Nivedita Mukerjee
Education consultancy for parents and schools
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #183, 9th January 2024
How is your, your child’s/ your student’s relationship to their cell phone? is it a tool, a device, or an attachment you/they can’t do without. Do you/they use it for learning something? finding something? connecting with someone? getting the work done? or is it the first and the last thing you/they look at when you/they go to sleep and wake up? Do you/they go for a walk anytime without your cell phone? or have an uninterrupted conversation without notification pinging your/their attention? When does it become an addiction that comes in your way of functioning instead of being an aid?
It is 2024, a brand new year has just begun. Let us do a reality check on our relationship with the phone.
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Two Thoughts of the Week
“Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we’re too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone.”- Steven Spielberg
“Would I buy a cell phone for my 12-year-old?… No. I should have closer control over my child than that. He really shouldn’t be in places where he needs to contact me by cell. ” – Stephen Baker
One Video of the Week
Tanner has a comedic and uncanny way of noticing everyday events. He draws people in while entertaining them about his personal experiences pertaining to social interactions and common cell phone usage amongst the youth of today. Tanner Welton is a grade 8 student from the Langley, British Columbia. He enjoys public speaking, hockey, drama the outdoors and socializing with friends. He is a very social kid who takes a keen interest in people. He is very personable and charismatic. He notices the more subtle ways people interact and loves to evaluate these relationships and share stories.
He is empathic and caring towards others and notices when others feel sad, lonely or not accepted in groups. He wants all to be accepted and cared for and strives for fairness and understanding in the world. He has learned to be resilient as he faces his own daily challenges and is learning to overcome obstacles and see the light in his future.
Guest Expert of the Week
Reading with Ms. Meenu
Transition Out of Decodables:
Decodable texts are like training wheels: Kids need them for only a short time. The goal is to transition away from them as soon as the child is ready. They are just a stepping stone for sure. Once students have a strong phonics base and no guessing habit, move them into authentic texts (i.e. trade books).
The percentage of decodable words in books should vary so you can gradually transition your students to trade books. Some books are highly decodable, containing at least 90 percent of words with sound-spelling correspondences that the students have learned. Other books are less decodable, containing closer to 75-80 percent. Having a range enables students to gradually move from books with a higher decodability percentage to books with a lower decodability percentage and then to authentic text. It ensures a smooth transition and gives me confidence that each student is ready to attack more difficult texts without relying on cueing strategies.
What to look for in a decodable book series:
· The series follows a logical scope and sequence that progresses from simple to complex phonics skills.
· Each book has plenty of words that follow the target skill.
· Each book has a limited number of irregular words.
· Each book’s language and storyline make sense.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
And Finally…
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by:
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #182, 2nd January 2024
You can wish the universe to conspire with you to achieve or goals, your wish to be fulfilled. Nothing wrong with that. But it would remain in the realm of positive thinking and may not move into possibility until there is an action plan attached to it.
Happy New Year dear educators, students, and parents. Have a super 2024, manifesting your wishes by setting goals and creating action plans for achieving the same. Here are a few tips that might nudge you along the way.
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here.
Three images of the week
Two Thoughts of the Week
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”Confucius
“Action expresses priorities. “Mahatma Gandhi
One Video of the Week
Amara Leggett is an accomplished 16-year-old who has already graduated from both New Albany High School and Columbus State Community College.
Her talk centers around how to form a plan that allows you to do what at first seemed unthinkable, which for her meant graduating from high school and college simultaneously. Amara is an accomplished 16 year old – she has already graduated from both New Albany High School and Columbus State Community College. She will discuss how to form a plan that allows you to do what at first seemed unthinkable, which for her meant graduating from high school and college simultaneously.
Guest Expert of the Week
Reading with Ms. Meenu
Use Decodable Texts Instead of Predictable Texts with Beginning Readers:
Predictable texts are widely used by beginning readers. But I suggest replacing them with decodable texts. I’m not talking about beautiful authentic books such as The Napping House and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I’m talking about those contrived, early readers with repetitive language such as “We cleaned the garage. We cleaned the house. We cleaned the garage. We cleaned the house. We cleaned the school and so forth. Those books are written from the standpoint that reading is a natural process, and the best way to teach it is by encouraging students to memorize words and use pictures to identify words. But that is not how reading works. The only way for beginning readers to get through those texts is by memorizing the patterns or using the three cueing strategies I discouraged in Move 3. But that is not reading! It is memorizing and guessing. It gives the illusion of reading but creates damaging habits that can be tough to break.
