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February 7, 2009
Gorillas in Our Midst
Researchers Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris did a famous
experiment some years ago. They asked their research subjects to
perform a simple task - watch a video of a group of students
passing basketballs, and keep a silent tally of how many passes
were made.
Moments after the start of the video, someone dressed in a gorilla
suit walks slowing into the cluster of students tossing the
basketballs, stopping in the middle of the action to beat its chest
and demand attention. The students keep throwing the basketballs
back and forth, and the gorilla eventually ambles out of the scene.
Amazingly, 50% of the research study participants did not recall
the presence of the gorilla when asked about it after the video
ended. The experiment demonstrates how when we focus on a task, we
often completely miss striking objects and events around us.
I've been thinking about these "gorillas in our midst" as I've been
following Andrea Smith's advice for fire drills. In a feature
published last week at Choice Literacy, Andrea explained the
routine she's developed for fire drills that helps her enjoy her
students and teaching more. It's four short words designed to help
anyone pause and see more in the world around them:
Breathe. Smile. Notice. Enjoy.
We don't have fire drills here at Choice Literacy (that, and not
being forced to eat lunch at 10:30 a.m., are probably the biggest
perks of not working full-time in a public school). So, I've been
trying to take Andrea's advice once a day, just to see what
happens. It's truly amazing how those few seconds wake you up
and help you notice remarkable things right in front of your nose.
And it's hard not to enjoy the new view when you've plastered a
silly grin on your face the moment before you look. I even tried
it in the doctor's office yesterday, and noticed for the first time
a display of children's artwork in a corner of the waiting room.
By the way, children are naturals at the breathe smile notice enjoy
habit. It's why transitions can be so difficult for adults in
classrooms, and so blissful for many kids. They love the
opportunity a transition gives for noticing, smiling, and mixing
things up a little with their classmates. It's ironic that we have
to squelch those tendencies for students to get off routine during
transitions so that we don't end up with chaos, even as we have to
push ourselves to stay more open to the moment.
This week, we've got an extensive list of books for Presidents Day,
additional resources for visual learning, and more as always.
Enjoy!
Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy
Free for All
Literacy coaches and teachers in Chicago are especially excited
about Presidents Day this year, so they have put extra time into
compiling text sets for use in classrooms. Shari Frost shares the
details of their recommended books and authors for Presidents Day:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/828.cfm
(Before anyone writes in to complain about my grammar - Presidents
Day is also known as Presidents' Day. There is some disagreement
about the correct punctuation for it. Feel free to flag other
errors - they usually abound in my newsletters!)
If there's anything more exciting than discovering a great new book
for students, it may be getting an inside peek at new authors and
books in the works. The Class of 2k9 site highlights middle grade
and adolescent literature authors who will publish their first book
in 2009. There are many wonderful resources for teachers at this
site, and you can't help but enjoy the enthusiasm of these writers
as their publication dates approach:
The visual cognition research I cited in the lead anecdote on
gorillas and basketball has many applications and insights for
literacy leaders. You can view the original gorilla/basketball
video used in the research at the link below, as well as access
more information about the findings:
http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/flashmovie/15.php
Shahi is a visual dictionary that combines words and images from
the web. It's a fun tool for writers of any age who are thinking
through illustrations and multiple meanings of words:
The Choice Literacy K-6 Word Work Sampler is available for
purchase. The 90 minute sampler includes examples of a range of
word learning strategies in kindergarten through sixth grade
classrooms, featuring everything from small group lessons to
individual conferences with English language learners, to
whole-class discussions of expectations for word work stations and
word sorting activities. You can view an excerpt at this link:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/products/item22.cfm
For Members Only
There's a good reason many middle and high school teachers use
picture books to teach reading strategies, notes Katie Doherty. It
works! We're beginning a new video series this month showing how
Katie teaches inferring during a focused read-aloud, and follows up
with partner work, discussions, and individual conferences. Part I
begins with the read-aloud and a writing activity in reader's
notebooks:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/809.cfm
How does a teacher balance a young learner's emerging knowledge of
letter sounds and formation with the need for correctness?
Delicately, as Melissa Kolb demonstrates in Keeping the Letter M, a
conference with a young English language learner. This feature
includes video, and is the first of our new postings on preschool
literacy learning:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/829.cfm
Our latest Choice Literacy Cluster is on how coaches can organize
meeting areas and work spaces to support professional development.
The cluster highlights work by Jennifer Allen, Gail Boushey,
and Jennifer Jones:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/822.cfm
Finally, Jennifer Jones struggles to find ways to help a struggling
reader. It's only after she analyzes a miscue in her own life that
she is able to realign her tutoring priorities:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/814.cfm
That's all for this week!
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