11/21/11
As part of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education partnership with NAF, the interns get a close working relationship with observation and practice with one mentor/lead teacher but also shadow many employees from all across the school so as to have a complete view of what is necessary to run a school in general. Today, I observed the Foreign Language, Gym, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (or ESOL/ESL) and I will list my impressions below. All of these classes are outside of the typical core curriculum. Two, foreign language and gym, are electives and ESOL is a supplementary class built to reinforce and encourage students who do not have as strong of a background in English.
Mr. Barnes, the French instructor in NAF high school, runs a strict and very engaging class. I visited his class first period. Although it was early, which usually means lower attendance, the room was over half full at the beginning of the period. Students who came in late mostly joined right into the conversation of the class. Mr. Barnes began with a drill which he displayed for the class on a board at the front. He used the techniques of "No Opt Out" and "Cold Calling" to engage his students. He had a very high expectation for pronunciation which he almost turned into a joke with his humorous mood. He spoke mostly in French and when a student made a mistake, he demanded the phrase or word be repeated correctly. If it was a bigger problem, he had the entire class join into the repetition. He also set expectations and encouraged students before giving an activity, which let them know what to expect and reinforced the fact that they could complete it. He had a great line which I couldn't help but write down: "Empty wagons make a lot of noise." With this line, he told his students, if you don't know anything, you will have a lot to say and disturb my class. With this line and every other behavior, Mr. Barnes demanded attention, participation, and effort. He even had/has me learning a bit of French asking "comment êtes-vous?"
Next up was Mr. Hines, coach of multiple NAF sports and the Gym teacher. The class built on skills taught in earlier classes (scaffolding) to prepare the students for the fun activity, Knockout!, which they were then able to take part in with all their content practice. Immediately upon entering the gym, I remember being surprised by how many students did not change. Why was this? Did they forget clothes to change into? Did they not have the right clothes? Did they not like the unit (basketball)? Was there any real consequence for not participating? When Mr. Hines arrived, one student got a stiff reprimand. This student was on the basketball team. After another day of not changing his clothes, Mr. Hines announced the student would not be able to go to practice until he changed (his clothes and his behavior) and participated in gym class. I viewed this as a great approach. I am all for extra curricular clubs or sports and believe they are necessary for students to fully reach their potential and fully understand themselves. However, I also believe it is ridiculous for a student to fail a class ever, but especially when in an extra curricular club or sport. When I was in high school, the cross country team never had a problem with grades, but later I joined the wrestling team, which was fraught with academic problems.
Finally, came Ms. Suniewick's class for ESOL, ELL, and ESL students. The classroom was one which immersed students in words. Most every object around the classroom had been labeled with its English name. This having an immediate identification of everyday objects is so important in learning a language. This approach is useful for any subject, though. Students need to be immersed in a separate world which has been completely devoted to the subject. If the class is Post-WWII America, every decoration in the room should point towards that topic. If the course is Algebra, there should be examples of Algebra being used throughout the room. The teacher just adds to this even more. Which is why the teacher should be completely invested in their subject and in their content, all the better to underline its importance. This can be taken a step further with another big technique which Ms. Suniewick used: relating content to student's experience. How does Engineering, Technology, Law, and Biology relate to a student's life? Making those connections is key to engaging the student in the classroom.
There will be more shadowing to come.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Watching Myself Teach
This post will be another part of me writing, planning, facilitating, and reflecting upon the first high school lesson I delivered. In this piece, I will reflect on the video recording of my teaching. I will observe and reflect on Mary Ellen's recording as it occurs chronologically. The clip can be seen here: http://sharing.theflip.com/session/385045e7ffad0c0d9b10049f03803801/video/124472831
As I pose a question to the class there are two reactions: one of possible avoidance and one of eager excitement to contribute. Off to my left is a student whose wide eyes shaded by his hand suggest he does not want to answer. This occurrence suggests I need to work the room a bit more. More students need to be engaged, not just those who volunteer. The clip shows me moving around the room pretty well, possibly I could use this mobility to engage students who are reluctant to volunteer.
The eager excitement was the other extreme reaction to the question. I have written about maintaining current volunteers while encouraging new voices here. I will continue to use those strategies and explore new ones. I also need to make sure I survey the entire classroom. In reviewing the clip, I noticed a student who may have been outside of my range of sight raised his hand. I should work towards decreasing my blind spots. This reduction can be helped by my pacing around the room.
Another one of Lemov's glorified techniques is "Right is Right." Too often teachers accept an answer which is 80% or less completely correct while they supply the rest of the answer. This technique holds that teachers should push students to the completely correct answer. I strove for this when I praised students for the evidence they had discovered, but also pushed them to search for deeper connects which specifically answered my question. I used the phrase, "would anyone like to add to that?" This congratulated the student who had already contributed yet left the door open for further/deeper answers.
This is the first time I have seen myself teach. I appreciate how, upon reviewing the clip, I can review my blind spots. I can also take note of what I believe is going well and what was not successful so as to increase the appearance of the former and dampen the effect of the latter. Hopefully my next recording will have more interaction and feedback from the students and less blind spots. If you notice anything which I have not written about, please add your observations and perspective below.
As I pose a question to the class there are two reactions: one of possible avoidance and one of eager excitement to contribute. Off to my left is a student whose wide eyes shaded by his hand suggest he does not want to answer. This occurrence suggests I need to work the room a bit more. More students need to be engaged, not just those who volunteer. The clip shows me moving around the room pretty well, possibly I could use this mobility to engage students who are reluctant to volunteer.
The eager excitement was the other extreme reaction to the question. I have written about maintaining current volunteers while encouraging new voices here. I will continue to use those strategies and explore new ones. I also need to make sure I survey the entire classroom. In reviewing the clip, I noticed a student who may have been outside of my range of sight raised his hand. I should work towards decreasing my blind spots. This reduction can be helped by my pacing around the room.
Another one of Lemov's glorified techniques is "Right is Right." Too often teachers accept an answer which is 80% or less completely correct while they supply the rest of the answer. This technique holds that teachers should push students to the completely correct answer. I strove for this when I praised students for the evidence they had discovered, but also pushed them to search for deeper connects which specifically answered my question. I used the phrase, "would anyone like to add to that?" This congratulated the student who had already contributed yet left the door open for further/deeper answers.
This is the first time I have seen myself teach. I appreciate how, upon reviewing the clip, I can review my blind spots. I can also take note of what I believe is going well and what was not successful so as to increase the appearance of the former and dampen the effect of the latter. Hopefully my next recording will have more interaction and feedback from the students and less blind spots. If you notice anything which I have not written about, please add your observations and perspective below.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
"Mister, you look like..."
I don't know what it is, but my students are all really ready to compare me to other people. "Oh mister you look like..." "He looks like..." Here are some examples of celebrities I seem to appear similar to: Dirk Nowitzki, Prince William, that guy from Coldplay (Chris Martin), Napoleon Dynamite, Ken (like Barbie's...friend, the Ken doll), and a Ralph Lauren model. Some of these comparisons I encourage (the Ralph Lauren one and the Prince William relation especially), others I mock (I dressed as Ken for Halloween), and still others annoy and shock me (Napoleon Dynamite).
I'm sure this is done for many reasons. The joy and game of the comparison. The joke which can then be passed from student to student. But also, as part of it. I believe there is a connection to a larger world by relating those one sees every day to celebrities from the entertainment sphere. There is almost a connection to that other world.
The most important part is just to have fun with it. I think I did this pretty well when a student asked, "can I call you Dirk Nowitzki," to which I replied, "only if I can call you Darko Milicic."
I'm sure this is done for many reasons. The joy and game of the comparison. The joke which can then be passed from student to student. But also, as part of it. I believe there is a connection to a larger world by relating those one sees every day to celebrities from the entertainment sphere. There is almost a connection to that other world.
The most important part is just to have fun with it. I think I did this pretty well when a student asked, "can I call you Dirk Nowitzki," to which I replied, "only if I can call you Darko Milicic."
The Right Kind of Crazy
10/25/11
Today a student said something inappropriate and my co-teacher and I had completely different ideas about how to deal with the situation. As I circulated throughout the classroom, my teacher sat up front getting ready to begin the lesson. While the students were still coming in, a student was at his seat mumbling. As I passed him, he said something along the lines, man I do whatever the fuck I want. Immediately I asked, "what was that?" He responded, "That wasn't me it was my, eh, twin."
This retort threw me into a bit of a fury. I know what he said, he knew what he said, yet he wouldn't own up to it. Saying it at all in class was disrespectful; lying about who said it or what was said added another layer of disrespect to the situation. I would not stand for such things in the classroom. There would be respect in the classroom if I had anything to say about it. I had been told I needed to assert myself more, here was a perfect opportunity, or so I misguidedly thought.
As I drew in a deep breathe with which I would reprimand the youngster, my co-teacher said something which made me stop. Just as I was about to give the student a lecture he probably wouldn't have listened to, my co-teacher said, "well can you make sure your twin doesn't come back." Boom. Mind...blown. Feeding into this alternate reality the student had created, she corrected the behavior playful. They both knew what he said was unacceptable. The student also knew she had heard it. However, he didn't need a lecture, just a reminder. Her approach allowed the student to save face and be able to participate for the rest of class without being defensive. This approach was completely different than the lecture I was about to expound upon which would have had very different ramifications.