Three Purposes of Decodable Texts:
1. Support readers in word identification.
2. Allow readers to apply what they’ve learned from your phonics lessons.
3. Direct the reader’s attention to the letters and sounds.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
And Finally…
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by:
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #181, 26th December 2023
Reflecting on the year gone by. Looking forward to the year coming ahead. Picking out the aspects of our teaching-learning-living moments we enjoyed with our children/students. Activities that we want to do more of with our students and fellow teachers. Activities that gave us the energy. Actions that we did to give others around us positive strokes and inspiration to carry on with joy and vigor. What comes to your mind when you think of it? Want a structure for yourself your family or your students? here are a few ideas. Hope you find them interesting and useful.
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here.
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Two Thoughts of the Week
We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.
John Dewey
It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.
Paulo Coelho
One Video of the Week
In this talk, recorded at TEDxEustis in January 2019, Dr. Julie Hasson shares her research into the impact of “The Teachers We Remember.” Her engaging talk details the experiences of students with teachers who impacted their lives and reveals ways techniques that teachers can utilize to have a greater impact on current students. Dr. Julie Hasson is the Nina B. Hollis Endowed Chair in Education at Florida Southern College. In addition to teaching graduate students, Julie is engaged in qualitative research exploring the lasting impact teachers make on students’ lives. She founded the Chalk and Chances project, an online community committed to celebrating and elevating the teaching profession.
As a a former teacher and school principal, Julie is passionate about making schools better places for teachers to teach and students to learn. Julie speaks to groups across the country about her research. She is also the author of Unmapped Potential: An Educator’s Guide to Lasting Change.
Guest Expert of the Week
Reading with Ms. Meenu
Explicit and Systematic Phonics Instructions:
A truly systematic approach to phonics means teaching all of the major letter-sound correspondences in a clear, sequential well-thought-out order. Students have to infer the words while they read. Any approach that is not systematic or explicit encourages us to teach phonics incidentally.
Habits of Teachers who practice Explicit and Systematic phonics Instruction.
What they do:
· Follow a clear sequence of phonics skills, progressing from simple to complex.
· Leave nothing to chance.
· Use a program that connects and unifies skills.
· Establish routines.
· Follow a step-by-step procedure.
· Gradually release responsibility using the “I Do, We Do, You Do” approach.
· Break down critical content into manageable chunks.
· Teach Interactively, giving students frequent opportunities to respond.
· Give students meaningful and judicious practice opportunities.
What they don’t do:
· Only teach concepts as they come up.
· Expect students to discover basic phonics concepts on their own.
· Work without a reliable scope and sequence.
· Work without established routines.
· Give phonics activities instead of providing solid instruction.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
And Finally…
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by:
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #180, 19th December 2023
Philanthropy is a love market. What do you think? What comes to your mind when you think of philanthropy? or giving? When you grow up you can do – the student, when you grow rich you can do – the youth, when you have extra you can do – the vast majority, when you retire you can do – many middle-aged, When you grow older – you can do philanthropy… What do you think of the act of giving? What role do you as parents, and/or educators play in sharing your thoughts and teaching about philanthropy? It is the end of the year, it is Christmas, and it is time to think anew and share how you look at yourself as a giver, and how you role model for your students and children the act of giving.
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here.
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Two Thoughts of the Week
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
- Maya Angelou
“No one has ever become poor from giving.
- Anne Frank
One Video of the Week
Generosity is proven to make people happier. Imagine the difference we could make if we all increased our annual donations by just 1%. Ami Campbell, co-author of the book “Love Let Go: Generosity For The Real World,” educates us about the personal and global benefits of generosity. Ami Campbell champions generosity.
Co-Author of Love Let Go: Radical Generosity for the Real World, her writing has appeared in Philanthropy Daily, RELEVANT magazine, The Christian Century, and the Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin. She is a consultant and stewardship educator who helps people rediscover their giving selves. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Guest Expert of the Week:
Reading with Ms. Meenu
Reading proficiency with Phonemes:
Phonemic Awareness:
Phonemic awareness is critical for students to become proficient readers. Students need to develop an awareness of individual phonemes and how they connect to graphemes and their written representations. It can be taught in short and frequent sessions. We need to get to the phoneme level quickly and briskly. Students develop an awareness of the external units before the internal units. We should connect our phonemic awareness instruction with letters. Science consciously evolves and so must we.
· Phonemic awareness is a critical component of reading instruction.
· Phonemic awareness and letter knowledge are reliable predictors of future literacy performance.
· The most common source of reading difficulties is poor phonemic awareness.
