Looking back on the semester, and the year, I think my metaphor at the beginning of the semester was not such a bad one. Teaching requires a balance of theory and experience, and it takes time to feel comfortable and really do it well (consistently, anyway). It's about knowing your students, and more importantly, knowing how to reach your students and when your students need help. You've got to listen for the cues to adapt to their needs, because teaching is about them after all.
This semester's 488 work has been very rewarding for me. I was able to see the difficulties of teaching as well as the successes. I saw that I could in fact teach (and not terribly either), and I could see the things I need to work on as a teacher. I hope that next semester, as I student teach, I'll be able to remember these things and integrate them into my instruction.
Many thanks to my Jen, my teaching partner, and my CI!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Teaching the West: Day 5
Our last lesson was devoted to the summative assessment. We had thought originally about trying to include more information and cover the Oregon trail through some sort of activity before the test, but we decided against it. You could say that reality kicked in and we realized that not only were we tired after a week of intensive teaching, but we also recognized that the students already had enough information on their plates to remember and process that day. So instead, we planned on allowing for 5-10 minutes of review time at the beginning of class before passing out the test. After students finished with the test, they could take out a book to read. Once everyone was done, we'd have students presents the advertisements they'd made the day before.
When we got to the class, though, we found out that the students were visiting Williamsburg the next day, and the teacher wanted some time at the end of the class to go over what the students would be doing on that fieldtrip. As one might imagine, we didn't end up presenting our advertisements. The students took the test, read, and then listened to the teacher as she explained what would happen the next day. During my period (the first block), I also had to deal with 9-10 students being pulled out for various tests and things for other classes. 7 students were pulled out so they could finish a math test (I told the woman, 'but they have a test in this class.' ...Apparently our teacher said it was okay for them to go. Whatcha gonna do?). Then, in the middle of the test (luckily, after most of the students had finished), 2-3 more students were pulled out by a different woman for something completely different. I do realize that my class is not the end-all, be-all of the day, but I'd never had students pulled out during any of my other lessons, and so it was surprising to have it happen the day of the test. Therefore, I unfortunately only have test scores for some of the students (and even more unfortunately, the students that were pulled out were lower-achieving students, so I don't have a good handle on how we did with that achievement group). That was frustrating to me, and I wish I could see their tests (if they ever even took it) to see how they did, but the teacher never responded to my request for those tests. Alas...that's the life of a teacher, I suppose.
When we got to the class, though, we found out that the students were visiting Williamsburg the next day, and the teacher wanted some time at the end of the class to go over what the students would be doing on that fieldtrip. As one might imagine, we didn't end up presenting our advertisements. The students took the test, read, and then listened to the teacher as she explained what would happen the next day. During my period (the first block), I also had to deal with 9-10 students being pulled out for various tests and things for other classes. 7 students were pulled out so they could finish a math test (I told the woman, 'but they have a test in this class.' ...Apparently our teacher said it was okay for them to go. Whatcha gonna do?). Then, in the middle of the test (luckily, after most of the students had finished), 2-3 more students were pulled out by a different woman for something completely different. I do realize that my class is not the end-all, be-all of the day, but I'd never had students pulled out during any of my other lessons, and so it was surprising to have it happen the day of the test. Therefore, I unfortunately only have test scores for some of the students (and even more unfortunately, the students that were pulled out were lower-achieving students, so I don't have a good handle on how we did with that achievement group). That was frustrating to me, and I wish I could see their tests (if they ever even took it) to see how they did, but the teacher never responded to my request for those tests. Alas...that's the life of a teacher, I suppose.
Observation 3
Today I went to the classroom to observe the end of their Language Arts class, as well as their science class. When I walked in, there were only 4 students left in the classroom (many, I believe, are pulled out at this time for remedial and gifted education), and all of them were writing stories from prompt cards. Before the other students came back in for science class, three of the students went up to the front and read what they had written so far from the prompt. What was most amazing to me was the level of detail and thought put into the story by one of the students in the class. Generally, he slouches in his chair and pays absolutely no attention in class (and as he doesn't disrupt the class in being off-task, the teachers have mostly stopped paying attention to him--out of frustration, I guess). Still, his word choice and style of writing--while not extraordinary--showed a greater depth of understanding and a greater engagement than he normally shows. In terms of differentiation, this is the kid that misses out pretty much every time, and now that it's the third or fourth quarter of the year, the teachers have all but given up on him. Still, with support, I've seen him perform and demonstrate some understanding--however basic--and I think that something as simple and teacher-free as pairing him up with a higher-achieving student from the beginning of the year would've really helped this student along. This kid can learn; he just needs a little extra help and attention.
During science class, the class read from the science book about plants and filled out a graphic organizer based on the material in the book. The teacher would read a passage (or have the students read a passage to themselves), ask students to tell her about what they just read, and then have students fill out the graphic organizer (the piece related to that section of the text) in pairs. While I know that reading from a book and writing things down has the potential to be boring, the teacher did a good job of following up the reading by having students summarize the main points of the passage, thus reinforcing the material in their minds. I like the alternation between whole-group and pairs, as well. I think it kept kids moving enough to keep them from disengaging (on the one hand) or being overwhelmed (on the other hand). After the class had finished the reading and graphic organizer, they copied down important terms related to plants, which were written up on the board.
During science, I tried to keep Cody engaged by standing behind him, making sure he turned the pages and copied down what he needed to in order to complete the organizer, and talking with him. At first, he responded pretty well--doing what needed to be done--though it required a whole lot of support on my part, but not long after, I could tell that the activity was difficult for him and he was frustrated easily. All the task required was searching through the text for the 4 needs of a plant, but it was hard for him and he became easily frustrated when it wasn't as easy as copying down headers (as he was able to do with a different part of the organizer). I really hope that his teacher next year can pair him up with another kid or help him get re-engaged at school. I think with proper support, this student would show rapid progress. He just needs the help.
