From a beautiful walk around a remote lake in OregonFlowers in OregonThat was amazing sea bass on the grillWalking the dogs in Seattle.The night before we went to the hospital for my daughter to have her baby.
Summer started and the next morn
my very first grandchild was born.
It’s my first summer after teaching retirement–
now Grammy-school is where my time is spent.
What a wondrous gift from God–
This new child has me awed.
I appreciate the beautiful photos Margaret shares–sometimes her own and something from friends with beautiful Instagram accounts to follow. I had never noticed elderflowers before, even though I grew up in southern California, where I read that they grow. Margaret’s poem taught about the medicinal value of the elderflower. I went to do a little more research on these beautiful flowers. I learned that Meghan and Harry had a lemon and elderflower wedding cake. I tried a dodoitsu, which is a four-line poem, no meter or rhyme constraints, with a syllable count of 7-7-7-5, and the poem can be about love or work with a comical twist. (Oops, I hope you don’t think my last line is funny.)
Elderflowers like snowflakes
What will each bud grow to be?
Spirits for a new pastry?
Stem to grace a grave?
In a Slice of Life post by Carol Varsalona this week, I was inspired to ask again my essential question about education:
How can I empower students to own their own learning?
Carol called questions like thisĀ burning questions. This is a burning question in my professional life. I’ve been saying it and trying it since 2011, when I first learned about Alan November’s book called, Who Owns the Learning?Ā I struggle in my current situation because teaching and learning are much more traditional and academic than what I’ve been used to. I sometimes feel I am going uphill in a rowboat.
I don’t ever want to give up, but sometimes I struggle passing the learning torch on to my students.
I am trying to help students own learning, but to tell the truth I’m a little discouraged now. Here, perhaps as a reminder to myself, are some things I’m attempting:
Self-assessment checklists of learning
Tests can be retaken after students master the material
Student learning presentations to parents by students instead of parent teacher conferences
Students have a safe place to own their strengths and weaknesses, where they don’t have to pretend to be something they aren’t
Authentic audiences for student work–pen pals, a global audience through global projects, Twitter, and our class and individual blogs
Less emphasis on grades
Figuring out problems instead of easy answers
Student classroom jobs
Students believe: “All are students, all are learners”
I would appreciate any advice. What am I missing that I need to try or renew?
Here are a couple of images that inspired me today: