Reading

I apologize for my recent blogging absence- I have been reading. There are times, as a teacher, when reading becomes all-consuming, and for me this month has been filled with reading my students’ work (aka, marking!) I actually love this kind of reading. It starts as a short conversation when I ask my students to show me what they know, then the floodgates open, and the writing starts piling up on my desk. There are a lot of kids who are just desperate to be heard. They need a place to voice their ideas, without interruption, and in writing for school, on any topic, they get an audience. And yet, some students still feel so threatened by writing. It’s a shame we have to confine most writing assignments to being something “for marks.” The limits that are imposed by getting the right answer or trying to sound knowledgeable are the hardest to break. The challenge I pose to my students in their writing is to tell me what they think, not what they have read. Reading, and adding in the ideas of others can come later, but if I can convince my students that their ideas are valid, and that I want to hear them, then, that is when I start to see growth in their writing.

One of the most freeing experiences in my own writing happened in my first graduate course, when we were given permission to write our papers in the first person. In fact, we were told that personal authoethnographical writing had more validity than standard, objective research. This concept was incredibly difficult for me to accept. I had learned, and I had been teaching for years, that an author’s opinion was not valid information for any credible journal. Apprehensively, I tested the waters of writing in the first person, and I found that the depth of my own thinking expanded, as I read other authors, reflected upon their ideas, and made connections to my own world. Now, I’m completely sold on the value of writing as thinking, using the personal perspective.

I use this approach in teaching my students to think about the material they read, and I’m starting to see much more thoughtful writing coming from them. I have 14 and 15 year-olds asking important questions, questions that make me think too. So , I have no complaints about the number of hours I have spent reading my students’ writing this month. This time, for me, is the culmination of a year of learning, and it’s probably the greatest reward I can have for the work I have done.

Movement and Thinking

A student who is not moving can often be a student who isn’t thinking, much. I think restless students are just trying to find a way to keep their minds active. I’m not talking about moving from place to place, though that would be preferable for many students, but movement of some part of their body. The best method I know to promote thinking, myself, is either through actively getting up and using large muscle groups (walking, swimming, running) or focusing in on smaller muscles. I would prefer to play the piano when I really want to think, but writing or drawing have the same effect for me. I am not an artist at all, but it doesn’t matter. There is something about the movement of a pen or typing on a keyboard that allows my thoughts to flow. I think the ultimate goal for any classroom is for ideas to be flowing freely.

Through years of school and getting older, adults learn to sit still and at least look like their listening, but I’m pretty sure most of us have experienced moments of a wandering mind, even with the best of intentions. Most adults have learned that we shouldn’t disturb others, but really, a wandering mind is a good thing. It shows that you’re thinking. The challenge for teachers, is to invite those wandering minds in your classroom to join you in your own thinking. As a teacher, you can move around, but the layout of a typical classroom restricts student movement.  In some educational settings, large muscle group activity is possible within the time of  a class, but with the areas of curriculum based upon written language (reading and writing in any language, including math) it’s usually more practical to limit most of your students’  movement to the smaller muscle groups of the hands.  Limiting movement to the hands does not need to be restraining in any way though. I think it’s important to discuss this with students, as a way of inviting them to think without interfering with  other students’ thinking.

I invite you to experiment with ways of introducing movement of small muscle groups into your students’ allowable classroom activities. For my most hyperactive students, I have always suggested that they find a way of moving without letting anyone know they’re doing it. Scrunching up toes, stretching fingers or alternately flexing calf muscles are some possibilities. They can have some fun experimenting with these movements that allow them to sit without disturbing other students. But for students who don’t have the constant need to move, I suggest writing and drawing. If you work free writing and doodling into your lessons, the level of active thinking going on in the classroom will increase. I’m sure of it because I have used this with my students, but I also invite you to try it yourself. Get a notebook and start writing and drawing in it and see where your thinking leads you. The brilliant ideas that pop into your head as you start to write will amaze you!  I’m actually just starting to read a book on this topic now. To quote I Swear I Saw This by Michael Taussig, “Drawing breathes life into an idea.” Actually, he was quoting someone named Christopher Grubbs, but my point is, there a many ways of incorporating movement into your classroom, and if you not only allow them, but encourage them, you will be helping your students to become life-long thinkers.