To understand something is to see it in its relations to other things!

Indeed, to understand something is to see it in its relations to other things! How does it operates? How does it function? What consequences follow from it? What causes it?

We need to go beyond the information given to make inferences, connections, and associations!

A middle school student who can explain why steam, water, and ice, though superficially different, are the same chemical substance has a better understanding of H2O than someone who cannot!

Students should be able to transfer their abstract knowledge into giving good accounts that provide a useful framework, logic, and telling evidence to support claims!

Understanding is thus not mere knowledge of facts but inference about why and how, with specific evidence and logic, insightful connections.

Are Schools Better Off When Many Students Question Authority?

Questioning about a fact or a particular subject is basic human nature. Asking questions makes students extrovert as they do not hesitate in talking to anyone. 

When students ask questions, they clear their doubts about ideas, and provide an indirect help in the upliftment of schools. 

Asking questions is not only the human nature, but it is a human right! It was because of Einstein, who challenged the postulates of Newton's theory, that today scientists have been able to beget the string theory. Also, Galileo could ascertain the fact that the earth was round, because he challenged the orthodox beliefs existing at that time.

Countries like India and America were able to achieve independence, when people like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King questioned the high officials and authorites. Despite the ill treatment by the authorities they maintained their calm and composure, and never resorted to misdemeanor.

Indeed, questioning the authority helps in the overall upliftment of schools and societies. 

Questioning and resoning does reflect the acumen of students. That is why I have organized a Socratic Dialogue in the Middle School. Every Tuesday, we have a Socratic Dialogue in our classroom and teenagers understood that it is worth our while to talk about important subjects and about how we ought to live!

A Socratic Dialogue encourages students to reflect and think independently and critically. The Students self-confidence in their own thinking is enhanced and the search for truth in answer to a particular problem is undertaken in common.

The questions are drawn from ethics, politics, epistemology, mathematics, psychology, ....and are of a general nature. The endeavour of the students is to reach consensus as a means to deepen their investigation of the topic.

Possible Uses of Narrative Literature: middle school language arts

Middle and high school students should be able to identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structures and elements of narrative literature. In order to successfully comprehend narrative text, students need to apply the structures of story grammar.  

Narrative literature can be defined as a literature which function is to tell a fiction story or a nonfiction story. Aristotle, in one of his works of literary analysis, suggested that “a story (narrative) has three key characteristics: an unfolding of events and actions over time; emplotment (the rhetorical juxtaposition of these events and actions to evoke meaning, motive, and causality); and trouble (peripeteia-the unexpected in the form of surprise, twist in the plot)” (Greenhalgh, 2005). Narrative texts deal indeed with a collection of six events that tell a story: setting, beginning, reaction, attempt, outcome, and ending (Mandler and Johnson as cited in Roe et al., 2004). 

Narrative text may be either fiction or non-fiction. Examples of fiction include “realistic fiction, science fiction, mysteries, folk tales, fairy tales, and myths.” Non-fiction is fact-based text such as “reports, factual stories, and biographies” (Jim Burke). Narrative text can have different purpose: (1) to entertain the reader; (2) to inform the reader; and (3) to persuade the reader.  There are many advantages of using narrative literature to middle school language arts and content area classrooms. According to Gillis & Olson (as cited in Klingner & Vaughn, 1987), “children develop sensitivity to narrative structure early.” Students feel familiar with the way narrative texts are structured. So, they remember their lessons better when they are organized in a pattern which is familiar to them. Therefore, Meyer (1984) pointed out that this knowledge can help them “(1) form expectations about what they will read, (2) organize incoming information, (3) judge the relative importance of what they read, (4) improve their comprehension, and (5) enhance their recall (as cited in Klingner & Vaughn, 1987). In addition, Fernando Romero (2005) suggested that “narrative structure may facilitate memory for global information.” For example, in history class, narrative literature will appeal more to the adolescents’ emotions. They will remember the main events easier if they are presented through a narrative text with a plot, characters, problems and themes. 

To illustrate, teachers can use the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” in order to teach students about the reality of slavery. Consequently, applying good narrative literature to middle school content area classrooms will definitely “brings into the adolescents’ consciousness images of life, people, and their actions” (Rosenblatt, 1978). Furthermore, a science teacher can use narrative literature in a science class in order to help his/her students to think critically, to make inferences, to analyze, and to summarize. 

