"Many young people wonder why they are in school. To learn, of course, they are told. But why and to what end, they rightfully ask. To become productive members of society; education is your portal and path to opportunity, they are reminded. But that is in the future, they protest. What does school have to do with now, today, this moment in life?" page 312.
This quote stood out to me while reading this weeks readings. It made me wonder if all children really believe that their path to opportunity will start as they get older. I wonder if they feel this way because they don't believe in themselves and think that they can't succeed in school. Have we made school too hard for Americans? I don't think so, I actually feel that were are very behind in our education. I lived in Germany when I was in middle school and my younger brother was able to go to a German kindergarten off-base. We did live off-base, but I was required to go to an American school on-base. While hanging out with my neighbors, we would converse in English and German. I was taking German and my neighbors were taking English in their school. So we would try to help each other with our homework. It was amazing to hear that all German children were to learn English. Wow! They valued their education and made it a priority to learn new things. My brother was even learning German in his kindergarten. He would speak it fluently with us and his friends in the neighborhood. I wonder how American schools would be if we were required to learn a language and I'm not just talking about taking two classes in high school, but really learning a language and speak it fluently. When we just take those two language courses in high school, does it really stay in our brains? No it diminishes over time. But what if we were to start at a younger age, such as four and five? I wonder if children would feel like that they are on the path of opportunity by learning a new language at younger age. That is the time when learning is at its best, so why not take advantage of that time. By making learning a new language a priority, it could boost social, emotional, language, writing, and cognitive skills up. Children will feel more confident and will be able to succeed in school and in the community. The school I work for has a Japanese teacher who is also an aid. She goes to each class once a week and teaches the children Japanese. It would be amazing to have these children learn Japanese in elementary, middle, and high school so they are able to speak it, write it, and think it. I wonder what The United States would be different if every American knew another language fluently? Would America's education be different?
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
How can teachers make group learning time more meaningful and memorable for young children?
Why do American's shy away from group time? On page 280 the author states, "While most Americans see the value of children explaining their work to classmates, many American educators are surprised that the report of just three children would occupy the majority of such a sharing time. They see the apparent domination of a meeting by a few children as unfair." So American educators shy away from group time, because it takes a long time to have a quality conversation and discussion with children?
I feel that having a quality discussion on a topic with children is more important than worrying about how long it will take. Large group time should allow time for children to sing songs, do finger plays, and read books. Small group time should allow for discussion, conversation, problem-solving, chart making, analyzing, generalizing, hypothesizing, and discovering. Doing these things with a small group of children from 6-10 children or less can have a better effect than doing it during large group discussion. The reason I say 6-10 children is because my classroom has 22 children with a teacher and an assistant. I am the aid in the classroom, so I help out wherever I am needed. During our afternoon discussion before lunch time, we split the children into two small groups (which consist of around 6-11 children). Each teacher discusses a topic with the children or has the children come up with a topic. They have more meaningful conversations with the children during this time and allow all the children to speak more than once. I feel that just making an effort to split the children up into two groups ensures that children have time to speak and give their opinions and ideas. When children grow older and go into higher grades, they will be working in small groups for projects and classwork, so it is important they get opportunities now as children to learn how to work in small groups.
On page 285-286, the author wrote, "In groups we encounter new perspectives, strategies, and ways of thinking that enable us to learn from others. We also learn with others, modifying, extending, clarifying, and enriching our own ideas and those of others." We understand that group learning is important for children and adults, but how do teachers make group learning time more meaningful and memorable for young children? First teachers must understand what group learning is and how it is important for young children and themselves. On page 286, the author states, "The members of learning groups include adults as well as children, documenting children's learning processes helps to make learning visible and shapes the learning that takes place, members of learning groups are engaged in the emotional and aesthetic as well as the intellectual dimensions of learning, and the focus of learning groups extends beyond the learning of individuals to create a collective body of knowledge." Everyone in their lifetime will have to work in groups, but it needs to be an effective learning time to understand what goes on in group learning. Teachers need to observe their children working in groups and with their friends. When teachers do this, then they will understand how their children are able to work in a group, what kinds of things help them work in a group, and how their personalities are during group learning. If a child is shy during group learning, than you can help them by encouraging them to speak about something that interests them. Getting the other members of the group to include them on the conversation might help as well. This can boost their self-confidence and help them to feel better about group learning in the future. There are probably many ways to make group learning meaningful for children, what do you guys think?
I feel that having a quality discussion on a topic with children is more important than worrying about how long it will take. Large group time should allow time for children to sing songs, do finger plays, and read books. Small group time should allow for discussion, conversation, problem-solving, chart making, analyzing, generalizing, hypothesizing, and discovering. Doing these things with a small group of children from 6-10 children or less can have a better effect than doing it during large group discussion. The reason I say 6-10 children is because my classroom has 22 children with a teacher and an assistant. I am the aid in the classroom, so I help out wherever I am needed. During our afternoon discussion before lunch time, we split the children into two small groups (which consist of around 6-11 children). Each teacher discusses a topic with the children or has the children come up with a topic. They have more meaningful conversations with the children during this time and allow all the children to speak more than once. I feel that just making an effort to split the children up into two groups ensures that children have time to speak and give their opinions and ideas. When children grow older and go into higher grades, they will be working in small groups for projects and classwork, so it is important they get opportunities now as children to learn how to work in small groups.
