Book Club

We spent much of the day today working on learning about and creating educational units that use questioning and "big ideas" as the centerpoint. For example, if you were studying algebra, a big idea might be: Numeric relationships can be translated into graphic representations. So the essential questions might be: Can all number pairs be graphed? Why would someone want to graph pairs of numbers? What do graphs tell us? ALL content can be framed in essential questions. Questioning should breed more questions. The search for answers in critical thinking and deep understanding.

The other aspect of Understanding by Design is backwards design. You decide what concepts should be learned, design an assessment that would show understanding, then finally, plan the educationally and developmentally appropriate activities that would allow students to reach that mastery. In my own classroom, deciding on the essential skills, designing the assessments, then teaching the lessons proved to be more effective and PURPOSEFUL than the other way....maybe some day that old way will be considered backwards.

This evening a gang of us went over to Gallo's to eat, drink and be merry. We loosely called ourselves a book group, but only a few of us actually read, Three Cups of Tea. I won't spoil the non-fiction story for you, but some of the discussion questions were intriguing. One of the questions was, what would you consider paradise? The responses from the 12 of us were as varied as we are- ranging from tropical locations to fishcamp. My own personal response was that paradise would be a home in a quiet, protected, remote Alaskan inlet in Southeast. Of course it would only be paradise if you could come and go freely.

We also discussed the importance of empowering women if you really want to improve living conditions in any group of people. Since child rearing is still mainly a woman's job, she has the power to influence future generations. We discussed microloans for women. If you google "women and microloans" there are lots of sites with info and opportunities. I like the idea, but would really have to research it to make sure it wasn't a scam and was truly a loan.

The other lively discussion was generated by storytelling about misunderstandings when you are in another country. Why does "poop" sound like so many other words in other languages? In Yup'ik, it is very close to the word "mother"- anaq and aanaq. Several funny stories were related to mispronouncing a word that led to great humor on the part of the native speakers. If you've ever read the book, "Me Talk Pretty Some Day", you'd really appreciate how difficult it is to learn another language, but also how universal it is.

Our next book to read is Isabelle Allende's "Zorro". This book is almost as great as the first books that I read from her, "Eva Luna" and "The Stories of Eva Luna". We'll have to also plan something theatrical, such as wearing Zorro masks.

Tomorrow night, our Secret Santa partners will be revealed. I was the organizer, so I'm bringing the wine and cheese. For some reason, I would rather be the organizer than a giver or receiver. Why is that? I'm not sure. It will be a fun get-together.

Question to ponder: Does everyone have a sense of place? What is it about a place that draws you to it? Do some people go through their whole life without discovering "their place" or feeling of belonging there?

I start my travels again next week which I both crave and dread. I love being there and I love my work, but I hate to leave home. My goal is to capture some great low light pics and some good examples of winter activities in villages. Unfortunately, I can't blog the bitter cold of ride on a snowmachine at -20 or smell of seaskin.