Lastly, one thing I noticed today (and which I'd been thinking about during our classes last week) is that behavior management is not a huge problem for our teacher. There is the occasional student who's not paying attention, or who's doing something he/she's not supposed to, but all in all, I noticed today just how good her students are for her. There was a point during the class when she was at the front, flipping through the book looking for something, and the students didn't take advantage of this intermission to cut up. I looked around to see one or two students playing with something in their desks, but all the other students were waiting quietly for the teacher to continue (looking at the book, looking at her, etc.). If there's one thing that I can say about our teacher, it's that she has definitely obtained a certain authority in her classroom and respect for her students. There are some things I would do differently if it were my classroom, but I can say that she does a great job of showing the class that she genuinely cares about them and that she expects good things from them. I hope that I can maintain a similar level of respect and authority in my classroom, and be able to likewise show my students how much I care.
During science class, the class read from the science book about plants and filled out a graphic organizer based on the material in the book. The teacher would read a passage (or have the students read a passage to themselves), ask students to tell her about what they just read, and then have students fill out the graphic organizer (the piece related to that section of the text) in pairs. While I know that reading from a book and writing things down has the potential to be boring, the teacher did a good job of following up the reading by having students summarize the main points of the passage, thus reinforcing the material in their minds. I like the alternation between whole-group and pairs, as well. I think it kept kids moving enough to keep them from disengaging (on the one hand) or being overwhelmed (on the other hand). After the class had finished the reading and graphic organizer, they copied down important terms related to plants, which were written up on the board.
During science, I tried to keep Cody engaged by standing behind him, making sure he turned the pages and copied down what he needed to in order to complete the organizer, and talking with him. At first, he responded pretty well--doing what needed to be done--though it required a whole lot of support on my part, but not long after, I could tell that the activity was difficult for him and he was frustrated easily. All the task required was searching through the text for the 4 needs of a plant, but it was hard for him and he became easily frustrated when it wasn't as easy as copying down headers (as he was able to do with a different part of the organizer). I really hope that his teacher next year can pair him up with another kid or help him get re-engaged at school. I think with proper support, this student would show rapid progress. He just needs the help.
Lastly, one thing I noticed today (and which I'd been thinking about during our classes last week) is that behavior management is not a huge problem for our teacher. There is the occasional student who's not paying attention, or who's doing something he/she's not supposed to, but all in all, I noticed today just how good her students are for her. There was a point during the class when she was at the front, flipping through the book looking for something, and the students didn't take advantage of this intermission to cut up. I looked around to see one or two students playing with something in their desks, but all the other students were waiting quietly for the teacher to continue (looking at the book, looking at her, etc.). If there's one thing that I can say about our teacher, it's that she has definitely obtained a certain authority in her classroom and respect for her students. There are some things I would do differently if it were my classroom, but I can say that she does a great job of showing the class that she genuinely cares about them and that she expects good things from them. I hope that I can maintain a similar level of respect and authority in my classroom, and be able to likewise show my students how much I care.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Teaching the West: Day 4
This lesson, on the reasons why people moved west in the 1800s and also the hardships they found there, was by far my favorite lesson of the unit. Granted, I still have one more to go, but based on the fact that it's going to be administering a test and sharing the posters we made from this day (day 4), I think that's a pretty safe thing to say.
The most interesting thing about this lesson was that I feel like we did the least amount of planning for this day--being exhausted and working on our plans late the night before, and polishing things up the morning of--but, at least for me, it was the lesson that went the most smoothly. It didn't necessarily stick to the time constraints that I'd placed on each phase, nor did I cover certain aspects of the topic in as much detail as I would have liked, but the students were really engaged in the process and I felt like I was getting all the kids involved, not just the high-achieving ones.
The lesson began with a quick review of the day before--which natural areas did we talk about, what states have we looked at, which peoples did we say make up the population of the West. Then, we moved on (transitioning to why those people came to the West) to a lesson using primary sources/the inductive approach (I believe). We had made up a powerpoint of photographs, song lyrics, advertisements, wanted posters, and quotes from letters and diaries related to the West and why people moved there--or conversely, why people wanted to get away from the East. For each slide/source, students first commented on what they observed, and then decided whether they thought it was a reason why people went West or why people left the East. Finally, for each slide/source, we nailed down the reason behind the source and wrote it on the board. For example, the first slide was an advertisement for real estate in Kansas. I used this slide as a model/guided practice for what they should do for each slide. I noted that the slide said Kansas--which isn't part of the region we're studying, but which was considered "west" at the time because it was west of the MS river. Then I noted that it talked about real estate and homes, and that some people must have been looking to build homes. I said this was probably a reason to go west, since it mentioned Kansas. We continued on like this for each of the slides/sources. My favorite part about this approach was that any kid can do it, regardless of background, and every kid can get involved. Questions about observations ('what do you see here?') can be directed toward students who may not be able to interpret the source as well as others, but who can most certainly tell us what they see. Follow-up questions can be tacked on to that response as appropriate, and interpretation can be scaffolded. The higher-achieving kids can do more of the interpretation on their own, and can be called on when other students aren't getting it as easily.
My favorite slide was the one representing "adventure" as a reason for going out west. On the slide were two images: a "wanted" poster for the 'Wild Bunch' and an image of Buffalo Bill on a bucking horse at one of his rodeos. Students showed a lot of interest in the Wanted poster, commenting that perhaps people wanted to go west to find criminals and get a reward. Or maybe they wanted to go west to be criminals and get money that way. I feel like my shining moment during that class was when I related the attraction to danger that spurred some of the westward migration to their lives. I noted that this image showed me the danger that was present in the West, and then asked them if they'd ever done anything because it was kind of dangerous. They all said yes--one of the students who often gets off-task fiddling with stuff in his desk--gave an emphatic yes to that question. I explained that this was the same way. It was a little dangerous and some people wanted this more rugged, dangerous lifestyle.
The inductive piece of the lesson lasted a little longer than I expected--30 minutes--and I didn't even cover the hardships actually found in the West outside of a cursory overview of them and a quick glance at a diary entry from a man in CA in 1849 who talks about how you have a 1 in 1000 chance of striking it rich in CA (and says that usually you find failure, danger, and death). So I wish I'd been a little better about watching the time, so I could've given more weight to that piece of the lesson--which I think is SO important (because the West wasn't always as great as people in the East thought). However, the discussion was going so well with the sources we did get through, that I'm glad we spent that time the way we did.