There is a certain level of craziness teachers need to have to work in a middle school. This is probably why there are so few teachers who want to work in middle schools. While balancing the ridiculous load which middle school teachers take care of, a dash of oddity is the necessary element to working successfully with middle school students. If I had gone on to give my tirade, I almost assuredly would have gone home with a headache. Whereas my co-teacher made it a non-issue, steering a wide berth between herself and a headache while tending to the situation at hand.
If anyone else has examples of that touch of oddity which is so necessary especially for middle school teachers, but probably for teachers in general, please comment your anecdotes at the bottom.
take about Tavis who used some bad language
then said "that wasn't me who said that, it was my twin"
and ms karre saying oh well tell him to go away
Today a student said something inappropriate and my co-teacher and I had completely different ideas about how to deal with the situation. As I circulated throughout the classroom, my teacher sat up front getting ready to begin the lesson. While the students were still coming in, a student was at his seat mumbling. As I passed him, he said something along the lines, man I do whatever the fuck I want. Immediately I asked, "what was that?" He responded, "That wasn't me it was my, eh, twin."
This retort threw me into a bit of a fury. I know what he said, he knew what he said, yet he wouldn't own up to it. Saying it at all in class was disrespectful; lying about who said it or what was said added another layer of disrespect to the situation. I would not stand for such things in the classroom. There would be respect in the classroom if I had anything to say about it. I had been told I needed to assert myself more, here was a perfect opportunity, or so I misguidedly thought.
As I drew in a deep breathe with which I would reprimand the youngster, my co-teacher said something which made me stop. Just as I was about to give the student a lecture he probably wouldn't have listened to, my co-teacher said, "well can you make sure your twin doesn't come back." Boom. Mind...blown. Feeding into this alternate reality the student had created, she corrected the behavior playful. They both knew what he said was unacceptable. The student also knew she had heard it. However, he didn't need a lecture, just a reminder. Her approach allowed the student to save face and be able to participate for the rest of class without being defensive. This approach was completely different than the lecture I was about to expound upon which would have had very different ramifications.
There is a certain level of craziness teachers need to have to work in a middle school. This is probably why there are so few teachers who want to work in middle schools. While balancing the ridiculous load which middle school teachers take care of, a dash of oddity is the necessary element to working successfully with middle school students. If I had gone on to give my tirade, I almost assuredly would have gone home with a headache. Whereas my co-teacher made it a non-issue, steering a wide berth between herself and a headache while tending to the situation at hand.
If anyone else has examples of that touch of oddity which is so necessary especially for middle school teachers, but probably for teachers in general, please comment your anecdotes at the bottom.
take about Tavis who used some bad language
then said "that wasn't me who said that, it was my twin"
and ms karre saying oh well tell him to go away
Game and Challenge Based Learning
Playing games is one of the activities which most stimulates people. I believe this is because they are at a heightened level of activation. To play a game (well), participants must understand the rules and know how they can best achieve the end despite opponents or obstacles. Everyone likes achieving success and winning (Charlie Sheen more than most) so there is also the thrill of anticipation and excitement for a participant of a game. Whether the motivating factor for gamers is meeting a challenge, working with a collaborative group, or taking part in an exciting - dare I say "epic" to use Jane McGonigal's terminology from her Ted Talk - storyline there is something about games which doesn't always translate to life outside of the game.
I will return to McGonigal later in this post, but first I want to talk about a challenge I had given to my brother and I by my father. The game was Ping Pong. We had had a Ping Pong table in the basement, but it didn't get too much use after the initial excitement of getting a new "toy." Shortly after my father introduced the game and how to play to my brother and I, we degenerated into attacking each other and draining any fun out of the game. The two of us got so wrapped up in goofing off or attacking each other that the game was not fun at all for any of the three of us. Luckily Dad had a solution.
In a true game-based learning approach, he designed two challenges for us to complete. One challenge was an individual while the other was a cooperative challenge. The first challenge was to bounce the Ping Pong ball 100 times consecutively on a Ping Pong paddle. The explicit goal was five crisp dollars; the implicit goals however are more interesting to consider, and I haven't considered them until now. My Dad used this individual challenge as a way for us to have self-motivated discipline which were lacking and would need to harness to productively play the game. It was also a clearly defined goal (bounce ball 100 times) which could be met with perseverance and practice. My younger brother completed this before me which got me even more focused on finishing it. Finally, we both completed the challenge. Then, in true keeping with excellent teaching techniques (note: my father is not a teacher, he just does some things good teachers could learn from), he stepped up the challenge which now required us to bounce the ball on the paddle while flipping the paddle between each bounce for another 100 times. Scaffolding!!!! Quicker this time, we both met this challenge as well.
After completing the individual challenge, we were now ready for the cooperative challenge. The cooperative challenge was for my brother and I to hit the ping pong ball back and forth across the table ten times each (20 hits total). We played together getting one to three hits off, but not quite making it up too much past that point at first. We would either get excited by opportunities to beat each other, or got over-excited and hit the ball too hard. To keep the fun going, my brother and I wouldn't just hit back and forth on the table, we would play the ball off the wall. This fun helped push us over into the money zone. Finally, after a some hours of practice, we had it. We had a few more trial runs with at least 20 strokes before inviting dad in for the final assessment. We got it on the first try. After that, he joined in the game and we all played together.
The same principals my dad applied, were also applied by McGonigal. She and her team designed ways for players to work on real world problems using all the components of game-based learning. What she got were some very powerful results. What if this were applied to the education students receive in the classroom? What if this kind of learning was a direct pipeline from high school to the job market or more challenging projects in post-secondary study? The results could be epic.
I will return to McGonigal later in this post, but first I want to talk about a challenge I had given to my brother and I by my father. The game was Ping Pong. We had had a Ping Pong table in the basement, but it didn't get too much use after the initial excitement of getting a new "toy." Shortly after my father introduced the game and how to play to my brother and I, we degenerated into attacking each other and draining any fun out of the game. The two of us got so wrapped up in goofing off or attacking each other that the game was not fun at all for any of the three of us. Luckily Dad had a solution.
In a true game-based learning approach, he designed two challenges for us to complete. One challenge was an individual while the other was a cooperative challenge. The first challenge was to bounce the Ping Pong ball 100 times consecutively on a Ping Pong paddle. The explicit goal was five crisp dollars; the implicit goals however are more interesting to consider, and I haven't considered them until now. My Dad used this individual challenge as a way for us to have self-motivated discipline which were lacking and would need to harness to productively play the game. It was also a clearly defined goal (bounce ball 100 times) which could be met with perseverance and practice. My younger brother completed this before me which got me even more focused on finishing it. Finally, we both completed the challenge. Then, in true keeping with excellent teaching techniques (note: my father is not a teacher, he just does some things good teachers could learn from), he stepped up the challenge which now required us to bounce the ball on the paddle while flipping the paddle between each bounce for another 100 times. Scaffolding!!!! Quicker this time, we both met this challenge as well.
After completing the individual challenge, we were now ready for the cooperative challenge. The cooperative challenge was for my brother and I to hit the ping pong ball back and forth across the table ten times each (20 hits total). We played together getting one to three hits off, but not quite making it up too much past that point at first. We would either get excited by opportunities to beat each other, or got over-excited and hit the ball too hard. To keep the fun going, my brother and I wouldn't just hit back and forth on the table, we would play the ball off the wall. This fun helped push us over into the money zone. Finally, after a some hours of practice, we had it. We had a few more trial runs with at least 20 strokes before inviting dad in for the final assessment. We got it on the first try. After that, he joined in the game and we all played together.
The same principals my dad applied, were also applied by McGonigal. She and her team designed ways for players to work on real world problems using all the components of game-based learning. What she got were some very powerful results. What if this were applied to the education students receive in the classroom? What if this kind of learning was a direct pipeline from high school to the job market or more challenging projects in post-secondary study? The results could be epic.
Variations between High School and Middle School: Misbehavior
In another installment of my series focusing on the similarities and differences between middle school and high school, I bring you my thoughts on misbehavior. Many misbehavior problems can be solved by engaging students in interesting content. I talk about motivation in my post titled, "Need for Motivation." However, I see a many difference in the main off-task behaviors of students in middle school versus students in high school.
In middle school the off-task behaviors seem to be much more active than their high school counterparts. When off-task, middle school students are apt to get up and move around the classroom. They are more likely to physically pester their classmates. In middle school, the trend seems to be more active, physical disturbances. The work for a teacher of middle school students hoping to correct misbehavior seems to be redirection; taking all the energy and excitement students have and focusing it more on the content.
In high school, the students' off-task behaviors seem to be much more passive and related more towards apathy and inattention. They are much more likely to sleep in class, much more likely to stare off, or quietly draw or write something unrelated to the content. The high school students, when off task, seem so disconnected from the work. For teachers of high school students, the corrective work seems to be in motivation and creating personal connections to the work.
I spoke about motivation here. If you have any suggestions for redirecting middle school students, helping to motivate high school students, or general thoughts on the subject, please post them below.
In middle school the off-task behaviors seem to be much more active than their high school counterparts. When off-task, middle school students are apt to get up and move around the classroom. They are more likely to physically pester their classmates. In middle school, the trend seems to be more active, physical disturbances. The work for a teacher of middle school students hoping to correct misbehavior seems to be redirection; taking all the energy and excitement students have and focusing it more on the content.
In high school, the students' off-task behaviors seem to be much more passive and related more towards apathy and inattention. They are much more likely to sleep in class, much more likely to stare off, or quietly draw or write something unrelated to the content. The high school students, when off task, seem so disconnected from the work. For teachers of high school students, the corrective work seems to be in motivation and creating personal connections to the work.
