Observations at CF

I think that the biggest thing that I will be taking away from my observations at CF is the importance of organization and routine.  The classes I observed all ran very smoothly and for the most part all the students participated.  My cooperating teacher believes strongly in being well organized and following a routine.  Every class begins the same way, he has them copy down a writing prompt and then they watch CNN student news.  The world history class uses questions that go along with the news program.  After they watch the program, they discuss the questions that were asked, and then begin the lesson. 

The lesson will usually be a combination of lecture and reading activities.  At the end of a section he provides a review sheet for the upcoming quiz, the class completes it individually an then discusses it together to ensure that everyone has the correct answers to review for the upcoming quiz which will be in the next class.  I witnessed a majority of the students complete the reading assignments and review sheets.  I have always observed the students working on the assignments and in the few instances where there was a disruption the teacher managed it and nothing escalated or got out of hand.  I never witnessed the use of the “button” being used and never saw the kids being disrespectful to the teacher.  Mr. L would use humor to get the disruptions to end I got the feeling of mutual respect between students and teacher.

The one thing that really stuck out for me though would be the lecturing.  The students did not take notes at all during this time and a few would put their heads down.  Curious about this I did ask Mr. L if this was usual and he replied that it was.  He then explained that a large percentage were ESL students and for them to take notes could cause them to fall behind in the lecture as they have to translate what is said and then get it on the paper.  This made since to me because of a conversation my FNED 346 teacher had with us about this issue.  The professor’s first language was not English and he describe to us how he struggled in English speaking classrooms, having to really think about what he wanted to say and how to say it.  He then told us that by the time he was ready to join a conversation the class had moved on to another topic.  To be fair to Mr. L. he did say that as a teacher, he should have taught them to take good notes, and he did feel it was a failing of his that they didn’t know how to do it.  But he said that he had to cover so much information that he didn’t think he had the time to teach the note taking skills.  When students zone out during a lecture or put their heads down I wonder about how effective the lecture is.  I need to take notes but I do know people who learn better from a lecture by just listing and not note taking.  I think the thing I learned from this is that if I plan to use lecture I feel that I should be responsible for teaching my students how to take notes and listen to a lecture.

A hands on experience

This last class we met on campus as CF was on vacation.  In this class, we learned about cooperative groups and we did it in such a way that I felt was truly useful.  I enjoyed the hands on aspect of cooperative grouping.  This experience will certainly help me as a teacher when I use this technique with my students.  I also felt that the make a square activity that we did could be a good way to introduce the concept of cooperative grouping to my future students.  I think sometimes the application of teaching techniques and strategies is missing from our education classes.  We learn about an idea or method but we do not always experience it.  This activity not only taught us how to do cooperative grouping but it showed us how it feels for the students to do it and showed how it works when done right.  I have struggled a lot in the last year in 406 and 407, I have felt a little overwhelmed and stressed out about my coming practicum and student teaching.  I have not always felt that I was learning something useful for teaching but just learning about useful things.  This last class was my favorite so far and I felt I learned a lot about grouping and classroom management from the class.  It was fun and informative and I wish there could have been more hands on learning like this.  I think I also learned a bit more about how I learn as well from this experience, I have always felt I learned well from lectures and reading but this activity was much more memorable for me as I look back on it then lectures on a similar topic I have had in the past.

Judgeing cookies

This week we learned how to do a rubric.  I felt that this class was fun and it will certainly help me remember the important thing about creating and using a rubric.  First, we had to create a rubric to grade chocolate chip cookies.  This was a fun assignment; we broke into groups and discussed what we thought of as our perfect cookie.  Once we agreed on the points that needed to be graded, we created the rubric.  After we came back from our observations, we then had to use another groups rubric to grade seven different cookies.  This was a fun experience.  It really made us think about the purpose of a rubric.

