Making Peasants into Kings
by
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What is a right answer? “Why are you throwing that paper away?” Rickie’s father asked. “Oh, it’s nuffin’,” Rickie replied. “Let me see it.” Rickie reluctantly gave it to his father who uncrumpled it and examined it carefully. “You got this answer marked wrong. What happened?” “The teacher tells me to draw seven blue robin’s eggs in the nest on that sheet.” “I see you drew only five, why?” “Well … we know that robins lay three or four eggs. Never more than five, so I drew only five eggs!” This anecdote from page 202 of the book tells what often happens in school when students know more than teachers about certain things. Focussing upon telling instead of understanding leaves our children bewildered. Too much of this and they lose interest.
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About the Book
Largely autobiographical, this book tells the story of a breakthrough discovey about teaching using a series of anecdotes. The errors students make tell us how they are thinking. These answers are removed from the test results when they are scored. How can we help them when we don't know where they are stuck?
About the Author
Dr. Powell has taught at every level of schooling from the third grade through graduate school in a wide variety of settings. It is typical for students who follow the pattern of learning his team has developed to gain twice as much in a year as is usual.