Chpt. 4 Tales of Thinking- Creating Indvidual Thinkers

Chpt 4 of Tales of Thinking goes deep into how important structure is within the classroom setting. A thought provoking question regarding this structure is how 'direct' or 'indirect' we, as teachers, need to make this structure. I have seen structure in all my placements thus far, however, the type of structure that I see occuring more often is direct structure where all children are given clear instructions and are aware of the steps they need to take to succeed. For example, in the hallway of Blandy Hills, there are bulletin boards of cookie cutter art projects that the teacher clearly modeled for the students before they completed them. If things were glued in the wrong place, the student was surely corrected by the teacher before she or he were to hang it in the hall. What happens though if there is that one teacher who doesn't follow the standard? What if there is that bulletin board in the hallway where nothing looks the same, it is all different, it is all individual. In the chapter it states, "to be indirect is to chance some of the knowledge that would enable learners to move forward quickly and exercise individual expression." Teachers are so scared that if students don't follow the model given, then they won't show what they know, or they simply won't know what they are supposed to. My goal is to be that teacher that can give students that freedom to be their own thinkers and not have projects that are all cookie cutter images of one another, but I will still be confident through taking the time to see their individual pieces that they have learned what I have set out to teach them.