· It is the conscious awareness of phonemes (individual speech sounds) in spoken words.
· Blending and segmenting are the most critical phonemic awareness skills because they are necessary for reading and spelling.
There are 44 phonemes of English, which can be categorized into vowel and consonant phonemes. We can discuss these phonemes by their place and manner of articulation. As educators, we should plan our language lesson plan strategically.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
And Finally…
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by:
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #179, 12th December 2023
A resolution is made for something that needs to be improved. Something you are doing and want to do more of. Something you do not do and realize that you need to start soon. Your birthday, a new month, a new year – great times to think afresh and start/improve on some aspect of your life. Had a discussion with your students/child lately? Good time to start now if you haven’t already been thinking before the schools close for the holidays. How to make them? How to keep them? Which ones are worthy to be included? Parents, this makes for a good discussion in the family and a great opportunity for role-modeling as well as getting insight into your child’s thought process.
Resolutions that are systematic, have accountability built in them, and are a two-way street have more chances of being followed through. Check out the video in today’s issue for some great tips.
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here.
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Two Thoughts of the Week
“Wishes are possibilities. Dare to make a wish.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!
“There is nothing magical about the flip of the calendar, but it represents a clean break, a new hope, and a blank canvas.”
― Jason Soroski
One Video of the Week
Austin Yoder, College Class of 2011 | Austin is studied Chinese and Philosophy. When he isn’t in school, he’s busy traveling the world, drinking tea, freelancing, and trying to game the system. Check out his website on AustinYoder.com.
Guest Expert of the Week:
Reading with Ms. Meenu.
Science of Reading:
Sometimes educators think the science of reading refers to a specific curriculum, program, or method. But the term refers to a large body of high-quality research on reading. It encompasses thousands of studies or as literacy expert Louisa Moats put it “ The science of reading is not an ideology, a philosophy, a political agenda, a one size fits all approach to a program of instruction or a specific component of instruction. It is the emerging consensus from many related disciplines, based on literally thousands of studies, supported by hundreds of millions of research dollars conducted worldwide in many languages.
Skilled Reading:
Skilled reading is a fluent execution and coordination of word recognition and text comprehension. Many strands are woven into skilled reading i.e. Language comprehension which increases strategically and word recognition, which increases automatically.
Language Comprehension
· Background Knowledge
(facts and concepts)
· Vocabulary
(precision and links)
· Language Structure
(syntax and semantics)
· Verbal Reasoning
(inference and metaphor)
· Literacy Knowledge
(print concepts and genres)
Word Recognition
· Phonological Awareness
(syllables, phonemes)
· Decoding
(alphabetic principle, spelling-sound correspondences)
· Sight Recognition
(of familiar words)
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
And Finally…
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by the following :
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #178, 5th December 2023
How do you interact with the media around you? How do your students consume media? How do you interpret, deconstruct, and fact-check the media you, your students, your children, and your colleagues consume and share with each other? Is it part of your curriculum? does it form a part of your dinner table discussion? Media literacy connects school and the daily life of our students. If you are not already bringing media into your curriculum resources, every day, this is a good time to start. If you are doing it sometimes, then it is time to bring it in all the time.
Here are some thoughts that you might find useful as a parent and/or an educator for your child and/or students.
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here.
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Two Thoughts of the Week
“When people talk to me about the digital divide, I think of it not so much about who has access to what technology as about who knows how to create and express themselves in the new language of the screen. If students aren’t taught the language of sound and images, shouldn’t they be considered as illiterate as if they left college without being able to read and write?” George Lucas
“Computing is not about computers anymore.” It is about living. Nicholas Negroponte
One Video of the Week
Quijada is the executive director of the Media Literacy Project. With more than a decade of experience as a media literacy trainer, and 20 years as a community organizer, she has a deep passion for media justice. Quijada presents nationally and internationally on the impact of media on culture, politics, and technology. She has co-founded various organizations in Albuquerque, including Young Women United, a reproductive justice organization by and for young women of color.
Quijada is particularly interested in media as a tool for self-determination and movement building.
Guest Expert of the Week:
Reading with Ms. Meenu.
Book Clubs:
Book clubs are an important part of connecting readers with each other and emergent readers. Book clubs promote adding context for the importance of questioning and inferring to comprehend text and having great conversations about books. Book clubs can be a connection between young library readers and adult public library readers. Readers can focus on many aspects of reading.
What do book clubs do?
· How readers figure out the unknown word level, plot level, idea level, character level, etc.
