February 5, 2010
by Alyson Gardner Kiesel
“How was school today?” I asked my 8-year-old.
“Fine,” he replied.
“What did you do all day?”
“Nothing really,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Sound familiar? This conversation, if one can call it that, gets replayed again and again in my three-child household, ages 11, 8 and 4.
Thankfully, at last Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, I learned of a tool to help facilitate a more productive dialogue with my kids and enhance our communication about their day-to-day experiences. The science departments at Bell and Seven Bridges middle schools worked together to design and produce this tool, the “Student Understanding Pyramid,” to encourage more detailed scientific thinking and writing. Every science classroom at Bell and Seven Bridges now has this pyramid on display.
The pyramid starts with a basic statement, “Yes, I know it,” and progresses through levels of understanding culminating in the penultimate demonstration of true content acquisition: the ability to teach to others what you have learned. Again, this was designed with a specific purpose relative to a science curriculum, but the step-by-step development could easily translate to other disciplines.
As the presentation unfolded and the pyramid was described in more detail, my mind was racing as I pondered the ways in which this visual could help me engage my children in more meaningful discussions. I saw this pyramid as a fabulous bookmark to remind my kids to do more than simply regurgitate the plot of a story; I saw this as a conversation facilitator; I saw it as a coaching tool for after-school activities, a book report aid, even a tool to help my children interact with one another.
The day after the meeting I found myself eager to get the end-of-day phone call.
“How was your day?” I asked, knowing what to expect
“Good,” my son said, as usual.
“Ok, how was it good? Can you explain it to me?” I had the pyramid pulled up on my computer screen.
The conversation progressed and I was able to get a level of detail that typically eludes me. I again thought of the pyramid as I picked my two oldest up at swim practice where they fed off one another to give me more information and to compare this night’s practice to other nights and to teach me about the impact of various sets they swam.
Instead of feeling like an attorney doing a cross-examination or a dentist pulling out teeth, the conversation deepened on its own. I was excited to be using a tool that my children use at school and felt that by using it at home I was adding continuity to their broader educational experience.
I am extremely grateful to Sarah Geronimo and Fred Ende, the chairs of the science departments at Bell and Seven Bridges, respectively, as well as to the middle school principals for sharing this tool with us. Your professional development and strategic thinking can help us as parents to be more effective participants in the home-school connection.
Alyson Gardner Kiesel, a Greeley grad, is serving her first term as a member of the Chappaqua Central School District Board of Education. The Board of Education meeting to which her article refers took place on Tuesday, January 26. It can be viewed on your computer, in “Video on Demand,” by clicking HERE. Look for “CCSD Board of Education Meeting 1/26/10” and click on the frame.
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