Sharing the Future: How You Need To Think To Help Young People Think Past You

March 10, 2015Dr. Marc Aronson

Who Am I and Why Am I Here?

• Ph.D. In US Cultural History• 25+ Years as an editor and author of books for

children and teenagers• Often Write Books With Scientists Describing

Their Process of Discovery• Seeking a Mathematician to Craft Similar Book• Full-time professor in Rutgers MLIS program• Frequent speaker on Common Core State

Standards

What Does My Background Have to Do With You and Embracing the Future?

• All depends on a:

Moore’s Law

The Singularity

Whether The Singularity Is

• Science Fiction• Utopia• Dystopia• Some/none/all of the above

• The accelerating pace of change is inevitable

We See That in

• New Insights to Disease:• “Study on Chronic Fatigue May Help With

Diagnoses” NYT 2/27• New Products:• “Apple to hold Watch event March 9” CNBC

2/26• New Insights to History:• “After 8 centuries, rats exonerated in spread of

Black Death. Gerbils implicated.” WPost 2/24

And

• New Jobs• “Health Care Opens Stable Career Path, Taken

Mainly by Women” NYT 2/22• New Social Policy Questions:• “Obama Focuses on Cyber Security, but NSA

Remains an Issue” Re/Code 2/13• New Biological/Medical Questions:• “‘Three-parent’ babies explained: what are the

concerns and are they justified?” The Guardian 2/1

Whether We

• Discuss and debate products, treatments, historical theories, career choices, social-political, or medical-ethical issues – we are surrounded by rapid change

• We must train students to function in a world whose rules may not yet have been invented

We Must Help Them

• To use tools that don’t exist• To solve problems not yet defined• To evaluate streams of information we cannot

comprehend• To hold jobs in as-yet-unborn-businesses with

colleagues throughout the globe

How Can We Do That?

One Secret Is In the Diagram

Math Science

ELA

E2. Build a strong base of knowledge through content rich texts

E5. Read, write, and speak grounded in evidence

M3 & E4. Construct viable arguments & critique reasoning of others

S7. Engage in argument from

evidence

E2. Build a strong base of knowledge through content rich texts

E5. Read, write, and speak grounded in evidence

M3 & E4. Construct viable arguments & critique reasoning of others

S7. Engage in argument from evidence

Why The Venn Diagram Is Key

• Once a student knows how to seek out evidence, analyze contentions, build his or her own arguments, and compare and contrast views

• S/he can tackle anything• S/he knows how to know

That Is The

Think of School as the Mental

Everything They Read

• Can Build

Not Just To

• Perform on tests• Fulfill assignments• Climb a ladder of levels• Meet standards

But to Meet Those Future Challenges

Whether It is The Latest

• Book of Records• Magic Treehouse• I Survived• Rick Riordan• Rainbow Rowell• John Green• Dystopian, Utopian, Grasshopper Jungle

Avid Readers

• Are in training• They make connections• They develop expertise• They naturally compare and contrast

As the Venn Diagram Shows

• It is not whether you read fiction or nonfiction• Award-winners or popular fads• It is how much you read• How you read• And how you think about your reading

Around Now You Must Be Thinking

• Sounds fine, but encouraging students to read is hardly new

• Can you be more specific? • What about students who are passive,

occasional, or reluctant readers?

Building Knowledge Through Volume Reading

• This is the subject of my workshop• Applies to all readers• Text sets are specifically designed to build

knowledge, expand vocabulary, and create engagement in independent reading

We Share With Young People

• Constant exploration – which shows them how much there is to be explored.

With Fiction

• Discussion groups, pairing with nonfiction, pairing with film, making fan covers, trailers, writing book reviews to place on library site

• Use readers’ passion for a book/author/genre as a starting place for the activities at the heart of the Venn Diagram

Nonfiction I: Individual Books

S

• Science – inquiry

For Example

Loree Griffin Burns

• http://loreeburns.com/beetlebusters/• Three directions:• Subject of book is scientist’s quest for answers• Author describes her research quest on her

site• Book offers paths for students to become

citizen scientists

In One Book

• Three pathways of exploration and discovery

Product Placement

Griffin, RS

• Griffin

• http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/blog/rising-star-expedition/page/2/

In One Book

• The pathway to inventing a new science• While another leads to discoveries taking

place right now.

Within Any Book

• Notes are the key – make this a display, an activity

• Create a Sticky Pad with the phrase:

Encourage Students to

Every Reader Has a Right to Know

• Where the information in a book comes from• Have students examine and question ANY

source• Have them rank, judge, citations• Have them trace citations to see if accurate• Have them look for counterexamples

The Reader Is an Investigator

• A book is a beginning not an ending• It offers messages, clues, help along the quest• It does not deliver final answers• Because answers are rarely final

There Is an Exception

• 2 + 2 =4

Which is a Great Philosophical Mystery

• Why Is Math True?• Is Math Invented?• Is Math Discovered?• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/

opinion/sunday/is-the-universe-a-simulation.html?_r=0

• Perfect question to pose in a display

Social/Political Issues

• The point is not to direct students to one view or another

• The point is to enable them to be media literate, to parse contentions made to them

Eyes Wide Open

• Notice• Insight• Why we don’t see• Other places to look• Other ways to look

44

45

EWO - Updates

http://www.eyeswideopenupdates.com/

46

As With Loree and Lee

• A book is an invitation to ongoing discovery

47

Nonfiction 2: Between Books

• Cluster• Arrange set of books/articles that take

differing views of• Pluto, Dinos, Fracking, Salaries for College

Athletes, the Glass Ceiling in Silicon Valley, the Singularity…

Instead of Displays

• Showing Only Pretty New Covers• Clusters Feature the Debate, the Contention,

Among authors, experts, books• Invite Students to Help Build Clusters

The Living Cluster

• April 15; da Vinci Day

The Entire School

• Devoted to the man who embodied the Venn Diagram – drawing, painting, science, engineering, technology, military history, aviation, medicine, mirror writing….

The Second Secret

ENGAGEMENT

• Engage young people in reading, thinking, questioning – with a heavy dose of humor, a swell of passion, an inspiration from the arts, the thrill of logic, the firm foundation of building and making,

• I see this work ALL the Time!

He Built a World

• In Which He Was Possible:• A bookish, poor, African-American male who

was word-struck, in love with Joyce, Balzac, Baldwin, and basketball

• All of his books were maps, invitations, into a world in which he could see himself

I Realized

Why Are You

• A librarian• A teacher• An administrator• A reader

Because You

• Love discovery• Love to find that word, that phrase, that

character, that story, that invention, that insight

Not Just

• For young people• But in yourself

You Bring Young People Books

• To allow them to share the world, the experiences, the pleasures you love

A Library Is

• An act of generosity• An expression of appreciation• An invitation to explore

These Are the Two Pathways to the Future

• We lead young people to surpass us by constantly inviting them to investigate, inquire, and discover

• And through pleasure – by communicating our passion

Together We Make the Future