Dearest Cohort 12, I’ve just come from my 1:1 with Brenna and I find myself in that simultaneously exciting and frightening place where ideas are igniting and swirling and some shape is beginning to form around what my final capstone project will look like. So I find myself needing to write a different kind of blog - rather like a brainstorm: a bit more freeform and seeking the insight and suggestions of the group. Why-How Ladder In working through my Why-How ladder, I started by going back to my real passion. It was behind my driving question for my 790 research topic and I keep coming home to it. At the center of my ladder is the provocation: “How might we help students enjoy reading?” WHY might we...? Here, my ladder branches into to 2 answers.
Proceeding through the Ladder gave shape to my passion. Exciting. Victory! Alas, it seemed to broaden the topic and not narrow it! Frightening. Defeat! Enter the 1:1 with Brenna. Her advice...keep it simple. Less is more. If you want a student to enjoy reading for the rest of his life, well, it starts with one encounter. Make the first encounter a positive one, and he is more likely to repeat. And repeat. And repeat. So begin with one experience. Obviously, we can’t get a “do-over” of childhood, but we can build one enjoyable experience with reading. Why not simplify the driving question to focus on one lesson? Provide an experience where a student gets invested in her reading choice in the hopes that she continue to be invested in choosing books of interest and therefore continues reading in general. Use digital tools to help the student take away obstacles and connect to the book and to other readers. So now the provocation, or driving question, becomes “How do we use digital resources to create an initial positive, enjoyable experience for a reader?” Next steps:
3 Comments
Dan
7/6/2017 02:56:55 am
Nancy,
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James
7/6/2017 04:42:27 pm
Nancy,
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Man, If my thinking was as organized as yours . . .I can't even imagine what could be accomplished. I love your driving question as it is something that has plagued me forever -- HOW CAN I GET THEM TO SEE THAT READING IS EVERYTHING? I love to read, and I want all of my students to enjoy it like I do, but getting them there is not so easy! I am excited to see what your plan morphs into next! I am 100% Team Nancy!
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