why? When we know the truth, why won’t we let it set us free?

questions guide learning, George Washington Carver

My Tuesday morning novel study class has begun the study of the life and works of George Washington Carver. The ‘key’ student question we are pursuing is: What did George Washington Carver do that made him so famous?

Here is what we have learned so far:

George was born into a slave family sometime in January 1864.

His mother was Mary, she lived in a hut on the Carver farm, near Diamond, Missouri, with baby George and his older brother and sister. His father ‘big George’ lived on the next farm.

       Slavery was terminated during the year 1865 starting with the passing of the 13^th amendment, signed by President Lincoln, on January 31, 1865. Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865.

       George and his mother, Mary, are kidnapped from the Carver farm sometime during the summer by bushwhackers against ending slavery. Baby George was rescued; his mother was never seen again. His sister died in the attack.

       Three quarters of the states approve the 13^th amendment on December 6, 1865. It is officially signed into law by the Secretary of State on December 18, 1865.

It reads:

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

       Susan Carver took care of George during his early years, allowing him the time and space to recover health enough to move forward with his life. He had a difficult time learning to speak because his vocal chords were damaged by a severe cough resulting from the exposure he suffered during the kidnapping. He was frail and sickly and learned many home skills (Ie. he becomes an expert at doing laundry for people) and hand crafts because he could not do the heavy farm work.

       His love of nature and gift for caring for ailing plants begins to grow and gain notice.

Using Socratic Questioning, Paideia Project,

Part B

Later Friday January 25, 2013

So what does Socratic questioning LOOK like?

How does it fit into my daily life as a teacher?

Study the chart below, taken from the Paideia Project by Mortimer J. Adler

Socratic questioning in NOT a method for delivering content.  (Robert Bird on Youtube.)

FYI-Paideia – is a classical Greek system of education and training; called Humanities in Latin. The term was combined with enkyklios (complete system or circle) forming ‘encyclopedia’ to identify a large compendium of general education.  -Dictionary.com

Maieutic – (ancient Greek-Spiritual midwife) referring toquestions that help draw out the truth and knowledge latent in a person (wikipedia)

“The Socratic method is a negative method of hypothesis elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those that lead to contradictions. The Socratic method searches for general, commonly held truths that shape opinion, and scrutinizes them to determine their consistency with other beliefs. The basic form is a series of questions formulated as tests of logic and fact intended to help a person or group discover their beliefs about some topic, exploring the definitions or logoi (singular logos), seeking to characterize the general characteristics shared by various particular instances. The extent to which this method is employed to bring out definitions implicit in the interlocutors' beliefs, or to help them further their understanding, is called the method of maieutics. Aristotle attributed to Socrates the discovery of the method of definition and induction, which he regarded as the essence of the scientific method.”-Wikipedia

Finally!

The Socratic Questioning process: (adapted from a Youtube clip)

1. Look for statements of common sense in your curriculum area: Mine for you is:

“Questioning skills are important in the learning process.”

2. Use Socratic questioning to examine this statement. Can you come up with any exceptions to it?

3. If there is an exception then the statement is false or imprecise.

4. See if you can change the original statement to account for the new information.

5. Repeat the steps until you can not disprove the statement.

A social studies example (from a website):

“Material goods give you happiness”.

Exceptions?

False or imprecise?

Refine original statement.

Repeat till proven.

Socratic questioning is an effective means of:

-defining concepts

-clarifying issues

-seeking examples

-evaluating evidence

-uncovering assumptions

-following implications

--acknowledging objections

-in any subject discipline. List some common sense statements from your discipline that students may struggle with that this method may address:

What is a question?

Part A

January 25, 2013   Summary!

After three weeks of visiting with parents and kids I am compiling responses to the question:

“What is a question?”

A question is:

- way to get information,

- way to seek knowledge;

- way to find out more.

Asking a question means you are seeking information that wants to be known. And one question leads to another.

It means you are wondering.

A question is motivated by need; it has a purpose.

Body language conveys the importance of the question.

Questions “foster intimacy, deepen understanding, focus attention.” Questions “unlock understanding” and “reduce confusion”.

“A question is a thought arising from prior knowledge, expressed in words; and ordered to elicit more information.”

 – Mrs J

“If we can’t ask the question we are not ready for the answer.” -Chandra Gold

“We grow in the direction of the questions we are asking.” – unknown  (Do you agree?)

“You do not fully understand a thought until you understand the question that gave rise to it.” –Socratic questioning  (How important is prior knowledge in the learning journey?)

Take the time to ponder before trying to answer. Let a shift in perspective provide new details.

Answer the question; “What is a question?”  in your own mind. What statements above do you agree/disagree with and why?

Socratic questioning, mini seminar shared experience

January 10, 2013

Mrs. J’s Musings;

… after two opportunities to share an introductory questioning class;

one with a learning family and one with older ladies:
Presentation: discussion…

“We grow in the direction of the questions we are asking.” –unknown

Our questions grow from our prior knowledge and interests.

“You do not fully understand a thought (or idea, shared by someone)

until you understand the question (the reason, from their prior experience)

that gives rise to it.”-the Art of Socratic Questioning

What is their purpose; what is their motivation for pursuing this line of questioning?

And, a vital question; what is a question?

From a 12 year old: A way to get information; from a senior lady: A way of seeking knowledge.  And, “questions are born of necessity.” h-m-m-m…

Discussion: This quote, “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the only one who asked why.”-(Bernard Barach) is an example of this quote:

“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” –(Albert Szent-Gyorgi)

            Thoughts developed: ‘Don’t make hurried judgments; wait, think, ponder about what you are seeing; your mind will work harder, you will see more details; your perspective will shift, if it is near you will see far; are you looking up? Try looking down; What will it be like tomorrow……?”seek first to understand”.’

Sample Activity:  Whitcomb L. Judson    -zipper -1893

                               William Horlick           -malted milk -1882

                               Theophilus Van Kannel –revolving door- 1888

(from a list of 35 ‘unsung heros’)

Discuss the possible reason each inventor had –from their own prior experiences-

that gave rise to the question that preceded each invention.

Then do some more research…………….

If you have just arrived at this BLOG you may gain greater understanding of the importance of asking questions going back to my December 20 BLOG and moving forward….Mrs. J