Monday
Nov152010
Mizz Flow chart
Model Learning
Believe it or not, that was the title of a magazine for young girls. How do I know? My daughter used to buy it seven years ago.
I first noticed the use of flow charts in the magazines she used to read. There was always a single flowchart page. And then out came a dedicated magazine with 100 pages of flow charts.
But it wasn’t the only one. On the cover there’s the claim to being Britain’s biggest flow chart magazine. Yes, there were others!
So when will teachers realize that their students are getting increasingly familiar with Graphic Organisers? And start integrating them throughout the curriculum?
Reader Comments (2)
101 fab flow charts inside!!!!
This is really quite scary. I do like the keywords though:-
Good, Nice one, Wicked!!
In terms of your main question, I strongly believe teachers either
1) Simply haven't had the training (or thought or inclination) to involve graphic organisers in their teaching or
2) They do not understand that organising thoughts and making them visual is how you see learning happening.
I have just had a similar experience with my SLT. Old ideas of what a graphic organiser does surmount to harping on back to writing frames. It wasn't until i did a presentation on how organising thoughts is learning, and the better students are at it, the better they learn, did the penny drop!!!
It is so simple, and I agree they should be in every classroom, because they are already, only invisibly, lets make the thinking visible.
Yes, yes, yes it's all about teacher CPD. Once they know about the range of uses (well, there is no limit) teachers will find many more applications. And, as you say, that comes from the realisation that organising thoughts is the most practical definition of learning.