Alien Pedagogy

I just attended a six hour session on balanced literacy. A few things that left an impression on me:

• Should we test comprehension or should we teach it?
• Tovani’s I Read But I Don’t Get It remains important.
• It doesn’t matter what type of text students are reading, so long as they are reading.
• When teaching reading strategies, teach them one at a time.
• “I don’t call this a program, but when I go to see principals, I’ll call it a program because that’s what they want to hear. This is just good teaching of reading comprehension.”
• Round Robin Reading on Little Britain. –Johnny, please read the first paragraph. Now read it with a Scottish accent.
• If you want to teach children to read with fluency, read aloud to them. Always allow them to read a text before they have to read it aloud or analyze it. Reader’s theater.

Remember the Strategies:

Question. Infer. Make connections. Fluency. Summarize. Find the main idea. Visualize. Mark the text.

I enjoyed the chance to return to these ideas, but I’m confident that a teacher with a different philosophy of teaching would come away with a completely different set of highlights. If reading is important, can we afford to just assume that teachers have learned this and will implement it effectively?

Dina suggests that we should never tell students that we’re going to play a game, suggesting “activity” as an alternative.

I go another step further, tending to name all of my activities.

I find that the name doesn’t matter very much. The second I say “put away your books, we’re working on whatever,” ears are cautiously perked but without any of the baggage that Dina warns against. Here are some examples:

• Human Sculpture
• Defining Connections
• Human Animation
• Dance Challenge
• The Liar
• Impossible Task

Generally, even the most disengaged student will participate in human sculpture. Dance challenge requires a bolder set of students.

“You link ideas to images and physical activities, which helps me to learn.”

Is this the most insightful comment on classroom procedure that I’ve ever received in reflective writing, or is it the most flattering? My colleagues are torn between these two positions.

In the meantime, I’ve awarded the student a B. Ed.

Reading does expand your horizons and while I push a lot of fantasy and imaginative work on my 9s, some of the more mature ones have enjoyed

• After Dark by Murakami
• Tokyo Station by Martin Cruz Smith

Both students finished these books over a weekend, but didn’t return them afterward. When I asked them to return the books, both students said that they wanted to reread them.

I’m currently reading Iron Council by China Mieville, which I talk about on a regular basis. It’s definitely beyond most grade 9s, but there’s quite a bit that’s worth drawing on the board. So far, The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket has been a disappointment.

Today I dismissed early the four students that chose not to volunteer an answer in class. The outrage was surpassed only by confusion.

“Wait. Wha-?”

I then shared this story that I lifted from Marginal Revolution with them and said that although I didn’t have any autographed photos, I thought they’d all appreciate having another minute in class with such an outstanding teacher.

I then thanked them for their participation and wished them a great day.