Introducing a spelling test to a student by saying, 'Let's see how many words you know,' is different from saying, 'Let's see how many words you know already.' It is only one word, but the already suggests that any words the child knows are ahead of expectation and, most important, that there is nothing permanent about what is known and not known.
Interpretation
The word 'already' conveys a sense of encouragement and flexibility in learning, suggesting that knowledge is not fixed.
In this quote, Peter Johnston highlights the importance of language in education, particularly how framing can influence a student's mindset. By using the term 'already' when discussing a spelling test, teachers can foster a growth mindset, implying that the child's current knowledge is just a starting point and that they have the potential to learn more. This approach encourages students to view their capabilities as expandable rather than static.
In practice
A teacher might use this quote during a staff meeting to emphasize the importance of encouraging language in the classroom.
Better guide the young than reclaim them when old For the voice of true wisdom is calling "To rescue the fallen is good, but tis best To prevent other people from falling" Better close up the source of temptation and crime Than deliver from dungeon or gallery Better put a strong fence round the top of the cliff Than an ambulance down in the valley.
One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.
The public school system is not about educating black children. Never has been. Inner-city schools are about social control. Period. They’re operated as holding pens—miniature jails, really. It’s only when black children start breaking out of their pens and bothering white people that society even pays any attention to the issue of whether these children are being educated.
Graduation is not the conclusion of an achievement but simply the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another chapter
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