Read Ch. 4 - 6

Week 2 - Harkness

Week 2 - Harkness

by Aimee Harkness -
Number of replies: 2

-What made an impact on you in these chapters?

I was greatly impacted by the beliefs of Edmund Huey, a cognitive psychologist, who believed that "our prior knowledge affected new knowledge" in creating meaning in texts.  In a secluded area of New York such as ours, many of students have not seen outside of the north country.  Their prior knowledge on some topics is limited as are their experiences with city life, other regions of the country, and ethnic cultures.  Through texts, we can provide them with a window into these experiences, areas, and cultures.  We owe this to our students.

-How do you respond to students “who don’t get it”? After this reading how will that shift?

This has always been difficult for me as a math teacher.  I see math as very black and white.  Here are the steps, follow them and you've got it.  That isn't always the case.  After reading Chapter 4 and the questions regarding what to do with the brass ring, it is very evident that I don't always ask the right questions.  It is very frustrating when a student continually says "I don't get it" without providing any additional dialogue.  I need to work on asking the right questions to determine exactly what it is that they don't get.

-Comprehension, understanding, and change is the goal of any reading.  What will you do differently in your teaching after reading this section?

After reading this section, I was reminded of an activity that I was doing two years ago in math class.  It was called "Tagging Sharks".  While trying to explain what this meant, I realized that I had already lost some students.  They didn't have the prior knowledge or the buy in for the lesson.  Last year, I found a great video that showed what tagging sharks looks like along with a brief explanation of why they do it.  The students were intrigued and it helped them to better work through the lesson.  I will continue to look for ways to "open windows and sliding doors" to allow my students to relate to what they are reading and be able to better comprehend what is being asked of them.


In reply to Aimee Harkness

Re: Week 2 - Harkness

by Kara Newtown -
Aimee,

When you mentioned Edmund Huey, I realized recalled that that section also stood out to me because it reiterated what I said in a previous post and supports my belief that the Standardized Tests are not truly fare across the board. Huey states, "...the most important meaning, making occurs at a deep level as we bring our prior knowledge of words, of situations, of texts, and ideas to the text." With Standardized Tests the passages throughout are the same so a city student who has never seen a cow farm probably will have more trouble decoding and understanding that passage than a student that lives in the North Country, as you alluded to Aimee. However, through videos, virtual fieldtrips and carefully selected readings we can give our students SOME background knowledge to pull from to better understand a variety of readings. Additionally, I think it is important for teachers to try and instill a curiosity within students to do some extra background knowledge about a topic if they are confused. For instance I know quite a bit about the Holocaust but I still read some stuff that perks my interest and I need to do a quick Google search to learn a little bit more, it helps make the reading more understandable. There is nothing to be ashamed about doing this and it might be beneficial to relay that this sometimes happens to even skilled readers. Overall, I never really understood everything that goes into reading!
In reply to Aimee Harkness

Re: Week 2 - Harkness

by Hunter Dewey -
You made a great point about north country students. A lot of north country students stay in the area. If you are reading something in a big city, for example, they will need to gain prior knowledge to make connections to the reading.

The experience you shared with "Tagging Sharks" is very interesting.