J: Did I use the right ‘their’ here?
Me: Yes, how did you know?
J: I just guessed.
Me: You only had a 1 out of 3 chance by guessing. Maybe it was just a good guess. Or, maybe you know more than you think you do.
J: (big smile) Maybe.
Conversation
3 thoughts on “Conversation”
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Denise,
Thanks for sharing the conversation! I like the way you accepted the guess and encouraged your student to persevere and understand that you value where they are in their learning. We are currently studying that “habitude” and my students were amazed at the examples of famous people they knew that truly struggled in chasing their dreams.
Have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Thanksgiving!
JoAnn
JoAnn,
It’s funny, I’ve spent years pointing out to students when they have one of those spelling demons wrong and how to make it right. Some words are just so hard to figure out for some kids.
I recently read in a Donald Graves’ The Energy to Teach how he learned how to elicit good learning stories by asking children why they get certain things right instead of pointing out errors. I thought that was really good, so I’m just beginning to practice it.
Thanks,
Denise
Hello Ms. Denise,
My name is Alecia Baxter and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class and majoring in Elementary Education. I thought that your conversation between you and J left a huge impact on him. If he was not taught the different ways of using word “their” then how would he ever know the difference? I hope that one day I will leave an impact on one of my students like you have. Thanks for posting!
Take care,
Alecia Baxter
EDM310
University of South Alabama