For 5 or 6 minutes after the source/reason discussion, I had them create advertisement posters (individually or in small groups), using at least one of the reasons we'd written on the board, encouraging people to move West. The students were really excited about this task, and many wanted to take their posters home to work on over the weekend. I was also impressed that we were able to get all the kids working on a poster, even one student who often seems to just not be catching on. Unfortunately, I had to cut them off so we could talk quickly about the hardships, look at the last two states we had to talk about (Washington and Oregon), pass out the study guides, and give them a heads-up about the test they have on Monday.
As I said before, the students seemed to really be engaged in this lesson, and I loved that every student was able to participate in the discussion and poster-making, no matter what their ability level. It was exciting to see students working with primary sources, and it was exciting to see kids being able to relate to an event/time period 100-175 years ago. I'm extremely impressed with the way things went, and the experience makes me really want to incorporate more primary sources into my Social Studies lessons, as well as more activities like the advertisements that are accessible to all students.
The most interesting thing about this lesson was that I feel like we did the least amount of planning for this day--being exhausted and working on our plans late the night before, and polishing things up the morning of--but, at least for me, it was the lesson that went the most smoothly. It didn't necessarily stick to the time constraints that I'd placed on each phase, nor did I cover certain aspects of the topic in as much detail as I would have liked, but the students were really engaged in the process and I felt like I was getting all the kids involved, not just the high-achieving ones.
The lesson began with a quick review of the day before--which natural areas did we talk about, what states have we looked at, which peoples did we say make up the population of the West. Then, we moved on (transitioning to why those people came to the West) to a lesson using primary sources/the inductive approach (I believe). We had made up a powerpoint of photographs, song lyrics, advertisements, wanted posters, and quotes from letters and diaries related to the West and why people moved there--or conversely, why people wanted to get away from the East. For each slide/source, students first commented on what they observed, and then decided whether they thought it was a reason why people went West or why people left the East. Finally, for each slide/source, we nailed down the reason behind the source and wrote it on the board. For example, the first slide was an advertisement for real estate in Kansas. I used this slide as a model/guided practice for what they should do for each slide. I noted that the slide said Kansas--which isn't part of the region we're studying, but which was considered "west" at the time because it was west of the MS river. Then I noted that it talked about real estate and homes, and that some people must have been looking to build homes. I said this was probably a reason to go west, since it mentioned Kansas. We continued on like this for each of the slides/sources. My favorite part about this approach was that any kid can do it, regardless of background, and every kid can get involved. Questions about observations ('what do you see here?') can be directed toward students who may not be able to interpret the source as well as others, but who can most certainly tell us what they see. Follow-up questions can be tacked on to that response as appropriate, and interpretation can be scaffolded. The higher-achieving kids can do more of the interpretation on their own, and can be called on when other students aren't getting it as easily.
My favorite slide was the one representing "adventure" as a reason for going out west. On the slide were two images: a "wanted" poster for the 'Wild Bunch' and an image of Buffalo Bill on a bucking horse at one of his rodeos. Students showed a lot of interest in the Wanted poster, commenting that perhaps people wanted to go west to find criminals and get a reward. Or maybe they wanted to go west to be criminals and get money that way. I feel like my shining moment during that class was when I related the attraction to danger that spurred some of the westward migration to their lives. I noted that this image showed me the danger that was present in the West, and then asked them if they'd ever done anything because it was kind of dangerous. They all said yes--one of the students who often gets off-task fiddling with stuff in his desk--gave an emphatic yes to that question. I explained that this was the same way. It was a little dangerous and some people wanted this more rugged, dangerous lifestyle.
The inductive piece of the lesson lasted a little longer than I expected--30 minutes--and I didn't even cover the hardships actually found in the West outside of a cursory overview of them and a quick glance at a diary entry from a man in CA in 1849 who talks about how you have a 1 in 1000 chance of striking it rich in CA (and says that usually you find failure, danger, and death). So I wish I'd been a little better about watching the time, so I could've given more weight to that piece of the lesson--which I think is SO important (because the West wasn't always as great as people in the East thought). However, the discussion was going so well with the sources we did get through, that I'm glad we spent that time the way we did.
For 5 or 6 minutes after the source/reason discussion, I had them create advertisement posters (individually or in small groups), using at least one of the reasons we'd written on the board, encouraging people to move West. The students were really excited about this task, and many wanted to take their posters home to work on over the weekend. I was also impressed that we were able to get all the kids working on a poster, even one student who often seems to just not be catching on. Unfortunately, I had to cut them off so we could talk quickly about the hardships, look at the last two states we had to talk about (Washington and Oregon), pass out the study guides, and give them a heads-up about the test they have on Monday.
As I said before, the students seemed to really be engaged in this lesson, and I loved that every student was able to participate in the discussion and poster-making, no matter what their ability level. It was exciting to see students working with primary sources, and it was exciting to see kids being able to relate to an event/time period 100-175 years ago. I'm extremely impressed with the way things went, and the experience makes me really want to incorporate more primary sources into my Social Studies lessons, as well as more activities like the advertisements that are accessible to all students.
Teaching the West: Day 3
I've found that there are days that teaching clicks, and days that things don't go quite as planned. Day 3 was one of the latter days. For the day, we'd set aside 5 minutes for review of the day before, 25-30 minutes for group presentations (one on each of 5 important natural areas in the West: Yellowstone, Redwood Forest, Mt St Helens, Glacier National Park, Death Valley), and then we had about 10 minutes at the end to go over cultural groups in the West and review the day. The presentations were going to take up a major chunk of the period, as each presentation was supposed to be 3-4 minutes (according to the rubric we made up), and we were worried about not having enough time.
