Much like the average person, I say the word "bananas" when I am referring to something crazy.... or obviously the fruit. Anyway, I am saying it for two reasons right now:
1 - My wife is watching a PBS special on "dark matter". At no point in time am I intelligent enough to figure this stuff out. I wish I were though, cuz this stuff is blowing my mind.
2 - Just got done reading the "Drive" chapter. Wow. The "Do It Yourself" report card is such a phenomenal idea. I would give anything to be able to get my kids to partake in such an endeavor. I remember taking the writing course with Tim last semester. It blew my mind that he valued my opinion on my own education. Then, I realized that it helped me to not only be accountable, but to also take the time to actually set some goals for myself. GOALS THAT I CHOSE!! This whole idea of choice has popped up over and over again in our classes with Tim and Kim, and I gotta say.... it totally works with the kids!! Well, as long as you stay patient. When you first try and implement it, they look at you like you have three heads. But my co-op said that they are just waiting for you to give up on the good stuff because they don't expect learning to be fun. I've stuck with it for 9wks and it's finally starting to pay off.
I am not even sure if I spoke enough about "Drive." In a nutshell, the best compliment that I can give this chapter is that while I was reading, I found myself thinking of my kids and how they would react to these things. Sometimes when I read these types of things, I wonder to myself if the person ever took the time to think of urban students. Not this time. Good stuff!
You read my mind with this post. My students started working on their focus group presentations - they're basically doing a jigsaw with elements from the novel that we just finished. My co-op was looking for busy work for the students to work on in case they were driving the sub crazy this week. So, I came up with a pre/post presentation reflection.
ReplyDeleteThey LOVED the idea. Of course, some of them were cynical about it. But most of them really enjoyed the opportunity to add their input and set their own goals. They felt like they had a say in the outcome, and it was refreshing to hear their feedback.