Serenity
The Breachway
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
When we talk of no child left behind, yet still require all "children" to take standardized tests like MCAS, SATs and MTEL to prove acquisition of materials presented, just how many "children" are actually left behind? If everyone is encouraged to shine their own lights, what a brighter world in which we would live!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
21st Century Learning
Everyday I hear people grousing and complaining about all the kids, texting, facebooking, IM-ing....Geesh! I think it is absolutely wonderful! To be a witness to a world so full of changes and technology is utterly breathtaking for me. I grew up marveling at "color tv!" Pong changed the world! Lucky were the kids whose parents could afford Pong! We would gather around the enormous 19" screen and were mesmerized for hours, watching that tiny white ball lobbed back and forth , ponging its merry way from side to side.
Monday, January 16, 2012
What an interesting thought, lets talk!: Within each learner, just below the surface, there...
What an interesting thought, lets talk!: Within each learner, just below the surface, there...: Within each learner, just below the surface, there lie many gifts; these gifts are quirky and funny, solemn and intuitive, fresh, insightful...
Within each learner, just below the surface, there lie many
gifts; these gifts are quirky and funny, solemn and intuitive, fresh,
insightful and valuable; unique. Each
learner begins to use these gifts to weave the fabric, however nubby and
textures with bumps and twists, or smooth, well planned and seemingly
flawless. The materials our learners use
to begin their life’s work are also unique, dependant upon their culture,
family life, support systems, socio-economic contributions, hope, dreams and
fears.
The one of a kind weave they create begins with what they
feel most comfortable or confident with.
A child, who sings and dances, weaves in one way; a child who builds
towers of blocks and then knocks them down, another. Children who go to sleep
at night with all their “loveys” surrounding them or the little one who
clutches a favorite book are all showing the world, what kind of learners they
will be.
Harvard psychologist and author of several books regarding
the multiple ways learners’ access and process learning describe these gifts as
Multiple Intelligences. It is my belief,
my personal philosophy of Education that these gifts are to be celebrated,
shared and woven into the unique fabric that showcases the wonderful talents,
strengths and skills of each and every learner.
As virtually everyone has the capacity to develop, to a
reasonably high level of performance, these multiple layers of intelligences, a
more holistic approach to teaching should seamlessly be woven into each
learner’s fabric. Teachers as guides or
facilitators need to understand that all we need to do is hold those first bits
of color the learner chooses, until their work becomes to come together. We then need only to guide and suggest
different threads and stitches that might make more sense or create a stronger
fabric. After all, this is not the
teacher’s design, it is the learners own, unique pattern and weave. Teachers
also need to become collectors and documenters of fabrics designed by their
students. Learners will often reveal
their designs and patterns through misbehaviors and it is these, not
achievements, teachers discover the true self, document and portfolio these
designs for total understanding of the learner as a whole person. It is from
missteps and miscalculations that learning takes the greatest leap.
Recognizing the many layers of learning or multiple
intelligences is not a new philosophy. Plato observed that if you allow
“education to be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to find out
the nature of the bent.” (Plato-The Dialogues of Plato; Encyclopedia
Britannica). Incorporating multimodal techniques into everyday learning brings
learning to higher levels of comprehension, confidence and clarity.
Maria Montessori is recognized as observing that “nature endows
a child with a sensitiveness to order, which distinguishes the relationship
between objects, that makes a whole of an environment,” from distinct and
separate components.
Rather than focus on learning deficits as a paradigm in
Special Education, we need to work within the parameters of a growth
paradigm. Teachers need examine our
basic descriptive vocabulary when describing strengths and
exceptionalities. We need to promote
growth through rich and varied interactions, real life activities and hands-on
projects. We need to insure that we
foster connections with learners and their peers, collaborate with our own
colleagues, and seek innovation daily through technology and traditional
methodology.
As teachers and guides we need to become expert detectives,
determining the “who, what, when, where and why” of our learners and their
strengths and challenges. We need to be
at the ready to offer a steady hand to their loom as they weave through
turbulent times and soar through exciting achievements! It is essential that we collaborate, with
parity with colleagues, Administrators, parents and care-givers to achieve the
goal of opening all avenues, doors, windows and minds to insure that no stone
is left unturned, no thread left tangled nor any cloth cast aside in dismay.
Response to intervention at all levels should be employed to
move learners away from substantially separate classrooms and unnecessary
special education settings that segregate learners by disability and or
social/emotional behaviors.
I see a changing role of Special Educators in that more
districts are recognizing the need to identify strengths earlier in learners
and to foster self esteem, increase the appreciation of all learning styles and
to recognize the unique gifts all learners have to offer.
