*Names have been changed in both of these posts to protect student privacy
During the independent practice section of reading workshop, Jessica and Evan who are learning English as a second language receive literacy instruction in Everson’s ELL classroom. In the ELL classroom Jessica and Evan are supported in applying the comprehension strategy or teaching point they received from Mrs. Thomsen’s whole class mini-lesson. A few weeks ago, when Jessica and Evan returned to Mrs. Thomsen’s classroom and sat down for share circle; they each had a comprehension tool for telling a story summary. They had been introduced to a three column chart to help organize a summary of a story they listened to on tape.
Jessica and Evan drew pictures and wrote a few words to remind them of their story’s summary elements. When it came time for Jessica and Evan to share, they held up their story summary and proudly displayed their pictures to the class. This was encouraging because Jessica and Evan were usually hesitant to share each morning during share circle; often hiding their mouths and smiles with their hands.
To witness Jessica and Evan share was a proud moment for me and I wondered how the other students would respond. The other students reacted positively to Jessica and Evan’s sharing, complimenting their drawings and exclaiming, “I want to do that! Why did they make those charts?” Mrs. Thomsen then explained to the class that Jessica and Evan had practiced summarizing their story using the chart as a tool. She asked Jessica and Evan to each share one summary element such as the name of the main character in their story; which was the same question all of the students were responding to.
“Belonging to a group means being needed as well as to need, and believing that you have something vital to contribute. Every child can contribute care for others in many ways- by listening with attention and responding with relevance, by showing concern for feelings and viewpoints of others, by developing a capacity for empathy”(Charney, 22).
Both Jessica and Evan shared and exemplified to the group that every student has an important voice and something valuable to contribute. Other students were impressed with the work Jessica and Evan did and asked to see their comprehension chart after the share session had concluded. Reader’s workshop has the component of sharing built into the structure and it allows children to feel included in the community, and to view reading as a valuable tool for creating new understandings.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Student Voices
I've been meaning to Post a few parts of my Cultural Learning Inquiry because through my observations about the learning community I was able to capture a few occasions of students taking responsibility for their learning, in turn making me so proud! Here is one example:
“When our vision of community expands to create a culture and climate for thinking – when rigor, inquiry, and intimacy become key components of our definition- it’s essential that we work first to build genuine relationships, establish mutual trust, and create working literate environments. If we look to the months ahead and envision children constructing meaning by spontaneously engaging in thoughtful conversation about books and ideas, asking questions that matter to them and exploring their solutions, and responding independently to a variety of text in meaningful ways, we must deliberate in September” (Miller, 17).
Mrs. Thomsen successfully executes this advice from Debbie Miller and uses morning share circle as an established routine that supports building genuine relationships. The curriculum and pedagogy of reader’s workshop creates a learning culture of thinking, learning, collaboration and responsibility.
This past week I had the opportunity to witness a thoughtful conversation between two students, which stemmed from their mutual respect for one another as well as the responsibility they share in literacy learning.
Peter and Monica are literacy partners; Mrs. Thomsen has thoughtfully assigned literacy partners and explicitly explained the student’s role and responsibility as a literacy partner. Mrs. Thomsen has modeled respectful and appropriate talk while conferring in literacy partners and will often designate or suggest a time for partners to meet following independent practice. On this occasion, students were asked to complete a story summary using a three column comprehension tool. Students were to write the story summary in three sections, stating the setting, characters and problem then providing main events, and lastly explaining the solution. Once students finished their story summary Mrs. Thomsen asked them to turn it into the “in box” and then independently read their non-fiction book.
Since I was aware of the expectation to read non-fiction after finishing the story summary, I quickly noticed Peter and Monica move to an open table with their story summaries in hand. I walked over to the desk where they sat facing each other and observed this scene:
Peter: “Would you like to read your summary first, or should I?”
Monica: “You can read your summary first since it was your idea to share.”
Peter proceeded to read his story summary, and then Monica read hers.
Peter: “You included all the details which is good, but I think you need to take some details out of the middle. I’m not trying to be mean!”
Monica then read her middle section and compared her content to Peter’s. Peter had summarized the main events in two sentences, compared to the four sentences Monica had written.
