Tovani: Chapter Four
This chapter broke my heart! When her students tap into what they genuinely care about, magic happens. I remember in my younger schooling years when this would happen. It is so interesting that as continuous students, that we relate to all levels of learners.
The first thing that struck me from the reading was the use of photography as text for Caleb. Tapping into student interests outside of school via social media is genius! Personally, I don’t know if I would be comfortable checking out a student’s Instagram... but getting to know students on this personal level gives so much insight into what they care about. What do they want to share with the world? I feel that image is a form of text that gets overlooked often. In reality, sometimes an image can hold more meaning than a set of paragraphs. For example, when her students made connections between the Syrian refugees and the Mexican and South American asylees, image could have been another text provided. What does this occurrence look like.
Another section that shook me up was the incident with the allele lesson. I could not believe that the teacher had never had her students read! Language should not be a barrier to learning, nor should it become a barrier to wondering and asking questions. Learning isn’t linguistic. Students NEED the chance to read and figure out problems on their own. With correct guidance and tools, they are perfectly capable of doing so. By reading text out loud, how does one really know if they understand everything you’re saying? Again, knowing students individually helps construct every tool and aspect for their learning needs.
Hey emma I love when you said that when kid tap into what they care about imagination and learnt grows vigorously. I know in my one ss class my teacher was talking about Greek mythology and this was the time when the Percy Jackson books were hot so my class had background knowledge and a love since our favorite characters were demigods. That lesson when my teacher talked about it there were loads of participation and just wanted to know more. Also my teacher chose a compelling text where iit not just talked about the gods but the stories of the men and demigods where maybe without her knowing it connected to the Percy Jacson characters and characters like Minos and the Minotaur show up.
ReplyDeleteWhen reflecting on Tovani connecting to Caleb through photography, you ask: "What do they want to share with the world?" This is a great point because it emphasizes something being actively made rather than passively consumed. Education is typically conceived as a one-way process where knowledge is inputted into students. Figuring out what students want to share (how is this knowledge applicable?) challenges that one-way process. I think this point also connects nicely to the Mirra, Moreell, and Filipiak article. Asking what students "want to share with the world" certainly lends itself to their concept of "critical digital invention."
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