21st Century learning is an exciting frontier to
be embarked upon and embraced by all, as weavers or the world. Global Learning is here, it is now; diversity
and technology abound! Our learners,
once creative weavers on rudimentary looms, are now able to weave more color,
greater texture and endless fabrics into their life’s work, using technologies
and information that, twenty years ago was in it’s infancy; mere dream of
Master Weavers.
I
am a weaver, a dreamer, a guide and an admirer of designs. I am a teacher.
gifts; these gifts are quirky and funny, solemn and intuitive, fresh,
insightful and valuable; unique. Each
learner begins to use these gifts to weave the fabric, however nubby and
textures with bumps and twists, or smooth, well planned and seemingly
flawless. The materials our learners use
to begin their life’s work are also unique, dependant upon their culture,
family life, support systems, socio-economic contributions, hope, dreams and
fears.
The one of a kind weave they create begins with what they
feel most comfortable or confident with.
A child, who sings and dances, weaves in one way; a child who builds
towers of blocks and then knocks them down, another. Children who go to sleep
at night with all their “loveys” surrounding them or the little one who
clutches a favorite book are all showing the world, what kind of learners they
will be.
Harvard psychologist and author of several books regarding
the multiple ways learners’ access and process learning describe these gifts as
Multiple Intelligences. It is my belief,
my personal philosophy of Education that these gifts are to be celebrated,
shared and woven into the unique fabric that showcases the wonderful talents,
strengths and skills of each and every learner.
As virtually everyone has the capacity to develop, to a
reasonably high level of performance, these multiple layers of intelligences, a
more holistic approach to teaching should seamlessly be woven into each
learner’s fabric. Teachers as guides or
facilitators need to understand that all we need to do is hold those first bits
of color the learner chooses, until their work becomes to come together. We then need only to guide and suggest
different threads and stitches that might make more sense or create a stronger
fabric. After all, this is not the
teacher’s design, it is the learners own, unique pattern and weave. Teachers
also need to become collectors and documenters of fabrics designed by their
students. Learners will often reveal
their designs and patterns through misbehaviors and it is these, not
achievements, teachers discover the true self, document and portfolio these
designs for total understanding of the learner as a whole person. It is from
missteps and miscalculations that learning takes the greatest leap.
Recognizing the many layers of learning or multiple
intelligences is not a new philosophy. Plato observed that if you allow
“education to be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to find out
the nature of the bent.” (Plato-The Dialogues of Plato; Encyclopedia
Britannica). Incorporating multimodal techniques into everyday learning brings
learning to higher levels of comprehension, confidence and clarity.
Maria Montessori is recognized as observing that “nature endows
a child with a sensitiveness to order, which distinguishes the relationship
between objects, that makes a whole of an environment,” from distinct and
separate components.
Rather than focus on learning deficits as a paradigm in
Special Education, we need to work within the parameters of a growth
paradigm. Teachers need examine our
basic descriptive vocabulary when describing strengths and
exceptionalities. We need to promote
growth through rich and varied interactions, real life activities and hands-on
projects. We need to insure that we
foster connections with learners and their peers, collaborate with our own
colleagues, and seek innovation daily through technology and traditional
methodology.
As teachers and guides we need to become expert detectives,
determining the “who, what, when, where and why” of our learners and their
strengths and challenges. We need to be
at the ready to offer a steady hand to their loom as they weave through
turbulent times and soar through exciting achievements! It is essential that we collaborate, with
parity with colleagues, Administrators, parents and care-givers to achieve the
goal of opening all avenues, doors, windows and minds to insure that no stone
is left unturned, no thread left tangled nor any cloth cast aside in dismay.
Response to intervention at all levels should be employed to
move learners away from substantially separate classrooms and unnecessary
special education settings that segregate learners by disability and or
social/emotional behaviors.
I see a changing role of Special Educators in that more
districts are recognizing the need to identify strengths earlier in learners
and to foster self esteem, increase the appreciation of all learning styles and
to recognize the unique gifts all learners have to offer.
21st Century learning is an exciting frontier to
be embarked upon and embraced by all, as weavers or the world. Global Learning is here, it is now; diversity
and technology abound! Our learners,
once creative weavers on rudimentary looms, are now able to weave more color,
greater texture and endless fabrics into their life’s work, using technologies
and information that, twenty years ago was in it’s infancy; mere dream of
Master Weavers.
I
am a weaver, a dreamer, a guide and an admirer of designs. I am a teacher.
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