Stand on the Other Side of the Gallery #SOL17


Oh, the endless task of putting away laundry. One thing that makes laundry-putting-away more bearable is it offers the opportunity to listen to podcasts. During the school year, I could check in on podcasts during my commute to and from work. Now that it is summer, I am in the car far less and when I am, I usually have my children with me. Thus, when I am alone putting away laundry, I can check in on podcasts I enjoy.

 Today I listened to the Heinemann Podcast from May 19th with Cornelius Minor. You can listen to it here: http://www.heinemann.com/blog/the-heinemann-podcast-cornelius-minor-3/

The episode was about "the over-engaged student." It was fascinating to hear Cornelius talk about a student who was given the nickname "Prez" because he acted like the President of the class. There were many interesting points in the discussion, but one idea really captured my attention. Cornelius shared how he loves art and often goes to the art galleries in New York City. He said that sometimes he walks across the gallery to look at a famous piece of art because it looks different from a different vantage point or perspective. He employs this "stand on the other side of the gallery" idea with students as well. When your first instinct is to feel annoyed that a student is calling out and perhaps challenging you as a teacher, if you take a minute to "walk across the gallery" in your mind and look at the student in a new way, you might see that the student is eager to contribute and is showing signs of critical thinking. He said critical thinking is a tool that can be used as a weapon and we have to teach students how to use it correctly. 

 Years ago, a staff developer who worked with teachers at my school, talked about "going up the ladder of inference." It reminds me of Cornelius' idea bout walking across the gallery. The ladder of inference was that your first thought led you to other ideas and you would race to a conclusion that could be faulty because your first thought might not have been true. You then made other snap judgments based on the first thought, leading to a faulty judgement. Walking across the gallery and not racing up the ladder of inference are both about pausing and considering that there could be another perspective. Holding space for the notion that another idea or way of handling a situation could be valid. 

 In all situations, in the classroom and out, I want to follow this advice and take more walks to the other side of the gallery. 

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