On page 285-286, the author wrote, "In groups we encounter new perspectives, strategies, and ways of thinking that enable us to learn from others. We also learn with others, modifying, extending, clarifying, and enriching our own ideas and those of others." We understand that group learning is important for children and adults, but how do teachers make group learning time more meaningful and memorable for young children? First teachers must understand what group learning is and how it is important for young children and themselves. On page 286, the author states, "The members of learning groups include adults as well as children, documenting children's learning processes helps to make learning visible and shapes the learning that takes place, members of learning groups are engaged in the emotional and aesthetic as well as the intellectual dimensions of learning, and the focus of learning groups extends beyond the learning of individuals to create a collective body of knowledge." Everyone in their lifetime will have to work in groups, but it needs to be an effective learning time to understand what goes on in group learning. Teachers need to observe their children working in groups and with their friends. When teachers do this, then they will understand how their children are able to work in a group, what kinds of things help them work in a group, and how their personalities are during group learning. If a child is shy during group learning, than you can help them by encouraging them to speak about something that interests them. Getting the other members of the group to include them on the conversation might help as well. This can boost their self-confidence and help them to feel better about group learning in the future. There are probably many ways to make group learning meaningful for children, what do you guys think?
Thursday, March 7, 2013
How do we create an atmosphere where children are comfortable in discussing ideas in a group?
On page 221 a question is asked, "How can we support them in letting their thoughts emerge?" Then it goes on to say, "One of our tasks as teachers is to be able to relaunch the ideas that emerge from the children's discussions."
I really enjoyed reading the children's discussion about getting their letters to America faster by discovering the fax machine. I can definitely tell times has changed, because if children discussed this topic now, I'm pretty sure they would talk about cell phones, text messaging, and emailing, since most of them have access to technology as such. I was really intrigued by how little the teacher talked. She only talked a few times and it was only when she asked a question or restated what a child said. I believe that one thing a teacher can do to have a quality discussion with children is to step back and let the children do the talking and discovering. When children are allowed to discuss a topic with each other, there can be so many more ideas and new things that can emerge. It also allows children to develop their language and problem solving skills. Even by having them draw a picture of what they were discussing, such as the one they drew on how the fax machine would get the letter to America, allows children to make their own story. I love when teachers write what the children describe their pictures to be, because it opens up their world to you. It helps you to understand what the children are thinking and feeling. The author states on page 225, "In their discussions, the children attempt to develop a provisional new theory that makes use of the contributions of the parts of the individual theories that they see as being significant." This enables children to create what they think is right and converse with other children about what they think. I feel that a good way to document what the children say during discussions is charts (if you can write fast enough). Having a question in the center of the paper and the children's ideas as the branches can help children to understand the concept of a discussion, group work, and what their ideas look like on paper. Group work is important for young children, because it helps them to spark creativity, share ideas and opinions, delegate tasks, learn to comprise, and build relationships with each other. Children are not too young for this, actually I think young children are the best at group work, because they are not afraid to say the wrong thing and they just say what is on their minds at the time, which I think is really interesting. How do we create an atmosphere where children are comfortable in discussing ideas in a group?
I really enjoyed reading the children's discussion about getting their letters to America faster by discovering the fax machine. I can definitely tell times has changed, because if children discussed this topic now, I'm pretty sure they would talk about cell phones, text messaging, and emailing, since most of them have access to technology as such. I was really intrigued by how little the teacher talked. She only talked a few times and it was only when she asked a question or restated what a child said. I believe that one thing a teacher can do to have a quality discussion with children is to step back and let the children do the talking and discovering. When children are allowed to discuss a topic with each other, there can be so many more ideas and new things that can emerge. It also allows children to develop their language and problem solving skills. Even by having them draw a picture of what they were discussing, such as the one they drew on how the fax machine would get the letter to America, allows children to make their own story. I love when teachers write what the children describe their pictures to be, because it opens up their world to you. It helps you to understand what the children are thinking and feeling. The author states on page 225, "In their discussions, the children attempt to develop a provisional new theory that makes use of the contributions of the parts of the individual theories that they see as being significant." This enables children to create what they think is right and converse with other children about what they think. I feel that a good way to document what the children say during discussions is charts (if you can write fast enough). Having a question in the center of the paper and the children's ideas as the branches can help children to understand the concept of a discussion, group work, and what their ideas look like on paper. Group work is important for young children, because it helps them to spark creativity, share ideas and opinions, delegate tasks, learn to comprise, and build relationships with each other. Children are not too young for this, actually I think young children are the best at group work, because they are not afraid to say the wrong thing and they just say what is on their minds at the time, which I think is really interesting. How do we create an atmosphere where children are comfortable in discussing ideas in a group?
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