I spoke about motivation here. If you have any suggestions for redirecting middle school students, helping to motivate high school students, or general thoughts on the subject, please post them below.
Monday, December 19, 2011
The Need for Motivation
I remember when I was in high school. I was a curious little snot who was drawn strongly to some subjects and not drawn at all to others. One of the subjects I was not drawn to was math. I never really saw the point. Outside of learning the multiplication table in forth/fifth grade and proofs in tenth grade, math was never really that challenging, but it also didn't do anything for me. I was never excited in a high school math class.
By eleventh grade, I was fed up. By this point, I had found a true avenue of interest in the sciences and literature, so much so that I was reading a personal book (outside of the assigned course reading) during math class. After being shaken out of the world contained in my book by the math teacher, I finished the problems, quick as can be, and then went on with my book. Of course, the teacher called on me and I reported the correct answer. Surprised, she hesitated. It was at this point I asked her two of the most important questions a student can ask him/herself or his/her teacher, "why is this important?" and "when will I use this in the real world?" I recall the room getting a bit quiet and the teacher, super uncomfortable by this point, trying to refocus the class and move on. Her lack of a question was the biggest blow to that or any other subject I didn't see the point of; if I didn't see the point, the teachers didn't have a point in teaching the material or there wasn't one, didn't really matter which.
This represents some fundamental aspect of teaching: the why. There was no motivation or direction to learning math. Even more importantly, I didn't see why it was important for me to learn math. Now I see why I was taught math and its uses. I can see glimmers of the beauty of the cold logic and predictability of it. In some ways, math is perfect. But I didn't see that in high school.
My teacher did not give me enough motivation to learn. There was no "hook" to draw me towards her lesson. The "Hook," according to Lemov, is "a short introductory moment that captures what's interesting and engaging about the material and puts it out front." This can be done by telling a story, using an analogy, using a prop, using media, describing the status of the content, and challenging students. A good hook should be "short, yield returns, and be energetic and optimistic." There was no hook in that class, and I sorely needed one. Even if the teacher had used Lemov's technique of "looking forward," which has the teacher giving a glimpse of content or skills they will have by the end of the class/week/unit/semester/class, the class would have been much more engaging.
Are there any other methods you use to hook students' attention? Please describe them below. Thanks!
By eleventh grade, I was fed up. By this point, I had found a true avenue of interest in the sciences and literature, so much so that I was reading a personal book (outside of the assigned course reading) during math class. After being shaken out of the world contained in my book by the math teacher, I finished the problems, quick as can be, and then went on with my book. Of course, the teacher called on me and I reported the correct answer. Surprised, she hesitated. It was at this point I asked her two of the most important questions a student can ask him/herself or his/her teacher, "why is this important?" and "when will I use this in the real world?" I recall the room getting a bit quiet and the teacher, super uncomfortable by this point, trying to refocus the class and move on. Her lack of a question was the biggest blow to that or any other subject I didn't see the point of; if I didn't see the point, the teachers didn't have a point in teaching the material or there wasn't one, didn't really matter which.
This represents some fundamental aspect of teaching: the why. There was no motivation or direction to learning math. Even more importantly, I didn't see why it was important for me to learn math. Now I see why I was taught math and its uses. I can see glimmers of the beauty of the cold logic and predictability of it. In some ways, math is perfect. But I didn't see that in high school.
My teacher did not give me enough motivation to learn. There was no "hook" to draw me towards her lesson. The "Hook," according to Lemov, is "a short introductory moment that captures what's interesting and engaging about the material and puts it out front." This can be done by telling a story, using an analogy, using a prop, using media, describing the status of the content, and challenging students. A good hook should be "short, yield returns, and be energetic and optimistic." There was no hook in that class, and I sorely needed one. Even if the teacher had used Lemov's technique of "looking forward," which has the teacher giving a glimpse of content or skills they will have by the end of the class/week/unit/semester/class, the class would have been much more engaging.
Are there any other methods you use to hook students' attention? Please describe them below. Thanks!
Variations between High School and Middle School: Parents at School
In this and subsequent pieces, I will explore the similarities and differences between middle school and high school situations through my experiences at NAF Prep and NAF. In this week I will focus on two events, one in the middle school and the other in the high school, which both focus on bringing parents into the school.
At the middle school, the event was called "Back to School Night" and occurred in early October. I remember looking forward to the event as a time when I could meet my students' parents and, through the process, get to know both the parents and students better. Unfortunately, the amount of parents who came in did not allow for much of this interaction. Three parents of three students came in for 70+ students, and two of those who came were the parents of students who were performing magnificently. These are disheartening numbers to note when parental involvement (the numbers do not reflect a direct relationship with parental involvement) is so paramount to student success. The eighth grade team being such a close team who had some idea of what the attendance would look like met together in the hallway and greeted parents there together. I thought this was a pretty cool, first for entertainment when there was no parent to talk to and second to all add to each others assessment of the particular student's need when speaking with a parent.
The story in the high school was not so different. The meeting at the high school was meant for parent/teacher conferences prior to the end of a marking period. For this event, four parents came out of 120 students. The timing of this event may have something to do with the low numbers; it was held from 2-4 pm.
The parental attendance of both of these events underline two important ideas for me: parental involvement and attendance. Parental involvement was a goal my teammates and I constantly worked towards at City Year. With parents working multiple jobs, having younger children at home to watch, or other family necessities to attend to, getting parents to school can be a difficult order. But it is these connections which help a teacher highlight the good and hard work students are doing and also form a powerful relationship with one of the most influential people in a student's life, their parent. Attendance is an issue I will take up in another post.
At the middle school, the event was called "Back to School Night" and occurred in early October. I remember looking forward to the event as a time when I could meet my students' parents and, through the process, get to know both the parents and students better. Unfortunately, the amount of parents who came in did not allow for much of this interaction. Three parents of three students came in for 70+ students, and two of those who came were the parents of students who were performing magnificently. These are disheartening numbers to note when parental involvement (the numbers do not reflect a direct relationship with parental involvement) is so paramount to student success. The eighth grade team being such a close team who had some idea of what the attendance would look like met together in the hallway and greeted parents there together. I thought this was a pretty cool, first for entertainment when there was no parent to talk to and second to all add to each others assessment of the particular student's need when speaking with a parent.
The story in the high school was not so different. The meeting at the high school was meant for parent/teacher conferences prior to the end of a marking period. For this event, four parents came out of 120 students. The timing of this event may have something to do with the low numbers; it was held from 2-4 pm.
The parental attendance of both of these events underline two important ideas for me: parental involvement and attendance. Parental involvement was a goal my teammates and I constantly worked towards at City Year. With parents working multiple jobs, having younger children at home to watch, or other family necessities to attend to, getting parents to school can be a difficult order. But it is these connections which help a teacher highlight the good and hard work students are doing and also form a powerful relationship with one of the most influential people in a student's life, their parent. Attendance is an issue I will take up in another post.
The Value of Modeling
I reflect in this post on events which took place on December 1st.
Four days after coming into the high school to work with my new assignment, I led a grammar drill. This was a useful experience and leading the drill after that was and will be extremely useful in acclimating me to high school students, high school content, and the best methods of teaching high school students the content. I was excited to hear my co-teacher would be working on grammar in direct approach because I had also done this in my past class with the middle school students. It had usually taken us 10-15 minutes to get through it there, which was too long. I like seeing and trying different approaches to ultimately find and utilize the best practice for my students-to-be.
Before running the grammar drill, which usually lasts for five minutes in my new co-teacher's classroom, I had the opportunity to see her teach it. I saw how she interacted with students, how they responded, and how she warmly but decisively prodded them to moving efficiently towards the correct answers. I also had the opportunity to hear what her goal is with having the grammar practice. The grammar drill for the 11th graders is the first introduction and practice they have with specific grammar techniques such as appositive and gerund phrases. Then they will practice these techniques in their writing and then required to include them in a large essay. It was also nice to see how she planned these drills to achieve exactly what she wanted.
So I wrote some practice questions for students to continue to try appositive phrases. I included some questions which had information about myself to begin to familiarize the students with who I am. I also included vocabulary words in the questions so the students would have more practice with them. Here are the questions:
My brothers, a seven and a 21-year-old, live in Michigan.
Joe likes the corner store, _______________, where he gets some chips for lunch.
Janie’s second husband, _______, died of liver failure.
I conjecture, or ________, if you do not confer, or ______, with your vocabulary notes for Monday’s quiz, your grade will dwindle, or ________.
_____________, my favorite book, is one I recommend for you to read.
The questions and the general delivery of the drill went pretty well. But there was some stilted hesitation for the second to last question which included vocabulary words. My co-teacher gave me some insightful advice which she exhibits daily. She told me this question was so awkward for the students because they didn't have a model their work after. She is a big believer in teachers providing an model example for most exercises and activities teachers wish their students to perform. When experience is so highly praised, this makes perfect sense; words cannot possibly be enough to help students fully understand what is required of them. This will be something I work towards next semester while I do more drill writing and especially while I prepare for the unit I will teach.
Four days after coming into the high school to work with my new assignment, I led a grammar drill. This was a useful experience and leading the drill after that was and will be extremely useful in acclimating me to high school students, high school content, and the best methods of teaching high school students the content. I was excited to hear my co-teacher would be working on grammar in direct approach because I had also done this in my past class with the middle school students. It had usually taken us 10-15 minutes to get through it there, which was too long. I like seeing and trying different approaches to ultimately find and utilize the best practice for my students-to-be.
