I agreed that there has to be balance in every thing that we do. But, the youth of today does not have the idea of balance in anything that they feel, do or experience. They are driven to extremes in their emotions and actions. We have to be the examples for them. If they can see that balance is achievable, perhaps they will follow.

In my previous experiences of teaching Technology Education (new version of woodshop) I was constantly trying to get my students to “think out of the box”. They, for the most part, could or would not even try this abhorring idea. They felt there was one and only one answer to any question or problem or challenge put forth to them. They had been taught since DAY 1 of their education to absorb information, then, spit out back to their teachers when asked on a quiz or test. They were never asked what they thought about an idea or concept, never asked or allowed to question. They were afraid of trying something new or different for fear that they might be WRONG. We must change this in our students. We must encourage them all to be Renaissance thinkers. Barbara

Chapter 6: A Renaissance of Understanding

In this chapter, Keene comments on the different types of children we encounter throughout the years. They all usually start out in Kindergarten as eager and interactive participants in the learning process. Then, for some of them, they continue throughout the years in the pleasurable and intoxicating love of learning whereas others lose the glow and the passion. What happens when this occurs? Is it because of the testing culture? Is it because of us as teachers? Is it normal development for some of them to become more interested in social development and the intellectual development becomes boring? I, personally, have heard teachers comment that the kids come into Kindergarten very widespread in their intellectual abilities but by the time they reach sixth grade, they are all in the same ball park intellectually. I have to ask: Why? Is this what we do when we lump a group of 20 or so kids in one room and teach whole group? Is this our goal as teachers? Should we be concerned about this? While this appears so negative, I cannot always come down on ourselves as teachers. The past doesn't look so great, but when I consider the present and the future with so much emphasis on differentiated instruction, and teaching kids on their level, I feel for classroom teachers. That is a very difficult task for one person to accomplish. In reality, I don't think it can be done. If teachers manage to teach different groups of kids in differing levels of reading and spelling, I think they are really doing well. To differentiate in everything, classroom teachers would be so exhausted by the end of the day!! As I work shoulder to shoulder with them every day, I think they have an enormous task and one which cannot be attained other than by word only.
Keene also pursues the idea of creating Renaissance kids in our classrooms. While I agree that it's a good idea to teach kids the "think outside the box" in inventing new thinking, pursuing a wide range of interests, etc. I see how easily Renaissance thinkers can come up against the ethical dilemmas that rampage throughout society-then and now. In a sense we can look at the banking crisis we have today and draw a comparison. There were individuals who were trying to think outside the box and came up with lots of ways to "do business". Other people, the consumers, did not do enough thinking outside the box, and thus took on loans and mortgages they couldn't afford. What were both the bankers and consumers motivated by? One word...greed So now I'm back to a similar question I had asked in another chapter...what is it that makes one person a Renaissance thinker but another person someone who doesn't think at all? There has to be a motivating factor inside each and every one of us. And if our motivation is less than worthy, our society can certainly turn into one big mess, which we see in our economy today. I'm sure each of you have views on these issues, but to me, having balance and standards are key concepts in "Renaissance thinking" that should not be overlooked.

Chapter 9, "To Feel, to Remember, to Understand"