Of course, as I said before, things just didn't go that way. I timed each presentation, and every one of them was between 50 and 90 seconds long. Half as long as they were supposed to be. The thing was, most groups got in all the information they needed to, and I hadn't been there the day before (since we had M, T, Th, Fri, M set for teaching) so I hadn't been able to regulate and check up on the students' progress. Our CI took over for that inbetween day, Wednesday, so the projects were really as she structured them during practice and whatever students remembered me saying. I left a lesson plan for her, but obviously she had control of how things went. The only other problem was that the presenters often didn't speak loud enough--I would definitely include "speaks loudly and clearly" in the rubric next time I do something like this. I would also put more emphasis on the rubric--I didn't have enough time to really go over it well, so students seemed somewhat confused by the rubric.
Despite the time/volume dilemma, the presentations were actually pretty good. Students seem to enjoy creating and performing them, as they were supposed to be creative presentations. All the groups chose a skit of some kind--a tour of the area, a diary entry acted out, or a class being taught about one of the areas.
Since the presentations were shorter than I'd planned, I had a lot more time than I thought I would to go over the cultural setup of the West and to review. I was able to fill the time pretty easily with the material, but I was a bit flustered by the unexpected change in timing for the lesson, so I didn't come away from the lesson feeling as confident about it as I had coming out of Tuesday's lesson.
I think for future lessons like these, I would be more realistic about my time expectations. 3-4 minutes can be a long time for 4th graders, especially when the unit teacher isn't around the day they practice to note their progress and give suggestions on how to lengthen the presentations. I would also be more flexible in my planning, having a back-up plan in case presentations run short (or long). For example, in retrospect, I think it would've been better if I'd opened up the floor for questions/compliments after each presentation to keep to my time schedule, as well as to give each presentation's subject more exposure time in the class (so the kids would be more likely to pay attention, and to remember what was being said about each natural area).
The lessons I take from this day of my unit echo what I said in my first blog on my metaphor for teaching. You have to flexible as a teacher--not just having a back-up plan in mind (for preventive measures), but also being able to react appropriately as a situation arises.
Of course, as I said before, things just didn't go that way. I timed each presentation, and every one of them was between 50 and 90 seconds long. Half as long as they were supposed to be. The thing was, most groups got in all the information they needed to, and I hadn't been there the day before (since we had M, T, Th, Fri, M set for teaching) so I hadn't been able to regulate and check up on the students' progress. Our CI took over for that inbetween day, Wednesday, so the projects were really as she structured them during practice and whatever students remembered me saying. I left a lesson plan for her, but obviously she had control of how things went. The only other problem was that the presenters often didn't speak loud enough--I would definitely include "speaks loudly and clearly" in the rubric next time I do something like this. I would also put more emphasis on the rubric--I didn't have enough time to really go over it well, so students seemed somewhat confused by the rubric.
Despite the time/volume dilemma, the presentations were actually pretty good. Students seem to enjoy creating and performing them, as they were supposed to be creative presentations. All the groups chose a skit of some kind--a tour of the area, a diary entry acted out, or a class being taught about one of the areas.
Since the presentations were shorter than I'd planned, I had a lot more time than I thought I would to go over the cultural setup of the West and to review. I was able to fill the time pretty easily with the material, but I was a bit flustered by the unexpected change in timing for the lesson, so I didn't come away from the lesson feeling as confident about it as I had coming out of Tuesday's lesson.
I think for future lessons like these, I would be more realistic about my time expectations. 3-4 minutes can be a long time for 4th graders, especially when the unit teacher isn't around the day they practice to note their progress and give suggestions on how to lengthen the presentations. I would also be more flexible in my planning, having a back-up plan in case presentations run short (or long). For example, in retrospect, I think it would've been better if I'd opened up the floor for questions/compliments after each presentation to keep to my time schedule, as well as to give each presentation's subject more exposure time in the class (so the kids would be more likely to pay attention, and to remember what was being said about each natural area).
The lessons I take from this day of my unit echo what I said in my first blog on my metaphor for teaching. You have to flexible as a teacher--not just having a back-up plan in mind (for preventive measures), but also being able to react appropriately as a situation arises.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Teaching the West: Day 2
Thinking back to the metaphor for teaching I wrote in my first blog, this lesson was a much smoother ride for me. Some of the transitions (shifts) weren't quite as nice as I would've liked them, but all in all, the lesson went well. In terms of revising that metaphor, I'd say that even more than I'd thought before, it's important to note that the "car" (the class/students) plays a much larger role in determining how the class runs as they respond to the teacher's lesson. Mostly, it's a reaction to the teaching, but that reaction make a big difference in how things go. So, I like the metaphor still, if only cars were more independent and less machine-like in their responses.
The period began with a "do now" type activity on the board. Students sat at their regular seats when they came in, and began answering the questions on the board (I'd placed an index card on each desk). Students who were absent the day before were instructed to look at pg 140 in their textbook and answer the second question on the board. For one of the students, who couldn't read the questions on the board, I read them aloud and had him answer them on his card. For another student who generally tunes out and doesn't participate in class (to the point that I don't think he's getting much of anything out of being at school), I tried to scaffold his thinking with questions about what happened the day before (though I ended up giving him the answers since he couldn't remember anything--or didn't tell me). After 5 minutes or so, we reviewed the answers to questions.
Then, we reviewed the two states we had talked about the day before (Montana and Idaho). I had two students come up and point those states out on the map, then I had each student write those two names down on a map organizer I had placed face-down on each of their desks while they were answering the questions on the board.
I then explained their research project to them (natural areas in the Western US: Yellowstone, Death Valley, Glacier National Park, Mt St Helen's, Redwood Forest) and showed them their groups (which I'd written on the chalkboard, to the right of the "do now" questions). Students assembled into their respective groups and I passed out a packet to each of them. This part of the lesson was the least smooth--according to Jen it took about 2 minutes to get into groups and get things passed out. Also, students seemed unsure about what to bring with them, how to answer the questions (I forgot to tell them about the information in the packets), and throughout the time in groups, were frequently distracted by both the rubric in the packet (which I also hadn't talked about) and the idea of how to make their presentations creative. Timing of the group work worked okay, though--15 minutes for questions, 10 minutes for the graphic organizer.