Peter then showed Monica how he had written a few of her details in one sentence saying “Harriet wasn’t interested in anything fun.”
Monica had listed the specific things the character Harriet, wasn’t interested in- such as eating popcorn and watching television.
After accepting Peter’s advice Monica re-read Peter’s summary to give him advice.
Monica stared at the paper and said, “Hmmm… well you included all the parts in your summary. You need to go back and space these words out.” Monica’s response illustrates her understanding of the components of story summary and the responsibility a reader has to convey his/her thoughts in a clear way.
In Peter’s defense, he does have a cast on his writing hand; yet Monica first evaluated content then moved on to give advice on the appearance of Peter’s work.
The interaction between Peter and Monica was an example of two students taking responsibility for their learning. Mrs. Thomsen had modeled appropriate partner talk which Peter and Monica followed in a respectful way. Peter’s reassurance that he was “not trying to be mean” reassured Monica that she could trust he was simply giving advice in hopes to help her.
In Don’t Forget to Share written by Leah Mermelstein, she states, “Partner shares are a vital learning tool. Many people shy away from partner shares, perhaps because they are harder to manage… partner shares give kids opportunities to practice things by themselves so that they can internalize them” (page 85). Peter and Monica’s interaction was a direct example for me of how two students took responsibility for their learning and worked together to practice having a literary conversation. As a result they were able to have an opportunity to internalize how to identify the components of a summary in writing. Their example supports my assertion that the curriculum and pedagogy of the reading workshop creates a learning culture of responsibility, thinking, and collaboration.
The interaction between Peter and Monica was of their own accord; Peter approached Monica and asked if she would like to share with him. Mrs. Thomsen had not even suggested students work with literacy partners during this particular workshop. Since Mrs. Thomsen had modeled partner work and created a community of sharing, this pair was excited to share and learn from one another.
“When our vision of community expands to create a culture and climate for thinking – when rigor, inquiry, and intimacy become key components of our definition- it’s essential that we work first to build genuine relationships, establish mutual trust, and create working literate environments. If we look to the months ahead and envision children constructing meaning by spontaneously engaging in thoughtful conversation about books and ideas, asking questions that matter to them and exploring their solutions, and responding independently to a variety of text in meaningful ways, we must deliberate in September” (Miller, 17).
Mrs. Thomsen successfully executes this advice from Debbie Miller and uses morning share circle as an established routine that supports building genuine relationships. The curriculum and pedagogy of reader’s workshop creates a learning culture of thinking, learning, collaboration and responsibility.
This past week I had the opportunity to witness a thoughtful conversation between two students, which stemmed from their mutual respect for one another as well as the responsibility they share in literacy learning.
Peter and Monica are literacy partners; Mrs. Thomsen has thoughtfully assigned literacy partners and explicitly explained the student’s role and responsibility as a literacy partner. Mrs. Thomsen has modeled respectful and appropriate talk while conferring in literacy partners and will often designate or suggest a time for partners to meet following independent practice. On this occasion, students were asked to complete a story summary using a three column comprehension tool. Students were to write the story summary in three sections, stating the setting, characters and problem then providing main events, and lastly explaining the solution. Once students finished their story summary Mrs. Thomsen asked them to turn it into the “in box” and then independently read their non-fiction book.
Since I was aware of the expectation to read non-fiction after finishing the story summary, I quickly noticed Peter and Monica move to an open table with their story summaries in hand. I walked over to the desk where they sat facing each other and observed this scene:
Peter: “Would you like to read your summary first, or should I?”
Monica: “You can read your summary first since it was your idea to share.”
Peter proceeded to read his story summary, and then Monica read hers.
Peter: “You included all the details which is good, but I think you need to take some details out of the middle. I’m not trying to be mean!”
Monica then read her middle section and compared her content to Peter’s. Peter had summarized the main events in two sentences, compared to the four sentences Monica had written.
Peter then showed Monica how he had written a few of her details in one sentence saying “Harriet wasn’t interested in anything fun.”
Monica had listed the specific things the character Harriet, wasn’t interested in- such as eating popcorn and watching television.
