Madeline

Q2) Ch 2 comment

I am thinking about the comment that said "Did anyone try...?" I am going to use this phrase much more this year. The author stated that this helps, "normalize the practice of trying out new possibilities- stretching beyond what one already controls." I think this will encourage my students to take more risks and give them more ownership of their learning. In turn, this will build their confidence in the classroom. In chapter 1 on page 9 I immediately thought of the PD yesterday and the quotes on attitude we read. The way I, as the teacher, talk to my students "can position (the students) differently in relation to what they are doing, learning, or studying." If my attitude is one of collaboration and positivity, then my students' attitudes are more likely to sway in this direction.

Reflection question for Chapter 3: What do you do already to create identity? How will reading Chapter 3 change or inform what you do or will do?

After reading this chapter I realized I do not do enough to create identity as a writer/mathematician/reader with my students. I focus quite a bit on building confidence by saying things like, "you can do this, I've seen you do this well before", etc. Once a student has confidence to at least try that's when I need to start building in more of the comments like "What have you learned most recently as a reader?" and "What are you doing as a writer today?" In writing particularly, part of the battle with my students is getting them to attend long enough to think about how the author chose their words/structure/point of view long enough to try and apply it to their own writing. I'm thinking I may have to work backwards- having the students take their own writing and compare it to a written piece to see what is similar/what is different. This might help them see that they, indeed, have some of the characteristics of a writer who has actually published a real book!