TACTics
Journal
A
Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners
In
this week’s issue:
Readers’
Feedback: The
Delivery Cloud
(1) Linda Trapnell
(2) Eleanor May-Brenneker
Connections
(3) Award to
Danilo Sirias, Mike Round
(4) 8th
Annual
TOCFE Conference
Editors’
Notes
(5) Kay
Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards
READERS’
FEEDBACK: THE DELIVERY CLOUD
(1)
Just a few
thoughts on the debate about the whole picture/building the
picture debate…As we
began to teach the cloud to young children many years
ago (or so it
seems), we tried all methods. And, our tolerant and eager-tolearn
subjects let us get it
wrong and fed in their “advice.”
As
published in TACTics,
A:
In order to have effective delivery of content
B:
I must provide students with a sense of direction
In
order to provide students with a sense of direction,
D:
I must present the big picture first and then explain the details.
On the other hand…
A:
In order to have effective delivery of content,
C:
I must create a sense of discovery (be Socratic).
In
order to provide students with a sense of discovery (be Socratic),
D’: I must
start with a detail and then build up to complete the big
picture.
My initial
approach was to follow my own preferred learning style and outline
the big picture
by drawing the cloud diagram with the elements left blank.
Then I
proceeded to follow the story line and unfold the problem isolating
the elements and
asking the questions.
I also
experimented with a new group by not outlining the big diagrammatic
form first and
just built it up in response to analysing the problem
with
discussion on how they
built the big picture. There was no real reaction
from the children
but adults involved seemed to prefer the first approach.
Personally I
HAVE to see the big picture first. Children are more
flexible—though
autistic pupils liked the big picture too. The diagram gave
them clues and
they love a fixed pattern. The content can change as long as
the pattern is
familiar.
Once our
pupils became confident with the pattern we always built it up as
we went
along—the need for the big picture being internalised
by all. Pupils,
when using the
method unaided, always built it from scratch element by
element—once they knew
where they were going.
I suppose it’s
a bit like trying to find your way to a
know the process,
using the road map, general landmarks etc. And once
you’ve been there
for the first time, you can experiment and build up
different routes
depending on different variables (e.g. time of day, weather
conditions etc.) always keeping in mind where you're going. And if you get
lost you can
always ask, especially from TOCFE users!
See you in
(2) Eleanor May-Brenneker, Dyslexia/SEN
I’m proudly
showing my age! Quite a while ago there was a popular song: “I
see the clouds
from both sides now, from give and take and still somehow...”
When I read Danilo’s presentation-choice issue, I immediately wanted to
reply, but I have
waited. Now I’ll join the queue (typical British!).
During the 2nd
Annual TOCFE Conference in
by now, I
delivered my maiden voyage in TOC presentations on “Dyslexia,
Special
Needs in Education” dovetailing with TOCFE. There I
showed a
diagram of left
brain/right brain thinking modes and styles and skills. To
list a few of the
left brain/right brain specifications:
Left Brain:
zooms in to focal point (Sees the trees.)
• Logic
• Language
• Analytical
• Detailed
• Systematic
• Structured
• Mathematical
Right Brain:
(Gestalt = whole picture) and random thinking (Sees the woods.)
• Creativity
• Art
• Rhythm and
music
• Pictures
• Images
• Shapes
• Patterns
• Colour
• 3-D
View/Holographic View
Bear in mind
that one usually deals with a mixed group of Left/Right Brain
students. Therefore, I
find that I had better start with the
overview/whole picture
presentation. The pre-dominantly right-brain
thinkers will then be
able to fit the details into the whole picture easier
(and see the trees in the wood). The pre-dominant left-brain
thinkers are
introduced to the fact
that the details following later will lead to a whole
(the trees form a woods eventually). There will still be
plenty of room for
the Socratic
approach left (right?) in my experience and the scene is
set to
please both camps.
I hasten to
add that at the same time I endeavour to provide for
the three
main
learning-style trends: (1) visual, (2) auditory, and (3) kinesthetic or
tactile (hands-on) to
accommodate all 3 different modes of learning for our
students. Whole brain
learning and representing all 3 styles in one’s
presentation seems to be
the answer as most of the previous colleagues
pointed out in their
useful comments.
See, hear and
sense you (Can't say feel you, can I?) at the next conference
in
CONNECTIONS
(3) Award to Danilo
Sirias
Mike Round,
Danilo Sirias,
professor at
Award of Best Paper of
the Conference for his paper, "Teaching
MIS
Using Conflict Resolution Techniques,” at the International Conference
on Informatics
Education Research in
The
the conference.
Tom Schambach, research chair for the IAIM, had the following
to say
regarding the review
committee process in place to select the “best paper:”
"The
paper went through two reviews: (1) the original blind review by
three reviewers for
paper acceptance for the conference (based on the
initial review the
paper was also nominated for the Best Paper Review),
and then (2)
Seven "best paper" nominated papers were blind reviewed
by a panel of 5
best paper reviewers."
The impressive
listing of all conference papers can be found at:
http://iaim.aisnet.org/IAIM2003/2003Program.pdf
Congratulations,
Danilo!
(4) 8th Annual TOCFE
Conference
Location:
Dates:
Thursday,
May 20 -
Conference:
Intercontinental
Hotel in New
Conference
Fees: $50 (covers cost: 8 coffee breaks, 4 sandwich lunches)
Accommodations:
Jugoslavija Hotel
• Single room:
$42 to $62
• Double room:
$60 to $90
• Breakfast
included
•
Room rates depend on how recently rooms have been renovated
• All
prices are in
If you would
like to book rooms at the Jugoslavija Hotel, you can
do that
through the Miross Travel Agency. The person
to contact is:
Ms. Dobrila Puzic
dobrila@miross.co.yu
Miross Travel Agency
Svetogorska 4,
Tel/Fax: +381
11 33 44 945
+381 11 33 44
510
+381 11 33 44
529
EDITORS’
NOTES
(5) Kay
Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards
Congratulations,
Danilo! Your contributions to TOCFE have been an
inspiration.
Linda Trapnell
and Eleanor May-Brenneker, thanks for the rich
responses to
Danilo’s “Delivery
Cloud.” No matter what content we are teaching, you’ve
reminded us of the
importance of using diagrams (graphic organizers),
utilizing thinking
modes, and recognizing learning styles within the context
of our delivery
of instruction.
To the rest of
our TOCFE family, feel free to share with us. Send your
responses, applications
of the thinking processes, lessons, announcements,
and etc. by mail
to: Cheryl A. Edwards,
kayseal@comcast.net.
Please note
that the pdf version of TACTics
is
attached. You must have
Acrobat
Reader to open the file. It is freely available for download from:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.
If you have the
Reader
installed but still can't open the file, drag it from this e-mail to your
desktop, launch the
Reader, and open from the FILE menu.
You may also
view TACTics in its
intended formatting, by visiting our web
site at
www.tocforeducation.com. Click on “What’s New.”