The expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark is arguably one of America's most exciting stories. Also known as the "Corps of Discovery Expedition," you are probably familiar with Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea and the rest of this crew of explorers who blazed a trail across the freshly acquired western portion of the US. Thomas Jefferson commissioned them with a task like the one we have been given in this book club: explore the unknown territory. Find out what is out there, and just as importantly, who is out there, so we can proceed into this new land prepared and confident.
Perhaps the most fascinating components of this story, for me, are the intricate and extensive journals the explorers kept as they traversed the new territory. One historian has called Lewis and Clark "the writingest explorers of their time. They wrote constantly and abundantly, afloat and ashore, legibly and illegibly, and always with an urgent sense of purpose" (Donald Jackson). They knew what their goal was when they departed on their journey, and they planned to return home (or to their classrooms...) with a record of collective information they could use and share.
For the duration of the book club, every Monday you'll have a new opportunity to record your reflections on the week's reading, in a post to be known here as the Cartographer's Notebook. In their journals, the explorers would muse on their experiences in addition to sketching the new map. We will really get our creativity going on Wednesday as we take action in the weekly MapMaker, but the Monday post is a time to give yourself permission to think and reflect. Tim Elmore has set the scene up for us in the first two chapters of Marching Off the Map. He has briefed us, essentially, on the challenges we face as we look to march into this new territory. At the end of chapter 2, Elmore encourages us to begin with the end goal in mind. You have already established what your end goal is for this book club last week in the Testing the Waters post. You are here now because you have made up your mind to be a pioneer, not a settler. I hope you will embrace the opportunity to log your experiences and knowledge here for the benefit of the rest of us who are here alongside you as we create this map. The discussion questions below are simply a guided starting point, but I hope you will not hesitate to share any insights, epiphanies, or "ah-ha!"moments as well.
Discussion:
1) Consider the three cultural changes Elmore explains in chapter 1: How Technology is Evolving (p.8), How Childhood is Evolving (p. 10) and How Adulthood is Evolving (p.12). In your experience, how have these evolutions affected the teacher-student relationship/how do you predict it will affect this relationship?
2) On page 10, Elmore describes the "extinction of childlikeness" vs. "the extension of childishness." How have you seen this concept to be true in the students you work with? Do you have any insights on addressing this in the classroom?
3) See what Elmore has to say about skills on page 24. What are some morals, principles or practices you consider to be timeless that you'd like to instill in your students? What are some skills you consider to be timely to prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow?
And if you'd like to learn more about Lewis and Clark's expedition, check this out: 10 Cool Facts About The Lewis & Clark Expedition - YouTube
1) Consider the three cultural changes Elmore explains in chapter 1: How Technology is Evolving (p.8), How Childhood is Evolving (p. 10) and How Adulthood is Evolving (p.12). In your experience, how have these evolutions affected the teacher-student relationship/how do you predict it will affect this relationship?
Although I appreciate the evolution of technology and the things that we have available to us, I feel this has come at the detriment of critical thinking and thinking for ourselves- why try and come up with the answer if we can just google it? Unfortunately, google gives us the black and white- not the grey. I teach veterinary science, so I continually explain to my students there is no black and white with animals. When you have an animal that presents with A, B, and C, there is no ONE answer. You come up with a list of differential diagnosis, and then the appropriate tests for them to come up with the final diagnosis. If you have a dog that is giving you issues with restraint, yes, there is a textbook way to restrain the animal, but the dog didn't read the textbook. So you can not google an answer to figure out how to work with that animal.
I really like how the book states "a student can graduate from all levels of school, even with good grades, but be emotionally or socially behind. Biologically, the graduate is an adult. Emotionally, the graduate may be unprepared for the adult world." I think this is so accurate, I am 38 and when I think back to being in high school, just about all of my classmates graduated from high school, went to college, and went out into the world. Now, it seems so common to stay at home, or come home after college and be perfectly content to live at home. I think this above statement makes it difficult for teachers because the students do think they are adults. I have heard students discussing other teachers or parents or adults in their lives and they make the statement "You need to earn my respect." This was unheard of when I was a student!!
I think the changes that are taking place in the roles of parent and child makes teaching more difficult and I think it will continue to make it difficult. I was afraid of my parents when I was in school. I was afraid of disappointing them- very few kids feel this way anymore.
2) On page 10, Elmore describes the "extinction of childlikeness" vs. "the extension of childishness." How have you seen this concept to be true in the students you work with? Do you have any insights on addressing this in the classroom?
I think this is a problem everywhere. I think setting up a culture of respect and putting expectations for behavior, work, etc in place goes a long way in addressing this issue. Also, being understanding of what kids are going through, but keeping your expectations clear and there. There can not be a gray area.
3) See what Elmore has to say about skills on page 24. What are some morals, principles or practices you consider to be timeless that you'd like to instill in your students? What are some skills you consider to be timely to prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow?
I think soft skills are always a necessity- and the hardest thing to teach. Communication, good writing skills, public speaking, handing work in on time, self motivation, putting effort into work, initiative.
When I have my advisory meetings, this always comes up- these are the skills that students are lacking.