Monthly Archives: October 2017

Strategies for introducing lessons

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This grade 2/ 3 class that I visit has ongoing nature projects throughout the school year. They have observed buds, planted buds, visited a bog as one of their field trips etc. They have natural materials for decorations and nature picture books on the bookshelf. Today the students are reflecting on their bog field trip from yesterday and doing some drawing and writing on their Nature Book. This Nature Book is handmade, and it has cardboard as its cover. It uses recycling materials to explain to the students that we are trying to create an environmentally friendly space.

Before the students worked on this project, the teacher laid out several questions for them to think about. For example, the questions cards on the table where the students display their nature material collections. Also, the teacher wrote down a question on their agenda board in the beginning of the day to get the students start to think.

Since this is an ongoing project, the teacher does not need to spend too much time introducing this topic. Students are expecting the topic to come up. Moreover, when students are aware of the topic, they usually feel more ready or confident to participate in the class too.

New projects or plans are usually introduced in a circle with everyone gathered around. One strategy that the teacher uses to bring students’ attention is to wait until everyone is quiet and ready to listen. The teacher will wait patiently until everyone is quiet. It really helps to gather students’ attention and make sure that the teacher does not need to repeat herself.

Mini-inquiry

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My mini-inquiry question is:

What are some classroom management strategies that we can use when chaos arises?

I would prefer to encourage student-led learning and intrinsically motivated learning in the classroom. However, the challenge is to monitor and ensure that the “chaos” in the classroom is purposeful. Moreover, I would like to ensure that I could get students’ attention back after an activity. I did some research and found an eJournal about classroom management on the International Child and Youth Care Network by Gene Van Tassell. This article focuses more on how teachers can maintain control over the students, but it still provides some great insights. Tassell provides several options of classroom disciplines and management systems.

One approach is the Lee and Marlene Canter’s assertive discipline. The goal of the assertive discipline is to teach students about the consequences of their actions and foster a sense of responsibilities in the classroom. Assertive discipline involves establishing rules and directions that define the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors in the classroom. It is necessary to notice that some assumptions in this approach are “students will misbehave”, “students must be forced to comply with rules”, “punishment will make students avoid breaking rules and positive reinforcement will encourage good behavior” (cite) etc. I do not completely agree with this approach. It is true that students need to understand that there are rules that everyone needs to follow for creating a safe and friendly environment for learning. For the class to have meaningful and organized activities, teachers need to prepare the students for the freedom and authority. Establishing these rules ahead of time and monitoring through the activity will be essential. It would be helpful to remind students of their responsibilities when the class starts to become chaotic. Constantly checking in with students to hear about their ideas is important to ensure a successful activity. Moreover, listening to the students and having conversations with them is beneficial for guiding students to a higher level of thinking.

Another similar approach is the Kay Model. In this approach, teachers need to teach students self-govern and take responsibilities for their own actions.  Teachers should not take this responsibility away from their students, instead, teachers should encourage students to take charge of their own classroom. With the basic rules that the whole class set and agreed on, teachers should give students enough trust. Students need to feel the trust first before they can trust themselves.

Another strategy for the teacher to bring back the attention is “stopping instruction, staring, sitting close to the students are all powerful intimidation techniques which should stop students from misbehaving”. I have heard about this approach before, and it definitely takes time before it becomes powerful and efficient in the classroom.

 

Tassell, G. V. (2005). Class management. International Child and Youth Care Network (CYC-Net). 74. Retrieved from http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0305-classroom.html

SEL observations

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I noticed the bulbs on the table when I walked into the classroom this morning. This class had changed their weekly project into a new inquiry, which was seeds and gardening. There were magnifying glasses and flashlights beside the bowl of bulbs for students to observe. As part of the project, students were required to complete a chat with three columns which were “I see”, I” think”, and “I wonder”. Then, students needed to put their observations and questions into a short paragraph and decorated it with a drawing. Student would have the opportunity to plant the bulbs and solve their wonders later (are they alive/ dead; what plant is it; what color would its flower be etc.) through actions.

This project really interested me because it focused on students’ thinking process and reminded me of the idea of metacognition. Teacher was guiding students to think about students’ own thinking, to realize what students have already known with their funds of knowledge, to see what they are capable of doing themselves, and to reflect on their own curiosities. Moreover, this project went from the classroom setting to school setting, and even to communities and families. It allowed students to leave their classroom and plant things in their school/ community area. Their little plants might have the opportunity to contribute and be part of the community, and present student’s results available for everyone to share in this environment.