I think the greatest fault of the activity was that there were many kids who tuned out or got left behind in the rush of the activity, and on the flip side, there were other students (some bossy) who took over the group and/or did most of the work. Jen suggested making sure every student had access to the material, instead of having 5-6 people sharing one packet of information. Also, students within a group could be given roles, so that they must be involved.
Another problem was that the steps of the activity (as noted above) distracted students from the work they were supposed to be doing at the time. I think it would've been better to tell them about the details of the presentation after they completed the research, as opposed to before. Jen also had a good suggestion, that we have a sort of "secret envelope" method, where they had to finish the task in one envelope to get to the next one, and all they know is that the last envelope has a fun activity in it.
Either way, students needed more structure within their groups and less information about the future pieces of the activity than I gave them.
Once the 25 minutes were up, materials were collected, and students returned to their seats. I explained the rubric to them (a "4" presentation vs. a "1" presentation), and then we moved on to state identification. The states for the day were: CA, NV, HI, and AK. Each state was approached in the same way: look at its shape, make a mental image, draw it on your desk with your finger, then discuss how we can remember it (ex. HI looks like dots, and there are two dotted i's at the end of its name, or, CA looks like a banana and lots of fruit is grown in CA).
Students were then reminded about what would happen the next day, under the guidance of Ms Costan, and then let them change classes.
Like I said above, the lesson went really pretty well and I felt a lot more confident about it than I had the day before. I think one of the reasons for that might be that I wrote the lesson plan for this day, whereas Katelyn had written out the lesson plan for the day before (so I was more familiar with this one, whereas she was more familiar with the other). Most importantly, looking at the students' answers to the do-now questions, I felt a lot better about where students were in terms of the KUDs and how they were progressing/what they'd learned.
The period began with a "do now" type activity on the board. Students sat at their regular seats when they came in, and began answering the questions on the board (I'd placed an index card on each desk). Students who were absent the day before were instructed to look at pg 140 in their textbook and answer the second question on the board. For one of the students, who couldn't read the questions on the board, I read them aloud and had him answer them on his card. For another student who generally tunes out and doesn't participate in class (to the point that I don't think he's getting much of anything out of being at school), I tried to scaffold his thinking with questions about what happened the day before (though I ended up giving him the answers since he couldn't remember anything--or didn't tell me). After 5 minutes or so, we reviewed the answers to questions.
Then, we reviewed the two states we had talked about the day before (Montana and Idaho). I had two students come up and point those states out on the map, then I had each student write those two names down on a map organizer I had placed face-down on each of their desks while they were answering the questions on the board.
I then explained their research project to them (natural areas in the Western US: Yellowstone, Death Valley, Glacier National Park, Mt St Helen's, Redwood Forest) and showed them their groups (which I'd written on the chalkboard, to the right of the "do now" questions). Students assembled into their respective groups and I passed out a packet to each of them. This part of the lesson was the least smooth--according to Jen it took about 2 minutes to get into groups and get things passed out. Also, students seemed unsure about what to bring with them, how to answer the questions (I forgot to tell them about the information in the packets), and throughout the time in groups, were frequently distracted by both the rubric in the packet (which I also hadn't talked about) and the idea of how to make their presentations creative. Timing of the group work worked okay, though--15 minutes for questions, 10 minutes for the graphic organizer.
I think the greatest fault of the activity was that there were many kids who tuned out or got left behind in the rush of the activity, and on the flip side, there were other students (some bossy) who took over the group and/or did most of the work. Jen suggested making sure every student had access to the material, instead of having 5-6 people sharing one packet of information. Also, students within a group could be given roles, so that they must be involved.
Another problem was that the steps of the activity (as noted above) distracted students from the work they were supposed to be doing at the time. I think it would've been better to tell them about the details of the presentation after they completed the research, as opposed to before. Jen also had a good suggestion, that we have a sort of "secret envelope" method, where they had to finish the task in one envelope to get to the next one, and all they know is that the last envelope has a fun activity in it.
Either way, students needed more structure within their groups and less information about the future pieces of the activity than I gave them.
Once the 25 minutes were up, materials were collected, and students returned to their seats. I explained the rubric to them (a "4" presentation vs. a "1" presentation), and then we moved on to state identification. The states for the day were: CA, NV, HI, and AK. Each state was approached in the same way: look at its shape, make a mental image, draw it on your desk with your finger, then discuss how we can remember it (ex. HI looks like dots, and there are two dotted i's at the end of its name, or, CA looks like a banana and lots of fruit is grown in CA).
Students were then reminded about what would happen the next day, under the guidance of Ms Costan, and then let them change classes.
Like I said above, the lesson went really pretty well and I felt a lot more confident about it than I had the day before. I think one of the reasons for that might be that I wrote the lesson plan for this day, whereas Katelyn had written out the lesson plan for the day before (so I was more familiar with this one, whereas she was more familiar with the other). Most importantly, looking at the students' answers to the do-now questions, I felt a lot better about where students were in terms of the KUDs and how they were progressing/what they'd learned.
Teaching the West: Day 1
The first day of teaching our unit on the Western Region of the United States for 488 went pretty well. I taught the first block (there are two blocks, Katelyn taught the second), following the basic agenda/schedule below:
At 12:15-students came in and sat in their assigned groups, which were marked with numbers and group cards (with everyone's name on it). Beneath each number were four crayons to be used for the activity and a packet of directions and maps needed for the activity (which was face-down, so students wouldn't get distracted by it during the introduction). This went relatively well, although getting into groups was a little less organized than I wanted. Nonetheless, it wasn't too bad time-wise, so I'm not too disappointed with that.
Once students were in their groups, facing the front of the class, I introduced the unit, showed some pictures of the West, and told them they'd become experts on the region. But first, students needed to put themselves in the mindset of an explorer/settler in the early West for our activity for the day. In the activity, students would look at various maps (precipitation, temperature, and topography) and for each map, plot on a large map (the US, west of the MS river) where they would settle and draw a trail to there from St. Louis. Then, considering all the factors together, they would finally choose an overall settlement point and draw a trail there. After they finished this, there were two questions for them to answer as a group (what factors did you have to consider; where did you choose and why).