Before running the grammar drill, which usually lasts for five minutes in my new co-teacher's classroom, I had the opportunity to see her teach it. I saw how she interacted with students, how they responded, and how she warmly but decisively prodded them to moving efficiently towards the correct answers. I also had the opportunity to hear what her goal is with having the grammar practice. The grammar drill for the 11th graders is the first introduction and practice they have with specific grammar techniques such as appositive and gerund phrases. Then they will practice these techniques in their writing and then required to include them in a large essay. It was also nice to see how she planned these drills to achieve exactly what she wanted.
So I wrote some practice questions for students to continue to try appositive phrases. I included some questions which had information about myself to begin to familiarize the students with who I am. I also included vocabulary words in the questions so the students would have more practice with them. Here are the questions:
My brothers, a seven and a 21-year-old, live in Michigan.
Joe likes the corner store, _______________, where he gets some chips for lunch.
Janie’s second husband, _______, died of liver failure.
I conjecture, or ________, if you do not confer, or ______, with your vocabulary notes for Monday’s quiz, your grade will dwindle, or ________.
_____________, my favorite book, is one I recommend for you to read.
The questions and the general delivery of the drill went pretty well. But there was some stilted hesitation for the second to last question which included vocabulary words. My co-teacher gave me some insightful advice which she exhibits daily. She told me this question was so awkward for the students because they didn't have a model their work after. She is a big believer in teachers providing an model example for most exercises and activities teachers wish their students to perform. When experience is so highly praised, this makes perfect sense; words cannot possibly be enough to help students fully understand what is required of them. This will be something I work towards next semester while I do more drill writing and especially while I prepare for the unit I will teach.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Learning Names
One of my greatest flaws is my struggle with learning names. I have a few tricks for picking up a name or two for a short period of time. But to remember the name of people I will see over and over is difficult for me. After having co-written a unit plan on the subject, I know this flaw also represents a strength. Once I do learn a name, it is pretty well etched into my memory.
When I first came to NAF Prep, I knew this problem would distance myself from the students I would work with for as long as I didn't know their names. Names are so closely aligned with identity, some people connect an ignorance of their name is an ignorance of them. I took much too long to learn the 70+ names of the eighth grade students I co-taught. I was somewhat skilled at hiding my ignorance and they were kind enough to not call me out, but it was a problem. After learning all their names, lessons and drills flowed a bit more smoothly. I celebrated this (to me) awesome feat; now students would see evidence that I care about them and know them not just by their personality, but by their names as well.
Then I transitioned into the high school, left 70+ clients who I served, laughed with, and co-taught for three and a half months, and prepared to meet 100+ new students. With meeting these new students, I had/have 100+ new names to learn. Ugh, and here I thought myself safe from such things for the year.
As I mentioned in my post titled "Pacing" I taught a high school class a lesson for the first time on Tuesday, December 13th. Another area which Mary Ellen called attention to in her debrief of her observations of my lesson facilitation was my need to learn students names. Now I have this holiday break to brainstorm different methods of accomplishing this task.
I have a few ideas from my past experience. One of these is the name game which Phylis K. Lerner. Another technique is having students tell me their name whenever I call on them. I also got some ideas well chatting with my co-teacher. One of these was having a competition to see who can remember everyone's name in class. I will be running the drill from now on and that will be my venue to learn students names. Finally, I ask you members of the internet, what are your strategies for learning names. These may be from the beginning of the year or throughout. The former will inform my general practice and the latter will support my current need. I look forward to your ideas.
When I first came to NAF Prep, I knew this problem would distance myself from the students I would work with for as long as I didn't know their names. Names are so closely aligned with identity, some people connect an ignorance of their name is an ignorance of them. I took much too long to learn the 70+ names of the eighth grade students I co-taught. I was somewhat skilled at hiding my ignorance and they were kind enough to not call me out, but it was a problem. After learning all their names, lessons and drills flowed a bit more smoothly. I celebrated this (to me) awesome feat; now students would see evidence that I care about them and know them not just by their personality, but by their names as well.
Then I transitioned into the high school, left 70+ clients who I served, laughed with, and co-taught for three and a half months, and prepared to meet 100+ new students. With meeting these new students, I had/have 100+ new names to learn. Ugh, and here I thought myself safe from such things for the year.
As I mentioned in my post titled "Pacing" I taught a high school class a lesson for the first time on Tuesday, December 13th. Another area which Mary Ellen called attention to in her debrief of her observations of my lesson facilitation was my need to learn students names. Now I have this holiday break to brainstorm different methods of accomplishing this task.
I have a few ideas from my past experience. One of these is the name game which Phylis K. Lerner. Another technique is having students tell me their name whenever I call on them. I also got some ideas well chatting with my co-teacher. One of these was having a competition to see who can remember everyone's name in class. I will be running the drill from now on and that will be my venue to learn students names. Finally, I ask you members of the internet, what are your strategies for learning names. These may be from the beginning of the year or throughout. The former will inform my general practice and the latter will support my current need. I look forward to your ideas.
Pacing
On Tuesday 12-13-11, I taught for the first time in a high school classroom. Earlier this year I was in a middle school classroom, but I was moved about two and a half weeks ago to the high school. After two and a half years of work at the middle school level, I tried my hand at an 11th grade classroom. Big day.
I wrote a lesson plan, guided by my co-teacher's instructional pattern, which I hoped would lead them towards a greater knowledge of the text Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and of the literary element of "theme." My adviser, Dr. Mary Ellen Beaty-O'Ferrall had a few criticisms which I will work with in separate posts. The first of these suggestions was to focus on pacing.
This criticism came from my getting through most of the content for the day, however, not completing all the practice on theme. Half-way through class I knew I would not get through all my content. This was distressing, but I tried to stick with it and move more swiftly through the material. I got through most of it, but the underlying problem still needs to be addressed.
In my need for suggestions, I turn first to Teach Like a Champion. Fortunately for me, Lemov has an entire chapter dedicated to Pacing. Here I will list and briefly explain the techniques related to pacing which I believe will work for me in my situation. The first is titled "Changing the Pace." This technique focuses on having many activities in a single lesson dedicated to a single topic. In this way, the students have an opportunity to switch from active to passive occupations and can refocus on the topic of the day. I think this would improve student attention and focus as well as helping me keep the lesson moving along productively.
The next technique is a very simple one called "Bright Lines." This technique has teachers clearly highlighting start and end points of activities to improve student engagement and teacher pacing. This can be done as easily as giving a specific time-frame for an activity. A possible example of this could be: "Everyone take two minutes to read the selection then look up to show me you are done. Ready? Go!" This gives students a clear idea of the start and end point, engages them almost as if it were a race, and keeps you as a teacher accountable as to when you need to move on to another activity. Easy to implement, but a good and necessary prompting to remember.
"All Hands" seems to be a peppy way of moving from one student to another rapidly to keep students on their toes when working on a longer activity when "Changing the Pace" is not appropriate. Similar to "Bright Lines," this is a technique I already use, but could improve my adherence to maintaining.
"Every Minute Matters" focuses on using the last few minutes as a review of the day's most salient topics. Phylis was a key advocate of this without using its name. She told us the worst and most useless way to end a presentation, lesson, activity, conversation, or anything (within reason) is to ask for questions. It is a very passive and easily avoided assessment of student knowledge. My co-teacher does this very well by asking students to report something they liked or found interesting from the lesson, something they didn't like or care about, and something they still had a question about from the lesson. By answering these questions, students may earn tickets which get them out of one homework assignment. My goal will be to try her technique and a few others to have daily review sessions.
The last technique I will talk about here is called "Looking Forward." This technique holds that creating mystery by foreshadowing what will come later in the lesson or in the coming days can increase tension and attention of the students involved.
If you have any suggestions for how to improve my pacing and thus my teaching, please leave me your ideas below. Thank you for reading.
I wrote a lesson plan, guided by my co-teacher's instructional pattern, which I hoped would lead them towards a greater knowledge of the text Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and of the literary element of "theme." My adviser, Dr. Mary Ellen Beaty-O'Ferrall had a few criticisms which I will work with in separate posts. The first of these suggestions was to focus on pacing.
This criticism came from my getting through most of the content for the day, however, not completing all the practice on theme. Half-way through class I knew I would not get through all my content. This was distressing, but I tried to stick with it and move more swiftly through the material. I got through most of it, but the underlying problem still needs to be addressed.
In my need for suggestions, I turn first to Teach Like a Champion. Fortunately for me, Lemov has an entire chapter dedicated to Pacing. Here I will list and briefly explain the techniques related to pacing which I believe will work for me in my situation. The first is titled "Changing the Pace." This technique focuses on having many activities in a single lesson dedicated to a single topic. In this way, the students have an opportunity to switch from active to passive occupations and can refocus on the topic of the day. I think this would improve student attention and focus as well as helping me keep the lesson moving along productively.
The next technique is a very simple one called "Bright Lines." This technique has teachers clearly highlighting start and end points of activities to improve student engagement and teacher pacing. This can be done as easily as giving a specific time-frame for an activity. A possible example of this could be: "Everyone take two minutes to read the selection then look up to show me you are done. Ready? Go!" This gives students a clear idea of the start and end point, engages them almost as if it were a race, and keeps you as a teacher accountable as to when you need to move on to another activity. Easy to implement, but a good and necessary prompting to remember.
