Love it!
If you haven't read this wonderful book, add it to your reading list. The Spark is the story which focuses on a mother's story of raising her son who has autism. However, the passion and understanding she has for how kids learn can be applied to all learning. From bds.org.nz: As with all mothers, Kristine Barnett wanted her son to reach his full potential, but in Jake's case, with an early diagnosis of autism, it looked to be a limited potential. Trusting her own instincts instead of the advice of the experts, Kristine undertook to nurture Jake's 'spark', focusing on what he could do instead of what he could not do, with extraordinary results. Teaching himself calculus in two weeks and at age twelve becoming a paid researcher in quantum physics, Jake's trajectory is impressive. So too are the hope and care Kristine has been able to give other families with children with special needs when she established a pre-school that espouses the very same approach. I love this excerpt about the author's sister: 'In third grade, Stephanie took one look at the questions on a reading comprehension test and realized immediately that she was out of her depth. She drew a little frown face on the front of the paper, right where the teacher would put her grade, turned the test over, and spent the remainder of the hour drawing a beautifully shaded landscape on the back. When my mother saw what Steph had done, she laughed. I was perplexed by my mother's response. How could she take this so lightly? "Because your brain works this way," she said, pointing to the reading comprehension questions, "and Stephanie's brain works this way." She flipped the test over to show the landscape drawing. "And you know what? You're both going to be fine." As teachers, how often do we get students to complete assessment tasks that fit our pre-determined criteria of what they should and shouldn't know? Isn't the best form of assessment getting to know our students, finding their strengths and talents and nurturing these? It is then that we can build in what they need support with...in the context of their passion. It won't fit on a bell curve but it will make for one exciting classroom environment with real learning going on. As I transition out of the classroom for a year it's a chance to start my own blog, with my own wonderings and collection of learning ideas.
I've encouraged the students I teach to share and I've dabbled with blogs and web pages: http://room9balmac2014.weebly.com ...but now it's all about putting myself out there and seeking the global connections that only the internet can bring. Exciting times! |
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