Before we started the activity, we brainstormed as a class different things they might need/want to carry, as well as at their point of settlement/travel route. The final list was basically comprised of water, food, shelter (with "gold" on the side). I would've liked to have fleshed this list out more, so they would've had a better idea of what people back then needed, as well as what about climate and topography they should look for when doing their activity. We talked a little about the latter as a group, but I think I felt pressed for time, so I went through that a little too fast.
The activity went pretty well. Students seem to understand at least part of what they were supposed to be doing, and they definitelye enjoyed it. Heterogeneous grouping also worked out pretty well, though we had conflict in one or two groups. However, I felt that the steps were probably more complicated than they needed to be and that students could've gotten more out of a simpler version of the activity (with less steps). Looking at what the students produced reinforces this feeling. Some students got the gist of what we wanted them to take away from the activity, but I think in general it was a little too much all at once and they came away with a less solid understanding of how resources and environment factors into settlement/travel decisions. Timing was also something of an issue--I gave them too much time on the activity, which cut out time for us to review it and talk about the factors as a class.
After the activity, we quickly talked about Lewis and Clark: who sent them, why they were sent, what they did/didn't find or accomplish, and where they went. This section was really fast, but I think I hit on the major points that needed to be addressed. I also read the page in their book on Lolo Pass, MT (a place on the L&C trail) and Lewis and Clark's journey aloud to them. We wanted to possibly start them on a diary entry from the pt of view of someone in the L&C crew, but we knew there wasn't enough time, so we scrapped it (we guessed beforehand there wouldn't be enough time for this, but left our options open).
I finished the class debriefining them about what we'd done that day, and then worked on identifying two states. We made a visual image of the state, drew it on the desk with our fingers (I wish I'd modeled this for them first), and then the students came up with some ways we might remember its shape (ID looks like an ankle and foot, for example).
The class ended there, and I wish I'd quickly let them know what we'd be doing the next day. I think that would've helped the ending be not quite as abrupt.
Overall, I think the lesson went pretty well, and gave me some things to think about for following lessons (like how to modify the groups somewhat to avoid conflict).
At 12:15-students came in and sat in their assigned groups, which were marked with numbers and group cards (with everyone's name on it). Beneath each number were four crayons to be used for the activity and a packet of directions and maps needed for the activity (which was face-down, so students wouldn't get distracted by it during the introduction). This went relatively well, although getting into groups was a little less organized than I wanted. Nonetheless, it wasn't too bad time-wise, so I'm not too disappointed with that.
Once students were in their groups, facing the front of the class, I introduced the unit, showed some pictures of the West, and told them they'd become experts on the region. But first, students needed to put themselves in the mindset of an explorer/settler in the early West for our activity for the day. In the activity, students would look at various maps (precipitation, temperature, and topography) and for each map, plot on a large map (the US, west of the MS river) where they would settle and draw a trail to there from St. Louis. Then, considering all the factors together, they would finally choose an overall settlement point and draw a trail there. After they finished this, there were two questions for them to answer as a group (what factors did you have to consider; where did you choose and why).
Before we started the activity, we brainstormed as a class different things they might need/want to carry, as well as at their point of settlement/travel route. The final list was basically comprised of water, food, shelter (with "gold" on the side). I would've liked to have fleshed this list out more, so they would've had a better idea of what people back then needed, as well as what about climate and topography they should look for when doing their activity. We talked a little about the latter as a group, but I think I felt pressed for time, so I went through that a little too fast.
The activity went pretty well. Students seem to understand at least part of what they were supposed to be doing, and they definitelye enjoyed it. Heterogeneous grouping also worked out pretty well, though we had conflict in one or two groups. However, I felt that the steps were probably more complicated than they needed to be and that students could've gotten more out of a simpler version of the activity (with less steps). Looking at what the students produced reinforces this feeling. Some students got the gist of what we wanted them to take away from the activity, but I think in general it was a little too much all at once and they came away with a less solid understanding of how resources and environment factors into settlement/travel decisions. Timing was also something of an issue--I gave them too much time on the activity, which cut out time for us to review it and talk about the factors as a class.
After the activity, we quickly talked about Lewis and Clark: who sent them, why they were sent, what they did/didn't find or accomplish, and where they went. This section was really fast, but I think I hit on the major points that needed to be addressed. I also read the page in their book on Lolo Pass, MT (a place on the L&C trail) and Lewis and Clark's journey aloud to them. We wanted to possibly start them on a diary entry from the pt of view of someone in the L&C crew, but we knew there wasn't enough time, so we scrapped it (we guessed beforehand there wouldn't be enough time for this, but left our options open).
I finished the class debriefining them about what we'd done that day, and then worked on identifying two states. We made a visual image of the state, drew it on the desk with our fingers (I wish I'd modeled this for them first), and then the students came up with some ways we might remember its shape (ID looks like an ankle and foot, for example).
The class ended there, and I wish I'd quickly let them know what we'd be doing the next day. I think that would've helped the ending be not quite as abrupt.
Overall, I think the lesson went pretty well, and gave me some things to think about for following lessons (like how to modify the groups somewhat to avoid conflict).
Monday, February 26, 2007
Observation post, obs #2
My second observation in our 488 classroom took place Feb 22 from 9:15am to 11:15am. When I arrived, students were in their seats looking for vocabulary words (beside which they had already written down the definitions) in the text they were currently working on (an excerpt from Island of the Blue Dolphins, published in their basal readers). After students were finished, they were able to retrieve the "perfect paragraphs" they had been working on from the teacher and continue to work with them. The teacher asked me to circulate the room and help students with their paragraphs. According to the assignment, their paragraphs would be perfect when they were both interesting and grammatically correct. The paragraphs I read were very diverse, but also extremely interesting from an assessment point of view in that each paragraph aptly reflected the personality and interests of the student (especially since the subjects were chosen by the student). For example, one of the students, Adam, wrote his paragraph on Dwayne Wade, an NBA star, and I know that Adam loves basketball (it's most of what he writes about). On the other hand, Ina, who I know to be a high-achieving student and something of a teacher's pet, wrote her paragraph on adverbs (which happened to also be the grammar study for the day). The paragraphs, as whole, were very good. I had to note a few spelling problems and some problems with grammar (which students generally recognized and fixed when I asked them to read over the sentence for me), but I would say that the largest problem I found was punctuation, specifically commas after dependent clauses. I thought this was an interesting point, and as a teacher, I might use this information to inform future grammar/writing lessons.