"All Hands" seems to be a peppy way of moving from one student to another rapidly to keep students on their toes when working on a longer activity when "Changing the Pace" is not appropriate. Similar to "Bright Lines," this is a technique I already use, but could improve my adherence to maintaining.
"Every Minute Matters" focuses on using the last few minutes as a review of the day's most salient topics. Phylis was a key advocate of this without using its name. She told us the worst and most useless way to end a presentation, lesson, activity, conversation, or anything (within reason) is to ask for questions. It is a very passive and easily avoided assessment of student knowledge. My co-teacher does this very well by asking students to report something they liked or found interesting from the lesson, something they didn't like or care about, and something they still had a question about from the lesson. By answering these questions, students may earn tickets which get them out of one homework assignment. My goal will be to try her technique and a few others to have daily review sessions.
The last technique I will talk about here is called "Looking Forward." This technique holds that creating mystery by foreshadowing what will come later in the lesson or in the coming days can increase tension and attention of the students involved.
If you have any suggestions for how to improve my pacing and thus my teaching, please leave me your ideas below. Thank you for reading.
Meeting with the Counseling school
Thursday, 12-8-11
On Thursday, December 12th, the JHU School of Education Baltimore SIMAT met the Urban School Counseling Fellows for a sharing session about teaching and counseling. We shared (loads) of pizza while getting to know about each other and each other's programs. We will meet for an informal sharing/Q&A to learn about each the work that we are each doing in our programs and to share perspectives about working with students in our local schools. So first let me give a bit of information on our counseling counterparts. The School of Education Counseling graduate students are in a 15-month program training to be school counselors in Baltimore schools. They have attended classes and been placed in various projects in schools around the city. Beginning in January, they will work more closely with one school assignment focusing on key counseling issues, including: college preparation, advice, and mentoring; deescalating student issues; and providing a space for students to work through some problems.
The meeting began with introductions. These first came from the two advisers of the two groups, Mary Ellen and Ileana Gonzalez. After that, everyone introduced themselves stating their name and what encouraged them to join their respective program. There was a wide range of reasons the counselors-to-be had come to their program and an equally wide range of experience which they brought with them. Some were former teachers, while others were career-changers who were fed up with the coorperate and business life. There were some who had reasons reminiscent of the SIMAT bunch for joining up, but they seemed much more interested in emotionally settling and preparing youngsters than in academically working with them.
Following the brief self-descriptions, the group heard from a representative of each program who concisely summarized their program. Prior to the meeting, Mary Ellen had asked us who would like to present our program. A past co-worker of mine, the ever-energetic and the unflinchingly dedicated Willie Smith, was similar to me in many ways but the one which applies here is that neither of us have a problem speaking up when others won't due to shyness or apathy. He would count to ten and if no one else had said anything or volunteered, he would. Willie is amazing, as is his technique which I often find myself trying to emulate. This time I waited, when no one volunteered to speak for the group, I did. I spoke about my time with City Year Los Angeles as being a foundation for my desire to teach and spread youth empowerment through education.
Following the review of the counseling program by their resident unofficial student who has a lot to say (my counterpart), we broke off to chow down and have more informal chats. Chat and Chow. Many of our assessments of Baltimore's educational need were similar. The difference came in the closeness of the group. It seemed their group was similar to a workplace, with its different ways they interacted with each other. I have written before about the closeness of our group in my post titled, Reflection on Unit Plan Writing. But it extends further than that. Many of us shared a thanksgiving meal together. All the secondary students got together for a late lunch after our last class of the semester WITH OUR ADVISER. I am constantly humbled to be a part of this group. Much more than classmates and interns working at the same site. Closer than adviser and students. There is a general sense of caring and support which permeates our group. This trust helps us push our practice forward and will make us better teachers.
Whoa. That needed to be said. Finally, it was a really interesting experience to relate to people who are in the same field of improving the lives of the inner city youth, but have such a different approach to it. I'm glad I had the opportunity to be there for this event.
On Thursday, December 12th, the JHU School of Education Baltimore SIMAT met the Urban School Counseling Fellows for a sharing session about teaching and counseling. We shared (loads) of pizza while getting to know about each other and each other's programs. We will meet for an informal sharing/Q&A to learn about each the work that we are each doing in our programs and to share perspectives about working with students in our local schools. So first let me give a bit of information on our counseling counterparts. The School of Education Counseling graduate students are in a 15-month program training to be school counselors in Baltimore schools. They have attended classes and been placed in various projects in schools around the city. Beginning in January, they will work more closely with one school assignment focusing on key counseling issues, including: college preparation, advice, and mentoring; deescalating student issues; and providing a space for students to work through some problems.
The meeting began with introductions. These first came from the two advisers of the two groups, Mary Ellen and Ileana Gonzalez. After that, everyone introduced themselves stating their name and what encouraged them to join their respective program. There was a wide range of reasons the counselors-to-be had come to their program and an equally wide range of experience which they brought with them. Some were former teachers, while others were career-changers who were fed up with the coorperate and business life. There were some who had reasons reminiscent of the SIMAT bunch for joining up, but they seemed much more interested in emotionally settling and preparing youngsters than in academically working with them.
Following the brief self-descriptions, the group heard from a representative of each program who concisely summarized their program. Prior to the meeting, Mary Ellen had asked us who would like to present our program. A past co-worker of mine, the ever-energetic and the unflinchingly dedicated Willie Smith, was similar to me in many ways but the one which applies here is that neither of us have a problem speaking up when others won't due to shyness or apathy. He would count to ten and if no one else had said anything or volunteered, he would. Willie is amazing, as is his technique which I often find myself trying to emulate. This time I waited, when no one volunteered to speak for the group, I did. I spoke about my time with City Year Los Angeles as being a foundation for my desire to teach and spread youth empowerment through education.
Following the review of the counseling program by their resident unofficial student who has a lot to say (my counterpart), we broke off to chow down and have more informal chats. Chat and Chow. Many of our assessments of Baltimore's educational need were similar. The difference came in the closeness of the group. It seemed their group was similar to a workplace, with its different ways they interacted with each other. I have written before about the closeness of our group in my post titled, Reflection on Unit Plan Writing. But it extends further than that. Many of us shared a thanksgiving meal together. All the secondary students got together for a late lunch after our last class of the semester WITH OUR ADVISER. I am constantly humbled to be a part of this group. Much more than classmates and interns working at the same site. Closer than adviser and students. There is a general sense of caring and support which permeates our group. This trust helps us push our practice forward and will make us better teachers.
Whoa. That needed to be said. Finally, it was a really interesting experience to relate to people who are in the same field of improving the lives of the inner city youth, but have such a different approach to it. I'm glad I had the opportunity to be there for this event.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Ms. Edattukaren Owning her Classroom
Occurred 12-5-11
I was lucky enough to be invited by Ms. Edattukaren, a fellow JHU graduate candidate and teacher intern paired with the 10th grade English teacher at NAF, to attend the first day of her week of teaching. I recall being thrilled to have the opportunity to see her in her element. I was there when she taught what was probably her first lesson in Phyllis Lerner's class so I was eager to see her development.
From a bird's eye position at her desk, directly across the room from her co-teacher, I watched as Ms. Edattukaren gathered her welcomed her students while providing direction. Immediately that was a change. The welcoming part always came naturally for her, she is an extremely good-natured and sincere person. The development came in her authoritative direction which began class. Do not mistake me, she did not go from being Mother Theresa to Adolf Hitler, however she now could employ both a sincere interest in students and an ability to command the direction of class. Both skills are necessary for a truly effective and impactful teacher to have.
Her planning was clear evidenced by her already having the essays on the desks which students would be reading that day. This gave students a physical agenda of the day; it being on their desk seemed to tell them, "you will read me today." With this idea in mind and essay in hand upon entering the classroom, students were then prompted by Ms. Edattukaren to answer some pre-reading questions which assessed their previous knowledge about Alice Walker. She took one answer (which turned out to be a story) then moved on to the story. This dedication to the schedule and proper pacing is something I lack so I found this very effective.
Then Ms. Edattukaren started the recording of the story. But this was not some actor or even the author reading her own work, it was Ms. Edattukaren whose voice came out of the computer. This revealed how much care she had for her students. This also displayed her intense level of planning. She took the time to record herself reading the work so during class she could focus on her students, encouraging and redirecting them when necessary instead of focusing on reading in front of them.
Ms. Edattukaren implemented some strategies which were not as effective as she had hoped. Fortunately, she is so open about her practice that she welcomed my criticism immediately after delivering the lesson. This debrief was a wonderful experience. I do not say this to undercut our adviser or other observers; they have stores of knowledge and years of experience which informs their suggestions which go miles beyond what I have to offer. However, the interns are beginning to have some knowledge in the teaching realm and are always at the school. I highly value open communication and criticism which helps me move my practice forward. Now I am becoming able and better qualified to give feedback which hopefully moves Ms. Edattukaren's and my own practice to the next level.
Her lesson was not perfect, we still have a ways to go, but she has made immense gains. I thanked her for the opportunity in person and now I thank her again for letting me share in her classroom and share my observations and reflections here.
I was lucky enough to be invited by Ms. Edattukaren, a fellow JHU graduate candidate and teacher intern paired with the 10th grade English teacher at NAF, to attend the first day of her week of teaching. I recall being thrilled to have the opportunity to see her in her element. I was there when she taught what was probably her first lesson in Phyllis Lerner's class so I was eager to see her development.