Teachers can use “narrative as a captivating vehicle for representing and communicating scientific information.” The use of narrative literature in a science class would “permeate” students’ lives outside school. It will provide “excellent models for kind of writing students might experiment with outside school” (Irvin 2007). If teachers use narrative literature in a science class, it will help them make science approachable and meaningful to their students. So, it is important to use narrative literature in a science class because it will engage the adolescents’ readers. Through the use of good narrative, the students will even “collaborate” with their classmates and they will “consider their thoughts and ideas.” Therefore, by being in contact with good narrative texts, adolescents will “create meaning through their own experiences and imagination as they apply to” the narrative text at hand. 

Moreover, the use of narrative in geography teaching can be very useful in the middle school. Good geography narrative will stimulate the students’ imagination and it will promote their geographical knowledge. To illustrate, social studies teachers can use the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Achebe in order to give students an idea of contemporary African geography by providing the class with maps of Africa before, during, and after colonization. Besides, narrative literature is very useful in order to help adolescents tackle themes and to deal with empathic questions. The study of narrative literature will help middle and high school students to have well-crafted and sustained insight into the character at specified moment in the text. They will be able to analyse the different voices in the text and it will help them to write informed personal response which engages with the task directly. Narrative literature in language arts will help adolescents identify their values and opinions by comparing their own experiences to the protagonist’s experience. 

Nevertheless, they are some disadvantages of using only narrative text. Some students are not into narrative texts, fiction, or stories. These students prefer to read informational texts because they feel that narrative texts do not “permeate their lives outside school.” They would rather study informational texts because they can use them as models for writing. These students prefer informational texts because they like to read about facts and use the discussion questions to develop their critical thinking. 

According to Romero, Paris & Brem (2005), middle school students prefer expository texts because they are “organized into statements that allow them to follow text through logic and causality.” As a result, non-narrative text will present various structures to the students: description, sequence, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and resolution. Teachers can use direct instruction when they are using expository texts in the classroom. Ivey (2006) has stated that good informational books can serve as model for writing. But he insists that teachers must “begin with explicit instruction” and that “over time students will gradually try the skills or strategy for themselves.”

In the same manner, graphic organizers support reading and writing. Teachers should construct a graphic organizer for use with narrative text within their practicum activities. Graphic organizers help the middle school students to remember concepts and to understand abstract thinking. They also help students organize their ideas. And through the use of graphic organizers, they can show the similarities and differences among characters. Therefore, graphic organizers are important tools because they help adolescents comprehend and interpret narrative texts. 

Plot Summary	Characters	Setting (Where?)
First
Problem
Solution

           

Conflict	Climax	Falling Action
Antagonist		Point of View
Protagonist		Theme
Setting		Ending

Effective teachers should apply the strategies needed to successfully comprehend narrative text because fiction and nonfiction appeals to the students’ emotions. An understanding of the structure of narrative texts will improve the students’ “comprehension and it will increase the consistency in their writing skills.”

WHAT IS CRITICAL LITERACY? STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE ITS USE IN THE CLASSROOM

Schools are responsible for developing students’ critical thinking skills in order to prepare them to become active, engaged and responsible citizens. What is critical literacy and how does it relates to adolescents?

Freire (1970) defined critical literacy as an attitude toward texts that questions the social, political, and economic conditions under which those texts were constructed (as cited by Ann S. Beck, 2005). Adolescents need to question the text, to understand the “socio-cultural influences and to comprehend the text with a critical edge” (McLaughlin & DeVoogd). 

According to Irvin (2007), critical literacy helps students analyze bias, perspective, audience, and the underlying assumptions of a piece of writing (42). By using critical literacy, adolescents use an authentic approach for thinking about texts and engaging a critical dialogue with texts. 

In the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (2005), Ann S. Beck pointed out that critical literacy encourages students to apply critical awareness beyond the classroom. With the help of critical literacy, students learn to sharpen their critical thinking tools in order to transform their environment and become responsible citizens. Indeed, the significance of critical literacy as it relates to adolescents is essential because it develops their comprehension of the “words and the world” so students will not be “manipulated” by it (Freire, 1970). 

