Tag Archive

I have been teaching for 10 years and for 10 years I have both encouraged and KILLED reading in my classroom.  Comprehension tasks, vocabulary development, journals, oral discussions, group projects, dramas, reports, reviews…I could go on.  I have never been completely satisfied with any of them because, at the end of the day, the students have been focused on the TASK and the reading gets lost somehow.  What is the true POINT of all of these things?  Here is really what I want for my students:

• To connect with their books and drive to figure them out, even when parts don’t make sense.
• To engage in thinking about what they are reading willingly.
• To learn something new about life and its possibilities by uncovering exciting connections.
• To savor the written word.
• To develop a desire for writing, too.

Very few (if any) of these goals were achieved through traditional means.  I was responsibly covering curriculum, providing feedback and evaluating my students based on their products, but I was not turning them into readers.  They were not buzzing about books.  They exhibited no perseverance.  They completed the book and the tasks.  I constantly tried to light their fires and bring to light interesting issues and connection in oral discussions.  I created really interesting questions and writing tasks.  I integrated reading themes with other areas of the curriculum.  Only a handful of students (the ones who enjoyed reading anyway) ever really caught on.

Technology to the Rescue?-

Prior to Christmas this year, I started teaching my students how to use discussion boards.  I have my own classroom Share Point site (password protected) and discussion boards are an interesting, easy to use feature.  At the start, we used them to discuss interesting topics such as Internet Safety, to display and explain art of World War 1, and to even post up individual progress on fund raising efforts.  They were taught appropriate language and allowed to practice both from home and at school.  I considered that they might be an interesting tool to use in conjunction with reading.  I was too afraid to give this a go at first, even though I had the technology to facilitate this (10 MacBooks, to be exact).

The Context- I had a very good selection of novels in groups of various sizes.  They were certainly compelling books, from The Giver and Holes, to Ryan and Jimmy and Iqbal.  I wanted the students to be able to read at their own pace and to be able to choose which books they wanted to move on to.  I didn’t want to just ask them questions or get them to complete a journal or book report to make sure that they were actually connecting with their novels, otherwise I would end up with a focus on completing tasks again.  And reading would be work and therefore, a chore.  So what to do?

“The reality that knowledge rather than being found in books and in lectures or on the Internet, is actually constructed in collaborations among learners.  It is when technology supports the jerky, jagged, and looping lines of shared discovery that it fulfills its own evolutionary promise.” Brown, J.S.  & Duguid, P. (2002) The Social Life of Information

Enter Discussion Boards-I thought perhaps that I would create a discussion where all of the kids could discuss all of their novels, relating them to other books and answering questions based on theme.  At the last minute, I decided that I couldn’t manage this.  How would I provide feedback?  How could I keep track of different threads of the discussion?  Would they get it?  I opted for single novel discussions which would occur in the classroom on the laptops.  It wouldn’t matter what part of the novel my kids were at, because we would be discussing broader issues. I also decided that I needed to be a part of the discussions, because the kids would need me to model responses and provide direction and feedback.  So I grabbed a my laptop, sat in the middle of the floor and began to participate.

Unexpected Benefits-Have you ever tried to lead a small group, oral discussion while others are working on other tasks?  I have.  Constant interruptions make the process very difficult.  Plus the talking, no matter how quiet, leads to disruption of the rest of the group.  I have had the kids manage discussion on their own, but I really want depth in a discussion and I never know if I am getting it.  ANYWAY, quite unexpectedly, I found that written online discussions eliminate all of these issues.  I still am interrupted, but it is no big deal.  I set aside my computer, assist the student in need, and the discussion goes on without me.  They don’t need me there as leader.  I am only a participant, although I definitely see myself as a guide.  Interestingly, my students ask as many questions as they answer.  I always start off with 3 or 4 good questions.  By the end of a discussion,  I have 10 – 15 questions going, all added by the kids.