From a bird's eye position at her desk, directly across the room from her co-teacher, I watched as Ms. Edattukaren gathered her welcomed her students while providing direction. Immediately that was a change. The welcoming part always came naturally for her, she is an extremely good-natured and sincere person. The development came in her authoritative direction which began class. Do not mistake me, she did not go from being Mother Theresa to Adolf Hitler, however she now could employ both a sincere interest in students and an ability to command the direction of class. Both skills are necessary for a truly effective and impactful teacher to have.
Her planning was clear evidenced by her already having the essays on the desks which students would be reading that day. This gave students a physical agenda of the day; it being on their desk seemed to tell them, "you will read me today." With this idea in mind and essay in hand upon entering the classroom, students were then prompted by Ms. Edattukaren to answer some pre-reading questions which assessed their previous knowledge about Alice Walker. She took one answer (which turned out to be a story) then moved on to the story. This dedication to the schedule and proper pacing is something I lack so I found this very effective.
Then Ms. Edattukaren started the recording of the story. But this was not some actor or even the author reading her own work, it was Ms. Edattukaren whose voice came out of the computer. This revealed how much care she had for her students. This also displayed her intense level of planning. She took the time to record herself reading the work so during class she could focus on her students, encouraging and redirecting them when necessary instead of focusing on reading in front of them.
Ms. Edattukaren implemented some strategies which were not as effective as she had hoped. Fortunately, she is so open about her practice that she welcomed my criticism immediately after delivering the lesson. This debrief was a wonderful experience. I do not say this to undercut our adviser or other observers; they have stores of knowledge and years of experience which informs their suggestions which go miles beyond what I have to offer. However, the interns are beginning to have some knowledge in the teaching realm and are always at the school. I highly value open communication and criticism which helps me move my practice forward. Now I am becoming able and better qualified to give feedback which hopefully moves Ms. Edattukaren's and my own practice to the next level.
Her lesson was not perfect, we still have a ways to go, but she has made immense gains. I thanked her for the opportunity in person and now I thank her again for letting me share in her classroom and share my observations and reflections here.
Reflection on Unit Plan Writing
This week my two groupmates and I completed writing an entire unit plan which included 20 lessons, at least one material from each day, and hours of stress. This is my reflection on the experience.
Oh to be at the end of this unit plan. This unit plan was a hulking behemoth which seemed to be an incomprehensibly enormous body of work. It turned out to be just that. I had glanced at a few teachers’ unit plans well putting this together and always walked away astounded by the breadth and thoroughness these teachers accomplished, or planned to accomplish, in their unit. Looking back at the 149 page document which is the beast of a lesson plan I helped to create, I am shocked and humbled by the breadth and thoroughness my group members and I achieved with this unit plan.
I am a better teacher having taken part in this unit planning exercise. Even if I never teach this unit, which I hope is not the case, the ripples of this experience will still be trembling with me. I have written lessons and even lesson sequences, up to four consecutive corresponding days’ worth of lessons before, but they do not hold as much weight. So many little skills or necessary jobs have will be expected when I have to create a lesson plan for students instead of a grade. From a close reading of the guiding text to arguing with colleagues about which activity to use to filling in the proper assessments to measure exactly what I want them to test, this was been a long journey. I helped see an enormous task from beginning to end, for me, that means a great deal.
One of my weaknesses (or as Mrs. Whatsit would probably point out, one of my strengths not properly directed) is my ability to take a large task, break it up into small workable portions, focus on a small chunk of work at a time, and drive towards the end goal. I have no shinning, wonderful story about how this activity completed me, how I am now a fully functioning and capable teacher. Far from it. My group mates Ms. Roth and Ms. Bradley were instrumental to my success on this project. We each brought different strengths to the project, they just seemed to bring more. Their attention to detail, undeterrable work habit, and intense exploration for ways to improve their product drove me to push my own work forward. I could not have done it, or even my part of it, without them. If we have to pin this down to something I gained from the experience of having worked on this project then I have this: I have learned the undeniable necessity of partners and collaborators. Even if a year from now when I will hypothetically and hopefully be employed as a teacher when I am writing a unit plan for my students, I would count myself lucky if I could argue with Ms. Roth about how students learn best, what activities would best engage their attention, what content would have the most impact. I would be lucky if Ms. Bradley and I tinkered with each other’s lessons pushing them to be the most thought out they possibly could be.
That is my main take away from the project. There are many more which are much more technical based. I have now practiced writing rubrics, scaffolding lessons and activities, and thinking of objectives which will push students to engage and put forth effort during a lesson. I had conceptions of these words and practices before the lesson plan, but I had never put them together before in such a rigorous collection. I will continue to revise these techniques as I progress as a teacher, however now I feel as if I have access to a warehouse of knowledge and skills, the next few years will make taking items off the shelves in that warehouse more expedient.
In terms of my knowledge in regards to the topic we geared our unit towards, I am much more invested in the idea of identity and self-exploration especially in the middle school years. This should be the focus and drive of education, to learn more about oneself. Research supports this is what adolescents are already preoccupied with and what helps them be successful academically. I want to drive that forward in my future teaching. I also want to use auxiliary means of meeting this goal. Using cross-content knowledge helped deepen my understanding of a Tesseract/hypercube and I may go on to explore more about it (and the years of Euclidian mathematics, Physics, and Geometry necessary to understand it). If I can do that for my urban students, many of whom need a venue to explore who they are and who they can become, they may not become English teachers or English Lit majors, but they may discover a bit more about themselves and come closer to comprehending their own identity.
Oh to be at the end of this unit plan. This unit plan was a hulking behemoth which seemed to be an incomprehensibly enormous body of work. It turned out to be just that. I had glanced at a few teachers’ unit plans well putting this together and always walked away astounded by the breadth and thoroughness these teachers accomplished, or planned to accomplish, in their unit. Looking back at the 149 page document which is the beast of a lesson plan I helped to create, I am shocked and humbled by the breadth and thoroughness my group members and I achieved with this unit plan.
I am a better teacher having taken part in this unit planning exercise. Even if I never teach this unit, which I hope is not the case, the ripples of this experience will still be trembling with me. I have written lessons and even lesson sequences, up to four consecutive corresponding days’ worth of lessons before, but they do not hold as much weight. So many little skills or necessary jobs have will be expected when I have to create a lesson plan for students instead of a grade. From a close reading of the guiding text to arguing with colleagues about which activity to use to filling in the proper assessments to measure exactly what I want them to test, this was been a long journey. I helped see an enormous task from beginning to end, for me, that means a great deal.
One of my weaknesses (or as Mrs. Whatsit would probably point out, one of my strengths not properly directed) is my ability to take a large task, break it up into small workable portions, focus on a small chunk of work at a time, and drive towards the end goal. I have no shinning, wonderful story about how this activity completed me, how I am now a fully functioning and capable teacher. Far from it. My group mates Ms. Roth and Ms. Bradley were instrumental to my success on this project. We each brought different strengths to the project, they just seemed to bring more. Their attention to detail, undeterrable work habit, and intense exploration for ways to improve their product drove me to push my own work forward. I could not have done it, or even my part of it, without them. If we have to pin this down to something I gained from the experience of having worked on this project then I have this: I have learned the undeniable necessity of partners and collaborators. Even if a year from now when I will hypothetically and hopefully be employed as a teacher when I am writing a unit plan for my students, I would count myself lucky if I could argue with Ms. Roth about how students learn best, what activities would best engage their attention, what content would have the most impact. I would be lucky if Ms. Bradley and I tinkered with each other’s lessons pushing them to be the most thought out they possibly could be.
That is my main take away from the project. There are many more which are much more technical based. I have now practiced writing rubrics, scaffolding lessons and activities, and thinking of objectives which will push students to engage and put forth effort during a lesson. I had conceptions of these words and practices before the lesson plan, but I had never put them together before in such a rigorous collection. I will continue to revise these techniques as I progress as a teacher, however now I feel as if I have access to a warehouse of knowledge and skills, the next few years will make taking items off the shelves in that warehouse more expedient.
In terms of my knowledge in regards to the topic we geared our unit towards, I am much more invested in the idea of identity and self-exploration especially in the middle school years. This should be the focus and drive of education, to learn more about oneself. Research supports this is what adolescents are already preoccupied with and what helps them be successful academically. I want to drive that forward in my future teaching. I also want to use auxiliary means of meeting this goal. Using cross-content knowledge helped deepen my understanding of a Tesseract/hypercube and I may go on to explore more about it (and the years of Euclidian mathematics, Physics, and Geometry necessary to understand it). If I can do that for my urban students, many of whom need a venue to explore who they are and who they can become, they may not become English teachers or English Lit majors, but they may discover a bit more about themselves and come closer to comprehending their own identity.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Teachers without Borders
I need to say right away, this post is only partially about Teachers Without Borders, an international non-profit with the beautiful mission is to "connect teachers to information and each other to create local change on a global scale." Their mission and work is closely aligned with the topic of this post, which is to teachers who move beyond the borders of their communities and nations into other countries both physically and digitally. I have been interested in the ways people all across the world connect and am inspired by the notion that we as members of the human race are more similar than we are different.
