Slicing Ideas

       I'm slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community today. It's always a pleasure to read what everyone writes about their lives.

"A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow." - Ovid

        I've seen more than one teacher share this week that students will be having more choice in more than one thing this coming school year, where they sit, what they read, what they write, etc. And as my path wanders through blogs I read, I have also seen several write about ideas (in choice?), their origin, what one does with them, how to get the most of them, and on. So I began to wonder  how I would handle ideas? What would I say, would there be some criteria like in the case of classroom spaces, would it be reasonable? For older students, would it be good to have a conversation about what works in the classroom, and what may not? 
         I taught in a progressive school. Students had a lot of choice, but there were different expectations set, sometimes by students guided by the teacher, sometimes by teachers, with student guidance. For example, if there was a set of criteria for writing personal narratives, mentor text examination and discussions created some backing for what they looked like, and broad interpretations were included. However, sometimes there were structures in place, say, in a debate. They were researched by students, procedures set by students, and evaluated by students. I was a participant only as a member of the crowd. 



         How did I, and how did I encourage others in class to respond to ideas?  With phrases like "tell me more", and "hmm, let me think about it a minute". There were questions like "What else would you need to follow through?  Do you have a plan with some details begun? Have you made a map of the plan that considers the paths that could be taken? How will your choice impact others? Or will it? What do you need from others?

          I know I'm rambling a bit. My mind fills with questions and more questions. Offering choice is complex, and choosing is complex too. It's good when the two come to some common ground. The encouragement of ideas--new to the person, the class, the world! is what everyone should be doing. And how that plays out in the classroom can be both exciting and challenging to implement. 
          An additional point is that I often watched for the quiet ones, the ones who later came with ideas, but if it was a group, stayed back, went along. Always thoughtful, but less willing to voice their ideas in a crowd. I paid attention to that, too. What have you considered when you are supporting more student contributions to the community and to their own ideas of learning? 
           Finally, every part of this also applies to our own lives, how we support ourselves in new ideas, how we respond to ideas without a "sneer" as Ovid says, but with a big round of applause!

photo credit: A Light in the Dark via photopin (license)</a>