Profile photo of Dr. Josh Thompson (he/him)

Dr. Josh Thompson (he/him)

Professor Early Childhood Education

Department of Curriculum & Instruction

Office Location: EdSouth 204

Office Hours: By appointment

Phone: 903-886-5537

Email: josh.thompson@tamuc.edu

Professional Vita



Living with Learners

www.deeper-learning.org/dl2015/

"...a serious movement is taking place in our education system — one that engages students in a more authentic way, and paves the way for them to truly succeed in the 21st century. College ready? How about innovation ready, where the capacity to innovate, the ability to solve problems creatively, or bring new possibilities to life is far more important than academic knowledge.With information flooding the Internet, television, even our cellphones, classrooms need to move from filling students with ever-changing content to teaching students “how to think.” They need to ask the right questions and take initiative." www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2014/03/21/deeper-learning-preparing-students-for-the-future/

An intro/in-depth video series introducing Deeper Learning: www.teachingchannel.org/deeper-learning-video-series

And a bit about why I'm here:

A decade-plus friendship connected me to a community of innovators in 2011. I worked with them, my Teaching Interns and Residents on their public school elementary campus, as they tried to innovate and excel, only to be frustrated and sent out from their district. They founded Village Tech Schools www.VillageTechSchools.org, a public charter school, in 2013 with 640 PK-8 students in southern Dallas County. This year they added 100 students and grew into High School, and will add a grade each year to PK-8, all while maintaining our undergrad pre-service Teaching Interns and Residents.

Beginning in summer 2015, we hope to launch a Graduate enhancement program, Ensemble M.Ed. at VT modeled somewhat after the GSE at HTH.

All the while, while looking for a campus of collaborators innovating and supporting Inquiry - my C&I faculty launched a rigourous Action Research program in our undergraduate program, seeking to promote active, thoughtful engagement in their classrooms and campuses.

Proposal

Program

HTM#6 Q2 Living with Learners: Creating a Cadre of Teacher/Researchers

This three hour workshop examines the question “What happens when undergraduates, in their Senior Seminar, pose questions about teaching and learning in schools and classrooms?” Through the use of guided prompts, jigsaw examination of three texts, and detailed analysis of student work, workshop participants develop qualities of standards for deeper learning work - all within the process of exploring teacher action research with undergraduates.

Mumuration https://vimeo.com/31158841

Smith, L. & Clive, S.W. (2011). Mumuration. London: Island and Rivers www.islandsandrivers.com.

Three Questions arise, watching this video 3x: What? How? Why?

Inquiry - intro video by Nancy Dana

Five Readings -

1. Three poems:

Malaguzzi, L. (1993). The Hundred Languages of Children, in Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education (First edition - the yellow book). Praeger. www.reggiokids.com/the_hundred_languages_of_children.html

Rilke, R.M. (1903). Letters to a Young Poet. www.elise.com/q/quotes/rilke.htm

"... I would like to beg you, dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now."

Grahame, K. (1908). The Wind in the Willows. Messing about in Boats .docx

www.writebyte.net/writebyte.dll/GetPage?PageId=MessingAboutInBoats

"Is it so nice as all that?" asked the mole, shyly...

"Nice? It's the only thing," said the Water Rat Solemnly, as he leaned forward for his stroke. "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

"Simply messing...about in boats -- or with boats... In or out of 'em it doesn't matter. Nothing seems to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."

"Look here! If you've really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together and have a long day of it.?"

2. blue Shagoury "Chapter 2 Questions evolving"

3. green Perry "Chapter 2 Vivian Paley as a Teacher Research"

4. blue Thompson "Hundred Language Zoo"

5. ping Dana "chapter 2 Wondering Litmus Test"

Appendix - an application exercise

6. Shagoury

Doherty p241

Park p244

Murphy p246

Trabacca p248

Taylor-Milligan p253

Martinez p254

Hardy p258

Freer p261

McGregor p263

Gilbert p265

Final video - Dana on Being

Final Story - Frederick by Leo Lioni

Thompson, J. (2003). Hundred Language Zoo. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 31(1) 13-20. doc

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