FLOW

I first learned about this concept of flow before it even became a factor in my classroom. I was teaching blindly in the beginning, but learning simultaneously via evening courses and my association with the Greater New Orleans Writing Project. The GNOWP director and I attended a network meeting where the guest lecturer was Jeff Wilhelm. His enthusiasm for teaching writing probably converted the wait staff in the restaurant to find the nearest alternative certification program. He discussed the "hot seat" where students attacked the protagonist on the hot seat with their journalistic questions. He demonstrated many action strategies for deepening comprehension and he touched on FLOW.

What is flow? For me, it's when your students are so engrossed that they don't remind you that it's almost time for lunch or recess. They grunt when you remind them or we all rush out of the room minutes behind schedule because the teacher was also a little wrapped up in it all.

From Wikipedia (this definition happens to work for me, so I'll use it):

"Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.^[1]"

Teachers must understand the merits of differentiated instruction (each student's learning style, readiness, interests) and the concepts of the state-mandated curriculum, and then connect the two.

I'm going to buy MC's book and also revisit some of Wilhelm's works. I'll keep you posted.