You is Important.
Finding Meaning
If we hope to live not just from moment to moment but in true consciousness of our existence, then our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives. ~ Bruno Bettelheim
This inquiry has taken me in so many directions as my research started to revolve around my students' personal stories. I started to realize how important it is to ensure they feel important for the meaningful things that they do. Hamilton and Weiss (2005) write, "Storying, the process of constructing stories in the mind, is one of the most fundamental ways of making meaning and thus pervades all aspects of learning..." (p. 2). Stories, whether listened to, read, or told, help children make meaning of their feeling and world. In her book, Healing Stories, Golding (2006) writes that, "Even under ordinary circumstances, a child's world is filled with changes. All of these changes require youngsters to expand, adjust, and refine their ways of thinking about different aspects of their lives. Stories can help kids do this by showing new ways of thinking about things. Developmental changes also bring feelings that need to be processed. Children may feel not only proud, happy, and competent, but also sad, angry, worried, lonely, ashamed, or confused. Stories can help them understand and resolve their feelings" (p. 2).
The following data demonstrates three different views and the feelings/meaning making that each child is processing through "storying". The first example is a child as a successful author and exhibits behavior and pride. In the second example, a child shares his story, feelings and understanding through personal journal writing. The final example is of a girl who makes a powerful connection with a character in a book. Through this connection she develops coping skills and begins the shift away from internalizing disorders.
This inquiry has taken me in so many directions as my research started to revolve around my students' personal stories. I started to realize how important it is to ensure they feel important for the meaningful things that they do. Hamilton and Weiss (2005) write, "Storying, the process of constructing stories in the mind, is one of the most fundamental ways of making meaning and thus pervades all aspects of learning..." (p. 2). Stories, whether listened to, read, or told, help children make meaning of their feeling and world. In her book, Healing Stories, Golding (2006) writes that, "Even under ordinary circumstances, a child's world is filled with changes. All of these changes require youngsters to expand, adjust, and refine their ways of thinking about different aspects of their lives. Stories can help kids do this by showing new ways of thinking about things. Developmental changes also bring feelings that need to be processed. Children may feel not only proud, happy, and competent, but also sad, angry, worried, lonely, ashamed, or confused. Stories can help them understand and resolve their feelings" (p. 2).
The following data demonstrates three different views and the feelings/meaning making that each child is processing through "storying". The first example is a child as a successful author and exhibits behavior and pride. In the second example, a child shares his story, feelings and understanding through personal journal writing. The final example is of a girl who makes a powerful connection with a character in a book. Through this connection she develops coping skills and begins the shift away from internalizing disorders.
Little Author No doubt this little author is beaming with behavior and pride. She was the first student in kindergarten to author a book. Clearly the book is informational and has nothing to do with solving problems, but I chose to share this because she exhibits pure exhilaration in her accomplishment. As well, she solved many problems as she went through the process of writing this book. She chose her topic independently, but sought help from her peers to spell words and get ideas. Before the video she read it to me, my student teacher and the literacy coach. She was so pumped up she said that she would like to read it and demonstrate reading strategies. Who was I to say, "No"? So this was the result.
This video demonstrates a massive shift in this little girl's attitude and behavior in the classroom. There are some things that are difficult to share on this site without writing a novel. She has had significant behavior problems, so the behavior and pride that she is showing as a story writer and member of the community is noteworthy. |
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Story Connections
Katie's story connection is clear, but below are the story connections that I believe Stacia and Adarius had to support problem solving:
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