As a side note--or perhaps simply a bit of a tangent--this exercise reminds me of something that the teacher had told us about her approach to writing in the fall. She told us that for the first quarter, she allowed her students to write as they knew how--encouraging and focusing more on the act of writing than on the grammar and spelling involved. Then, she said, in the second quarter, she began to put more emphasis on the construction of the writing: its grammar and spelling, for example. During language arts since second quarter, some of the period (at least once a week) is devoted to particular grammatical features. Last semester, I remember them working on subjects and predicates during one lesson. This semester, during this lesson (post-paragraph writing), they went over, filled out and reviewed an adjectives and adverbs handout. I really like this approach to writing because I think it encourages students to write and get comfortable with simply writing before requiring multiple things of them in terms of construction. I think that if the requirements for perfect grammar, etc. were there from the start, students might never get comfortable with writing because they're too overwhelmed. Writing is important, and I think this really shows that emphasis.
As noted in the above paragraph, the teacher shifted gears after the perfect paragraph-editing to a handout on adjectives and adverbs. I worked especially with Adam, who at first was completely confused and frustrated. After modeling one for him, we worked on some together and I tried to take away some of my support with each one so that by the end he could do them on his own. Sure enough, he was circling those adverbs and underlining the adjectives like nobody's business by the last item, and the smile on his face was huge. It's amazing how giving a little support in the beginning makes such a difference, especially for students who may have low confidence in their academic abilities (as Adam sometimes does).
At 10:30, two parents came in to talk about quilting (in the place of a regular science lesson) and then handed out materials so that students could create their own quilt-like patterns on paper squares. These paper squares were then handed to me, and I stapled them up on the bulletin board, creating a "paper quilt" on the wall. The students really got into the activity, though in some ways I'm still trying to understand how the activity relates to what they're doing in class. Maybe it doesn't...and maybe that's okay.
At 11:15, students stayed in the classroom for lunch because they were having a going away party for one student who was moving to another state that weekend.
As a side note--or perhaps simply a bit of a tangent--this exercise reminds me of something that the teacher had told us about her approach to writing in the fall. She told us that for the first quarter, she allowed her students to write as they knew how--encouraging and focusing more on the act of writing than on the grammar and spelling involved. Then, she said, in the second quarter, she began to put more emphasis on the construction of the writing: its grammar and spelling, for example. During language arts since second quarter, some of the period (at least once a week) is devoted to particular grammatical features. Last semester, I remember them working on subjects and predicates during one lesson. This semester, during this lesson (post-paragraph writing), they went over, filled out and reviewed an adjectives and adverbs handout. I really like this approach to writing because I think it encourages students to write and get comfortable with simply writing before requiring multiple things of them in terms of construction. I think that if the requirements for perfect grammar, etc. were there from the start, students might never get comfortable with writing because they're too overwhelmed. Writing is important, and I think this really shows that emphasis.
As noted in the above paragraph, the teacher shifted gears after the perfect paragraph-editing to a handout on adjectives and adverbs. I worked especially with Adam, who at first was completely confused and frustrated. After modeling one for him, we worked on some together and I tried to take away some of my support with each one so that by the end he could do them on his own. Sure enough, he was circling those adverbs and underlining the adjectives like nobody's business by the last item, and the smile on his face was huge. It's amazing how giving a little support in the beginning makes such a difference, especially for students who may have low confidence in their academic abilities (as Adam sometimes does).
At 10:30, two parents came in to talk about quilting (in the place of a regular science lesson) and then handed out materials so that students could create their own quilt-like patterns on paper squares. These paper squares were then handed to me, and I stapled them up on the bulletin board, creating a "paper quilt" on the wall. The students really got into the activity, though in some ways I'm still trying to understand how the activity relates to what they're doing in class. Maybe it doesn't...and maybe that's okay.
At 11:15, students stayed in the classroom for lunch because they were having a going away party for one student who was moving to another state that weekend.
Observation post, obs #1
Our first observation in the classroom (4th grade) took place February 2nd. During the time we were there (science class), the teacher lead a quick review of what needed to be learned for an upcoming assessment on weather and then had students split off into pairs or small groups to quiz each other on the material they had collected in their binders. I joined a group of two girls, Bethany and Teresa (these names have been changed), who insisted on me reading a description of, for example, a cumulo-nimbus cloud, leaving one word out which they had to guess. What I noticed most from this interaction was that both students were banking on success through recognition. The students in the group I was with resisted my suggestion, which was that I supply a concept/object (ex. cumulo-nimbus cloud) and they name some of the characteristics of that concept/object (ex. often involved in thunderstorms, may create flashflooding, large and low). This resistance reminded me of my resistance to the same type of learning--I would've much rather studied a little and been able to recognize a concept than to have to show my own understanding of the concept through writing/speaking/etc. Unfortunately for my past self and these two girls, I now realize that recognition does little for understanding. I might recognize that, in the cloze item "The two boys, who hadn't slept in days, were now ________ and ready for sleep. (excited, nervous, lethargic)," lethargic makes the most sense. But if you were to ask me to use lethargic in a sentence, I would have a much harder time with it (which is why the sentence above is possibly a terrible one). All this to say that I could see that some students, such as these, might need more of a push than others to go beyond recognition (and "getting by" for tests, then forgetting everything) and reach a greater level of understanding. It's more work, sure, but in the end, the students will benefit quite a bit.
After science class (and at some points during the class), my partner and I retrieved some of the materials we would need for our later lesson on the Western Region of the United States.