During the discussion afterwards, some important points came out.  The Oreo cookie was not a chocolate chip cookie so it scored low on many rubrics even though most people said it was their favorite cookie.  This is important because it shows that we must be clear about what we want to get out of an assignment so that the students know what is expected of them, and then can give us back work that reflects what we want.  Secondly, we discussed how expectations could color the scouring of work.  We all had preconceived notions about the Snakwell cookie, but a well written rubric can eliminate bias and make the points being graded very clear so that the teacher can grade the students objectively.  I know that I will not be able to write a rubric in the future without thinking about cookies!

Word choices and a jar of pickles

     OK, so that was an intense class.  I think in general the panel we had this week was good, in as far as how to deal with classroom management issues.  Things got interesting when the language used was examined.  I want to say first that I do not believe that any of the teachers at the panel meant for their comments to be taken in the way that they were.  I think that they used poor word choices to express themselves and I don’t think they meant to come off the way they did.  I think that they might have been very surprised to have their words taken in that manner.  I think that they were sincere in their desire to teach and that maybe they feel under appreciated and put upon because of the bad feelings between the teachers and the administration in the city.  I think that the strife between the different factions in the city has been building since 2010 and that it is hard for people to let go of that bad blood it colors everything they do and it influences the incoming teachers who were hired post 2010.  That is why I think that the teachers see themselves as victim or under a lot of pressure.  However, that doesn’t make it OK to categorize the student body as “these students.”  As teachers one should be very conscious of their word choice because for good or ill everything a teacher says will effect a student.   

     What people say and what people hear are two different things.  An example of what I mean is an argument I had recently with my husband.  Stay with me it does reconnect to what I’m saying.  OK so I bought a jar of pickles, a big jar, and I couldn’t open it.  So I asked my husband to do it, since that’s his job as a husband to open jars, kill bugs, and cook with fire and so on.  Well he was all like, “Let me show you my trick to opening a jar.”  We have been together over 15 years I know his trick, he uses a knife and hits the lid with the blunt end till the lid turns, I tried it earlier and it didn’t work, that’s why I wanted him to open it.  Well I told him “I don’t need a lesson I just want you to open it.”  This became a 20 minute fight.  Were he got upset because I didn’t want to be ‘taught to open a jar’ and I was telling him I knew how but I physically could not.  OK, how does this connect?  What one person says can be heard differently by someone else.  He was trying to be helpful, in his mind, in my mind I felt that he was saying I was incompetent and he was going to show me how to do it.  We need to be aware of what we say and the audience we say things to, we are never going to please everyone all the time but if we chose our words carefully we can avoid offending too many people.

Questions and Lectures

            This week we discussed questioning again as a continuation from last class.  We went out into the classrooms and observed questioning.  When we returned, we discussed the questions we observed and used a protocol to direct the questions we heard and find ways to ask deeper meaning questions.  The discussion focused on how we needed to examine the questions we ask and realize that sometimes the questions we ask are not exactly the questions we mean to ask.  We should examine what the result of the questioning is and find a better way to ask it so that we get the desired answers we want from our students.

                                          http://www.nsrfharmony.org/

 

            The other part of this week’s class was devoted to the art of the lecture.  We came back into the classroom to find that the seats had been rearranged into the forward facing position that a majority of classrooms use.  Dr. H. then asked us how sitting this way made us feel as students and we discussed the preconceived notions of a lecture.  We were then given a badly made graphic organizer to take lecture notes on.  She did this to show us the importance of good organization and to stress the point that as the lecturer needs to be well-organized and prepared when giving a lecture.  Other important aspects were to keep the lecture short and to make sure you know what you are going to say and be well-rehearsed.  This is very important because a bad lecture can turn students off from learning where as a good, well-delivered lecturer can be a gateway to further learning and interest in a topic.  I was glad to have this class because I feel that lecturing gets a bad rap, as if it is the worst sin a teacher can commit..  Sometimes you have to give a direct lesson sometimes because of time constraints due to the school year and testing, sometimes because it is simply the best way to introduce a topic or review a topic.  Having been taught what is importation in lecturing and having what not to do pointed out is a valuable lesson to have had.