I can also say that I learned a lot from the transcripts Beers provided of the student teacher Kate. Her first discussion with her class is probably exactly how I would have gone about doing it: initiate, respond, evaluate. Seeing the difference, though, between her first and second time discussing "Eleven" really taught me how important this Explicit instruction is and what it means.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Chapter 4: Explicit Instruction in Comprehension
This chapter did an excellent job at explaining how we are to teach students comprehension strategies. When Beers told the story of Al, I loved his question, "How do I know unless I already know?" How do you answer this question! This really showed me how important it is that we as teachers show our students how to do the things we ask them. Beers is constantly saying that she expected her kids to just know how to do things and that by simply telling them "how" they would understand. I am learning that this is not the case.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I was totally blown away by the Al story. I was thinking, what would I do in this situation? I honestly had no idea. I know now that I really have to watch and make sure I thoroughly explain everything and the surrounding concepts before I let the students have free reign. I also probably would have done the Kate thing a little bit different, but I definitely never thought about some of the things Kylene suggests to Kate.
ReplyDeleteI also learned a lot from the transcripts of Kate's lessons. I feel that there is a lot to take into consideration. The methods she uses first are the idealized version of how teachers wish they could teach. It is the idealized world we envision where everyone read, re-read, and understood they text. In reality, that really won't happen. So it just reminds me that when I start teaching that I have to make sure I don't assume the idealized viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked the transcripts. I think the case studies help present a realistic picture of what is going on in classrooms and what teachers can do.
ReplyDelete