· Predictions with text support, how readers use prior knowledge plus text to get smarter, and how the reader writes the book.
· Reading content focuses on questioning and how do questions help us read better?
· What types of questions help us understand?
· What different purposes do questions serve?
· Reading content focuses on inferring and how to make predictions about text and confirm or contradict predictions as you read.
In a Teacher Librarian’s role book clubs play an important role and create a community of avid readers. Young adult readers participate in buddy reading activities and encourage junior readers to be part of it. Educators have seen many positive results of running Book Clubs in their libraries or local bookshops to inspire young readers into a reading environment.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
And Finally…
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by the following :
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #177, 28th November 2023
Alright, the last month of the year is coming upon us and it is time to rack up our own Kind-o-meter and help it flow to our community whether you are a parent, student, or teacher. How do you do it? if you have it in your heart show it. If you are unsure, here are some tips and yes, lists of ways to do it! Get-Set-be kind!
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please go ahead and subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here:
Three images of the week
Two Thoughts of the Week
“You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” —The 14th Dalai Lama.
One Video of the Week
Kindness is a common language we all speak. It doesn’t cost anything and means everything. And the sooner we start practicing it, the better we get at it. Whether you are 7 or 77, you will appreciate words and gestures when conveyed with kindness.
Cindy is a kindness ambassador at her school. At just 7 years of age, she is well known at her school for being the most caring, helpful, and kind student – an accolade she cherishes. She speaks English, French, Mandarin and Spanish.
She also loves to sing and recently won a gold prize at the KPU International Music Festival.
Guest Expert of the Week:
Reading with Ms. Meenu.
Role of a Novel Study:
· Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development. While novel study students apply their knowledge of word origins to determine the meaning of new words encountered in reading materials as Novels. And then use those words accurately in reading.
· Reading Comprehension (Focus on Informational Materials) Novel study helps students to read and understand grade level appropriate material. They analyze the organizational patterns, arguments, and positions advanced.
· Literary Response and Analysis. During various novel study sessions students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They conduct in-depth analyses of recurrent patterns and themes.
· Writing strategies. Novel study helps students write coherent and focused essays that convey well-defined perspectives and tightly reasoned arguments. The writing demonstrates the student’s awareness of the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.
· Writing Applications (Genres and their Characteristics) Students combine the rhetorical strategies of narration, exposition, persuasion, and description to produce texts of at least 1500 words each.
A novel study needs significant time to think, read, and develop writing for various purposes. It is encouraged to start a novel study with a group of emergent readers.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by the following :
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #176, 21st November 2023
Discussion is a conversation that can define who we are, who we know, and how we connect. It is how we love, connect, get back together, or walk away from a person or group. How do we do that? Some of us establish connections, some of us are good at it, some of us suck! how do we talk to each other, people we know, or strangers. Here are some tips for you that you might be already using or would like to give a try with your teacher, parent, or student.
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please go ahead and subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here:
Three images of the week
Two Thoughts of the Week
“Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.”
[Address at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa, 23 November 2004]”
― Desmond Tutu
“In one case out of a hundred a point is excessively discussed because it is obscure; in the ninety-nine remaining it is obscure because it is excessively discussed.”
― Edgar Allen Poe
One Video of the Week
“We mustn’t speak to strangers.” Malavika Varadan, challenges this societal norm, by presenting 7 ways to make conversation with anyone. RJ extraordinaire, Malavika Varadan, creates waves quite literally with her morning show, Breakfast No.1 on City 101.6.
An avid fitness enthusiast, positivity ninja, and drama queen, she has chiseled a benchmark in the radio industry.
Guest Expert of the Week:
Reading with Ms. Meenu.
Carving a Niche: Graphic Novels in Literacy
There is a graphic novel for virtually every learner in every literacy class. From students who just like to look at pictures to those who are prepared for a heady academic challenge, interests can be enriched by reading a graphic novel.
Using graphic novels and comics in the classroom produces effective learning opportunities over various subjects and benefits students from hesitant readers to gifted students. Studies of comics in the classroom go back to the 1940s at least. Still, over the last decade, librarians have fervently led the way in making the case for graphic novels as exciting and proper reading material for adolescents. Many public libraries now have graphic novel sections or carry graphic novels in their stacks.
With the growing understanding of the importance of critical literacy, visual literacy, and other types of literacy that were once considered alternate, more attention has been paid to graphic novels.