A few of my friends have taught or are teaching abroad in South Korea. Some came to teaching in S. Korea for different reasons including: using and making money with an English degree, paying off student loans, experiencing a new country/culture, effect some positive change in some students lives, and teach a few students a little bit about English. Another friend who is still considering which program he would like to work for in SK wanted to get directly into teaching after two years with City Year Los Angeles (here is the link to the main site of City Year) based on his experience without working towards a teaching certificate right away.
Most countries which do not have English as their national language welcome English teachers from abroad who fluently speak English. The opportunities for travel are numerous. So this is one option for people interested in teaching, especially in teaching English, have an opportunity to break into the field.
Another opportunity to teach and learn abroad is the Fulbright Scholarship. This scholarship or grant is for people who would like to study or teach abroad. One of my English Literature professors at Michigan State University was a Fulbright Scholar who had taught in Germany during her tenure in the program. There is a high level of prestige placed on this amazingly competitive honor. Its goal is to connect people through education from across the globe. When I first heard about the Fulbright Scholarship, I considered the possibility of studying abroad. As I continue my way through life, I see there may yet be a possibility for me in this area, only under the auspiciousness of my career path I would be teaching abroad as oppose to studying. Either way, I believe there is a future for me, at least for a few years, abroad.
The last way for teachers to have an international impact which I will mention here is through the internet. Right now, my blog, and blogs far more important and influential, can be read not just in America, but across the world. By utilizing twitter (here is my twitter @JacobBelknap) as a professional development network I can tap into a knowledge base comprised of the experience and research of teachers who have been in the field field anywhere from 0 to 40 years. Not only can I see their 140 character snipits of insight, go to the websites and internet tools they make use of, and read their blogs, I can also interact with them. There is still so much I need to learn about the reach and impact of the internet in terms of a learning apparatus, but so far I recognize its importance and will be open in the future to its new possibilities.
If anyone has additional thoughts teachers in their home country can have an effect outside their boundaries, please leave your insights and links as comments below.
talk about the possibility of working throughout the world
A few of my friends have taught or are teaching abroad in South Korea. Some came to teaching in S. Korea for different reasons including: using and making money with an English degree, paying off student loans, experiencing a new country/culture, effect some positive change in some students lives, and teach a few students a little bit about English. Another friend who is still considering which program he would like to work for in SK wanted to get directly into teaching after two years with City Year Los Angeles (here is the link to the main site of City Year) based on his experience without working towards a teaching certificate right away.
Most countries which do not have English as their national language welcome English teachers from abroad who fluently speak English. The opportunities for travel are numerous. So this is one option for people interested in teaching, especially in teaching English, have an opportunity to break into the field.
Another opportunity to teach and learn abroad is the Fulbright Scholarship. This scholarship or grant is for people who would like to study or teach abroad. One of my English Literature professors at Michigan State University was a Fulbright Scholar who had taught in Germany during her tenure in the program. There is a high level of prestige placed on this amazingly competitive honor. Its goal is to connect people through education from across the globe. When I first heard about the Fulbright Scholarship, I considered the possibility of studying abroad. As I continue my way through life, I see there may yet be a possibility for me in this area, only under the auspiciousness of my career path I would be teaching abroad as oppose to studying. Either way, I believe there is a future for me, at least for a few years, abroad.
The last way for teachers to have an international impact which I will mention here is through the internet. Right now, my blog, and blogs far more important and influential, can be read not just in America, but across the world. By utilizing twitter (here is my twitter @JacobBelknap) as a professional development network I can tap into a knowledge base comprised of the experience and research of teachers who have been in the field field anywhere from 0 to 40 years. Not only can I see their 140 character snipits of insight, go to the websites and internet tools they make use of, and read their blogs, I can also interact with them. There is still so much I need to learn about the reach and impact of the internet in terms of a learning apparatus, but so far I recognize its importance and will be open in the future to its new possibilities.
If anyone has additional thoughts teachers in their home country can have an effect outside their boundaries, please leave your insights and links as comments below.
talk about the possibility of working throughout the world
Six Months into Co-Teaching: Things learned since coming to Baltimore
As I stated in my previous post, Phyllis K. Lerner was our guest speaker on 12-10-11. She led the class through two activities after telling us about the struggles of her past few months and her future plans to volunteer work in India teaching teachers. Phyllis has always been forthcoming with us, but I really appreciated her candor and trust with telling us about the happenings since last we met.
The first activity she led us through is one about names. This would make a great introductory lesson (in the first few weeks of school) or a good lesson when discussing identity. Phyllis introduced the activity by speaking of the variety of different names we have, including: first, last, middle, hyphenated, second, nickname, pet name, etc. These all have different purposes when they are used. There is a history, a backstory, to possibly all of these names which a person might have. Our task was to think of a story about any part of our name. After modeling an example of how this could be done, she had us take a few minutes to think of a story about some part of our name. Then we went around the room telling our stories. This really resonated with me and seemed to be a way to engage the students in a facet of themselves they had not considered and interact with their parents about something very profound.
I would like to spend a bit more time focusing on the second activity. This one was much more meaningful and tailored to us. It began with us creating a "list of lessons learned since fall semester classes and interning." After that we organized some of these thoughts with a graphic organizer and shared what we had. I will list an extended but still incomplete list of my "lessons learned" so far:
1. The value of humor
2. The ability to be flexible
3. Able to bend with students
4. The need for research and data-informed decisions
5. Having a set of non-negotiable limits in class (when a student needs to be kicked out)
6. The need to include collaborative group work
7. The difference between students working individually in a group and students collaborating to reach a common end
8. Teaching to 75-80% of the class
9. Functioning in a class you do not like or see the use in taking
10. Working with people/teachers with different perspectives, goals, strategies, and approaches
11. Teaching students who will not be English Majors in college
12. Teaching students who don't love ELA or literature
13. Working across different grade levels
14. Learning 75 names
15. The importance of names
16. Losing/changing everything you know
17. The importance of keeping an even demeanor
18. The need to be excited
19. Not letting students dictate my mood
20. Figuring our whose classroom it is: the teacher's, the student's or some of both (Thoughts? Comment!)
21. "It's not personal, just business"
22. Necessity of repetition
23. Necessity of modeling
24. Need to engage/motivate students before the lesson
25. Recognize the fun in class and maintain it
As I said, this is an incomplete list that I will try to get closer towards complete. Many of these were ideas I had heard/seen/understood to a certain point, but I definitely gained a much deeper understanding during these past six months. I don't know if it is even possible for me to articulate all of the small lessons I have learned this year, though. I could almost write a post about any one of these topics, some I may even do just that. If anyone remembers their first year teaching and the lessons they gained from it, feel free to post them below.
The first activity she led us through is one about names. This would make a great introductory lesson (in the first few weeks of school) or a good lesson when discussing identity. Phyllis introduced the activity by speaking of the variety of different names we have, including: first, last, middle, hyphenated, second, nickname, pet name, etc. These all have different purposes when they are used. There is a history, a backstory, to possibly all of these names which a person might have. Our task was to think of a story about any part of our name. After modeling an example of how this could be done, she had us take a few minutes to think of a story about some part of our name. Then we went around the room telling our stories. This really resonated with me and seemed to be a way to engage the students in a facet of themselves they had not considered and interact with their parents about something very profound.
I would like to spend a bit more time focusing on the second activity. This one was much more meaningful and tailored to us. It began with us creating a "list of lessons learned since fall semester classes and interning." After that we organized some of these thoughts with a graphic organizer and shared what we had. I will list an extended but still incomplete list of my "lessons learned" so far:
1. The value of humor
2. The ability to be flexible
3. Able to bend with students
4. The need for research and data-informed decisions
5. Having a set of non-negotiable limits in class (when a student needs to be kicked out)
6. The need to include collaborative group work
7. The difference between students working individually in a group and students collaborating to reach a common end
8. Teaching to 75-80% of the class
9. Functioning in a class you do not like or see the use in taking
10. Working with people/teachers with different perspectives, goals, strategies, and approaches
11. Teaching students who will not be English Majors in college
12. Teaching students who don't love ELA or literature
13. Working across different grade levels
14. Learning 75 names
15. The importance of names
16. Losing/changing everything you know
17. The importance of keeping an even demeanor
18. The need to be excited
19. Not letting students dictate my mood
20. Figuring our whose classroom it is: the teacher's, the student's or some of both (Thoughts? Comment!)
21. "It's not personal, just business"
22. Necessity of repetition
23. Necessity of modeling
24. Need to engage/motivate students before the lesson
25. Recognize the fun in class and maintain it
As I said, this is an incomplete list that I will try to get closer towards complete. Many of these were ideas I had heard/seen/understood to a certain point, but I definitely gained a much deeper understanding during these past six months. I don't know if it is even possible for me to articulate all of the small lessons I have learned this year, though. I could almost write a post about any one of these topics, some I may even do just that. If anyone remembers their first year teaching and the lessons they gained from it, feel free to post them below.
Steve Jobs and Complicated Characters
In my class Reading in the Content area II class, we have been reading the biography titled after its focal person, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson.
There seem to be two systems of thought when considering Steve Jobs: Black vs. White or A Layered approach. I believe it is too easy to write Steve Jobs off as "an arrogant asshole," although there is much evidence to support this notion. I believe the character of Jobs is much to complicated to be labeled so easily. I see him as a harsh, even brutal employer who lacks or ignores social pleasantries. If we allow the reason for these missing social graces and professional respect to be hypothetically chalked up to being categories which Jobs choose to ignore, then this adds to his character and takes us closer to understanding who he was and why he was the way people remember him.
