What Matters Most

Last Monday, Julie Alano and Dr. Bourff rang in the school, Janet Chandler had us laughing and choking back tears, and we heard from Kylene Beers and Bob Probst.  Many of you are familiar with their most recent book, Reading Nonfiction.

Stances, Signposts, and Strategies.  They are all in here!

In this definition there is no reference to making work
harder or accelerating the pace.

The title they chose is both descriptive and misleading.  They definitely write about best-practice instruction and how to improve student learning through the use of nonfiction text, but this book includes much much more.  It gives concrete ways to improve classroom conversations, to promote inquiry, and to increase student engagement.  It is about redefining what rigor in the classroom is all about.  It encourages us to give students voice and ownership in their learning.  In short, it is about schools and classrooms becoming intellectual communities.

These intellectual communities include students, as well as all of the adults in the district!

Ask your students for their definition of "nonfiction."
Most will answer, "Not false," "true," or a variation on this theme.
Why should these answers trouble us?

Questions Worth Asking

What are your answers to these questions Kylene Beers and Bob Probst use to generate discussions in schools?

• Do you think of your school as an intellectual community?
• Do you think of your classroom that way?
• Do your students see their classrooms as intellectual communities?
• What happens if the answer to these questions are yes?  More importantly, what happens if the answer is no?

In an article called “What Matters Most: Considering the Issues and the Conversations We Need to Have," Kylene Beers makes this comment about these questions:

Whether using these prompts or creating your own, the conversations you have in the coming months about intellectual community, about rigor, about close reading, about what it means to inspire, about reclaiming the grand purpose of education, about recognizing all the bad things that happen when the profit motive and the purpose motive become unhinged are well worth your time.  These conversations might lead us to understand what matters most.

The full article can be read at this link: What Matters Most

So welcome back, HSE.  We hope your year is a great one, one in which all HSE students, teachers, and administrators learn and grow together.  

Your HSE Teaching and Learning Team

• Jan Combs, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
• Stephanie Loane, Director of Elementary Education
• Tom Bell, Director of Special Education
• Jeff Harrison, Director of Educational Technology
• Phil Lederach, Director of Secondary Education

An easy way to start: Use the first question.
Try it right now.
What surprised you when you read this blog entry?