In this final chapter of Keene's book, she confesses that when she reads a good book, she is not sure if the emotions are the characters' or her own. Well put. This is what we strive to accomplish for our young readers--get them to feel what they read. I immediately connected with her statement. Many times I have come away from a good book feeling like I had experienced the journey of the characters. Keene just drills into her reader the necessity for encouraging our students to make personal connections with their text. This is exactly what I see Jenna's group encountering in Miller's book. The many authors' research have proven connection to be an integral component to remembering. Keene uses Bruce, a teacher she knows, as an example. Bruce has the ability to articulate how emotions affect what he understands, the way he studies the world, and the ways in which he writes. Emotions that make others cringe or retreat into a cozy state of denial are fodder for daily discussion in his classroom. How exciting! When Bruce makes a mistake in an approach to a lesson, he admits it and challenges his children to do the same. He questions an author's use of wording aloud as he reads with his students. He questions their motivation and honesty. He asks his students if they noticed the beautiful sunrise, and if they did, they write about it. Keene calls Bruce a Renaissance man because his curiosity carries over to all aspects of life. Keene believes students are lucky to encounter a teacher like Bruce because the result of his teaching can be measured in the confidence of kids who didn't believe in themselves and the willingness to feel among kids who used to hide from emotion--and the outcomes are academic as well. Keene worries that many of those children may never know another Mr. Morgan (Bruce) in their lives. She worries that we have sterilized our teaching approaches and removed much of the emotional component that anchors the concepts we teach. She outlines the cognitive strategies we have all come to realize as the cornerstone of improved reading and comprehension: monitoring, questioning, determining importance, synthesizing, using prior knowledge, inferring, and creating sensory and emotional images. She asks that we promise to not only ask, but listen. She states the capacity for our students' thinking is nearly limitless if create the learning conditions to support it, provide the language to define and describe thinking, and if we simply ask "What else?" I think we all agree with her, but I am always left wondering how to apply these strategies and principles to the instruction of expository texts. Can anyone share their success--or struggle--with bringing this same enthusiasm to the dry, fact-filled text books that our students struggle with each day?

Chapter 7: "Nothing as Certain as Change"

One thing about Chapter 7 is certain--change. The author begins by wondering "How much authors want their readers to be changed?" and "How much of the world we [as readers] let in?" She then shifts gears to the difficulty our students encounter with expository text.
First, building on Debbie's comments from Chapter 4, Keene stresses the importance of giving our students time to think or time to "dwell in the mind." She acknowledges the importance of incorporating comprehension strategies into our classroom instruction but feels more is necessary. We need to take it a step further and describe the outcomes of using these strategies. In other words, we need to help them "let the world in." We need to give them the space, the time, the freedom to think on their own. Children are too anxious to repeat what their teacher thinks. She wants them to realize that "understanding is not a fixed element--you either get it or you don't--rather, understanding is an outcome that can be manipulated, altered, and improved by using comprehension strategies"--changed or revised thinking is the goal. She encourages students to share thoughts with their classmates and record how their thinking changes in the process. A journal entry might read, " I used to think...but now I think," as they move through reading and discussions of a book. We must move away from the literal questions, such as "What happened at the end of Chapter 5?" and instead ask, "In what ways were you changed by this book?" I just love that!!!!
At that point, as if to make the point of change, Keene shifts to text structures and expository texts. Yes, expository texts pose an especially difficult hurdle for students in the U.S. I think we all agree. Keene refers to the research of Duke and Pearson who have found that students who receive explicit instruction in how expository text structures differ from narrative forms comprehend more than students who do not receive this instruction. This instruction needs to begin in kindergarten and continue through twelfth-grade. The research is clear--we must incorporate explicit instruction in the following text structures: descriptive, cause and effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, chronological, and enumerative--with an emphasis on definitions and signal words. She notes that the solution to the challenges of expository text is very straightforward--"We need to give at least as much instructional attention to expository text structures as we give to narrative text structures." Using think-alouds as well as pacing and building schema remain highly effective tools of instruction. Literature focus units are useful for building background knowledge and fostering connections so that the expository text is "considerate"--material which a student is familiar with, instead of "inconsiderate"--one which is too foreign to comprehend.
The chapter provides too many suggestions to mention, but well worth considering. I think K-8 teachers do recognize this disconnect more than secondary school teachers. High school teachers should not ignore the research and should, instead, build on what is being taught in the elementary and middle school grades. Keene suggests that this instruction, more than any other, has "staying power." The ability to navigate expository text is not only necessary for college-bound students, but it is also an integral part of any vocational program, so it is a powerful piece of the puzzle for success. I think of Barbara Jean's student who at 53 has not given up on putting those pieces together. What an inspiration.

Chapter 4: Dwelling In Ideas

This chapter opened with a poem that I did not get much out of except for the last thought...it said "AS important as what is happening is what is not". This idea ran through the whole chapter and Keene made a strong point that is really counter-intuitive to how we normally think of teaching. It is the idea that silence is as important to teaching as talking. We need to give our students time to think...to "dwell in ideas". She makes some statements in this chapter which I would like to reflect on this blog....

• "I may have to choose to dwell, I may have to be purposeful when I decide to reflect on an idea or concept-and that takes time."