If we consider him to be a layered individual, much too complex to be easily labeled, then a new question arises: should we put this in a guise of fiction to better work with his character or can we achieve such an analysis in a work of non-fiction? The argument against the latter notion comes from the difficulty some people in the class had with coupling the good and admirable qualities of Steve Jobs with his vices and flaws. Possibly, some people allowed their emotions to obfuscate their perception. Why were people unable to clinically analyze this "character?" Can someone become tied up in a story, emotionally invested, and still logically and pragmatically analyze the people/characters in it even if the people and anecdotes are real? This is a really tough question, one I cannot answer. I became fascinated with Jobs's journey through college and India and his management of Apple and could still treat his character objectively. Why could others not get passed that?
Question for readers: Can students/people objectively analyze a person described in a biography or an autobiography whom they know to be a real person?
There seem to be two systems of thought when considering Steve Jobs: Black vs. White or A Layered approach. I believe it is too easy to write Steve Jobs off as "an arrogant asshole," although there is much evidence to support this notion. I believe the character of Jobs is much to complicated to be labeled so easily. I see him as a harsh, even brutal employer who lacks or ignores social pleasantries. If we allow the reason for these missing social graces and professional respect to be hypothetically chalked up to being categories which Jobs choose to ignore, then this adds to his character and takes us closer to understanding who he was and why he was the way people remember him.
If we consider him to be a layered individual, much too complex to be easily labeled, then a new question arises: should we put this in a guise of fiction to better work with his character or can we achieve such an analysis in a work of non-fiction? The argument against the latter notion comes from the difficulty some people in the class had with coupling the good and admirable qualities of Steve Jobs with his vices and flaws. Possibly, some people allowed their emotions to obfuscate their perception. Why were people unable to clinically analyze this "character?" Can someone become tied up in a story, emotionally invested, and still logically and pragmatically analyze the people/characters in it even if the people and anecdotes are real? This is a really tough question, one I cannot answer. I became fascinated with Jobs's journey through college and India and his management of Apple and could still treat his character objectively. Why could others not get passed that?
Question for readers: Can students/people objectively analyze a person described in a biography or an autobiography whom they know to be a real person?
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The Godfather of the Classroom
I have had the wonderful and privileged opportunity to see many teachers in their element. From all across the city of Los Angeles, to various schools in Baltimore, and even a school in Philidelphia, I have seen teachers working their craft with students from very different backgrounds. All of these teachers were not exemplary or model teachers, but a good chunk of them were. I have seen many different practices, approaches, and strategies which are simply amazing and set both students and the teacher up for success. One which has stayed with me and still brings a smile to my face is a teacher who used The Godfather in her classroom.
The idea with using this book/movie was to underline the quote "It's not personal. It's business." This is such a humorous yet important way to let students know: I am not doing this perceived mean thing "to you" because I am mean, I am doing it because I have to do it. I am not personally attacking you. When I move your seat because you won't stop talking to the student next to you and no one can focus (me included), it is not because I dislike you, it is so the class can continue functioning; not personal, just business. When you curse in class, I'll ask you to repeat what you said using more appropriate language because you cannot use those words in the workplace. When you yell at or disrespect me or any other student, I'm probably going to kick you out of my class. I like my employees to be safe, emotionally and physically.
This could be a really useful tactic to use in the classroom. It can be a good way to check students if they think their teacher is being unjust. The set up could run like this: please do as I, the teacher, say because I am trying to run the classroom in the best way. If you have a better way, talk to me after class or privately. If you complain when I ask you to do something, I will put up the above picture, tell you it is just business, and probably have some good-natured fun with that. In this case, you have to stop complaining. If you ask me to prove how it is just business and I can't, then I am a bad CEO, stock prices drop, and I concede that I do not know everything and have made a mistake.
I really like this idea, all that is left is to wait until I have my own class to try out this approach. Just another reason I can't wait for August (if I have a job then).
The idea with using this book/movie was to underline the quote "It's not personal. It's business." This is such a humorous yet important way to let students know: I am not doing this perceived mean thing "to you" because I am mean, I am doing it because I have to do it. I am not personally attacking you. When I move your seat because you won't stop talking to the student next to you and no one can focus (me included), it is not because I dislike you, it is so the class can continue functioning; not personal, just business. When you curse in class, I'll ask you to repeat what you said using more appropriate language because you cannot use those words in the workplace. When you yell at or disrespect me or any other student, I'm probably going to kick you out of my class. I like my employees to be safe, emotionally and physically.
This could be a really useful tactic to use in the classroom. It can be a good way to check students if they think their teacher is being unjust. The set up could run like this: please do as I, the teacher, say because I am trying to run the classroom in the best way. If you have a better way, talk to me after class or privately. If you complain when I ask you to do something, I will put up the above picture, tell you it is just business, and probably have some good-natured fun with that. In this case, you have to stop complaining. If you ask me to prove how it is just business and I can't, then I am a bad CEO, stock prices drop, and I concede that I do not know everything and have made a mistake.
I really like this idea, all that is left is to wait until I have my own class to try out this approach. Just another reason I can't wait for August (if I have a job then).
The Return of a Teacher: The importance of revisiting past students
Yesterday, Friday, December 9, 2011, the magnanimous Phyllis K. Lerner made an appearance in the Reading in the Content Area II class for the secondary SIMAT students. Phyllis taught our first section of Reading in the Content Area which all secondary SIMAT candidates took during the summer session. She led a small workshop which I will post more info/analysis on later today.
Phyllis's impact to me and my teaching skill has been important. She taught and had us use different before, during, and after reading strategies which can be implemented with our students while going through a text or new resource of information. She had us use six different graphic organizers which, she hoped, we would later have our own students use. Half the time in her class I found myself taking notes not on the content of the activity or lesson, but on her method of instruction and her tools she used to engage students and assess their accumulation of knowledge. When she spoke to us yesterday, she recalled how many of us had put on our course evaluation our appreciation of her teaching us different strategies on how to teach passing out papers. Trivial as it may seem, this is also a strategy highlighted in the book, Teach Like a Champion. It seemed everything she did was to make us better teachers. As Shelly Blake-Plock, the man behind @teachpaperless, told my fellow classmates and I in his Teaching in the 21st Century: The Paperless Classroom course, "everything you do [in your class as teachers] should have some pedagogical purpose," it felt as if everything Phyllis did had a distinct purpose which moved us all closer to being teachers.
Also, she was one of my best teachers, ever. Her honesty and need to build a class culture which was welcoming, fun, productive, and engaging made going to her class for eight hours a week during the summer not just bearable, but an all-around wonderful experience. She organized a "breakfast club" which had everyone bring in food to share once during the course. This opened up the class to being a bit more friendly and welcoming. If anyone had trouble staying awake, they had just to get up and grab some food to help them stay alert.
Phyllis had an impact on me and on many of the other SIMAT students. However, if it were not for our adviser/professor's e-mailing Phyllis and welcoming her to class, we may not have seen her again. After such a deep relationship has been built in a classroom between teachers and those students who will work with them there is often just a release at the end of the year. Unfortunately, there are not as many ways for students and teachers to reconnect professionally for emotional closure and for any other mentoring opportunity. I realize teachers need to have their personal lives and personal time, but I believe students, and maybe even teachers, would benefit form a meeting after their specific classroom time together had ended. Similar to an alumni network between students and teachers.
If anyone has thoughts on how this could be done while respecting the individual teacher's space, or if you have any thoughts on the subject in general, please add them as a comment below.
Phyllis's impact to me and my teaching skill has been important. She taught and had us use different before, during, and after reading strategies which can be implemented with our students while going through a text or new resource of information. She had us use six different graphic organizers which, she hoped, we would later have our own students use. Half the time in her class I found myself taking notes not on the content of the activity or lesson, but on her method of instruction and her tools she used to engage students and assess their accumulation of knowledge. When she spoke to us yesterday, she recalled how many of us had put on our course evaluation our appreciation of her teaching us different strategies on how to teach passing out papers. Trivial as it may seem, this is also a strategy highlighted in the book, Teach Like a Champion. It seemed everything she did was to make us better teachers. As Shelly Blake-Plock, the man behind @teachpaperless, told my fellow classmates and I in his Teaching in the 21st Century: The Paperless Classroom course, "everything you do [in your class as teachers] should have some pedagogical purpose," it felt as if everything Phyllis did had a distinct purpose which moved us all closer to being teachers.
Also, she was one of my best teachers, ever. Her honesty and need to build a class culture which was welcoming, fun, productive, and engaging made going to her class for eight hours a week during the summer not just bearable, but an all-around wonderful experience. She organized a "breakfast club" which had everyone bring in food to share once during the course. This opened up the class to being a bit more friendly and welcoming. If anyone had trouble staying awake, they had just to get up and grab some food to help them stay alert.
Phyllis had an impact on me and on many of the other SIMAT students. However, if it were not for our adviser/professor's e-mailing Phyllis and welcoming her to class, we may not have seen her again. After such a deep relationship has been built in a classroom between teachers and those students who will work with them there is often just a release at the end of the year. Unfortunately, there are not as many ways for students and teachers to reconnect professionally for emotional closure and for any other mentoring opportunity. I realize teachers need to have their personal lives and personal time, but I believe students, and maybe even teachers, would benefit form a meeting after their specific classroom time together had ended. Similar to an alumni network between students and teachers.
If anyone has thoughts on how this could be done while respecting the individual teacher's space, or if you have any thoughts on the subject in general, please add them as a comment below.
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