Right Something

Right Something
Posted on November 10, 2012

Participation does not exclude personal responsibility. Working in a group and working in solitude are two wheels of the cycle of learning. Celebrate the opposites! Both are vital, not only to the concepts, skills, and attitudes being taught, but also, personal and social skills. – Vella, 2007.
Just before I read the above paragraph, I had stopped for a moment to check the time and my progress on the assigned readings for this week. Nearly finished, I thought to myself “Okay, this isn’t so bad. All you need to do is keep up with the reading, go to class and talk for three hours with people who have also read the same book, then go home and write. That’s it.”
For a moment, I wondered about my son’s experience of his mother constantly having a book and highlighter attached to her hands and then realized that one thing I want to impart to him is the importance of life-long learning. I had planned on waiting until I thought he was old enough to understand this, which in my mind would have been a couple more years.
As it turns out, he is VERY interested in what I am doing with this book and highlighter and why I am doing it. He asked me: “Mommy, how do you use that marker and why are you marking your book up?” Imagine that! So I explained to him that I am studying and that he will have plenty of opportunity to do the same.
He then asked me to read the book to him. I laughed a little thinking he would get bored quickly and then decided to go ahead and share some of the reading. As soon as I started, he repeated the first sentence I read. I laughed. He laughed. I continued. Every three or four words he would repeat. This went on for nearly ten minutes with great bursts of laughter (It is awesome to hear your three-year-old say things like “contextual framework”) followed by more words, more repetition, and more laughter. What a great experience!! I’m glad I didn’t put this off! Now is perfect!

Posted in Kid Stuff | Tagged assignments, books, children, education, highlighters, homework, kids, learning, mom in school, reading, studying, teaching, texts, toddlers, Vella, vocab, vocabulary, vocabulary for children, vocabulary for kids | Leave a reply

Let the most motivating thing in the world be the idea that your own actions could inspire others.

Posted on November 10, 2012
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act, acting, action, idea, initiative, inspiration, inspiring, inspiring others, motivation, motivation techniques, role model | Leave a reply