This week I have paid attention to ways the students answer my CT guiding questions and try to compare it to the article Understanding Literature by Langer, and the readings by Almasi and McGee. I do agree with the article by Langer when it stated that the classroom primarily focuses on writing instruction. In my class we touched on nursery rhymes for the past few weeks and I did not see much making meaning going on. The students were encouraged to write using rhyming words but not much discussion was done. We spent some time talking about the different smarts the characters were and the students were encourage to explain why they categorize them that way. I think that the envisionment Langer spoke about which is defined as the understanding a reader has about a text can be used with nursery rhymes. The students should be able explore the questions they have and include discussions. Langer stated that there are four major stances in the process of interpretations which are being out and stepping in, be in and moving through, being in and steeping out, and stepping out and objectifying the experience. I have seen this on some level where the students were encourage to use their prior knowledge to explore a text. In my class I don’t see my students developing meaning; they are most exposed to the surface of materials at this level. For my kindergarten class I see one out of the four steps being played out. It was also stated that possibilities for instruction starts with asking opening ended questions. Instead of posing questions that get a right or wrong answer. By doing this we would get students initial understanding, they would develop interpretations, reflect on personal experiences, and elaborate/ analyze their understanding as well as others. If my CT gets the behavior problems under control I feel that our kids would be able to do this on a basic level. Most of the times in our classroom the CT is the boss and the student’s behavior is a distraction to where she want her lesson to go. It we can get the class to be similar to the readings we should be able to get a lot more done with the students.
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Yeah I remember you talking in class about how hard it was to get the students to explain their thinking to you. My CT sounds like she has a little more success at creating good discussion but a lot of times she has trouble too. I think a lot of it is that students have never been a part of a really good discussion before. So many teachers just want the answer and if it is correct then they are not interested in how the student came up with it. I also think part of it has to do with them being comfortable in their setting (including the people around them). It is really hard to open yourself up when you are worrying about getting poked at verbally by your classmates or even your teacher.
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