Dr. Shelly Arneson Author and Consultant
  • Home
  • Blogs and News
  • Workshops
  • Consultation
  • Shop
  • Links
  • Contact Information
  • Dissertation
Picture

Happy Communicating
​

Things that make me go "hmmm..."

9/30/2018

0 Comments

 
My plans today (for my second day home after traveling a BUNCH for work, lately) included going to church with Dave then going to play golf with Dave then sit outside and read.  Those plans have been thwarted as I began getting a sore throat on Friday that has progressed into a pretty nasty cold (complete with 101 degree fever, chills, body aches, etc. etc.).  So what do I do?  I took a bath and began to THINK.  Sometimes, thinking is dangerous territory for me.  Today was different. I started thinking about how grateful I am for all the laughs I have had over the years of being a consultant, and how much I look forward to continued work with schools, districts, teachers, school leaders, and other staff, as well.
One of my first thoughts was of my years teaching about Character Education.  I taught lessons in all the classes in the elementary school where I was a guidance counselor and ultimately a principal, but I also was honored enough to teach at regional and national conferences on success stories.  One such conference comes to mind---one in which I was introducing the character traits (to adults, I must caveat) I would teach to the students.  Honesty was first.  I loved telling the following story about telling the truth:
John and Susan had been dating pretty intimately for several years but had not bitten the bullet to get married, yet.  John's mom had long suspected that John and Susan had gotten to the ultimate stage of "intimate", but she always required them to sleep in separate bedrooms when they visited ("not under my roof" was her motto). She asked John every time they visited whether he and Susan were sleeping together. John always said, "Mom, of course not. We're waiting for marriage." On one visit, John's mom decided to take matters into her own hands.  At dinner one night, she casually mentioned, "Has anyone seen my antique gravy ladle?  I can't seem to find it and was going to use it for our dinner tonight."  John's dad, John, and Susan all looked at her quizzically and all answered variations of "Nope", "Haven't seen it", "Don't know where it could be".  And then she pounced with her next statement, "John and Susan, you both have stuck to the claim that you haven't been sleeping together.  But I'll tell you right now...if Susan had been sleeping in her own bed, she would have found that gravy ladle by now." 

I was thinking about honesty and thinking about thinking, as well.  I think my mind goes odd places when I am not feeling great.  One of the things we do to help teachers experience engagement centers around United States history. Since I was going to be teaching in Canada this week, I decided to change the activity to something more "universal".  I asked them to individually (and then in groups) come up with questions to which the answer would be "100".  I put no parameters on the activity except the answer to the questions they created had to be "100".  I have to admit I was absolutely blown away by the "questions" they created. Some of them were math questions but some were totally non-math related, which made the activity that much more engaging when each table group shared out their "questions".  One participant said, "At first, I just thought about things like 'What is 50 X 2?' but once we started sharing as a group, I realized there were so many more possibilities.  We then processed the activity from a teacher's perspective, and they shared ways they could use that activity in their own content area.  One said, "If 'freedom' is the answer, then what is the question?"  I thought about how the questions might look incredibly different, depending on what part of the world you lived in or what time frame we might be discussing.  What about a simpler one:  "If 'big' is the answer, what is the question?"

Then my mind really took off this morning (does Thera-Flu have that effect, perhaps?).  I wondered what would happen if I had a class who was studying weather phenomena, and I put up several pictures around the room of the aftermath of several of these natural disasters.  I could add the location (is it Kansas  or is it in Sumatra, Indonesia), the temperature outside at the time of the phenomenon, and any other pertinent "hints".  I would then ask the question:  If this was the "effect", what might have been the "cause"?  Students could rotate through the room in partners and trios and try to make educated guesses based on what we had learned (or were going to learn).  How might this activity increase student engagement versus the typical "telling" we tend to do, sometimes.

I still have lots of thoughts in my head---about how different learners are engaged by story-telling, group work, or thinking backwards, for instance.  I would love to hear some of your "think outside the box" types of activities you do to engage your young or more seasoned learners in the learning.  For now, I fear that the Thera Flu is kicking in, and I am needing a nap.  If "nap" is the answer, what is the question?  What Shelly needs when she is sick and exhausted.  

Happy Communicating!

​Shelly


Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Shelly Arneson

    Picture

    Archives

    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from Tjeerd, Johnragai-Moment Catcher, UnknownNet Photography, Mr. Bombdiggity, wuestenigel, quinn.anya, Chocolate Geek, Jorbasa, Leonard J Matthews, JefferyTurner, Golf Resort Achental, fabola, www.ilmicrofono.it, m01229, Heinrich Plum, Titanic Belfast, Strocchi, Cultural viewpoints from around the world, katrienberckmoes, fabola, susivinh, fourcroft, Sweet Dreamz Design, usarjnco, Eldriva, symphony of love, cordalth, boellstiftung, David Holt London, maryjohum, Tony Webster, Rich.S., ZK-OJQ, davidmulder61, garryknight, ChrisPerriman, mrkrndvs, goatling, YellowstoneNPS, Frederick Homes for Sale, Mary_on_Flickr, yourbestdigs, Dean Hochman, guillenperez, Janitors, rachaelvoorhees
  • Home
  • Blogs and News
  • Workshops
  • Consultation
  • Shop
  • Links
  • Contact Information
  • Dissertation