organizing

It seems that no matter what I do, I need to find a system of organization which will allow me not only the ability to retrieve information but to add the information to my previous knowledge bank in my brain. Some days this seems so simple... others, I begin wondering when the men in white coats will carry me away. TMI and no way to organize it for further use.

In working with teachers on writing across the curriculum, I attended several workshops. What came across loud and clear from each presenter was the sequence they recommended for the Writing Process. It was always important to keep a brainstorming list of possible topics on which to work. The next step was to pick a topic and make a list, or cards, of what is known about the topic. This information may be from previous experience or from the text or from an expert. This definitely sounds familiar - the "K" in KWL, or KTW.

The next step was not to move onto the "W" or "T" but to take a look at the "K" list. The presenters, all teachers, listed the next step as "organize." That is right - organize. Take time to look at that list of what you think you know and see how items in the list are related. Matter of fact... see if there are different ways to catagorize the items in the list. Why?

The organization of thoughts assists the participant(s) in recognizing when information is missing or question the truth of listed information. This leads to the questions which will be explored to fill in gaps in knowledge. (I have heard more than one person reiterate that we must teach our children, and ourselves, how to ask questions before we can expect them to be life-long learners.)

The next step is to take the organized information and begin writing a paragraph - Solid topic sentence with the catagory topics punctuating the other sentences.

These steps are to be done many time with many lists of "knowledge." This is the first step to organizing thoughts. As the thoughts are organized, questions begin appearing. Once questions begin appearing, the need/desire to find the answers begin to emerge.

An example: You ask a group to compare/contrast the Disney story of "The Little Mermaid" with the original story. (Don't do this will lower elementary students unless you can handle their disgust with the ending of the original story.) Once the students are familar with both stories, ask them to list the similarities and differences of each. (No peeking) Have them organize the first list into catagories. Then, have them organize the second list using the same catagories. (characters, setting, sequence of events, problems, solutions, whatever...) Each time someone seems to question the accuracy of something on the list or can't remember, help them turn the thought into a question and put the question in another list. Questions can go beyond the text itself to author purpose: Why did they change the movie? Why were the original authors so dark? These questions lead to investigations to find the missing pieces.

All of this comes back to organization: Taking time to organize what is known so it can be examined for holes and formulated into questions; Taking those questions to seek answers related to the topic at hand; Giving students a system for using current information to formulate an investigation which can lead to facts which can be organized on paper or in conversation or to give directions...

How many times do we get into situations and find that we have to watch and listen to collect information. Then, we must organize what we think we are seeing/hearing before we can even formulate intelligent questions? The answers of which seem to lead to more questions.

As you continue your days, may you always come to enjoy the cycle of organizing what you know/sense to the point of having questions which require answers which add knowledge which propagates more questions...