Something happened in class the other day. I hadn't noticed it, but when I took the opportunity to lead a discussion about Utopian ideals vs Dystopian realities, I dropped a couple of example. Of course, this is common practice, since in order to get the students to understand what I was talking about, I wanted to make the concept relatable. So, I made the connections for the students and seemed to get some nods of acknowledgement and understanding. Satisfied, I turned the class back over to my mentor so she could lead them in their typical post-discussion reflection.
A week later, after my mentor had gone through the journals, she pulled me aside to show me something. "Remember when you gave an example of this last week?" She showed me several students' journal writings, all citing the same example I had given them. "All they did was copy down what you said." At seeing that, a little bit of me died inside. I thought I had gotten through to the students, that they actually understood what I was trying to teach them. I was, for the most part, wrong.
In a culture of testing and assessments, students seem to pick up on what is expected of them to pass the class, albeit marginally. They look for hints as to what the teacher wants them to spit out to get satisfactory marks. They are trained to pick up the clues dropped by the instructor as to what to reiterate, without understanding or practicing the inherent concept. Basically, they are trained to repeat, not to think for themselves. My mentor, however, is tough enough and experienced enough to not be moved by these simple acts, and she is always urging the students to "think for themselves."
This trend I see in students shows me how "lazy" they are in that they don't want to think, but re-actively practice "monkey-see-monkey-do." I'm frightened because this translates to potential voters who just jump on the bandwagon, drones who are incapable of escalating the career and administrative hierarchy. I know that it can't be done in one lesson, but I have not spent enough time with my mentor to see exactly how she teaches her students to "think for themselves."
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Ryan Writes #5: Never too late to Annotate
I'll try to remember this as best as I can, but I heard a quote that went something like...
...a book is never truly owned until it is annotated and the margins are full of marks...
I don't know. What I do know is that I dread writing in ANY book, even workbooks. I remember back in Japanese class how I would photocopy the pages of the workbook to practice my kanji instead of just writing it in and tearing it out. It hurt me psychologically and I blame my upbringing in a poor private Catholic school. Our teachers would never let us write in the books...ever. Even if we knew the books were falling apart because they had already seen two generations of students (Mrs. Czerniecki made a point of singling out students who were kids of students she taught before), we still were forbidden from making it worse with our notes and doodles. And so, I never learned how to annotate.
Annotating is like having a conversation with the author. A note like "this is interesting" symbolized with a little asterisk mark or underlining a passage that was maybe a bit too confusing at the time signifies active learning. Making the effort to write down a note registers that information in your brain, repeating over and over again through each reread. It is like leaving comments in a youtube video or blog (like and comment below!)
Students are simply not embracing this idea of annotation. It is work, yes, but they fail to see how much it helps, and honestly, how much fun it could be. Imagine getting a book back at the end of the year after annotating it up at the beginning and seeing what interested you and intrigued you. Imagine constructing personalized assessments based off of what the students annotated. There is so much to be done to help the students see the importance of taking notes and writing in the margins. It sure would have helped me, as I am finally getting into the practice.
Kids...please...annotate your reading.
...a book is never truly owned until it is annotated and the margins are full of marks...
I don't know. What I do know is that I dread writing in ANY book, even workbooks. I remember back in Japanese class how I would photocopy the pages of the workbook to practice my kanji instead of just writing it in and tearing it out. It hurt me psychologically and I blame my upbringing in a poor private Catholic school. Our teachers would never let us write in the books...ever. Even if we knew the books were falling apart because they had already seen two generations of students (Mrs. Czerniecki made a point of singling out students who were kids of students she taught before), we still were forbidden from making it worse with our notes and doodles. And so, I never learned how to annotate.
Annotating is like having a conversation with the author. A note like "this is interesting" symbolized with a little asterisk mark or underlining a passage that was maybe a bit too confusing at the time signifies active learning. Making the effort to write down a note registers that information in your brain, repeating over and over again through each reread. It is like leaving comments in a youtube video or blog (like and comment below!)
Students are simply not embracing this idea of annotation. It is work, yes, but they fail to see how much it helps, and honestly, how much fun it could be. Imagine getting a book back at the end of the year after annotating it up at the beginning and seeing what interested you and intrigued you. Imagine constructing personalized assessments based off of what the students annotated. There is so much to be done to help the students see the importance of taking notes and writing in the margins. It sure would have helped me, as I am finally getting into the practice.
Kids...please...annotate your reading.
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