Critical literacy encourages readers to “adopt a questioning stance to work toward changing themselves and their worlds” (McDaniel, 2004). Adolescents like to be engaged in authentic tasks which will transform them and will transform their world. Teachers should understand that students are not “passive receptacles” but instead they are active members of our community (Freire, 1985). 

Consequently, teachers need to use books which will develop adolescents’ critical thinking. Teachers should use books which present credible voices and the themes should be about issues such as gender, class, tolerance, and prejudice. So, when students will engage in critical literacy, they will become “open-minded, active, and strategic readers who are capable of viewing text from a critical perspective” (McLaughlin & DeVoogd). 

Besides, texts are “infused with subjectivity and based on assumptions (Irvin, 2007, p. 43). So, adolescents who have mastered the tools of critical thinking can use their background knowledge to understand the author’s point of view. In addition, they know how to ask the right questions in order to participate in the class debate. 

Class debate is an important tool in order to construct critical literacy and develop critical thinking skills. Surrounding a variety of texts that can be used to represent critical literacy, teachers can scaffold the students’ learning. They will explain, demonstrate, practice and help students reflect on the theme through a well-constructed class debate. 

Therefore, researchers have understood that critical literacy develops students’ potential and it encourages them to be involved in authentic tasks. Critical literacy helps students develop a critical stance towards texts and it motivates them to be involved in tasks beyond the classroom. They are encouraged to ask questions and act as responsible members of their community.

I believe that critical literacy is an important skill which allows students to reach a higher-level of thinking. Critical literacy is an accurate and authentic approach for studying geography texts because it develops students’ critical thinking skills. 

It is very important in geography class because it helps students develop a critical stance towards history sources. I use critical literacy to teach adolescents the following critical thinking skills: (1) evaluate information and its sources critically; (2) understand the social, economical, and legal issues of some information; (3) to read from a critical stance; (4) to question who is writing the text; and (5) to expand their reasoning. 

I am going to share with you the following strategies which I use every day in order to engage students in critical literacy. Firstly, I use two anticipatory activities: (1) I set a purpose for reading and I ask students questions to make them use their prior knowledge; (2) I read the text aloud and I engage students in small groups to be engaged in shared readings. Secondly, I ask my students to identify the main ideas with supporting details from the expository text presented in their geography book. For example, for the lesson about weathering, rivers and coasts, I ask them to compare landforms from photos. I use videos, photos and sketches to explain the difference between weathering and erosion. 

Then, in order to understand erosion, transportation and deposition, I use the analogy of digging in the garden (erosion), moving the material in a wheelbarrow (transportation), then dumping it elsewhere (deposition). Then, I give the students a narrative text about what happens on a river bend and the narrative had three diagrams (a cross-section of a river, deposition on the inside of a river bend, and erosion on the outside). Then I ask students to draw the cross-section and to describe through their writings why one side of the river bend is different from the other. In addition, I ask my students to write down in their notebook two reasons why the flood plain of a valley is good for farming. Then, in group of three, I ask my students to give one problem of farming the flood plain and they should suggest what could be done to reduce the problem.

Secondly, if I was teaching a science class, I would use critical literacy. In science, critical literacy is the ability to read texts in an active, reflective and analytical manner. I think that critical thinking is an essential skill for adolescents to acquire in the science classroom. I insist that science is more than just memorizing facts. I think that science is about asking and investigating questions. Before reading the text, I will encourage my students to read the list of key concepts because they introduce the big ideas of the text. Then, I will ask my students to read to one another in small groups about one concept. I will teach them to ask each other the “what if” question in order to apply what they have learned through their shared reading. Then, through the scientific inquiry question, students are practicing their inquiry skills and they learn to develop hypotheses, analyze research data, and develop hypotheses. Students read narrative texts about scientific inquires and they test their critical thinking by answering the “what if” question. I will ask them to illustrate important scientific concepts by using three-dimensional drawing. The drawings help them visualize biological concepts. The students use also diagrams to help understand the science narrative lesson. For example, I can ask them to draw, structure and annotate a figure, or a graph experimental data. Then, I will engage my students around critical literacy by asking them to write a self-quiz in groups of four about the chapter they have completed. 

