Hey Emily,

Really cool stuff here! First off, I like how you’ve used the formatting that Marina incorporated in her original letter that we looked at. Secondly, and most importantly, this seems like a really solid unit plan. Getting students to use YouthVoices as a way to finalize their project seems like a great way to get them to start thinking multimodally.

(I also like the Men in Black clip as a motivator. Fun, funny and definitely relevant to learning anything in today’s world… You don’t know what you think you know…)

I’ve been struggling to incorporate the many useful platforms that we’ve covered in these sessions into music education. It isn’t that they aren’t applicable or useful. It’s more that I’m reluctant to take away valuable and limited time in which students have the opportunity to be playing an instrument with other people. The concepts however — multimodal thinking, Habits of Mind, can certainly be used in conjunction with hands-on time.

I wonder what you think about that?

Sincerely,

Jesse

Dear Emily:

I am excited by your proposal, What You Thought You Knew, because you envisioned an idea that will support the Habits of Mind and multimodal learning. Not only that, but your letter also shows that you are committed to encouraging your students to sharpen their skills around assessing information. This is a beneficial mindset to develop in our fast-paced and media-filled world.

One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “If we want our students to be critical thinkers, they must be prepared to inspect information or ideas before accepting new information as “fact.”” I think this is a significant point that you make because we want our students to learn how to vet their information sources and seek out multiple sources that confirm or challenge the information. This will support them as they research for academic and personal projects throughout their lives.

Another sentence that got me thinking was: “The students will create a video that tells a story about a time when they questioned something they had previously taken at face value and came to a greater understanding about the world or themselves in the process.” This stood out to me because you are inviting your students to reflect on their past experiences in order to determine a bigger idea or concept that they can apply to life, history, literature, art, music, etc. This is not only great work for building the habit of Question and Problem Posing but can be a good segue into work on theme. Additionally, it could also support a bridge into other literacy strategies such as the Notice and Note Signposts such as “Aha Moment” and “Memory Moment.”

 Have you seen this blog post from WeVideo: How to Use Video to Promote Student Discourse?  I thought you might be interested in this because Dr. Nathan Lang Raad encourages the use of videos as a meaningful and relevant way to engage students in their learning. Additionally, he offers some tips ( think-pair-on air, which I am definitely going to try). He closes out the post by saying, “This student discourse video experience provides students with multiple opportunities to share, compare, contrast, reflect, revise, and refine.” I think this statement applies to the proposal that you created as well. It is incredible to think of all the skills and experiences that you will offer learners by allowing them to share their stories of Questioning and Posing Problems through a video recording.

Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing some of these videos and hearing more about where the project took you and your learners.

Marina

Dear Emily:

I am excited by your proposal, What You Though You Knew. I liked how you present this topic because it clearly explains the idea of what the habits of mind and multimodal learning can be supported. Also, you support your argument with facts that have proven its impact among students and people in general.

One sentence that you wrote that stands out for me is: “I believe that an effective way to guide students toward greater self-understanding is through studying the Habits of Mind”. I would like to say that up until now, I wasn’t familiarized with the habits of mind and how most of the time we are led by our emotions when facing a situation without the proper knowledge. 

Another sentence that got me was:” Questioning and Posing Problems is one of the Habits of Mind, and I think it is a valuable tool for students who are on the verge of entering adulthood. If we want our students to be critical thinkers, they must be prepared to inspect information or ideas before accepting new information as “fact.” This statement is so accurate because most of the time children are forced to become part of learning stages, they are not yet ready to embark on. Like you I believe they must prepare beforehand and provided with tools and the knowledge to face such high-level functioning towards responding to new situations. 

Have you seen this? https://youtu.be/1dO0dO__wmE. I thought that you might be interested in this because it explains the importance of asking question when don’t know the answer. Asking questions shows you are curious, and you care, it shows that you want to learn and understand. Through asking questions, a person learns the most important aspects of communication.

Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next as I would like to hear good stuff about this proposal.

Respectfully,
Claudia

Dear Emily: I enjoyed reading your proposal, “What You Thought You Knew.” I think this will be a good proposal to implement with students because it will help them realize the importance of habits of mind. This activity will also serve for them to reflect on their experiences and use the multimodal approaches we learned during sessions. One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is, “Habits of Mind are dispositions people use when confronted with problems and situations to which the answers are not immediately apparent.” I think this is an important point the “Habits of Mind” document raised. This is something that I learned while reflecting on the activities because it made me realize the habits of mind I use the most when faced with a problem and the habits that I need to work on. I like how the document provides strategies to implement when you encounter an issue. Another sentence that I found interesting was: “The students will create a video that tells a story about a time when they questioned something they had previously taken at face value and came to a greater understanding about the world or themselves in the process.” This stood out for me because it provides students with an excellent opportunity to reflect on the habits of mind you proposed. This will be a beneficial and fun activity for students to complete. Have you seen this article? Question and Posing Problems. I thought you might be interested in this because it talks about the importance of posing questions and how beneficial it is for students to learn this habit of mind. I thought it would be helpful because it relates directly to your activity. Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because your proposal was very detailed, and I think it will benefit the students, especially those who are entering adulthood, as you mentioned.