Why do we think about thinking?

Are you tired of all this thinking yet? 

I have my "I'm done" moments. But I also have "Wow, this is so cool" moments.

I've read four chapters of Mosaic of Thought so far. It has a lot of background knowledge (good for me),  and many stories to keep me entertained.

You know how when you get to see someone else teach, or see their room, or look at their "stuff" how cool that is, right? Well, that is what this book is like.

I don't see the room, but there is so much narrative about how some teachers are teaching. And I am just loving reading that.

Do you remember having education professors teach some content, but not in the way they have taught you to teach? This book is nothing like that.

The authors have included many think-alouds that are oriented to teaching me, at my level of understanding. Then, they give narratives about teaching children. See...amazing.

What have I learned recently that made me go hummmmm?

**As a piece of writing is read or listened to, what ever number of readers/listeners that there are, there are that many insights and streams of understanding. And each one is valid.

**Gone are the days (like in my high school days) when a class reads a poem and there is one "right" theme. There may be many, there ought to be many. Because each reader has their own background knowledge to bring to the piece and when each person works at making meaning what they understand is unique to them.

**If the above is true (and it makes sense to me that it is), then why are the students given state standardized tests and asked what is main idea? Both of my sons (who are strong readers) HATE the tests. This is what they tell me--I can narrow it down to 2, but then how do you know? I just have to guess, and I don't want to guess.

So what's next? Finish this book, because it is helping me grow my own background knowledge of what comprehension strategies I use. 

Then read Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller. Many friends are recommending it. So I will buy it with a bookstore gift card. 

Why do we think about our thinking? Because it helps us understand what we are reading, and we enjoy our books so much more when we are comprehending them.