Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Meryl McLaughlin: Week 2
I really enjoyed these weeks’ articles because I felt that I could relate to them on a first hand basis. The McGee article is one in particular that stuck out in my mind simply because the whole idea of response centered discussion intrigues me. Currently I am placed in a kindergarten class that is very active and not very productive. When I was reading the in-depth discussion that had been happening in the books examples I was amazed at the possibilities, when given the children the right structure and instruction of course. This idea of children leading the discussion reminded me of an assignment from TE401. We had to do a science talk with a group of students, it didn’t necessarily have to be the whole class, but a large enough range of students to get an idea about what misconceptions they have on a particular topic, which also happened to be the topic you would eventually teach your lesson on. My class had a terrible time with this. I had a group of 5 students and when the beginning question was posed all of them just kind of looked at me. I made sure that before I posed the question I went through and modeled with that discussion would look like and showed them how to respond to their peers when they agreed, disagreed, or had another idea to discuss. But for some reason this was the hardest thing for them. Looking back it very well could be their understanding of the topic and not really having anything to say, but I still believe that with the proper instruction and practice even kindergarten aged students could have a response-centered talk.
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When you were referring to the McGee article and all of the wonderful possibilities for discussion that were presented I can definitely agree with you there! I also found not only this reading but the other 3 and ECM chapter to be really useful, interesting pieces. I also wanted to comment on your reference to your classroom. I wanted to respond to your post, Meryl, because as you know, I'm in a Kindergarten classroom as well. Going into the that grade for the first time was a pretty scary experience for me because like you said, I was afraid of finding such a classroom; where it's out of control and the idea of having a formal lesson (let alone a discussion) are out of the question. However, I must say that now that I am going into my second semester with this Kindergarten classroom, I am pleasantly surprised. They are some of the most well behaved Kindergartners! They do have small discussions with the CT over books they read and are able to complete worksheets with little to know help. I am lucky to have been placed in this classroom and if you ever want to come visit, I think you would be pretty impressed! Good luck with your little ones though! It's amazing what a little conducive guidance can do!
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