Getting Started

So I have officially started the book and I love it from the get-go. Wilhelm introduces the idea of enactment strategies as not theater, and explains that props, stages, rehearsals and acting skills are not needed. The idea of bringing a text to life is using your imagination as a learning device and using the same imagination to explore all interpretations of the text. Wilhelm gave many examples of this strategy, but the one I enjoyed most was having students act out a scene from Huckleberry Finn, then having students behind those initial students acting out what's written between the lines. For example, acting out why a character chose to ask a question, or play a prank on another character. These are things that are not written in the book, however, are things that can be interpreted.

The point is that not everyone learns the same way. A lot of students are not in fact traditional learners, and for them, the creative aspect behind assigned texts is beneficial. Enactment can both engage the student, and also help them retain information. What I really enjoy is this idea that enactments are not just public displays of excerpts from the text. I have not seen how enactments can transform into written work yet, but I'm excited to see where this idea goes.

I also really enjoyed learning that enactments are motivating. It is easy to encourage our students to read, but it is hard to ensure that this task is always done. Enactments serve as a way to get students interested in the text and gives them something to look forward to. They will often find themselves asking, "What happens next?", which motivates reading. As an endnote to the introduction, Wilhelm encourages the reader to take a small test exploring how good of a motivator are you. I have included the test below:

A Motivational Survey
How Good a Motivator am I? A Self-Reflection Checklist
(based on current motivation research: (Bandura, 1998; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Pajares,
1996; Smith and Wilhelm, 2002)
Usually = 4 points Sometimes = 2 points Never = 0 points
____1. I believe my students are trustworthy and communicate this to them.
____2. I believe a teacher should care about students and express this caring.
____3. I believe my students are competent and can become more competent with proper
assistance.
____4. I attend to student interests and provide some level of choice.
____5. I help students to do things and to know how to do things and to talk about how
to do things.
____6. I avoid labeling students.
____7. I send explicit invitations to succeed, both to my students as a group, and
individually.
____8. I listen to what my students really say; I noodle around trying to get to know
them.
____9. I make good use of student experts in my class - getting kids to teach each other
and share their expertise.
____10. I use heterogeneous groups and interest groups to build interdependence and to
highlight and use different students’ strengths.
____11. I avoid overemphasis on competition, rewards and winning -- though I may
foster a fun, gamelike atmosphere where every one can win and succeed.
____12. I help students to evaluate themselves; to build, articulate and apply their own
critical standards.
____13. I communicate high expectations to all my students
____14. I focus on future success vs. past failure.
____15. I name what students can do, focusing on their abilities and achievement; I
celebrate student expertise.
____16. I negotiate, help set, and communicate clear goals as I highlight focus and and
higher purpose to the work that we do.
____17. I provide continuous feedback to students about how they are doing, and create
learning situations that provide immediate feedback.
____18. I frontload unit work by starting with what students already know, activating
background and building interest and a sense of purpose.
____19. I foster connections to students’ current life concerns.
____20. I encourage the reading of a variety of different kinds of texts.
____21. I encourage fun, humor and laughter in the classroom, including the reading of
humorous texts.
____22. I use artifacts and concrete objects in my teaching, and ask students to design
artifacts and concrete objects that make knowledge visible and reasoning accountable.
____23. I welcome and encourage multiple responses to class questions and projects.
____24. I model the behaviors that I value for students (e.g. I read; I am pleasant).
____25. I am passionate about reading and about ideas and I model and communicate this
passion.
____26. I teach my students for who they are and who they might be RIGHT NOW in the
present moment (not for who I think they should be and be able to do sometime in the far
off future).
____27. In my classroom, we read texts that can be related to real world situations and
activity.
____28. The activities in my classroom allow students to identify and use their expertise.
Total - 98-110+ = You are a most excellent motivator! 88-97 = Good 78-87 = Fair
>77 Try something different!!!!

I thought this test served as a great introduction to what kind of a teacher you might be, and I encourage all you readers out there to take a brief 5 minutes out of your hectic schedules to test yourselves.

I have more to read, and more to report on, so until next time, happy blogging!