After accepting Peter’s advice Monica re-read Peter’s summary to give him advice.
Monica stared at the paper and said, “Hmmm… well you included all the parts in your summary. You need to go back and space these words out.” Monica’s response illustrates her understanding of the components of story summary and the responsibility a reader has to convey his/her thoughts in a clear way.
In Peter’s defense, he does have a cast on his writing hand; yet Monica first evaluated content then moved on to give advice on the appearance of Peter’s work.
The interaction between Peter and Monica was an example of two students taking responsibility for their learning. Mrs. Thomsen had modeled appropriate partner talk which Peter and Monica followed in a respectful way. Peter’s reassurance that he was “not trying to be mean” reassured Monica that she could trust he was simply giving advice in hopes to help her.
In Don’t Forget to Share written by Leah Mermelstein, she states, “Partner shares are a vital learning tool. Many people shy away from partner shares, perhaps because they are harder to manage… partner shares give kids opportunities to practice things by themselves so that they can internalize them” (page 85). Peter and Monica’s interaction was a direct example for me of how two students took responsibility for their learning and worked together to practice having a literary conversation. As a result they were able to have an opportunity to internalize how to identify the components of a summary in writing. Their example supports my assertion that the curriculum and pedagogy of the reading workshop creates a learning culture of responsibility, thinking, and collaboration.
The interaction between Peter and Monica was of their own accord; Peter approached Monica and asked if she would like to share with him. Mrs. Thomsen had not even suggested students work with literacy partners during this particular workshop. Since Mrs. Thomsen had modeled partner work and created a community of sharing, this pair was excited to share and learn from one another.
GLAD
I am an English major... if you couldn't tell. Once I start writing it's difficult for me to stop which may be one reason why this blog seems daunting to me at times. It's hard for me to write a short check in or short reflection, I just want to explain, explain, expand, expand. =) This post is going to be short though. I didn't want to overwhelm my last post with this information, so I decided to be courteous and add these thoughts to a new post. You are welcome!
I wanted to convey quickly a few of my take-aways from the GLAD presentation last night. First of all, I absolutely loved that the two teachers began the year teaching their first GLAD unit about What it means to be a learner. Students were exploring what it means to be a thinker, writer, reader, problem solver - responsible, tenacious --- all of these words students hear everyday in school but may not fully understand, define, or take on as an identity. Will a student really believe he/she is a writer during writer's workshop if he/she doesn't fully understand the role of a writer and what a writer does?
I thought it was such a great move on behalf of the two teacher presenters to start their year off studying what it means to be a learner - and all of those other roles a student takes on throughot the day. What I like about GLAD is that the first part of the structure is to (I may be a little off here- I know it's motivate I'm not sure if I'm right on about the first term) but to Immerse and Motivate students. The Motivation factor to me was such a huge peice of making this structure effective. Students should be motivated to learn - and a unit studying what it means to be a learner and take on the roles of reader/writer/problem solver/classroom citizen - should be MOTIVATING to students.
Dawn, one of the teachers last night, said on the first day of school her students wrote their names on an Interest Survey she gave them, then placed their pencils down. They were finished. She thought to herself, how can I motivate them to want to learn? How can I teach them that their job here is so important and that they can learn!? Well she developed the first GLAD Unit around those questions and I thought it was a great model to me of how I can motivate students to learn.
I've been thinking about motivation alot lately as I see students whispering and simply flipping pages through their books during Independent Reading. How can I help to motivate them - to get them so excited about the opportunities for learning they have during Independent Reading, to help them own the fact that their learning now will have an impact on their learning in sequential grades?
Last night I thought specifically about one of my students to loves loves skateboarding - he shares about it almost everyday and has written about it as well. Well, Dawn (the teacher from last night) wrote to Tony Hawk because she was teaching her students about being tenacious and she asked Tony Hawk if he had any examples or advice for her students about being tenacious. Well, Tony Hawk wrote her back and sent her one of his report cards in which his teacher wrote "Tony is one of the most tenacious students in the class." This story was awesome and Tony also shared with Dawn how he worked so hard to land a 900 - (360/360/180) he tried in competitions over and over, until he finally landed one in a competition becoming the first skateboarder to ever land a 900 in competition. What an incredible example of teancity and what an incredible way to motivate students -- especially my student who loves skateboarding.
