Thinking of the Missing Link: A Report from the 5th CalADE Annual Conference (Part Two)

Meet Southwestern's Toolbox team. For years, the trio of presenters - a reading prof, a humanities dean, and an ESL adjunct - have been on the lecture circuit to inspire people with their teaching strategy that connects everything to thinking.

Like Mark at Miramar, these Southwestern colleagues do not use a traditional textbook to teach reading. Instead, they make their own lesson packets of well-chosen quotes and book excerpts, which infuse their desire to effect a thinking-centered education. A quotation from Alfred Whitehead was pointed out again and again during the presentation to drive home two important things a teacher has to decide: "What is worth learning is worth learning well."

A dozen tools - ranging from the usual "paraphrasing" [quotation marks added by me to denote a reading tool in this and subsequent paragraphs] to the more challenging "speaking in the author's voice" - were reviewed for the breakout session participants. Using their lesson packet for philosophy, the presenters had the participants experience what it is like in the classroom. First, we read two quotes - one from Albert Einstein and the other from Booker T. Washington - and practiced using the "title" tool whereby we wrote our own titles for each quote. This is an activity with no correct answers, as we were told. Rather, it is a great warm-up opportunity for original thoughts that everyone wants to hear during the whole-class sharing phase.

Then, we wrote our own answers to a questions about the "purpose" for Einstein and Washington to write those quoted words. Next, we did the same with a question about one "consequence" for humanity if we do not follow what Einstein and Washington say. When we read an one-page excerpt by an Indian author on the topic of happiness, we followed a 5-activity sequence:

1. What is the author's "purpose" in writing the excerpt? We were told to be more specific than the usual 3 to 4 general purposes such as to inform, to entertain, to persuade, etc. We were also required to use clear and complete sentences.
2. What do you think is the most "significant sentence" and why? This is not meant to find the main idea sentence. Rather, it should be a personal choice to validate.
3. What "vital question" about happiness comes to your mind after reading this excerpt? 
4. What is one "consequence" for our lives if we follow what the author recommends?
5. Using the responses you gave and other thoughts you and your group may have had, describe how this reading affected your goals in life. Explain your thoughts in a brief paragraph. 

When a lesson is thus designed well and learned well, individual students can realize that they have minds that can think, and think very well, when given the chance. They will come to see reading and writing as natural and vital human activities that will be of value to them, both in their education and in their lives. That is the conclusion of Dr. Sylvia Navarrete, Dr. Joel Levine, and Ms. Yuki Yamamoto, and I couldn't agree with these presenters more.