So sad to hear again that kids at the end of the achievement tail have heard 30,000,000 fewer words in their lives than higher achieving students. Years ago in the US, there was an extensive study conducted on variables that influenced good readers and poor readers, entitled "Becoming a Nation of Readers." Becoming a Nation of Readers Research
After decades of study, their conclusions were the same as they are today: interacting with language matters for kids. Reading, responding, speaking, listening, all have a profound effect on the learning of the child. I finally made the link today (thanks, Kerry!) between students blogging to any kind of audience and their own language development. As was pointed out in earlier sessions, the publishing can act as the "hook" to get them writing--to get them to regularly interact with language. Like any skill, it all improves with practice.
10:30 Test start...Yahoo!
Well, what a surprise--I fully expected to study up after this round and take the test again. Lo and behold, I seem to know enough now (and have enough knowledge to intuit the rest) to satisfy Mr and Miz Google.
So, where do I go from here? Continuing on from our discussion this morning about addressing multiple abilities in one classroom...I have been informally polling my students after a surprisng comment I received a few months ago...
"You're my favorite teacher, Miss," and the student beside her, "Same."
When I asked them why, they had clear and specific feedback for me--telling me that I was the only teacher who "taught." According to many students I subsequently asked, many other classrooms just have them sitting in front of a screen while the teacher wanders around the classroom. What they told me they enjoy in our room is how the resources are first unpacked for students before they went up on our website for them to look at later. They valued the opportunity to ask questions in real time, not only about the content presented but also about other questions they had when their curiosity was piqued. They enjoyed that human interaction factor, and the rewind-ability and extra resources on the website allowed students to move themselves through the material at their own rate.
This and the kaupapa that I learned here at DFI reinforces that digital enhances instruction but still does not replace it--and it shouldn't replace it. Teaching is the art; part acting, part innovation, part resilience. Kids need all of that and more from me, and now I have a whole new arsenal of tactics to engage and inspire my students to become lifelong learners.
Many thanks for this journey Kerry and Vanessa!
Congratulation on a successful DFI.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a pleasure to be i your company.