After science class (and at some points during the class), my partner and I retrieved some of the materials we would need for our later lesson on the Western Region of the United States.
Monday, January 29, 2007
My teaching metaphor: Driving manual
About a month ago, I began the arduous and often frustrating task of learning to drive stick-shift. My boyfriend had tried to teach me a few months ago, but we had to stop because he was afraid his engine was going to drop out of the car from all the stalling and that the tires would be stripped of their rubber from all the peeling out (what I did when I wasn't stalling out). However, over break I got a car with manual transmission and thus had to jump right into the learning process, and for me, that learning process has been much like the process of learning to be a teacher.
Learning to teach and driving stick are both a mixture of practice and theory. The night I started practicing, I went on the computer and read up on how manual transmissions work and how to drive them, looking at different theories/ideas on how to do it best. As I practiced, I received advice from various family members and friends (much like I read, listen, and learn about the theory and methodology behind teaching). While all that research and advice was extremely helpful in giving me the basic information I needed to "know" how to drive stick-shift, in the end, it would've been for naught without the actual experience of driving (mistakes and all). I see this in teaching, as well. The theory and methodology has been extremely important in giving us a background and foundation, so that we "know" how to best teach, but when it's all said and done, it's the practice and experience of teaching that will best help us fine tune our skills. Eventually, with time, we'll be able to make smooth transitions and teach with efficiency-- things that we now think through and plan so thoroughly now will eventually become more automatic.
Teaching is like driving a stick-shift, and the teacher is the driver (we'll call the teacher a "she"). She's in charge of starting the class like she starts a car. She's in charge of determining pace, changing gears, and guiding the classroom and its activities (steering, if you please). She provides materials and support, like a driver provides gas, maintenance, and precise driving. She juggles plenty of things all at once, just as a driver of stick-shift requires paying attention to the road, steering, accelerating, operating the clutch, shifting gears, manning the turn signal, etc. (and when she's got that down, maybe even turning up the volume on the radio between gear changes). She facilitates the movement of the car, but what is most important and poignant to me is that she is not the one creating the power or the movement. Without her class, a teacher won't get anywhere, and unless the power and the learning itself comes from the students, they won't get far either (here, the metaphor becomes less well-fitted in my mind, but nonetheless, I hope you follow the idea).
The most important thing, I've found, about driving stick-shift, and the thing that draws so many car-lovers to that type of transmission, is that driving stick-shift requires knowing the car. You have to listen to the engine, watch the rpms and the speed, and feel the way the car reacts to your driving. For example, if the engine's whining, and the rpms are high, you've know you've got to change gears. I believe that a good teacher requires the same sort of acute awareness of the functioning of her classroom. Of course, students aren't always as easy to read as the rpm meter of a car, and they don't always voice their frustrations and problems as clearly as a whining engine. Nonetheless, a good teacher not only has a plan for her classroom ("I know I'm supposed to shift to second gear around 15 mph...") but also maintains awareness of her students and their reactions, difficulties, etc. ("...but the engine's starting to whine, so I'm going to shift, even though I'm only at 13 mph").
While I feel this analogy has its flaws, this awareness and "with-it-ness" is one of the two things I like best about the analogy: teacher has to know her classroom and students like a driver knows her car. And the other, that while the teacher provides materials, support, and guidance, she's just a facilitator for the movement and learning of the students--the students are the ones that create the power. They're the ones do the moving...
Learning to teach and driving stick are both a mixture of practice and theory. The night I started practicing, I went on the computer and read up on how manual transmissions work and how to drive them, looking at different theories/ideas on how to do it best. As I practiced, I received advice from various family members and friends (much like I read, listen, and learn about the theory and methodology behind teaching). While all that research and advice was extremely helpful in giving me the basic information I needed to "know" how to drive stick-shift, in the end, it would've been for naught without the actual experience of driving (mistakes and all). I see this in teaching, as well. The theory and methodology has been extremely important in giving us a background and foundation, so that we "know" how to best teach, but when it's all said and done, it's the practice and experience of teaching that will best help us fine tune our skills. Eventually, with time, we'll be able to make smooth transitions and teach with efficiency-- things that we now think through and plan so thoroughly now will eventually become more automatic.
Teaching is like driving a stick-shift, and the teacher is the driver (we'll call the teacher a "she"). She's in charge of starting the class like she starts a car. She's in charge of determining pace, changing gears, and guiding the classroom and its activities (steering, if you please). She provides materials and support, like a driver provides gas, maintenance, and precise driving. She juggles plenty of things all at once, just as a driver of stick-shift requires paying attention to the road, steering, accelerating, operating the clutch, shifting gears, manning the turn signal, etc. (and when she's got that down, maybe even turning up the volume on the radio between gear changes). She facilitates the movement of the car, but what is most important and poignant to me is that she is not the one creating the power or the movement. Without her class, a teacher won't get anywhere, and unless the power and the learning itself comes from the students, they won't get far either (here, the metaphor becomes less well-fitted in my mind, but nonetheless, I hope you follow the idea).
The most important thing, I've found, about driving stick-shift, and the thing that draws so many car-lovers to that type of transmission, is that driving stick-shift requires knowing the car. You have to listen to the engine, watch the rpms and the speed, and feel the way the car reacts to your driving. For example, if the engine's whining, and the rpms are high, you've know you've got to change gears. I believe that a good teacher requires the same sort of acute awareness of the functioning of her classroom. Of course, students aren't always as easy to read as the rpm meter of a car, and they don't always voice their frustrations and problems as clearly as a whining engine. Nonetheless, a good teacher not only has a plan for her classroom ("I know I'm supposed to shift to second gear around 15 mph...") but also maintains awareness of her students and their reactions, difficulties, etc. ("...but the engine's starting to whine, so I'm going to shift, even though I'm only at 13 mph").
While I feel this analogy has its flaws, this awareness and "with-it-ness" is one of the two things I like best about the analogy: teacher has to know her classroom and students like a driver knows her car. And the other, that while the teacher provides materials, support, and guidance, she's just a facilitator for the movement and learning of the students--the students are the ones that create the power. They're the ones do the moving...
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