Another project that students worked on earlier in the week is a self-portrait. Students watched an video on how to draw a self- portrait and used a mirror to create one for themselves. The main focus was to notice the facial details, such as the the angle of the eye brow and the mouth with different emotions, and students practiced on the accuracy of their drawings through the activity. This project would help students to notice details, and this is critical because it is a major foundation for self awareness. It helps establish the ability to accurately recognize one’s own emotions. This will also prepare students for relationship skills, such as communications and relationship-building, and many other things.

There were many other small details in the classroom showed the SEL language. For example, the picture books that focus on emotions and the warm welcoming sign on the table. I could see that the teacher really valued the SEL language in this classroom.

Self-reflection

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This is a reflection piece on my first day observing in a grade 2/3 classroom setting. Pictures are taken with caution and permissions.

Before children came into the classroom, their teacher updated the Today’s Agenda board to list the schedule of the day. Children could get notified when they came into the classroom and feeling more prepared when these activities happen throughout the day.

Children had 15 minutes of free playing time as the first thing after the bell. There was no assigned seating pattern. Stations were set up for students to rotate around mostly based on their interests. I saw some of them playing with building materials, and one student was working on his storybook alone because he couldn’t wait to finish it and share it with the class. Most ofall, ipads were popular among children.

 

“Everyone is a teacher. Everyone is a learner.”

 

 

Their teacher kept on reminding children with the learning competencies and the learning intentions for each activity that children did. There were also printed versions of the learning intentions placed on each station as the reminder. Once the free-playing time was over, children came to sit in a circle and had their “Me time” activity, which involved sharing stories and read aloud activities.

After snack and the first recess, children had their gym class and reading class before their lunch break. I was very honored to be invited to two meetings with the school staffs and parents to discuss two particular children’s social and emotional learning challenges in the classroom. But as a result, I did not have the opportunity to attend all of their classes today.

Their teacher had another read aloud session to bring children back into the classroom after the lunch break. Complex words were used during the discussion, but the teacher would clarify the definition by providing a simple explanation. Their teacher would wait until everyone was quiet and focused before she spoke. She often used eye contacts to give signals and make connections with the children. Children slowly calmed their bodies during this activity, which was a good start for their next literacy practice activity called “word book”.

The last and the most exciting part of the day was the “Big Buddies” activity, which children worked with grade 4 students on a project shown in pictures. Children were challenged to build a complex using 10 cups, 12 sticks, and 8 blocks, but one block and nothing else was allowed to touch the ground. The learning intention was to practice children’s communication skills and social skills during teamwork, while they experienced the physics part of building structures. Grade 4 students also needed to practice their literacy skills by writing a “report” on this activity. With the format they learned in their classroom, grade 4 students needed to write down a title describing what the challenge was, their names, and their plans.  

Some thoughts on learning intentions, backward design, and universal for learning

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The learning intention is to use the “I can” language to help students understand the learning goals and expectations. For example, the new B.C. Curriculum lists “force of gravity” as part of the content for grade 7 Science, and has “compare data with predictions and develop explanations for results” as part of the curricular competencies. If one decides to incorporate these two together, one can write the learning intention as “I can explain why does the weight scale show differently when we measure different objects”. Such language ensures that students can understand the learning goals more clearly. Moreover, the language itself is also very encouraging; it shifts from a demanding tone to a proactive and confident tone.

 

The backward design ensures that we, as teachers, remember the purpose of the lesson(s) throughout lesson planning. It requires teachers to answer questions such as “who are the students”, “what can/can’t they do”, and “what do they need”. Knowing the purpose and methods to assess, it is clearer for teachers to know whether students have achieved the expectations. Deciding on the learning intention and assessment of a lesson plan before going into details about the procedure and class activities makes better sense to me since it leaves some room for flexibility and student’s inquiry.

“Plan is nothing. Planning is everything.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

The idea of universal of learning is one of my favorites. It promotes multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement, which allows students to learn and express themselves in unique ways. For instance, if my goal is to teach a historical event, then my assessment should be the understanding of the historical event. And maybe expand it to students’ ability to connect the event with their own experiences. Thus, student’s ability to write with correct grammar should not be my concern. Students can choose to write an essay, present the story through acting or storytelling, or illustrate the event with visual arts etc. The idea of universal of learning respects each student’s uniqueness and creativity.

My animal totem & personal identity

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When I think of my personal identity in animal forms, I immediately think of cats: playful and full of curiosity. Cats give me a sense of unpredictability. Acting like a cat encourages me to make fresh changes in my habitual routines and welcome unexpected surprises. In certain aspects, I wish that I could be as astute and watchful as a cat. And just like cats, I am independent andenjoy my freedom.

I also put a bird in my animal totem because it represents my status as an international student. I migrate around base on my needs, and my experience of flying around provides me with a higher and broader perspective in life.