Not only was Tony Hawk a tenacious athelete but he was a tenacious student - never giving up and trying his best to learn.
So this turned into a long post, I apologize! I just wanted to get some of these thoughts out I was impressed with the presentation, especially with the motivation part --- I want to continue to find ways to motivate my students to be excited about learning and their role of being a reader, writer, and problem solver!
I wanted to convey quickly a few of my take-aways from the GLAD presentation last night. First of all, I absolutely loved that the two teachers began the year teaching their first GLAD unit about What it means to be a learner. Students were exploring what it means to be a thinker, writer, reader, problem solver - responsible, tenacious --- all of these words students hear everyday in school but may not fully understand, define, or take on as an identity. Will a student really believe he/she is a writer during writer's workshop if he/she doesn't fully understand the role of a writer and what a writer does?
I thought it was such a great move on behalf of the two teacher presenters to start their year off studying what it means to be a learner - and all of those other roles a student takes on throughot the day. What I like about GLAD is that the first part of the structure is to (I may be a little off here- I know it's motivate I'm not sure if I'm right on about the first term) but to Immerse and Motivate students. The Motivation factor to me was such a huge peice of making this structure effective. Students should be motivated to learn - and a unit studying what it means to be a learner and take on the roles of reader/writer/problem solver/classroom citizen - should be MOTIVATING to students.
Dawn, one of the teachers last night, said on the first day of school her students wrote their names on an Interest Survey she gave them, then placed their pencils down. They were finished. She thought to herself, how can I motivate them to want to learn? How can I teach them that their job here is so important and that they can learn!? Well she developed the first GLAD Unit around those questions and I thought it was a great model to me of how I can motivate students to learn.
I've been thinking about motivation alot lately as I see students whispering and simply flipping pages through their books during Independent Reading. How can I help to motivate them - to get them so excited about the opportunities for learning they have during Independent Reading, to help them own the fact that their learning now will have an impact on their learning in sequential grades?
Last night I thought specifically about one of my students to loves loves skateboarding - he shares about it almost everyday and has written about it as well. Well, Dawn (the teacher from last night) wrote to Tony Hawk because she was teaching her students about being tenacious and she asked Tony Hawk if he had any examples or advice for her students about being tenacious. Well, Tony Hawk wrote her back and sent her one of his report cards in which his teacher wrote "Tony is one of the most tenacious students in the class." This story was awesome and Tony also shared with Dawn how he worked so hard to land a 900 - (360/360/180) he tried in competitions over and over, until he finally landed one in a competition becoming the first skateboarder to ever land a 900 in competition. What an incredible example of teancity and what an incredible way to motivate students -- especially my student who loves skateboarding.
Not only was Tony Hawk a tenacious athelete but he was a tenacious student - never giving up and trying his best to learn.
So this turned into a long post, I apologize! I just wanted to get some of these thoughts out I was impressed with the presentation, especially with the motivation part --- I want to continue to find ways to motivate my students to be excited about learning and their role of being a reader, writer, and problem solver!
Blah Blah Blah
Last night I went to the North Sound Student Reading Council's presntation on GLAD (Guided Language Acquistion Design). GLAD is a framework that was created to help make content comprehensible to all students - especially those students learning English as a second language.
It was such a great presentation and I went home taking my new knowledge and reflecting upon the Math Lesson I taught on Tuesday. I taught a lesson out of Investigations about Number Strings - adding multiple numbers together such as: 8+6+4+2. I prepared for the lesson understoon the lesson - but while I was teaching I was looking out at all of those faces and thinking "Oh no, they don't get it." The lesson was all about taking a number string and breaking it into smaller parts - using the facts they know to complete a longer problem. So, 8+6+4+2 students recognized that 6+4 is 10 - yet the process from there (basically the purpose of my lesson) started breaking down from there.
As a class we completed a few number strings together, I asked students to tell me how they would begin then what we should do next... ect. When they went back to their desks though there were blank papers. I stopped the class and modeled a problem again, asking for student suggestions and guidance. I worked with students in small groups.