In the following content-area classrooms, English literature,  history and geography (and it is possible in the science class), I have used narrative texts and graphic organizers in their practicum activities. The students have understood the importance to think and to use anticipatory activities to master critical thinking skills. I have used “transportable and transparent strategies for content literacy instruction.” I have used anticipatory activities, read-alouds and shared readings, graphic organizers, vocabulary instruction in order to engage my students in critical literacy activities. 

Multiple Intelligences and Inclusion

Based on my research and experience, teachers need to provide learning opportunities that appeal to all learning styles and multiple intelligences. 

Also we need to encourage the students to identify similarities and differences and to generate and test hypotheses. For example, I use metaphors and analogies for making comparisons. 

I also encourage the students to analyze the lesson and to put it in their own words. (I use this method in geography/history) 

Summarizing requires students to substitute and remove nonessential information while learning to keep the main ideas and to recognize salient information. 

In addition, research has shown that note taking is beneficial to the students. Note taking is closely related to summarizing. It requires students to translate the teacher’s information into their own abbreviated form. Summarizing and note taking are great ways of synthesizing information. 

The teacher needs to set objectives and provide feedback. At the end of the day, the teacher needs to tell the students how they are progressing. 

They need to be aware of the mistakes they make and the teacher need to help them to correct these mistakes. They should not be afraid of making mistakes. Therefore, they need to practice a lot before a test and they should have more than one opportunity to complete a learning task. 

In the classroom, there is a merit sheet paper which shows how many merits (tally charts) each student is getting during the week. They can get merits for different reasons: helping, sharing, kindness, good work, homework… At the end of the week, the student with the most merits will win a merit badge during the assembly time which takes place every Friday. Then, we put a new merit sheet paper on the board every Monday. 

There is one practice that I have tried to enhance effective instruction in the classroom setting. A few minutes before the end of a lesson, I ask students to take a sheet of paper and to write 2 things they understand well about today’s lesson. Then, I ask them to write one thing they did not understand about the lesson or a question they would like me to answer. I tell them that they cannot leave the classroom unless they give me this sheet of paper. I ask them not to sign their names and that spelling is not important. Then, I use the information from the sheet of papers for the next day’s lesson. 

The goal of inclusion is for special need students to attend a general classroom practices and activities. This approach has many advantages. It gives students with special needs the opportunity to learn with their non-handicapped peers. All the students benefit from equal educational opportunities.

 The students without disabilities will learn about differences between people and they will learn to be tolerant. The teachers will have to adapt and learn new techniques in order to help these special need students. 

In the other hand, the special need students might not get the specialized attention and care in a classroom of 30 non-handicapped children. The teacher will not be able to give a special education, while also giving a regular course to the other students. Therefore, the teacher will need an assistant in the classroom.

Golden Rule Principle

A student was asking me last week about the golden rule principle. She said,  (if I remember very well...) "Why do so many religions have the same golden rule principle." 

So many religions have the same golden rule principle because they follow the ethic of reciprocity. Almost all religious ideas include the concept of reciprocity; that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect Therefore, the golden rule or ethic of reciprocity is found in the scriptures of almost all the religions. 

Treat others as you want to be treated is an important moral truth. 

Thank you for taking the time to ask me such an important question. I have really enjoyed the animated discussion that we had during breaktime. 

I encourage all the other middle and high school students who are reading this blog to not hesitate to come and ask me questions. I am always ready to have a dialogue with you during lunch time or recess time :)

Socratic Dialogue about Virtue

Meno: Can you tell me, Socrates, can virtue be taught? Or is it not teachable but the result of practice, or is it neither of these, but men possess it by nature or in some other way?

Socrates: I am so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught or not that I do not even have any knowledge of what virtue itself is. I blame myself for my complete ignorance about virtue. If I do not know what something is, how could I know what qualities it possesses?

Meno: I do not; but, Socrates, do you really not know what virtue is? 

Socrates: I have never yet met anyone else who did know. But tell me yourself, what is virtue?

Meno: If you want a virtue of a man, it is easy to say that a man's virtue consists of being able to manage public affairs and in doing so to benefit his friends and harm his enemies and to be careful that no harm comes to himself. If you want the virtue of a woman, it is not difficult to describe: she must manage the home well, preserve its possessions, and be submissive to her husband.

