Chapter Assignments
Please have following chapters read and comments blogged by the listed due dates.
Chapters 1 & 2 - by February 3, 2012
Chapter 3 - by February 10, 2012
Chapter 4 - by February 17, 2012
Chapter 5 - by February 24, 2012
Chapter 6 - by March 2, 2012
Chapter 7 - by March 9, 2012
Chapters 8 & 9 - by March 16, 2012
Chapter 10 - by March 23, 2012
Chapter 11 - by March 30, 2012
Happy Reading!
As I was reading about Ginny I couldn't help thinking that all of the kids we have read about so far have had great passions and it seems real talents in other areas. Sometimes it's hard for me to see this in many of my students who are struggling. They seem to not have any real passions which is worrisome.
ReplyDeleteI found the question on page 63 important to consider. " How often can a kid endure criticism without giving up and losing all motivation?" not very long I'm guessing.. Kids need to feel good about who they are, what they are, and what they are likely to become.
Wonderings: How do we separate attitude from output failure? Do kids develop an attitude because of consistent output failure and thus a diminished self esteem or do kids develop output failure because of attitude? It seems that this might be a question along the lines of which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I like your comment about enduring criticism and how long it would take for us to lose motivation. Even for myself, I like constructive criticism but I need to have some positive feedback as well to know that I am doing something right.
DeleteI would also agree with your question "How do we separate attitude from output failure?" Sometimes I think the attitude is developed while the output failure is happening but then others I feel like the attitude is a cover for the true emotions that the student is feeling, which takes place during or after. Tricky question.
On an unrelated note, I am beginning to become a little creeped out after learning of the child abuse allegations against Dr. Levine and his suicide following these accusations. I am noticing too often that the way he describes the kids and/or his interactions with them sometimes seems a bit inappropriate. For example, in this section when he describes Ginny's appearance on page 58 . There were other sections in previous chapters too. Is anyone else noticing this?
ReplyDeleteI am also noticing this... I will have to make note of any more I find. I still feel strongly that this book is largely based off of one guys observations and opinions. I am not sure I completely trust and find truth in what he says. But the book is interesting to read and I do find some of what he says insightful.
DeleteFirst off, I did blog Chapt. 3, but it wasn't there! Hmmmmm....
ReplyDeleteAnyway...I haven't really noticed it Nicole until you mentioned it. I'll have to keep watching for that though....
I really thought of myself throughout this chapter--as a working professional. If I had to endure criticism like some of our kiddos, I would have either left this job altogether, or would have left where I was working. I wonder like you Nicole, how many of our kiddos go through that on a daily basis? How come we expect them to continue because they have to.
I also found it interesting that Ginny's Mom felt that maybe it was just God's will to have her daughter be a Mom because that's what she endured as a youngster herself. I guess Mom felt that since she can't learn or isn't learning anything, that that would be just what it would be.
Sometimes I think that children have a difficult time learning because of what is going on in their home or with people they love. Ginny seemed to me as a very emotional person that had a hard time putting that aside when it came to learning. I bet, given a chance to show how to channel her emotions into her writing, she would be a great author. I don't know...
I would agree with you Tara about channeling some of the emotion and helping her put some of those thoughts and feelings into writing, even if it wasn't hand written, I'm sure it would be very interesting.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, when I was reading I came across the section titled, "Exploring Ginny's Active-Working Memory Problems." In this section he talks about where we go to do something and when we get there we get distracted and then we can't remember what we were supposed to do from the start. I feel like this happens to me everyday. I have to consciously think about the things I need to do and really try to block out everything else, otherwise I find myself walking the same route six times and still not remembering why I went to the staff lounge.
I can definitely see how this would affect writing, especially when we get distracted and think of something else. But I feel like at some point in my life, I've had to learn about how to handle being distracted and how to refocus again. How do you teach children this? I feel like it takes encouragement, positive reinforcement, and discipline. But as a child like Ginny, probably has more issues to deal with at one time than the "normal" student, if there is such a thing.
Another part of me was also thinking in this chapter that isn't it strange that a clinician like Mel Levine, comes into a child's life, learns some background information, find a ton of information out during the evaluation, and even gives advice to the parents and teachers, all while not really having a relationship built with the student. It's like the doctor already knows everything so you might as well be an animal. He's already diagnosed you without getting to know the real person. Maybe this is one of the reasons Ginny didn't initially take much of Dr. Levine's advice? I know that I could test one of my students and feel like I know them, but building a relationship with my students so they will trust me and take their learning to extraordinary levels is my ultimate goal. This takes time and is not something that happens with one meeting.