Quantities of Quality Text
Having Jannie PD sessions can sometimes be daunting because she challenges us as teachers to think critically about our practice, about our actions, words, and at times shuts down some of the things we actually think are really really good for our students. BUT what she does in return is she prompts us to critically analyse what we say and do, why, and talks about being explicit about what we say in class with our learners.
Jannie's first task was getting us to talk about capabilities: Knowledge, vocabulary, language structure, thinking and meaning making capabilities. How is this looking in our classes? This led onto the types of texts we have in class, going back to quantities of quality text. That 'text' being not just written text but also oral spoken text. From this conversation came talk about "talk accompanied books" and what kind of mileage this gets in our classrooms. Not just reading the text with your group but also talking and having discussions along the way. This way the 'uptake' from the learner would be higher.
One part I really enjoyed of Jannie's presentation was her "SAY MORE. TELL MORE DEATIL" part.
Rather than saying "that's interesting" but instead "because you added more detail, I now know what you mean".
Jannie also spoke a lot about "optimising learning conditions" for both teachers and the learner. To consciously provide language ready for the uptake. At the same time leaners need to focus and notice.
No comments:
Post a Comment