I realized that to me, adding a number string is easy. I start with the combination I know 4+6 = 10- then I know to add the remaining numbers left in the string, to that sum of 10. As much as I tried to explain and model this to students I just felt like my content was getting more and more un-comprehensible. I may have well just been saying, "blah... blahblah...blahblah" Yet it wasn't only what I was saying --- it was how I was writing the problem.
In the lesson I taught, the curriculum didn't model for me how I should show students to organize their equations. I automatically did the first equation 4+6 = 10 brought the 10 down to the next line 10+ (a remaining number) = x, then x + (the last number) = your total.
Oh my goodness, of course students were having trouble - (and to my defense of course I had trouble teaching it) these are multiple step problems that students can do in their heads but when they are asked to show their thinking and write down these steps... I almost feel like the math gets lost in the recording. Students were having trouble making the connections between how they solved the problem in their head and how they can write those steps on paper. I know they were having trouble because I wasn't being the most effective in showing them.... but I tried different ways and I know it was difficult for me to find the perfect way because it is so implicit for me now. I've had math for years and I know how to show my work, I know how to organize addition problems in multiple steps.
It was just a rough lesson on Tuesday because I wasn't sure what else to try, what else to say, or how I could find those words to explain to them the writing that was on the whiteboard. To explain the equations I used to solve the multiple addend problem.
I know I am learning and this was a good lesson for me - I realized that especially when you take a lesson out of a curriculum you really have to think through the various parts that the lesson just assumes will be understandable to students. I hadn't thought of how to most clearly show students how to show their work- and they had many different steps they took to solve the problem. This would have been a really important aspect to talk with Marcia about before I taught the lesson --- now I'll be on the lookout for those aspects for sure!
It was such a great presentation and I went home taking my new knowledge and reflecting upon the Math Lesson I taught on Tuesday. I taught a lesson out of Investigations about Number Strings - adding multiple numbers together such as: 8+6+4+2. I prepared for the lesson understoon the lesson - but while I was teaching I was looking out at all of those faces and thinking "Oh no, they don't get it." The lesson was all about taking a number string and breaking it into smaller parts - using the facts they know to complete a longer problem. So, 8+6+4+2 students recognized that 6+4 is 10 - yet the process from there (basically the purpose of my lesson) started breaking down from there.
As a class we completed a few number strings together, I asked students to tell me how they would begin then what we should do next... ect. When they went back to their desks though there were blank papers. I stopped the class and modeled a problem again, asking for student suggestions and guidance. I worked with students in small groups.
I realized that to me, adding a number string is easy. I start with the combination I know 4+6 = 10- then I know to add the remaining numbers left in the string, to that sum of 10. As much as I tried to explain and model this to students I just felt like my content was getting more and more un-comprehensible. I may have well just been saying, "blah... blahblah...blahblah" Yet it wasn't only what I was saying --- it was how I was writing the problem.
In the lesson I taught, the curriculum didn't model for me how I should show students to organize their equations. I automatically did the first equation 4+6 = 10 brought the 10 down to the next line 10+ (a remaining number) = x, then x + (the last number) = your total.
Oh my goodness, of course students were having trouble - (and to my defense of course I had trouble teaching it) these are multiple step problems that students can do in their heads but when they are asked to show their thinking and write down these steps... I almost feel like the math gets lost in the recording. Students were having trouble making the connections between how they solved the problem in their head and how they can write those steps on paper. I know they were having trouble because I wasn't being the most effective in showing them.... but I tried different ways and I know it was difficult for me to find the perfect way because it is so implicit for me now. I've had math for years and I know how to show my work, I know how to organize addition problems in multiple steps.
It was just a rough lesson on Tuesday because I wasn't sure what else to try, what else to say, or how I could find those words to explain to them the writing that was on the whiteboard. To explain the equations I used to solve the multiple addend problem.
