Horses, Cows and Students, Oh My!

If I was to use the frontloading strategy for this blog, I might ask "What do you think this blog will be about using only the title and the video??
You might say, Wizard of Oz because we talked about it during our class. You might say, I think you have it wrong, because it was a lion not a horse and it was a tiger NOT a cow. You might also say, I don't know. Hopefully I have you thinking...do I? As a teacher, we want our students to inquire, research, infer...we want to get them thinking for themselves.
One of my favorite scenes from The Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy, Scarecrow and The Tin Man go through the dark forest and meet the Cowardly Lion for the first time.

Here is what I don't  want to happen in my future classroom -
1. I don't want students to lose heart. (I want them to excel and take heart, I am for them!)
2. I don't want students to be afraid of asking questions, of failing, of ANYTHING! (They can be courageous)
3. I don't want my students to never THINK for themselves. (They have brains, gifts, talents and abilities)
4. I don't want them to always wish they were somewhere else. I want them to enjoy the journey of learning.

Mrs. Waldmann, so what does horses and cows have to do with students??
I am glad you asked.

I don't want my students to become so reliant on me for all the answers. I don't want, as page 22 calls me, to be their intermediary. I want them to be independent readers. Sure I will have to scaffold and fill in gaps. But I don't want them to only have what I have "chewed" on and regurgitated for their learning. I want them to investigate for themselves, prove things for themselves. Cows have a four compartment stomach...they chew, swallow and regurgitate. I want my students to "chew" on the text for themselves.

Embedding strategies in the Classroom
1. Frontloading learning
2. Guiding Comprehension
3. Consolidation Understanding

"The classroom strategies in this book do not lead magically or inevitably to success." (Buehl, pg 49)

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink...unless you salt its oats." (Old Pentecostal Preacher, 1992)

Metacognitive Conversations helps us (teachers) salt the oats. We are the additive. The purpose of this last strategy is to hopefully make students privy of the insider thinking that happens when reading. Eventually they will no longer depend on us to tell them everything.

Dear Future Students-
To my future tin man, don't lose heart - you have so much in you (gifts, talents and abilities) and the world needs to see it!
To my future scarecrow, stop saying you don't know, you are dumb, stupid, you have no brains or that your brain doesn't work - instead let me help you explore strategies that cooperate with your learning style.
To my future cowardly lion, you are a leader - don't be afraid to fail, that is how we learn. All the greats learned by failing first. Fail Forward!
To my future Dorthy - enjoy the journey! Readers are leaders, leaders are readers. Keep asking questions!

I am for you,
Mrs. Waldmann