“…the limitations of the Prospect Center’s descriptive review processes are minor compared with the enormous benefits. A descriptive review grants space to educators to talk about particular children, or other important topics, including our own cultural biases, …among any number of possible topics, while focusing discussion and reflection to a startling degree and pushing participants to notice more…Although we have to teach on Monday, taking the time to reflect and listen, with humility, can and must be part of our ongoing growth as educators and perhaps as human beings” (“Learning to Describe, Describing to Understand,” Knoester, 155).

Although expanding the voices of my students and breaking racial and socioeconomic barriers in the classroom are of growing importance to me, I think the Knoester article really hit home this week. Descriptive Review reminds me of a Responsive Instruction practice called RT-10 that our teams in Fairfax County, VA used to discuss students when I previously taught elementary. While Descriptive Review emphasizes the positive lens and requires more discussion time, deeply knowing our students was an obligation of RT-10. Fast-forward to present day: aching to know my placement students as acutely as I did then, I feel held back, in the shadows, as this is not my classroom. Teaching English in French elementary schools last year shaped me into a positive behavior reinforcement zealot, so I currently find myself quick to judge management choices when observing the younger middle school grades. This article, however, inspired me to note four take-away phrases: “Stay open-minded. Don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t assume you are right. Do not judge.” I look forward to approaching the rest of the semester and the Focal Learner Study with open eyes, mind, and heart, and I hope to learn more about Descriptive Review protocol questions for future application.