I know I am learning and this was a good lesson for me - I realized that especially when you take a lesson out of a curriculum you really have to think through the various parts that the lesson just assumes will be understandable to students. I hadn't thought of how to most clearly show students how to show their work- and they had many different steps they took to solve the problem. This would have been a really important aspect to talk with Marcia about before I taught the lesson --- now I'll be on the lookout for those aspects for sure!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Balance
I still have not been able to troubleshoot my problem of not being able to to join the Woodring blog. I have been invited by David and Joanne and each time I go to sign in to join, I get a really big error message. That error message symbolizes the way I feel about maintaining this blog - I have obviously neglected my responsibility so far to use this as a place to reflect.
I have quickly been swept away this quarter in trying to balance all of the different aspects of my life- friendships, family, student teaching, a literacy practicum and learning The Structure of English in my additional classes totaling 20 credits for the quarter, and working 20 hours a week. I know having a job during the internship year is not recommended, yet it is necessary for me this quarter; I have to work.
Within this crazy schedule it has been too easy for me to simply push Blogging aside, in order to complete assignments with the highest priority. This however isn't acceptable, because maintaining this blog is an expectation for me. I am quickly learning this quarter that although life seems overwhelming and full, becoming a full-time classroom teacher does not ease personal responsibilities. Teachers operate under many different expectations that may be easy to disregard yet in a professional realm that is not acceptable. Also, life does not become any less complicated once college coursework comes to an end. Instead of having syllabus deadlines and daily class sessions, there will be other events and areas that take up your time.
I know Marcia is currently feeling the pressure of finding balance right now, her daughter is getting married on Saturday and she has spent lots of time and energy in preparation. No only is she devoting her time to this very important and special occasion, she is still responsible for planning, teaching, and assessing students each day. She also is involved in teaching a weekly class at her church which requires additional planning and time. Busy, busy, busy!
A person must find a way to manage and balance all of these aspects of life based upon priorities; although we can not lose sight of our expectations. I suppose this post is just a way for me to express that I have felt convicted about not utilizing this tool and am going to set a personal goal to make it a priority- it is my expectation and responsibility and it is important.
Even though I have only made one post so far, I have been continuously reflecting upon my classroom experiences, teaching, and coursework. Some days I walk through my front door and feel as if all I have done is reflect - 30 minutes on the way to Everson with my carpool we discuss readings, assignments, our plans for the day, with Marcia before school and after in an e-mail discussion, 30 minutes on the way back to Western with my carpool, explaining stories and how lessons went that day. In class we discuss readings again and how these suggestions can inform and improve our teaching; my carpool is wonderful and we address these questions when we talk about reading, our conversations are meaningful.
I have been very thankful for the opportunity I have to ride out to Everson with a few of my colleagues, our conversations and reflections have helped me to relate to their struggles and learn from their suggestions of how to deal with certain situations. We have become valuable resources for one another and they have shown me a glimpse of the type of community I hope to have with my future colleagues.
For now, I am going to close by restating my goal of using this blogging tool. I am still lingering over how to find balance in a busy schedule but I know it can be done! I plan to write another post within the next few days, highlighting specific incidents and thoughts I have had over the last few weeks.
I have quickly been swept away this quarter in trying to balance all of the different aspects of my life- friendships, family, student teaching, a literacy practicum and learning The Structure of English in my additional classes totaling 20 credits for the quarter, and working 20 hours a week. I know having a job during the internship year is not recommended, yet it is necessary for me this quarter; I have to work.
Within this crazy schedule it has been too easy for me to simply push Blogging aside, in order to complete assignments with the highest priority. This however isn't acceptable, because maintaining this blog is an expectation for me. I am quickly learning this quarter that although life seems overwhelming and full, becoming a full-time classroom teacher does not ease personal responsibilities. Teachers operate under many different expectations that may be easy to disregard yet in a professional realm that is not acceptable. Also, life does not become any less complicated once college coursework comes to an end. Instead of having syllabus deadlines and daily class sessions, there will be other events and areas that take up your time.
I know Marcia is currently feeling the pressure of finding balance right now, her daughter is getting married on Saturday and she has spent lots of time and energy in preparation. No only is she devoting her time to this very important and special occasion, she is still responsible for planning, teaching, and assessing students each day. She also is involved in teaching a weekly class at her church which requires additional planning and time. Busy, busy, busy!