The Importance of Questions-

If you don’t ask the right questions, you are not going to have an interesting discussion.  I have met many people who are concerned about discussion boards and ask the following question:  “What if the kids copy one another?”  I have been with two separate groups of teachers and this was the first question asked in BOTH groups.  Um…don’t ask questions that require one correct answer.  Problem eliminated.  Great questions are going to be interesting, compelling, and controversial.  You want to get them wrangling over the issues!  Then they have a reason to read what others think.  That is key: discussion boards are as much about reading, connecting and thinking as they are about writing.  Plus, I have found that the kids start to post their own questions that are just as good.  Why?  Because they want people to respond.  If they don’t ask good questions, they won’t get answered.  Period.

Issues of Time and Place- I find that I fit a relatively good discussion in the space of a 40 minute reading block.  It is hard to stop them, because I always find the group on the brink of a break through.  So what to do?  Well, I do two things.  One is to show the entire group how the discussion went.  We read it over as a class and do some analysis.  This is great, because the kids who have not read the book find this quite a teaser.  They are desperate to read the book, because they want to know for themselves what is going on.  They want to have an opinion too.  Plus, I get to expose some of the key issues and show off some of the more interesting bits of the discussion.  It allows the participants to see that there is a big picture.  The other step I take is to take some of the more interesting questions generated by the kids and carry them over into the next discussion of the novel.

“Making meaning is not just an individual operation. Learning is a reciprocal process; the individual influences the group’s thinking, and the group influences the individual’s thinking” (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001; Vygotsky, 1978)

Draw Backs?? There are some.  Unequal written participation is one.  Some kids are right in there and offer lots of insights, points, counterpoints and questions.  Others are like ghosts, making the odd, fleeting entry here or there.  How much are they actually participating?  Are they reading what others have to say?  WHAT TO DO??  Well, my thought is that I need to get everyone to write about the whole experience in some clever way.  Perhaps they need to write about the most interesting points in the discussion and what it made them think about.  I am going to be playing around with this idea over the coming months and I’ll let you know how it goes!

Jen

I didn’t really want to start off with introductions.  I’d much rather get right to it.  However, I will give you some sense of who I am…but after I let you know the point of this blog.

THE POINT: I am always coming up with new material in my class.  I have great difficulty repeating lessons because I always believe that there is a better way.  This blog will document the pursuit of that “better way”.  Some stuff will be awesome and different, some will awful, but still different.   My goals are lofty.  I want to find life-changing, life-defining, life-affirming purpose in everything I do.  I would like to share what I find with you.

NOW FOR INTRODUCTIONS: I am a teacher at a small elementary school in Anmore, British Columbia, Canada.  My name is Jennifer…actually Jen….Whiffin.  The kids I teach are in grade 4 and 5.  They are my project.  I would like them to be on the lookout for their purpose in this world as well.  If that is too much to expect, then I like to think that I am offering them a lot of meaty “consider the following” moments to add to their life portfolios.  I want them to have a lot of happy options to choose from when they start to crave this choice.

I am also a mom of two young kids (4 and 2).  Motherhood certainly defines me as well.  It has given me a very humble edge because I do not have many answers when it comes to parenthood.  I step lightly on the path of raising my kids.  I’m not sure what effect my actions have, so I am pretty delicate in this area.  For whatever reason, I am much more bold when it comes to teaching.  I carry a machete and hack away at the undergrowth!  O boldly and bravely I pursue my treasure!  I guess my own children ARE my treasure and I feel like they are with me on the path.  I stop, look, and listen much more often as a mother.  Ideally, I would like to merge the two together somehow…

Anyway, time to shut up about me.  Time is precious and more of me will surface as I add to this blog.  My first posts will be some catch up, to warn you.   A couple of big projects that I have been working on have been GOLD and you need to know about them.  Oh…yes…it’s true that they involve the use of technology.  I am excited to share them with you.

I wish you great joy and minimal boredom!

Jen