Kuunari

The series “Reading Notice and Note” features essays I wrote for a distance learning class while reading the book Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading by G. Kylene Beers and Robert E Probst. Overall, I found the book and the class enjoyable and hope this series helps others as they read and think about the book. 

I consider myself fortunate to work in a International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme public school where we are trying to create an intellectual community where thinking, exploring, questioning, and effort is a priority. Part of that work is creating opportunities for all students to be able to access and discuss interesting and engaging grade level texts.
School for me was and remains fun because I view it as an intellectual community. Too many policies and decisions seem to be focused on making school a place that is “more interested in making sure students pass a test than in creating an intellectual community.”

Within my classroom, I view myself as first among equals. I set the direction, but my students set the course. I want my students to see that their interests to think, question, and explore are what sustains and drives our classroom community, and that each one of them will help to drive the learning in the classroom. Just because a student isn’t able to read a text doesn’t mean his voice should be silenced in my classroom when we discuss literature.

Conversation and discussion is a vital component of a powerful intellectual community. Whenever I find myself spending more time in front of the room lecturing, the engagement of the class drops. While my students tend to be loud and boisterous during class discussions and often need to be reined in, I much prefer a class that is energized by the learning than a classroom that passively receives it. I know my students do as well. I agree completely with the statement made by the authors of Notice and Note: “We want [students] to be ready to participate fully in a democratic society.” (27) I would take it one step further. I want my students to be ready to participate fully in both their own local community as well as the international world we live it today.

The authors offer a number of excellent suggestions to help teachers use discussion to create a intellectual community, with three being of extra importance. The first is that the teacher must “step back and let students pose questions.” (30) By allowing students ownership on the direction of the conversation, they will become more engaged and aware of the importance of their voice in the conversation. To help guide students to ask meaningful questions, teachers should be asking all students high-level questions, not just students deemed bright or gifted.

All students want to discuss interesting topics at their grade level, and part of struggling students disengagement from their learning is because they are not included in learning that seems important. By asking all students high-level questions, students develop models for asking good questions themselves. The third is to give the conversation prompts to help keep the conversation going and to give students feedback about their comments that is direct and non-judgemental.

When the conversation starts to stall or go too far off track, the teacher’s role as facilitator is to get the conversation going again. As students share their ideas, the teacher must help guide the students to understand what about that comment helps the conversation. This way, students are not only following the modeling in the conversation you provide, but also the modeling other students provide. An intellectual community fosters the natural inquiry of students and puts our students at the center of the learning.