Socrates: You think that there is a virtue for man and a virtue for woman. Do you think that there is one health for man and one health for woman?  No, all human beings are good in the same way, for they become good by acquiring the same qualities.

Socratic Dialogue

The Socratic method of teaching is based on Socrates' theory that it is more important to enable students to think for themselves than to merely fill their heads with "right" answers.

Therefore, he regularly engaged his pupils in dialogues by responding to their questions with questions, instead of answers. This process encourages divergent thinking rather than convergent.

Open-ended questions allow students to think critically, analyze multiple meanings in text, and express ideas with clarity and confidence. 

Dialogue is exploratory and involves the suspension of biases and prejudices. 

Participants in a Socratic Debate respond to one another with respect by carefully listening instead of interrupting. Students are encouraged to "paraphrase" essential elements of another's ideas before responding, either in support of or in disagreement. 

What is the difference between dialogue and debate?

• Dialogue is collaborative: multiple sides work toward shared understanding.
  Debate is oppositional: two opposing sides try to prove each other wrong.
• In dialogue, one listens to understand, to make meaning, and to find common ground.
  In debate, one listens to find flaws, to spot differences, and to counter arguments.
• Dialogue enlarges and possibly changes a participant's point of view.
  Debate defends assumptions as truth.
• Dialogue creates an open-minded attitude: an openness to being wrong and an openness to change.
  Debate creates a close-minded attitude, a determination to be right.
• In dialogue, one submits one's best thinking, expecting that other people's reflections will help improve it rather than threaten it.
  In debate, one submits one's best thinking and defends it against challenge to show that it is right.
• Dialogue calls for temporarily suspending one's beliefs.
  Debate calls for investing wholeheartedly in one's beliefs.
• In dialogue, one searches for strengths in all positions.
  In debate, one searches for weaknesses in the other position.
• Dialogue respects all the other participants and seeks not to alienate or offend.
  Debate rebuts contrary positions and may belittle or deprecate other participants.
• Dialogue assumes that many people have pieces of answers and that cooperation can lead to a greater understanding.
  Debate assumes a single right answer that somebody already has.
• Dialogue remains open-ended.
  Debate demands a conclusion.

Dialogue is characterized by:

• suspending judgment
• examining our own work without defensiveness
• exposing our reasoning and looking for limits to it
• communicating our underlying assumptions
• exploring viewpoints more broadly and deeply
• being open to disconfirming data
• approaching someone who sees a problem differently not as an adversary, but as a colleague in common pursuit of better solution.

http://www.middleweb.com/Socratic.html

 

 

Democracy Now!

Democracy! We are discussing this word every week with the members of our Amnesty club and with the middle school and high school students!

What makes a Democratic classroom??

Charles Dickens published Hard Times in London in 1854, over 150 years ago! In the opening paragraphs, Dickens describes with raging fidelity the following to teachers:

"Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Sticks to Facts, Sir!"...
Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens' description of nineteenth century English schooling sounds resonant, oddly close at hand, a bit like the school-world teachers face here and now in the twenty-first century world!

School leaders even in Apartheid South Africa, Saudi Arabia, fascist Germany, communist Albania, agreed that their students should behave properly in school, stay away from drugs and crime, do their homework, and study hard!...

Well, this the common ground we should find in our Democratic classrooms!

Democracy is a form of associative living in which people make the decisions that affect their lives. "Every human being is of infinite and incalculable value, each a unique intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual, moral, and creative force, each born free and equal in dignity and rights, endowed with reason and conscience, and deserving , then, a community of solidarity, a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, recognition and respect."

In my Democratic classroom, I want my students to be able to think for themselves, to make judgments based on evidence and argument, to develop minds of their own. I want them to learn to ask essential questions: Who in the world am I? How did I get here and where am I going? What in the world are my choices and my chances? What is my story, and how is it like or unlike other stories? What is my responsiblity to others?

As Democratic teachers, we must keep these questions vital, alive, and fresh as we, ourselves, are searching for answers!

Respect for persons, for teachers and for students and community members, is at the core of good democratic classrooms!

To be continued...
With our discussion with William Ayers who said "We reach toward freedom, we crawl toward love"

Dickens, G. (1990). Hard times. New York: Norton. (Original work published 1854)