As teachers, we’re always looking for a new way to help our students engage with texts and graphic novels play a huge part in that.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by the following :
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #175, 14th November 2023
Happy Children’s Day. This is celebrated each year on November 14, in India. It is a celebration dedicated to honoring and cherishing the well-being of children. What do we understand by well-being? especially when it comes to children? Parents and educators, institution owners and policymakers? What do children themselves understand by their own state of well-being? What is the single most important parenting strategy according to you?
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please go ahead and subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here:
Three images of the week
Two Thoughts of the Week
Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. — Rabindranath Tagore
Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow. — APJ Abdul Kalam (former Indian President)
One Video of the Week
Everyone loses their temper from time to time — but the stakes are dizzyingly high when the focus of your fury is your own child. Clinical psychologist and renowned parenting whisperer Becky Kennedy is here to help. Not only does she have practical advice to help parents manage the guilt and shame of their not-so-great moments but she also models the types of conversations you can have to be a better parent. (Hint: this works in all other relationships too.) Bottom line? It’s never too late to reconnect.
Guest Expert of the Week
Reading with Ms. Meenu.
Reading makes us do strong brainstorming.
We all seem to think that brainstorming should be easy. We’ve all experienced meetings or readings when ideas pin-ponged back and forth and sometimes, we frantically scribbled notes and sketched partial concepts on a whiteboard. If you’re an introvert who’s been part of a brainstorming session, you may have sat quietly and it’s the same thing that happens with students.
We as educators should avoid traditional brainstorming.
· Encourage your students to be more prone to groupthink.
· Have students brainstorm in isolation first. Give them time.
· Have a firm rule that there are no dumb ideas in the brainstorming phase.
· Experiment with group structure.
· Be clear about the specific topic of a Brainstorm.
· Don’t use a timer.
The best brainstorming happens when students engage in divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is a process of seeing multiple options and viewing solutions in a different way. Divergent thinking is what happens when you find connections between things that initially seem disconnected. It’s also what happens when you find unconventional uses for a specific item.
Keep Brainstorming!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
This newsletter is supported by the following :
3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV
Issue #174, 7th November 2023
When do we ask most questions? Who do we ask most questions? When do we stop doing that? Why do we stop asking questions the older we get? What is the importance of asking questions to those who are younger than us, to those who are our peers, to those who are older than us? What kind of questions are good questions? Which questions lead to great conversations? How do we ask so we listen?
Here are some kinds of questions for you, for me, for us all.
This is a free-to-subscribe newsletter. So, if you like my content, please go ahead and subscribe to it by putting in your email ID here:
Three images of the week
Two Thoughts of the Week
“A prudent question is one half of wisdom.” – Francis Bacon
“The one who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.” – Confucius
One Video of the Week
Why should we ask questions? Educator Karen Maeyens explores the power of asking questions as keys that open endless possibilities and allow us to overcome old paradigms. From improving your personal relationships to the invention of the Polaroid Camera and the foundation of a renowned University in Latin America, Karen talks about the benefits of asking questions and wonders how we can keep a curious spirit ignited. What will your next question be?
Director of Continuous Learning department and facilitator training at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala City. She speaks Flemish, English, Spanish, German, French and is passionate about filmmaking and photography. She holds a BA in English and German Philology from Ghent University in Belgium, a Masters in Austrian Economics from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid but ever since she became mother of three girls she has been diving into the field of education.
Guest Expert of the Week: Reading with Ms. Meenu.
The bravest thing to do is ask a question.
I believe learning has a lot to do with wondering, inferring, and questioning.
As an educator, I always explain that some of the best inventions began with a “stupid” question about combining two seemingly different ideas. A vague, half-baked idea often sparks the innovation that shakes the status quo.
It takes a certain amount of bravery to ask questions especially when those questions seem silly or challenge the presuppositions of the crowd.
Question Everything: Make this your mantra! If a question is respectful, allow students to question their world. This applies to analyzing mathematical processes, thinking through social issues, making sense of a text, or analyzing the natural world for cause and effect.
Every lesson should include students asking questions to you as teachers, to one another or to themselves and the boldest of students will ask questions of the world through social media and personal interviews.
Every student should embrace inquiry. And that’s the journey of curiosity, reading, and lifelong learning.
Happy Reading!
Meenu Gera, Consulting home and school librarian and reading guide.
Dear reader,
I have been a research scientist, a journalist, and an educator for over 3 decades. I read and, I write. With this weekly newsletter, I share what I read, learn, and, experience. At the same time, I engage with students, parents, and teams of teachers across K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and ed-tech organizations.
3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms. Niv is a newsletter you can subscribe to and enjoy your learning journey with me.
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Nivedita Mukerjee 