A message from Peggy Larson, Ed.D.
District Administrator
Wow! The 2018-19 school year has come to an end! Have a wonderful summer!
The year has been filled with amazing student achievements academically and athletically. The District has been recognized as Significantly Exceeding Expectations from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The winter was the craziest ever - 8 snow days! Let’s hope that never happens again. And on May 31, the Class of 2019 graduated.
Way back in August I shared 10 tips to make your children’s learning more visible. I took the tips from the work of Ron Ritchhart. Hopefully these tips will help make you feel more part of what your child(ren) is/are learning at school. Each month, I intended to go just a bit deeper into each of the tips. This is the last of them…#9 and #10! I hope these tips made your children, grandchildren, or neighborhood children a bit more visible!
9. Make Your Own Thinking Visible.
The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky said, “Children grow into the intellectual life around them.” You are a model for your child of what it means to be a thinker and a learner. Model your own interests, passions, curiosity, reflection, learning, and thinking for your child. Make your own thinking visible to them as a model.
10. What Makes You Say That?
This simple question is the “killer app” for parents and teachers. By simply asking, “What makes you say that?” in a curious and non-judgmental tone after someone has given a response, we are able to get a window into the thinking behind that person’s initial response. Teachers in Sweden referred to this as the magic question, because of how much it revealed about students’ thinking. The reasoning behind the response often tells us much more than the response itself.
Here are the 10 tips in review:
1. Name and Notice Thinking
2. Develop a Growth Mindset
3. Challenge but Don’t Rescue
4. What Questions Did You Ask Today?
5. Focus on the Learning Over the Work
6. Encourage Connections
7. Support Your Child in Arguing Effectively and Persuasively
8. Provide Time to Pursue Passions
9. Make Your Own Thinking Visible
10. What Makes You Say That?
I hope you have enjoyed these tips and maybe even used a few!