I wonder if making that decision to dwell...what is it that motivates us to do that? Is it a personality type? Is it deliberate for some people but spontaneous for others? Through practice, can it become spontaneous for all? In thinking of my struggling students, they so frequently just want to "get it done". However, I have seen a turn-around in one student this year. His classroom teacher is one who has exposed him to this type of teaching...dwelling in ideas. He was really an emotionally-disturbed child who had been sent to Princeton House for part of his 5th grade year. He was an emotional train wreck due to home and family issues. But he has done a 180 this year. In writing an assessment with me last week, I told him I wanted to take a picture of him sitting and thinking. So take heart teachers..we can have an impact on our students, no matter how desperate the situation!!

• "In our frantically paced classrooms, I worry that our children don't have the time they need to dwell in ideas in silence, to purposefully reflect on an aspect of text or a social studies or science concept they are learning."

I think "How true!!!" I think we all understand what she's saying...we live it every day. And she asks us as teachers if we would be able to think in those environments?? Can I give a thoughtful response in the five to eight seconds we typically give kids? This chapter has really given me some food fo thought.

• In developing Cornerstone Initiative, she was given lots of advice from the experts for these high-poverty schools. She was advised to work in a slow, incremental manner and to start with rudimentary skills; don't use too much critical thinking; stick with the basics; etc. Then she says "If such approaches - ubiquitous in this country - are so effective, why haven't they provoked sweeping improvement in America's schools?"

What a thought! Everyone keeps commenting how our schools are failing in this country and yet no one seems to understand the idea that if something isn't working, we need to change what we are doing. But the "experts" just doesn't seem to get that idea. The Abbott districts come to mind...with the stiff and stymied protocols. Hello??!! In deference to this idea, Keene recommends that higher thinking and skills be taught simultaneously.

Chapter 5, "To Savor the Struggle"

After struggling through several introductory pages in this chapter, I arrived to the meat of Keene's message: We struggle for insight and we learn from the struggle itself--this is when we venture into new learning territory. If we remain where we are comfortable or allow our students to stagnate in that spot, we are not experiencing intellectual engagement. She writes that to overcome obstacles is to know our strength. Hurray! I think we all agree with that. The author includes an entire page of teacher and student behaviors where there is evidence of the intellectual struggle. One which jumped out at me is that students go beyond reporting or retelling after reading; instead they are asked to share their thinking about the text--inferences, images created, questions pursued, etc. Another is that students are encouraged to challenge the text. I, personally, love it when students challenge the author because it demonstrates they are engaged and thinking. They are reading at a higher level.
Keene then goes on to challenge the barrage of standards that are mandated by the states and the dilemma of how to cover content while addressing those standards. She argues that people learn best when a few important concepts are taught in great depth over a long period of time and when they have opportunities to apply those concepts in a wide variety of texts and contexts. She believes that when we try to address every skill that anyone ever thought important, the result is teaching that lacks focus and depth. At this point, the author delineates those essential skills and strategies for learners in grades k-12. They are 3 "surface" structures: graphophonic, lexical, and syntactic--the cueing systems necessary for learning to read; and 3 "deep surface" structures: semantic, schematic, and pragmatic--the cueing systems for acquiring deeper understanding of what we read. Keene refers to Rumelhart who argued that these 6 systems are used simultaneously by proficient readers and, therefore, need to be taught simultaneously. Keene believes instruction of the 3 "surface structures" receives more instructional attention in schools than the "deep surface" structures, and without providing solid knowledge of all 6 systems, we may be selling our students short. Her suggestions for using the pragmatic system--the highest level on Bloom's Taxonomy--include book clubs, reader's theater or skits, sketches which illustrate their thinking, or something as simple as written responses to what they have read. She emphasises that these activities help us "figure out" what we think.
Keene concludes the chapter by stating that as teachers our instinct is to free the path from obstacles and make their way clearer and easier, but to limit their opportunities to learn through struggle is to tame one of the most dynamic forces in their intellectual development. While this is a bit lofty, I do agree. It strikes me as being very constructivist--along the lines of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development--we put the intellectual ladder up for them and give them the tools to climb each wrung as is within their ability; as long as they are moving up the ladder, they are moving in the right direction.