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Dan Ring - Short Essay C
With the help of McRAH, I now feel prepared to address the following challenges to my teaching.
I feel that the greatest challenge for the students of Waukegan
is to read and read with understanding. While word recognition is
a problem and definitions can sometimes be difficult the problems
rest in several areas.
Students do not read in total context. They let a single word or definition discourage them from completing the task of absorbing a reading selection. Further, they are reluctant to search out the meanings of words that they do not know and are hesitant to restate what they have read to give evidence of their understanding.
The cause of these conditions are fear of embarrassment, an absence of reading encouragement at home and a climate of non-written stimuli from society in the form of audio sound bites and video bombardment. This can result in a diminution of imagination. Students find it difficult to create settings, characters and possible scenarios from what they have read.
McRAH technique and approach allows the teacher to introduce materials in more of a neutral setting where collective analysis of the materials presented allows students to formulate and postulate from their total experiences. This allows for interaction among students reducing the possibility of losing face, permits redefinition of terms, encourages the use of external sources and activates the creative imagination of the participants. McRAH techniques open windows in the mind to not just the who, when, where, but also the how, why and what ifs of historical events.
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