A person must find a way to manage and balance all of these aspects of life based upon priorities; although we can not lose sight of our expectations. I suppose this post is just a way for me to express that I have felt convicted about not utilizing this tool and am going to set a personal goal to make it a priority- it is my expectation and responsibility and it is important.
Even though I have only made one post so far, I have been continuously reflecting upon my classroom experiences, teaching, and coursework. Some days I walk through my front door and feel as if all I have done is reflect - 30 minutes on the way to Everson with my carpool we discuss readings, assignments, our plans for the day, with Marcia before school and after in an e-mail discussion, 30 minutes on the way back to Western with my carpool, explaining stories and how lessons went that day. In class we discuss readings again and how these suggestions can inform and improve our teaching; my carpool is wonderful and we address these questions when we talk about reading, our conversations are meaningful.
I have been very thankful for the opportunity I have to ride out to Everson with a few of my colleagues, our conversations and reflections have helped me to relate to their struggles and learn from their suggestions of how to deal with certain situations. We have become valuable resources for one another and they have shown me a glimpse of the type of community I hope to have with my future colleagues.
For now, I am going to close by restating my goal of using this blogging tool. I am still lingering over how to find balance in a busy schedule but I know it can be done! I plan to write another post within the next few days, highlighting specific incidents and thoughts I have had over the last few weeks.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Expectations
Last week while I was in the classroom, I couldn't help but think of the words of Ruth Charney's text, Teaching Children to Care as I observed the students and reflected upon my own management.
Reading a text on management has been very beneficial for me so far, as I have attempted to evaluate my own management and attempt to implement the framework Charney suggests. One main point Charney wrote about in one of her chapters was the fact that as teachers we need to say what we mean to say - and then make sure our actions meet our words. In relation to this she discussed the importance of not allowing students to avoid participating in an activity or ritual they are expected to participate in. If there has been an expectation established within the classroom, or you as the teacher has said something to the effect, "if you do not work silently we will have to work at separate desks for the rest of the day." yet the student still buzz quietly and there is no consequence of separate desks - it is clear that you either did not explain your expectation of "silently", or you let the quiet buzzing slide, and your words were not followed by action.
I want to be a consistent teacher, in what I say and how I act within the classroom. I do not want to allow students to slip out of participating in activities they are expected to. They need to learn how to cooperate within the classroom expectations and it is my responsibility to hold them each accountable.
With these thoughts swirling into my mind, I entered the classroom Thursday morning. Mrs. Thomsen allowed me to lead share circle, a routine which I have recently led most mornings I am in the classroom. At share circle the students sit in a circle and the teacher (me in this case) goes around the Circe and greets each student by name saying, "Good morning ____" the student is to reply, "Good Morning Miss Mallos", I respond by asking, "What would you like to share today?" The student can then choose to share any event/idea/thought/happening/wondering of their choice.
On Thursday I came to a student who had nothing to share. It is my belief that there is always something to share, and that to build community and trust it is important for every child's voice to be heard. I can't remember the specifics of my prodding- whether or not I asked, "what did you do last night" or "can you tell us..."; but I do know that I said, "Ok well you think of an idea and I will come back to you."
After I said that statement, I mentally knew I had to remember to come back to that student. My words needed to match my actions, I wanted to be consistent. I didn't want to allow the student the opportunity to back out of an expectation I value.
As I went around the circle though, many students shared but a handful of students said, "you can just come back to me." I suddenly realized by allowing one student that opportunity, it seemed I had made it an option for the entire class- which is fair, yet students were using it as an excuse for not having an idea ready when I came to them.
Once I had heard "you can just come back to me" from a few too many students I simply said, "remember everyone, we are supposed to have an idea to share when we come to share circle each day, I would really like for you to share something with me, so if you haven't shared yet...please get an idea ready for when I come to you."
After I had gone around the circle, I made sure to check in with the students who I said I would come back to. I was glad I remembered to check in with those students again, I honored what I said I would do- and some of them had something to share. A few still passed.
I knew though, that I had made the option of passing and coming back acceptable, and really it isn't part of the expectation. So, I ended share circle by stating my expectations for tomorrow.
