musings

Posts Tagged ‘learning’

I was, once again given the oportunity to attend the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. This year my focus was on reading, not writing like last year.

In all the years that I have been in the teaching field (whether I was a teacher or staff developer), I was always weary of teaching reading. Part of my fear stemmed from sheer ignorance; part stemmed from never really understanding what it entails.

Imagine my surprise when I find out is that the teaching of reading is really about… wait for it… Writing! Ok, well, not entirely about writing, but writing has a lot to do with it. Yes, yes, I know, this last statement makes you want to say: “No shit, Sherlock!!”

I know, I know, I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I was a late bloomer. M’kay? K. So anyways, the teaching of reading is really ALL ABOUT critical thinking and analysis. And if you’ve spoken to me lately, you know that the big soapbox standing below my feet is about how students should spend more time on analysing texts and on critically thinking about texts.

I’m often warmly surprised of the happy coincidences that happen in my life. This, these four days have been about just that.

I visited a school today where I’m doing some professional development in social studies (history). I was there talking about the importance of studying History (with the capital H) and I was listening to the students’ answers, I began to ask myself if there is a difference between knowing and learning. Obviously, if you have learned something, you know it. But if you “know” something, have you learned it? Is there an obvious answer to this question?