FROM DIMI--------- I have attempted to persuade to my students that reading without a strategy is a waste of time. Playing off their disdain for rereading, I drilled into my students’ heads that simply scanning the text for answers to the worksheet, or strictly decoding the letters to form words without bothering to decode any sort of meaning out of those words was a waste of time. THAT, I emphasized, is how you get your teachers to force you to reread.
Good point----we all dislike doing the same thing over and over that doesn't seem enjoyable.....Teachers though have the fun responsibility to repeat themselves enough times so a student will finally "get it." Teachers can also cut down on losing time by setting a purpose for students to read and guide them into a focus to sustain interest.
In history we end up looking at a lot of words that students do not know (prohibition, communism, etc). I always try to break the words down using either structural analysis or simple memory ideas.
For example, with prohibition, i link the student's knowledge to the word prohibit and then explain how prohibition was when the government prohibited the consumption of alcohol.
In my geometry class we approached a section that I find quite confusing. It involves three similar right triangles drawn together with shared sides. With my students I went through the steps I had to take for this part of the class to make sense to me. We tried an example and to my classes surprise, we got the problem wrong! I told them that this is fine and actually gives us an opportunity to figure something out. If we already knew how to solve the problem, there would be little benefit of discussing it. I then proceeded to draw three separate pictures, isolating the triangles and labeling in a way that makes the problem easier.
For the most part I was pleased with what I was hearing/seeing from the students. Some wanted to check out until after I "figured it out" but I was able to get most of them with me. I teach this class three times and it actually surprised me how much my own knowledge and conceptual understanding grew from this type of confusion breaker. I think I may start getting problems wrong more from now on.
MEET this Thursday from 3-4 at the ROE library (bring your items to turn in) Read chps. 1 & 2 then post comments from 3/2-3/6 Read Chp. 3 and try one item from the "What Works" section (p.33-34) ----put comments from3/12-14 Chp.4 and try "What Works"---put comments from 3/19-22 Chp.5 and "What Works"...put comments from 3/28-30 Chp. 6 and "What Works"--put comments from 4/4-7 Chapters 7, 8, and 9----comments from 4/21-25
Quick Video Available
Check out the video worth watching on Teacher tube with a teacher modeling a Think Aloud. Just go to http://www.teachertube.com/ and go to the second tab marked "Videos" and use the search function to type "Introduction to Think Aloud" and you'll find one!
FROM DIMI---------
ReplyDeleteI have attempted to persuade to my students that reading without a strategy is a waste of time. Playing off their disdain for rereading, I drilled into my students’ heads that simply scanning the text for answers to the worksheet, or strictly decoding the letters to form words without bothering to decode any sort of meaning out of those words was a waste of time. THAT, I emphasized, is how you get your teachers to force you to reread.
Good point----we all dislike doing the same thing over and over that doesn't seem enjoyable.....Teachers though have the fun responsibility to repeat themselves enough times so a student will finally "get it." Teachers can also cut down on losing time by setting a purpose for students to read and guide them into a focus to sustain interest.
ReplyDeleteIn history we end up looking at a lot of words that students do not know (prohibition, communism, etc). I always try to break the words down using either structural analysis or simple memory ideas.
ReplyDeleteFor example, with prohibition, i link the student's knowledge to the word prohibit and then explain how prohibition was when the government prohibited the consumption of alcohol.
oops, i wrote the previous message on my girl friend's computer and she was signed into gmail, so it labeled it as her.
ReplyDeleteNone the less, it is I...Bryce Hartranft
In my geometry class we approached a section that I find quite confusing. It involves three similar right triangles drawn together with shared sides. With my students I went through the steps I had to take for this part of the class to make sense to me. We tried an example and to my classes surprise, we got the problem wrong! I told them that this is fine and actually gives us an opportunity to figure something out. If we already knew how to solve the problem, there would be little benefit of discussing it. I then proceeded to draw three separate pictures, isolating the triangles and labeling in a way that makes the problem easier.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I was pleased with what I was hearing/seeing from the students. Some wanted to check out until after I "figured it out" but I was able to get most of them with me. I teach this class three times and it actually surprised me how much my own knowledge and conceptual understanding grew from this type of confusion breaker. I think I may start getting problems wrong more from now on.