I told the class, "I really enjoy our time to share together in the mornings. I will be back on Tuesday morning, that is four days until I see you again! I want everyone to share with me and the class on Tuesday morning, so please have an idea ready when you come to share circle. I don't want to have to come back to anyone, it will be much faster and we will have more time to share if each person shares when it is there turn!"
Tomorrow I am going to remind students of this expectation before I begin share circle, and I will even give them 30 seconds or so to think of an idea, prompting them with "think of what you did after school, what you did last night, did anything happen on the bus or at breakfast this morning? What about your weekend?" etc...
I really dislike the feeling of trying to figure out how to respond to students who don't have anything to share - I will try this strategy tomorrow and for now I am focusing on making sure whatever I say--- I follow up on.
Reading a text on management has been very beneficial for me so far, as I have attempted to evaluate my own management and attempt to implement the framework Charney suggests. One main point Charney wrote about in one of her chapters was the fact that as teachers we need to say what we mean to say - and then make sure our actions meet our words. In relation to this she discussed the importance of not allowing students to avoid participating in an activity or ritual they are expected to participate in. If there has been an expectation established within the classroom, or you as the teacher has said something to the effect, "if you do not work silently we will have to work at separate desks for the rest of the day." yet the student still buzz quietly and there is no consequence of separate desks - it is clear that you either did not explain your expectation of "silently", or you let the quiet buzzing slide, and your words were not followed by action.
I want to be a consistent teacher, in what I say and how I act within the classroom. I do not want to allow students to slip out of participating in activities they are expected to. They need to learn how to cooperate within the classroom expectations and it is my responsibility to hold them each accountable.
With these thoughts swirling into my mind, I entered the classroom Thursday morning. Mrs. Thomsen allowed me to lead share circle, a routine which I have recently led most mornings I am in the classroom. At share circle the students sit in a circle and the teacher (me in this case) goes around the Circe and greets each student by name saying, "Good morning ____" the student is to reply, "Good Morning Miss Mallos", I respond by asking, "What would you like to share today?" The student can then choose to share any event/idea/thought/happening/wondering of their choice.
On Thursday I came to a student who had nothing to share. It is my belief that there is always something to share, and that to build community and trust it is important for every child's voice to be heard. I can't remember the specifics of my prodding- whether or not I asked, "what did you do last night" or "can you tell us..."; but I do know that I said, "Ok well you think of an idea and I will come back to you."
After I said that statement, I mentally knew I had to remember to come back to that student. My words needed to match my actions, I wanted to be consistent. I didn't want to allow the student the opportunity to back out of an expectation I value.
As I went around the circle though, many students shared but a handful of students said, "you can just come back to me." I suddenly realized by allowing one student that opportunity, it seemed I had made it an option for the entire class- which is fair, yet students were using it as an excuse for not having an idea ready when I came to them.
Once I had heard "you can just come back to me" from a few too many students I simply said, "remember everyone, we are supposed to have an idea to share when we come to share circle each day, I would really like for you to share something with me, so if you haven't shared yet...please get an idea ready for when I come to you."
After I had gone around the circle, I made sure to check in with the students who I said I would come back to. I was glad I remembered to check in with those students again, I honored what I said I would do- and some of them had something to share. A few still passed.
I knew though, that I had made the option of passing and coming back acceptable, and really it isn't part of the expectation. So, I ended share circle by stating my expectations for tomorrow.
I told the class, "I really enjoy our time to share together in the mornings. I will be back on Tuesday morning, that is four days until I see you again! I want everyone to share with me and the class on Tuesday morning, so please have an idea ready when you come to share circle. I don't want to have to come back to anyone, it will be much faster and we will have more time to share if each person shares when it is there turn!"
Tomorrow I am going to remind students of this expectation before I begin share circle, and I will even give them 30 seconds or so to think of an idea, prompting them with "think of what you did after school, what you did last night, did anything happen on the bus or at breakfast this morning? What about your weekend?" etc...
I really dislike the feeling of trying to figure out how to respond to students who don't have anything to share - I will try this strategy tomorrow and for now I am focusing on making sure whatever I say--- I follow up on.
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